the bird-woman of the lewis and clark expedition a supplementary reader for first and second grades by katherine chandler author of "habits of california plants" and "in the reign of coyote: folk-lore from the pacific" 1905 to my friend genevra sisson snedden whose interest in this little book has encouraged its completion preface. because children invariably ask for "more" of the stories they find interesting, this little book of continuous narrative has been written. every incident is found in the lewis and clark journals, so that the child's frequent question, "is it true?" can be answered in the affirmative. the vocabulary consists of fewer than 700 words. over half of these are found in popular primers. therefore, the child should have no difficulty in reading this historical story after completing a first reader. the illustrations on pages 13, 15, 29, 64, and the last one on page 79, are redrawn from catlin's "letters and notes on the manners, customs, and conditions of the north-american indians." my acknowledgments are due miss lilian bridgman, of san francisco, for help in arranging the vocabulary. katherine chandler. san francisco, california. july 1, 1905. contents the bird-woman who the white men were why sacajawea went west at fort mandan the black man sacajawea's baby making friends with the indians sacajawea saves the captains' goods sacajawea's river the first sight of the rocky mountains sacajawea is ill how the indians hunted buffalo the falls of the missouri the cache near the falls of the missouri how sacajawea cured rattlesnake bites going around the falls grizzly bears at the top of the falls the cloud-burst at the source of the missouri sacajawea finds roots and seed sacajawea's people sacajawea's brother sacajawea's people will show the way the indians try to leave the whites crossing the rocky mountains at the columbia river how the indians dried salmon the wappatoo to the pacific ocean the pacific ocean sacajawea on the ocean beach the whale sacajawea's belt at fort clatsop the start home at camp chopunnish over the rocky mountains going home east of the rocky mountains again sacajawea says good-bye to the soldiers the centennial [illustration: the statue of sacajawea, the bird woman, unveiled at the lewis and clark centennial, in portland, oregon, in 1905] a go hun dred sa ca ja we a years the bird-woman. the bird-woman was an indian. she showed the white men the way into the west. there were no roads to the west then. that was one hundred years ago. this indian woman took the white men across streams. she took them over hills. she took them through bushes. she seemed to find her way as a bird does. the white men said, "she goes like a bird. we will call her the bird-woman." her indian name was sacajawea. clark a mer i can lew is met cap tains part sol diers twen ty nine peo pie mis sou ri riv er who the white men were. the white men sacajawea went with were soldiers. there were twenty-nine soldiers. there were two captains. the name of one captain was lewis. the name of the other captain was clark. they were american soldiers. [illustration: captain clark.] [illustration: captain lewis.] they carried the american flag into the west. no white men knew about that part of the west then. the captains wished to learn all about the west. they wished to tell the people in the east about it. they had been going west a long time before they met sacajawea. they had rowed up the missouri river. they had come to many little streams. they did not know what the indians called these streams. so they gave them new names for the white men. camp fourth of ju ly man dan cheered french man rest ed ice in de pend ence creek hus band kan sas snow on fourth of july they named one stream fourth of july creek. they named another independence creek. we still call this stream by that name. you can find it on the map of kansas. on fourth of july the men rested. the soldier who woke first fired a gun. then they all woke up and cheered for the fourth of july. at night they fired another gun. then the soldiers danced around the camp fire. after a time the ice and snow would not let them go on. they made a winter camp near the mandan indians. here they met sacajawea and her husband. her husband was a frenchman who knew a little about the west. sacajawea was the only one there who had been to the far west. lewis and clark told the frenchman they would pay him to go with them. he said he would go. then he and sacajawea came to live at the soldiers' camp. be longed roots tribe mar ried snake twelve rocky mountains thought war why sacajawea went west. sacajawea belonged in the west. her tribe was called the snake indians. they lived in the rocky mountains. sacajawea lived in the mountains until she was twelve years old. then her tribe went to war with the mandans from the east. one day sacajawea and some other girls were getting roots. they were down by a stream. some mandans came upon them. the girls ran fast to get away. [illustration: mandan drawing on a buffalo robe] sacajawea ran into the stream. an indian caught her. he took her up on his horse. he carried her away to the east, to the country of the mandans. there she married the frenchman. there the americans found her. she was glad when her husband said he would go west with lewis and clark. she thought she would see her own tribe again. an i mals coun try friends med i cine read y chiefs froz en plants wrote fort sweat house at fort mandan. the soldiers called their winter camp fort mandan. they had a hard winter there. it was so cold that many men were ill. they had no time to be ill. they had to work to be ready to go west when spring opened. the captains wrote in their books about the indians and animals and plants they had seen. they made maps of the country they had come through. they had long talks with the indian chiefs. they made friends with the indians by giving them medicine. an indian boy had his feet frozen near the soldiers' camp. the captains kept him until his feet were well again. his people all came and thanked the captains. [illustration: an indian sweat-house] the indians told each other about the white men's medicine. they said, "the white men's medicine is better than our sweat-house." so they came for miles to the white camp to get the medicine. they gave the captains food. they wanted to be friends with them. ar rows din ner hunt ed mon ey beads fid dle knives pie ces blan kets gal lons med als stove the soldiers hunted animals for food and for their skins. one soldier cut an old stove into pieces. the indians wanted these pieces to make arrows and knives. they would give eight gallons of corn for one piece. the indians did not know what money was. the captains did not carry money with them. they took flags and medals, knives and blankets, looking-glasses and beads, and many other things. with these they could get food from the indians. on christmas day, 1804, the soldiers put the american flag up over the fort. they told the indians not to come to see them on that day. they said it was the best day of their year. it was a cold day, with much ice and snow. they had a good dinner and after dinner the soldiers danced. on new year's day, 1805, they fired off all their guns. the captains let the soldiers go to the mandan camp. they took their fiddle and danced for the indians. one soldier danced on his hands with his head down. the indians liked this dancing very much. they gave the soldiers some corn and some skins. sur prised hair paint ed stran ger fin ger wa ter helped york the black man. captain clark had his black man, york, with him. the indians were always surprised to see the black man. they thought he was stranger than the white men. one mandan chief said, "this is a white man painted black." he wet his finger and tried to wash the black off york's skin. the black would not come off. then york took off his hat. the chief had not seen such hair before. then the chief said, "you are not like a white man. you are a black man." the indians told each other of this black man. they came from far to see him. york helped make them friends with the whites. the captains named a river for york. the river had only a little water in it. they named it york's dry river. bas ket laugh weeks born su gar sacajawea's baby. at fort mandan, sacajawea's baby boy was born. he was only eight weeks old when the white men began to go to the far west. sacajawea made a basket of skins for her baby. she put it on her back. the baby could sleep in the basket as sacajawea walked. the soldiers liked the baby. they gave it sugar. they made it playthings of wood. they danced to make it laugh. indian babies do not laugh much and they do not cry much. once in the west the baby was ill. then the soldiers camped for some days. they were very still. captain lewis gave the baby medicine. this made the baby well again. then the men laughed. they said, "let us sing and dance for the baby." the baby laughed as it looked at the men. a pril par ty shot broke shoot warm the warm april sun broke up the ice in the missouri river. then the party got into their boats and rowed on up the river. from this time on, sacajawea and her baby were a help to the soldiers. when the indians saw a woman and a baby with the men, they knew it was not a war party. indians would not take a woman and baby to war. only men go to war. the indians did not shoot at the men. they came up to see what they wanted. if sacajawea had not been there, they would have shot the white men. the indians thought that all strangers wanted war. they thought this until the strangers showed that they were friends. bare foot ed cov ered prick ly threw cor ners pears same moc ca sins true making friends with the indians. sacajawea showed the captains how to make friends with the indians. the indians on the upper missouri river and in the rocky mountains showed that they wanted to be friends in the same way. when they saw strangers, they stood still and talked to each other. if they wished to be friends, the chief walked out ahead of his people. he took off his blanket. he took hold of it by two corners. he threw it up high. then he put it on the ground. this showed that he was putting down a skin for a friend to sit on. he did this three times. then the strangers came up to him. they sat down together. they took off their moccasins. this showed that they wished to be true friends. if they were not true friends, they would go barefooted all their days. they thought it hard to go barefooted. the ground was covered with prickly pears. the prickly pears would hurt their feet. great pres ents smoked pipes send wash ing ton when the strangers had their moccasins off, they smoked some pipes together. then they gave each other presents. then they told each other why they had come together. captain lewis and captain clark always told the indians: "we have come from the great father in washington. he sends you these presents. he wants you to be friends with the white men. he wants you to be friends with the other indians. when you all are friends, the men can get many animals and the women can get many roots. the great father will send you out the white men's goods when you are all friends." the indians always said to lewis and clark: "we are glad to hear from the great father in washington. we like his presents. we shall be glad to get the white men's goods. we will be friends with all men with indians and with white men." a fraid com pass canoe straight ened turned hit rud der sacajawea saves the captains' goods. going up the missouri, the compass, the books, and the maps were in one canoe. the captains had the compass to find the west. one day a big wind hit this canoe and turned it nearly over. sacajawea's husband was at the rudder. he was afraid and let go. the water came into the canoe. the maps and books came up to the top of the water. sacajawea saw them going out into the river. she took the compass into her lap. she caught the books. she called to her husband. he took the rudder again. he straightened the boat again. then sacajawea caught the maps that were on top of the river. crook ed mon ta na wide hand some saved yards sacajawea's river. as the maps and books were wet, the soldiers had to camp two days. they put the maps and the books and the compass in the sun. when these were dry, they went on again. ten days after, they came to a river that no white man had seen before. captain lewis wrote in his book, "it is a handsome river about 50 yards wide." they did not know the indian name for it. the captains were so glad sacajawea had saved their things that they named it for her. they said, "we will call it the sacajawea or bird-woman's river." this river is still running. look on a map of montana. do you see a stream named "crooked creek?" that is the stream lewis and clark named sacajawea's river. which do you think is the prettier name? which do you think we should call it? blew elk pleas ure cross plains steep buf fa lo mos qui toes sight the first sight of the rocky mountains. going up the missouri, the party had to drink the river water. it was not good and it made them ill. the sand blew in their eyes. the mosquitoes bit them all the time. but still the soldiers were happy. they carried their goods in boats. they walked when they wished to. they hunted buffalo and elk on the plains near the river. they had all they wanted to eat. one day in may, captain lewis was out hunting. he went up a little hill. then far off to the west he saw the rocky mountains high and steep. captain lewis was the first white man to see these mountains. he wrote in his book that he felt a great pleasure on first seeing them. he knew they would be very hard to cross. they were all white with snow. but he was ready to go on so as to get to the west. he went back to the boats and told the others about the mountains. the men were happy and worked harder to get near them. grew fell hot sul phur worse sacajawea is ill. going up the missouri, sacajawea fell ill. she could not eat. she grew worse each day. captain clark gave her some medicine. it did not make her well. the soldiers had to camp until she could go on. they could not go on without her. they wanted her with them to make friends with her tribe. one day the soldiers found a hot sulphur spring. they carried sacajawea to this spring. the water made her well. in a week she could go on. bank killed hole to ward how the indians hunted buffalo. on the plains of the missouri there were many buffaloes. sacajawea told the soldiers how the indians hunted them. an indian put on a buffalo skin. the buffalo's head was over his head. he walked out to where the buffaloes were eating. he stood between them and a high bank of the river. the other indians went behind the buffaloes. the buffaloes ran toward the man in the buffalo skin. he ran fast toward the river. then the buffaloes ran fast toward the river. at the high bank the man ran down and hid in a hole. the buffaloes came so fast that they could not stop at the bank. they fell over the bank on to the rocks near the river. many were killed. then the indians came around the bank. they skinned the buffaloes. they dried the meat. they dried the skins to make blankets and houses. june won der ful draw pic ture spray write cache the falls of the missouri. one june day captain lewis was walking ahead of the boats. he heard a great noise up the river. he pushed on fast. after walking seven miles, he came to the great falls of the missouri. he was the first white man to see these falls. he sat down on a rock and watched the water dash and spray. he tried to draw a picture of the falls. he tried to write about it in his book. but he said it was so wonderful that he could not draw it well nor picture it in words. when the men came up, they could not take their boats near the falls. the falls are very, very high. the highest fall is eighty-seven feet high, and the water comes down with a great rush. so the soldiers had to go around the falls. that was a long, long way. it would be hard to carry all their things around the falls. the captains said, "we will make a cache here. "we will put in the skins and plants and maps. "we can get them all again when we are coming home." the soldiers made two caches. in these they hid all the things they could do without. without so much to carry, it would not be so hard to go around the falls. dried dug ring sod bot tom branch es earth sides the cache near the falls of the missouri. to make a cache, the soldiers made a ring on the ground. they took up the sod inside the ring. they dug straight down for a foot. they put dried branches on the bottom and at the sides of this hole. they put dried skins over the branches. then they put their goods into the hole, or cache. they put dried skins over the goods. then they put the earth in. then they put the sod on. the ring did not look as if it had been dug up. the indians would not think to look there for goods. bite fresh rat tle snakes cure morn ing sev en teen beat how sacajawea cured rattlesnake bites. near the falls of the missouri, the party met many rattlesnakes. the snakes liked to lie in the sun on the river banks. some times they went up trees and lay on the branches. one night captain lewis was sleeping under a tree. in the morning he looked up through the tree. he saw a big rattlesnake on a branch. it was going to spring at him. he caught his gun and killed it. it had seventeen rattles. sometimes the soldiers had to go barefooted. the snakes bit their bare feet. sacajawea knew how to cure the bite. she took a root she called the rattlesnake root. she beat it hard. she opened the snake bite. she tied the root on it. she put fresh root on two times a day. it cured the snake bite. the root would kill a man if he should eat it, but it will cure a snake bite. ax les even hail tongues bears e nough knocked wheels griz zly cot ton wood mast wil low going around the falls. the party had to go up a high hill to get around the falls. it would take too long to carry the canoes on their backs. they could see only one big tree on the plains. it was a cottonwood. the soldiers cut it down. they cut wheels and tongues from it. the cottonwood is not hard enough for axles. the soldiers cut up the mast of their big boat for axles. they began to go up the hill. in a little time the axles broke. they put in willow axles. then the cottonwood tongues broke. then the men had to carry the goods on their backs. it was very hot. the mosquitoes and blow-flies bit them all the time. the prickly pear hurt their feet. it hurt them even through their moccasins. if they drank water, they were ill. one day it hailed hard. the hail knocked some of the men down. at night the grizzly bears took their food. load point ed large safe mouth roared fierce waist grizzly bears. after many hard days, they got all the goods to the top of the falls. the party saw many grizzly bears near the falls. they were the first white men to see the grizzly bear. they found it a very large and very fierce bear. one day captain lewis was out hunting. he had killed a buffalo for dinner. he turned around to load his gun again. he saw a big bear coming after him. it was only twenty feet away. he did not have time to load his gun. there was no tree near. there was no rock near. the river bank was not high. captain lewis ran to the river. the bear ran after him with open mouth. it nearly caught him. captain lewis ran into the river. he turned around when the water was up to his waist. he pointed his gun at the bear. it stopped still. then it roared and ran away. captain lewis did not know why the bear roared and ran, but he was glad to be safe. body de feat ed shoul der brave ly ing angry one day six of the soldiers saw a big bear lying on a little hill near the river. the six soldiers came near him. they were all good shots. four shot at him. four balls went into his body. he jumped up. he ran at them with open mouth. then the two other men fired. their balls went into his body, too. one ball broke his shoulder. still he ran at them. the men ran to the river. two jumped into their canoe. the others hid in the willows. they loaded their guns as fast as they could. they shot him again. the shots only made him angry. he came very near two of the men. they threw away their guns and jumped down twenty feet into the river. the bear jumped in after them. he nearly caught the last one. then one soldier in the willows shot the bear in the head. this shot killed him. the soldiers pulled the bear out of the river. they found eight balls in him. they took his skin to show the captains. they said he was a brave old bear. they named a creek near-by for him. they called it "the brown-bear-defeated creek." be cause fright ened climb kicked wait one day a grizzly bear ran after a soldier. the soldier tried to shoot the bear. his gun would not go off. the gun was wet because he had been in the river all day. he ran to a tree. he got to the tree just in time. as the soldier climbed, he kicked the bear. the grizzly bear can not climb a tree. this grizzly sat at the foot of the tree to wait until the soldier would come down. the soldier called out loud. two other soldiers heard him. they came running to help him. they saw the man in the tree. they saw the bear at the foot of the tree. they shot off their guns and made a big noise. the grizzly grew frightened. it ran away. then the soldier came down from the tree. he was glad that his friends had come to his help. a ble beans su et ba con dump lings played a mused them selves shake at the top of the falls. after the men had carried all the goods to the top of the falls, they made canoes to take them up the river. they were camping at the top of the falls on the fourth of july, 1805. captain lewis wrote that they had a good dinner that day. he said they had as good as if they were at home. they had "bacon, beans, buffalo meat, and suet dumplings." after dinner a soldier played the fiddle. captain lewis wrote: "such as were able to shake a foot amused themselves in dancing on the green." burst fif teen ra vine cloud clothes wave the cloud-burst. one day captain clark took sacajawea and her husband with him to look over the top of the falls. sacajawea's baby was in his basket on her back. captain clark saw a black cloud. he said, "it will rain soon. let us go into that ravine." they sat under some big rocks. sacajawea took off the baby's basket and put it at her feet. all the baby's clothes were in the basket. sacajawea took the baby in her lap. it began to rain a little. the rain did not get to them. it rained harder. then the cloud burst just over the ravine. the rain and hail made a big wave in the little ravine. captain clark saw the wave coming. he jumped up and caught his gun in his left hand. with his right hand he pushed sacajawea up the bank. the wave was up to their waists. they ran faster and got to the top of the bank. then the wave was fifteen feet high. it made a big noise as it ran down the ravine. soon it would have caught them and carried them over the falls. it did carry away the baby's basket and his clothes, and captain clark's compass. the next day a soldier found the compass in the mud. a live be stride min er als be gin ning ra pid nar row source co lum bia at the source of the missouri. when the canoes were ready, the party started up the river above the falls. as they reached the mountains, the river grew narrow. it was not deep, but it was rapid. the soldiers had to pull the canoes with ropes. the river did not run straight. one day the men dragged the canoes twelve miles. then they were only four miles from where they had started. they had to walk in the river all day. their feet were cut by the rocks. they were ill from being wet so much. it was hot in the day and cold at night. they had no wood but willow. they could not make a good fire. but they had enough to eat. then the river grew very narrow. the canoes could not go up it. the soldiers put the canoes under water with rocks in them. they made another cache. in it they put skins, plants, seeds, minerals, maps, and some medicines. captain lewis and some men went ahead. they were looking for indians. they wanted to buy some horses. after a time the river grew so narrow that a soldier put one foot on one bank and his other foot on the other bank. then he said, "thank god, i am alive to bestride the mighty missouri." before this, people did not know where the missouri began. a little way off was the beginning of the mighty columbia river. the soldiers reached this place in august. captain lewis was very happy as he drank some cold water from the beginnings of these two rivers. captain clark and the other men were coming behind. sacajawea was with them. they had all the goods and walked slowly. a nise grease pound bread mixed pow der hun gry mush roast ed tastes um brel la yamp sacajawea finds roots and seeds. far up on the missouri, sacajawea knew the plants that were good to eat. the captains and soldiers were glad that she did. they had only a little corn left, and there were not many animals near. sacajawea told captain clark all about the yamp plant, as her tribe knew it. it grew in wet ground. it had one stem and deeply cut leaves. its stem and leaves were dark green. it had an umbrella of white flowers at the top of the stem. the indian women watched the yamp until the stem dried up. then they dug for the roots. the yamp root is white and hard. the indians eat it fresh or dried. when it is dry, they pound it into a fine white powder. the indian women make the yamp powder into a mush. indian children like yamp mush as much as white children like candy. it tastes like our anise seed. the soldiers liked the yamp mush that sacajawea made. sacajawea also made a sunflower mush. she roasted sunflower seeds. then she pounded them into a powder and made a mush with hot water. she made a good drink of the sunflower powder and cold water. she mixed the sunflower powder with bear grease and roasted it on hot rocks. this made a bread the soldiers liked very much. without sacajawea the soldiers would have been hungry. they did not know the plants. some plants would kill them. but sacajawea knew those good to eat. meet sang sucked own short taken sacajawea's people. one day near the head of the missouri, sacajawea stopped short as she walked. she looked hard to the west. she saw far away some indians on horseback. she began to dance and jump. she waved her arms. she laughed and called out. she turned to captain clark and sucked her fingers. this showed that these indians were her own people. she ran ahead to meet them. after a time a woman from the indians ran out to meet sacajawea. when they came together, they put their arms around each other. they danced together. they cried together. this woman had been sacajawea's friend from the time when they were babies. she had been taken east by the same indians that took sacajawea. on the way east she got away from these indians. she found her way home. she had been afraid she would never see sacajawea again. now they were happy to meet. they danced and sang and cried and laughed with their arms around each other. broth er sent tied sell shells sacajawea's brother. the party went with sacajawea's people to their camp. captain clark was taken to the chief's house. the house was made of a ring of willows. the chief put his arms about captain clark. he made him sit on a white skin. he tied in his hair six shells. each one then took off his moccasins. then they smoked without talking. when they wanted to talk, they sent for sacajawea. she came into the house and sat down. she looked at the chief. she saw that he was her brother. she jumped up and ran to him. she threw her blanket over his head. she cried aloud in joy. he was glad to see her. he did not cry nor jump. he did not like to show that he was glad. sacajawea told him about the white men. she said they wanted to go across the rocky mountains to the big water in the west. she did not know the way across the mountains. the indians could help them. they could sell them horses and show them the way across the steep mountain tops. ca me ah wa it kind sacajawea said the white men had many things the indians would like. if they found a good way over the mountains, the white men would send these things to the indians each summer. sacajawea said the white men were kind to her and her baby. if they had not taken care of her when she was ill, she would not have seen her brother again. her brother said he was glad that the white men had been kind to her. he would help them over the mountains. he would talk to his men about it. he said to captain clark: "you have been kind to sacajawea. i am your friend until my days are over. you shall own my house. you shall sit on my blanket. you shall have what i kill. you shall bear my name. my name belonged to me only, but now it is yours. you are cameahwait." after that, all this tribe called captain clark "cameahwait." ah hi e! death oars pleased bought nev er sad dles sacajawea's people will show the way. cameahwait told his people how good the white men were. he told them what good things they had. he said, "if we sell them horses and take them over the mountains, they can get back soon. no goods will come to us until they go back to their home. if we do not help them, they cannot cross the mountains. they do not know the way. they cannot carry food enough. they will meet death in the mountains. then we shall never get their goods. shall we help them, my brothers?" and the people said, "ah hi e! ah hi e!" that means, "we are pleased." they got horses to carry the goods. they could not get enough horses to give the men to ride. the captains bought a horse for sacajawea to ride. the soldiers made saddles from the oars tied together with pieces of skins. then they started up the steep mountain. heard must to-night slipped the indians try to leave the whites. when they were in the mountain tops, sacajawea overheard some indians talking. they said: "we do not want to go across the mountains with the whites. we want to go down to the plains and hunt buffalo. we are hungry here. on the plains are many buffalo. we must hunt them now for our winter food. we do not care for the white men's goods. our fathers lived without their goods. we can live without them. we will go off to-night and leave them. they will meet death in the mountains. in the spring we can come back and get their goods." sacajawea went to captain lewis. she told him what she had heard. he called the chiefs together. they smoked a pipe together. sacajawea slipped a piece of sugar into cameahwait's hand. as he sucked it, she said, "you will get this good thing from the white men if you are friends with them." gone land word keep prom ise yes then captain lewis said, "are you men of your word?" the indians said, "yes." he said, "did you not promise to carry our goods over the mountains?" the indians said, "yes." "then," he said, "why are you going to leave us now? if you had not promised, we would have gone back down the missouri. then no other white man would come to your land. you wish the whites to be your friends. you want them to give you goods. you should keep you promise to them. i will keep my promise to you. you seem afraid to keep your promise." the chiefs said, "we are not afraid. we will keep our promise." they sent out word to all their men to keep their promise. captain lewis thanked sacajawea. if she had not told him, the indians would have gone off in the night. the whites would have been left in the steep rocky mountains with no horses and no way of getting food. stiff pa cif ic o cean melt sharp trip crossing the rocky mountains. the trip across the mountains was very hard. the mountain tops were steep. there was no road. the ground was made of sharp rocks. the horses slipped and fell down. the men's feet were cut and black and blue. it rained many days and snowed nights. they had no houses. before they could start on each day, they had to melt the snow off their goods. the men grew stiff from the wet and the cold. the only way they could get warm was to keep on walking. they had little food. they had only a little corn when they started across the mountains. this was soon gone. there were no animals, no fish, and no roots on the way. they had to kill their horses. they had only horsemeat to eat. the soldiers grew sick. some could hardly stand. but they did not want to turn back. they knew the indians could find the way down to the columbia river. then they could get to the pacific ocean without the indians. so they went on. sud den ly fun salm on watch at the columbia river. at last they got across the mountains and down on the columbia river. the indians who had showed them the way went home again. there were other indians near the columbia. these indians gave the men salmon and roots. they ate so much that they were ill. the captains and all the soldiers were ill. but they started to make canoes to ride down the columbia. they did not get well. so they bought some dogs. they cooked the dogs and ate them. for days they could eat only dog. the indians laughed at them for eating dog. they said, "dogs are good to watch the camp. they are not good to eat. we do not eat them. what poor men these must be to eat dog!" suddenly the captains fired off their guns and a soldier played the fiddle. then the indians stopped laughing. they had never heard a gun before. they had never before heard a fiddle. they thought the white men must be wonderful people to have guns and fiddles. they wished to be friends with such wonderful people. so they did not make fun of them any more. full grass stones how the indians dried salmon. the soldiers left their horses here on the columbia river. they asked the indians to keep them until they should come back from the west. then they started down the river in canoes. on the columbia, the party saw some indians drying salmon. they opened the fish. then they put it in the sun. when it was well dried, they pounded it to powder between two stones. then they put it into a basket. the basket was made of grass. it had dried salmon skin inside. the indians pounded the powdered salmon down hard into the basket. when a basket was full, they put dried salmon skin on the top. then the basket was put where it would keep dry. the salmon powder would keep for years. only one tribe of indians knew how to make it well. the other tribes bought it from them. all the tribes liked it. the white men, too, liked it. gath ered ar row head sum mer wap pa to pond toes the wappato. the party found a root new to them on the lower columbia. the indians called it wappato. captain clark called it arrowhead. the wappato grew all the year. the indian women gathered it. a woman carried a light canoe to a pond. she waded into the pond. she put the canoe on the water. with her toes she pulled up the wappato from the bottom of the pond. the woman caught it and put it in the canoe. she was in the water many hours, summer and winter. when her canoe was full, she put it on her head and carried it home. she roasted the wappato on hot stones. it tasted very good. the soldiers said it was the best root they had tasted. the indian women used to put some wappato in grass baskets and sell it to the tribes up the river. anx ious cheer ful view break ing dis tinct ly shores to the pacific ocean. the party went down the columbia river in canoes. it was a hard trip. it rained all the time. each day the men were wet to the skin. they had to carry their goods around some rapids. they could not be very cheerful. one day it stopped raining for a little time. the low clouds went away. the party saw that the river was very wide. they rowed on. then they saw the great ocean lying in the sun. they became very happy. they cheered and laughed and sang. they rowed on very fast. captain lewis wrote in his book: "ocean in view! o! the joy! we are in view of the ocean, this great pacific ocean, which we have been so long anxious to see. the noise made by the waves breaking on the rocky shores may be heard distinctly." half for got jour ney troub les the pacific ocean. the party saw that they had come to the end of their journey. they had come 4,134 miles from the mouth of the missouri river. it had taken them a year and a half to come. but now they forgot their troubles. they forgot the times they had been hungry. they forgot their cut feet and their black and blue backs. they forgot the bears and the snakes and the mosquitoes. they saw the pacific ocean before them. they sang because they were the first white men to make this journey. they did not care for the troubles going back. they knew that they could go home faster than they had come. and they sang together, "the ocean! the ocean! o joy! o joy!" beach blub ber line thun der clat sop salt whale sand sacajawea on the ocean beach. the party made a winter camp at the mouth of the columbia river. they called it fort clatsop. the indians near-by were the clatsop tribe. these indians gave the whites some whale blubber. they said that a whale was on the ocean beach. captain clark and some men got ready to go to see it. sacajawea came to captain clark and said, "may i go, too? i have come over the mountains with you to find the great water and i have not been to it yet. now i would see the big animal and the great water, too." captain clark was glad to have her go. he wrote in his book that this was the only time she asked for anything. she took her baby on her back and walked with captain clark. when she got near the ocean, she was afraid. the noise seemed to her like thunder. she always had been afraid of thunder. when she saw the waves, she was afraid they would come over the earth. she had never before seen any big body of water. she had seen only rivers and ponds. the ocean looked very big. she would not go near the waves. then captain clark showed her the high water line. he told her that the waves would not go over that line. she sat down on the sand with her baby in her lap. she watched the waves a long time. then she was not afraid. she walked out to the waves. when they came to shore, she ran before them. she let them come over her feet. she took some ocean water in her hand and tasted it. she did not like its salt taste. but she did like to run after the waves. bags oil wood en eight y pork trough the whale. captain clark and his party walked all day before they came to where the whale lay. the waves had carried it up on the shore. it was a very big animal. it was longer than most houses. it was eighty feet long. the indians were cutting it up. they put the meat into a large wooden trough. then they put hot stones into the trough. the hot stones melted out the oil. the indians put the oil into skin bags. they used it to eat with roots and mush. they did not wish to sell the oil. but after a time, they did sell some oil to captain clark. they sold him some blubber, too. the blubber was white and looked like pork fat. the soldiers cooked some and ate it. they liked it very much. sacajawea was happy to see the whale. she walked all around it. she made her baby to look well at it. she told him he might never see one again. the baby did not care for the whale, but he laughed because sacajawea laughed. beau ti ful robe sor ry belt sea-ot ter wear sacajawea's belt. the clatsop chief came to fort clatsop to see the captains. he had on a robe made of two sea-otter skins. the skins were the most beautiful the captains had yet seen. they wanted the chief to sell the robe. he did not want to sell it, as sea-otters are hard to get. they said they would give him anything they had for it. still he would not sell it. sacajawea saw him looking at her blue bead belt. she had made this belt from beads captain clark had given her. she used to wear it all the time. she said to the clatsop chief, "will you sell the robe for my belt?" he said, "yes, i will sell it for the chief beads." the indians called blue beads "chief beads." sacajawea thought a little time. then she gave her belt to him. he put it around his neck. he gave her his sea-otter robe. she gave it to captain clark for a present. she was sorry to give up her belt. the captains had no more blue beads to give her to make another. but she was glad to give captain clark the beautiful sea-otter skins. boiled crust five pairs burned filled kegs treat at fort clatsop. at fort clatsop, the captains wrote in their books. they wrote about all they had seen coming to the pacific. they wrote about things near fort clatsop. they made maps of the land near the missouri river, in the rocky mountains, and on the banks of the columbia. some of the men hunted. they made the skins of animals into clothes and moccasins. they made between three and four hundred pairs of moccasins. they saved these to wear on the way home. five soldiers were sent down to the ocean beach to make salt. each had a big kettle. they filled the kettles with ocean water. they burned a fire under the kettles day and night. in time, the water all boiled away. a crust of salt was left on the inside of the kettles. the soldiers gathered this salt into wooden kegs. it took seven weeks to make enough salt for their journey home. captain lewis wrote, "this salt was a great treat to many of the party." he liked salt very much. captain clark wrote that he did not care if he had salt or not. hand ker chief un der wear wea sel mer ry wak en wel come on christmas day, 1805, the soldiers got up without making any noise. they fired their guns all at one time to waken the captains. then they sang an old christmas song. then they wished the captains "merry christmas." they gave each other presents. captain clark wrote that he had twelve weasel tails, some underwear, some moccasins, and an indian blanket for his christmas presents. he gave a handkerchief or some little present to each man. there was no snow and no ice, but there was much rain. the soldiers had to stay in their log fort all day. they had only poor elk, poor roots, and some bad dried salmon for dinner. but they were cheerful. they danced and sang into the night. on new year's day, they fired their guns to welcome in the new year. they had more to eat than on christmas day. the captains wrote, "our greatest pleasure to-day is thinking about new year's, 1807. then we shall be home." game or der let ters stol en the start home. in march, the elk left the woods near fort clatsop. the soldiers could not get enough to eat. the captains said, "it is time to start home." they bought a canoe with a soldier-coat and some little things. they took another canoe from the clatsops for some elk meat that the indians had stolen. they had not many things left to get food and horses with on the way home. but their guns were in good order. they had good powder and balls. they could kill game on the way. they cut up their big flag into five robes. they could sell them robes for food. the captains gave the clatsops letters to give to any white men who should come there. these letters told about the party's trip out west. they told how they were going back east. the clatsops promised to give these letters to the first white men who should come. then the party said good-bye to the clatsops. this was in the month of march. they started up the columbia river, singing. they were happy because they were going home. awl nee dles skeins cho pun nish ounce thread knit ting-pin rib bon ver mil ion at camp chopunnish. on the way up the columbia, the soldiers killed game. they gave some to the indians for roots. they came to the foot of the mountains in may. there was too much snow then for them to cross they made a camp near the chopunnish indians. they called it camp chopunnish. they sent out to get the horses they had left when camping there before. they tried to get enough food to last them over the mountains. many of the indians were ill. captain clark gave them medicine. they gave him food and horses for the medicine. captain lewis talked with the indian chiefs all day. they promised to let some young indians show the way over the mountains. the captains gave each soldier some of their goods and sent him out to get food. captain lewis wrote that each man had "only one awl and one knittingpin, half an ounce of vermilion, two needles, a few skeins of thread, and a yard of ribbon." two of the men took their goods with them in a canoe. the canoe turned over. they lost all their goods. they just saved their lives. bot tles bush els pris on ers' base box es but tons raft ra ces two other men went up the river with their goods on a horse. the horse slipped down a steep bank into the river. he got safe to the bank across the river. an indian made him swim back to the two soldiers. on the way, most of the goods were lost. the paint melted, and the horse's back was all red. the indians on the bank across the river saw what the soldiers wanted. they loaded some roots and bread on a raft. they tried to cross to the soldiers. a high wind sent the raft on a rock. the raft turned over. the roots and bread were lost. then the captains and men felt unhappy. they cut the buttons from their clothes. they gathered up all the bottles and medicine boxes they had. with these things, two soldiers went out to get food. they got three bushels of roots and some bread. the other men hunted. they dried some meat, and gave some to the indians for roots. they became good friends with the chopunnish indians. they used to run fast races together. both soldiers and indians could run fast. the soldiers took sides and played prisoners' base. ear ly sec ond fold ed means yo me kol lick la ter over the rocky mountains going home. the party wanted to start over the mountains in early june. the indians were not ready to go with them then. the party started to go without the indians. they could not find food for the horses. there was snow all over the ground. they had to turn back and camp where there was grass. a week later the indians were ready to go with them. they started a second time. the indians showed them the way. they found food for the horses each night. the trip across the mountains was not so hard as it had been the year before. now the snow covered all the sharp rocks. the snow was so hard that the horses could walk on it. now they had enough food. all the men had horses. they went many miles each day. all were happy. one of the indians liked captain lewis so much that he gave him his name, "yomekollick." [illustration: yomekollick] this means "white bear-skin folded." the indians thought their names were the best thing they could give to any one. dif fer ent di vide ser vice third good-bye south yel low stone east of the rocky mountains again. before they left the mountains, the captains said: "we will divide our party. then we can go different ways. then we shall see more of the country east of the rocky mountains." so captain lewis and nine men started in a straight line to the falls of the missouri. captain clark and the others went more to the south. sacajawea went with captain clark. the two parties promised to meet again down on the missouri. they said good-bye to each other on july third. on the next day, captain clark wrote that they had a good fourth of july dinner. they had fat deer and roots. then they went on until time to sleep. they had no time to dance now. they were going home. captain lewis and his men pushed on all day. he did not write that they thought of the fourth of july. captain clark sent ten men down the missouri river the way they had come west. he went with sacajawea and ten other men across to the yellowstone river. sacajawea found the way for him. she also found roots good to eat. captain clark wrote that she was of "great service" to him. captain clark's party went down the yellowstone river to the missouri river. here they met two white men. these were the first white men besides themselves that they had seen for a year and four months. they were glad to hear news from the east. soon after they met these white men, captain lewis and the other soldiers came down to them. this was in august. captain lewis had been shot by one of his best men. the man thought that captain lewis was an elk, because his clothes were brown. the man was very sorry for having shot him. captain lewis soon got well. the soldiers were happy to be together again. they forgot their troubles. they went down the missouri, singing. [illustration: the white-fronted goose as drawn by captain lewis in his journal] they were glad they had gone west. they had taken the country for the americans. they had made friends with the indians. they knew where food could be found. they knew about the animals and plants. now other people could find the way from the maps the captains had made. dol lars vil lage sacajawea says good-bye to the soldiers. sacajawea's husband would not go to the captains' home. he wanted to live with the mandans. [illustration: a mandan earth lodge] so sacajawea had to say good-bye to the soldiers. the captains gave her husband five hundred dollars. they did not give sacajawea any money. in those days, people did not think of paying women. all the party were sorry to leave sacajawea and the baby. sacajawea was sorry to stay behind. she stood on the bank of the river watching the soldiers as long as she could see them. the soldiers went down the missouri to its mouth. when they saw the village there, they fired off all their guns. the people came out to see them and cheered that they were home again. cen ten nial port land or e gon for est ry build ing not ed fair hon or stat ue suc cess the centennial. the american people have always been glad that lewis and clark made this long, hard journey. that was just one hundred years ago. in this year of 1905, the american people are holding a centennial fair in honor of the lewis and clark journey. the fair is at portland, oregon, because lewis and clark reached the pacific ocean in oregon. at the fair, there is a statue of sacajawea and her baby. this statue is put there because lewis and clark wrote in their books: "the wonderful bird-woman did a full man's share to make the trip a success, besides taking care of her baby. she was one of the best of mothers." some day, you can read these books for yourself, and learn more about sacajawea and captains lewis and clark. [illustration: the forestry building, lewis and clark centennial] the forestry building is made from the large trees for which oregon is noted. fort clatsop was built from the large trees of oregon, too, but the soldiers did not know how to make such a fine building as this one hundred years ago. generously made available by the internet archive/american libraries.) [illustration: wm clark meriwether lewis] lewis and clark meriwether lewis and william clark by william r. lighton boston and new york houghton, mifflin and company the riverside press, cambridge portland, oregon the j. k. gill company 1905 copyright, 1901, by william r. lighton all rights reserved transcriber's note: the symbol "^" in "miss^ie" is used to indicate that the letters following it are printed in superscript. contents chap. page i. characteristics 1 ii. the expedition 15 iii. terms of the commission 25 iv. the start 34 v. with the sioux 51 vi. to the falls of the missouri 69 vii. over the continental divide 82 viii. the last stage of the westward journey 93 ix. winter on the coast 107 x. homeward: in the mountains 117 xi. recrossing the divide 134 xii. home 142 xiii. after life 149 lewis and clark chapter i characteristics in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806, two men commanded an expedition which explored the wilderness that stretched from the mouth of the missouri river to where the columbia enters the pacific, and dedicated to civilization a new empire. their names were meriwether lewis and william clark. as a rule, one who tries to discover and to set down in order the simple signs that spell the story of a large man's life is confused by a chaos of data. no such trouble arises in this case. there is great poverty of fact and circumstance in the records of the private lives of these men; so careless were they of notoriety, so wholly did they merge themselves in their work. anything like ostentation was foreign to their taste, and to the spirit of their time, which took plain, dutiful heroism as a matter of course. no one knows any "characteristic anecdotes" of meriwether lewis; and the best stories about clark are those preserved in the tribal histories of western indians. the separate identity of the two men is practically lost to all except the careful reader. each had his baptismal name, to be sure; but even their private names are fused, and they are best known to us under the joint style of lewis and clark. in effect they were one and indivisible. for evidence of their individuality we must look to the labors which they performed in common. when, several years after the conclusion of the great expedition, the manuscript journals were being prepared for publication, the editor could not find sufficient material out of which to make a memoir of captain lewis, and was forced to appeal to mr. jefferson for aid; for jefferson had been an early neighbor and friend of the lewis family, and later, on becoming president, had made the lad meriwether his private secretary, and had afterwards appointed him to direct the exploration. the sketch written by mr. jefferson is, like most of his papers, appreciative and vital. it is to this document, dated at monticello, august 18, 1813, that every biographer must have recourse:- "meriwether lewis, late governor of louisiana, was born on the 18th of august, 1774, near the town of charlottesville, in the county of albemarle, in virginia, of one of the distinguished families of that state. john lewis, one of his father's uncles, was a member of the king's council before the revolution. another of them, fielding lewis, married a sister of general washington. his father, william lewis, was the youngest of five sons of colonel robert lewis of albemarle, the fourth of whom, charles, was one of the early patriots who stepped forward in the commencement of the revolution, and commanded one of the regiments first raised in virginia, and placed on continental establishment.... nicholas lewis, the second of his father's brothers, commanded a regiment of militia in the successful expedition of 1776 against the cherokee indians.... this member of the family of the lewises, whose bravery was so usefully proved on this occasion, was endeared to all who knew him by his inflexible probity, courteous disposition, benevolent heart, and engaging modesty and manners. he was the umpire of all the private differences of his county,--selected always by both parties. he was also the guardian of meriwether lewis, of whom we are now to speak, and who had lost his father at an early age. "he (meriwether) continued some years under the fostering care of a tender mother, of the respectable family of meriwethers, of the same county; and was remarkable, even in infancy, for enterprise, boldness, and discretion. "when only eight years of age he habitually went out in the dead of night, alone with his dogs, into the forest to hunt the raccoon and opossum, which, seeking their food in the night, can then only be taken. in this exercise, no season or circumstance could obstruct his purpose--plunging through the winter's snows and frozen streams in pursuit of his object. at thirteen he was put to the latin school, and continued at that until eighteen, when he was returned to his mother, and entered on the cares of his farm; having, as well as a younger brother, been left by his father with a competency for all the correct and comfortable purposes of temperate life. his talent for observation, which led him to an accurate knowledge of the plants and animals of his own country, would have distinguished him as a farmer; but at the age of twenty, yielding to the ardor of youth and a passion for more dazzling pursuits, he engaged as a volunteer in the body of militia which was called out by general washington, on occasion of the discontents produced by the excise taxes in the western parts of the united states [the whiskey rebellion]; and from that station he was removed to the regular service as a lieutenant of the line. at twenty-three he was promoted to a captaincy; and, always attracting the first attention where punctuality and fidelity were requisite, he was appointed paymaster to his regiment." that is about all that is definitely known of lewis's family and early life. it is not much; but it suffices to show that he came of fine, fearless stock, mettlesome and reliant,--the sort of stock that brings forth men of action. the invertebrate vanity of blood is kept out of this story, in accord with the democratic belief of the time that a strong man's ancestors are what he himself makes them. they may have done their part well, but it remains for him to put the finishing touches to their reputation. given a few sturdy souls, quick and willing to serve in time of need, and that was enough of family distinction. behavior, rather than pedigree, made the lewis character. when captain lewis was appointed to command the expedition, he had served mr. jefferson for two years as private secretary. concerning his fitness for public duties, mr. jefferson wrote:- "i had now had opportunities of knowing him intimately. of courage undaunted; possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its direction; careful as a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order and discipline; intimate with the indian character, customs, and principles; habituated to the hunting life; guarded, by exact observation of the vegetables and animals of his own country, against losing time in the description of objects already possessed; honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding, and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves--with all these qualifications, as if selected and implanted by nature in one body for this express purpose, i could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him. to fill up the measure desired, he wanted nothing but a greater familiarity with the technical language of the natural sciences, and readiness in the astronomical observations necessary for the geography of his route. to acquire these, he repaired immediately to philadelphia, and placed himself under the tutorage of the distinguished professors of that place, who, with a zeal and emulation enkindled by an ardent devotion to science, communicated to him freely the information requisite for the purposes of the journey. while attending at lancaster to the fabrication of the arms with which he chose that his men should be provided, he had the benefit of daily communication with mr. andrew ellicott, whose experience in astronomical observation, and practice of it in the woods, enabled him to apprise captain lewis of the wants and difficulties he would encounter, and of the substitutes and resources afforded by a woodland and uninhabited country." it is plain that this astute judge of men reposed perfect confidence in his friend. from january, 1803, when congress sanctioned the undertaking, until may, 1804, when the party set out from st. louis, the young officer had full charge of the intricate and difficult details of preparation. it was he who superintended the building of boats and the making of arms, accoutrements, scientific apparatus, and all equipment; and, what was of more importance, he selected the men who were to form his command. that was a nice matter. it would have been worse than useless to lead a company of fretful dissenters. the expedition was to be conducted on a military basis; but it was not ordinary field service; it was a mission for picked men. much would depend upon each man's natural aptitude for his task; much more would depend upon the integrity of the corps as a whole. the consummate wisdom of lewis's selection of his aids shines from every page of the journals. none of the men seemed to need instruction in the cardinal elements of conduct; each was as sensible of his trust as lewis himself. it was in this spirit of the subordinates, rather than in the absolute authority of the captain, that success was to lie. to guard against untoward accident, that might thwart the work, lewis wished to have a companion in command. this pleased mr. jefferson, and the choice fell upon captain william clark. william clark was the ninth of a family of ten children. his father was john clark, second, who, like his father before him, was a virginian, living in king and queen county. the pioneering spirit was strong in the family,--the _wanderlust_, that keeps man's nature fluid and adaptable. this led john, second, to remove first to albemarle county, and later to caroline county, where william was born on august 1, 1770, not far from the birthplace of meriwether lewis. when the boy was about fourteen years of age, the family moved once more, into the dim west, settling at the place now known as louisville, in kentucky. william's elder brother, george rogers clark, had preceded the others, and had built the first fortification against the indians at the falls of the ohio, around which were clustered a few of the rude dwellings of the frontiersmen. at this place, amidst the crudest conditions of the kentucky border, the lad grew to maturity. that was not an orderly life; it was rather a continuing state of suspense, demanding of those who shared in it constant hardihood and fortitude. for the right-minded man, however, it had incalculable value. many of the strongest examples of our national character have been men who owed the best that was in them to the apparently unkindly circumstances of their youth. what was denied to clark in easy opportunity had ample compensation in the firmness and self-reliance which came from mastering difficulties. to read clark's letters and papers is to discover that his education in the politer branches of learning was as primitive as the surroundings of his home. it is plain that the training which prepared him for manhood was got mostly outside the schoolroom. like lewis, he chose a military career. when he was but eighteen years of age, he was appointed ensign in the regular army; and two years later he was made captain of militia in the town of clarksville, "in the territory of the united states north west of the ohio river." in 1791 he was commissioned as a lieutenant of infantry, under wayne, and served afterward as adjutant and quartermaster. ill health led him to resign his commission in the army in 1796. a few months before his resignation he first became acquainted with meriwether lewis, who, as an ensign, was put under his command. then began one of those generous and enduring friendships that are all too rare amongst men. it is not known just what their private relations were in the mean time; but in 1803, upon lewis's earnest solicitation, captain clark consented to quit his retirement upon his kentucky farm and join in that work which was destined to be but the beginning of his real usefulness. he comes to us out of the dark. we must forego intimate knowledge of his growth, being content with finding him full-grown and ready. no doubt his service in the army, where he was associated with men of ability, had helped him to master many details of engineering craft, which he was to use in his later service. but this was at most incidental; his strength, his power to serve, was native, not acquired. that they might share alike in all particulars of rank and responsibility in the expedition, it was understood that lewis would endeavor to procure for clark a captain's commission. clark wrote to nicholas biddle (the editor of the journals) in 1811:- "on these conditions i agreed to undertake the expedition made my arrangements, and set out, and proceeded on with capt. lewis to the mouth of the missouri where we remained the winter 1803 made every necessary arrangement to set out early in spring 1804 everything arranged i waited with some anxiety for the commission which i had reason to expect (capt. of indioneers [engineers]) a few days before i set out i received a commission of 2d lieutenant of artillerist, my feelings on this occasion was as might be expected. i wished the expedition suckcess, and from the assurence of capt. lewis that in every respect my situation command &c. &c. should be equal to his; viewing the commission as mearly calculated to authorise punishment to the soldiers if necessary, i proceeded. no difficulty took place on our rout relative to this point...." in the very nature of things, personal difficulty of a petty sort could not arise. official rank was as nothing between them. they were capable and loyal; the morale of their party was ideal; and under their guidance was wrought out what has been well called our national epic of exploration. chapter ii the expedition for almost twenty years prior to the organization of the lewis and clark expedition, and long before the general public was more than passively curious upon the subject of louisiana, jefferson had nourished the plan for exploring the louisiana territory. in the memoir above referred to, he wrote:-"while i resided in paris, john ledyard, of connecticut, arrived there, well known in the united states for energy of body and mind. he had accompanied captain cook on his voyage to the pacific ocean, and distinguished himself on that voyage by his intrepidity. being of a roaming disposition, he was now panting for some new enterprise. his immediate object at paris was to engage a mercantile company in the fur trade of the western coast of america, in which, however, he failed. i then proposed to him to go by land to kamchatka, cross in some of the russian vessels to nootka sound, fall down into the latitude of the missouri, and penetrate to and through that to the united states. he eagerly seized the idea, and only asked to be assured of the permission of the russian government." the consent of the empress of russia was obtained, together with an assurance of protection while the course of travel lay across her territory; and ledyard set out. while he was yet two hundred miles from kamchatka, winter overtook him, and there he was forced to remain through many months. in the spring, as he was preparing to go on, he was put under arrest. the empress, exercising the inalienable right of sovereign womanhood, had changed her mind. the reason for this change is not apparent. there may have been no reason more potent than international jealousy, which was lively in those days. at any rate, ledyard was put into a close carriage and conveyed to poland, traveling day and night, without once stopping. he was left in poland penniless and broken in body and spirit, and soon afterward died. later, in 1792, jefferson proposed to the american philosophical society that a subscription be raised to engage some one to ascend the missouri, cross the mountains, and descend to the pacific. in order to preclude alarm to the indians or to other nations, it was intended that this expedition should consist of only two persons. meriwether lewis, then eighteen years of age, begged to have this commission, and it was given him. his one companion was to be a french botanist, andrã© michaux. the journey was actually begun, when it was discovered that michaux was residing in the united states in the capacity of a spy. once again the plan was deferred. "in 1803," wrote mr. jefferson, "the act for establishing trading houses with the indian tribes being about to expire, some modifications of it were recommended to congress by a confidential message of january 18th, and an extension of its views to the indians of the missouri. in order to prepare the way, the message proposed the sending an exploring party to trace the missouri to its source, to cross the highlands, and follow the best water communication which offered itself from thence to the pacific ocean. congress approved the proposition, and voted a sum of money for carrying it into execution. captain lewis, who had then been near two years with me as private secretary, immediately renewed his solicitations to have the direction of the party." naturally, mr. jefferson was strongly inclined to intrust this work to his friend lewis. their official and private relations had been intimate; mr. jefferson had had ample opportunities for testing the fibre of the young man's character under strain; besides, lewis's confidential position had no doubt made him acquainted with the inner details of the plan, its broader significance, and the political obstacles to be overcome in carrying it into effect. aside from his temperamental disposition for such an enterprise, his public service had strengthened his grasp of national interests; enthusiasm for adventure had been supplemented by maturity of judgment in affairs of state. altogether, a better man for the place could not have been found. to carry out the work of the organized expedition would consist largely in surmounting physical difficulties; but to organize it and get it fairly started demanded considerable delicacy of diplomatic contrivance. the life of the nation, as it sought to expand and take form, was beset and harassed, north, south, and west, by international complications growing out of direct contact with unfriendly neighbors. in that day the united states did not sustain cordial relations with any of the strong nations of the world. the internal machinery of the new government was not yet in perfect adjustment; domestic crises were constantly recurring; permanence of democratic forms and methods was not by any means assured; the country had not established an indisputable right to be reckoned with in matters of international concern. russia alone, of all the powers, was considered as friendly. even in that case, however, there was nothing warmer than watchful neutrality. russian and american interests had not yet conflicted. the british, through the strong trading companies of canada, were hot for getting control of the indian traffic of the northwest--indeed, their prestige was already quite firmly fixed, and they were on their guard against any semblance of encroachment upon that domain of activity. this condition, coupled with other and acuter differences, made it highly probable that england would not take kindly to the expedition, should its object be openly avowed. spanish opposition would be even stronger. spain had but lately surrendered possession of the louisiana territory, whence her agents had for a long time derived large revenues from the indian trade, after the age-long manner she has pursued in dealing with her colonies and dependencies. spain still held the floridas, practically controlling the commerce of the gulf and the navigation of the mississippi; so that, while the people of the united states asserted the right of dã©pã´t at new orleans and the further right of passage of the river throughout its length, their enjoyment of these rights was precarious. further, though the crown had transferred the territory west of the mississippi, its subjects had not quit their efforts for supremacy in trade; their influence long outlived the extinction of territorial rights. bitterly hostile to the growth of american ideas, they would certainly do what they could to oppose the expedition. it was with france, however, that our government had to deal directly. in 1800 napoleon had acquired title to louisiana, trading with spain, giving in exchange the little kingdom of etruria. but his control of the territory was more tacit than actual; he was so busily engaged at home that he found no time to reduce his property to possession; his dominion west of the mississippi was never more than potential. war between france and england was imminent. napoleon had in america no adequate means for defending his new domain, which would therefore be likely to fall into the hands of the british at once upon the outbreak of war. he was growing anxious to be rid of the load. jefferson thought it probable that the territory would one day belong to the united states,--indeed, negotiations were pending for the transfer when the "confidential communication" to congress was written, in january, 1803. although the outcome was still problematical, jefferson considered that the proper time for discovering what the land held; and this was the primary purpose of the lewis and clark expedition. for all of these reasons, and more, it was deemed necessary to cover from general view the real character of the enterprise. the appropriation by congress was made for the ostensible and innocent purpose of "extending the external commerce of the united states." in his letter to congress, which was for a long time kept secret, mr. jefferson said that france would regard this as in the nature of a "literary pursuit," and that whatever distrust she might feel would be allayed. but, though his ulterior purposes were sought to be concealed, the powers of france no doubt knew well enough what was in the wind. it was on june 30, 1803, that jefferson gave to captain lewis detailed instructions for the conduct of his work. in the meantime (on april 30th), treaties had been signed at paris, ceding louisiana to the united states. that was a distinct triumph for american statecraft. on the one hand were ranged napoleon, talleyrand, and marbois; on the other, jefferson, livingston, and monroe. the french were at a disadvantage; their position was that of holding perishable goods, which must be sold to avoid catastrophe. napoleon said, not without reason, that the government of the united states availed itself of his distress incident to the impending struggle with england. however that may be, the territory changed owners for a consideration of $15,000,000. formal notification of the transfer was not received in washington until the early part of july, when active preparations for the exploration were being made. its receipt did not alter the character of the expedition, though many of the international complications were dissipated. thereafter the work was purely domestic in most of its aspects. chapter iii terms of the commission mr. jefferson's instructions to the young officer showed his own farsighted earnestness. had he who received them been any less in earnest, the task assigned to him must have seemed appalling. the primary instruction was to blaze a path, more than four thousand miles long, through an unstudied wilderness. it was conceived that this could best be done by following the missouri to its head waters, crossing "the highlands" to the navigable waters of the columbia, and going down that river to the pacific; but this was only conjectural. the map in the hands of the explorers, the only basis for a preliminary outline of their route, was drawn partly from hearsay, partly from imagination; it showed the source of the missouri to be somewhere in central california; it showed nothing of the mighty barrier of the rocky mountains. there was one thin, uncertain line of hills, far to the west, that might have been the sierra nevadas; further than that there was nothing but a broad interior plain, seamed with rivers. practically nothing was known of the difficulties that would be encountered. white men had ventured for a little way up the missouri in earlier years, to carry on a desultory fur-trade with the indians; but these traders had been mostly happy-go-lucky frenchmen, who had taken but little thought for the morrow. they had no trustworthy information to give that would be of service to scientific travelers. so far as sure knowledge of it was concerned, the land was virgin, and lewis and clark were to be its discoverers. they were directed to explore it in detail. observations of latitude and longitude were to be made at all points of particular interest. the native nations and tribes encountered along the way were to be studied with care, and record preserved of their names and numbers; the extent and boundaries of their possessions; their relations with other tribes and nations; their language, traditions, and monuments; their occupations, implements, food, clothing, and domestic accommodations; their diseases and methods of cure; their physical, social, moral, and religious peculiarities and customs; their ideas and practice of commerce, and the possibility of extending among them the influences of civilization,--in short, every circumstance was to be noted which might render future relations with these people intelligent. particular attention was to be given to the state of feeling toward the whites, in those tribes which had had experience with the traders. should the expedition succeed in reaching the pacific, the conditions of trade upon the coast were to form a subject of special inquiry. along the route full observations were directed to be made concerning the face of the country,--the contour of the land; the character and course of streams, their suitability as avenues of commerce, and the means of communication between them; and also the points best adapted to the establishment of trading-stations and fortifications. the conditions of agricultural development were to be noted as fully as might be,--soil, water-supply, climate, and change of seasons; and also the natural resources of the country, vegetable, animal, and mineral. nothing was to be neglected, knowledge of which might contribute to the success or security of later enterprise. "in all your intercourse with the natives," wrote mr. jefferson, "treat them in the most friendly and conciliatory manner which their own conduct will admit; allay all jealousies as to the object of your journey; satisfy them of its innocence; make them acquainted with the position, extent, character, peaceable and commercial dispositions of the united states; of our wish to be neighborly, friendly, and useful to them, and of our dispositions to a commercial intercourse with them; confer with them on the points most convenient as mutual emporiums, and the articles of most desirable interchange for them and us. if a few of their influential chiefs, within practicable distance, wish to visit us, arrange such a visit with them, and furnish them with authority to call on our officers, on their entering the united states, to have them conveyed to this place at the public expense. if any of them should wish to have some of their people brought up with us, and taught such arts as may be useful to them, we will receive, instruct, and take care of them." as it could not be foreseen in what manner the travelers would be received by the indians, whether with hospitality or hostility, captain lewis was told to use his own discretion as to persevering with the enterprise in the face of opposition; and he was also told that should he succeed in getting through to the pacific, he might choose his own means for getting back again,--shipping by way of cape horn or the cape of good hope, if chance offered; or, in the absence of such opportunity, returning overland. a precious liberty, truly, when read in the light of the facts! the instructions concluded with this frank paragraph:-"as you will be without money, clothes, or provisions, you must endeavor to use the credit of the united states to obtain them; for which purpose open letters of credit shall be furnished you, authorizing you to draw on the executive of the united states, or any of its officers, in any part of the world in which drafts can be disposed of, and to apply with our recommendations to the consuls, agents, merchants, or citizens of any nation with which we have intercourse, assuring them in our name that any aids they may furnish you shall be honorably repaid, and on demand." as events transpired, that paragraph was almost ironical. a letter of credit directed to the man in the moon would have served quite as well. the two redoubtable captains were to be soldiers, sailors, explorers, geographers, ethnologists, botanists, geologists, chemists, diplomats, missionaries, financiers, and historians; also cooks, tailors, shoemakers, hunters, trappers, fishermen, scouts, woodcutters, boatbuilders, carpenters, priests, and doctors. from the time they left st. louis, in may, 1804, until they returned to that place, in september, 1806, the men were cut off from civilization and all its aids, and left to work out their own salvation. not for one moment were they dismayed; not in a single particular did they fail to accomplish what had been assigned to them. the congressional appropriation for the purposes of the expedition was based upon an estimate made by captain lewis himself, which is so refreshing as to deserve literal quotation:- _recapitulation of an estimate of the sum necessary to carry into effect the miss^ie expedition_ mathematical instruments $ 217 arms and accoutrements extraordinary 81 camp ecquipage 255 medicine and packing 55 means of transportation 430 indian presents 696 provisions extraordinary 224 materials for making up the various articles into portable packs 55 for the pay of hunters, guides and interpreters 300 in silver coin, to defray the expences of the party from nashville to the last white settlement on the missisourie 100 contingencies 87 ---- total $2500 eighty-seven dollars for the contingencies of a twenty-eight months' journey of discovery, more than eight thousand miles in length, with a company of forty-five men, and through a land literally unknown! captain lewis set out from washington in july, 1803, and was joined by captain clark at louisville, whence they proceeded to the rendezvous on the mississippi, near st. louis. they intended to embark upon their course in the autumn; but several delays occurred, of one sort and another, and the party was not assembled until december. the officers wished to establish winter quarters at the last white settlement on the missouri, a few miles above st. louis; but the spanish governor of the territory had not yet learned of the change in ownership, and would not suffer them to proceed. this compelled them to remain in the lower camp until spring. the winter months were not lost, however; they were passed in drilling and instructing the men in the details of the work before them, thus greatly increasing their efficiency and no doubt obviating delays at later times. chapter iv the start as it was first organized, the party consisted of twenty-nine members,--the two officers, nine young kentuckians, fourteen soldiers of the regular army who had volunteered to accompany the expedition, two french watermen, an interpreter and hunter, and a negro servant of captain clark. at st. louis there were sixteen additional recruits,--an indian hunter and interpreter, and fifteen boatmen, who were to go as far as the villages of the mandan nation. this brought the total to forty-five. a broadly inclusive statement must suffice to characterize the non-commissioned men. they were brave, sturdy, able; amenable to discipline, yet full of original resource; ideal subordinates, yet almost every one fitted by nature for command, if occasion should arise. they proved themselves equal to all emergencies. at least five of these men kept journals, and no better index to their character need be asked than that afforded by the manuscript records. if ever there was temptation to color and adorn a narrative with the stuff that makes travelers' tales attractive, it was here; yet in none of the journals is there to be found a departure from plain, simple truth-telling. their matter-of-fact tone would render them almost commonplace, if the reader did not take pains to remember what it all meant. nowhere is there anything like posing for effect; the nearest approach to it is in the initial entry in the diary of that excellent irishman, private patrick gass,--and parts of this have been branded as apocryphal, the interpolation of an enthusiastic editor:- "on monday, 14 of may, 1804, we left our establishment at the mouth of the river du bois, or wood river, a small river which falls into the mississippi, on the east side, a mile below the missouri, and having crossed the mississippi proceeded up the missouri on our intended voyage of discovery, under the command of captain clarke. captain lewis was to join us in two or three days on our passage.... the expedition was embarked on board a batteau and two periogues. the day was showery, and in the evening we encamped on the north bank, six miles up the river. here we had leisure to reflect on our situation, and the nature of our engagements: and as we had all entered this service as volunteers, to consider how far we stood pledged for the success of an expedition which the government had projected; and which had been undertaken for the benefit and at the expence of the union: of course of much interest and high expectation. "the best authenticated accounts informed us that we were to pass through a country possessed by numerous, powerful, and warlike nations of savages, of gigantic stature, fierce, treacherous, and cruel; and particularly hostile to white men. and fame had united with tradition in opposing mountains to our course, which human enterprize and exertion would attempt in vain to pass. the determined and resolute character, however, of the corps, and the confidence which pervaded all ranks dispelled every emotion of fear and anxiety for the present; while a sense of duty, and of the honor which would attend the completion of the object of the expedition; a wish to gratify the expectations of the government, and of our fellow-citizens, with the feelings which novelty and discovery invariably inspire, seemed to insure to us ample support in our future toils, suffering, and danger." in captain clark's journal there is nothing of this sort. the opening entry is a bare memorandum of latitude and longitude, a note as to the appearance of the river banks, and a statement of the number of miles covered during the day,--a memorable achievement in modesty. of the boats in which the party was embarked, the batteau was a keel-vessel fifty-five feet in length, carrying a large square sail, and manned by twenty-two oars. in the bow and stern, ten-foot decks formed forecastle and cabin; and in the middle part were lockers, whose tops could be raised to form a line of breastworks along either gunwale, in case of attack from indians. the "periogues" were open boats, manned by six and seven oars. besides these conveyances for the men and baggage, horses were led along the banks of the river, to be used by the hunters in their daily occupations and for service in emergency. the officers had observed the wise rule of travelers, and had sought to simplify their equipment to the last degree. the name of lower missouri attached to that part of the river between its mouth and the entrance of the platte. over so much of the route the expedition passed quietly. a few notes from the journals will suffice to show the nature of the daily labors. may 16th the party stopped at the village of st. charles, a typical french settlement of the frontier, twenty-one miles above st. louis; and under that date occurs this admirable note:-"the inhabitants, about 450 in number, are chiefly descendants from the french of canada. in their manners they unite all the careless gayety and amiable hospitality of the best times of france. yet, like most of their countrymen in america, they are but little qualified for the rude life of the frontier,--not that they are without talent, for they possess much natural genius and vivacity; not that they are destitute of enterprise, for their hunting excursions are long, laborious, and hazardous; but their exertions are all desultory; their industry is without system and without perseverance. the surrounding country, therefore, though rich, is not generally well cultivated; the inhabitants chiefly subsist by hunting and trade with the indians, and confine their culture to gardening, in which they excel." it would be difficult to find a juster or more accurate characterization of the french as pioneers. although in the early days of settlement along the mississippi and its tributaries they outnumbered the people of other nations, they made no deep impression. they got along admirably while they were sustained by the tonic-stimulus of excitement and variety; but when that was removed, they found the conquest of even the richest of lands too dull for their tastes. lacking stability of nature, they could not achieve solid results in prosaic labor. they did not so much as lay a foundation for the serious builders of after years. may 22d, in camp on good man's river, the party made its first trade with indians. some kickapoos were engaged to procure provisions; they brought in four deer, and were given in return two quarts of whiskey, which they considered ample requital. "may 25th.... stopped for the night at the entrance of a creek on the north side, called by the french la charette, ten miles from our last camp, and a little above a small village of the same name. it consists of seven small houses, and as many poor families, who have fixed themselves here for the convenience of trade. they form the last establishment of whites on the missouri." la charette was one of the earliest colonies, and famous as the far western home of daniel boone. there that immortal frontiersman passed the last years of his life, in the sweet luxury of quiet and freedom; and there he died in the year 1820. throughout those first weeks the journals breathe content. every man was abundantly pleased with his work and his lot; game was plentiful, in great variety; the difficulties to be overcome were no more than those attending the navigation of a swift and turbulent river, whose erratic channel was filled with sand-bars and dead timber. the travelers were enjoying a typical prairie season of the lower altitudes, which makes an ideal setting for outdoor life. here and there they came in contact with friendly bands of indians; occasionally they encountered boats upon the river, manned by traders, who were drifting with the current to st. louis, bearing the plunder of a season's traffic. upon the banks of the stream were many tokens of the inconstancy of purpose of the border life,--abandoned sites of indian villages and deserted fortifications that had been erected by traders to serve for temporary convenience and protection. nowhere was there a sign of the american interpretation of the word "enterprise." on june 26th they reached the mouth of the kansas river, now marked by kansas city. there they camped for two days; there they fell in with the kansas indians, with whom they held a pacific conference; and there the hunters met for the first time with buffalo. forty-three days had been consumed in crossing what is now the state of missouri. july 26th camp was made at the mouth of the platte river, six hundred miles from st. louis, where the town of plattsmouth, neb., stands; and that date marked a radical change in the duties and conduct of the expedition. the disposition of the indians of the lower missouri was already pretty well known, so that no time had been spent in establishing relations with them. they were still mostly unspoiled savages, to be sure; but they were acquainted with the appearance of the whites, at least, and their bearing toward traders and colonists had been for the most part decent. but the situation upon the upper missouri was altogether different. although the problem might not be definitely stated, because many of its factors were unknown, it could be foreseen that a solution would tax the genius of civilization. the dominant nations of the plains indians--those whose numerical strength and war-like character made them feared by their neighbors--had their domain above the platte. the sioux in particular had a mighty reputation, established by treachery and ferocity in war. their history recorded a constant succession of cruel wars, most of which had had no justification save in arrogance and bloody-mindedness. they did not want to live at peace; for peace signified to them a state of craven inanition. the mission of lewis and clark was directed pointedly against that manner of behavior; they were not only to secure themselves against hostility, but were also to endeavor to reconcile the warring tribes and nations to one another. that was an undertaking calling for a high degree of tact and courage. from a camp a few miles above the platte, where the party remained for several days, messengers were sent to the villages of the pawnees and otoes, fifty miles to the westward, bearing gifts, with an invitation to a council. through wars and other disasters, the otoes were then much reduced in numbers, as in almost every item of the savage code of efficiency and independence. in their weakened state they had formed an alliance with the pawnees,--a primitive adaptation of the idea of a protectorate. the pawnees had considerable strength, and they were in character much above the indian average, living in permanent villages, where they sustained themselves by cultivating cornfields and hunting the buffalo. after carefully reconnoitring the lower platte valley and the surrounding country, the expedition passed onward, traveling slowly to allow the indians to overtake them. on the 27th they passed the present site of omaha; and on the 30th encamped at a point twelve or fifteen miles to the north. it was this camp, pitched where the village of calhoun, neb., now stands, that received the name of council bluff, which was later appropriated by an iowa town. here, on august 2d, appeared a small band of otoes and missouris, with a frenchman who resided among them. presents were exchanged, and the officers requested a council upon the following morning. "august 3d. this morning the indians, with their six chiefs, were all assembled under an awning formed with the mainsail, in presence of all our party, paraded for the occasion. a speech was then made announcing to them the change in the government, our promise of protection, and advice as to their future conduct. all the six chiefs replied to our speech, each in his turn, according to rank. they expressed their joy at the change in the government; their hopes that we would recommend them to their great father (the president), that they might obtain trade and necessaries; they wanted arms as well for hunting as for defense, and asked our mediations between them and the mahas, with whom they are now at war. we promised to do so, and wished some of them to accompany us to that nation, which they declined, for fear of being killed by them. we then proceeded to distribute our presents. the grand chief of the nation not being of the party, we sent him a flag, a medal, and some ornaments for clothing. to the six chiefs who were present, we gave a medal of the second grade to one otoe chief and one missouri chief; a medal of the third grade to two inferior chiefs of each nation--the customary mode of recognizing a chief being to place a medal round his neck, which is considered among his tribe as a proof of his consideration abroad. each of these medals was accompanied by a present of paint, garters, and cloth ornaments of dress; and to these we added a canister of powder, a bottle of whiskey, and a few presents to the whole, which appeared to make them perfectly satisfied. the air-gun, too, was fired, and astonished them greatly...." this was the first important conference with the natives. if it was not rich in results, it served at least the temporary purpose of putting these allied tribes in a good humor by satisfying their sense of their own dignity. nothing more was to be expected. it is well to say outright, as a commentary upon all meetings such as this, that no council with indians, however ceremonious or solemn, has results more permanent than those which attend the purely diplomatic relations of civilized nations. in all our intercourse with the indians, from the very beginning, too much stress has been laid upon the importance and the binding obligation of formal pow-wows. we have been unduly conscious of our own cunning, while undervaluing the craft that is native to all wild peoples; we have too often lost sight of the one really imperative element in any compact that is to be effective and enduring,--mutuality of honorable purpose. most men, whether civilized or savage, can appreciate honest motives and behavior; and so can they detect dishonest wiles and artifices. lewis and clark knew well enough what was before them. the indians' past experience with the light-minded french and the evil-minded spanish adventurers of the border had left a deep impression; it had made them wary, if not distrustful, of white men's protestations. this impression was not to be removed by merely sitting around in a circle and making speeches; it could only be removed by long and intimate association in the affairs of actual life. if the whites meant well, they would do well, argued the indians. to do well was a matter of time. the most that lewis and clark hoped for was to establish peace with the natives, to prepare the way for confidence and trust. meanwhile they knew that they would need to be constantly upon their guard. on august 19th one of the non-commissioned officers, sergeant charles floyd, was taken ill, and on the next day he died. this was the only death to occur in the party throughout the course of the expedition. the entries in captain clark's journals for those two days are thoroughly characteristic of him:-"august 19.... serjeant loyd is taken verry bad all at once with a biliose chorlick we attempt to reliev him without success as yet, he gets worse and we are much allarmed at his situation, all attention to him...." "august 20.... sergeant floyd much weaker and no better.... died with a great deel of composure, before his death he said to me 'i am going away i want you to write me a letter.' we buried him on the top of the bluff one-half mile below a small river to which we gave his name, he was buried with the honors of war much lamented, a seeder post with the name sergt. c. floyd died here 20th august, 1804, was fixed at the head of his grave--this man at all times gave us proofs of his firmness and determined resolution to doe service to his countrey and honor to himself after paying all the honor to our decesed brother we camped in the mouth of floyds river about thirty yards wide, a butifull evening." upon the death of floyd, private patrick gass was made a sergeant,--a wise choice, determined by the votes of the men. besides the death of floyd, but one other incident occurred in the twenty-eight months to affect the integrity of the corps. a man had deserted on august 4th; two weeks later he had been recaptured; and for the 28th there is this entry in captain clark's journal:-"proceeded to the trial of reed, he confessed that he 'deserted & stold a public rifle shot-pouch powder & ball' and requested we would be as favorable to him as we could consistently with our oathes--which we were and only sentenced him to run the gantlet four times through the party and that each man with 9 switchies should punish him & for him not to be considered in future as one of the party." so stanch were the men in their allegiance, and so trustworthy in the performance of their duties, that in only one other place in all the journals is there mention of an act of discipline. chapter v with the sioux toward the end of august the party reached the sioux country. some of the tribes of this nation were known to be friendly toward the whites, while others had acquired a manner overbearing and insolent, inspired by the inferior numbers of the traders who had visited them in the past, and by the subservient attitude which these had assumed. from such tribes there was good reason to anticipate opposition, or even open hostility. but the specific nature of their mission made the officers desirous of a personal meeting with all tribes, irrespective of their past reputation. there is a saying familiar to western folk: "show an indian that you are afraid of him, and he will give you reason for fear." the travelers were not afraid. they adopted the custom of the traders and set fire to the dry grasses of the prairie, intending that the smoke should notify the indians of their approach and summon them to the river. shortly before this they had encountered upon the river one pierre dorion, a half-breed son of the notable old dorion, whose fame is celebrated in irving's "astoria." this man was then on his way to st. louis, but was persuaded to return with the expedition to his home among the sioux, there to act as interpreter and intermediary, in which service he proved useful. relations with the sioux began on the 29th of august. the meeting was attended with elaborate ceremonies. one of the non-commissioned officers was dispatched with dorion to a village twelve miles distant from the camp, taking presents of tobacco, corn, and cooking utensils. in view of the later history of the sioux, and because of the intrinsic charm of the narrative, the story of this encounter is quoted at length from mr. biddle's well-edited version:-"august 29th.... sergeant pryor reported that on reaching their village, he was met by a party with a buffalo-robe, on which they desired to carry their visitors,--an honor which they declined, informing the indians that they were not the commanders of the boats. as a great mark of respect, they were then presented with a fat dog, already cooked, of which they partook heartily, and found it well flavored.... "august 30th.... we prepared a speech and some presents, and then sent for the chiefs and warriors, whom we received, at twelve o'clock, under a large oak tree, near which the flag of the united states was flying. captain lewis delivered a speech, with the usual advice and counsel for their future conduct. we acknowledged their chiefs, by giving to the grand chief a flag, a medal, a certificate, and a string of wampum; to which we added a chief's coat--that is, a richly laced uniform of the united states artillery corps, with a cocked hat and red feather. one second chief and three inferior ones were made or recognized by medals, a suitable present of tobacco, and articles of clothing. we smoked the pipe of peace, and the chiefs retired to a bower formed of bushes by their young men, where they divided among one another the presents, smoked, eat, and held a council on the answer which they were to make us to-morrow. the young people exercised their bows and arrows in shooting at marks for beads, which we distributed to their best marksmen. in the evening the whole party danced until a late hour, and, in the course of their amusement, we threw among them some knives, tobacco, bells, tape, and binding, with which they were much pleased.... "august 31st. in the morning, after breakfast, the chiefs met and sat down in a row, with pipes of peace highly ornamented; all pointed toward the seats intended for captains lewis and clark. when they arrived and were seated, the grand chief, whose indian name weucha is in english shake hand, and in french is called le liberateur (the deliverer), rose and spoke at some length, approving what we had said, and promising to follow our advice. 'i see before me,' said he, 'my great father's two sons. you see me and the rest of our chiefs and warriors. we are very poor; we have neither powder, nor ball, nor knives; and our women and children at the village have no clothes. i wish that as my brothers have given me a flag and a medal, they would give something to those poor people, or let them stop and trade with the first boat which comes up the river. i will bring chiefs of the pawnees and mahas together, and make peace between them; but it is better that i should do it than my great father's sons, for they will listen to me more readily. i will also take some chiefs to your country in the spring; but before that time i cannot leave home. i went formerly to the english, and they gave me a medal and some clothes; when i went to the spanish, they gave me a medal, but nothing to keep it from my skin; but now you give me a medal and clothes. but still we are poor; and i wish, brothers, that you would give us something for our squaws.' ... "they promised to make peace with the otoes and missouris, the only nations with whom they are now at war. all these harangues concluded by describing the distress of the nation; they begged us to have pity on them; to send them traders; they wanted powder and ball, and seemed anxious that we should supply them with some of their great father's milk, the name by which they distinguished ardent spirits." these were the yanktons, one of the important tribes of the great sioux nation. the yanktons have always been known to the whites as a people of distinction, shrewd, artful, good hunters, good fighters, and altogether quite able to take care of themselves. in their inmost hearts, they were vain of their prestige amongst their inferior neighbors; nor did they really acknowledge the superiority of the whites. their speeches must be taken as declarations of momentary policy, and not of fixed principles. further, they did not express the thought of the tribe as a whole, but only the inclinations of those chiefs who were for the time in authority, and whose word was for that time the tribal law. the bearing of the yanktons, as of almost every other indian tribe, has been modified or altogether changed, time and again, under the will of successive chiefs. the attention of the expedition was not wholly engrossed with the indians. from day to day the journals are filled with careful and valuable notes upon the natural history and physical geography of the land, about which nothing had as yet been written. under the date of september 7th there occurs a good description of the prairie-dog; and on the 17th the antelope of the western plains was described. both of these animals were then unknown to science. september 25th the party walked close to the edge of catastrophe, when they met with another tribe of the sioux,--the tetons. this was the first occasion for an exhibition of the fighting temper of the men. in describing the encounter, captain clark's journal is as usual picturesque and graphic:-"envited the chiefs on board to show them our boat & such curiossities as was strange to them, we gave them 1/4 a glass of whiskey which they appeared to be verry fond of, sucked the bottle after it was out & soon began to be troublesom, one the 2d chief assumeing drunkness, as a cloaki for his rascally intentions. i went with those chiefs (which left the boat with great reluctiance) to shore with a view of reconseleing those men to us, as soon as i landed the perogue three of their young men seased the cable of the perogue, the chiefs soldr. huged the mast, and the 2d chief was verry insolent both in words & justures declareing i should not go on, stateing he had not received presents sufficient from us, his justures were of such a personal nature i felt myself compeled to draw my sword, at this motion capt. lewis ordered all under arms in the boat, those with me also showed a disposition to defend themselves and me, the grand chief then took hold of the roap & ordered the young warrers away, i felt myself warm & spoke in very positive terms. we proceeded about 1 mile & anchored out off a willow island placed a guard on shore to protect the cooks & a guard in the boat, fastened the perogues to the boat, i call this island bad humered island as we were in a bad humer." the journals for the next day say:-"our conduct yesterday seemed to have inspired the indians with fear of us, and as we were desirous of cultivating their acquaintance, we complied with their wish that we should give them an opportunity of treating us well, and also suffer their squaws and children to see us and our boat, which would be perfectly new to them. accordingly ... we came to on the south side, where a crowd of men, women and children were waiting to receive us. captain lewis went on shore and remained several hours; and observing that their disposition was friendly, we resolved to remain during the night for a dance, which they were preparing for us." the two officers were received on shore by ten well-dressed young men, who took them up in a decorated robe and carried them in state to the council-house. there the pipe of peace was smoked, a ceremonious dog-feast was prepared; the chieftains delivered themselves of speeches, divided between fawning adulation and flamboyant boasting; and then came a sort of state ball, which continued until midnight. the next morning the travelers were suffered to proceed. that was a notable encounter. the tetons have always been counted among the most irresponsible villains of their race, treacherous by first impulse, murderous by strongest inclination, thievish according to opportunity, combining the effrontery of italian beggars with the boldness begotten by their own sanguinary history. yet this determined little band faced them in the heart of their own land, and overawed them. for many days thereafter, parties of the tetons appeared from time to time upon the river banks, following the boats, begging, threatening, doing everything in their power to harass the advance. no doubt they had already repented of their brief show of decency, and would have made an open demonstration had they dared. through those days the men generally encamped upon islands or sand-bars in mid-stream, deeming it wise to avoid further contact with the tribe. it was a decided relief to get beyond their territory. on october 10th they reached the land of the ricaras, a tribe whose conduct, in all domestic and foreign relations, was in striking contrast to that of the sioux, and indeed almost unique. the ricaras could not be induced to drink whiskey! soon after the arrival at the ricara villages, one of the privates was tried by court-martial for some act of insubordination, and was sentenced to be publicly whipped. the execution of the sentence "affected the indian chief very sensibly, for he cried aloud during the punishment." when the matter was explained to him, "he acknowledged that examples were necessary, and that he himself had given them by punishing with death; but his nation never whipped even children from their birth." universal sobriety, and compassionate tears from the eyes of a warrior! surely, that tribe was curious. by the last of october the travelers came to the camps of the mandans and minnetarees, 1600 miles from st. louis; and there, being warned by the calendar and by cold, they prepared to take up winter quarters. their first care was to find a suitable place for building log cabins and fortifications. with this work the men were engaged until november 20th, when fort mandan was completed and occupied. meanwhile, the officers had sought to extend acquaintance among the indians, and to establish confidence and bring them into sympathy with the new conditions of government. so far as pledges were concerned, they were fairly successful; the indians received them hospitably. the mandans had once been a powerful nation, living in numerous villages down the river; but continued wars with the sioux, coupled with sad ravages of the small-pox, had reduced them to an insignificant number, and compelled them to remove out of easy reach of their strongest enemies. when lewis and clark came upon them, they formed only a trifling souvenir of their past grandeur; they had then but two poor villages at this remote site, where they lived in a precarious hand-to-mouth fashion, having no allies but a small force of minnetarees near by. but fate had managed the matter very well, no doubt, in depriving these people of effective strength in war; for at this time the head chief of the minnetaree villages was a man who, given opportunity, would have made the river run red with the blood of his enemies. this was le borgne, a one-eyed old despot, of surpassing cruelty and bloodthirstiness, whose very name, even in his present position, would compel a shiver of apprehension. a chief such as he, at the head of forces matched to his ferocious desires, would have changed the history of the upper missouri. as it was, he spent most of his villainous instincts for his own private amusement,--occasionally slaughtering one of his warriors who had given him displeasure, or butchering a couple of his wives whose society had grown irksome; and between times he leered with his solitary evil eye upon the traders, contriving ways for getting whiskey with which to bait his passions. the british traders of the hudson bay and northwest companies had long before secured a strong foothold in this territory, and had sought by every means to monopolize the traffic. the ubiquitous french were there also, domiciled in the villages, and some of them had taken squaws to wife. with schooling from such as these, old le borgne had cut his wisdom teeth; he had made himself master of many low tricks and subtleties practiced by white traders and vagabonds; he was as skillful as the best of them in making promises, and as skillful as the worst in breaking them. he was a scamp, and a blackguard. lewis and clark succeeded directly in effecting a treaty of peace between the mandans and ricaras, and among other small tribes of the region round about; but they were powerless in trying to reconcile these people to the sioux, who were the bogie-men of the plains, and who conducted themselves in every affair of peace or war with the arrogance of incontestable power. not death itself could extinguish the hatred that was felt for them by the weaker tribes, compelled to skulk and tremble. early in november the officers received a visit from two squaws, who had been taken prisoners by the mandans, many years before, in a war with the snake indians of the rocky mountains. one of these squaws was named sacajawea, the "bird woman"; she had been but a child at the time of her capture, when she had been taken to the mandan villages and there sold to a frenchman, known as chaboneau, who kept her until she reached womanhood and then married her. she was destined to play a considerable part in the later work of the expedition, and to lend to it one of its few elements of true romance. the winter was passed busily, but for the most part quietly. the men suffered no serious deprivation. game was abundant; and one member of the party, who was a good amateur blacksmith, set up a small forge, where he turned out a variety of tools, implements, and trinkets, which were traded to the indians for corn. everything went well. the officers were as busy as the men, and their occupations were varied and vital. they found difficulty in getting credit for the news they bore that the government of the united states was to be thereafter in fact as well as in name the controlling agency in administering the affairs of the territory and in regulating trade. to make the indian mind ready to receive this lesson, it was first necessary to correct the evils bred by the earlier short-sighted rule of the spanish, and to uproot a strong predisposition in favor of the british traders. the hudson bay company had been in existence since 1670, and the northwest company since 1787; and they were not inclined to surrender their control of trade without a struggle. aside from this task, the two youthful men-of-all-work were continually engaged in gathering material for a report upon the ethnology of the upper missouri and the plains. they have left to us a remarkably acute and accurate monograph upon the subject, which shows that they were even then alive to most of the questions likely to arise in the process of reducing the land to order. the data thus collected were entered at length in the journals; and a fair copy of these was made, for transmittal to washington in the spring. there were maps to be drawn, too; and a mass of interesting objects was gathered to illustrate the natural history of the route. this material had to be cleaned, prepared, assorted and catalogued, and packed for shipment, to accompany the report and illuminate its story, so that mr. jefferson might have a full understanding of what had been accomplished during the first year. the five months spent at fort mandan did not drag. the best part of the winter's work lay in the attitude which was taken in dealing with the indians. in every particular of behavior, the strictest integrity was observed. an indian is as ready as any one to recognize genuineness. before springtime, the mandans and minnetarees knew that they had found friends. in march the men began boat-building, preparatory to resuming their journey. the batteau was too cumbrous for use toward the head waters of the missouri, and it was to be sent back to st. louis. to take its place, canoes were fashioned from green cottonwood planks. cottonwood lumber is full of whims and caprices,--bending, twisting, cracking like brown paper, so as to be wholly unfit for ordinary carpentry; but there was no other material available. six canoes were made to hang together somehow; and in these ramshackle structures, together with the two periogues, the party covered more than a thousand miles of the roughest water of the missouri. annoyance was to be expected. the boats were continually splitting, opening at the seams, filling, and swamping, so that much time was lost in stopping to make repairs and to dry the water-soaked cargoes. this was merely an inconvenience, not an obstacle. chapter vi to the falls of the missouri on the afternoon of april 7, 1805, winter quarters were abandoned. of the original forty-five men two had been lost; but three recruits had been gained,--chaboneau, his squaw sacajawea, and their infant son, born in february. from fort mandan fourteen of the men returned to st. louis in the barge, carrying documents, collections, and trophies, while thirty-two went onward, to be separated from their kind for almost eighteen months. on this day captain lewis wrote in his journal:-"this little fleet altho' not quite so rispectable as those of columbus or capt. cook, were still viewed by us with as much pleasure as those deservedly famed adventurers ever beheld theirs; and i dare say with quite as much anxiety for their safety and preservation. we were now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden; the good or evil it had in store for us was for experiment yet to determine, and these little vessells contained every article by which we were to expect to subsist or defend ourselves. however as the state of mind in which we are, generally gives the coloring to events, when the imagination is suffered to wander into futurity, the picture which now presented itself to me was a most pleasing one, entertaining as i do the most confident hope of succeeding in a voyage which had formed a darling project of mine for the last ten years, i could but esteem this moment of our departure as among the most happy of my life." april 26th they came to the mouth of the yellowstone river, which enters the missouri 1888 miles above st. louis. they had had no adventure of moment; neither was there cause for immediate anxiety, save as they observed signs of the assiniboins. from the tribes with whom they had talked at winter quarters, they had heard stirring tales of this cut-throat band, which had inspired the wish to pass unobserved through their country. this desire was fulfilled. there was no meeting with the assiniboins. of all the wild creatures of the western wilderness, the one which could least be spared from the literature of adventure is the grizzly bear. lewis and clark were the first white men to give an account of this beast. many of the indian lodge-tales to which they had listened rang with the fame of the grizzly, as a background for the greater fame of the narrators. as a matter of course, fact and figment were inextricably blended in these tales; but, while they did not show the animal as it was, they could not exaggerate its untamable courage, its ferocity, or its rugged power of endurance. on april 29th, captain lewis, with a party of hunters, proved the truth of all that had been told him upon these points, and more; and upon many occasions thereafter, while the party was making its way from the yellowstone country to the mountains, there were encounters from which the men escaped by mere good fortune. the most critical adventures with the indians were but child's play in comparison. despite their boasting, the indians would seldom venture to provoke a fight with a grizzly, except in the most favorable circumstances, and when strength of numbers inspired them with bravado. reckless and headlong as wild elephants, nothing would daunt the grizzlies, once they had set about fighting; and so hardy were they as often to escape, apparently unharmed, though their vital parts were riddled with lead. until the rocky mountains were reached, there was almost no hardship arising from scarcity of food. early in may, captain lewis wrote that game of all sorts abounded, being so gentle as to take no alarm of the hunters. "the male buffalo particularly will hardly give way to us, and as we approach will merely look at us for a moment, as something new, and then quietly resume their feeding.... game is in such plenty that it has become a mere amusement to supply the party with provisions." in the months that followed, the men carried a blessed memory of that abundance. as they drew near to the foothills, navigation became more and more difficult. the river lost the sullen, muddy aspect of its lower course, where it flowed between low, sandy banks, and took the character of a mountain stream, walled with rock and filled with dangers. then it was that the cottonwood skiffs betrayed their weaknesses. accidents were of almost daily occurrence; and on one occasion the boat containing the instruments and papers was nearly lost. they were then more than two thousand miles from any place where such a loss could have been repaired. to go on would have been idle, without means for making accurate observations; they would have been obliged to turn back. in the face of this perpetual threat, they had no resource but to take their chances with luck; with the best they could do, they could not adequately safeguard themselves against calamity. for the time being, at least, they were rank fatalists. on sunday, may 26th, captain lewis left camp on foot, ascended to the summit of a ridge of hills near the river, and from the height had his first glimpse of the distant ranges of the rocky mountains. this was about a year and a half before pike's discovery. the journal entry for that day comes near to showing emotion:-"while i viewed these mountains i felt a secret pleasure in thus finding myself so near the head of the hitherto conceived boundless missouri; but when i reflected on the difficulties which this snowey barrier would most probably throw in my way to the pacific, and the sufferings and hardships of myself and party in them, it in some measure counterballanced the joy i had felt in the first moments in which i gazed on them; but as i have always held it a crime to anticipate evils i will believe it a good comfortable road until i am compelled to believe differently." progress grew increasingly hard. rapids were numerous, over which the boats could not be urged with oars; so the men were compelled to walk upon the banks, drawing the craft with tow-lines. these lines were made mostly of elk-skin, which became softened and rotted by the water and often broke under the strain, causing many accidents of a trying and serious nature. the banks were sometimes so rocky and precipitous as to afford no foothold; then the men took to the water, wading, swimming, making headway as they could. one extract from the journals will illustrate the severity of their toil:-"may 31st [a rainy day]. obstructions continue, and fatigue the men excessively. the banks are so slippery in some places, and the mud so adhesive, that they are unable to wear their moccasins; one fourth of the time they are obliged to be up to their arm-pits in the cold water, and sometimes they walk for several hours over the sharp fragments of rocks which have fallen from the hills. all this, added to the burden of dragging the heavy canoes, is very painful; yet the men bear it with great patience and good humour." on june 3d they came to a point where the river forked; and here, as the forks were of nearly equal volume, they were in doubt as to their route. captain lewis wrote:-"on our right decision much of the fate of the expedition depends; since if, after ascending to the rocky mountains or beyond them, we should find that the river we were following did not come near the columbia, and be obliged to return, we should not only be losing the traveling season, two months of which have already elapsed, but probably dishearten the men so much as to induce them either to abandon the enterprise, or yield us a cold obedience, instead of the warm and zealous support which they have hitherto afforded us.... the fatigues of the last few days have occasioned some falling off in the appearance of the men; who, not having been able to wear their moccasins, have had their feet much bruised and mangled in passing over the stones and rough ground. they are, however, perfectly cheerful, and have an undiminished ardor for the expedition." in order to settle the doubt, the officers took each one branch of the stream and proceeded to explore it for some distance above the confluence, to determine its direction. captain lewis, ascending the northern fork, became convinced that it was not the main stream; and to it he gave the name, which it still bears, of maria's river. his warmth of youth speaks in this paragraph: "i determined to give it a name and in honour of miss maria w--d [maria wood, his cousin] called it maria's river. it is true that the hue of the waters of this turbulent and troubled stream but illy comport with the pure celestial virtues and amiable qualifications of that lovely fair one; but on the other hand it is a noble river; one destined to become in my opinion an object of contention between the two great powers of america and great britin, with rispect to the adjustment of the north westwardly boundary of the former; and that it will become one of the most interesting branches of the missouri." meanwhile, captain clark had gone far enough along the southern fork to satisfy himself that that was the proper course; and when he rejoined captain lewis at the confluence, preparations were made for continuing the journey. it was then clear that the burdens of the men must be lightened; accordingly, considerable quantities of merchandise, ammunition, etc., were buried in the earth, or "cached," after a method often followed by travelers of the west; care being taken to preserve the stores against moisture. one of the periogues also was left at this place, securely hidden. while this work was going on, captain lewis, with several of the men, proceeded to explore the southern stream more minutely, seeking to devise means for passing the caã±on at the mouth of which the party was encamped. june 13th he heard in the distance the roar of the great falls of the missouri; and, after pushing on for several miles, he stood at the foot of the lower cascade. relying upon descriptions which had been given by the indians at the mandan villages, he now felt assured that the right way had been chosen. he seated himself before the roaring sheet of water, and endeavored to put a description of it upon paper; but then he added helplessly:-"after wrighting this imperfect description i again viewed the falls and was so much disgusted with the imperfect idea which it conveyed of the scene that i determined to draw my pen across it and begin agin, but then reflected that i could not perhaps succeed better than penning the first impressions of the mind; i wished for the pencil of a salvator rosa, or the pen of a thompson, that i might be enabled to give to the enlightened world some just idea of this truly magnificent and sublimely grand object, which has from the commencement of time been concealed from the view of civilized man; but this was fruitless and vain. i most sincerely regreted that i had not brought a chimeeobscura with me by the assistance of which i could have hoped to have done better but alas this was also out of my reach; i therefore, with my pen only endeavored to trace some of the stronger features of this seen by the assistance of which and my recollection aided by some able pencil i hope still to give to the world some fain idea of an object which at this moment fills me with such pleasure and astonishment." on the next day he went ahead, alone, and discovered that this was but the first of a long series of cascades, extending for many miles up the caã±on. it was a day of excitement. while returning to rejoin his party, he suffered his gun to remain for a time unloaded; in this plight he was surprised by a grizzly bear. cut off from any other retreat, he was forced to take to the water, in which he stood to the depth of his armpits, facing the brute upon the bank and preparing to defend himself in a hand-to-hand struggle; but, in a manner wholly out of keeping with his family traditions, the grizzly was content to walk away without attacking. proceeding about nightfall, the young officer encountered a strange beast, probably a wolverine, which showed fight; and a little later he was charged by three bulls from a herd of buffalo. upon waking the next morning, he found a large rattlesnake coiled about the trunk of the tree beneath which he had slept. chapter vii over the continental divide a messenger was sent back to captain clark, detailing what had been discovered, and giving such instructions as would best enable him to bring up the boats. it is now captain clark's turn to bear testimony to the spirit of the men:-"june 15th.... proceeded with great difficulty, in consequence of the increased rapidity of the current. the channel is constantly obstructed by rocks and dangerous rapids. during the whole progress, the men are in the water holding the canoes, and walking on sharp rocks and round stones, which cut their feet or cause them to fall. rattlesnakes are so numerous that the men are constantly on their guard against being bitten by them; yet they bear the fatigues with the most undiminished cheerfulness." the severest labor was necessary in making a portage of the falls. the remaining periogue was abandoned, the canoes only being carried on. to accomplish this, a large cottonwood tree was felled, its trunk being cut into short sections to serve as wheels for improvised carriages; the mast of the periogue, cut into lengths, being used as axles. before these carriages could be utilized, it was necessary for the men to carry the canoes and baggage upon their shoulders to the level plains above the caã±on walls, where captain clark had marked out with stakes the easiest path for a portage. this was a trying labor; and the portage itself was not less laborious. the journal says:-"here [on the plains above the river] they all repaired their moccasins, and put on double soles to protect them from the prickly-pear, and from the sharp points of earth which have been formed by the trampling of the buffalo during the late rains. this of itself is enough to render the portage disagreeable to one who has no burden; but as the men are loaded as heavily as their strength will permit, the crossing is really painful. some are limping with the soreness of their feet; others are scarcely able to stand for more than a few minutes, from the heat and fatigue. they are all obliged to halt and rest frequently; at almost every stopping-place they fall, and most of them are asleep in an instant; yet no one complains, and they go on with great cheerfulness." notwithstanding this hardship, lewis's journal entry of june 25th has this fine bit:-"such as were able to shake a foot amused themselves in dancing on the green to the music of the violin, which cruzatte plays extremely well." captain lewis had brought along in the baggage a steel skeleton or framework for a boat, thirty-six feet in length, which he had planned to use in shallow water. it was to be completed by stretching over the steel ribs a covering of skins, making the whole water-tight by any means that might be at hand. this was the place for the experiment. much time was spent in collecting and curing skins, which, when fitted to the frame, were smeared with a composition of tallow, beeswax, and charcoal. this failed, however. as soon as the mixture dried, it fell away in flakes, and the vessel was entirely worthless. but lewis wrote that "the boat in every other rispect completely answers my most sanguine expectations"! then the men were employed for some time in making "dugout" canoes from cottonwood logs,--a weary labor, considering the tools they had. not until july 15th was the long interruption ended, and the journey resumed. july 25th captain clark, who was in advance of the main party, discovered the three forks of the missouri, which were named the jefferson, madison, and gallatin rivers. by the westernmost of these, the jefferson, they proceeded, keeping a careful lookout for indians. "july 27th [mr. biddle's edition of the journals]. we are now very anxious to see the snake indians. after advancing for several hundred miles into this wild and mountainous country, we may soon expect that the game will abandon us. with no information of the route, we may be unable to find a passage across the mountains when we reach the head of the river--at least, such a pass as will lead us to the columbia. even are we so fortunate as to find a branch of that river, the timber which we have hitherto seen in these mountains does not promise us any fit to make canoes, so that our chief dependence is on meeting some tribe from whom we may procure horses. our consolation is that this southwest branch can scarcely head with any other river than the columbia; and if any nation of indians can live in the mountains we are able to endure as much as they can, and have even better means of procuring subsistence." by the first days of august this fear for the scarcity of game had become a reality; they were getting beyond the summer range of deer and buffalo, which had been their chief reliance. through their long season of toil they had been plentifully fed; but they were now to know the pains of hunger, and the ills which follow upon a meagre diet. the hunters were daily reporting increasingly bad luck in the chase; some days would yield nothing; upon other days the camp would heartily welcome an owl, an eagle, or a bag of insignificant small birds of any sort, or even a wolf--anything that had flesh on its bones. but these deprivations did not one whit abate the zeal for discovery. about this time they found the jefferson river to be formed by three minor streams, to which they gave the names of philosophy, philanthropy, and wisdom rivers, "in commemoration of those cardinal virtues which have so eminently marked that deservedly selibrated character." it is a pity to record that this complimentary intention was thwarted by time; but philosophy is now known as willow creek, wisdom is now the big hole, and philanthropy bears the hard name of stinking water. since leaving fort mandan, in the preceding april, they had seen no indians. they were now somewhat reassured by sacajawea, the "bird woman," who said that they were nearing the site of her old home with the snakes. she was as anxious as they for a meeting with her people, which she told them must soon occur. but anxiety increased as the days passed, and on the 9th of august captain lewis, accompanied by several of the men, set out in advance of the rest, "with a resolution to meet some nation of indians before they returned, however long they might be separated from the party." three days later the stream, along which their route had lain for so long, was shrunken to such a width that one of the men was able to stand with his feet upon opposite banks; and in that posture he thanked god that he had lived to bestride the missouri. within a little time they drank from the icy spring that gave the rivulet its birth. they then stood upon the crest of the great continental divide, on the boundary between the present states of montana and idaho. they had run the mighty missouri to its lair! as if that were not satisfaction enough for one day, they went forward for three fourths of a mile, and there "reached a handsome, bold creek of cold, clear water, running to the westward." stooping, they drank of the waters of the lemhi river, one of the upper branches of the columbia. on the following day, as they were tracing the course of this stream, they observed two women, a man, and some dogs, stationed upon the summit of a hill at the distance of a mile. captain lewis advanced, unarmed, displaying a flag. the women retreated at once; and the man, after waiting until lewis had approached to within a hundred paces, also disappeared in the thick brush. after following the trail for a mile, they came suddenly upon three indian women. one of these made her escape; but the others, an old dame and a child, seated themselves upon the ground and bowed their heads, as though expecting to be put to death forthwith. captain lewis advanced, took the older woman by the hand and raised her to her feet, at the same time displaying the white skin of his arm,--for exposure had tanned his face and hands as dark as those of the natives themselves. he then gave them some trinkets, and the other woman being recalled, he painted the faces of the three with vermilion, an act understood by all indians as signifying pacific intentions. while he was thus engaged, sixty mounted shoshone warriors galloped up, armed and voicing their war-cry, thinking to do battle with minnetaree foes, for whom they had mistaken the whites. they were overjoyed upon discovering the identity of their visitors, saluted them heartily, smoked with them the pipe of peace, and offered such entertainment as they had. they were without food, excepting some indifferent cakes made from service-berries and choke-cherries, dried in the sun. to secure the friendly regard of these people, captain lewis tried to induce some of them to return with him to the point where he was to rejoin captain clark and the others, saying that the main party was bringing merchandise for trade; and he was at last successful in getting a goodly escort. when he met with the men of the main party, they were still toiling heavily up the narrow channel of the missouri, dragging the canoes. sacajawea at once recognized the members of her tribe. a woman of the band ran forward to meet her, and they embraced with signs of extravagant joy, for they had been playmates in childhood. "while sacajawea was renewing among the women the friendships of former days," says the journal, "captain clark went on, and was received by captain lewis and the chief, who, after the first embraces and salutations were over, conducted him to a sort of circular tent or shade of willows. here he was seated on a white robe, and the chief immediately tied in his hair six small shells resembling pearls, an ornament highly valued by these people, who procure them in the course of trade from the seacoast. the moccasins of the whole party were then taken off, and after much ceremony the smoking began. after this the conference was to be opened. glad of an opportunity of being able to converse more intelligibly, they sent for sacajawea, who came into the tent, sat down, and was beginning to interpret, when in the person of cameawait (the chief) she recognized her brother. she instantly jumped up and ran and embraced him, throwing over him her blanket, and weeping profusely. the chief was himself moved, though not in the same degree. after some conversation between them, she resumed her seat and attempted to interpret for us; but her new situation seemed to overpower her, and she was frequently interrupted by tears." chapter viii the last stage of the westward journey should a water route be taken from the shoshone villages, it would be necessary to descend the lemhi to salmon river; the salmon would conduct them to the snake, and that to the columbia. but they were told that this course was impracticable. the lemhi flowed in an ungovernable torrent through wild caã±ons which the hardiest adventurers from this tribe had never succeeded in passing. the description given by the indians of the land route over the mountains was hardly more reassuring. the easiest trail to be found would be rough in the extreme, strewn with rocks; besides, snow would soon fall upon the heights of the mountains, burying the trail many feet deep, and perhaps rendering it impassable. the greatest cause for uneasiness lay in the inevitable scarcity of food. even should a crossing of the mountains be effected, the men would be obliged to subsist for many days largely or wholly upon such roots as they could dig by the way. of the provisions brought from st. louis,--flour and canned stuff,--there remained barely enough to suffice for ten days' emergency rations; and of course they could not hope to find game upon the barren mountains, particularly at that season of the year. they were just entering upon their severest trials. captain clark went ahead to reconnoitre, and found that the indians had rather understated the difficulties of the water route. to descend the lemhi was entirely out of the question. clark dispatched a messenger to captain lewis, telling of what he had discovered, and wrote in his journal (august 24th):-"the plan i stated to captain lewis if he agrees with me we shall adopt is to precure as many horses (one for each man) if possable and to hire my present guide who i sent on to him to interegate thro' the intptr. and proceed on by land to some navagable part of the columbia river, or to the ocean, depending on what provisions we can precure by the gun aded to the small stock we have on hand depending on our horses as the last resort." while he was writing so calmly of his plan, he and his men were suffering from hunger, having only a meagre supply of fish and dried berries. a day or two later he wrote:-"these indians, to whom this life is familiar, seem contented, although they depend for subsistence on the scanty provisions of the fishery. but our men, who are used to hardships, but have been accustomed to have the first wants of nature regularly supplied, feel very sensibly their wretched situation; their strength is wasting away; they begin to express their apprehensions of being without food in a country perfectly destitute of any means of supporting life, except a few fish." horses were purchased from the shoshones, and the men were employed in making pack-saddles. as there was no timber to be obtained near by, the oars were cut up for boards, and these were fastened into form with thongs of rawhide. with the best provision that could be made, however, it was apparent that a considerable portion of the baggage must be cached and left behind. at a time when the needs of the men would be greatest, they were obliged to provide themselves with least. the shoshones were hospitable and kindly folk. throughout these days of preparation, the women were engaged in making and repairing moccasins and clothing for the men, and the fishermen gave to them a good share of the daily catch. nor was the kindness all upon the one side. the white hunters, with their guns, had greater success than the indians, who were armed only with bows and arrows and lances. share and share alike was the rule in the village. once when the hunters brought in a deer, captain clark directed that it be given to the women and children, who were in an extremity of hunger, and himself went supperless to bed. one of the older men was induced to accompany them as a guide. by the middle of september they were deep in the mountains, and also deep in peril and suffering. the cold had a depressing effect upon the men, overworked and underfed as they were. for several days they got along somehow, with a few odds and ends of small game; but on the 14th of september, captain clark's prevision was fulfilled, and they were reduced to supping upon the flesh of one of their ponies. then on the next day,-"september 15th. camped near an old snow-bank, some of which was melted, in the absence of water; and here the party supped on the remains of the colt killed yesterday. our only game to-day was two pheasants; the horses, on which we calculated as a last resource, began to fail us, for two of them were so poor and worn out with fatigue that we were obliged to leave them behind. "september 16th. three hours before daybreak it began to snow, and continued all day, so that by evening it was six or eight inches deep. this covered the track so completely that we were obliged constantly to halt and examine, lest we should lose the route. in many places we had nothing to guide us, except the branches of the trees, which, being low, had been rubbed by the burdens of the indian horses.... wet to the skin, and so cold that we were anxious lest our feet should be frozen, as we had only thin moccasins to defend them.... we camped on a piece of low ground, thickly timbered, but scarcely large enough to permit us to lie level. we had now made thirteen miles. we were all very wet, cold, and hungry.... were obliged to kill a second colt for our supper." of the stock of portable provisions there remained only a few cans of soup and about twenty pounds of bear's oil; and there was "no living creature in these mountains, except a few pheasants, a small species of gray squirrel, and a blue bird of the vulture kind about the size of a turtle-dove or jay; even these are difficult to shoot." again captain clark went ahead. for several days he suffered extremely from hunger and exposure; but on the 20th he descended into an open valley, where he came upon a band of nez percã© indians, who gave him food. but after his long abstinence, when he ate a plentiful meal of fish his stomach revolted, and for several days he was quite ill. matters fared badly with captain lewis's party, following on clark's trail. on the day of clark's departure, they could not leave their night's camp until nearly noon, "because, being obliged in the evening to loosen our horses to enable them to find subsistence, it is always difficult to collect them in the morning.... we were so fortunate as to kill a few pheasants and a prairie wolf, which, with the remainder of the horse, supplied us with one meal, the last of our provisions; our food for the morrow being wholly dependent on the chance of our guns." bearing heavy burdens, and losing much time with the continued straying of the horses, they made but indifferent progress, and it was not until the 22d that they reached the nez percã© village and joined captain clark. then they, too, almost to a man, suffered severe illness, caused by the unwonted abundance of food. from the high altitudes and the scant diet of horseflesh to the lower levels of the valley and a plentiful diet of fish and camass-root was too great a change. two of the men in particular had cause to remember those days. they had been sent back to find and bring on some of the horses that were lost. failing to find the animals, after a long search, they started to overtake their companions. they had no provisions, nor could they find game of any kind. death by starvation was close upon them, when they found the head of one of the horses that had been killed by their mates. the head had been thrown aside as worthless; but to these two it was a veritable godsend. it was at once roasted, and from the flesh and gristle of the lips, ears, and cheeks they made a meal which saved their lives. the nez percã© villages were situated upon a stream called the kooskooskee, or clearwater, which the indians said was navigable for canoes throughout its lower lengths; so, on september 26th, the party established itself at a point upon the river where a supply of timber could be had, and began canoe-making. in this they adopted the indian method of hollowing large logs into form by means of fire; and in ten days' time they had made five serviceable boats, and were ready for departure. meanwhile, they had relied upon the indians for a daily supply of food, and this had made a considerable reduction of their stock of merchandise for barter. the nez percã©s of that and neighboring villages kept a large number of dogs, which were used as beasts of burden and otherwise, but were not eaten. the travelers bought some of these for food, and found them palatable and nutritious; but this practice excited the ridicule of the savages, who gave to the whites the name dog-eaters,--an odd reversal of the condition of to-day. the men were proof against scorn, however, so long as the supply of dog-meat held out; and when they were ready to embark, they bought as many dogs as they could carry, to be eaten on the voyage. there was no reason to complain of the nez percã©s. there was a noticeable difference, though, between the people of the several villages. some were generous and high-minded to a degree rarely equaled by the members of any race, while others were shrewd tradesmen only. all seemed worthy of confidence, which was well; for it was necessary to put confidence in them. the horses that had been bought from the shoshones and brought across the mountains had now to be left behind, and they were surrendered to the care of one of the principal chiefs, to be kept by him until they should be reclaimed upon the return from the coast, at some indefinite time in the future. he discharged this trust with perfect fidelity. had he failed, the consequences would have been disastrous. on october 16th, after a rapid passage of the kooskooskee, the party entered the columbia; and from that point to the pacific the journey was without particular adventure, save for the difficulty of passing numerous rapids and cascades. indian villages were everywhere upon the banks; but their people were of a very low order,--very jackals of humanity; dirty, flea-bitten packs, whose physical and moral constitutions plainly showed the debilitating effects of unnumbered generations of fish-eating, purposeless life. physical and moral decency usually go hand in hand, even in a state of nature. the columbia tribes had no conception of either; they were in the same condition then as now, mean-spirited, and strangers to all those little delicacies of behavior that had distinguished the mountain tribes. the passage of the narrows, above the falls of the columbia, trusting to their fire-hollowed logs, demanded much daring and self-possession. captain clark wrote:-"as the portage of our canoes over this high rock would be impossible with our strength, and the only danger in passing thro those narrows was the whorls and swills arriseing from the compression of the water, and which i thought (as also our principal waterman peter crusat) by good stearing we could pass down safe, accordingly i deturmined to pass through this place, not with standing the horred appearance of this agitated gut swelling, boiling & whorling in every direction which from the top of the rock did not appear as bad as when i was in it; however we passed safe to the astonishment of the inds." at other times they were not so successful in this sort of undertaking. the canoes were often overset in the swift water, by being caught in whirlpools or colliding with rocks, causing great inconvenience and resulting in some serious losses of baggage. and the men were performing this arduous labor upon a diet of dog-meat, and almost nothing besides. no matter what difficulties presented themselves from day to day, the officers never lost sight of the chief purpose of their toils. the journals of those days are replete with keen notes upon the country, its resources, and its people. soon after passing the falls, there were to be seen occasional signs of previous intercourse between the indians and the white traders who had visited the coast,--the squaws would display a bit of colored cloth in their costumes; a few of the men carried ancient guns, and occasionally one was decorated with a ruinous old hat or the remains of a sailor's pea-jacket. these poor people had touched the hem of the garment of civilization, and had felt some of its meaner virtue pass into them. they showed daily less and less of barbaric manliness; they were becoming from day to day more vicious, thievish, and beggarly. the whites had as yet given them nothing worth having, and had taught them nothing worth knowing. this was but natural, considering the character of those who had visited the columbia region. they were not missionaries nor philanthropists, actuated by high desires, but traders pure and simple, with no thought but gain, and no scruples about means. they were not different from the pioneers of trade in all times and all places. november 6th there was a meeting with an indian who spoke a few scrappy words of english; and on the 7th, a day of rain and fog, the men caught a far glimpse of the pacific, ... "that ocean, the object of all our labors, the reward of all our anxieties. this cheering view exhilarated the spirits of all the party, who were still more delighted on hearing the distant roar of the breakers." the following day, as the boats proceeded upon the waters of the inlet, the waves ran so high that several of the men were made sea-sick. after eighteen months of unparalleled perseverance, the westward journey was done. chapter ix winter on the coast they had reached the coast in the dismal rainy season, when all the life of the region was at the lowest ebb of the year, and when comfort was hardly to be found. the extreme bitterness of eastern winters was wanting; but the bracing tonic effect of honest cold was also denied them. through many months they were to suffer from an uninterrupted downpour of rain, driven before the raw sea-winds, which drenched their ardor and made work of any sort painful. for a long time they were unable to make further progress, because of the persistent storms. their canoes had not been designed for service in tempestuous open water; so they were compelled to camp where luck left them, having no shelter from the weather, sodden through and through, hungry, cold, many of them ill with a low fever bred by exposure, and only sustained by the knowledge that they were at last upon the pacific shore. the neighboring indians were practically amphibious; no stress of weather could hold them in check. they swarmed about the camp at all times, stealing, begging, worrying the worn spirits of the men into tatters. here, for the first time since leaving st. louis, it became necessary to abandon conciliatory friendliness, and to offset the native insolence with sternness. there were no fights, for the indians were too low-born to possess fighting courage; but the necessity for constant alertness was even more trying than open conflict. for a fortnight the men were engaged in getting acquainted with their surroundings. the hunters made long trips over the hills and along the coast, and such of the others as could be spared from camp went tramping about on errands of discovery. the establishment of winter quarters was perplexing; but on the 24th of november, after a consultation of the whole party, a site was chosen several miles down the coast, where timber could be got for building huts, and where, the hunters said, game was nearest at hand. to transport the baggage through the rough breakers was a tedious and dangerous undertaking. the men had to wait with patience for the rare hours of comparative calm, making headway as they could, and in the mean time eating and sleeping on the uncovered earth. sickness increased, until none of the party was wholly free from it. although in the midst of plenty, they were suffering from hunger. the indians were besetting them with offers of trade, having large stores of game, fish, and other provisions; but their cupidity was extreme, and, on account of the low state of the treasury, which must be conserved against many months of the future, but few purchases could be made of even the barest necessities. when their own hunters were unsuccessful, the men often went empty. the unintentional irony of mr. jefferson's letter of credit now became apparent. the trading vessels that were used to making yearly visits to this part of the coast from abroad had gone away for the winter, and no white face was seen through all those weary months. considerable comment has been passed upon the failure of the government to anticipate this contingency by sending a ship to this point to meet the travelers and relieve their inevitable distress. this failure could hardly have been the result of oversight; most probably it arose from the wish of the government to avoid any appearance of meddling in international affairs. the louisiana territory extended only so far west as the rocky mountains: so, strictly speaking, the expedition had no defensible right upon the coast under federal patronage. there might well have been serious consequences had a vessel under our flag appeared in those waters, with such a mission. however that may be, the fact remains that no aid was sent, and the men were thrown entirely upon their ability to care for themselves. the journals show how they managed. "november 28th. it is now impossible to proceed with so rough a sea. we therefore sent several of the men to hunt, and the rest of us remained during the day in a situation the most cheerless and uncomfortable. on this little neck of land we are exposed, with a miserable covering which does not deserve the name of shelter, to the violence of the winds; all our bedding and stores, as well as our bodies, are completely wet; our clothes are rotting with constant exposure, and we have no food except the dried fish brought from the falls. the hunters all returned hungry and drenched with rain, having seen neither deer nor elk, and the swan and brant were too shy to be approached." day after day they subsisted upon this dried fish, mixed with sea-water. captain clark nearly lost his admirable poise. on the first day of december he wrote:-"24 days since we arrived at the _great western_ (for i cannot say pacific) ocian as i have not seen one pacific day since my arrival in this vicinity, and its waters are forming and petially breake with emence waves on the sands and rockey coasts, tempestous and horiable." two days later one of the hunters killed an elk--the first to be secured on the western side of the mountains; and that was a holiday in consequence, though the animal was lean and poor enough, and hardly fit to be eaten. curiously, the greatest trial of that life was the absence of real hazard. adventure and danger, which make discomfort tolerable to such men as they, were altogether wanting; in their place was nothing but a dull, dead level of endurance, an expenditure of time and strength to no apparent end. but by the middle of december the site of winter quarters was gained, and then the log huts began to take form. the men needed this consolation. under date of the 14th, the journal says:-"notwithstanding that scarcely a man has been dry for many days, the sick are recovering.... it had been cloudy all day, at night began to rain, and as we had no cover we were obliged to sit up the greater part of the night; for as soon as we lay down the rain would come under us and compel us to rise." "december 17th. it rained all night, and this morning there was a high wind; hail as well as rain fell; and on the top of a mountain about ten miles to the southeast of us we observed some snow. the greater part of our stores is wet; our leathern tent is so rotten that the slightest touch makes a rent in it, and it will now scarcely shelter a spot large enough for our beds. we were all busy in finishing the insides of the huts. the after part of the day was cool and fair. but this respite was of very short duration; for all night it continued raining and snowing alternately, and in the morning, december 18th, we had snow and hail till twelve o'clock, after which it changed to rain. the air now became cool and disagreeable, the wind high and unsettled; so that, being thinly dressed in leather, we were able to do very little on the houses." "december 20th. a succession of rain and hail during the night. at 10 o'clock it cleared off for a short time, but the rain soon recommenced. we now covered in four of our huts. three indians came in a canoe with mats, roots, and the berries of the sacacommis. these people proceed with a dexterity and finesse in their bargains which, if they have not learned it from their foreign visitors, may show how nearly allied is the cunning of savages to the little arts of traffic. they begin by asking double or treble the value of what they have to sell, and lower their demand in proportion to the greater or less degree of ardor or knowledge of the purchaser, who, with all his management, is not able to procure an article for less than its real value, which the indians perfectly understand." "december 24th. the whole stock of meat being now spoiled, our pounded fish became again our chief dependence. it rained constantly all day, but we still continued working, and at last moved into our huts." "december 25th. we were awaked at daylight by a discharge of firearms, which was followed by a song from the men, as a compliment to us on the return of christmas, which we have always been accustomed to observe as a day of rejoicing. after breakfast we divided our remaining stock of tobacco, which amounted to twelve carrots, into two parts; one of which we distributed among such of the men as make use of it, making a present of a handkerchief to the others. the remainder of the day was passed in good spirits, though there was nothing in our situation to excite much gaiety. the rain confined us to the house, and our only luxuries in honor of the season were some poor elk, a few roots, and some spoiled pounded fish." the first of january witnessed the completion of the rude fortification, which was named fort clatsop, in honor of one of the better of the tribes near by,--a tribe whose members, according to captain clark, "sometimes washed their hands and faces." then, the labor of building at an end, life settled into mere routine. the hunters were constantly engaged. no matter what fortune they had, they could not abate their industry, for the persistent moisture made it impossible to keep the meat from spoiling. other men moved down to the shore, where they employed themselves in boiling sea-water, to obtain a supply of salt; and others were busy hobnobbing with the natives, practicing such wiles as they were masters of, in the effort to obtain small supplies of edible roots. the officers were engaged, as at fort mandan the previous winter, bringing up their journals and copying them out, and in collecting data for a report upon the natural history, ethnology, and trade of the coast. all were living by chance. sometimes they had plenty; at other times they were reduced to extremities. once they thought themselves very fortunate in being able to trade for a quantity of whale blubber which the indians had taken from a dead carcass washed ashore near by. captain clark wrote that he "thanked providence for driving the whale to us; and think him much more kind to us than he was to jonah having sent this monster to be swallowed by us, in sted of swallowing of us as jonah's did." chapter x homeward: in the mountains before the end of january, plans were being formed for the homeward journey. the men were dressing skins and making them into clothing and moccasins, and curing such meat as they could get, so as to be able to vary the fish diet of the columbia. in february captain clark completed a map of the country between fort mandan and fort clatsop, and sketched a plan he had conceived for shortening the route from the mountains east of the nez percã© villages to the falls of the missouri. his sagacity in this was marvelous; when it came to the point, his plan was found to be perfectly practicable, cutting off 580 miles from the most difficult part of the way. he was a born geographer; indeed, his was a catholic, a cosmopolitan genius. the greatest cause for uneasiness now lay in the depleted condition of the stock of merchandise intended for trade. on march 16th, when preparations for departure were nearing completion, there is this entry in the journals:-"all the small merchandise we possess might be tied up in a couple of handkerchiefs. the rest of our stock in trade consists of six blue robes, one scarlet ditto, five robes which we have made out of our large united states flag, a few old clothes trimmed with ribbons, and one artillerist's uniform coat and hat, which probably captain clark will never wear again. we have to depend entirely upon this meagre outfit for the purchase of such horses and provisions as it will be in our power to obtain,--a scant dependence, indeed, for such a journey as is before us." it was hard to persuade the coast indians to sell the canoes that were necessary for the first part of the trip. the canoe afforded these people their chief means for getting a livelihood, and was valued accordingly. a boat and a woman were, by common consent, placed upon an equality of value,--certainly not an overestimate of the worth of the canoe, if one laid aside chivalry and regarded the squaws dispassionately. when captain lewis was compelled to give a half-carrot of tobacco and a laced coat in exchange for one of the little craft, he observed that he considered himself defrauded of the coat. no doubt he had in mind the native scale of values. "many reasons had determined us to remain at fort clatsop until the first of april," says the journal entry of march 22d. "besides the want of fuel in the columbian plains, and the impracticability of passing the mountains before the beginning of june, we were anxious to see some of the foreign traders, from whom, by means of our ample letters of credit, we might have recruited our exhausted stores of merchandise. about the middle of march, however, we had become seriously alarmed for the want of food; the elk, our chief dependence, had at length deserted their usual haunts in our neighborhood and retreated to the mountains. we were too poor to purchase other food from the indians, so that we were sometimes reduced, notwithstanding all the exertions of our hunters, to a single day's provisions in advance. the men, too, whom the constant rains and confinement had rendered unhealthy, might, we hoped, be benefited by leaving the coast and resuming the exercise of travel. we therefore determined to leave fort clatsop, ascend the river slowly, consume the month of march in the woody country, where we hoped to find subsistence, and in this way reach the plains about the first of april, before which time it will be impossible to attempt to cross them." the next day the canoes were loaded, and in the afternoon the party took leave of fort clatsop. though the return along the columbia was less fraught with danger than the descent, it was much more toilsome. going down, the men had taken large chances in shooting the rapids; but coming back, portage had to be made of all such places. for this work horses were absolutely necessary; and to get a few of these from the indians, who saw their chance for gain, brought the expedition to a state verging upon downright bankruptcy. enough horses were secured, however, to enable them to pass step by step over the obstructions in their way, until at last the great falls were left behind. from that point they meant to proceed by land; and as the canoes were of no further use, they were cut up for firewood, which could not be otherwise obtained on the treeless plains. thus far there had been no adventures of note, except such as grew out of the ill-nature and rascality of the indians, who swarmed upon the banks of the stream, where they were assembled for their annual salmon-fishing. more than once the officers found it necessary to use harsh measures, in dealing with cases of theft. in striking contrast to these experiences was the meeting with the walla-wallas, a short distance above the falls. these people freely gave to the travelers from their own scant supply of firewood and food; and the chief presented to captain clark a superb white horse, a kindness which clark requited by the gift of his artillerist's sword. after leaving this hospitable village, the party was overtaken by three young men, walla-wallas, who had come a day's journey in order to restore a steel trap, inadvertently left behind. may 5th they came again to the lower villages of the nez percã©s, where they had stopped in the preceding october to make their dugout canoes. by this time they were practically destitute of all resources save those of the mind. to secure food, they were obliged to resort to the practice of medicine! luckily, the scheme worked. their patients were almost legion; their fame spread like a prairie fire. nor was this mere quackery. all of the indians of the western slope were more or less afflicted with rheumatism, inflammation of the eyes, and other ills incident to an outdoor life in a humid climate; and the two officers, in the course of preparing themselves for their errand across the continent, had learned to use some of the simple remedies of the day. in some cases they gave relief to the sufferers; in others, wrote captain lewis, "we conscientiously abstained from giving them any but harmless medicines; and as we cannot possibly do harm, our prescriptions, though unsanctioned by the faculty, may be useful, and are entitled to some remuneration." they were thus enabled to secure the day's food, and to provide a little against the morrow. but severe trials yet remained. "may 6th [after taking up the trail].... it was now so difficult to procure anything to eat that our chief dependence was on the horse which we received yesterday for medicine; but to our great disappointment he broke the rope by which he was confined, made his escape, and left us supperless in the rain." upon falling in again (on may 8th) with the band of nez percã©s in whose care they had left their horses in the autumn, they found the animals to be now much scattered over the plain, where they had been turned out to graze; but the chief promised to have them collected at once. he said further that his people had been made aware of the approach of the travelers, and of their being without provisions, and that he had a few days before dispatched several of his men to meet them, bearing supplies; but this relief party had taken another trail, and so missed a meeting. this old chief and his people showed themselves to be genuine friends. after two or three days, when their guests had explained their situation, and offered to exchange a horse in poor flesh for one that was fatter and more fit to be eaten, the chief was deeply offended by this conception of his hospitality, remarking that his tribe had an abundance of young horses, of which the men might use as many as they chose; and some of the warriors soon brought up two young and fat animals, for which they would accept nothing in return. to hold speech with this tribe was awkward. "in the first place," wrote captain lewis, "we spoke in english to one of our men, who translated it into french to chaboneau; he interpreted it to his wife in the minnetaree language; she then put it into shoshone, and a young shoshone prisoner explained it to the chopunnish in their own dialect." but the common impulses of humanity found expression in more direct ways, without need for interpretation. whether as friends or foes, the nez percã©s have always been celebrated for their generosity; and in those hard days they seemed to be just in their element. they could not do enough to show their good will. the expedition went into camp at a little distance from this village, waiting for their horses to be assembled, and waiting for the melting of the mountain snows, which now rendered further progress impossible. in this camp they remained until june 10, unwilling to impose upon their hosts, and hence were in sore straits most of the time. "may 21st. on parceling out the stores, the stock of each man was found to consist of only one awl and one knitting-pin, one half ounce of vermilion, two needles, and about a yard of ribbon--a slender means of bartering for our subsistence; but the men have been so much accustomed to privations that now neither the want of meat nor the scanty funds of the party excites the least anxiety among them." again they were reduced to a diet of wild roots; but the amiable old chief discovered their situation, paid them a visit, and informed them that most of the horses running at large upon the surrounding plain belonged to the people of his village, insisting that if the party stood in want of meat, they would use these animals as their own. surely the noble nez percã©s deserved better at the hands of our government than they got in later years. the benefits they were so ready to confer in time of need were shamelessly forgotten. june 1st two of the men, who had been sent to trade with the indians for a supply of roots, and who carried all that remained of the merchandise, had the misfortune to lose it in the river. then, says the journal, "we created a new fund, by cutting off the buttons from our clothes and preparing some eye-water and basilicon, to which were added some phials and small tin boxes in which we had once kept phosphorus. with this cargo two men set out in the morning to trade, and brought home three bushels of roots and some bread, which, in our situation, was as important as the return of an east india ship." "june 8th.... several foot-races were run between our men and the indians; the latter, who are very active and fond of these races, proved themselves very expert, and one of them was as fleet as our swiftest runners. after the races were over, the men divided themselves into two parties and played prison base, an exercise which we are desirous of encouraging, before we begin the passage over the mountains, as several of the men are becoming lazy from inaction." on the 10th they left this camp and moved eastward, drawing slowly toward the mountains, and keeping an anxious lookout for hunting grounds. in this quest they were not successful; all the wild creatures round about had suffered much in the long winter, and the few they were able to secure were so much reduced in flesh as to be unfit for food. they could only push forward. on the 15th they came to the foothills of the bitter root range; and on the 17th they were well into its heart, ascending the main ridges. but here they soon discovered the impossibility of proceeding in their situation. the snow lay everywhere to a depth of twelve or fifteen feet, completely hiding the trail. to delay until the snow melted would defeat the intention of getting to st. louis before another winter. to go on was to risk losing themselves altogether. as they stated the question to themselves, frankly, it seemed like a game of tossing pennies, with fate imposing the familiar catch, "heads, i win; tails, you lose." "we halted at the sight of this new difficulty," says captain lewis. "... we now found that as the snow bore our horses very well, traveling was infinitely easier than it was last fall, when the rocks and fallen timber had so much obstructed our march." but with the best of fortune, at least five days must be spent in getting through this dreadful fastness. unfamiliar as they were with the route, the chances against getting through at all were tenfold. "during these five days, too, we have no chance of finding either grass or underwood for our horses, the snow being so deep. to proceed, therefore, under such circumstances, would be to hazard our being bewildered in the mountains, and to insure the loss of our horses; even should we be so fortunate as to escape with our lives, we might be obliged to abandon our papers and collections. it was, therefore, decided not to venture any further; to deposit here all the baggage and provisions for which we had no immediate use; and, reserving only subsistence for a few days, to return while our horses were yet strong to some spot where we might live by hunting, till a guide could be procured to conduct us across the mountains." just at that moment they were almost in despair. the next day two of the best men turned back to the nez percã© villages, to endeavor to procure a guide, while the main party moved down toward the plains, supporting life meagrely, waiting for something to turn up. they were quite powerless until help of some kind should come to them. to their infinite relief, the messengers returned in a few days, bringing guides, who undertook to conduct the party to the falls of the missouri, for which service they were to be recompensed by two guns. under their care a fresh start was made, and by nightfall of the 26th, passing over a perilous trail, they had found a small bit of ground from which the snow had melted, leaving exposed a growth of young grass, where the horses had pasturage for the night. "june 27th.... from this lofty spot we have a commanding view of the surrounding mountains, which so completely enclose us that, though we have once passed them [in the preceding september], we almost despair of ever escaping from them without the assistance of the indians.... our guides traverse this trackless region with a kind of instinctive sagacity; they never hesitate, they are never embarrassed; and so undeviating is their step, that wherever the snow has disappeared, for even a hundred paces, we find the summer road." on the 29th they descended from the snowy mountains to the main branch of the kooskooskee, where they found the body of a deer that had been left for them by the hunters, who were working in advance,--"a very seasonable addition to our food; for having neither meat nor oil, we were reduced to a diet of roots, without salt or any other addition." the first day of july found them encamped at the mouth of traveler's rest creek, where all mountain trails converged. it was from this place that captain clark's plan for a shorter route to the falls of the missouri was to be put into execution. but that was not all that lay in their minds. "we now formed the following plan of operations: captain lewis, with nine men, is to pursue the most direct route to the falls of the missouri, where three of his party are to be left to prepare carriages for transporting the baggage and canoes across the portage. with the remaining six, he will ascend maria's river to explore the country and ascertain whether any branch of it reaches as far north as latitude 50â°, after which he will descend that river to its mouth. the rest of the men will accompany captain clark to the head of jefferson river, which sergeant ordway and a party of nine men will descend, with the canoes and other articles deposited there. captain clark's party, which will then be reduced to ten, will proceed to the yellowstone, at its nearest approach to the three forks of the missouri. there he will build canoes, go down that river with seven of his party, and wait at its mouth till the rest of the party join him. sergeant pryor, with two others, will then take the horses by land to the mandans. from that nation he will go to the british posts on the assiniboin with a letter to mr. henry, to procure his endeavors to prevail on some of the sioux chiefs to accompany him to washington." it is hard to understand that indomitable humor. here they were, just freed from imminent disaster, worn, half-starved, beggared, yet bobbing up like corks from the depths, and forthwith making calm preparations for fresh labors of a grave kind. chapter xi recrossing the divide by the route made famous as lewis and clark's pass, captain lewis's party on july 7th recrossed the great divide that separates the atlantic from the pacific, and upon the next day they again ate of the flesh of the buffalo. on the 16th they were at the falls of the missouri; and two days later they reached the mouth of maria's river, which they were to explore. ten days were spent in this exploration, until further progress was stopped, on the 26th, by an encounter with a band of the dreaded minnetarees of fort de prairie, who had wrought such havoc among the shoshones,--a set of roving outlaws, who held a reign of terror over all the tribes of the northwestern plains. captain lewis determined to meet these folk as he had met all others. he held a council with them, smoked the pipe of peace, and endeavored to explain to them his mission. when night came, whites and indians camped together. lewis knew that he must be on his guard, and had some of his men remain awake throughout the night; but in the early dawn the minnetarees, catching the sentry unawares, stole the guns of the party and tried to make off with them. a hand-to-hand fight followed. one of the men, in struggling with an indian and endeavoring to wrest a stolen gun from him, killed him by a knife-thrust. the savages then attempted to drive off the horses; but in this they were thwarted. being hard pressed, and one of their number shot by captain lewis's pistol, they were forced to retreat, leaving twelve of their own horses behind. the whites were the gainers, for they took away four of the captured animals, while losing but one of their own. the indians had also lost a gun, shields, bows and arrows. most of this stuff was burned; but about the neck of the dead warrior, whose body remained upon the field, captain lewis left a medal, "so that the indians might know who we were." the minnetarees never forgot or forgave this meeting. for long years afterward they nursed the thought of revenge, doing what they could to obstruct settlement of the country. this encounter made it necessary to stop further exploration of maria's river, and to retreat with all speed toward the missouri, before the indians could recover, gather re-enforcements, and offer battle at greater odds. it was not to be supposed that they would pass by the shedding of their tribal blood without seeking immediate vengeance. the explorers had a fair start, however, and after hard riding reached the banks of the missouri just in time to meet sergeant ordway's party descending the river with the canoes and baggage that had been recovered from the resting place on the jefferson,--a fortunate occurrence indeed. reunited, the two parties hurried down the river at a great rate, the rapid current aiding the oarsmen, and got out of the way before the minnetarees appeared. on august 7th, after a day's cruise of eighty-three miles, they reached the mouth of the yellowstone, where they found a note that had been left by captain clark, saying that he would await them a few miles below. he waited for several days; but then, fearing that lewis's party had already passed, he moved forward, and the two commands were not joined until the 12th. in the mean time, after the separation at traveler's rest creek, captain clark's party, too, had found a new pass over the continental divide,--a road 164 miles in length, suitable for wagon travel. july 8th they came to the spot upon jefferson river where the canoes and merchandise had been buried the summer before. the boats were raised and loaded, and sergeant ordway and his men proceeded with them down the river, while captain clark's party set out overland, with the horses, to the yellowstone. on this trip captain clark had an efficient guide in sacajawea, the "bird woman," who brought him to the yellowstone on the 15th, at the point where the river issues from the mountains through its lower caã±on. after traveling for four days along the banks, they halted to build canoes, in which they made the passage to the missouri, a distance of eight hundred miles, reaching the confluence on august 3d. aside from the knowledge of the yellowstone country which was acquired, the only important event of the journey was the loss of all the horses, which were stolen by prowling bands of indians. this was a serious loss; for they were depending upon the horses for barter with the mandans, in order to procure a supply of corn for the journey to st. louis. but there was no time for mourning. the men went into camp at a short distance below the mouth of the yellowstone, where they occupied themselves, while waiting for lewis's party, in hunting and dressing skins, which they meant to offer to the mandans in exchange for needed stores. while they were thus engaged, on the 11th they hailed a canoe passing up stream, that contained two men who had come from the illinois country to hunt upon the yellowstone. these were the first whites seen since april 13, 1805, a period of sixteen months. as a matter of course clark was famished for news from the united states; but what he got from the wanderers was not cheerful. "these two men [who had left the illinois in the summer of 1804] had met the boat which we had dispatched from fort mandan, on board of which, they were told, was a ricara chief on his way to washington; and also another party of yankton chiefs, accompanying mr. dorion on a visit of the same kind. we were sorry to learn that the mandans and minnetarees were at war with the ricaras, and had killed two of them. the assiniboins too are at war with the mandans. they have, in consequence, prohibited the northwestern company from trading to the missouri, and even killed two of their traders near mouse river; they are now lying in wait for mr. mckenzie of the northwestern company, who had been for a long time among the minnetarees. these appearances are rather unfavorable to our project of carrying some of the chiefs to the united states; but we still hope that, by effecting a peace between the mandans, minnetarees, and ricaras, the views of our government may be accomplished." this meant that the solemn treaties of peace concluded at fort mandan amongst the several indian tribes, under the auspices of the expedition, had been broken. the news was displeasing, but probably not wholly unexpected. august 14th, two days after the reunion of the two parties, they came again to the home of their acquaintances, the mandans and the minnetarees. they showed these people every consideration; and the swivel gun, which could not be used on the small boats, was presented to old le borgne, who bore it in state to his lodge, thinking his own thoughts. one of the mandan chiefs joined them here for the journey down the river. then occurred another brief conference with the ricaras, with a renewal of the old pledges of peace and good will toward all men--excepting the sioux. reckless as they were in making promises, they, like all their neighbors, weak or strong, would not commit themselves to attempting conciliation of the sioux. chapter xii home after leaving the ricara villages, the men were possessed by an ardent longing to get home; and the missouri, as though it had learned to know and respect and love them, and could appreciate their ardor, lent them its best aid. upon the swift current, and under pleasant skies, the boats flew onward. seventy-five or eighty miles a day was a common achievement; but even that progress did not keep pace with the speed of their desires. there was nothing more to be accomplished, no reason for lingering by the way; and there was nothing to be guarded against, except possible trouble with the tetons. as the boats passed through their country, these people appeared in large numbers upon the banks, shouting invitations to land; but the officers felt safer in refusing further intercourse. the tetons were obliged to content themselves with trotting along upon the shore, keeping abreast of the boats as well as they were able, crying out taunts and imprecations; and one, more zealous in his passion, went to the top of a hill and struck the earth three times with the butt of his gun,--the registration of a mighty oath against the whites, long since abundantly fulfilled. occasionally there was a meeting with a trading party from st. louis or elsewhere, with brief exchange of news and gossip; but they were growing too eager for loitering. on the 9th of september they passed the mouth of the platte; and on the 12th they met one of their own men who had been sent back with the batteau from fort mandan, in april, 1805. this man was now returning to the ricaras, with a message from president jefferson, and an independent mission to instruct the ricaras in methods of agriculture. a few days later they met with one captain mcclellan, an old acquaintance of captain clark, who told them that the people of the united states had generally given them up for lost, though the president still entertained hopes of their return. "september 20th.... as we moved along rapidly we saw on the banks some cows feeding, and the whole party almost involuntarily raised a shout of joy at seeing this image of civilization and domestic life. soon after we reached the little french village of la charette, which we saluted with a discharge of four guns and three hearty cheers. we landed, and were received with kindness by the inhabitants.... they were all equally surprised and pleased at our arrival, for they had long since abandoned all hopes of ever seeing us return." the next day they came to the village of st. charles; and on the 22d they stopped at a cantonment of united states soldiery, three miles above the mouth of the missouri, where they passed the day. the concluding paragraphs of the journals must be quoted literally from captain clark:-"september 23rd. took an early brackfast with colo hunt and set out, descended to the mississippi and down that river to st. louis at which place we arived about 12 o'clock. we suffered the party to fire off their pieces as a salute to the town. we were met by all the village and received a harty welcom from its inhabitants &c here i found my old acquaintance maj w. christy who had settled in this town in a public line as a tavern keeper. he furnished us with storeroom for our baggage and we accepted of the invitation of mr. peter choteau and took a room in his house. we payed a friendly visit to mr. auguste choteau and some of our old friends this evening. as the post had departed from st. louis capt. lewis wrote a note to mr. hay in kahoka to detain the post at that place until 12 tomorrow which was rather later than his usual time of leaveing it. "wednesday 24th of september, 1806. i sleped but little last night however we rose early and commenced wrighting our letters capt. lewis wrote one to the presidend and i wrote gov. harrison and my friends in kentucky and sent off george drewyer with those letters to kohoka & delivered them to mr. hays &c. we dined with mr. chotoux to day and after dinner went to a store and purchased some clothes, which we gave to a taylor and derected to be made. capt. lewis in opening his trunk found all his papers wet and some seeds spoiled. "thursday 25th of septr. 1806. had all our skins &c suned and stored away in a storeroom of mr. caddy choteau, payed some visits of form, to the gentlemen of st. louis, in the evening a dinner & ball. "friday 26th of septr. 1806. a fine morning we commenced wrighting, &c." that is the last word in the chronicles of the expedition,--modest, unassuming, matter-of-fact--the word of one who had done a difficult thing thoroughly and well, and who was at the end, as he had been throughout, larger than the mere circumstances of his labor. his companion was of the same stalwart stuff. it is hard to choose between them in any essential detail of manhood. nor were the officers much exalted in temper above the men of their command. when we are celebrating the heroes of our national life, every name upon the roster of the lewis and clark expedition deserves to be remembered. * * * * * in this brief narrative, we have just touched the hilltops of the adventures of the expedition. much of importance has been suggested indirectly; much has been passed by altogether. each day's work was full of value and had a lasting significance. one thing remains to be said. we must not forget that the undertaking was not primarily one of adventure; it was an exploration, in the broadest sense of the word. it was not the mere fact of getting across the continent and back that gave the work its character, but the observations that were made by the way. a book of this size would not contain a bare catalogue of the deeds and discoveries of those twenty-eight months; nor could any number of volumes do full justice to their importance. whoever reads the journals, from whatever point of view, is amazed by what they reveal. geographers, ethnologists, botanists, geologists, indian traders, and men of affairs, all are of one mind upon this point. we must wait long before we find the work of lewis and clark equaled. chapter xiii after life it would be a pleasant labor, and one well worth the pains, to record the story of the later years of every one of those valiant souls, from the highest to the lowest. but that may not be done here. the best homage that can be rendered to the subordinates is to speak of their common motive: simple-hearted, unselfish devotion to the interests of the nation, unstained by ulterior hope of private gain. a bill was passed by congress in 1807, granting to the non-commissioned officers and privates, according to rank, a sum of money equal to double pay for the period of service, and, in addition, 300 acres of land from the public domain. but nothing beyond ordinary pay had been definitely pledged in advance. clearly it was not the expectation of material reward which sustained them. the bill passed by congress included also a grant of 1500 acres of land to captain lewis, and of 1000 acres to captain clark. it is upon record that lewis, in the spirit which had regulated all of his relations with clark, objected to this discrimination in his favor. in march, 1804, before the expedition set out, the newly acquired louisiana territory was divided by congress, the dividing line being the 33d parallel. the southern portion was named the district of new orleans, and the northern, the district of louisiana; this name being changed, a year later, to louisiana territory. on march 3d, 1807, meriwether lewis was made governor of this territory, with headquarters at the village of st. louis; and this office he held until he died, october 11, 1809, at the age of thirty-five years. although his service in this position was so untimely short, he did much toward laying a firm foundation for the institutions of lawful and orderly life. according to mr. jefferson, "he found the territory distracted by feuds and contentions among the officers of the government, and the people themselves divided by these into factions and parties. he determined at once to take no side with either, but to use every endeavor to conciliate and harmonize them. the even-handed justice he administered to all soon established a respect for his person and authority, and perseverance and time wore down animosities, and reunited the citizens again into one family." in the newly organized society, events rapidly took form. governor lewis, with two others (judges of the court), constituted the territorial legislature, which concerned itself at once with matters of development,--providing for the establishment of towns, laying out roads, etc. in 1808 the laws of louisiana territory were collected and published, under the supervision of the legislature. this was the first book printed in st. louis. a post-office was established also in 1808, and soon afterward the first newspaper appeared. from a mere frontier trading settlement, whose conduct was regulated by untamed impulses, st. louis was being put in the way of its present greatness. aside from these purely administrative duties, the governor was further occupied in endeavoring to secure permanent peace with the indians, and to prepare them for receiving the advantages of civilized life. this was his largest thought, growing naturally out of all that he had seen and done in the years preceding; and in it he was supported and inspired by continued association with captain clark, who had been appointed indian agent for the territory. he had plenty to do; and in such intervals as could be found, he was preparing for publication the history of his travels. the manner of his death is not exactly known. although several writers have given their best efforts to erasing what they seem to consider a blot upon his reputation, the weight of opinion appears to sustain mr. jefferson's statement that he committed suicide while affected by hypochondria. mr. jefferson wrote in his memoir:- "governor lewis had from early life been subject to hypochondriac affections. it was a constitutional disposition in all the nearer branches of the family of his name, and was more immediately inherited by him from his father. they had not, however, been so strong as to give uneasiness to his family. while he lived with me in washington i observed at times sensible depressions of mind; but, knowing their constitutional source, i estimated their course by what i had seen in the family. during his western expedition, the constant exertion which that required of all the faculties of body and mind suspended these distressing affections; but after his establishment at st. louis in sedentary occupations, they returned to him with redoubled vigor and began seriously to alarm his friends. he was in a paroxysm of one of these when his affairs rendered it necessary for him to go to washington." he proceeded upon this journey, and was crossing through tennessee when death overtook him, at the cabin of a backwoodsman where he had stopped for the night. some of the circumstances point to murder, others to suicide; the truth is conjectural. what does it matter, after all? he had lived largely; had done a man's work; he has a noble place in history. a better fortune was in store for captain clark. he was destined for long and honorable service in public life, and a fair old age. on the 12th of march, 1807, a few days following captain lewis's appointment as governor of louisiana territory, captain clark was commissioned by president jefferson as brigadier-general of the territorial militia, and as indian agent. dr. coues says in his excellent biographical sketch that "in those days this title was not synonymous with 'thief,' and the position was one of honor, not to be sought or used for dishonest purposes." then william clark was the man for the place. throughout his public life there is no stain of any sort upon his name. with his strong, decisive, straightforward character, which would not suffer him to yield a jot in his ideas of right and wrong, he must have excited jealousies and made some enemies; but none of these had the hardihood to speak against his integrity. his best work was accomplished as indian agent. in that position he was in fact and in name the foster-father of all the tribes who lived in the territory he had helped to explore. it devolved upon him to acquaint the indians with the nature and purposes of our government, and to bring them into obedience to its laws. more than this, he had a large task before him in endeavoring to reconcile the traditional enmities of the tribes one against another. he succeeded well. he got the confidence of the natives, and kept it; from fearing his power, most of them came to revere the man. when all is said of the indians,--of their savage craft, their obliquity of moral vision, their unsparing cruelty, and their utter remissness in most matters of behavior, the fact remains that they know how to appreciate candor and honor, and will respond to it as well as they are able. they are slow to believe in wordy protestations: they must have signs more tangible. they will not trust all men of white complexion merely because they have found one trustworthy; each man must prove himself and stand for himself. william clark gave them a rare exhibition of upright, downright manliness, and they learned to respect and love him. he was soon celebrated from st. louis to the pacific, and was called by the name "red-head." to this day, old men of the rocky mountain tribes speak of him with fondness, saying that our government has never shown another like him. he was a man of iron; his was an iron rule. in that time, indian affairs were comparatively free from the modern bureaucratic control; the agent devised and followed his own plans, unhampered by jealous superiors. it has been said that clark's office was that of an autocrat, a condition too dangerous to be generally tolerated. clark was indeed an exception. the most absolute power could be intrusted to him with implicit confidence that it would not be abused. the indians themselves, who were the most directly concerned, did not rebel against his unbending authority. if he was stern, exacting the utmost, and holding them to a strict accountability for violations of law, they knew that his least word of promise was certain of fulfillment. they did not find his rule too onerous under those conditions. while he held sway, the western indian country was in an unequaled state of order and decency. not the least of our debts to captain clark lies in the fact that it was he who brought the journals of the great expedition to public view. captain lewis had not been able to finish this work before his death; most of the details of arrangement for publication fell to his surviving companion, with the admirable editorial supervision of nicholas biddle. it is often regretted that editorial revision of the manuscripts was considered necessary; for what was thus gained sometimes in clearness and brevity of statement was more than lost in delicious naã¯vetã©. mr. biddle did his part thoroughly, sympathetically; and it was he who succeeded in finding a publisher,--a matter hard to accomplish in that time, troubled as it was with war and with political and commercial uncertainty. the authentic history did not appear until the year 1814. meanwhile, captain clark had passed to fresh honors. following the death of governor lewis, benjamin howard was appointed as his successor. in 1812 the name of the territory was changed to missouri; and in 1813 captain clark was appointed by president madison as its governor. after being reappointed by madison in 1816 and 1817, and by monroe in 1820, he surrendered his office upon the admission of missouri to statehood, when a governor was elected by vote of the people. in 1822 he was named by president monroe to be superintendent of indian affairs, and this post he held for sixteen years thereafter, until his death. he died as a man of his make would wish to die. he was sixty-eight years of age, but still in harness and able to do his work. he passed quietly away at the home of his eldest son, meriwether lewis clark, in st. louis, on the first day of september, 1838. _and they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, it is a good land which the lord our god doth give us._ the riverside press _electrotyped and printed by h. o. houghton & co._ _cambridge, mass., u.s.a._ the magnificent adventure _being the story of the world's greatest exploration and the romance of a very gallant gentleman._ a novel by emerson hough author of the covered wagon, north of 36, etc. illustrated by arthur i. keller new york grosset & dunlap publishers made in the united states of america copyright, 1916, by emerson hough copyright, 1916, by the frank a. munsey company printed in the united states of america [illustration: "'him ro'shones,' replied the girl" [page 219]] to robert h. davis good friend invaluable collaborator contents part i chapter page i. mother and son 3 ii. meriwether and theodosia 15 iii. mr. burr and mr. merry 30 iv. president and secretary 36 v. the pell-mell and some consequences 47 vi. the great conspiracy 71 vii. colonel burr and his daughter 86 viii. the parting 94 ix. mr. thomas jefferson 105 x. the threshold of the west 117 xi. the taming of patrick gass 128 xii. captain william clark 137 xiii. under three flags 143 xiv. the rent in the armor 153 part ii i. under one flag 167 ii. the mysterious letter 182 iii. the day's work 191 iv. the crossroads of the west 199 v. the appeal 208 vi. which way? 218 vii. the mountains 230 viii. trail's end 241 ix. the summons 250 x. the abyss 256 xi. the bee 272 xii. what voice had called? 280 xiii. the news 292 xiv. the guests of a nation 300 xv. mr. jefferson's advice 308 xvi. the quality of mercy 316 xvii. the friends 328 xviii. the wilderness 336 xix. down to the sea 351 list of illustrations "'him ro'shones,' replied the girl" _frontispiece_ facing page "'mistah thomas jeffahson!' was his sole announcement" 50 "'oh, theo, what have i done?'" 162 "her face indeed!" 252 the magnificent adventure chapter i mother and son a woman, tall, somewhat angular, dark of hair and eye, strong of features--a woman now approaching middle age--sat looking out over the long, tree-clad slopes that ran down from the gallery front of the mansion house to the gate at the distant roadway. she had sat thus for some moments, many moments, her gaze intently fixed, as though waiting for something--something or someone that she did not now see, but expected soon to see. it was late afternoon of a day so beautiful that not even old albemarle, beauty spot of virginia, ever produced one more beautiful--not in the hundred years preceding that day, nor in the century since then. for this was more than a hundred years ago; and what is now an ancient land was then a half opened region, settled only here and there by the great plantations of the well-to-do. the house that lay at the summit of the long and gentle slope, flanked by its wide galleries--its flung doors opening it from front to rear to the gaze as one approached--had all the rude comfort and assuredness usual with the gentry of that time and place. it was the privilege, and the habit, of the widow lewis to sit idly when she liked, but her attitude now was not that of idleness. intentness, reposeful acceptance of life, rather, showed in her motionless, long-sustained position. she was patient, as women are; but her strong pose, its freedom from material support, her restrained power to do or to endure, gave her the look of owning something more than resignation, something more than patience. a strong figure of a woman, one would have said had one seen her, sitting on the gallery of her old home a hundred and twenty-four years ago. the widow lewis stared straight down at the gate, a quarter of a mile away, with yearning in her gaze. but as so often happens, what she awaited did not appear at the time and place she herself had set. there fell at the western end of the gallery a shadow--a tall shadow, but she did not see it. she did not hear the footfall, not stealthy, but quite silent, with which the tall owner of the shadow came toward her from the gallery end. it was a young man, or rather boy, no more than eighteen years of age, who stood now and gazed at her after his silent approach, so like that of an indian savage. half savage himself he seemed now, as he stood, clad in the buckskin garments of the chase, then not unusual in the virginian borderlands among settlers and hunters, and not held _outré_ among a people so often called to the chase or to war. his tunic was of dressed deer hide, his well-fitting leggings also of that material. his feet were covered with moccasins, although his hat and the neat scarf at his neck were those of a gentleman. he was a practical youth, one would have said, for no ornament of any sort was to be seen upon his garb. in his hand he carried a long rifle of the sort then used thereabout. at his belt swung the hide of a raccoon, the bodies of a few squirrels. had you been a close observer, you would have found each squirrel shot fair through the head. indeed, a look into the gray eye of the silent-paced youth would have assured you in advance of his skill with his weapons--you would have known that to be natural with him. you would not soon have found his like, even in that land of tall hunting men. he was a grand young being as he stood there, straight and clean-limbed; hard-bitten of muscle, albeit so young; powerful and graceful in his stride. the beauty of youth was his, and of a strong heredity--that you might have seen. the years of youth were his, yes; but the lightness of youth did not rest on his brow. while he was not yet eighteen, the gravity of manhood was his. he did not smile now, as he saw his mother sitting there absorbed, gazing out for his return, and not seeing him now that he had returned. instead, he stepped forward, and quietly laid a hand upon her shoulder, not with any attempt to surprise or startle her, but as if he knew that she would accept it as the announcement of his presence. he was right. the strong figure in the chair did not start away. no exclamation came from the straight mouth of the face now turned toward him. evidently the nerves of these two were not of the sort readily stampeded. the young man's mother at first did not speak to him. she only reached up her own hand to take that which lay upon her shoulder. they remained thus for a moment, until at last the youth stepped back to lean his rifle against the wall. "i am late, mother," said he at length, as he turned and, seating himself at her feet, threw his arm across her lap--himself but boy again now, and not the hunter and the man. she stroked his dark hair, not foolishly fond, but with a sort of stern maternal care, smoothing it back in place where it belonged, straightening out the riot it had assumed. it made a mane above his forehead and reached down his neck to his shoulders, so heavy that where its dark mass was lifted it showed the skin of his neck white beneath. "you are late, yes." "and you waited--so long?" "i am always waiting for you, merne," said she. she used the elizabethan vowel, as one should pronounce "bird," with no sound of "u"--"mairne," the name sounded as she spoke it. and her voice was full and rich and strong, as was her son's; musically strong. "i am always waiting for you, merne," said she. "but i long ago learned not to expect anything else of you." she spoke with not the least reproach in her tone. "no, i only knew that you would come back in time, because you told me that you would." "and you did not fear for me, then--gone overnight in the woods?" he half smiled at that thought himself. "you know i would not. i know you, what you are--born woodsman. no, i trust you to care for yourself in any wild country, my son, and to come back. and then--to go back again into the forest. when will it be, my son? tomorrow? in two days, or four, or six? sometime you will go to the wilderness again. it draws you, does it not?" she turned her head slightly toward the west, where lay the forest from which the boy had but now emerged. he did not smile, did not deprecate. he was singularly mature in his actions, though but eighteen years of age. "i did not desert my duty, mother," said he at length. "oh, no, you would not do that, merne!" returned the widow. "please, mother," said he suddenly, "i want you to call me by my full name--that of your people. am i not meriwether, too?" the hand on his forehead ceased its gentle movement, fell to its owner's lap. a sigh passed his mother's set lips. "yes, my son, meriwether," said she. "this is the last journey! i have lost you, then, it seems? you do not wish to be my boy any longer? you are a man altogether, then?" "i am meriwether lewis, mother," said he gravely, and no more. "yes!" she spoke absently, musingly. "yes, you always were!" "i went westward, clear across the ragged mountains," said the youth. "these"--and he pointed with contempt to the small trophies at his belt--"will do for the darkies at the stables. i put yon old ringtail up a tree last night, on my way home, and thought it was as well to wait till dawn, till i could see the rifle-sights; and afterward--the woods were beautiful today. as to the trails, even if there is no trail, i know the way back home--you know that, mother." "i know that, my son, yes. you were born for the forest. i fear i shall not hold you long on this quiet farm." "all in time, mother! i am to stay here with you until i am fitted to go higher. you know what mr. jefferson has said to me. i am for washington, mother, one of these days--for i hold it sure that mr. jefferson will go there in some still higher place. he was my father's friend, and is ours still." "it may be that you will go to washington, my son," said his mother; "i do not know. but will you stay there? the forest will call to you all your life--all your life! do i not know you, then? can i not see your life--all your life--as plainly as if it were written? do i not know--your mother? why should not your mother know?" he looked around at her rather gravely once again, unsmilingly, for he rarely smiled. "how do you know, mother? what do you know? tell me--about myself! then i will tell you also. we shall see how we agree as to what i am and what i ought to do!" "my son, it is no question of what you ought to do, for that blends too closely in fate with what you surely will do--must do--because it was written for you. yonder forest will always call to you." she turned now toward the sun, sinking across the red-leaved forest lands. "the wilderness is your home. you will go out into it and return--often; and then at last you will go and not come back again--not to me--not to anyone will you come back." the youth did not move as she sat, her hands on his head. her voice went on, even and steady. "you are old, meriwether lewis! it is time, now. you are a man. you _always_ were a man! you were born old. you never have been a boy, and never can be one. you never were a child, but always a man. when you were a baby, you did not smile; when you were a boy, you always had your way. my boy, a long time ago i ceased to oppose that will of yours--i knew that it was useless. but, ah, how i have loved that will when i felt it was behind your promise! i knew you would do what you had set for yourself to do. i knew you would come back with deeds in your hand, my boy--gained through that will which never would bend for me or for anyone else in the world!" he remained motionless, apparently unaffected, as his mother went on. "you were always old, always grown up, always resolved, always your own master--always meriwether lewis. when you were born, you were not a child. when the old nurse brought you to me--i can see her black face grinning now--she carried you held by the feet instead of lying on her arm. you _stood_, you were so strong! your hair was dark and full even then. you were old! in two weeks you turned where you heard a sound--you recognized sight and sound together, as no child usually does for months. you were beautiful, my boy, so strong, so straight--ah, yes!--but you never were a boy at all. when you should have been a baby, you did not weep and you did not smile. i never knew you to do so. from the first, you always were a man." she paused, but still he did not speak. "that was well enough, for later we were left alone. but your father was in you. do i not know well enough where you got that settled melancholy of yours, that despondency, that somber grief--call it what you like--that marked him all his life, and even in his death? that came from him, your father. i thank god i did not give you that, knowing what life must hold for you in suffering! he suffered, yes, but not as you will. and you must--you must, my son. beyond all other men, you will suffer!" "you were better named cassandra, mother!" yet the young man scarce smiled even now. "yes, i am a prophetess, all too sooth a prophetess, my son. i see ahead as only a mother can see--perhaps as only one of the old highland blood can see. i am soothseer and soothsayer, because you are blood of my blood, bone of my bone, and i cannot help but know. i cannot help but know what that melancholy and that resolution, all these combined, must spell for you. you know how his heart was racked at times?" the boy nodded now. "then know how your own must be racked in turn!" said she. "my son, it is no ordinary fate that will be yours. you will go forward at all costs; you will keep your word bright as the knife in your belt--you will drive yourself. what that means to you in agony--what that means when your will is set against the unalterable and the inevitable--i wish--oh, i wish i could not see it! but i do see it, now, all laid out before me--all, all! oh, merne--may i not call you merne once more before i let you go?" she let her hands fall from his head to his shoulders as she gazed steadily out beyond him, as if looking into his future; but she herself sat, her strong face composed. she might, indeed, have been a prophetess of old. "tragedy is yours, my son," said she, slowly, "not happiness. no woman will ever come and lie in your arms happy and content." "mother!" he half flung off her hands, but she laid them again more firmly on his shoulders, and went on speaking, as if half in reverie, half in trance, looking down the long slope of green and gold as if it showed the vista of the years. "you will love, my boy, but with your nature how could love mean happiness to you? love? no man could love more terribly. you will be intent, resolved, but the firmness of your will means that much more suffering for you. you will suffer, my boy--i see that for you, my first-born boy! you will love--why should you not, a man fit to love and be loved by any woman? but that love, the stronger it grows, will but burn you the deeper. you will struggle through on your own path; but happiness does not lie at the end of that path for you. you will succeed, yes--you could not fail; but always the load on your shoulders will grow heavier and heavier. you will carry it alone, until at last it will be too much for you. your strong heart will break. you will lie down and die. such a fate for you, merne, my boy--such a man as you will be!" she sighed, shivered, and looked about her, startled, as if she had spoken aloud in some dream. "well, then, go on!" she said, and withdrew her hands from his shoulders. the faces of both were now gazing straight on over the gold-flecked slope before them. "go on, you are a man. i know you will not turn back from what you undertake. you will not change, you will not turn--because you cannot. you were born to earn and not to own; to find, but not to possess. but as you have lived, so you will die." "you give me no long shrift, mother?" said the youth, with a twinkle in his eye. "how can i? i can only tell you what is in the book of life. do i not know? a mother always loves her son; so it takes all her courage to face what she knows will be his lot. any mother can read her son's future--if she dares to read it. she knows--she knows!" there was a long silence; then the widow continued. "listen, merne," she said. "you call me a prophetess of evil. i am not that. do you think i speak only in despair, my boy? no, there is something larger than mere happiness. listen, and believe me, for now i could not fail to know. i tell you that your great desire, the great wish of your life, shall be yours! you never will relinquish it, you always will possess it, and at last it will be yours." again silence fell between them before she went on, her hand again resting on her son's dark hair. "your great desire will cost me my son. be it so! we breed men for the world, we women, and we give them up. out of the agony of our hearts, we do and must always give them up. that is the price i must pay. but i give you up to the great hope, the great thing of your life. should i complain? am i not your mother, and therefore a woman? and should a woman complain? but, oh, merne, merne, my son, my boy!" she drew his head back, so that she could see deep into his eyes. her dark brows half frowning, she gazed down upon him, not so much in tenderness as in intentness. for the first time in many months--for the last time in his life--she kissed him on the forehead; and then she let him go. he rose now, and, silently as he had come, passed around the end of the wide gallery. her gaze did not follow him. she sat still looking down the golden-green slope where the leaves were dropping silently. she sat, her chin in her hand, her elbows upon her knees, facing that future, somber but splendid, to which she had devoted her son, and which in later years he so singularly fulfilled. that was the time when the mother of meriwether lewis gave him to his fate--his fate, so closely linked with yours and mine. chapter ii meriwether and theodosia soft is the sun in the summer season at washington, softer at times than any old dan chaucer ever knew; but again so ardent that anyone who would ride abroad would best do so in the early morning. this is true today, and it was true when the capital city lay in the heart of a sweeping forest at the edge of a yet unconquered morass. the young man who now rode into this forest, leaving behind him the open streets of the straggling city--then but beginning to lighten under the rays of the morning sun--was one who evidently knew his washington. he knew his own mind as well, for he rode steadily, as if with some definite purpose, to some definite point, looking between his horse's ears. sitting as erect and as easily as any cavalier of the world's best, he was tall in his saddle seat, his legs were long and straight. his boots were neatly varnished, his coat well cut, his gloves of good pattern for that time. his hat swept over a mass of dark hair, which fell deep in its loose cue upon his neck. his cravat was immaculate and well tied. he was a good figure of a man, a fine example of the young manhood of america as he rode, his light, firm hand half unconsciously curbing the antics of the splendid animal beneath him--a horse deep bay in color, high-mettled, a mount fit for a monarch--or for a young gentleman of virginia a little more than one hundred years ago. if it was not the horse of a monarch the young man bestrode, none the less it was the horse of one who insisted that his stables should be as good as those of any king--none less, if you please, than mr. thomas jefferson, then president of the united states of america. this particular animal was none other than arcturus, mr. jefferson's favorite saddler. it was the duty as well as the delight of mr. jefferson's private secretary to give arcturus and his stable-mate, wildair, their exercise on alternate days. on this summer morning arcturus was enjoying his turn beneath his rider--who forsooth was more often in the saddle than mr. jefferson himself. horse and rider made a picture in perfect keeping as they fared on toward the little-used forest road which led out rock creek way. yonder, a few miles distant, was a stone mill owned by an old german, who sometimes would offer a cup of coffee to an early horseman. perhaps this rider knew the way from earlier wanderings thither on other summer mornings. arcturus curveted along and tossed his head, mincing daintily, and making all manner of pretense at being dangerous, with sudden gusts of speed and shakings of his head and blowing out of his nostrils--though all the time the noble bay was as gentle as a dog. whether or not he really were dangerous would have made small difference to the young man who bestrode him, for his seat was that of the born horseman. they advanced comfortably enough, the rider seemingly less alive to the joys of the morning than was the animal beneath him. the young man's face was grave, his mouth unsmiling--a mouth of half indian lines, broken in its down-sweeping curve merely by the point of a bow which spoke of gentleness as well as strength. his head was that of the new man, the american, the new man of a new world, young and strong, a continent that had lain fallow from the birth of time. what burdened the mind of a man like this, of years which should have left him yet in full attunement with the morning of life and with the dawn of a country? why should he pay so little heed to the playful advances of arcturus, inviting him for a run along the shady road? arcturus could not tell. he could but prance insinuatingly, his ears forward, his head tossed, his eye now and again turned about, inquiring. but though the young man, moody and abstracted, still looked on ahead, some of his senses seemed yet on guard. his head turned at the slightest sound of the forest life that came to him. if a twig cracked, he heard it. if a green nut cut by some early squirrel clattered softly on the leaves, that was not lost to him. a bevy of partridges, feeding at dawn along the edge of the forest path, whirled up in his horse's face; and though he held the startled animal close, he followed the flight of the birds with the trained eye of the fowler, and marked well where they pitched again. he did these things unconsciously as one well used to the woods, even though his eye turned again straight down the road and the look of intentness, of sadness, almost of melancholy, once more settled upon his features. he advanced into the wood until all sight of the city was quite cut off from him, until the light grew yet dimmer along the forest road, in places almost half covered with a leafy canopy, until at length he came to the valley of the little stream. he followed the trail as it rambled along the bank toward the mill, through scenes apparently familiar to him. abstracted as he was he must have been alert, alive, for now, suddenly, he broke his moody reverie at some sound which he heard on ahead. he reined in for just an instant, then loosed the bridle and leaned forward. the horse under him sprang forward in giant strides. it was the sound of a voice that the young cavalier had heard--the voice of a woman--apparently a woman in some distress. what cavalier at any time of the world has not instinctively leaped forward at such sound? in less than half a moment the rider was around the turn of the leafy trail. she was there, the woman who had cried out, herself mounted, and now upon the point of trying conclusions with her mount. whether dissatisfaction with the latter or some fear of her own had caused her to cry out might have been less certain, had it not been sure that her eye was at the moment fastened, not upon the fractious steed, but upon the cause of his unwonted misbehavior. the keen eye of the young man looked with hers, and found the reason for the sudden scene. a serpent, some feet in length--one of the mottled, harmless species sometimes locally called the blow-snake--obviously had come out into the morning sun to warm himself, and his yellow body, lying loose and uncoiled, had been invisible to horse and rider until they were almost upon it. then, naturally, the serpent had moved his head, and both horse and rider had seen him, to the dismay of both. this the young man saw and understood in a second, even as he spurred forward alongside the plunging animal. his firm hand on the bridle brought both horses back to their haunches. an instant later both had control of their mounts again, and had set them down to their paces in workmanlike fashion. there was color in the young woman's face, but it was the color of courage, of resolution. there was breeding in every line of her. class and lineage marked her as she sat easily, her supple young body accommodating itself handsomely to the restrained restiveness of the steed beneath her. she rode with perfect confidence, as an experienced horsewoman, and was well turned out in a close habit, neither old nor new. her dark hair--cut rather squarely across her forehead after an individual fashion of her own--was surmounted by a slashed hat, decorated with a wide-flung plume of smoky color, caught with a jewel at the side. both jewel and plume had come, no doubt, in some ship from across seas. her hands were small, and gloved as well as might be at that day of the world. there was small ornament about her; nor did this young woman need ornament beyond the color of her cheek and hair and eye, and perhaps the touch of a bold ribbon at her throat, which held a white collar closer to a neck almost as white. an aristocrat, you must have called her, had you seen her in any chance company. and had you been a young man such as this, and had you met her alone, in some sort of agitation, and had consent been given you--or had you taken consent--surely you would have been loath to part company with one so fair, and would have ridden on with her as he did now. but at first they did not speak. a quick, startled look came into the face of the young woman. a deeper shade glowed upon the cheek of the cavalier, reddening under the skin--a flush which shamed him, but which he could not master. he only kept his eyes straight between his horse's ears as he rode--after he had raised his hat and bowed at the close of the episode. "i am to thank captain lewis once more," began the young woman, in a voice vibrant and clear--the sweetest, kindest voice in the world. "it is good fortune that you rode abroad so early this morning. you always come at need!" he turned upon her, mute for a time, yet looking full into her face. it was sadness, not boldness, not any gay challenge, that marked his own. "can you then call it good fortune?" his own voice was low, suppressed. "why not, then?" "you did not need me. a moment, and you would have been in command again--there was no real need of me. ah, you never need me!" "yet you come. you were here, had the need been worse. and, indeed, i was quite off my guard--i must have been thinking of something else." "and i also." "and there was the serpent." "madam, there was the serpent! and why not? is this not eden? i swear it is paradise enough for me. tell me, why is it that in the glimpses the sages give us of paradise they no more than lift the curtain--and let it fall again?" "captain meriwether lewis is singularly gloomy this morning!" "not more than i have been always. how brief was my little hour! yet for that time i knew paradise--as i do now. we should part here, madam, now, forever. yon serpent spelled danger for both of us." "for both of us?" "no, forgive me! none the less, i could not help my thoughts--cannot help them now. i ride here every morning. i saw your horse's hoof-marks some two miles back. do you suppose i did not know whose they were?" "and you followed me? ah!" "i suppose i did, and yet i did not. if i did i knew i was riding to my fate." she would have spoken--her lips half parted--but what she might have said none heard. he went on: "i have ridden here since first i saw you turn this way one morning. i guessed this might be your haunt at dawn. i have ridden here often--and feared each time that i might meet you. perhaps i came this morning in the same way, not knowing that you were near, but hoping that you might be. you see, madam, i speak the absolute truth with you." "you have never spoken aught else to any human soul. that i know." "and yet you try to evade the truth? why deceive your heart about it, since i have not deceived my own? i have faced it out in my own heart, and i have, i trust, come off the victor. at some cost!" her face was troubled. she looked aside as she replied in a voice low, but firm: "any woman would be glad to hear such words from captain lewis, and i am glad. but--the honest wife never lived who could listen to them often." "i know that," he said simply. "no!" her voice was very low now; her eyes soft and cast down as they fell upon a ring under her glove. "we must not meet, captain meriwether lewis. at least, we must not meet thus alone in the woods. it might cause talk. the administration has enemies enough, as you know--and never was a woman who did not have enemies, no matter how clean her life has been." "clean as the snow, yours! i have never asked you to be aught else, and never will. i sought you once, when i rode from virginia to new york--when i first had my captain's pay, before mr. jefferson asked me to join his family. before that time i had too little to offer you; but then, with my hopes and my ambitions, i ventured. i made that journey to offer you my hand. i was two weeks late--you were already wedded to mr. alston. then i learned that happiness never could be mine.... yes, we must part! you are the only thing in life i fear. and i fear as well for you. one wagging tongue in this hotbed of gossip--and there is harm for you, whom all good men should wish to shield." as he rode, speaking thus, his were the features of a man of tremendous emotions, a resolute man, a man of strength, of passions not easily put down. she turned aside her own face for an instant. at last her little hand went to him in a simple gesture of farewell. meriwether lewis leaned and kissed it reverently as he rode. "good-by!" said he. "now we may go on for the brief space that remains for us," he added a moment later. "no one is likely to ride this way this morning. let us go on to the old mill. may i give you a cup of coffee there?" "i trust captain meriwether lewis," she replied. they advanced silently, and presently came in sight of a little cascade above a rocky shallowing of the stream. below this, after they had splashed through the ford, they saw the gray stone walls of rock creek mill. the miller was a plain man, and silent. other folk, younger or older, married or single, had come hither of a morning, and he spoke the name of none. he welcomed these two after his fashion. under the shade of a great tree, which flung an arm out to the rivulet, he pulled out a little table spread in white and departed to tell his wife of the company. she, busy and smiling, came out presently with her best in old china and linen and wherewith to go with both. they sat now, face to face across the little table, their horses cropping the dewy grass near by. lewis's riding crop and gloves lay on his knee. he cast his hat upon the grass. little birds hopped about on the ground and flitted here and there in the trees, twittering. a mocker, trilling in sudden ecstacy of life, spread a larger melody through all the wood. the sun drew gently up in the heavens, screened by the waving trees. the ripple of the stream was very sweet. "theodosia, look!" said the young man, suddenly swinging a gesture about him. "did i not say right? it is eden! ah, what a pity it is that eden must ever be the same--a serpent--repentance--and farewell! yet it was so beautiful." "a sinless eden, sir." "no! i will not lie--i will not say that i do not love you more than ever. that is my sin; so i must go away. this must be our last meeting--i am fortunate that it came by chance today." "going away--where, then, my friend?" "into the west. it always has called me. ah, if only i had remained in the indian country yonder, where i belonged, and never made my ride to new york--to learn that i had come too late! but the west still is there--the wilderness still exists to welcome such as me!" "but you will--you will come back again?" "it is in the lap of the gods. i do not know or care. but my plans are all arranged. mr. jefferson and i have agreed that it is almost time to start. you see, theodosia, i am now back from my schooling. you behold in me, madam, a scientist! at least i am competent to read by the sun and stars, can reckon longitude and latitude--as one must, to journey into the desert yonder. if only i dared orient my soul as well!" "you would never doubt my faith in my husband." "no! of course, you love your husband. i could not look at you a second time if you did not." "you are a good man, meriwether lewis!" "do not say it! i am a man accursed of evil passions--the most unhappy of all men. there is nothing else, i say, in all the world that i fear but my love for you. tell me it will not last--tell me it will change--tell me that i shall forget! i should not believe you--but tell me that. does a man never forget? success--for others; happiness--for someone else. my mother said that was to be my fate. what did she mean?" "she meant, meriwether lewis, that you were a great man, a great soul! only a man of noble soul could speak as you have spoken to me. we women, in our souls, love something noble and good and strong. then we imagine someone like that. we believe, or try to believe, or say that we believe; but always----" "and a woman may divide not love, only love of love itself?" "i shall love your future, and shall watch it always," she replied, coloring. "you will be a great man, and there will be a great place for you." "and what then?" "do not ask what then. you ask if men never change. alas, they do, all too frequently! do not deny the imperious way of nature. only--remember me as long as you can, meriwether lewis." she spoke softly, and the color of her cheek, still rising, told of her self-reproof. he turned suddenly at this, a wonderfully sweet smile now upon his face. "as long as i can?" "yes. let your own mind run on the ambitions of a proud man, a strong man. ambition--power--place--these things will all be yours in the coming years. they belong to any man of ability such as yours, and i covet them for you. i shall pray always for your success; but success makes men forget." he still sat looking at her unmoved, with thoughts in his heart that he would not have cared to let her know. she went on still, half tremblingly: "i want to see you happy after a time--with some good woman at your side--your children by you--in your own home. i want everything for you which ought to come to any man. and yet i know how hard it is to alter your resolve, once formed. captain lewis, you are a stubborn man, a hard man!" he shook his head. "yes, i do not seem to change," said he simply. "i hope i shall be able to carry my burden and to hold my trail." "fie! i will not have such talk on a morning like this." fearlessly she reached out her hand to his, which lay upon the table. she smiled at him, but he looked down, the lean fingers of his own hand not trembling nor responding. if she sensed the rigidity of the muscles which held his fingers outward, at least she feared it not. if she felt the repression which kept him silent, at least she feared it not. her intuitions told her at last that the danger was gone. his hand did not close on hers. she raised her cup and saluted laughingly. "a good journey, meriwether lewis," said she, "and a happy return from it! cast away such melancholy--you will forget all this!" "i ask you not to wound me more than need be. i am hard to die. i can carry many wounds, but they may pain me none the less." "forgive me, then," she said, and once more her small hand reached out toward him. "i would not wound you. i asked you only to remember me as----" "as----" "as i shall you, of course. and i remember that bright day when you came to me--yonder in new york. you offered me all that any man can ever offer any woman. i am proud of that! i told my husband, yes. he never mentions your name save in seriousness and respect. i am ambitious for you. all the burrs are full of ambition, and i am a burr, as you know. how long will it be before you come back to higher office and higher place? will it be six months hence?" "more likely six years. if there is healing for me, the wilderness alone must give it." "i shall be an old woman--old and sallow from the carolina suns. you will have forgotten me then." "it is enough," said he. "you have lightened my burden for me as much as may be--you have made the trial as easy as any can. the rest is for me. at least i can go feeling that i have not wronged you in any way." "yes, meriwether lewis," said she quietly, "there has not been one word or act of yours to cause you regret, or me. you have put no secret on me that i must keep. that was like a man! i trust you will find it easy to forget me." he raised a hand. "i said, madam, that i am hard to die. i asked you not to wound me overmuch. do not talk to me of hopes or sympathy. i do not ask--i will not have it! only this remains to comfort me--if i had laid on my soul the memory of one secret that i had dared to place on yours, ah, then, how wretched would life be for me forever after! that thought, it seems to me, i could not endure." "go, then, my savage gentleman, and let me----" "and let you never see my face again?" she rose and stood looking at him, her own eyes wet with a sudden moisture. "women worth loving are so few!" she said slowly. "clean men are so few! how a woman could have loved you, meriwether lewis! how some woman ought to love you! yes, go now," she concluded. "yes, go!" "mrs. alston will wait with you here for a few moments," said meriwether lewis to the miller's wife quietly. he stood with his bridle rein across his arm. "see that she is very comfortable. she might have a second cup of your good coffee?" he swung into his saddle, reined his horse about, turned and bowed formally to his late _vis-à-vis_, who still remained seated at the table. then he was off at such speed as left arcturus no more cause to fret at his bridle rein. chapter iii mr. burr and mr. merry the young virginian had well-nigh made his way out over the two miles or so of sheltered roadway, when he heard hoof beats on ahead, and slackened his own speed. he saw two horsemen approaching, both well mounted, coming on at a handsome gait. of these, one was a stout and elderly man of no special shape at all, who sat his horse with small grace, his florid face redder for his exercise, his cheeks mottled with good living and hard riding. he was clad in scrupulous riding costume, and seemed, indeed, a person of some importance. the badge of some order or society showed on his breast, and his entire air--intent as he was upon his present business of keeping company with a skilled horseman--marked him as one accustomed to attention from others. a servant in the costume of an english groom rode at a short distance behind him. the second man was lighter, straight and trim of figure, with an erectness and exactness of carriage which marked him as a soldier at some part of his life. he was clad with extreme neatness, well booted also, and sat his mount with the nonchalance of the trained horseman. his own garb and face showed not the slightest proof that he had been riding hard. indeed, he seemed one whom no condition or circumstance could deprive of a cool immaculateness. he was a man to be marked in any company--especially so by the peculiar brilliance of his full, dark eye, which had a piercing, searching glint of its own; an eye such as few men have owned, and under whose spell man or woman might easily melt to acquiescence with the owner's mind. he sat his horse with a certain haughtiness as well as carelessness. his chin seemed long and firm, and his lofty forehead--indeed, his whole air and carriage--discovered him the man of ambition that he really was. for this was no other than aaron burr, vice-president of the united states, whose name was soon to be on the lips of all. he had lately come to washington with the jefferson administration. this gentleman now reined up his horse as he caught sight of the young man approaching. his older companion also halted. burr raised his hat. "ah, captain lewis!" he said in a voice of extraordinary sweetness, yet of power. "you also have caught the secret of this climate, eh? you ride in the early morning--i do not wonder. you are virginian, and so know the heats of washington. i fancy you recognize mr. merry," he added, his glance turning from one to the other. the young virginian bowed to both gentlemen. "i have persuaded his excellency the minister from great britain to ride with us on one of our washington mornings. he has been good enough to say--to say--that he enjoys it!" burr turned a quick glance upon the heavier figure at his side, with a half smile of badinage on his own face. lewis bowed again, formally, and anthony merry answered with equal politeness and ceremony. "yes," said the envoy, "to be sure i recall the young man. i met him in the anteroom at the president's house." meriwether lewis cast him a quick glance, but made no answer. he knew well enough the slighting estimate in which everything at washington was held by this minister accredited to our government. also he knew, as he might have said, something about the diplomat's visit at the executive mansion. for thus far the minister from great britain to washington had not been able to see the president of the united states. "and you are done your ride?" said burr quickly, for his was a keen nose to scent any complication. "tell me"--he lifted his own reins now to proceed--"you saw nothing of my daughter, mrs. alston? we missed her at the house, and have feared her abduction by some bold young virginian, eh?" his keen eye rested fairly on the face of the younger man as he spoke. the latter felt the challenge under the half mocking words. "yes," he replied calmly, "i have seen mrs. alston. i left her but now at the old mill, having a cup of coffee with the miller's wife. i had not time myself for a second, although mrs. alston honored me by allowing me to sit at her table for a moment. we met by accident, you see, as we both rode, a short time ago. i overtook her when it was not yet sunrise, or scarcely more." "you see!" laughed burr, as he turned to merry. "our young men are early risers when it comes to pursuit of the fair. i must ride at once and see to the welfare of my daughter. she may be weeping at losing her escort so soon!" they all smiled in proper fashion. lewis bowed, and, lifting his hat, passed on. burr, as they parted, fell for just a half-moment into thought, his face suddenly inscrutable, as if he pondered something. "there is the ablest man i have seen in washington," blurted out merry suddenly, apropos of nothing that had been said. "he has manners, and he rides like an englishman." "say not so!" said burr, laughing. "better--he rides like a virginian!" "very well; it is the same thing. the virginians are but ourselves--this country is all english yet. and i swear--mr. burr, may we speak freely?--i cannot see, and i never shall see, what is the sense in all this talk of a new democracy of the people. now, what men like these--like you----" "you know well enough how far i agree with you," said burr somberly. "'tis an experiment, our republic, i am willing to say that boldly to you, at least. how long it may last----" "depends on men like you," said merry, suddenly turning upon him as they rode. "how long do you suppose his majesty will endure such slights as they put on us here day by day? my blood boils at the indignities we have had to suffer here--cooling our heels in your president's halls. i call it mere presumptuousness. i cannot look upon this country as anything but a province to be taken back again when england is ready. and it may be, since so much turbulence and discourtesy seem growing here, that chance will not wait long in the coming!" "it may be, mr. merry," said aaron burr. "my own thoughts you know too well for need of repetition. let us only go softly. my plans advance as well as i could ask. i was just wondering," he added, "whether those two young people really were together there at the old mill--and whether they were there for the first time." "if not, 'twas not for the last time!" rejoined the older man. "yonder young man was made to fill a woman's eye. your daughter, mr. burr, while the soul of married discreetness, and charming as any of her sex i have ever seen, must look out for her heart. she might find it divided into three equal parts." "how then, mr. minister?" "one for her father----" aaron burr bowed. "yes, her father first, as i verily believe. what then?" "the second for her husband----" "certainly. mr. alston is a rising man. he has a thousand slaves on his plantations--he is one of the richest of the rich south carolinian planters. and in politics he has a chance--more than a chance. but after that?" "the third portion of so charming a woman's heart might perhaps be assigned to captain meriwether lewis!" "say you so?" laughed burr carelessly. "well, well this must be looked into. come, i must tell my son-in-law that his home is in danger of being invaded! far off in his southern rice-lands, i fear he misses his young wife sometimes. i brought her here for the sake of her own health--she cannot thrive in such swamps. besides, i cannot bear to have her live away from me. she is happier with me than anywhere else. yes, you are right, my daughter worships me." "why should she not? and why should she not ride with a gallant at sunrise for an early cup of coffee, egad?" said the older man. burr did not answer, and they rode on. in the opposite direction there rode also the young man of whom they spoke. and at about the time that the two came to the old mill and saw theodosia alston sitting there--her face still cast down, her eyes gazing abstractedly into her untasted cup on the little table--meriwether lewis was pulling up at the iron gate which then closed the opening in the stone wall encircling the modest official residence of his chief and patron, president jefferson. chapter iv president and secretary there stood waiting near the gate one of mr. jefferson's private servants, samson, who took the young man's rein, grinning with his usual familiar words of welcome as the secretary dismounted from his horse. "you-all suttinly did warm old arcturum a li'l bit dis mawnin', mistah mehywethah!" samson patted the neck of the spirited animal, which tossed its head and turned an eye to its late rider. "yes, and see that you rub him well. mind you, if mr. jefferson finds that his whitest handkerchief shows a sweat-mark from the horse's hide he will cut off both your black ears for you, samson--and very likely your head along with them. you know your master!" the secretary smiled kindly at the old black man. "yassah, yassah," grinned samson, who no more feared mr. jefferson than he did the young gentleman with whom he now spoke. "i just lookin' at you comin' down that path right now, and i say to myself, 'dar come a ridah!' i sho' did, mistah mehywethah!" the young man answered the negro's compliment with one of his rare smiles, then turned, with just a flick of his gloves on his breeches legs, and marched up the walk to the door of the mansion. at the step he turned and paused, as he usually did, to take one look out over the unfinished wing of stone still in process of erection. on beyond, in the ragged village, he saw a few good mansion houses, many structures devoted to business, many jumbled huts of negroes, and here and there a public building in its early stages. the great system of boulevards and parks and circles of the new american capital was not yet apparent from the place where mr. thomas jefferson's young secretary now stood. but the young man perhaps saw city and nation alike advanced in his vision; for he gazed long and lingeringly before he turned back at last and entered the door which the old house servant swung open for him. his hat and crop and gloves he handed to this bowed old darky, ben--another of mr. jefferson's plantation servants whom he had brought to washington with him. then--for such was the simple fashion of the ménage, where meriwether lewis himself was one of the president's family--he stepped to the door beyond and knocked lightly, entering as he did so. the hour was early--he himself had not breakfasted, beyond his coffee at the mill--but, early as it was, he knew he would find at his desk the gentleman who now turned to him. "good morning, mr. jefferson," said meriwether lewis, in the greeting which he always used. "good morning, my son," said the other man, gently, in his invariable address to his secretary. "and how did arcturus perform for you this morning?" "grandly, sir. he is a fine animal. i have never ridden a better." "i envy you. i wish i could find the time i once had for my horses." he turned a whimsical glance at the piled desk before him. "if our new multigraph could write a dozen letters all at once--and on as many different themes, my son--we might perhaps get through. i vow, if i had the money, i would have a dozen secretaries--if i could find them!" the president rose now and stood, a tall and striking figure of a man, over six feet in height, of clean-cut features, dark hazel eye, and sandy, almost auburn, hair. his long, thin legs were clad in close-fitting knee breeches of green velveteen, somewhat stained. his high-collared coat, rolling above the loosely-tied stock which girded his neck, was dingy brown in color, and lay in loose folds. he was one of the worst-clad men in washington at that hour. his waistcoat, of red, was soiled and far from new, and his woolen stockings were covered with no better footwear than carpet slippers, badly down at the heel. yet thomas jefferson, even clad thus, seemed the great man that he was. stooped though his shoulders were, his frame was so strong, his eye so clear and keen, though contemplative, that he did not look his years. here was a man, all said who knew him, of whose large soul so many large deeds were demanded that he had no time for little and inconsequent things--indeed, scarce knew that they existed. to think, to feel, to create, to achieve--these were his absorbing tasks; and so exigent were the demands on his great intellectual resources that he seemed never to know the existence of a personal world. he stood careless, slipshod, at the side of a desk cluttered with a mass of maps, papers, letters in packets or spread open. there were writing implements here, scientific instruments of all sorts, long sheets of specifications, canceled drafts, pages of accounts--all the manifold impedimenta of a man in the full swing of business life. it might have been the desk of any mediocre man; yet on that desk lay the future of a people and the history of a world. he stood, just a trifle stooped, smiling quizzically at the young man, yet half lovingly; for to no other being in the world did he ever give the confidence that he accorded meriwether lewis. "i do not see how i could be president without you, merne, my son," said he, employing the familiar term that meriwether lewis had not elsewhere heard used, except by his mother. "look what we must do today!" the young secretary turned his own grave eye upon the cluttered desk; but it was not dread of the redoubtable tasks awaiting him that gave his face all the gravity it bore. "mr. jefferson--" he began, but paused, for he could see now standing before him his friend, the man whom, of all in the world, he loved, and the man who believed in him and loved him. "yes, my son?" "your burden is grievous hard, and yet----" "yes, my son?" but meriwether lewis could not speak further. he stood now, his jaws set hard, looking out of the window. the older man came and gently laid a hand upon his shoulder. "come, come, my son," said he, his own voice low and of a kindness it could assume at times. "you must not--you must not yield to this, i say. shake off this melancholy which so obsesses you. i know whence it comes--your father gave it you, and you are not to blame; but you have more than your father's strength to aid you. and you have me, your friend, who can understand." lewis only turned on him an eye so full of anguish as caused the older man to knit his brow in deep concern. "what is it, merne?" he demanded. "tell me. ah, you cannot tell? i know! 'tis the old melancholy, and something more, merne, my boy. tell me--ah, yes, it is a woman!" the young man did not speak. "i have often told all my young friends," said mr. jefferson slowly, after a time, "that they should marry not later than twenty-three--it is wrong to cheat the years of life--and you approach thirty now, my son. why linger? listen to me. no young man may work at his best and have a woman's face in his desk to haunt him. that will not do. we all have handicap enough without that." but still meriwether could only look into the face of his superior. "i know very well, my son," the president continued. "i know it all. put her out of your heart, my boy. would you shame yourself--and her--and me?" "no! never would i do that, mr. jefferson, believe me. but now i must beg of you--please, sir, let me go soon--let it be at once!" the older man stood looking at him for a time in silence, as he went on hurriedly: "i must say good-by to you, best and noblest of men. indeed, i have said good-by to--everything." "as you say, your case is hopeless?" "yes, sir." "ah, well, we have both been planning for our western expedition these ten years, my son; so why should we fret if matters conspire to bring it about a trifle earlier than we planned?" "i asked you when i was a boy to send me, but you could not then." "no, but instead i sent yonder maundering michaux. he, ledyard, and all the others failed me. they never saw the great vision. there it lies, unknown, tremendous--no man knows what--that new country. i have had to hide from the people of this republic this secret purpose which you and i have had of exploring the vast western country. i have picked you as the one man fitted for that work. i do not make mistakes. you are a born woodsman and traveler--you are ready to my hand as the instrument for this magnificent adventure. i cannot well spare you now--but yes, you must go!" they stood there, two men who made our great adventure for us--vision-seers, vision-owned, gazing each into the other's eyes. "send me now, mr. jefferson!" repeated meriwether lewis. "send me now. i will mend to usefulness again. i will work for you all my life, if need be--and i want my name clear with you." the old man laid a kindly hand upon his shoulder. "i must yield you to your destiny," said he. "it will be a great one." he turned aside, a hand to his lip as he paced uncertainly. "but i still am wondering what our friends are doing yonder in france," said he. "that is the question. livingston, monroe, and the others--what are they doing with napoleon bonaparte? the news from france--but stay," he added. "wait! i had forgotten. come, we shall see about it!" with the sudden enthusiasm of a boy he caught his young aide by the arm. they passed down the hall, out by the rear entrance and across the white house grounds to the brick stables which then stood at the rear. mr. jefferson paid no attention to the sleek animals there which looked in greeting toward him. instead, he passed in front of the series of stalls, and without excuse or explanation hurriedly began to climb the steep ladder which led to the floor above. they stood at length in the upper apartment of the stable buildings. it was not a mow or feed loft, but rather a bird loft, devoted to the use of many pigeons. all about the eaves were arranged many boxes--nesting places, apparently, although none of the birds entered the long room, which seemed free of any occupancy. mr. jefferson stood for a moment, eagerly scanning the rear of the tier of boxes. an exclamation broke from him. he hurried forward with a sudden gesture to a little flag which stood up, like the tilt of a fisherman on the ice, at the side of the box to which he pointed. "done!" said he. he reached up to the box that he had indicated, pressed down a little catch, opened the back and looked in. again an exclamation escaped him. he put in a hand gingerly, and, tenderly imprisoning the bird which he found therein, drew it forth, his long fingers eagerly lifting its wings, examining its legs. it could easily be seen that the box was arranged with a door on a tripping-latch, so that the pigeon, on entering, would imprison itself. it was apparent that mr. jefferson was depending upon the natural homing instinct of his carrier pigeons to bring him some message. "i told them," said he, "to loose a half-dozen birds at once. see! see!" he unrolled from one leg of the prisoner a little cylinder of paper covered with tinfoil and tied firmly in its place. it was the first wireless message ever received at washington. none since that time has carried a greater burden. it announced a transaction in empires. mr. jefferson read, and spread out the paper that his aide might read: general bonaparte signed may 2--fifteen millions--rejoice! in no wider phrasing than that came the news of the great louisiana purchase, by virtue of which this republic--whether by chance, by result of greed warring with greed, or through the providence of almighty god, who shall say?--gained the great part of that vast and incalculably valuable realm which now reaches from the mississippi to the pacific ocean. what wealth that great empire held no man had dreamed, nor can any dream today; for, a century later, its story is but beginning. century on century, that story still will be in the making. a home for millions of the earth's best, a hope for millions of the earth's less fortunate--granary of the peoples, mint of the nations, birthplace and growing-ground of the new race of men--who could have measured that land then--who could measure it today? and its title passed, announced in seven words, carried by a bird wandering in the air, but bound unerringly to the ark of god's covenant with man--the covenant of hope and progress. thomas jefferson stretched out his right hand to meet that of meriwether lewis. their clasp was strong and firm. the eye of each man blazed. "mr. jefferson," said meriwether lewis, "this is your monument!" "and yours," was the reply. "come, then!" he turned to the stairs, the pigeon still fondled in his arm. that bird--a white one, with slate-blue tips to its wings--never needed to labor again, for mr. jefferson kept it during its life, and long after its death. "come now," he said, as he began to descend the ladder once more. "the bird was loosed yesterday, late in the afternoon. it has done its sixty or seventy-five miles an hour for us, counting out time lost in the night. the ship which brought this news docked at new york yesterday. the post stages carrying it hither cannot arrive before tomorrow. this is news--the greatest of news that we could have. yesterday--this morning--we were a young and weak republic. tomorrow we shall be one of the powers of the world. go, now--you have been held in leash long enough, and the time to start has come. tomorrow you will go westward, to that new country which now is ours!" neither said anything further until once again they were in the president's little office-room; but thomas jefferson's eye now was afire. "i count this the most important enterprise in which this country ever was engaged," he exclaimed, his hands clenched. "yonder lies the greater america--you lead an army which will make far wider conquest than all our troops won in the revolutionary war. the stake is larger than any man may dream. i see it--you see it--in time others also will see. tell me, my son, tell me once more! come what may, no matter what power shall move you, you will be faithful in this great trust? if i have your promise, then i shall rest assured." thomas jefferson, more agitated than any man had ever seen him, dropped half trembling into his chair, his shaggy red mane about his forehead, his long fingers shaking. "i give you my promise, mr. jefferson," said meriwether lewis. chapter v the pell-mell and some consequences it was late in the afternoon when the secretary to the president looked up from the crowded desk. "mr. jefferson," ventured he, "you will pardon me----" "yes, my son?" "it grows late. you know that today the british minister, mr. merry, comes to meet the president for the first time formally--at dinner. señor yrujo also--and their ladies, of course. mr. burr and mr. merry seem already acquainted. i met them riding this morning." "hand and glove, then, so soon? what do you make of it? i have a guess that those three--burr, merry, yrujo--mean this administration no special good. and yet it was i myself who kept our spanish friend from getting his passports back to madrid. i did that only because of his marriage to the daughter of my friend, governor mckean, of pennsylvania. but what were you saying now?" "i thought perhaps i should go to my rooms to change for dinner. you see that i am still in riding-clothes." "and what of that, my son? i am in something worse!" the young man stood and looked at his chief for a moment. he realized the scarce dignified figure that the president presented in his long coat, his soiled waistcoat, his stained trousers, and his woolen stockings--not to mention the unspeakable slippers, down at the heel, into which he had thrust his feet that morning when he came into the office. "you think i will not do?" mr. jefferson smiled at him frankly. "i am not so free from wisdom, perhaps, after all. let this british minister see us as we are, for men and women, and not dummies for finery. moreover, i remember well enough how we cooled our heels there in london, mr. madison and myself. they showed us little courtesy enough. well, they shall have no complaint here. we will treat them as well as we do the others, as well as the electors who sent us here!" meriwether lewis allowed himself a smile. "go," added his chief. "garb yourself as i would have you--in your best. but there will be no precedence at table this evening--remember that! let them take seats pell-mell--the devil take the hindmost--a fair field for every one, and favor to none! seat them as nearly as possible as they should not be seated--and leave the rest to me. all these--indeed, all history and all the records--shall take me precisely as i am!" an hour later meriwether lewis stood before his narrow mirror, well and handsomely clad, as was seeming with one of his family and his place--a tall and superb figure of young manhood, as proper a man as ever stood in buckled shoes in any country of the world. the guests came presently, folk of many sorts. with mr. jefferson as president, the democracy of america had invaded washington, taking more and more liberties, and it had many representatives on hand. with these came persons of rank of this and other lands, dignitaries, diplomats, officials, ministers of foreign powers. carriages with outriders came trundling over the partially paved roads of the crude capital city. footmen opened doors to gentlemen and ladies in full dress, wearing insignia of honor, displaying gems, orders, decorations, jewels, all the brilliant costumes of the european courts. they came up the path to the door of the mansion where, to their amazement, they were met only by mr. jefferson's bowing old darky ben, who ushered them in, helped them with their wraps and asked them to make themselves at home. and only old henry, mr. jefferson's butler, bowed them in as they passed from the simple entrance hall into the anteroom which lay between the hall and the large dining-saloon. the numbers increased rapidly. what at first was a general gathering became a crowd, then a mob. there was no assigned place for any, no presentation of one stranger to another. friends could not find friends. mutterings arose; crowding and jostling was not absent; here and there an angry word might have been heard. the policy of pell-mell was not working itself out in any happy social fashion. matters were at their worst when suddenly from his own apartments appeared the tall and well-composed figure of mr. jefferson's young secretary, social captain of matters at the executive mansion, and personal aide to the president. his quick glance caught sight of the gathering line of carriages; a second glance estimated the plight of those now jammed into the anteroom like so many cattle and evidently in distress. in a distant corner of the room, crowded into some sort of refuge back of a huge davenport, stood a small group of persons in full official dress--a group evidently ill at ease and no longer in good humor. meriwether lewis made his way thither rapidly as he might. "it is mr. minister merry," said he, "and mme. merry." he bowed deeply. "señor and señora yrujo, i bring you the respects of mr. jefferson. he will be with us presently." "i had believed, sir--i understood," began merry explosively, "that we were to meet here the president of the united states. where, then, is his suite?" "we have no suite, sir. i represent the president as his aide." "my word!" murmured the mystified dignitary, turning to his lady, who stood, the picture of mute anger, at his side, the very aigrets on her ginger-colored hair trembling in her anger. [illustration: "'mistah thomas jeffahson!' was his sole announcement"] they turned once more to the spanish minister, who, with his american wife, stood at hand. there ensued such shrugs and liftings of eyebrows as left full evidence of a discontent that none of the four attempted to suppress. meriwether lewis saw and noted, but seemed not to note. mr. merry suddenly remembered him now as the young man he had encountered that morning, and turned with an attempt at greater civility. "you will understand, sir, that i came supposing i was to appear in my official capacity. we were invited upon that basis. there was to have been a dinner, was there not--or am i mistaken of the hour? is it not four in the afternoon?" "you were quite right, mr. minister," said meriwether lewis. "you shall, of course, be presented to the president so soon as it shall please his convenience to join us. he has been occupied in many duties, and begs you will excuse him." the dignity and courtesy of the young man were not without effect. silence, at least, was his reward from the perturbed and indignant group of diplomats penned behind the davenport. matters stood thus when, at a time when scarce another soul could have been crowded into the anteroom, old henry flung open the folding doors which he had closed. "mistah thomas jeffahson!" was his sole announcement. there appeared in the doorway the tall, slightly stooped figure of the president of the united states, one of the greatest men of his own or of any day. he stood, gravely unconscious of himself, tranquilly looking out upon his gathered guests. he was still clad in the garb which he had worn throughout the day--the same in which he had climbed to the pigeon loft--the same in which he had labored during all these long hours. his coat was still brown and wrinkled, hanging loosely on his long frame. his trousers were the stained velveteens of the morning; his waistcoat the same faded red; his hose the slack woolen pair that he had worn throughout the day. and upon his feet--horror of horrors!--he wore still his slippers, the same old carpet slippers, down at the heel, which had afforded him ease as he sat at his desk. as thomas jefferson stood, he overtopped the men about him head and shoulders in physical stature, as he did in every other measure of a man. innocent or unconscious of his own appearance, his eye seeking for knowledge of his guests, he caught sight of the group behind the davenport. rapidly making his way thither, he greeted each, offering his hand to be shaken, bowing deeply to the ladies; and so quickly passed on, leaving them almost as much mystified as before. only yrujo, the spanish minister, looked after him with any trace of recognition, for at this moment meriwether lewis was away, among other guests. an instant later the curtained folding doors which separated the anteroom from the dining-saloon were thrown open. mr. jefferson passed in and took his place at the head of the table, casting not a single look toward any who were to join him there. there was no announcement; there was no _pas_, no precedence, no reserved place for any man, no announcement for any lady or gentleman, no servant to escort any to a place at table! it had been worse, far worse, this extraordinary scene, had it not been for the swiftness and tact of the young man to whom so much was entrusted. meriwether lewis hastened here and there, weeding out those who could not convince him that they were invited to dine. he separated as best he might the socially elect from those not yet socially arrived, until at length he stood, almost the sole barrier against those who still crowded forward. here he was met once more by the party from behind the davenport. "tell me," demanded mr. merry, who--seeing that no other escort offered for her--had given his angry lady his own arm, "tell me, sir, where is the president? to whom shall i present the greetings of his british majesty?" "yonder is the president of the united states, sir," said meriwether lewis. "he with whom you shook hands is the president. he stands at the head of his table, and you are welcome if you like. he asks you to enter." merry turned to his wife, and from her to the wife of the spanish minister. "impossible!" said he. "i do not understand--it cannot be! that man--that extraordinary man in breeches and slippers yonder--it cannot be he asks us to sit at table with him! he _cannot_ be the president of the united states!" "none the less he is, mr. merry!" the secretary assured him. "good heavens!" said the minister from great britain, as he passed on, half dazed. by this time there remained but few seats, none at all toward the head of the table or about its middle portion. toward the end of the room, farthest from the official host, a few chairs still stood vacant, because they had not been sought for. thither, with faltering footsteps, ere even these opportunities should pass, stepped the minister from great britain and the minister from spain, their ladies with them--none offering escort. well disposed to smile at his chief's audacious overturning of all social usage, yet not unadvised of the seriousness of all this, meriwether lewis handed the distinguished guests to their seats as best he might; and then left them as best he might. at that time there were not six vacant places remaining at the long table. no one seemed to know how many had been invited to the banquet, or how many were expected--no one in the company seemed to know anyone else. it was indeed a pell-mell affair. for once the american democracy was triumphant. but the leader of that democracy, the head of the new administration, the host at this official banquet, the president of the united states, thomas jefferson, stood quietly, serenely, looking out over the long table, entirely unconcerned with what he saw. if there was trouble, it was for others, not for him. those at table presently began to seat themselves, following the host's example. it was at this moment that the young captain of affairs turned once more toward the great doors, with the intention of closing them. old henry was having his own battles with the remaining audience in the anteroom, as he now brought forward two belated guests. old henry, be sure, knew them both; and--as a look at the sudden change of his features might have told--so did mr. jefferson's aide. they advanced with dignity, these two--one a gentleman, not tall, but elegant, exquisitely clad in full-dress costume; a man whom you would have turned to examine a second time had you met him anywhere. upon his arm was a young woman, also beautifully costumed, smiling, graceful, entirely at her ease. many present knew the two--aaron burr, vice-president of the united states; his daughter, theodosia burr alston. mr. burr passed within the great doors, turned and bowed deeply to his host, distant as he was across the crowded room. his daughter curtsied, also deeply. their entry was dramatic. then they stood, a somewhat stately picture, waiting for an instant while seemingly deciding their future course. it was at this moment that meriwether lewis approached them, beckoning. he led them toward the few seats that still remained unoccupied, placed them near to the official visitors, whose ruffled feathers still remained unsmoothed, and then stood by them for an instant, intending to take his departure. there was one remaining chair. it was at the side of theodosia alston. she herself looked up at him eagerly, and patted it with her hand. he seated himself at her side. thus at last was filled the pell-mell table of mr. thomas jefferson. to this day no man knows whether all present had been invited, or whether all invited had opportunity to be present. there were those--his enemies, men of the opposing political party, for the most part--who spoke ill of mr. jefferson, and charged that he showed hypocrisy in his pretense of democratic simplicity in official life. yet others, even among his friends, criticised him severely for the affair of this afternoon--july 4, in the year of 1803. they said that his manners were inconsistent with the dignity of the highest official of this republic. if any of this comment injured or offended mr. jefferson, he never gave a sign. he was born a gentleman as much as any, and was as fully acquainted with good social usage as any man of his day. his life had been spent in the best surroundings of his own country, and at the most polished courts of the old world. to accuse him of ignorance or boorishness would have been absurd. the fact was that his own resourceful brain had formed a definite plan. he wished to convey a certain rebuke--and with deadly accuracy he did convey that rebuke. it was at no enduring cost to his own fame. if the pell-mell dinner was at first a thing inchoate, awkward, impossible, criticism halted when the actual service at table began. the chef at the white house had been brought to this country by mr. jefferson from paris, and no better was known on this side the water. so devoted was mr. jefferson known to be to the french style of cooking that no less a man than patrick henry, on the stump, had accused him of having "deserted the victuals of his country." his table was set and served with as much elegance as any at any foreign court. at the door of the city of washington, even in the summer season, there was the best market of the world. as submitted by his _chef de cuisine_, mr. jefferson's menu was of no pell-mell sort. if we may credit it as handed down, it ran thus, in the old french of that day: huîtres de shinnecock, saulce tempête olives du luc othon mariné à l'huile vierge amandes et cerneaux salés pot au feu du roy "henriot" croustade mogador truite de ruisselet, belle meunière pommes en fines herbes fricot de tendre poulet en coquemare, au vieux chanturgne tourte de ris de veau, financière baron de pré salé aux primeurs sorbet des comtes de champagne dinde sauvage flambée devant les sarments de vigne, flanquée d'ortolans aspic de foie gras lucullus salade des nymphes à la lamballe asperges chauldes enduites de sauce lombardienne dessert et fruits de la réunion fromage de bique café arabe larmes de juliette whatever the wines served at the executive mansion may have been at later dates, those owned and used by president jefferson were the best the world produced--vintages of rarity, selected as could have been done only by one of the nicest taste. rumor had it that none other than señor yrujo, minister from spain, recipient of many casks of the best vintages of his country that he might entertain with proper dignity, had seen fit to do a bit of merchandizing on his own account, to the end that mr. jefferson became the owner of certain of these rare casks. in any event, the spanish minister now showed no fear of the wines which came his way. nor, for that matter, did the minister from great britain, nor the spouses of these twain. mr. burr, seated with their party, himself somewhat abstemious, none the less could not refrain from an interrogatory glance as he saw merry halt a certain bottle or two at his own plate. "upon my word!" said the sturdy briton, turning to him. "such wine i never have tasted! i did not expect it here--served by a host in breeches and slippers! but never mind--it is wonderful!" "there may be many things here you have not expected, your excellency," said mr. burr. the vice-president favored the little party at his left with one of his brilliant smiles. he had that strange faculty, admitted even by his enemies, of making another speak freely what he wished to hear, himself reticent the while. the face of the english dignitary clouded again. "i wish i could approve all else as i do the wine and the food; but i cannot understand. here we sit, after being crowded like herrings in a box--myself, my lady here, and these others. is this the placing his majesty's minister should have at the president's table? is this what we should demand here?" "the indignity is to all of us alike," smiled burr. "mr. jefferson believes in a great human democracy. i myself regret to state that i cannot quite go with him to the lengths he fancies." "i shall report the entire matter to his majesty's government!" said mr. merry, again helping himself to wine. "to be received here by a man in his stable clothes--so to meet us when we come formally to pay our call to this government--that is an insult! i fancy it to be a direct and intentional one." "insult is small word for it," broke in the irate spanish minister, still further down the table. "i certainly shall report to my own government what has happened here--of that be very sure!" "give me leave, sir," continued merry. "this republic, what is it? what has it done?" "i ask as much," affirmed yrujo. "a small war with your own country, great britain, sir--in which only your generosity held you back--that is all this country can claim. in the south, my people own the mouth of the great river--we own florida--we own the province of texas--all the southern and western lands. true, louis xv--to save it from great britain, perhaps, sir"--he bowed to the british minister--"originally ceded louisiana to our crown. true, also, my sovereign has ceded it again to france. but spain still rules the south, just as britain rules the middle country out beyond; and what is left? i snap my fingers at this republic!" señor yrujo helped himself to a brimming glass of his own wine. "i say that western country is ours," he still insisted, warming to his oration now. "suppose, under coercion, our sovereign did cede it to napoleon, who claims it now? does spain not govern it still? do we not collect the revenues? is not the whole system of law enforced under the flag of spain, all along the great river yonder? possession, exploration, discovery--those are the rights under which territories are annexed. france has the title to that west, but we hold the land itself--we administer it. and never shall it go from under our flag, unless it be through the act of stronger foreign powers. spain will fight!" "will spain fight?" demanded a deep and melodious voice. it was that of aaron burr who spoke now, half in query, half in challenge. "would spain fight--and would great britain, if need were and the time came?" he spoke to men heated with wine, smarting under social indignity, men owning a hurt personal vanity. "our past is proof enough," said merry proudly. yrujo needed no more than a shrug. "divide and conquer?" burr went on, looking at them, and raising an eyebrow in query. they nodded, both of them. burr looked around. his daughter and meriwether lewis were oblivious. he saw the young man's eyes, somber, deep, fixed on hers; saw her gazing in return, silent, troubled, fascinated. one presumes that it was at this moment--at the instant when aaron burr, seeing the power his daughter held over young meriwether lewis, and the interest he held for her, turned to these foreign officials at his left--at that moment, let us say, the burr conspiracy began. "divide that unknown country, the west, and how long would this republic endure?" said aaron burr. the noise of the banquet now rose about them. voices blended with laughter; the wine was passing; awkwardness and restraint had given way to good cheer. in a manner they were safe to talk. "what?" demanded aaron burr once more. "could a few francs transfer all that marvelous country from spain to france? that were absurd. by what possible title could that region yonder ever come to this republic? it is still more absurd to think that. civilization does not leap across great river valleys. it follows them. you have said rightly, señor yrujo. to my mind great britain has laid fair grasp upon the upper west; and spain holds the lower west, with which our statesmen have interested themselves of late. by all the rights of conquest, discovery, and use, gentlemen, great britain's traders have gained for her flag all the territory which they have reached on their western trading routes. i go with you that far." merry turned upon burr suddenly a deep and estimating eye. "i begin to see," said he, "that you are open to conviction, mr. burr." "not open to conviction," said aaron burr, "but already convinced!" "what do you mean, colonel burr?" the englishman bent toward him, frowning in intentness. "i mean that perhaps i have something to say to you two gentlemen of the foreign courts which will be of interest and importance to you." "where, then, could we meet after this is over?" the minister from great britain surely was not beyond close and ready estimate of events. "at my residence, after this dinner," rejoined aaron burr instantly. his eye did not waver as it looked into the other's, but blazed with all the fire of his own soul. "across the alleghanies, along the great river, there is a land waiting, ready for strong men. are we such men, gentlemen? and can we talk freely as such among ourselves?" their conversation, carried on in ordinary tones, had not been marked by any. their brows, drawn sharp in sudden resolution, their glance each to the other, made their ratification of this extraordinary speech. they had no time for anything further at the moment. a sound came to their ears, and they turned toward the head of the long table, where the tall figure of the president of the united states was rising in his place. the dinner had drawn toward its close. mr. jefferson now stood, gravely regarding those before him, his keen eye losing no detail of the strange scene. he knew the place of every man and woman at that board--perhaps this was his own revenge for a reception he once had had at london. but at last he spoke. "i have news for you all, my friends, today; news which applies not to one man nor to one woman of this or any country more than to another, but news which belongs to all the world." he paused for a moment, and held up in his right hand a tiny scrap of paper, thin, crumpled. none could guess what significance it had. "may god in his own power punish me," said he, solemnly, "if ever i halt or falter in what i believe to be my duty! i place no bounds to the future of this republic--based, as i firmly believe it to be, upon the enduring principle of the just and even rights of mankind. "our country to the west always has inspired me with the extremest curiosity, and animated me with the loftiest hopes. since the year 1683 that great river, the missouri, emptying into the mississippi, has been looked upon as the way to the pacific ocean. one hundred years from that time--that is to say, in 1783--i myself asked one of the ablest of our westerners, none other than general george rogers clark, to undertake a journey of exploration up that western river. it was not done. three years later, when accredited to the court at paris, i met a mr. ledyard, an american then abroad. i desired him to cross russia, siberia and the pacific ocean, and then to journey eastward over the stony mountains, to find, if he could, the head of that missouri river of which we know so little. but ledyard failed, for reasons best known, perhaps, to the monarch of russia. "later than that, and long before i had the power which now is mine to order matters of the sort, the boston sailor, captain grey, in 1792, as you know, found the mouth of the columbia river. the very next year after that i engaged the scientist michaux to explore in that direction; but he likewise failed. "all my life i have seen what great opportunities would be ours if once we owned that vast country yonder. as a private citizen i planned that we should at least explore it--always it was my dream to know more of it. it being clear to me that the future of our republic lay not to the east, but to the west of the alleghanies--indeed, to the west of the mississippi itself--never have i relinquished the ambition that i have so long entertained. never have i forgotten the dream which animated me even in my younger years. i am here now to announce to you, so that you may announce to all the world, certain news which i have here regarding that western region, which never was ours, but which i always wished might be ours." with the middle finger of his left hand the president flicked at the mysterious bit of crumpled paper still held aloft in his right. there was silence all down the long table. "more than a year ago i once more chose a messenger into that country," went on thomas jefferson. "i chose a leader of exploration, of discovery. i chose him because i knew i could trust in his loyalty, in his judgment, in his courage. well and thoroughly he has fitted himself for that leadership." he turned his gaze contemplatively down the long table. the gaze of many of his guests followed his, still wonderingly, as he went on. "my leader for this expedition into the west, which i planned more than a year ago, is here with you now. captain meriwether lewis, will you stand up for a moment? i wish to present you to these, my friends." with wonder, doubt, and, indeed, a certain perturbation at the president's unexpected summons, the young virginian rose to his feet and stood gazing questioningly at his chief. "i know your modesty as well as your courage, captain lewis," smiled mr. jefferson. "you may be seated, sir, since now we all know you. "let me say to you others that i have had opportunity of knowing my captain of this magnificent adventure. in years he is not yet thirty, but he is and always was a leader, mature, wise, calm, and resolved. of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities can divert from its direction; careful as a father of those committed to his charge, and yet steady in the maintenance of order and discipline; intimate with the indian character, customs, and principles; habituated to the hunting life; guarded by exact observation of the vegetables and animals of his own country against duplication of objects already possessed; honest, disinterested, liberal; of sound understanding, and of a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he shall report will be as certain as if seen by ourselves--with all these qualifications, i say, as if selected and implanted by nature in one body, for one purpose, i could have no hesitation in confiding this enterprise--the most cherished enterprise of my administration--to him whom now you have seen here before you." the president bowed deeply to the young man, who had modestly resumed his place. then, for just a moment, mr. jefferson stood silent, absorbed, rapt, carried away by his own vision. "and now for my news," he said at length. "here you have it!" he waved once more the little scrap of paper. "i had this news from new york this morning. it was despatched yesterday evening. tomorrow it will reach all the world. the mails will bring it to you; but news like this could not wait for the mails. no horse could bring it fast enough. it was brought by a dove--the dove of peace, i trust. let me explain briefly; what my news concerns. "as you know, that new country yonder belonged at first to any one who might find it--to england, if she could penetrate it first; to spain, if she were first to put her flag upon it; to russia, if first she conquered it from the far northwest. but none of these three ever completed acquisition by those means under which nations take title to the new territories of the world. louisiana, as we term it, has been unclaimed, unknown, unowned--indeed, virgin territory so far as definite title was concerned. "in the north, such title as might be was conveyed to great britain by france after the latter power was conquered at quebec. the lower regions france--supposing that she owned them--conveyed, through her monarch, the fifteenth louis, to spain. again, in the policy of nations, spain sold them to france once more, in a time of need. france owned the territory then, or had the title, though spain still was in possession. it lay still unoccupied, still contested--until but now. "my friends, i give you news! on the 2d of may last, napoleon bonaparte, first consul of france, sold to this republic, the united states of america, all of louisiana, whatever it may be, from the mississippi to the pacific! here are seven words which carry an empire with them--the empire of humanity--a land in which democracy, humanity, shall expand and grow forever! this is my news: "general bonaparte signed may 2--fifteen millions--rejoice!" a deep sigh rose as if in unison all along the table. the event was too large for instant grasping. there was no applause at first. some--many--did not understand. not so certain others. the minister from great britain, the minister from spain, aaron burr and a few other men acquainted with great affairs, prominent in public life, turned and looked at the president's tall figure at the head of the table, and then at that of the silent young man whom mr. jefferson had publicly honored. the face of aaron burr grew pale. the faces of the foreign ministers showed sudden consternation. theodosia alston turned, her own eyes fixed upon the grave face of the young man sitting at her side, who made no sign of the strong emotion possessing his soul. "i have given you my news," the voice of mr. jefferson went on, rising now, vibrant and masterful, fearless, compelling. "there you have it, this little message, large as any ever written in the world. the title to that western land has passed to us. we set our seal on it now! cost what it may, we shall hold it so long as we can claim a flag or a country on this continent. the price is nothing. fifteen millions means no more than the wine or water left in a half-empty glass. it might be fifty times fifteen millions, and yet not be one fiftieth enough. these things are not to be measured by known signs or marks of values. it is not in human comprehension to know what we have gained. hence we have no human right to boast. the hand of almighty god is in this affair! it was he who guided the fingers of those who signed this cession to the united states of america! "my friends, now i am content. what remains is but detail. our duty is plain. between us and this purpose, i shall hold all intervention of whatever nature, friendly or hostile, as no more than details to be ignored. yonder lies and has always lain the scene of my own ambition. always i have hungered to know that vast new land beyond all maps, as yet ignorant of human metes and bounds. always i have coveted it for this republic, knowing that without room for expansion we must fail, that with it we shall triumph to the edge of our ultimate dream of human destiny--triumph and flourish while governments shall remain known among men. "i offer that faith to the eyes of the world today and of all the days to come, believing in every humility that god guided the hands of those who signed this title deed of a great empire, and that god long ago implanted in my unworthy bosom the strong belief that one day this might be which now has come to pass. it is no time for boasting, no time for any man to claim glory or credit for himself. we are in the face of events so vast that their margins leave our vision. we cannot see to the end of all this, cannot read all the purpose of it, because we are but men. "gentlemen, you americans, men of heart, of courage! you also, ladies, who care most for gentlemen of heart and courage, whose pulses beat even with our own to the stimulus of our deeds! i say to you all that i would gladly lay aside my office and its honors--i would lay aside all my other ambitions, all my desires to be remembered as a man who at least endeavored to think and to act--if thereby i might lead this expedition of our volunteers for the discovery of the west. that may not be. these slackened sinews, these shrinking limbs, these fading eyes, do not suffice for such a task. it is in my heart, yes; but the heart for this magnificent adventure needs stronger pulses than my own. "my heart--did i say that i had need of another, a better? did i say that i had need of eyes and brains, of thews and sinews, of calm nerves and steady blood? did i say i had need of courage and resolution--all these things combined? i have them! that providence who has given us all needful instruments and agents to this point in our career as a republic has given us yet another, and the last one needful. tomorrow my friend, my special messenger, captain meriwether lewis, starts with his expedition. he will explore the country between the missouri and the pacific--the country of my dream and his. it is no longer the country of any other power--it is our own! "gentlemen, i give you a toast--captain meriwether lewis!" chapter vi the great conspiracy the simplicity dinner was at an end. released by the president's withdrawal, the crowd--it could be called little else--broke from the table. the anteroom filled with struggling guests, excited, gesticulating, exclaiming. meriwether lewis, anxious only to escape from his social duties that he might rejoin his chief, felt a soft hand on his arm, and turned. theodosia alston was looking up at him. "do you forget your friends so soon? i must add my good wishes. it was splendid, what mr. jefferson said--and it was true!" "i wish it might be true," said the young man. "i wish i might be worthy of such a man." "you are worthy of us all," returned theodosia. "people are kind to the condemned," said he sententiously. at the door they were once more close to the others of the diplomatic party who had sat in company at table. the usual crush of those clamoring for their carriages had begun. "my dear," said mr. merry to his irate spouse, "i shall, if mrs. alston will permit, ask you to take her up in your carriage with you to her home. i am to go with mr burr." the spanish minister made similar excuse to his own wife. thus theodosia alston left meriwether lewis for the second time that day. it was a late conference, the one held that night at the home of the vice-president of the united states. burr, cool, calculating, always in hand, sat and weighed many matters well before he committed himself beyond repair. his keen mind saw now, and seized the advantage for which he waited. "you say right, gentlemen, both of you," he began, leaning forward. "i would not blame you if you never went to the white house again." "should i ever do so again," blazed the spanish minister, "i will take my own wife in to dinner on my own arm, and place her at the head of the table, where she belongs! it was an insult to my sovereign that we received today." "as much myself, sir!" said mr. merry, his brows contracted, his face flushed still with anger. "i shall know how to answer the next invitation which comes from mr jefferson.[1] i shall ask him whether or not there is to be any repetition of this sort of thing." [footnote 1: during the following winter mr. merry had opportunity to fulfill his threat. in february, 1804, the president again invited him to dine, in the following words: "thomas jefferson asks the favor of mr. merry to dine with a small party of friends on monday, the 13th, at half past three." mr. merry, still smarting all these months, stood on his dignity and addressed his reply to the secretary of state. reviewing at some length what seemed to him important events, he added: "if mr. merry should be mistaken as to the meaning of mr. jefferson's note, and it should prove that the invitation is designed for him in a public capacity, he trusts that mr. jefferson will feel equally that it must be out of his power to accept it, without receiving previously, through the channel of the secretary of state, the necessary formal assurance of the president's determination to observe toward him those niceties of distinction which have heretofore been shown by the executive government of the united states to the persons who have been accredited as our majesty's ministers. "mr. merry has the honor to request of mr. madison to lay this explanation before the president, and to accompany it with the strongest assurance of his highest respect and consideration." the secretary of state, who seems to have been acting as social secretary to mr. jefferson, without hesitation replied as follows: "mr. madison presents his compliments to mr. merry. he has communicated to the president mr. merry's note of this morning, and has the honor to remark to him that the president's invitation, being in the style used by him in like cases, had no reference to the points of form which will deprive him of the pleasure of mr. merry's company at dinner on monday next. "mr. madison tenders to mr. merry his distinguished consideration." the friction arising out of this and interlocking incidents was part of the unfortunate train of events which later led up to the war of 1812.] "so much for the rule of the plain people!" said burr, as he laid the tips of his fingers together contemplatively. "yet, colonel burr, you are vice-president under this administration!" broke out merry. "one must use agencies and opportunities as they offer. my dear sir, perhaps you do not fully know me. i took this election only in order to be close to the seat of affairs. i am no such rabid adherent to democracy as some may think. you would be startled if i told you that i regard this republic as no more than an experiment. this is a large continent. take all that western country--louisiana--it ought not to be called attached to the united states. at this very moment it is half in rebellion against its constituted authorities. more than once it has been ready to take arms, to march against new orleans, and to set up a new country of its own. it is geography which fights for monarchy, against democracy, on this continent--in spite of what all these people say." "sir," said the british minister, "you have been a student of affairs." "and why not? i claim intelligence, good education, association with men of thought. my reason tells me that conquest is in the blood of those men who settled in the mississippi valley. they went into kentucky and tennessee for the sake of conquest. they are restless, unattached, dissatisfied--ready for any great move. no move can be made which will seem too great or too daring for them. now let me confess somewhat to you--for i know that you will respect my confidence, if you go no further with me than you have gone tonight. i have bought large acreages of land in the lower louisiana country, ostensibly for colonization purposes. i do purpose colonization there--_but not under the flag of this republic!_" silence greeted his remark. the others sat for a moment, merely gazing at him, half stunned, remembering only that he was jefferson's colleague, vice-president of the united states. "you cannot force geography," resumed burr, in tones as even as if he had but spoken of bartering for a house and lot. "lower louisiana and mexico together--yes, perhaps. florida, with us--yes, perhaps. indeed, territories larger perhaps than any of us dare dream at present, once our new flag is raised. all that i purpose is to do what has been discussed a thousand times before--to unite in a natural alliance of self-interest those men who are sundered in every way of interest and alliance from the government on this side of the alleghanies. would you call that treason--conspiracy? i dislike the words. i call it rather a plan based upon sound reason and common sense; and i hold that its success is virtually assured." "you will explain more fully, colonel burr?" mr. merry was intent now on all that he heard. "i march only with destiny, yonder--do you not see, gentlemen?" burr resumed. "those who march with me are in alliance with natural events. this republic is split now, at this very moment. it must follow its own fate. if the flag of spain were west of it on the south, and the flag of britain west of it on the north, why, then we should have the natural end of the republic's expansion. with those great powers in alliance at its back, with the fleets of england on the seas, at the mouth of the great river--owning the lands in canada on the north--it would be a simple thing, i say, to crush this republic against the wall of the appalachians, or to drive it once more into the sea." they were silent alike before the enormousness and the enormity of this. reading their thoughts, burr raised his hand in deprecation. "i know what is in your minds, gentlemen. the one thing which troubles you is this--the man who speaks to you is vice-president of the united states. i say what in your country would be treason. in this country i maintain it is not yet treason, because thus far we are in an experiment. we have no actual reign of reason and of law; and he marches to success who marches with natural laws and along the definite trend of existing circumstances and conditions." "what you say, mr. burr," began merry gravely, "assuredly has the merit of audacity. and i see that you have given it thought." "i interest you, gentlemen! you can go with me only if it be to your interest and to that of your countries to join with me in these plans. they have gone far forward--let me tell you that. i know my men from st. louis to new orleans--i know my leaders--i know that population. if this be treason, as mr. patrick henry said, let us make the most of it. at least it is the intention of aaron burr. i stake upon it all my fortune, my life, the happiness of my family. do you think i am sincere?" merry sat engaged in thought. he could see vast movements in the game of nations thus suddenly shown before him on the diplomatic board. and on his part it is to be said that he was there to represent the interests of his own government alone. in the same even tones, burr resumed his astonishing statements. "my son-in-law, mr. alston, of south carolina--a very wealthy planter of that state--is in full accord with all my plans. my own resources have been pledged to their utmost, and he has been so good as to add largely from his own. i admit to you that i sought alliance with him deliberately when he asked my daughter's hand. he is an ambitious man, and perhaps he saw his way to the fulfillment of certain personal ambitions. he has contributed fifty thousand dollars to my cause. he will have a place of honor and profit in the new government which will be formed yonder in the mississippi valley." "so, then," began yrujo, "the financing is somewhat forward! but fifty thousand is only a drop." "we may as well be plain," rejoined burr. "time is short--you know that it is short. we all heard what mr. jefferson said--we know that if we are to take action it must be at once. that expedition must not succeed! if that wedge be driven through to the pacific--and who can say what that young virginian may do?--your two countries will be forever separated on this continent by one which will wage successful war on both. swift action is my only hope--and yours." "your funds," said mr. merry, "seem to me inadequate for the demands which will be made upon them. you said fifty thousand?" burr nodded. "i pledge you as much more--on one condition that i shall name." burr turned from mr. merry to señor yrujo. the latter nodded. "i undertake to contribute the same amount," said the envoy of spain, "but with no condition attached." the color deepened in the cheek of the great conspirator. his eye glittered a trifle more brilliantly. "you named a certain condition, sir," he said to merry. "yes, one entirely obvious." "what is it, then, your excellency?" burr inquired. "you yourself have made it plain. the infernal ingenuity of yonder corsican--curse his devilish brain!--has rolled a greater stone in our yard than could be placed there by any other human agency. we could not believe that napoleon bonaparte would part with louisiana thus easily. no doubt he feared the british fleet at the mouth of the river--no doubt spain was glad enough that our guns were not at new orleans ere this. but, i say, he rolled that stone in our yard. if title to this louisiana purchase is driven through to the pacific--as mr. jefferson plans so boldly--the end is written now, colonel burr, to all your enterprises! britain will be forced to content herself with what she can take on the north, and spain eventually will hold nothing worth having on the south. by the lord, general bonaparte fights well--he knows how to sacrifice a pawn in order to checkmate a king!" "yes, your excellency," said burr, "i agree with you, but----" "and now my condition. follow me closely. i say if that wedge is driven home--if that expedition of mr. jefferson's shall succeed--its success will rest on one factor. in short, there is a man at the head of that expedition who must fight with us and not against us, else my own interest in this matter lacks entirely. you know the man i have in mind." burr nodded, his lips compressed. "that young man, colonel burr, will go through! i know his kind. believe me, if i know men, he is a strong man. let that man come back from his expedition with the map of a million square miles of new american territory hanging at his belt, like a scalp torn from his foes--and there will be no chance left for colonel burr and his friends!" "all that your excellency has said tallies entirely with our own beliefs," rejoined burr. "but what then? what is the condition?" "simply this--we must have captain lewis with us and not against us. i want that man! i must have him. that expedition must never proceed. it must be delayed, stopped. money was raised twenty years ago in london to make this same sort of journey across the continent, but the plan fell through. revive it now, and we english still may pull it off. but it will be too late if captain lewis goes forward now--too late for us--too late for you and your plan, mr. burr. i want that man! we must have him with us!" burr sat in silence for a time. "you open up a singular train of thought for me, your excellency," said he at length. "he does belong with us, that young virginian!" "you know him, then?" inquired the british minister. "that is to say, you know him well?" "perfectly. why should i not? he nearly was my son-in-law. egad! give him two weeks more, and he might have been--he got the news of my daughter's marriage just too late. it hit him hard. in truth, i doubt if he ever has recovered from it. they say he still takes it hard. now, you ask me how to get that man, your excellency. there is perhaps one way in which it could be accomplished, and only one." "how, then?" inquired merry. "the way of a woman with a man may always be the answer in matters of that sort!" said aaron burr. the three sat and looked each at the other for some time without comment. "i find colonel burr's brain active in all ways!" began señor yrujo dryly. "now i confess that he goes somewhat in advance of mine." "listen," said aaron burr. "what mr. jefferson said of captain lewis is absolutely true--his will has never been known to relax or weaken. once resolved, he cannot change--i will not say he does not, but that he cannot." "then even the unusual weapon you suggest might not avail!" mr. merry's smile was not altogether pleasant. "women would listen to him readily, i think," remarked yrujo. "gallant in his way, yes," said burr. "then what do you mean by saying something about the way of a woman with a man?" "only that it is the last remaining opportunity for us," rejoined aaron burr. "the appeal to his senses--of course, we will set that aside. the appeal to his chivalry--that is better! the appeal to his ambition--that is less, but might be used. the appeal to his sympathy--the wish to be generous with the woman who has not been generous with him, for the reason that she could not be--here again you have another argument which we may claim as possible." "you reason well," said merry. "but while men are mortal, yonder, if i mistake not, is a gentleman." "precisely," said burr. "if we ask him to resign his expedition we are asking him to alter all his loyalty to his chief--and he will not do that. any appeal made to him must be to his honor or to his chivalry; otherwise it were worse than hopeless. he would no more be disloyal to my son-in-law, the lady's husband--in case it came to that--than he would be disloyal to the orders of his chief." "fie! fie!" said yrujo, serving himself with wine from a decanter on the table. "all men are mortal. i agree with your first proposition, colonel burr, that the safest argument with a man--with a young man especially, and such a young man--is a woman--and such a woman!" "one thing is sure," rejoined burr, flushing. "that man will succeed unless some woman induces him to change--some woman, acting under an appeal to his chivalry or his sense of justice. his reasons must be honest to him. they must be honest to her alike." burr added this last virtuously, and mr. merry bowed deeply in return. "this is not only honorable of you, colonel burr, but logical." "that means some sort of sacrifice for him," suggested yrujo presently. "but some one is sacrificed in every great undertaking. we cannot count the loss of men when nations seek to extend their boundaries and enhance their power. only the question is, at what sacrifice, through what appeal to his chivalry, can his assistance be carried to us?" "we have left out of our accounting one factor," said burr after a time. "what, then?" "one factor, i repeat, we have overlooked," said burr. "that is the wit of a woman! i am purposing to send as our agent with him no other than my daughter, mrs. alston. there is no mind more brilliant, no heart more loyal, than hers--nor any soul more filled with ambition! she believes in her father absolutely--will use every resource of her own to upbuild her father's ambitions.[2] now, women have their own ways of accomplishing results. suppose we leave it to my daughter to fashion her own campaign? there is nothing wrong in the relations of these two, but at table today i saw his look to her, and hers to him in reply. we are speaking in deep and sacred confidence here, gentlemen. so i say to you, ask no questions of me, and let me ask none of her. let me only say to her: 'my daughter, your father's success, his life, his fortune--the life and fortune and success of your husband as well--depend upon one event, depend upon you and your ability to stop yonder expedition of captain meriwether lewis into the missouri country!'" [footnote 2: it is generally conceded that theodosia burr alston must have been acquainted with her father's most intimate ambitions, and with at least part of the questionable plans by which he purposed to further them. her blind and unswerving loyalty to him, passing all ordinary filial affection, was a predominant trait of her singular and by no means weak or hesitant character, in which masculine resolution blended so strangely with womanly reserve and sweetness.] "when could we learn?" demanded the british minister. "i cannot say how long a time it may take," burr replied. "i promise you that my daughter shall have a personal interview with captain lewis before he starts for the west." "but he starts at dawn!" smiled minister merry. "were it an hour earlier than that, i would promise it. but now, gentlemen, let us come to the main point. if we succeed, what then?" the british minister was businesslike and definite. "fifty thousand dollars at once, out of a special fund in my control. meantime i would write at once to my government and lay the matter before them.[3] we shall need a fleet at the south of the mississippi river. that will cost money--it will require at least half a million dollars to assure any sort of success in plans so large as yours, mr. burr. but on the contingency that she stops him, i promise you that amount. fifty thousand down--a half-million more when needed." [footnote 3: mr. merry did so and reported the entire proposal made by burr. the proposition was that the latter should "lend his assistance to his majesty's government in any manner in which they may think fit to employ him, particularly in endeavoring to effect a separation of the western part of the united states from that which lies between the mountains in its whole extent." but though deeply interested in the conspiracy to separate the western country, mr. merry was not too confiding, for in his message to mr. pitt he added the following confidence, showing his own estimate of burr: "i have only to add that if strict confidence could be placed in him, he certainly possesses, perhaps in a much greater degree than any other individual in this country, all the talents, energy, intrepidity, and firmness which it requires for such an enterprise."] the dark eye of aaron burr flashed. "then," said he firmly, "success will meet our efforts--i guarantee it! i pledge all my personal fortune, my friends, my family, to the last member." "i am for my country," said mr. merry simply. "it is plain to see that napoleon sought to humble us by ceding that great region to this republic. he meant to build up in the new world another enemy to great britain. but if we can thwart him--if at the very start we can divide the forces which might later be allied against us--perhaps we may conquer a wider sphere of possession for ourselves on this rich continent. there is no better colonizing ground in all the world!" "you understand my plan," said aaron burr. "reduced to the least common denominator, meriwether lewis and my daughter theodosia have our fate in their hands." the others rose. the hour was past midnight. the secret conference had been a long one. "he starts tomorrow--is that sure?" asked merry. "as the clock," rejoined burr. "she must see him before the breakfast hour." "my compliments, colonel burr. good night!" "good night, sir," added yrujo. "it has been a strange day." "secrecy, gentlemen, secrecy! i hope soon to have more news for you, and good news, too. _au revoir!_" burr himself accompanied them to the door. chapter vii colonel burr and his daughter one instant aaron burr sat, his head dropped, revolving his plans. the next, he pulled the bell-cord and paced the floor until he had answer. "go at once to mrs. alston's rooms, charles," said he to the servant. "tell her to rise and come to me at once. tell her not to wait. do you hear?" he still paced the floor until he heard a light _frou-frou_ in the hall, a light knock at the door. his daughter entered, her eyes still full of sleep, her attire no more than a loose peignoir caught up and thrown above her night garments. "what is it, father--are you ill?" "far from it, my child," said he, turning with head erect. "i am alive, well, and happier than i have been for months--years. i need you--come, sit here and listen to me." he caught her to him with a swift, paternal embrace--he loved no mortal being as he did his daughter--then pushed her tenderly into the deep seat near by the lamp, while he continued pacing up and down the room, voluble and persuasive, full of his great idea. the matters which he had but now discussed with the two foreign officials he placed before his daughter. he told her all--except the truth. and aaron burr knew how to gild falsehood itself until it seemed the truth. "now you have it, my dear," said he. "you see, my ambition to found a country of my own, where a man may have a real ambition. this dirty village here is too narrow a field for talents like yours or mine. let me tell you, napoleon has played a great jest with mr. jefferson. there is nothing in the constitution of the united states--i am lawyer enough to know that--which will make it possible for congress to ratify the purchase of louisiana. we cannot carve new states from that country--it is already settled by the subjects of another government. hence the expedition of mr. lewis must fail--it must surely fall of its own weight. it is based upon an absurdity. not even mr. jefferson can fly in the face of the supreme laws of the land. "but as to the mississippi valley, matters are entirely different. there is no law against that country's organizing for a better government. there is every natural reason for that. as these states on the east confederated in the cause against oppression, so can those yonder. there will be more opportunity for strong men there when that game is on the board--men like captain lewis, for instance. should one ally one's self with a foredoomed failure? not at all. i prefer rather success--station, rank, power, money, for myself, if you please. with us--a million dollars for the founding of our new country. with him--for the undertaking of yonder impracticable and chimerical expedition, twenty-five hundred dollars! which enterprise, think you, will win? "but, on the other hand, if that expedition of mr. jefferson's should succeed by virtue of accident, or of good leadership, all my plans must fail--that is plain. it comes, therefore, to this, theo, and i may tell you plainly--captain lewis must be seen--he must be stopped--we must hold a conference with him. it would be useless for me to undertake to arrange all that. there is only one person who can save your father's future--and that one, my daughter, is--you!" he caught theodosia's look of surprise, her start, the swift flush on her cheek--and laughed lightly. "let me explain. aaron burr and all his family--all his friends--will reach swift advancement in yonder new government. power, place--these are the things that strong men covet. that is what the game of politics means for strong men--that is why we fight so bitterly for office. i plan for myself some greater office than second fiddle in this tawdry republic along the atlantic. i want the first place, and in a greater field! i will take my friends with me. i want men who can lead other men. i want men like captain lewis." "it seems that you value him more now than once you did." "yes, that is true, theo, that is true. i did not favor his suit for your hand at that time. although he had a modest fortune in virginia lands, he could not offer you the future assured by mr. alston. i was rejoiced--i admit it frankly--when i learned that young captain lewis came just too late, for i feared you would have preferred him. and yet i saw his quality then--mr. jefferson sees it--he is a good chooser of men. but captain lewis must not advance beyond the ohio. that is a large task for a woman." "what woman, father?" a flush came to her pale cheek. her father turned to her directly, his own piercing gaze aflame. "there is but one woman on earth could do that, my daughter! that young man's fate was settled when he looked on that woman--when he looked on you!" she swiftly turned her head aside, not answering. "am i so engaged in affairs that i cannot see the obvious, my dear?" went on the vibrant voice. "had i no eyes for what went on at my side this very evening, at mr. jefferson's dinner-table? could i fail to observe his look to you--and, yes, am i not sensible to what your eyes said to him in reply?" "do you believe that of me--and you my father?" "i believe nothing dishonorable of you, my dear," said burr. "neither could i ask anything dishonorable. but i know what young blood will do. your eyes said no more than that for me. i know you wish him well--know you wish well for his ambition, his success--am sure you do not wish to see him doomed to failure. what? would you see his career blighted when it should be but begun?" "there would be prospects for him?" "all the prospects in the world! i would place him only second to myself, so highly do i value his talents in an enterprise such as this. alston's money, but lewis's brains and courage! they both love you--do i not know?" troubled, again she turned her gaze aside. "listen, my daughter. that young man is wise--he has no such vast belief in yonder expedition. he is going in desperation, to escape a memory! is it not true? tell me--and believe that i am not blind--is not captain lewis going into the missouri country in order to forget a certain woman? and do we not know, my daughter, who that woman is?" still her downcast eye gave him no reply. "meriwether lewis yonder among the savages is a failure. meriwether lewis with me is second only to the vice-regent of the lower louisiana country. texas, florida, much of mexico, will join with us, that is sure. we fight with the great nations of the world, not against them--we fight with the stars in their courses, and not against them. "now, you have two pictures, my dear--one of meriwether lewis, the wanderer, a broken and hopeless man, living among the savages, a log hut his home, a camp fire the only hearth he knows. picture that hopeless and broken man--condemned to that by yourself, my dear--and then picture that other figure whom you can see rescued, restored to the world, placed by your own hand in a station of dignity and power. then, indeed, he might forget--he might forgive. yonder he will forsake his manhood--he will relax his ideals, and go down, step by step, until he shall not think of you again. "there are two pictures, my daughter. which do you prefer--what do you decide to do? shall you condemn him, or shall you rescue him? forgive your father for having spoken thus plainly. i know your heart--i know your generosity as well as i know your loyalty and ambition. there is no reason, my dear, why, for the sake of your father, for the sake of yourself, _and for the sake of that young man yonder_, you should not go to him immediately and carry my message." "could it be possible," she began at length, half musing, "that i, who made captain lewis so unhappy, could aid a man like him to reach a higher and better place in life? could i save him from himself--and from myself?" "you speak like my own daughter! if that generous wish bore fruit, i think that in the later years of life, for both of you, the reflection would prove not unwelcome. i know, as well as i know anything, that no other woman will ever hold a place in the heart of meriwether lewis. there is a memory there which will shut out all other things on earth. we deal now in delicate matters, it is true; but i have been frank with you, because, knowing your loyalty and fairness, knowing your ambition, even-paced with mine, none the less i know your discretion and your generosity as well. you see, i have chosen the best messenger in all the world to advance my own ambition. indeed, i have chosen the only one in all the world who might undertake this errand with the slightest prospect of success." "what can i do, father?" "in the morning that young man will start. it is now two by the clock. we are late. he will start with the rising sun. it is doubtful if he will see his bed at all tonight." "you have called me for a strange errand, father," said theodosia alston, at length. "so far as my brain grasps these things, i go with you in your plans. i could plan no treachery against this country, nor could you--you are its sworn servant, its high official." "treachery? no, it is statesmanship, it is service to mankind!" "my consent to that, yes. but as to seeing captain lewis, there is, as you know, but one way. i go not as theodosia burr, but as mrs. alston of carolina. i am a woman of honor; he is a man of honor. no argument on earth would avail with him except such as might be based upon honor and loyalty. nor would any argument, even if offered by my father, avail otherwise with me." she turned upon him now the full gaze of her dark eyes, serious, luminous, yet tender, her love for him showing so clearly that he came to her softly, took her hands, caught her to his bosom, and kissed her tenderly. "theodosia," said he, "aid me! if the fire of my ambition has consumed me, i have come to you, because i know your love, because i know your loyalty! i have not slept tonight," he added, passing a hand across his forehead. "there will be no more sleep for me tonight," was her reply. "you will see him in the morning?" "yes." chapter viii the parting there were others in washington who did not sleep that night. a light burned until sunrise in the little office-room of thomas jefferson. spread upon his desk, covering its litter of unfinished business, lay a large map--a map which today would cause any schoolboy to smile, but which at that time represented the wisdom of the world regarding the interior of the great north american continent. it had served to afford anxious study for two men, these many hours. "yonder it lies, captain lewis!" said mr. jefferson at length. "how vast, how little known! we know our climate and soil here. it is but reasonable to suppose that they exist yonder as they do with us, in some part, at least. if so, yonder are homes for millions now unborn. had general bonaparte known the value of that land, he would have fought the world rather than alienate such a region." the president tapped a long forefinger on the map. "this, then," he went on, "is your country. find it out--bring back to me examples of its soil, its products, its vegetable and animal life. espy out especially for us any strange animals there may be of which science has not yet account. i hold it probable that there may be yonder living examples of the mastodon, whose bones we have found in kentucky. you yourself may see those enormous creatures yet alive." meriwether lewis listened in silence. mr. jefferson turned to another branch of his theme. "i fancy that some time there will be a canal built across the isthmus that binds this continent to the one below--a canal which shall connect the two great oceans. but that is far in the future. it is for you to spy out the way now, across the country itself. explore it--discover it--it is our new world. "a few must think for the many," he went on. "i had to smuggle this appropriation through congress--twenty-five hundred dollars--the price of a poor virginia farm! i have tampered with the constitution itself in order to make this purchase of a country not included in our original territorial lines. i have taken my own chances--just as you must take yours now. the finger of god will be your guide and your protector. are you ready, captain lewis? it is late." indeed, the sun was rising over washington, the mists of morning were reeking along the banks of the potomac. "i can start in half an hour," replied meriwether lewis. "are your men ready, your supplies gathered together?" "the rendezvous is at harper's ferry, up the river. the wagons with the supplies are ready there. i will take boat from here myself with a few of the men. not later than tomorrow afternoon i promise that we will be on our way. we burn the bridges behind us, and cross none until we come to them." "spoken like a soldier! it is in your hands. go then!" there was one look, one handclasp. the two men parted; nor did they meet again for years. mr. jefferson did not look from his window to see the departure of his young friend, nor did the latter again call at the door to say good-by. theirs was indeed a warrior-like simplicity. the sun still was young when meriwether lewis at length descended the steps of the executive mansion. he was clad now for his journey, not in buckskin hunting-garb, but with regard for the conventions of a country by no means free of convention. his jacket was of close wool, belted; his boots were high and suitable for riding. his stock, snowy white--for always meriwether lewis was immaculate--rose high around his throat, in spite of the hot summer season, and his hands were gloved. he seemed soldier, leader, officer, and gentleman. no retinue, however, attended him; no servant was at his side. he went afoot, and carried with him his most precious luggage--the long rifle which he never entrusted to any hands save his own. close wrapped around the stock, on the crook of his arm, and not yet slung over his shoulder, was a soiled buckskin pouch, which went always with the rifle--the "possible sack" of the wilderness hunter of that time. it contained his bullets, bullet-molds, flints, a bar or two of lead, some tinder for priming, a set of awls. such was the leader of one of the great expeditions of the world. meriwether lewis had few good-bys to say. he had written but one letter--to his mother--late the previous morning. it was worded thus: the day after tomorrow i shall set out for the western country. i had calculated on the pleasure of visiting you before i started, but circumstances have rendered it impossible. my absence will probably be equal to fifteen or eighteen months. the nature of this expedition is by no means dangerous. my route will be altogether through tribes of indians friendly to the united states, therefore i consider the chances of life just as much in my favor as i should conceive them were i to remain at home. the charge of this expedition is honorable to myself, as it is important to my country. for its fatigues i feel myself perfectly prepared, nor do i doubt my health and strength of constitution to bear me through it. i go with the most perfect preconviction in my own mind of returning safe, and hope, therefore that you will not suffer yourself to indulge in any anxiety for my safety. i will write again on my arrival at pittsburgh. adieu, and believe me your affectionate son. no regrets, no weak reflections for this man with a warrior's weapon on his arm--where no other burden might lie in all his years. his were to be the comforts of the trail, the rude associations with common men, the terrors of the desert and the mountain; his fireside only that of the camp. yet he advanced to his future steadily, his head high, his eye on ahead--a splendid figure of a man. he did not at first hear the gallop of hoofs on the street behind him as at last, a mile or more from the white house gate, he turned toward the river front. he was looking at the dull flood of the potomac, now visible below him; but he paused, something appealing to the strange sixth sense of the hunter, and turned. a rider, a mounted servant, was beckoning to him. behind the horseman, driven at a stiff gait, came a carriage which seemed to have but a single occupant. captain lewis halted, gazed, then hastened forward, hat in his hand. "mrs. alston!" he exclaimed, as the carriage came up. "why are you here? is there any news?" "yes, else i could not have come." "but why have you come? tell me!" he motioned the outrider aside, sprang into the vehicle and told the driver to draw a little apart from the more public street. here he caught up the reins himself, and, ordering the driver to join the footman at the edge of the roadway they had left, turned to the woman at his side. "pardon me," said he, and his voice was cold; "i thought i had cut all ties." "knit them again for my sake, then, meriwether lewis! i have brought you a summons to return." "a summons? from whom?" "my father--mr. merry--señor yrujo. they were at our home all night. we could not--they could not--i could not--bear to see you sacrifice yourself. this expedition can only fail! i implore you not to go upon it! do not let your man's pride drive you!" she was excited, half sobbing. "it does drive me, indeed," said he simply. "i am under orders--i am the leader of this expedition of my government. i do not understand----" "at this hour--on this errand--only one motive could have brought me! it is your interest. oh, it is not for myself--it is for your future." "why did you come thus, unattended? there is something you are concealing. tell me!" "ah, you are harsh--you have no sympathy, no compassion, no gratitude! but listen, and i will tell you. my father, mr. merry, the spanish minister, are all men of affairs. they have watched the planning of this expedition. why fly in the face of prophecy and of providence? that is what my father says. he says that country can never be of benefit to our union--that no new states can be made from it. he says the people will pass down the mississippi river, but not beyond it; that it is the natural line of our expansion--that men who are actual settlers are bound not into the unknown west, but into the well-known south. he begs of you to follow the course of events, and not to fly in the face of providence." "you speak well! go on." "england is with us, and spain--they back my father's plans." he turned now and raised a hand. "plans? what plans? i must warn you, i am pledged to my own country's service." "is not my father also? he is one of the highest officers in the government of this country." "you may tell me more or not, as you like." "there is little more to tell," said she. "these gentlemen have made certain plans of which i know little. my father said to me that thomas jefferson himself knows that this purchase from napoleon cannot be made under the constitution of the united states--that, given time for reflection, mr. jefferson himself will admit that the louisiana purchase was but a national folly from which this country cannot benefit. why not turn, then, to a future which offers certainties? why not come with us, and not attempt the impossible? that is what he said. and he asked me to implore you to pause." he sat motionless, looking straight ahead, as she went on. "he only besought me to induce you, if i could, either to abandon your expedition wholly as soon as you honorably might do so, or to go on with it only to such point as will prove it unfeasible and impracticable. not wishing you to prove traitorous to a trust, these gentlemen wish you to know that they would value your association--that they would give you splendid opportunity. with men such as these, that means a swift future of success for one--for one--whom i shall always cherish warmly in my heart." the color was full in her face. he turned toward her suddenly, his eye clouded. "it is an extraordinary matter in every way which you bring for me," he said slowly; "extraordinary that foreigners, not friends of this country, should call themselves the friends of an officer sworn to the service of the republic! i confess i do not understand it. and why send you?" "it is difficult for me to tell you. but my father knew the antagonism between mr. jefferson and himself, and knew your friendship for mr. jefferson. he knew also the respect, the pity--oh, what shall i say?--which i have always felt for you--the regard----" "regard! what do you mean?" "i did not mean regard, but the--the wish to see you succeed, to help you, if i could, to take your place among men. i told you that but yesterday." she was all confusion now. he seemed pitiless. "i have listened long enough to have my curiosity aroused. i shall have somewhat to ponder--on the trail to the west." "then you mean that you will go on?" "yes!" "you do not understand----" "no! i understand only that mr. jefferson has never abandoned a plan or a promise or a friend. shall i, then, who have been his scholar and his friend?" "ah, you two! what manner of men are you that you will not listen to reason? he is high in power. will you not also listen to the call of your own ambition? why, in that country below, you might hold a station as proud as that of mr. jefferson himself. will you throw that away, for the sake of a few dried skins and flowers? you speak of being devoted to your country. what is devotion--what is your country? you have no heart--that i know well; but i credited you with the brain and the ambition of a man!" he sat motionless under the sting of her reproaches; and as some reflection came to her upon the savagery of her own words, she laughed bitterly. "think you that i would have come here for any other man?" she demanded. "think you that i would ask of you anything to my own dishonor, or to your dishonor? but now you do not listen. you will not come back--even for me!" in answer he simply bent and kissed her hand, stepped from the carriage, raised his hat. yet he hesitated for half an instant and turned back. "theodosia," said he, "it is hard for me not to do anything you ask of me--you do not know how hard; but surely you understand that i am a soldier and am under orders. i have no option. it seems to me that the plans of your father and his friends should be placed at once before mr. jefferson. it is strange they sent you, a woman, as their messenger! you have done all that a woman could. no other woman in the world could have done as much with me. but--my men are waiting for me." this time he did not turn back again. * * * * * colonel burr's carriage returned more slowly than it had come. it was a dejected occupant who at last made her way, still at an early hour, to the door of her father's house. burr met her at the door. his keen eye read the answer at once. "you have failed!" said he. she raised her dark eyes to his, herself silent, mournful. "what did he say?" demanded burr. "said he was under orders--said you should go to mr. jefferson with your plan--said mr. jefferson alone could stop him. failed? yes, i failed!" "you failed," said burr, "because you did not use the right argument with him. the next time _you must not fail_. you must use better arguments!" theodosia stood motionless for an instant, looking at her father, then passed back into the house. "listen, my daughter," said burr at length, in his eye a light that she never had known before. "you _must_ see that man again, and bring him back into our camp! we need him. without him i cannot handle merry, and without merry i cannot handle yrujo. without them my plan is doomed. if it fails, your husband has lost fifty thousand dollars and all the moneys to which he is pledged beyond that. you and i will be bankrupt--penniless upon the streets, do you hear?--unless you bring that man back. granted that all goes well, it means half a million dollars pledged for my future by great britain herself, half as much pledged by spain, success and future honor and power for you and me--and him. he _must_ come back! that expedition must not go beyond the mississippi. you ask me what to tell him? ask him no longer to return to us and opportunity. _ask him to come back to theodosia burr and happiness_--do you understand?" "sir," said his daughter, "i think--i think i do not understand!" he seemed not to hear her--or to toss her answer aside. "you must try again," said he, "and with the right weapons--the old ones, my dear--the old weapons of a woman!" chapter ix mr. thomas jefferson not in fifty years, said thomas jefferson in the last days of his life, had the sun caught him in bed. on this morning, having said good-by to the man to whose hands he had entrusted the dearest enterprise of all his life, he turned back to his desk in the little office-room, and throughout the long and heated day, following a night spent wholly without sleep, he remained engaged in his usual labors, which were the heavier in his secretary's absence. he was an old man now, but a giant in frame, a giant in mind, a giant in industry as well. he sat at his desk absorbed, sleepless, with that steady application which made possible the enormous total of his life's work. he was writing in a fine, delicate hand--legible to this day--certain of those thousands of letters and papers which have been given to us as the record of his career. in what labor was the president of the united states engaged on this particularly eventful day? it seems he found more to do with household matters than with affairs of state. he was making careful accounts of his french cook, his irish coachman, his black servants still remaining at his country house in virginia. all his life thomas jefferson kept itemized in absolute faithfulness a list of all his personal expenses--even to the gratuities he expended in traveling and entertainment. we find, for instance, that "john cramer is to go into the service of mr. jefferson at twelve dollars a month and twopence for drink, two suits of clothes and a pair of boots." it seems that he bought a bootjack for three shillings; and the cost of countless other household items is as carefully set down. we may learn from records of this date that in the past year mr. jefferson had expended in charity $1,585.60. he tells us that in the first three months of his presidency his expenses were $565.84--and he was wrong ten cents in his addition of the total! in his own hand he sets down "a view of the consumption of butchers' meat from september 6, 1801, to june 12, 1802." he knew perfectly well, indeed, what all his household expenses were, also what it cost him to maintain his stables. he did all this bookkeeping himself, and at the end of each year was able to tell precisely where his funds had gone. we may note one such annual statement, that of the year ended five months previous to the time when captain lewis set forth into the west: provisions $4,059.98 wines 1,296.63 groceries 1,624.76 fuel 553.68 secretary 600.00 servants 2,014.89 miscellaneous 433.30 stable 399.06 dress 246.05 charities 1,585.60 pres. house 226.59 books 497.41 household expenses 393.00 monticello--plantation 2,226.45 " --family 1,028.79 loans 274.00 debts 529.61 asquisitions--lands bought 2,156.86 " --buildings 3,567.92 " --carriages 363.75 " --furniture 664.10 total $24,682.45 mr. jefferson says in rather shamefaced fashion to his diary: i ought by this statement to have cash in hand $183.70 but i actually have in hand 293.00 so that the errors of this statement amt to 109.20 the whole of the nails used for monticello and smithwork are omitted, because no account was kept of them. this makes part of the error, and the article of nails has been extraordinary this year. there was a curious accuracy in the analytical tests which mr. jefferson applied to all the ordinary transactions of life. it was not enough for him to know exactly how many dollars and cents he had expended; he must know what should be the average result of such expenditures. in the middle of a life of tremendous and marvelously varied activities he finds time to leave for us such records as these: mr. remsen tells me that six cord of hickory last a fireplace well the winter. myrtle candles of last year out. pd farren an impudent surcharge for venetn blinds, 2.66. borrowed of mr. maddison order on bank for 150d. enclosed to d. rittenhouse, lieper's note of 238.57d, out of which he is to pay for equatorial instrument for me. hitzeimer says that a horse well fed with grain requires 100 lb. of hay, and without grain 130 lb. t. n. randolph has had 9 galls. whisky for his harvest. my first pipe of termo is out--begun soon after i came home to live from philadelphia. agreed with robt. chuning to serve me as overseer at monticello for £25 and 600 lb. pork. he is to come dec. 1. agreed with ---bohlen to give 300 _livres tournois_ for my bust made by ceracchi, if he shall agree to take that sum. my daughter maria married this day. march 16--the first shad at this market today. march 28--the weeping willow shows the green leaf. april 9--asparagus come to table. april 10--apricots blossom. april 12--genl. thaddeus kosciusko puts into my hands a warrant of the treasury for 3,684.54d to have bills of exchange bought for him. may 8--tea out, the pound has lasted exactly 7 weeks, used 6 times a week; this is 8-21 or .4 of an oz. a time for a single person. a pound of tea making 126 cups costs 2d, 126 cups or ounces of coffee--8 lb. cost 1.6. may 18--on trial it takes 11 dwt. troy of double refined maple sugar to a dish of coffee, or 1 lb. avoirdupois to 26.5 dishes, so that at 20 cents per lb. it is 8 mills per dish. an ounce of coffee at 20 cents per lb. is 12.5 mills, so that sugar and coffee of a dish is worth 2 cents. as to the code of official etiquette which we have seen to exist in washington, the president himself was responsible for it, for we have, written out in his own delicate hand, the following explicit instructions: the families of foreign ministers, arriving at the seat of government, receive the first visit from those of the national ministers, as from all other residents. members of the legislature and of the judiciary, independent of their offices, have a right as strangers to receive the first visit. no title being admitted here, those of foreigners give no precedence. difference of grade among the diplomatic members gives no precedence. at public ceremonies the government invites the presence of foreign ministers and their families. a convenient seat or station will be provided for them, with any other strangers invited, and the families of the national ministers, each taking place as they arrive, and without any precedence. to maintain the principle of equality, or of pell-mell, and prevent the growth of precedence out of courtesy, the members of the executive will practise at their own houses, and recommend an adherence to the ancient usages of the country of gentlemen in mass giving precedence to the ladies in mass, in passing from one apartment where they are assembled into another. and so on, through reams and reams of a strange man's life records. why should we care to note his curious concern over details? the answer to that question is this--obviously, thomas jefferson's estimate of a man must also in all likelihood have been curiously exact. he did not make public to the world his judgment of colonel aaron burr, at that time vice-president of the united states; but in his diary, written in frankness by himself for himself, he put down the following: i have never seen colonel burr till he became a member of the senate. his conduct very soon inspired me with distrust. i habitually cautioned mr. madison against trusting him too much. i saw that under general w. and mr. adams, where a great military appointment or a diplomatic one was to be made, he came post to philadelphia to show himself, and in fact he was always in the market if they wanted him. he was indeed told by dayton in 1800 that he might be secretary at war, but this bid was too late. his election as vice-president was then foreseen. with these impressions of colonel burr, there never has been any intimacy between us, and but little association. a certain plan of this same colonel burr's now went forward in such fashion as involved the loyalty of meriwether lewis, the man to whom, of all others of his acquaintance, thomas jefferson gave first place in trust and confidence and friendship--the young man who but now was making his unostentatious departure on the great adventure that they two had planned. his garb ill cared-for, his hair unkempt, his face a trifle haggard, working on into the day whose dawn he had seen arise, the tall, gaunt old man set aside first one minor matter, then another, leaving them all exactly finished. at last he wrote down, for later forwarding, the last item of his own knowledge regarding the new country into which he had sent his young friend. i have received word from paris that mr. broughton, one of the companions of captain vancouver, went up the columbia river one hundred miles in december, 1792. he stopped at a point he named vancouver. here the river columbia is still a quarter of a mile wide. from this point mount hood is seen about twenty leagues distant, which is probably a dependency of the stony mountains. accept my affectionate salutations. this was the last word meriwether lewis received from his chief. as the latter finished it, he sat looking out of the window toward that west which meant so much to him. he did not at first note the interruption of his reverie. long ago he had made public his announcement that the time of thomas jefferson belonged to the public, and that he might be seen at any time by any man. he hesitated now but a moment, therefore, when old henry, his faithful black, threw open the door and stated simply that there was "a lady wantin' to see mistah jeffahson." "who is she, henry?" inquired the president of the united states mildly. "i am somewhat busy today." "'tain't no diff'rence, she say--she sho'ly want see mistah jeffahson." the tired old man smiled and shrugged his shoulders. a moment later the persistent caller was ushered into the office of the nation's chief executive. he rose courteously to meet her. it was theodosia alston, whom he had known from her childhood. mr. jefferson greeted her with his hand outstretched, and, her arm still in his, led her to a seat. "my dear," said he, "you will pardon our confusion here, i am sure. there are many matters----" "i know it is an intrusion, mr. jefferson," began theodosia alston again, her face flushing swiftly. "but you are so good, so kind, so great in your patience that we all take advantage of you. and yet you are so tired," she added impulsively, as she caught sight of his haggard face. "i was not so fortunate as to find time for sleep last night." he smiled again with humorous, half twisted mouth. "nor was i." "tut, tut! no, no, my dear, that sort of thing will not do." he looked at her in silence for some time. "perhaps, my dear," said he at last, "you come regarding captain lewis?" "how did you know?" she exclaimed, startled. "why should i not know?" he pushed his chair so close that he might lay a hand upon her arm. "listen, theo, my child. i am an old man, and i am your friend, and his also. i had need to be very blind had i not known long ago what i did know. i am, perhaps, the only confidant of captain lewis, and i repose in him confidences that i would venture to no other man; but he is not the sort to speak of such matters. it is only by virtue of exceptional circumstances, my dear, that i know the story of you two." she was looking straight into his face, her eyes mournful. "i was glad to send him away, sorely as i miss him. but then, you said, you come to me about him?" "yes, after he is gone--knowing all that you say--because i trust your great kindness and your chivalry. i come to ask you to call him back! oh, mr. jefferson, were it any other man in the world but yourself i had not dared come here; but you know my story and his. it is your right to believe that he and i were--that is to say, we might have been--ah, sir, how can i speak?" "you need not speak, my dear, i know." "i shall be faithful to my husband, mr. jefferson." the old man nodded. "captain lewis knows that also. he would be the last to wish it otherwise. but, since it was his misfortune to set his regard upon one so fair as yourself, and since fate goes so hard for a strong man like him, then i must admit it needed strong medicine for his case. i sent him away, yes. would you ask him back--for any cause?" in turn she laid a small hand upon the president's arm. "only for himself--for that reason alone, mr. jefferson, and not to change your plans--for himself, because you love him. oh, sir, even the greatest courts sometimes arrest their judgment if there is new evidence to be introduced. at the last moment justice gives a condemned man one more chance." "what is it, theodosia?" he said quietly. "i do not grasp all this." "able men say that this government cannot take advantage of the sale of louisiana to us by napoleon--that our constitution prevents our taking over a foreign territory already populated to make into new states of our own----" "good, my learned counsel--say on!" "forgive my weak wit--i only try to say this as i heard it, well and plainly." "as well as any man, my dear! go on." "therefore, even if captain lewis does go forward, he can only fail at the last. this is what is said by the federalists, by your enemies." "and perhaps by certain of my own party not federalists--by colonel aaron burr, for instance!" thomas jefferson smiled grimly. "yes!" she spoke firmly and with courage. "i cannot pause to inquire what my enemies say, my dear lady. but in what way could this effect our friend, captain lewis? he is under orders, on my errand." "i saw him this very morning--i took my reputation in my hands--i followed him--i urged him, i implored him to stop!" "yes? and did he?" "not for an instant. ah, i see you smile! i might have known he would not. he said that nothing but word from you could induce him to hesitate for a moment." "my dear young lady, i said to captain lewis that no report from any source would cause me for an instant to doubt his loyalty to me. if anything could shake him in his loyalty, it would be his regard for you yourself; but since i trust his honor and your own, i do not fear that such a conflict can ever occur!" she did not reply. after a time the president went on gently: "my dear, would you wish him to come back--would you condemn him further to the tortures of the damned? and would you halt him while he is trying to do his duty as a man and a soldier? what benefit to you?" she drew up proudly. "what benefit, indeed, to me? do you think i would ask this for myself? no, it was for _him_--it was for _his_ welfare only that i dared to come to you. and you will not hear new evidence?" but now she was speaking to thomas jefferson, the president of the united states, man of affairs as well, man of firm will and clear-cut decision. "madam," said he, coldly, "in this office we do a thing but once. had i condemned yonder young man to his death--and perhaps i have--i would not now reconsider that decision. i would not speak so long as this over it, did i not know and love you both--yes, and grieve over you both; but what is written is written." his giant hand fell lightly, but with firmness, on the desk at his side. the inexorableness of a great will was present in the room as an actual thing. tears swam in her eyes. "you would not hear what was the actual cause of my wish for him----" "no, my dear! we have made our plans." "there are other plans afoot these days, mr. jefferson." "tut, tut! are you my enemy, too? oh, yes, i know there are enemies enough in wait for me and my administration on every side. yes, i know a plan--i know of many such. but one thing also i do know, madam, and it is this--not all the enemies on this earth can alter me one iota in this undertaking on which i have sent captain lewis. as against that magnificent adventure there is nothing can be offered as an offset, nothing that can halt it for an instant. no reward to him or me--nay, no reward to any other human being--shall stop his advancement in that purpose which he shares with me. if he fails, i fail with him--and all my life as well!" she rose now, calm before the imperious quality of his nature, so unlike his former gentleness. "you refuse, then, mr. jefferson? you will not reopen this case?" "i refuse nothing to you gladly, my dear lady. but you have seen him--you have tested him. did he turn back? shall i, his friend and his chief, halt him at such a time? now that were the worst kindness to him in the world. and i am convinced that you and i both plan only kindness for him." suddenly he saw the tears in her eyes. at once he was back again, the courteous gentleman. "do not weep, theodosia, my child," said he. "let me kiss you, as your father or your grandfather would--one who holds you tenderly in his heart. forgive me that i pass sentence on you both, but you must part--you must not ask him back. there now, my dear, do not weep, or you will make me weep. let me kiss you for him--and let us all go on about our duties in the world. my dear, good-by! you must go." chapter x the threshold of the west meriwether lewis, having put behind him one set of duties, now addressed himself to another, and did so with care and thoroughness. a few of his men, a part of his outfitting, he found already assembled at harper's ferry, up the potomac. before sunset of the first day the little band knew they had a leader. there was not a knife or a tomahawk of the entire equipment which he himself did not examine--not a rifle which he himself did not personally test. he went over the boxes and bales which had been gathered here, and saw to their arrangement in the transport-wagons. he did all this without bluster or officiousness, but with the quiet care and thoroughness of the natural leader of men. in two days they were on their way across the alleghanies. a few days more of steady travel sufficed to bring them to pittsburgh, the head of navigation on the ohio river, and at that time the american capital in the upper valley of the west. at pittsburgh captain lewis was to build his boats, to complete the details of his equipment, to take on additional men for his party--now to be officially styled the volunteers for the discovery of the west. he lost no time in urging forward the necessary work. the young adventurer found this inland town half maritime in its look. its shores were lined with commerce suited to a seaport. schooners of considerable tonnage lay at the wharfs, others were building in the busy shipyards. the destination of these craft obviously was down the mississippi, to the sea. here were vessels bound for the west indies, bound for philadelphia, for new york, for boston--carrying the products of this distant and little-known interior. as he looked at this commerce of the great west, pondered its limitations, saw its trend with the down-slant of the perpetual roadway to the sea, there came to the young officer's mind with greater force certain arguments that had been advanced to him. he saw that here was the heart of america, realized how natural was the insistence of all these hardy western men upon the free use of the mississippi and its tributaries. he easily could agree with aaron burr that, had the fleet of napoleon ever sailed from haiti--had napoleon ever done otherwise than to cede louisiana to us--then these boats from the ohio and the mississippi would at this very moment, perhaps, be carrying armed men down to take new orleans, as so often they had threatened. there came, however, to his mind not the slightest thought of alteration in his own plans. with him it was no question of what might have been, but of what actually was. the cession by napoleon had been made, and louisiana was ours. it was time to plot for expeditions, not down the great river, but across it, beyond it, into that great and unknown country that lay toward the farther sea. the keen zest of this vast enterprise came to him as a stimulus--the feel of the new country was as the breath of his nostrils. his bosom swelled with joy as he looked out toward that west which had so long allured him--that west of which he was to be the discoverer. the carousing riffraff of the wharfs, the flotsam and jetsam of the river trade, were to him but passing phenomena. he shouldered his way among them indifferently. he walked with a larger vision before his eyes. now, too, he had news--good news, fortunate news, joyous news--none less than the long-delayed answer of his friend, captain william clark, to his proposal that he should associate himself with the volunteers for the discovery of the west. misspelled, scrawled, done in the hieroglyphics which marked that remarkable gentleman, william clark's letter carried joy to the heart of meriwether lewis. it cemented one of the most astonishing partnerships ever known among men, one of the most beautiful friendships of which history leaves note. let us give the strange epistle in clark's own spelling: dear merne: yours to hand touching uppon the expedishon into the missourie country, & i send this by special bote up the river to mete you at pts'brgh, at the foarks. you convey a moast welcome and appreciated invitation to join you in an enterprise conjenial to my every thought and desire. it will in all likelyhood require at least a year to make the journey out and return, but although that means certain sacrifises of a personal sort, i hold such far less than the pleasure to enlist with you, wh. indeed i hold to be my duty allso. i need not say how content i am to be associated with the man moast of all my acquaintance apt to achieve success in an undertaking of so difficult and perlous nature. as you know, it is in the wilderness men are moast sevearly tried, and there we know a man. i have seen you so tried, and i know what you are. i am proud that you apeare to hold me and my own qualities in like confident trust and belief, and i shall hope to merit no alteration in your judgment. there is no other man i would go with on such an undertaking, nor consider it seriously, although the concern of my family largely has been with things military and adventurous, and we are not new to life among savidges. too well i know the dangers of bad leadership in such affairs, yes and my brother, the general, also, as the story of detroit and the upper ohio country could prove. all of that country should have been ours from the first, and only lack of courage lost it so long to us. you are so kind as to offer me a place equal in command with you--i accept not because of the rank, which is no moving consideration, eather for you or for me--but because i see in the jenerosity of the man proposing such a division of his own honors, the best assurance of success. you will find me at or near the falls of the ohio awaiting the arrival of your party, which i taik it will be in early august or the midel of that month. pray convey to mr. jefferson my humble and obedient respects, and thanks for this honor wh. i shall endeavor to merit as best lies within my powers. with all affec'n, i remain, your friend, wm. clark. p. s.--god alone knows how mutch this all may mean to you and me, merne--will. clark, then, was to meet him at the falls of the ohio, and he, too, counseled haste. lewis drove his drunken, lazy workmen in the shipyards as hard as he might, week after week, yet found six weeks elapsed before at last he was in any wise fitted to set forth. the delay fretted him, even though he received word from his chief bidding him not to grieve over the possible loss of a season in his start, but to do what he might and to possess his soul in patience and in confidence. recruits of proper sort for his purposes did not grow on trees, he found, but he added a few men to his party now and then, picking them slowly, carefully. one morning, while engaged in his duties of supervising the work in progress at the shipyards, he had his attention attracted to a youth of some seventeen or eighteen years, who stood, cap in hand, at a little distance, apparently too timid to accost him. "what is it, my son?" said he. "did you wish to see me?" the boy advanced, smiling. "you do not know me, sir. my name is shannon--george shannon. i used to know you when you were stationed here with the army. i was a boy then." "you are right--i remember you perfectly. so you are grown into a strapping young man, i see!" the boy twirled his cap in his hands. "i want to go along with you, captain," said he shyly. "what? you would go with me--do you know what is our journey?" "no. i only hear that you are going up the missouri, beyond st. louis, into new country. they say there are buffalo there, and indians. 'tis too quiet here for me--i want to see the world with you." the young leader, after his fashion, stood silently regarding the other for a time. an instant served him. "very well, george," said he. "if your parents consent, you shall go with me. your pay will be such that you can save somewhat, and i trust you will use it to complete your schooling after your return. there will be adventure and a certain honor in our undertaking. if we come back successful, i am persuaded that our country will not forget us." and so that matter was completed. strangely enough, as the future proved, were the fortunes of these two to intermingle. from the first, shannon attached himself to his captain almost in the capacity of personal attendant. at last the great bateau lay ready, launched from the docks and moored alongside the wharf. fifty feet long it was, with mast, tholes and walking-boards for the arduous upstream work. it had received a part of its cargo, and soon all was in readiness to start. on the evening of that day lewis sat down to pen a last letter to his chief. he wrote in the little office-room of the inn where he was stopping, and for a time he did not note the presence of young shannon, who stood, as usual, silent until his leader might address him. "what, is it, george?" he asked at length, looking up. "someone waiting to see you, sir--they are in the parlor. they sent me----" "they? who are they?" "i don't know, sir. she asked me to come for you." "she. who is she?" "i don't know, sir. she spoke to her father. they are in the room just across the hall, sir." the face of meriwether lewis was pale when presently he opened the door leading to the apartment which had been indicated. he knew, or thought he knew, who this must be. but why--why? the interior was dim. a single lamp of the inefficient sort then in use served only to lessen the gloom. presently, however, he saw awaiting him the figure he had anticipated. yes, it was she herself. almost his heart stood still. theodosia alston arose from the spot where she sat in the deeper shadows, and came forward to him. he met her, his hands outstretched, his pulse leaping eagerly in spite of his reproofs. he dreaded, yet rejoiced. "why are you here?" he asked at length. "my father and i are on a journey down the river to visit mr. blennerhasset on his island. you know his castle there?" "why is it that you always come to torment me the more? another day and i should have been gone!" "torment you, sir?" "you rebuke me properly. i presume i should have courage to meet you always--to speak with you--to look into your eyes--to take your hands in mine. but i find it hard, terribly hard! each time it is worse--because each time i must leave you. why did you not wait one day?" she made no reply. he fought for his self-control. "mr. jefferson, how is he?" he demanded at length. "you left him well?" "unchangeable as flint. you said that only the order of your chief could change your plans. i sought to gain that order--i went myself to see mr. jefferson, that very day you started. he said that nothing could alter his faith in you, and that nothing could alter the plan you both had made. he would not call you back. he ordered me not to attempt to do so; but i have broken the president's command. you find it hard! do you think this is not hard for me also?" "these are strange words. what is your motive? what is it that you plan? why should you seek to stop me when i am trying to blot your face out of my mind? strange labor is that--to try to forget what i hold most dear!" "you shall not leave my face behind you, captain lewis!" she said suddenly. "what do you mean, theodosia? what is it?" "you shall see me every night under the stars, meriwether lewis. i will not let you go. i will not relinquish you!" he turned swiftly toward her, but paused as if caught back by some mighty hand. "what is it?" he said once more, half in a whisper. "what do you mean? would you ruin me? would you see me go to ruin?" "no! to the contrary, shall i allow you to hasten into the usual ruin of a man? if you go yonder, what will be the fate of meriwether lewis? you have spoken beautifully to me at times--you have awakened some feeling of what images a woman may make in a man's heart. i have been no more to you than any woman is to any man--the image of a dream. but, that being so beautiful, ought i to allow you to turn it to ruin? shall i let you go down in savagery? ah, if i thought i were relinquishing you to that, this would be a heavy day for me!" "can you fancy what all this means to me?" he broke out hoarsely. "yes, i can fancy. and what for me? so much my feeling for you has been--oh, call it what you like--admiration, affection, maternal tenderness--i do not know what--but so much have i wished, so much have i planned for your future in return for what you have given me--ah, i do not dare tell you. i could not dare come here if i did not know that i was never to see or speak to you again. it tears my heart from my bosom that i must say these things to you. i have risked all my honor in your hands. is there no reward for that? is my recompense to be only your assertion that i torment you, that i torture you? what! is there no torture for me as well? the thought that i have done this covertly, secretly--what do you think that costs me?" "your secret is absolutely safe with me, theodosia. no, it is not a secret! we have sworn that neither of us would lay a secret upon the other. i swear that to you once more." "and yet you upbraid me when i say i cannot give you up to any fate but that of happiness and success--oh, not with me, for that is beyond us two--it is past forever. but happiness----" "there are some words that burn deep," he said slowly. "i know that i was not made for happiness." "does a woman's wish mean nothing to you? have i no appeal for you?" something like a sob was torn from his bosom. "you can speak thus with me?" he said huskily. "if you cannot leave me happiness, can you not at least leave me partial peace of mind?" she stood slightly swaying, silent. "and you say you will not relinquish me, you will not let me go to that fate which surely is mine? you say you will not let me be savage? i say i am too nearly savage now. let me go--let me go yonder into the wilderness, where i may be a gentleman!" he saw her movement as she turned, heard her sigh. "sometimes," she said, "i have thought it worth a woman's life thrown away that a strong man may succeed. failure and sacrifice a woman may offer--not much more. but it is as my father told me!" "he told you what?" "that only chivalry would ever make you forget your duty--that you never could be approached through your weakness, but only through your strength, through your honor. i cannot approach you through your strength, and i would not approach you through your weakness, even if i could. no! wait. perhaps some day it will all be made clear for both of us, so that we may understand. yes, this is torture for us both!" he heard the soft rustle of her gown, her light footfall as she passed; and once more he was alone. chapter xi the taming of patrick gass "shannon, go get the men!" it was midnight. for more than an hour meriwether lewis had sat, his head drooped, in silence. "we are going to start?" shannon's face lightened eagerly. "we'll be off at sunup?" "before that. get the men--we'll start now! i'll meet you at the wharf." eager enough, shannon hastened away on his midnight errand. within an hour every man of the little party was at the water front, ready for departure. they found their leader walking up and down, his head bent, his hands behind him. it was short work enough, the completion of such plans as remained unfinished. the great keel-boat lay completed and equipped at the wharf. the men lost little time in stowing such casks and bales as remained unshipped. shannon stepped to his chief. "all's aboard, sir," said he. "shall we cast off?" without a word lewis nodded and made his way to his place in the boat. in the darkness, without a shout or a cheer to mark its passing, the expedition was launched on its long journey. slowly the boat passed along the waterfront of pittsburgh town. here rose gauntly, in the glare of torch or camp fire, the mast of some half-built schooner. houseboats were drawn up or anchored alongshore, long pirogues lay moored or beached, or now and again a giant broadhorn, already partially loaded with household goods, common carrier for that human flood passing down the great waterway, stood out blacker than the shadows in which it lay. here and there camp fires flickered, each the center of a ribald group of the hardy rivermen. through the night came sounds of roistering, songs, shouts. arrested, pent, dammed up, the lusty life of that great waterway leading into the west and south scarce took time for sleep. the boat slipped on down, now crossing a shaft of light flung on the water from some lamp or fire, now blending with the ghostlike shadows which lay in the moonless night. it passed out of the town itself, and edged into the shade of the forest that swept continuously for so many leagues on ahead. "hello, there!" called a voice through the darkness, after a time. "who goes there?" the splash of a sweep had attracted the attention of someone on shore. the light of a camp fire showed. every one in the boat looked at the leader, but none vouchsafed a reply to the hail. "ahoy there, the boat!" insisted the same voice. "shall i fire on yez to make yez answer a civil question? come ashore wance--i can lick the best of yez in three minutes, or me name's not patrick gass!" the captain of the boat turned slowly in his seat, casting a glance over his silent crew. "set in!" said he, sharply and shortly. without a word they obeyed, and with oar and steering-sweep the great craft slowly swung inshore. lewis stepped from the boat, and, not waiting to see whether he was followed--as he was by all of his men--strode on up the bank into the circle of light made by the camp fire. about the fire lay a dozen or more men of the hardest of the river type, which was saying quite enough; for of all the lawless and desperate characters of the frontier, none have ever surpassed in reckless audacity and truculence the men of the old boat trade of the ohio and the mississippi. these fellows lay idly looking at lewis as he entered the light, not troubling to accost him. "who hailed us?" demanded the latter shortly. "begorrah, 'twas me," said a short, strongly built man, stepping forward from the other side of the fire. clad in loose shirt and trousers, like most of his comrades, he showed a powerful man, a shock of reddish hair falling over his eyes, a bull-like neck rising above his open shirt in such fashion that the size of his shoulder muscles might easily be seen. "'twas me hailed yez, and what of it?" "that is what i came ashore to learn," said meriwether lewis. "we are about our business. what concern is that of yours? i am here to learn." "yez can learn, if ye're so anxious," replied the other. "'tis me have got three drinks of monongahaly in me that says i can whip you or anny man of your boat. and if that aint cause for ye to come ashore, 'tis no fighting man ye are, an' i'll say that to your face!" it was the accepted fashion of challenge known anywhere along two thousand miles of waterway at that time, in a country where physical prowess and readiness to fight were the sole tests of distinction. woe to the man who evaded such an issue, once it was offered to him! the speaker had stepped close to lewis--so close that the latter did not need to advance a foot. instead, he held his ground, and the challenger, accepting this as a sign of willingness for battle, rushed at him, with the evident intent of a rough-and-tumble grapple after the fashion of his kind. to his surprise, he was held off by the leveled forearm of his opponent, rigid as a bar against his throat. at this rebuff he roared like a bull, and breaking back rushed in once more, his giant arms flailing. lewis swung back half a step, and then, so quickly that none saw the blow, but only its result was visible, he shifted on his feet, leaned into his thrust, and smote the joyous challenger so fell a stroke in the throat as laid him quivering and helpless. the brief fight was ended all too soon to suit the wishes of the spectators, used to more prolonged and bloodier encounters. a sort of gasp, a half roar of surprise and anger, came from the group upon the ground. some of the party rose to their feet menacingly. they met the silent front of the boat party, the clicking of whose well-oiled rifle-locks offered the most serious of warnings. the sudden appearance of these visitors, so silent and so prompt--the swift act of their leader, without threat, without warning--the instant readiness of the others to back their leader's initiative--caught every one of these rude fighting men in the sudden grip of surprise. they hesitated. "i am no fighting man," said meriwether lewis, turning to them; "yet neither may i be insulted by any lout who chooses to call me ashore to thrash him. do you think that an officer of the army has no better business than that? who are you that would stop us?" the group fell back muttering, lacking concerted action. what might have occurred in case they had reached their arms was prevented by the action of the party of the first part in this _rencontre_--of the second part, perhaps, he might better have been called. the fallen warrior sat up, rubbing his throat; he struggled to his knees, and at length stood. there was something of rude river chivalry about him, after all. "an officer, did ye say?" said he. "oh, wirra! what have i done now, and me a soldier! but ye done it fair! and ye niver wance gouged me nor jumped on me whin i was down! begorrah, i felt both me eyes to see if they was in! ye done it fair, and ye're an officer and a gintleman, whoever ye be. i'd like to shake hands with ye!" "i am not shaking hands with ruffians who insult travelers," captain lewis sternly rejoined; but he saw the crestfallen look which swept over the strong face of the other. "there, man," said he, "since you seem to mean well!" he shook hands with his opponent, who, stung by the rebuke, now began to sniffle. "sor," said he, "i am no ruffian. i am a soldier meself, and on me way to join me company at kaskasky, down below. me time was out awhile back, and i came east to the states to have a bit av a fling before i enlisted again. now, what money i haven't give to me parents i've spint like a man. i have had me fling for awhile, and i'm goin' back to sign on again. sor, i am a sergeant and a good wan, though i do say it. me record is clean. i am patrick gass, first sergeant of the tinth dragoons, the same now stationed at kaskasky. though ye are not in uniform, i know well enough ye are an officer. sor, i ask yer pardon--'twas only the whisky made me feel sportin' like at the time, do ye mind?" "gass, patrick gass, you said?" "yis, sor, of the tinth. barrin' me love for fightin' i am a good soldier. there are stripes on me sleeves be rights, but me old coat's hangin' in the barracks down below." lewis stood looking curiously at the man before him, the power of whose grip he had felt in his own. he cast an eye over his erect figure, his easy and natural dropping into the position of a soldier. "you say the tenth?" said he briefly. "you have been with the colors? look here, my man, do you want to serve?" "i am going right back to kaskasky for it, sor." "why not enlist with us? i need men. we are off for the west, up the missouri--for a long trip, like enough. you seem a well-built man, and you have seen service. i know men when i see them. i want men of courage and good temper. will you go?" "i could not say, sor. i would have to ask leave at kaskasky. i gave me word i'd come back after i'd had me fling here in the east, ye see." "i'll take care of that. i have full authority to recruit among enlisted men." "excuse me, sor, ye are sayin' ye are goin' up the missouri? then i know yez--yez are the captain lewis that has been buildin' the big boat the last two months up at the yards--captain lewis from washington." "yes, and from the ohio country before then--and kentucky, too. i am to join captain clark at the point of rocks on the ohio. i need another oar. come, my man, we are on our way. two minutes ought to be enough for you to decide." "i'll need not the half of two!" rejoined patrick gass promptly. "give me leave of my captain, and i am with yez! there is nothin' in the world i'd liever see than the great plains and the buffalo. 'tis fond of travel i am, and i'd like to see the ind of the world before i die." "you will come as near seeing the end of it with us as anywhere else i know," rejoined lewis quietly. "get your war-bag and come aboard." in this curious fashion patrick gass of the army--later one of the journalists of the expedition, and always one of its most faithful and efficient members--signed his name on the rolls of the lewis and clark expedition. there was not one of the frontiersmen in the boat who had any comment to make upon any phase of the transaction; indeed, it seemed much in the day's work to them. but from that instant every man in the boat knew he had a leader who could be depended upon for prompt and efficient action in any emergency; and from that moment, also, their leader knew he could depend on his men. "i have nothing to complain of," said patrick gass, addressing his new friends impartially, as he shifted his belongings to suit him and took his place at a rowing seat. "i have nothing to complain of. i've been sayin' i would like to have one more rale fight before i enlisted--the army is too tame for a fellow of rale spirit. none o' thim at the camp yonder, where i was two days, would take it on with me after the first day. i was fair longin' for something to interest me--and be jabers, i found it! now i am continted to ind me vacation and come back to the monothony of business life." the boat advanced steadily enough thereafter throughout the night. they pulled ashore at dawn, and, after the fashion of experienced travelers, were soon about the business of the morning meal. the leader of the party drew apart for the morning plunge which was his custom. cover lacking on the bare bar where they had landed, he was not fully out of sight when at length, freshened by his plunge, he stood drying himself for dressing. unconsciously, his arm extended, he looked for all the world the very statue of the young apoxyomenos of the vatican--the finest figure of a man that the art of antiquity has handed down to us. as that smiling youth out of the past stood, scraper in hand, drying himself after the games, so now stood this young american, type of a new race, splendid as the greeks themselves in the immortal beauty of life. his white body shining in the sun, every rolling muscle plainly visible--even that rare muscle over the hip beloved of the ancients, but now forgotten of sculptors, because rarely seen on a man today--so comely was he, so like a god in his clean youth, that patrick gass, unhampered by backwardness himself, turned to his new companions, whom already he addressed each by his first name. "george," said he to young shannon, "george, saw ye ever the like of yon? what a man! lave i had knowed he could strip like yon, niver would i have taken the chance i did last night. 'tis wonder he didn't kill me--in which case i'd niver have had me job. the lord loves us irish, anny way you fix it!" chapter xii captain william clark "will!" "merne!" the two young men gripped hands as the great bateau swung inshore at the point of rocks on the kentucky side of the ohio. they needed not to do more, these two. the face of each told the other what he felt. their mutual devotion, their generosity and unselfishness, their unflagging unity of purpose, their perfect manly comradeship--what wonder so many have called the story of these two more romantic than romance itself? "it has been long since we met, will," said meriwether lewis. "i have been eating my heart out up at pittsburgh. i got your letter, and glad enough i was to have it. i had been fearing that i would have to go on alone. now i feel as if we already had succeeded. i cannot tell you--but i don't need to try." "and you, merne," rejoined william clark--captain william clark, if you please, border fighter, leader of men, one of a family of leaders of men, tall, gaunt, red-headed, blue-eyed, smiling, himself a splendid figure of a man--"you, merne, are a great man now, famous there in washington! mr. jefferson's right-hand man--we hear of you often across the mountains. i have been waiting for you here, as anxious as yourself." "the water is low," complained lewis, "and a thousand things have delayed us. are you ready to start?" "in ten minutes--in five minutes. i will have my boy york go up and get my rifle and my bags." "your brother, general clark, how is he?" william clark shrugged with a smile which had half as much sorrow as mirth in it. "the truth is, merne, the general's heart is broken. he thinks that his country has forgotten him." "forgotten him? from detroit to new orleans--we owe it all to george rogers clark. it was he who opened the river from pittsburgh to new orleans. he'll not need, now, to be an ally of france again. once more a member of your family will be in at the finding of a vast new country!" "merne, i've sold my farm. i got ten thousand dollars for my place--and so i am off with you, not with much of it left in my pockets, but with a clean bill and a good conscience, and some of the family debts paid. i care not how far we go, or when we come back. i thank mr. jefferson for taking me on with you. 'tis the gladdest time in all my life!" "we are share and share alike, will," said his friend lewis, soberly. "tell me, can we get beyond the mississippi this fall, do you think?" "doubtful," said clark. "the spanish of the valley are not very well reconciled to this louisiana sale, and neither are the french. they have been holding all that country in partnership, each people afraid of the other, and both showing their teeth to us. but i hear the commission is doing well at st. louis, and i presume the transfer will be made this fall or winter. after that they cannot stop us from going on. tell me, have you heard anything of colonel burr's plan? there have come new rumors of the old attempt to separate the west from the government at washington, and he is said to have agents scattered from st. louis to new orleans." he did not note the sudden flush on his friend's face--indeed, gave him no time to answer, but went on, absorbed in his own executive details. "what sort of men have you in your party, merne?" "only good ones, i think. young shannon and an army sergeant by the name of gass, patrick gass--they should be very good men. i brought on collins from maryland and pete weiser from pennsylvania, also good stuff, i think. mcneal, potts, gibson--i got those around carlisle. we need more men." "i have picked out a few here," said clark. "you know kentucky breeds explorers. i have a good blacksmith, shields, and bill bratton is another blacksmith--either can tinker a gun if need be. then i have john coalter, an active, strapping chap, and the two fields boys, whom i know to be good men; and charlie floyd, nate pryor, and a couple of others--warner and whitehouse. we should get the rest at the forts around st. louis. i want to take my boy york along--a negro is always good-natured under hardship, and a laugh now and then will not hurt any of us." lewis nodded assent. "your judgment of men is as good as mine, will. but come, it is september, and the leaves are falling. all my men have the fall hunt in their blood--they will start for any place at any moment. let us move. suppose you take the boat on down, and let me go across, horseback, to kaskaskia. i have some business there, and i will try for a few more recruits. we must have fifty men." "nothing shall stop us, merne, and we cannot start too soon. i want to see fresh grass every night for a year. but you--how can you be content to punish yourself for so long? for me, i am half indian; but i expected to have heard long ago that you were married and settled down as a virginia squire, raising tobacco and negroes, like anyone else. tell me, how about that old affair of which you once used to confide to me when we were soldiering together here, years back? 'twas a fair new york maid, was it not? from what you said i fancied her quite without comparison, in your estimate, at least. yet here you are, vagabonding out into a country where you may be gone for years--or never come back at all, for all we know. have a care, man--pretty girls do not wait!" as he spoke, so strange a look passed over his friend's face that william clark swiftly put out a hand. "what is it, merne? pardon me! did she--not wait?" his companion looked at him gravely. "she married, something like three years ago. she is the wife of mr. alston, a wealthy planter of the carolinas, a friend of her father and a man of station. a good marriage for her--for him--for both." the sadness of his face spoke more than his words to his warmest friend, and left them both silent for a time. william clark ceased breaking bark between his fingers and flipping away the pieces. "well, in my own case," said he at length, "i have no ties to cut. 'tis as well--we shall have no faces of women to trouble us on our trails out yonder. they don't belong there, merne--the ways of the trappers are best. but we must not talk too much of this," he added. "i'll see you yet well settled down as a virginia squire--your white hair hanging down on your shoulders and a score of grandchildren about your knees to hamper you." william clark meant well--his friend knew that; so now he smiled, or tried to smile. "merne," the red-headed one went on, throwing an arm across his friend's shoulders, "pass over this affair--cut it out of your heart. believe me, believe me, the friendship of men is the only one that lasts. we two have eaten from the same pannikin, slept under the same bear-robe before now--we still may do so. and look at the adventures before us!" "you are a boy, will," said meriwether lewis, actually smiling now, "and i am glad you are and always will be; because, will, i never was a boy--i was born old. but now," he added sharply, as he rose, "a pleasant journey to us both--and the longer the better!" chapter xiii under three flags the day was but beginning for the young american republic. all the air was vibrant with the passion of youth and romance. yonder in the west there might be fame and fortune for any man with courage to adventure. the world had not yet settled down to inexorable grooves of life, from which no human soul might fight its way out save at cost of sweetness and content and hope. the chance of one man might still equal that of another--yonder, in that vast new world along the mississippi, beyond the mississippi, more than a hundred years ago. into that world there now pressed a flowing, seething, restless mass, a new population seeking new avenues of hope and life, of adventure and opportunity. riflemen, axmen, fighting men, riding men, boatmen, plowmen--they made ever out and on, laughing the cossack laugh at the mere thought of any man or thing withstanding them. over this new world, alert, restless, full of homeric youth, full of the lust of life and adventure, floated three flags. the old war of france and spain still smoldered along the great waterway into the south. the flag of great britain had withdrawn itself to the north. the flag of our republic had not yet advanced. those who made the western population at that time cared little enough about flags or treaty rights. they concerned themselves rather with possession. let any who liked observe the laws. the strong made their own laws from day to day, and wrote them in one general codex of adventure and full-blooded, roistering life. the world was young. buy land? no, why buy it, when taking it was so much more simple and delightful? based on this general lust of conquest, this saxon zeal for new territories, must have been that inspiration of thomas jefferson in his venture of the far northwest. he saw there the splendid vision of his ideal republic. he saw there a citizenry no longer riotous and roistering, not yet frenzied or hysterical, but strong, sober, and constant. his was a glorious vision. would god we had fully realized his dream! there were three flags afloat here or there in the western country then, and none knew what land rightly belonged under any of the three. indeed, over the heart of that region now floated all the three banners at the same time--that of spain, passing but still proud, for a generation actual governor if not actual owner of all the country beyond the mississippi, so far as it had any government at all; that of france, owner of the one great seaport, new orleans, settler of the valley for a generation; and that of the new republic only just arriving into the respect of men either of the east or the west--a republic which had till recently exacted respect chiefly through the stark deadliness of its fighting and marching men. it was a splendid game in which these two boys, meriwether lewis and william clark--they scarcely were more than boys--now were entering. and with the superb unconsciousness and self-trust of youth, they played it with dash and confidence, never doubting their success. the prediction of william clark none the less came true. in this matter of flags, autocratic spain was not disposed to yield. de lassus, spanish commandant for so many years, would not let the young travelers go beyond st. louis, even so far as charette. he must be sure that his country--which, by right or not, he had ruled so long--had not only been sold by spain to france, but that the cession had been duly confirmed; and, furthermore, he must be sure that the cession by france to the united states had also been concluded formally. traders and trappers had been passing through from the plains country, yes--but this was a different matter. here was a flotilla under a third flag--it must not pass. spanish official dignity was not thus to be shaken, not to be hurried. all must wait until the formalities had been concluded. this delay meant the loss of the entire winter. the two young leaders of the expedition were obliged to make the best of it they could. clark formed an encampment in the timbered country across the mississippi from st. louis, and soon had his men comfortably ensconced in cabins of their own building. meanwhile he picked up more men around the adjacent military posts--ordway and howard and frazer of the new england regiment; cruzatte, labiche, lajeunesse, drouillard and other voyageurs for watermen. they made a hardy and efficient band. upon captain lewis devolved most of the scientific work of the expedition. it was necessary for him to spend much time in st. louis, to complete his store of instruments, to extend his own studies in scientific matters. perhaps, after all, the success of the expedition was furthered by this delay upon the border. twenty-nine men they had on the expedition rolls by spring--forty-five in all, counting assistants who were not officially enrolled. their equipment for the entire journey out and back, of more than two years in duration, was to cost them not more than twenty-five hundred dollars. a tiny army, a meager equipment, for the taking of the richest empire of the world! but now this army of a score and a half of men was to witness the lowering before it of two of the greatest flags then known to the world. it already had seen the retirement of that of great britain. the wedge which burr and merry and yrujo had so dreaded was now about to be driven home. the country must split apart--great britain must fall back to the north--these other powers, france and spain, must make way to the south and west. the army of the new republic, under two loyal boys for leaders, pressed forward, not with drums or banners, not with the roll of kettledrums, not with the pride and circumstance of glorious war. the soldiers of its ranks had not even a uniform--they were clad in buckskin and linsey, leather and fur. they had no trained fashion of march, yet stood shoulder and shoulder together well enough. they were not drilled into the perfection of trained soldiers, perhaps, but each could use his rifle, and knew how far was one hundred yards. the boats were coming down with furs from the great west--from the omahas, the kaws, the osages. keel boats came up from the lower river, mastering a thousand miles and more of that heavy flood to bring back news from new orleans. broadhorns and keel-boats and sailboats and river pirogues passed down. the strange, colorful life of the little capital of the west went on eagerly. st. louis was happy; detroit was glum--the fur trade had been split in half. great britain had lost--the furs now went out down the mississippi instead of down the st. lawrence. a world was in the making and remaking; and over that disturbed and divided world there still floated the three rival flags. five days before christmas of 1803, the flag of france fluttered down in the old city of new orleans. they had dreaded the fleet of great britain at new orleans--had hoped for the fleet of france. they got a fleet of americans in flatboats--rude men with long rifles and leathern garments, who came under paddle and oar, and not under sail. laussat was the last french commandant in the valley. de lassus, the spaniard, holding onto his dignity up the missouri river beyond st. louis, still clung to the sovereignty that spain had deserted. and across the river, in a little row of log cabins, lay the new army with the new flag--an army of twenty-nine men, backed by twenty-five hundred dollars of a nation's hoarded war gold! it was a time for hope or for despair--a time for success or failure--a time for loyalty or for treason. and that army of twenty-nine men in buckskin altered the map of the world, the history of a vast continent. while meriwether lewis gravely went about his scientific studies, and william clark merrily went about his dancing with the gay st. louis belles, when not engaged in drilling his men beyond the river, the winter passed. spring came. the ice ceased to run in the river, the geese honked northward in millions, the grass showed green betimes. the men in clark's encampment were almost mutinous with lust for travel. but still the authorities had not completed their formalities; still the flag of spain floated over the crossbars of the gate of the stone fortress, last stronghold of spain in the valley of our great river. march passed, and april. not until the 9th of may, in the year 1804, were matters concluded to suit the punctilio of france and spain alike. now came the assured word that the republic of the united states intended to stand on the louisiana purchase, constitution or no constitution--that the government purposed to take over the land which it had bought. on this point mr. jefferson was firm. de lassus yielded now. on that may morning the soldiers of spain manning the fortifications of the old post stood at parade when the drums of the americans were heard. one company of troops, under command of captain stoddard, represented our army of occupation. our real army of invasion was that in buckskin and linsey and leather--twenty-nine men; whose captain, meriwether lewis, was to be our official representative at the ceremony of transfer. de lassus choked with emotion as he handed over the keys and the archives which so long had been under his charge. "sir," said he, addressing the commander, "i speak for france as well as for spain. i hand over to you the title from france, as i hand over to you the rule from spain. henceforth both are for you. i salute you, gentlemen!" with the ruffle of the few american drums the transfer was gravely acknowledged. the flag of spain slowly dropped from the staff where it had floated. that of france took its place, and for one day floated by courtesy over old st. louis. on the morrow arose a strange new flag--the flag of the united states. it was supported by one company of regulars and by the little army of joint command--the army of lewis and clark--twenty-nine enlisted men in leather! "time now, at last!" said william clark to his friend. "time for us to say farewell! boats--three of them--are waiting, and my men are itching to see the buffalo plains. what is the latest news in the village, merne?" he added. "i've not been across there for two weeks." "news enough," said meriwether lewis gravely. "i just have word of the arrival in town of none other than colonel aaron burr." "the vice-president of the united states! what does he here? tell me, is he bound down the river? is there anything in all this talk i have heard about colonel burr? is he alone?" "no. i wish he were alone. will, she is with him--his daughter, mrs. alston!" "well, what of that? oh, i know--i know, but why should you meet?" "how can we help meeting here in the society of this little town, whose people are like one family? they have been invited by mr. chouteau to come to his house--i also am a guest there. will, what shall i do? it torments me!" "oh, tut, tut!" said light-hearted william clark. "what shall you do? why, in the first place, pull the frown from your face, merne. now, this young lady forsakes her husband, travels--with her father, to be sure, but none the less she travels--along the same trail taken by a certain young man down the ohio, up the mississippi, here to st. louis. should you call that a torment? not i! i should flatter myself over it. a torment? should you call the flowers that change in sweetness as we ride along through the wood a torment? let them beware of me! i am no respecter of fortune when it comes to a pretty face, my friend. it is mine if it is here, and if i may kiss it--don't rebuke me, merne! i am full of the joy of life. woman--the nearest woman--to call her a torment! and you a soldier! i don't blame them. torment you? yes, they will, so long as you allow it. then don't allow it!" "you preach very well, will. of course, i know you don't practise what you preach--who does?" "well, perhaps! but, seriously, why take life so hard, merne? why don't you relax--why don't you swim with the current for a time? we live but once. tell me, do you think there was but one woman made for each of us men in all the world? my faith, if that be true, i have had more than my share, i fear, as i have passed along! but even when it comes to marrying and settling down to hoeing an acre of corn-land and raising a shoat or two for the family--tell me, merne, what woman does a man marry? doesn't he marry the one at hand--the one that is ready and waiting? do you think fortune would always place the one woman in the world ready for the one man at the one time, just when the hoeing and the shoat-raising was to the fore? it is absurd, man! nature dares not take such chances--and does not." lewis did not answer his friend's jesting argument. "listen, merne," clark went on. "the memory of a kiss is better than the memory of a tear. no, listen, merne! the print of a kiss is sweet as water of a spring when you are athirst. and the spring shows none the worse for the taste of heaven it gave you. lips and water alike--they tell no tales. they are goods the gods gave us as part of life. but the great thirst--the great thirst of a man for power, for deeds, for danger, for adventure, for accomplishment--ah, that is ours, and that is harder to slake, i am thinking! a man's deeds are his life. they tell the tale." "his deeds! yes, you are right, they do, indeed, tell the tale. let us hope the reckoning will stand clean at last." "merne, you are a soldier, not a preacher." "will, you are neither--you are only a boy!" chapter xiv the rent in the armor aaron burr came to st. louis in the spring of 1804 as much in desperation as with definite plans. matters were going none too well for him. all the time he was getting advices from the lower country, where lay the center of his own audacious plans; but the thought of the people was directed westward, up the missouri. the fame of the lewis and clark expedition now had gathered volume. constitution or no constitution, the purchase of louisiana had been completed, the transfer had been formally made. the american wedge was driving on through. if ever he was to do anything for his own enterprise, it was now high time. burr's was a mind to see to the core of any problem in statecraft. he knew what this sudden access of interest in the west indicated, so far as his plans were concerned. it must be stopped--else it would be too late for any dream of aaron burr for an empire of his own. his resources were dwindling. he needed funds for the many secret agents in his employ--needed yet more funds for the purchase and support of his lands in the south. and the minister of great britain had given plain warning that unless this expedition up the missouri could be stopped, no further aid need be expected from him. little by little burr saw hope slip away from him. true, captain lewis was still detained by his duties among the osage indians, a little way out from the city; but the main expedition had actually started. william clark, occupied with the final details, did not finally get his party under way until five days after the formal transfer of the new territory of louisiana to our flag, and three days after burr's arrival. at last, however, on the 14th of may, the three boats had left st. louis wharf, with their full complement of men and the last of the supplies aboard for the great voyage. captain clark, ever light-hearted and careless of his spelling-book, if not of his rifle, says it was "a jentle brease" which aided the oars and the square-sail as they started up the river. assuredly the bark of aaron burr was sailing under no propitious following wind. distracted, he paced up and down his apartment in the home where he was a guest, preoccupied, absorbed, almost ready to despair. he spoke but little, but time and again he cast an estimating eye upon the young woman who accompanied him. "you are ill, theodosia!" he exclaimed at last "come, come, my daughter, this will not do! have you no arts of the toilet that can overcome the story of your megrims? shall i get you some sort of bitter herbs? you need your brightest face, your best apparel now. these folk of st. louis must see us at our best, my dear, our very best. besides----" he needed not to complete the sentence. theodosia alston knew well enough what was in her father's mind--knew well enough why they both were here. it was because she would not have come alone. and she knew that the burden of the work they had at heart must once more lie upon her shoulders. she once more must see captain meriwether lewis--and it must be soon, if ever. he was reported as being ready to leave town at once upon his return from the osage indians. but courtesy did not fail the young virginian, and at last--although with dread in his own heart--within an hour of his actual departure, he called to pay his compliments to guests so distinguished as these, to a man so high in rank under the government which he himself served. he found it necessary to apologize for his garb, suited rather to the trail than to the drawing-room. he stood in the hall of the chouteau home, a picture of the soldier of the frontier rather than the courtier of the capital. his three-cornered military hat, his blue uniform coat--these made the sole formality of his attire, for his feet were moccasined, his limbs were clad in tight-fitting buckskins, and his shirt was of rough linsey, suitable for the work ahead. "i ask your pardon, colonel burr," said he, "for coming to you as i am, but the moment for my start is now directly at hand. i could not leave without coming to present my duties to you and mrs. alston. indeed, i have done so at once upon my return to town. i pray you carry back to mr. jefferson my sincerest compliments. say to him, if you will, that we are setting forth with high hopes of success." formal, cold, polite--it was the one wish of captain lewis to end this interview as soon as he might, and to leave all sleeping dogs lying as they were. but aaron burr planned otherwise. his low, deep voice was never more persuasive, his dark eye never more compelling--nor was his bold heart ever more in trepidation than now, as he made excuse for delay--delay--delay. "my daughter, mrs. alston, will join us presently," he said. "so you are ready, captain lewis?" "we are quite prepared, colonel burr. my men are on ahead two days' journey, camped at st. charles, and waiting for me to overtake them. dr. saugrain, mr. chouteau, mr. labadie--one or two others of the gentlemen in the city--are so kind as to offer me a convoy of honor so far as st. charles. we are quite flattered. so now we start--they are waiting for me at the wharf now, and i must go. all bridges are burned behind me!" "_all bridges burned?_" the deep voice of aaron burr almost trembled. his keen eye searched the face of the young man before him. "every one," replied the young virginian. "i do not know how or when i may return. perhaps mr. clark or myself may come back by sea--should we ever reach the sea. we can only trust to providence." he was bowing and extending his own hand in farewell, with polite excuses as to his haste--relieved that his last ordeal had been spared him. he turned, as he felt rather than heard the approach of another, whose coming caused his heart almost to stop beating--the woman dreaded and demanded by every fiber of his being. "oh, not so fast, not so fast!" laughed theodosia alston as she came into the room, offering her hand. "i heard you talking, and have been hurrying to pretty myself up for captain lewis. what? were you trying to run away without ever saying good-by to me? and how you are prettied up!" her gaze, following her light speech, resolved itself into one of admiration. theodosia alston, as she looked, found him a goodly picture as he stood ready for the trail. "i was just going, yes," stammered meriwether lewis. "i had hoped----" but what he had hoped he did not say. "why might we not walk down with you to the wharf, if you are so soon to go?" she demanded--her own self-control concealing any disappointment she may have felt at her cavalier reception. "an excellent idea!" said aaron burr, backing his daughter's hand, and trusting to her to have some plan. "a warrior must spend his last word with some woman, captain! go you on ahead--i surrender my daughter to you, and i shall follow presently to bid you a last godspeed. you said those other gentlemen were to join you there?" meriwether lewis found himself walking down the narrow street of the frontier settlement between the lines of hollyhocks and budding roses which fronted many of the little residences. it was spring, the air was soft. he was young. the woman at his side was very beautiful. so far as he could see they were alone. they passed along the street, turned, made their way down the rock-faced bluff to the water front; but still they were alone. all st. louis was at the farther end of the wharf, waiting for a last look at the idol of the town. theodosia sighed. "and so captain lewis is going to have his way as usual? and he was going--in spite of all--even without saying good-by to me!" "yes, i would have preferred that." "captain lewis is mad. look at that river! they say that when the boat started last week it took them an hour to make a quarter of a mile, when they struck into the missouri. how many thousands of hours will it take to ascend to the mountains? how will you get your boats across the mountains? what cascades and rapids lie on ahead? your men will mutiny and destroy you. you cannot succeed--you will fail!" "i thank you, madam!" "oh, you must start now, i presume--in fact, you have started; but i want you to come back before your obstinacy has driven you too far." "just what do you mean?" "listen. you have given me no time, unkind as you are--not a moment--at an hour like this! in these unsettled times, who knows what may happen? in that very unsettlement lies the probable success of the plan which my father and i have put before you so often. we need you to help us. when are you going to come back to us, merne?" as she spoke, they were approaching the long wharf along the water front, lined with rude craft which plied the rivers at that time--flatboats, keel-boats, pirogues, canoes--and, far off at the extremity of the line, the boat which lewis and his friends were to take. a party of idlers and observers stood about it even now. the gaze of the young leader was fixed in that direction. he did not make any immediate sign that he had heard her speech. "i told shannon, my aide, to meet me here," he said at last. "he was to fetch my long spyglass. there are certain little articles of my equipment over yonder in the wharf shed. would you excuse me for just a moment?" he stooped at the low door and entered. but she followed him--followed after him unconsciously, without plan, feeling only that he must not go, that she could not let him away from her. she saw the light floating through the door fall on his dense hair, long, loosely bagged in its cue. she saw the quality of his strong figure, in all the fittings of a frontiersman, saw his stern face, his troubled eye, saw the unconscious strength which marked his every movement as he strode about, eager, as it seemed to her, only to be done with his last errands, and away on that trail which so long had beckoned to him. the strength of the man, the strength of his purpose--the sudden and full realization of both--this caught her like a tangible thing, and left her no more than the old, blind, unformed protest. he must not go! she could not let him go! but the words she had spoken had caught him, after all. he had been pondering--had been trying to set them aside as if unheard. "coming back?" he began, and stopped short once more. they were now both within the shelter of the old building. "yes, merne!" she broke out suddenly. "when are you coming back to me, merne?" he stood icy silent, motionless, for just a moment. it seemed to her as if he was made of stone. then he spoke very slowly, deliberately. "coming back to _you_? and you call me by that name? only my mother, mr. jefferson and will clark ever did so." "oh, stiff-necked man! it is so hard to be kind with you! and all i have ever done--every time i have followed you in this way, each time i have humiliated myself thus--it always was only in kindness for you!" he made no reply. "fate ran against us, merne," she went on tremblingly. "we have both accepted fate. but in a woman's heart are many mansions. is there none in a man's--in yours--for me? can't i ask a place in a good man's heart--an innocent, clean place? oh, think not you have had all the unhappiness in your own heart! is all the world's misery yours? i don't want you to go away, merne, but if you do--if you must--won't you come back? oh, won't you, merne?" her voice was trembling, her hand half raised, her eyes sought after him. she stood partly in shadow, the flare of light from the open door falling over her face. she might have been some saint of old in pictured guise; but she was a woman, alive, beautiful, delectable, alluring--especially now, with this tone in her voice, this strangely beseeching look in her eyes. her hands were almost lifted to be held out to him. she stood almost inclined to him, wholly unconscious of her attitude, forgetting that her words were imploring, remembering only that he was going. he seemed not to hear her voice as he stood there, but somewhere as if out of some savage past, a voice did speak to him, saying that when a man is sore athirst, then a man may drink--that the well-spring would not miss the draft, and would tell no tale of it! he stood, as many another man has stood, and fought the fight many another man has fought--the fight between man the primitive and man the gentleman, chivalry contending with impulse, blood warring with breeding. [illustration: "'oh, theo, what have i done?'"] "yes!" so said the voice in his ear. "why should the spring grudge a draft to a soul aflame with an undying thirst? vows? what have vows to do with this? duty? what is duty to a man perishing?--i know not what it was. i heard it. i felt it. forgive me, it was not i myself! oh, theo, what have i done?" she could not speak, could not even sob. neither horror nor resentment was possible for her, nor any protest, save the tears which welled silently, terribly. unable longer to endure this, meriwether lewis turned to leave behind him his last hope of happiness, and to face alone what he now felt to be the impenetrable night of his own destiny. he never knew when his hands fell from theodosia alston's face, or when he turned away; but at last he felt himself walking, forcing his head upright, his face forward. he passed, a tall, proud man in his half-savage trappings--a man in full ownership of splendid physical powers; but as he walked his feet were lead, his heart was worse than lead. and though his face was turned away from her, he knew that always he would see what he had left--this picture of theodosia weeping--this picture of a saint mocked, of an altar desecrated. she wept, and it was because of him! the dumb cry of his remorse, his despair, must have struck back to where she still stood, her hands on her bosom, staring at him as he passed: "theo! theo! what have i done? what have i done?" part ii chapter i under one flag what do you bring, oh, mighty river--and what tidings do you carry from the great mountains yonder in the unknown lands? in what region grew this great pine which swims with you to the sea? what fat lands reared this heavy trunk, which sinks at last, to be buried in the sands? what jewels lie under your flood? what rich minerals float impalpably in your tawny waters? across what wide prairies did you come--among what hills--through what vast forests? how long, great river, was your journey, sufficient to afford so tremendous a gathering of the waters? a hundred years ago the great missouri made no answer to these questions. it was open highway only for those who dared. the man who asked its secrets must read them for himself. what a time and place for adventure! what a time and place for men! from sea to sea, across an unknown, fabled mountain range, lay our wilderness, now swiftly trebled by a miracle in statecraft. the flag which floated over the last stockade of spain, the furthest outpost of france, now was advancing step by step, inch by inch, up the giant flood of the missouri, borne on the flagship of a flotilla consisting of one flatboat and two skiffs, carrying an army whose guns were one swivel piece and thirty rifles. not without toil and danger was this enterprise to advance. when at length the last smoke of a settler's cabin had died away over the lowland forest, the great river began in earnest to exact its toll. continually the boats, heavily laden as they were, ran upon shifting bars of sand, or made long détours to avoid some _chevaux de frise_ of white-headed snags sunk in the current with giant uptossing limbs. floating trees came down resistlessly on the spring rise, demanding that all craft should beware of them; caving banks, in turn, warned the boats to keep off; and always the mad current of the stream, never relaxing in vehemence, laid on the laboring boats the added weight of its mountain of waters, gaining in volume for nearly three thousand miles. the square sail at times aided the great bateau when the wind came upstream, but no sail could serve for long on so tortuous a water. the great oars, twenty-two in all, did their work in lusty hands, hour after hour, but sometimes they could hardly hold the boats against the power of the june rise. the setting poles could not always find good bottom, but sometimes the men used these in the old keel boat fashion, traveling along the walking-boards on the sides of the craft, head down, bowed over the setting-poles--the same manner of locomotion that had conquered the mississippi. when sail and oar and setting-pole proved unavailing, the men were out and overboard, running the banks with the cordelle. as they labored thus on the line, like so many yoked cattle, using each ounce of weight and straining muscle to hold the heavy boat against the current, snags would catch the line, stumps would foul it, trees growing close to the bank's edge would arrest it. sometimes the great boat, swung sidewise in the current in spite of the last art of the steersmen, would tauten the line like a tense fiddle-string, flipping the men, like so many insects, from their footing, and casting them into the river, to emerge as best they might. cruzatte, labiche, drouillard--all the french voyageurs--with the infinite french patience smiled and sweated their way through. the new englanders grew grim; the kentuckians fumed and swore. but little by little, inch by inch, creeping, creeping, paying the toll exacted, they went on day by day, leaving the old world behind them, morning by morning advancing farther into the new. the sun blistered them by day; clouds of pests tormented them by night; miasmatic lowlands threatened them both night and day. but they went on. the immensity of the river itself was an appalling thing; its bends swept miles long in giant arcs. but bend after bend they spanned, bar after bar they skirted, bank after bank they conquered--and went on. in the water as much as out of it, drenched, baked, gaunt, ragged, grim, they paid the toll. a month passed, and more. the hunters exulted that game was so easy to get, for they must depend in large part on the game killed by the way. at the mouth of the kansas river, near where a great city one day was to stand, they halted on the twenty-sixth of june. deer, turkeys, bear, geese, many "goslins," as quaint will clark called them, rewarded their quest. july came and well-nigh passed. they reached the mouth of the great platte river, far out into the indian country. over this unmapped country ranged the otoes, the omahas, the pawnees, the kansas, the osages, the rees, the sioux. this was the buffalo range where the tribes had fought immemorially. it was part of the mission of captain lewis's little army to carry peace among these warring tribes. the nature of the expedition was explained to their chiefs. at the great council bluffs many of the otoes came and promised to lay down the hatchet and cease to make war against the omahas. the omahas, in turn, swore allegiance to the new flag. on ahead somewhere lay the powerful sioux nation, doubt and dread of all the traders who had ever passed up the missouri. dorion, the interpreter, married among them, admitted that even he could not tell what the sioux might do. the expedition struck camp at last, high up on the great river, in the country of the yanktonnais. the sioux long had marked its coming, and were ready for its landing. their signal fires called in the villages to meet the boats of the white men. they came riding down in bands, whooping and shouting, painted and half naked, well armed--splendid savages, fearing no man, proud, capricious, blood-thirsty. they were curious as to the errand of these new men who came carrying a new flag--these men who could make the thunder speak. for now the heavy piece on the bow of the great barge spoke in no uncertain terms so that its echoes ran back along the river shores. no such boat, no such gun as this, had ever been seen in that country before. "tell them to make a council, dorion," said lewis. "take this officer's coat to their head man. tell him that the great father sends it to him. give him this hat with lace on it. tell him that when we are ready we may come to their council to meet their chiefs. say that only their real chiefs must come, for we will not treat with any but their head men. if they wish to see us soon, let them come to our village here." "you are chiefs!" said dorion. "have i not seen it? i will tell them so." but dorion had been gone but a short time when he came hurrying back from the indian village. "the runners say plenty buffalo close by," he reported. "the chief, she'll call the people to hunt the buffalo." william clark turned to his companion. "you hear that, merne?" said he. "why should we not go also?" "agreed!" said meriwether lewis. "but stay, i have a thought. we will go as they go and hunt as they do. to impress an indian, beat him at his own game. you and i must ride this day, will!" "yes, and without saddles, too! very well, i learned that of my brother, who learned it of the indians themselves. and i know you and i both can shoot the bow as well as most indians--that was part of our early education. i might better have been in school sometimes, when i was learning the bow." "dorion," said lewis to the interpreter, "go back to the village and tell their chief to send two bows with plenty of arrows. tell them that we scorn to waste any powder on so small a game as the buffalo. on ahead are animals each one of which is as big as twenty buffalo--we keep our great gun for those. as for buffalo, we kill them as the indians do, with the bow and with the spear. we shall want the stiffest bows, with sinewed backs. our arms are very strong." swift and wide spread the word among the sioux that the white chiefs would run the buffalo with their own warriors. exclamations of amusement, surprise, satisfaction, were heard. the white men should see how the sioux could ride. but weucha, the head man, sent a messenger with two bows and plenty of arrows--short, keen-pointed arrows, suitable for the buffalo hunt, when driven by the stiff bows of the sioux. "strip, will," said meriwether lewis. "if we ride as savages, it must be in full keeping." they did strip to the waist, as the savages always did when running the buffalo--sternest of all savage sport or labor, and one of the boldest games ever played by man, red or white. clad only in leggings and moccasins, their long hair tied in firm cues, when weucha met them he exclaimed in admiration. the village turned out in wonder to see these two men whose skins were white, whose hair was not black, but some strange new color--one whose hair was red. the two young officers were not content with this. york, captain clark's servant, rolling his eyes, showing his white teeth, was ordered to strip up the sleeve of his shirt to show that his hide was neither red nor white, but black--another wonder in that land! "now, york, you rascal," commanded william clark, "do as i tell you!" "yessah, massa captain, i suttinly will!" "when i raise this flag, do you drop on the ground and knock your forehead three times. groan loud--groan as if you had religion, york! do you understand?" "yassah, massa captain!" york grinned his enjoyment; and when he had duly executed the maneuver, the sioux greeted the white men with much acclamation. "i see that you are chiefs!" exclaimed weucha. "you have many colors, and your medicine is strong. take, then, these two horses of mine--they are good runners for buffalo--perhaps yours are not so fast." thus dorion interpreted. "now," said clark, "suppose i take the lance, merne, and you handle the bow. i never have tried the trick, but i believe i can handle this tool." he picked up and shook in his hand the short lance, steel-tipped, which weucha was carrying. the latter grinned and nodded his assent, handing the weapon to the red-haired leader. "now we shall serve!" said lewis an instant later; for they brought out two handsome horses, one coal-black, the other piebald, both mettlesome and high-strung. that the young men were riders they now proved, for they mounted alone, barebacked, and managed to control their mounts with nothing but the twisted hide rope about the lower jaw--the only bridle known among the tribes of the great plains. the crier now passed down the village street, marshaling all the riders for the chase. weucha gave the signal to advance, himself riding at the head of the cavalcade, with the two white captains at his side--a picture such as any painter might have envied. others of the expedition followed on as might be--shannon, gass, the two fields boys, others of the better hunters of the kentuckians. even york, not to be denied, sneaked in at the rear. they all rode quietly at first, with no outcry, no sound save the steady tramp of the horses. their course was laid back into the prairie for a mile or two before a halt was called. then the chief disposed his forces. the herd was supposed to be not far away, beyond a low rim of hills. on this side the men were ranged in line. a blanket waved from a point visible to all was to be the signal for the charge. dorion, also stripped to the waist, a kerchief bound about his head, carrying a short carbine against his thigh, now rode alongside. "he say weucha show you how sioux can ride," he interpreted. "tell him it is good, dorion," rejoined lewis. "we will show him also that we can ride!" a shout came from the far edge of the restless ranks. a half-naked rider waved a blanket. with shrill shouts the entire line broke at top speed for the ridge. neither of the two young americans had ever engaged in the sport of running the buffalo; yet now the excitement of the scene caused both to forget all else. they urged on their horses, mingling with the savage riders. the buffalo had been feeding less than a quarter of a mile away; the wind was favorable, and they had not yet got scent of the approach; but now, as the line of horsemen broke across the crest, the herd streamed out and away from them--crude, huge, formless creatures, with shaggy heads held low, their vast bulk making them seem almost like prehistoric things. the dust of their going arose in a blinding cloud, the thunder of their hoofs left inaudible even the shrill cries of the riding warriors as they closed in. the chase passed outward into an open plain, which lay white in alkali. in a few moments the swift horses had carried the best of the riders deep into the dust-cloud which arose. each man followed some chosen animal, doing his best to keep it in sight as the herd plowed onward in the biting dust. here and there the vast, solid surface of a sea of rolling backs could be glimpsed; again an opening into it might be seen close at hand. it was bold work, and any who engaged in it took his chances. lewis found his horse, the black runner that weucha had given him, as swift as the best, and able to lay him promptly alongside his quarry. at a distance of a few feet he drew back the sinewy string of the tough sioux bow, gripping his horse with his knees, swaying his body out to the bow, as he well knew how. the shaft, discharged at a distance of but half a dozen feet, sank home with a soft _zut_. the stricken animal swerved quickly toward him, but his wary horse leaped aside and went on. such as the work had been, it was done for that buffalo at least, and lewis knew that he had caught the trick. the black runner singled out another and yet another; and again and again lewis shot--until at last, his arrows nearly exhausted, after two or three miles of mad speed, he pulled out of the herd and waited. in the white dust-cloud, lifted now and then, he could see naked forms swaying, bending forward, plying their weapons. somewhere in the midst of it, out in the ruck of hoof and horn, his friend was riding, forgetting all else but the excitement of the chase. what if accident had befallen either of them? lewis could not avoid asking himself that question. now the riders edged through the herd, outward, around its flank--turned it, were crowding it back, milling and confused. out of the dust emerged two figures, naked, leaning forward to the leaping of their horses. one was an indian, his black locks flowing, his eyes gleaming, his hand flogging his horse as he rode. the other was a white man, his tall white body splashed with blood, his long red hair, broken from his cue, on his shoulders. the two were pursuing the same animal--a young bull, which thus far had kept his distance some fifty yards or so ahead. but as lewis looked, both riders urged their horses to yet more speed. the piebald of william clark, well ridden, sprang away in advance and laid him alongside of the quarry. lewis himself saw the poised spear--saw it plunge--saw the buffalo stumble in its stride--and saw his companion pass on, whooping in exultation at weucha, who came up an instant later, defeated, but grinning and offering his hand. now came dorion also, out of ammunition, yet not out of speech, excited, jabbering as usual. "four nice cow i'll kill!" gabbled he. "i'll kill him four tam, bang, bang! plenty meat for my lodge now. how many you'll shot, captain?" he asked of lewis. "plenty--you will find them back there." weucha, who came up after magnanimously shaking the hand of william clark, peered with curiosity into lewis's almost empty quiver. he smiled again, for that the white men had ridden well was obvious enough. he called a young man to him, showed him the arrow-mark, and sent him back to see how many of the dead buffalo showed arrows with similar marks. in time the messenger came back carrying a sheaf of arrows. grinning, he held up the fingers of two hands. "tell him that is nothing, dorion," said lewis. "we could have killed many more if we had wished. we see that the sioux can ride. now, let us see if they can talk at the council fire!" the two leaders hastened to their own encampment to remove all traces of the hunt. an hour later they emerged from their tents clad as officers of the army, each in cocked hat and full uniform, with sword at side. with the fall of the sun, the drums sounded in the indian village. the criers passed along the street summoning the people to the feast, summoning also the chiefs to the council lodge. here the head men of the village gathered, sitting about the little fire, the peace pipe resting on a forked stick before them, waiting for the arrival of the white chiefs--who could make the thunder come, who could make a strong chief of black skin beat his head upon the ground; and who, moreover, could ride stripped and strike the buffalo even as the sioux. the white leaders were in no haste to show themselves. they demanded the full dignity of their station; but they came at last, their own drum beating as they marched at the head of their men, all of whom were in the uniform of the frontier. york, selected as standard-bearer, bore the flag at the head of the little band. meriwether lewis took it from him as they reached the door of the council lodge, and thrust the staff into the soil, so that it stood erect beside the lance and shield of weucha, chief of the yanktonnais. then, leaving their own men on guard without, the two white chiefs stepped into the lodge, and, with not too much attention to the chiefs sitting and waiting for them, took their own places in the seat of honor. they removed their hats, shook free their hair--which had been loosened from the cues; and so, in dignified silence, not looking about them, they sat, their long locks spread out on their shoulders. exclamations of excitement broke even from the dignified sioux chiefs. clearly the appearance and the conduct of the two officers had made a good impression. the circle eyed them with respect. at length meriwether lewis, holding in his hand the great peace pipe that he had brought, arose. "weucha," said he, dorion interpreting for him, "you are head man of the yanktonnais. i offer you this pipe. let us smoke. we are at peace. we are children of the great father, and i do not bring war. i have put a flag outside the lodge. it is your flag. you must keep it. each night you must take it down, roll it up, and put it in a parfleche, so that it will not be torn or soiled. whenever you have a great feast, or meet other peoples, let it fly at your door. it is because you are a chief that i give you this flag. i gave one to the omahas, another to the otoes. let there be no more war between you. you are under one flag now. "i give you this medal, weucha, this picture on white iron. see, it has the picture of the great father himself, my chief, who lives where the sun rises. i also give you this writing, where i have made my sign, and where the red-headed chief, my brother, has made his sign. keep these things, so that any who come here may know that you are our friends, that you are the children of the great father. "weucha, they told us that the sioux were bad in heart, that you would say we could not go up the river. our great father has sent us up the river, and we must go. tomorrow our boats must be on their course. if the great father has such medicine as this i give you, do you think we could go back to him and say the sioux would not let us pass? you have seen that we are not afraid, that we are chiefs--we can do what you can do. can you do what we can? can you make the thunder come? is there any among you who has a black skin, like the man with us? are any of your men able to strike the eye of a deer, the head of a grouse, at fifty paces with the rifle? all of my men can do that. "i give you these presents--these lace coats for your great men, these hats also, such as we wear, because you are our brothers, and are chiefs. a little powder, a few balls, i give you, because we think you want them. i give you a little tobacco for your pipes. if my words sound good in your ears, i will send a talking paper to the great father, and tell him that you are his children." deep-throated exclamations of approval met this speech. weucha took the pipe. he arose himself, a tall and powerful man, splendidly clad in savage fashion, and spoke as the born leader that he also was. he pledged the loyalty of the sioux and the freedom of the river. "i give you the horse you rode this morning," said weucha to lewis, "the black runner. to you, red-haired chief, i give the white-and-black horse that you rode. it is well that chiefs like you should have good horses. "tomorrow our people will go a little way with you up the river. we want you for our friends, for we know your medicine is strong. we know that when we show this flag to other tribes--to the otoes, the omahas, the osages--they will fall on the ground and knock their heads on the ground, as the black man did when the red-headed chief raised it above him. "the great father has sent us two chiefs who are young but very wise. they can strike the buffalo. they can speak at the council. weucha, the yanktonnais, says that they may go on. we know you will not lose the trail. we know that you will come back. you are chiefs!" chapter ii the mysterious letter late in the night the yanktonnais drums still sounded, long after a dozen sioux had spoken, and after the two white chieftains had arisen and left the council fire. the people of the village were feasting around half a hundred fires. the village was joyous, light-hearted, and free of care. the hunt had been successful. "look at them, will," said meriwether lewis, as they paused at the edge of the bluff and turned back for a last glimpse at the savage scene. "they are like children. i swear, i almost believe their lot in life is happier than our own!" "tut, tut, merne--moralizing again?" laughed william clark, the light-hearted. "come now, help me get my eelskin about my hair. we may need this red mane of mine further up the river. i trust to take it back home with me, after all, now that we seem safe to pass these sioux without a fight. i am happy enough that our business today has come out so well. i am a bit tired, and an old bull gave me a smash with his horn this morning; so i am ready to turn into my blankets. are all the men on the roll tonight?" "sergeant ordway reports shannon still absent. it seems he went out on the hunt this morning, and has not yet come back. i'll wait up a time, i think, will, to see if he comes in. it is rather a wild business for a boy to lie out all night in such a country, with only the wolves for company. go you to your blankets, as you say. for me, i might be a better sleeper than i am." "yes, that is true," rejoined will clark, rubbing his bruised leg. "it is beginning to show on you, too, merne. isn't it enough to be astronomer and doctor and bookkeeper and record-keeper and all that? no, you think not--you must sit up all night by your little fire under the stars and think and think. oh, i have seen you, merne! i have seen you sitting there when you should have been sleeping. do you call that leadership, captain lewis? the men are under you, and if the leader is not fit, the men are not. now, a human body will stand only so much--or a human mind, either, merne. there is a limit to effort and endurance." his friend turned to him seriously. "you are right, will," said he. "i owe duty to many besides myself." "you take things too hard, merne. you cannot carry the whole world on your shoulders. look now, i have not been so blind as not to see that something is going wrong with you. merne, you are ill, or will be. something is wrong!" his companion made no reply. they marched on to their own part of the encampment, and seated themselves at the little fire which had been left burning for them.[4] [footnote 4: the original journals of these two astonishing young men--one of them just thirty years old, the other thirty-four--should rank among the epic literature of the world. battered about, scattered, separated, lost, hawked from hand to hand, handed down as unvalued heritages, "edited" first by this and then by that little man, sometimes to the extent of actual mutilation or alteration of their text--the journals of meriwether lewis and william clark hold their ineffacable clarity in spite of all. their most curious quality is the strange blending of two large souls which they show. it was only by studying closely the individual differences of handwriting, style, and spelling, that it could be determined what was the work of lewis, which that done by clark. and what a labor! after long days of toil and danger, under unvarying hardships, in conditions of extremest discomfort and inconvenience for such work, the two young leaders set down with unflagging faithfulness countless thousands of details, all in such fashion as showed the keenest and most exact powers of observation. botanists, naturalists, geographers, map-makers, builders, engineers, hunters, journalists, they brought back in their notebooks a mass of information never equaled by the records of any other party of explorers. we cannot overestimate the sum of labor which all this meant, day after day, month after month; nor should we underestimate the qualities of mind and education demanded of them, nor the varied experience of life in primitive surroundings which needed to be part of their requisite equipment. it was indeed as if the two friends were fitted by the plan of providence for this great enterprise which they concluded in such simple, unpretending, yet minutely thorough fashion. neither thought himself a hero, therefore each was one. the largest glory to be accorded them is that they found their ambition and their content in the day's work well done.] william clark went on with his reproving. "tell me, merne, what are you thinking of? it is not that woman?" he seemed to feel the sudden shrinking of the tall figure at his side. "i have touched you on the raw once more, haven't i, merne?" he exclaimed. "i never meant to. i only want to see you happy." "you must not be too uneasy, will," returned meriwether lewis, at last. "it is only that sometimes at night i lie awake and ponder over things. and the nights themselves are wonderful!" "saw you ever such nights, merne, in all your life? breathed you ever such air as these plains carry in the nighttime? why do you not exult--what is it you cannot forget? you don't really deceive me, merne. what is it that you _see_ when you lie awake at night under the stars? some face, eh? what, merne? you mean to tell me you are still so foolish? we left three months ago. i gave you two months for forgetting her--and that is enough! come, now, perhaps some maid of the mandans, on ahead, will prove fair enough to pipe to you, or to touch the bull-hide tambourine in such fashion as to charm you from your sorrows! no, don't be offended--it is only that i want to tell you not to take that old affair too hard. and now, it is time for you to turn in." william clark himself arose and strolled to his own blanket-roll, spread it out, and lay down beneath the sky to sleep. meriwether lewis sought to follow his example, and spread open his robe and blankets close to the fire. as he leaned back, he felt something hard and crackling under his hand, and looked down. it was his custom to carry in his blankets, for safekeeping, his long spyglass, a pair of dry moccasins and a buckskin tunic. these articles were here, as he expected to find them. yet here among them was a folded and sealed envelope--a letter! he had not placed it here; yet here it was. he caught it up in his hand, looked at it wonderingly, kicked the ends of the embers together so that they flamed up, bent forward to read the superscription--and paused in amazement. well enough he knew the firm, upright, characterful hand which addressed this missive to him: to captain meriwether lewis.--on the trail in the west. a feeling somewhat akin to awe fell upon meriwether lewis. he felt a cold prickling along his spine. it was for him, yes--but whence had it come? there had been no messenger from outside the camp. for one brief instant it seemed, indeed, as if this bit of paper--which of all possible gifts of the gods he would most have coveted--had dropped from the heavens themselves at his feet here in the savage wilderness. his heart had been on the point of breaking, it seemed to him--and it had come to comfort him! it was from her. it ran thus: dear sir and friend: greetings to you, wherever you may be when this shall find you. are you among the gauls, the goths, the visigoths, the huns, the vandals, or the cimbri? wherever you be, our hopes and faith go with you. you are, as i fancy, in a desert, a wilderness, worth no man's owning. life passes meantime. to what end, my friend? i fancy you in the deluge, in the hurricane, in the blaze of the sun, or in the bleak winds, alone, cheerless, perhaps athirst, perhaps knowing hunger. i know that you will meet these things like a man. but to what end--what is the purpose of all this? you have left behind you all that makes life worth while--fortune, fame, life, ambition, honor--to go away into the desert. at what time are you going to turn back and come to us once more? oh, if only i had the right--if only i dared--if only i were in a position to lay some command on you to bring you back! methinks then i would. you could do so much for us all--so much for me. it would mean so much to my own happiness if you were here. meriwether lewis, come back! you have gone far enough. on ahead are only cruel hardship and continual failure. here are fortune, fame, wealth, ambition, honor--and more. i told you one time i would lay my hand upon your shoulder out yonder, no matter where you were. i said that you should look into my face yonder when you sat alone beside your fire under the stars. you said that it would be torment. i said that none the less i would not let you go. i said my face still should stay with you, until you were willing to turn back. turn back _now_, meriwether lewis! come back! the letter was not signed, and needed not to be. meriwether lewis sat staring at the paper clutched in his hand. her face! ah, did he not see it now? was it not true what she had said? he saw her face now--but not smiling, happy, contented, as it once had been. no, he saw it pale and in distress. he saw tears in her eyes. and she had written him: oh, if only i had the right to lay some command on you! was not he, who had forgotten honor, subject now to any command that she might give him? "will, will!" exclaimed meriwether lewis, sharply, imperatively, to his friend, whom he could see dimly at a little distance as he lay. the long figure in its robes straightened quickly, for by day or night william clark was instantly ready for any sudden alarm. he started up on his robe, with his hand on his rifle. "who calls there? who goes?" he cried, half awake. "it is i, will," said meriwether lewis, advancing toward him. "listen--tell me, will, why did you do this?" "why did i do what? merne, what is wrong?" clark was now on his feet, and lewis held out the letter to him. he took it in his hand, looked at it wonderingly. "this letter----" began meriwether lewis. "certainly you carried it for me--why did you not bring it to me long ago?" "what letter? whose letter is it, merne? i never saw it before. what is it you are saying? are you mad?" "i think so," said lewis, "i think i must be. here is a letter--i found it but now in my bed. i thought perhaps you had had it for me a long time, and placed it there as a surprise." "who sends it, merne. what does it say?" "it is from the woman whose face i have seen at night, will. she asks me to come back!" "burn it--throw it in the fire!" said william clark sharply. "go back? what, forsake mr. jefferson--leave me?" "god forgive me, will, but you search my very heart! for one moment i was on the point of declaring myself too ill to finish this journey--on the point of letting you have all the honor of it. i was going to surrender my place to you." "you cannot desert us, merne! you shall not! go back to bed! give me the letter! bah! it is some counterfeit, some trick of one of the men!" "it would be worth any man's life to try a jest like that," said meriwether lewis. "it is no counterfeit. i know it too well. this letter was written before we left st. louis. how it came here i know not, but i know who wrote it." "she had no right----" "ah, but that is the cruelty of it--she _did_ have the right!" "there are some things which a man must work out for himself," said william clark slowly, after a time. "i don't think i'll ask any questions. if there is any place where i can take half your burden, you know what i will do. we've worked share and share alike, but perhaps some things cannot be shared, even by you and me. it is for you to tell me if i can help you now. if not, then you must decide." even as he spoke, his beloved friend was turning away from him. meriwether lewis walked out alone into the night. stumbling, he passed on out among the shadows, under the starlight. without much plan, he found himself on a little eminence of the bluff near by. he sat down, his blanket drawn over his head, like an indian, motionless, thinking, fighting out his own fight, as sometimes a man must, alone. he did not know that william clark, most faithful of friends, himself silent as a sioux, had followed, and sat a little distance apart, his eyes fixed on the motionless figure outlined against the sky. the dawn came at last and kindled a red band along the east. the gray light at length grew more clear. a coyote on the bluff raised a long and quavering cry, like some soul in torture. as if it were his own voice, meriwether lewis stirred, rose, drew back the blanket from his shoulders, and turned down the hill. he saw his friend rising and advancing to him. once more their hands gripped, as they had when the two first met on the ohio, almost a year ago, at the beginning of their journey. lewis frowned heavily. he could not speak for a time. "give the orders to the men to roll out, captain clark," said he at length. "which way, captain lewis--upstream or down?" "the expedition will go forward, captain clark." "god bless you, merne!" said the red-headed one. chapter iii the day's work "roll out, men, roll out!" the sleeping men stirred under their robes and blankets and turned out, quickly awake, after the fashion of the wilderness. the sentinel came in, his moccasins wet, his tunic girded tight against the cool of the morning, which even at that season was chill upon the high plains. soon the fires were alight and the odors of roasting meat arose. the hour was scarce yet dawn. "ordway! gass! pryor!" lewis called in the sergeants in charge of the three messes. "the boy shannon has not returned. which of your men, ordway, will best serve to find shannon and meet us up the river?" "myself, sir," said ordway, "if you please." "no, 'tis meself, sor," interrupted patrick gass. pryor, with hand outstretched, also claimed the honor of the difficult undertaking. "you three are needed in the boats," said the leader. "no, i think it will be better to send drouillard and the two fields boys. but tell me, sergeant ordway----" "yes, sir!" "has any boat passed up the river within the last day--for instance, while we were away at the hunt?" "i think not, sir. surely any one coming up the river would have turned in at our camp." lewis turned to gass, to pryor; but both agreed that no boat could have gone by unnoticed. "and no man has come into the camp from below--no horseman?" they all shook their heads. their leader looked from one to the other keenly, trying to see if anything was concealed from him; but the honest faces of his men showed no suspicion of his own doubts. he dismissed them, feeling it beneath his dignity to make inquiry as to the bearer of the mysterious letter; nor did he mention it again to william clark. he knew only that some one of his men had a secret from his commander. "the men will find shannon and bring him in ahead--we can't afford to wait here for them. the water is falling now," said clark. "we are doing our twenty miles daily. the men laugh on the line, for the bars are exposed, and they can track along shore easily. suppose shannon were out three days--that would make it sixty miles upstream--or less, for him, for he could cut the bends. i make no doubt that when he found himself out for the night he started up the river; even before this time. _en avant_, cruzatte!" he called. "you shall lead the line for the first draw. make it lively for an hour! sing some song, cruzatte, if you can--some song of old kaskaskia." "sure, the frenchmans, she'll lead on the line this morning, _capitaine_! i'll put nine, seven frenchmans on the line, and she'll run on the bank on her bare feet two hour--one hour. this buffalo meat, she make frenchmans strong like nothing!" "go on, frenchy!" said patrick gass, cruzatte's sergeant, who stood near by. "wait until time comes for my squad on the line--'tis thin we'll make the elkhide hum! there's a few of the irish along." "ho!" said ordway, usually silent. "wait rather for us yankees--we'll show you what old vermont can do!" "as to that," said pryor, "belike the ohio and kentucky men could serve a turn as well as the irish or the french. old kaintuck has to help out the others, the way she did in the french and indian war!" "well," broke in peter weiser, joining them as they argued, "i am from pennsylvania; but i am half virginian, and there are some others from the old dominion. when you are all done, call on us--ole virginny never tires!" the contagion of their light-heartedness, their loyalty and devotion, came as solace to the heart of meriwether lewis. he smiled in spite of himself, his eye kindling with confidence and admiration as he looked over his men. they were stripping for their day's work, ready for mud or water or sun, as the case might be. amidships, on the highest locker on the barge, one of the kentuckians was flapping his arms lustily and giving the cockcrow, the river challenge of frontier days. others seated themselves at the long sweeps of the barge, while yet others were manning the pirogues. a few moments later, with joyous shouts, they were on their way once more--and not setting their faces toward home. in an hour they were above the first long bend. the wilderness had closed behind them. no trace of the indian village was left, no sight of the lingering smoke of their last camp fires. faithfully, patiently, day by day, they held their way, sustained by the renewed fascination of adventure, hardened and inured to risk and toil alike. the distance behind them lengthened so enormously that they began to figure upon the unknown rather than the known. "we surely must be almost across now!" said some of the men. all of them were sore distressed over the loss of shannon. two weeks had passed since they left the yankton sioux, and four times the faithful trailers had come back to the boats with no trace of the missing one. "it certainly is in the off chance now," assented william clark seriously, one day as they lay in the noon encampment. "but perhaps he may be among the natives somewhere, and we may hear of him when we come back--if ever we do." "if he got by the teton sioux, and kept on up the river, in time he would find us somewhere among the mandans," said meriwether lewis. "but we will try once more before we give him up. send a man to the top of the bluff with my spyglass." busy in their labors over their maps, and in the recording of their compass bearings, for half an hour they forgot their messenger, until a shout called their attention. he was waving his hands, wildly beckoning. yonder, alone in the plains, bewildered, hopeless, wandering, was the lost man, who did not even know that the river was close at hand! shannon's escape from a miserable fate was but one more instance of the almost miraculous good fortune which seemed to attend the expedition. "and she was lucky man, too!" said drouillard, a half-hour later, nodding toward the opposite shore. "suppose he is on that side, she'll not go in today!" "two weeks on his foot!" they looked where he pointed. red men, mounted, were visible, a dozen of them, motionless, on the rim of the farther bank, watching the explorers as they began to make ready for their journey. lewis turned his great field glass in that direction. "sioux!" said he. "they are painted, too. i fancy," he added, as he turned toward his associates, "that this must be black buffalo's band of tetons you've told us about, drouillard." "_oui, oui_, the teton!" exclaimed drouillard. "i'll not spoke his language, me; but she'll be bad sioux. _prenez garde, capitaine, prenez garde pour ces sauvages, les sioux!_" and indeed this warning proved well founded. more indians gathered in toward the shore that afternoon, riding along, parallel with the course of the boats, whooping, shouting to the boatmen. at nightfall there were a hundred of them assembled--painted warriors, decked in all their savage finery, bold men, showing no fear of the newcomers. the white men went about their camp duties in a mingling of figures, white and red. lewis lined up his men, beat his drums, fired the great swivel piece to impress the savages. "bring out the flag, will," said he. "put up our council awning. i'll have a parley with their head man. can you make him out, drouillard?" "he'll said he was black buffalo," replied the frenchman. "i don't understand him very good." "take him these things, drouillard," said lewis. "give him a lace coat and hat, a red feather, some tobacco, and this medal. tell him that when we get ready we'll make a talk with him." but black buffalo and his men were not in the mood to wait for their parley. they crowded down to the bank angrily, excitedly, even after they had received the presents sent them. lewis, busy about the barge, which had not yet found a good landing-place, turned at the sound of his friend's voice, to see clark struggling in the grasp of two or three of the sioux, among them the teton chief. a savage had his hand flung about the mast of the pirogue, others laid hold upon the painter. clark, flushed and angry at the touch of another man's hand, had whipped out his sword, and the indians were drawing their bows from their cases. at that moment lewis gave a loud order, which arrested them all. the sioux turned toward the barge, to see the black mouth of the great swivel gun pointing at them--the gun whose thunder voice they had heard. "big medicine!" called out black buffalo in terror, and ordered his men back. clark offered his hand to black buffalo, but it was refused. angry, he sprang into the pirogue and pushed off for the barge. three of the indians stepped into the pirogue with him, jabbering excitedly, and, with clark, went aboard the barge, where they made themselves very much at home. "_croyez moi!_" ejaculated drouillard. "these hinjun, she'll think he own this country!" here, then, they were, in the teton country. no sleep that night for either of the leaders, nor for any of the men. they pulled the pirogues alongside the barge and sat, barricaded behind their goods, rifle in hand. they kept their visitors prisoners all that night, and whatever might have been the construction the tetons placed on their act, they themselves by dawn were far more placable. continually they motioned that the whites should come ashore, that they must stop, that they must not go on further up the river. but when all was prepared for the start on the following morning, lewis ordered the great cable of the barge cast off. black buffalo in turn ordered his men to lay hold upon it and retain the boat. once more the indians began to draw their bows. once more lewis turned upon them the muzzle of his cannon. his men shook the priming into their pieces, and made ready to fire. an instant, and much blood might have been shed. "black buffalo," said lewis, as best he might through his interpreter, "i heard you were a chief. you are not black buffalo, but some squaw! we are going to see if we can find black buffalo, the real chief. if he were here, he would accept our tobacco. the geese are flying down the river. soon the snow will come. we cannot wait. see, i give you this tobacco on the prairie. go and see if you can find black buffalo, the real chief!" "ha!" exclaimed the teton leader, his dignity outraged. "you say i am not black buffalo--that i am not a chief. i will show you!" he caught the twists of good black virginia tobacco tossed to him, and cast the rope far from him upon the tawny flood of the missouri. an instant later the oars had caught the water and cruzatte had spread the bowsail of the barge. so they won through one more of the most dangerous of the tribes against whom they had been warned. "a near thing, merne!" said will clark after a time. "there is some mighty hand that seems to guide us--is it not the truth?" chapter iv the crossroads of the west the geese were now indeed flying down the river, coming in long, dark lines out of the icy north. sometimes the sky was overcast hours at a stretch. a new note came into the voice of the wind. the nights grew colder. autumn was at hand. soon it would be winter--winter on the plains. it was late in october, more than five months out from st. louis, when mr. jefferson's "volunteers for the discovery of the west" arrived in the mandan country. long ago war and disease wiped out the gentle mandan people. today two cities stand where their green fields once showed the first broken soil north of the platte river. but a century ago that region, although little known to our government at washington, was not unknown to others. the mandan villages lay at a great wilderness crossroads, or rather at the apex of a triangle, beyond which none had gone. hereabout the sieur de la verendrye had crossed on his own journey of exploration two generations earlier. more lately the emissaries of the great british companies, although privately warring with one another, had pushed west over the assiniboine. traders had been among the mandans now for a decade. thus far came the western trail from canada, and halted. the path of the missouri also led thus far, but here, at the intersection, ended all the trails of trading or traveling white men. therefore, lewis and clark found white men located here before them--mccracken, an irishman; jussaume, a frenchman; henderson, an englishman; la roque, another frenchman--all over from the assiniboine country; and all, it hardly need be said, excited and anxious over this wholly unexpected arrival of white strangers in their own trading-limits. big white, chief of the mandans, welcomed the new party as friends, for he was quick to grasp the advantage the white men's goods gave his people over the neighboring tribes, and also quick to understand the virtue of competition. "brothers," said he, "you have come for our beaver and our robes. as for us, we want powder and ball and more iron hatchets and knives. we have traded with the assiniboines, who are foolish people, and have taken all their goods away from them. we have killed the rees until we are tired of killing them. the sioux will not trouble us if we have plenty of powder and ball. we know that you have come to trade with us. see, the snow is here. light your lodge fires with the mandans. stay here until the grass comes once more!" "we open our ears to what big white has said," replied lewis--speaking through jussaume, the frenchman, who soon was added as interpreter to the party. "we are the children of a great father in the east, who gives you this medal with his picture on it. he sends you this coat, this hat of a chief. he gives you this hatchet, this case of tobacco. there are other hatchets and more tobacco for your people." "what great father is that?" demanded big white. "it seems there are many great fathers in these days! who are you strangers, who come from so far?" "you yourself shall judge, big white. when the geese fly up the river and the grass is green, our great boat here is going back down the river. the great father is curious to know his children, the mandans. if you, big white, wish to go to see him when the grass is green, you shall sit yonder in that boat and go all the way with some of my men. you shall shake his hand. when you come back, you can tell the story to your own people. then all the tribes will cease to wage war. your women once more may take off their moccasins at night when they sleep." "it is good," said the mandan. "_ahaie!_ come and stay with us until the grass is green, and i will make medicine over what you say. we will open our lodges to you, and will not harm you. our young women will carry you corn which they have saved for the winter. our squaws will feed your horses. go no farther, for the snow and ice are coming fast. even the buffalo will be thin, and the elk will grow so lean that they will not be good to eat. this is as far as the white men ever come when the grass is green. beyond this, no man knows the trails." "when the grass is green," said lewis, "i shall lead my young men toward the setting sun. we shall make new trails." jussaume, mccracken, and all the others held their own council with the leaders of the expedition. "what are you doing here?" they demanded. "the missouri has always belonged to the british traders." the face of meriwether lewis flushed with anger. "we are about the business of our government," he said. "it is our purpose to discover the west beyond here, all of it. it is our own country that we are discovering. we have bought it and paid for it, and will hold it. we carry the news of the great purchase to the natives." "purchase? what purchase?" demanded mccracken. and then the face of lewis lightened, for he knew that they had outrun all the news of the world! "the louisiana purchase--the purchase of all this western country from the mississippi to the pacific, across the stony mountains. we bought it from napoleon, who had it from spain. we are the wedge to split the british from the south--the missouri is our own pathway into our own country. that is our business here!" "you must go back!" said the hot-headed irishman. "i shall tell my factor, chaboillez, at fort assiniboine. we want no more traders here. this is our country!" "we do not come to trade," said meriwether lewis. "we play a larger game. i know that the men of the northwest company have found the arctic ocean--you are welcome to it until we want it--we do not want it now. i know you have found the pacific somewhere above the columbia--we do not want what we have not bought or found for ourselves, and you are welcome to that. but when you ask us to turn back on our own trail, it is a different matter. we are on our own soil now, and we will not turn for any order in the world but that of the president of the united states!" mccracken, irritated, turned away from the talk. "it is a fine fairy tale they tell us!" said he to his fellows. drouillard came a moment later to his chief. "those men she'll take her dog-team for assiniboine now--maybe so one hundred and fifty miles that way. he'll told his factor now, on the assiniboine post." lewis smiled. "tell him to take this letter to his factor, drouillard," said he. "it is a passport given me by mr. thompson, representing mr. merry, of the british legation at washington. i have fifty other passports, better ones, each good at a hundred yards. if mr. chaboillez wishes to find us, he can do so. if we have gone, let him come after us in the spring." "my faith," said jussaume, the frenchman, "you come a long way! why you want to go more farther west? but, listen, _monsieur capitaine_--the englishman, he'll go to make trouble for you. he is going for send word to rocheblave, the most boss trader on lake superior, on fort william. they are going for send a man to beat you over the mountain--i know!" "'tis a long road from here to the middle of lake superior's north shore," said meriwether lewis. "it will be a long way back from there in the spring. while they are planning to start, already we shall be on our way." "i know the man they'll send," went on jussaume. "simon fraser--i know him. long time he'll want to go up the saskatchewan and over the mountain on the ocean." "we'll race mr. fraser to the ocean," said meriwether lewis; "him or any other man. while he plans, we shall be on our way!" well enough the northern traders knew the meaning of this american expedition into the west. if it went on, all the lower trade was lost to great britain forever. the british minister, merry, had known it. aaron burr had known it. this expedition must be stopped! that was the word which must go back to montreal, back to london, along the trail which ended here at the crossroads of the missouri. "the red-headed young man is not so bad," said one of the white news-bearers at the assiniboine post. "he is willing to parley, and he seems disposed to be amiable. but the other, the one named lewis--i can do nothing with him. for some reason he seems to be hostile to the british interests. he speaks well, and is a man of presence and education, but he is bitter against us, and i cannot handle him. we must use force to stop that man!" "agreed, then!" said his master, laughing lustily, for, safe in his own sanctuary, he had not seen these men himself. "we shall use force, as we have before. we will excite the savages against them this winter. if they will listen to us, and turn back in the spring--all of them, not part of them--very well. if they will not listen to reason, then we shall use such means as we need to stop them." of this conversation the two young american officers, one of virginia, the other of kentucky, knew nothing at all. but they held council of their own, as was their fashion--a council of two, sitting by their camp fire; and while others talked, they acted. before november was a week old, the axes were ringing among the cottonwoods. the men were carrying big logs toward the cleared space shown to them, and while meriwether lewis worked at his journal and his scientific records, william clark, born soldier and born engineer, was going forward with his little fortress. trenches were cut, the logs were ended up--taller pickets than any one of that country ever had seen before. a double row of cabins was built inside the stockade. a great gate was furnished, proof against assault. a bastion was erected in one corner, mounting the swivel piece so that it might be fired above the top of the wall. a little more work of chinking the walls, of flooring the cabins, of making chimneys of wattle and clay--and _presto_, before the winter had well settled down, the white explorers were housed and fortified and ready for what might come. the mandans sat and watched them in wonder. jussaume, the french trader, shook his head. in all his experience on the trail he had seen nothing savoring quite so much of preparedness and celerity. among all the posts to the northward and eastward the word went out, carried by dog runners. "they have built a great house of tall logs," said the indians. "they have put the thing that thunders on top of the wall. they never sleep. each day they exercise with their rifles under their arms. they have long knives on their belts. they carry hatchets that are sharp enough to shave bark. their medicine is strong! "they write down the words of the mandans and the minnetarees in their books. they are taking skins of the antelope and the bighorn and the deer, even skins of the prairie-grouse and the badger and the prairie-dog--everything they can get. they dry these, to make some sort of medicine of them. they cut off pieces of wood and bark. they put the dirt which burns in little sacks. they make pictures and make the talking papers--all the time they work at something, the two chiefs. they have a black man with them who cannot be washed white--they have stained him with some medicine of their own. he makes sounds like a buffalo, and he says that the white man made him as he is and will do us that way. we would like to kill them, but they have made their house too strong! "they never sleep. in the daytime and in the nighttime, no matter how cold it is, one man, two men, walk up and down inside the wall. they have carried their boats up out of the water--two boats, a great one and two small. all through the woods they are cutting down the largest trees, and out of the straight logs they are making more boats, more boats, as many as there are fingers on one hand. they have axes that cast much larger chips than any we ever saw. we fear these men, because they do not fear us. we do not know what to think. they are men who never sleep. before the sun is up we find them writing or making large chips with their axes, or hunting in the woods--not a day goes by that their hunters do not bring in elk and deer and buffalo. they do not fear us. "we have seen no men like these. they are chiefs, and their medicine is strong!" chapter v the appeal "well done, will clark!" said meriwether lewis, when, at length, one cold winter morning, they stood within the walls of the completed fortress. "now we can have our own fireplace and go on with our work in comfort. the collection is growing splendidly!" "yes, mr. jefferson will find that we have been busy," rejoined clark. "the barge will go down well loaded in the spring. they'll have the best of it--downhill, and over country they have crossed." "true," mused lewis. "we are at a blank wall here. we lack a guide now, that is sure. two interpreters we have, who may or may not be of use, but no one knows the country. but now--you know our other new interpreter, the sullen chap, charbonneau--that polygamous scamp with two or three indian wives?" "yes, and a surly brute he is!" "well, it seems that last summer charbonneau married still another wife, a girl not over sixteen years of age, i should judge. he bought her--she was a slave, a captive brought down from somewhere up the river by a war-party. she is a pleasant girl, and always smiles. she seems friendly to us--see the moccasins she made for me but now. and i only had to knock her husband down once for beating her!" "lucky man!" grinned william clark. "i have knocked him down half a dozen times, and she has made me no moccasins at all. but what then?" "so far as i can learn, that indian girl is the only human being here who has ever seen the stony mountains. the girl says that she was taken captive years ago somewhere near the summit of the stony mountains. above here a great river comes in, which they call the yellow rock river--the 'ro'jaune,' jussaume calls it. very well. many days' or weeks' journey toward the west, this river comes again within a half-day's march of the missouri. that is near the summit of the mountains; and this girl's people live there." "by the lord, merne, you're a genius for getting over new country!" "wait. i find the child very bright--very clear of mind. and listen, will--the mind of a woman is better for small things than that of a man. they pick up trifles and hang on to them. i'd as soon trust that girl for a guide out yonder as any horse-stealing warrior in a hurry to get into a country and in a hurry to get out of it again. raiding parties cling to the river-courses, which they know; but she and her people must have been far to the west of any place these adventurers of the minnetarees ever saw. sacajawea she calls herself--the 'bird woman.' i swear i look upon that name itself as a good omen! she has come back like a dove to the ark, this bird woman. william clark, we shall reach the sea--or, at least, you will do so, will," he concluded. "what do you mean, merne? surely, if i do, you will also!" "i cannot be sure." the florid face of william clark showed a frown of displeasure. "you are not as well as you should be--you work too much. that is not just to mr. jefferson, merne, nor to our men, nor to me." "it was for that reason i took you on. doesn't a man have two lungs, two arms, two limbs, two eyes? we are those for mr. jefferson--even crippled, the expedition will live. you are as my own other hand. i exult to see you every morning smiling out of your blankets, hopeful and hungry!" meriwether lewis turned to his colleague with the sweet smile which sometimes his friends saw. "you see, i am a fatalist," he went on. "ah, you laugh at me! my people must have been owners of the second sight, i have often told you. humor me, will, bear with me. don't question me too deep. your flag, will, i know will be planted on the last parapet of life--you were born to succeed. for myself, i still must remember what my mother told me--something about the burden which would be too heavy, the trail which would be long. at times i doubt." "confound it, merne, you have not been yourself since you got that accursed letter in the night last summer!" "it was unsettling, i don't deny." "i pray heaven you'll never get another!" said william clark. "from a married woman, too! thank god i've no such affair on my mind!" "it is taboo, will--that one thing!" and clark, growling anathemas on all women, stalked away to find his axmen. the snows had come soft and deep, blown on the icy winds. the horses of the mandans were housed in the lodges, and lived on cottonwood instead of grass. when the vast herds of buffalo came down from the broken hills into the shelter of the flats, the men returned frostbitten with their loads of meat. the sky was dark. the days were short. to improve the morale of their men, the leaders now planned certain festivities for them. on christmas eve each man had his stocking well stuffed with such delicacies as the company stores afforded--pepper, salt, dried fruits long cherished in the commissary, such other knickknacks as might be spared. on christmas day drouillard brought out a fiddle. a dance was ordered, and went on all day long on the puncheon floor of the main cabin. in moccasins and leggings, with hair long and tunics belted close to their lean waists, the white men danced to the tunes of their own land--the reels and hoedowns of old virginia and kentucky. the sounds of revelry were heard by the mandans who came up to the gate. "white men make a medicine dance," they said, and knocked for entrance. two women only were present--the wife of jussaume, the squaw man, and sacajawea, the girl wife of charbonneau, the interpreter of the mandans. these two had many presents. the face of sacajawea was wreathed in smiles. always her eyes followed the tall form of meriwether lewis wherever he went. her own husband was but her husband, and already she had elected meriwether lewis as her deity. when her husband thrashed her, always he thrashed her husband. in her simple child's soul she consecrated herself to the task which he had assigned her. yes, when the grass came she would take these white men to her own people. if they wanted to see the salt waters far to the west--her people had heard of that--then they should go there also. the bird woman was very happy that christmas day. the chief had thrashed charbonneau and had given her wonderful presents! all the men danced but one--the youth shannon, who once more had met misfortune. while hewing with the broadax at one of the canoes, he had had the misfortune to slash his foot, so must lie in his bunk and watch the others. "keep the men going, will," said meriwether lewis. "i'll go to my room and get forward some letters which i want to write--to my mother and to mr. jefferson. at least i can date them christmas day, although providence alone knows when they may be despatched or received!" he returned to his own quarters, where he had erected a little desk at which he sometimes worked, and sat down. for a moment he remained in thought, as the sound of the dancing still came to him, glad to find his men so happy. at length he spread open the back of his little leather writing-case, unscrewed his ink-horn and set it safe, drew his keen hunting-knife, and put a point upon a goose-quill pen. then he put away the many written pages which still lay in the portfolio, the product of his daily labors. searching for fair white paper, his eye caught sight of a sealed and folded letter, apparently long unnoticed here among the written and unwritten sheets. in a flash he knew what it was! once more the blood in his veins seemed to stop short. to captain meriwether lewis, in charge of the volunteers for the discovery of the west.--on the trail. he knew what hand had written the words. for one short instant he had a mad impulse to cast the letter into the fire. then there came over him once more the feeling which oppressed him all his life--that he was a helpless instrument in the hands of fate. he broke the seal--not noticing as he did so that it had a number scratched into the wax--and read the letter, which ran thus: sir and friend: i know not where these presents may find you, or in what case. once more i keep my promise not to let you go. once more you shall see my face--see, it is looking up at you from the page! tell me, do you see me now before you? are other faces of women in your mind? have they lost themselves as women's faces so often--so soon--are lost from a man's mind? can you see me, meriwether lewis, your childhood friend? do you remember the time you saved me from the cows in the lane at your father's farm, when i was but a child, on my first visit to far-off virginia? you kissed me then, to dry my tears. you were a boy; i was a child yet younger. can you forget that time--can you forget what you said? "i will always be there, theodosia," you said, "when you are in trouble!" you said it stoutly, and i believed it, as a child. i believed you then--i believe you now. i still have the same child's faith in you. my mother died while i was young; my father has always been so busy--i scarcely have been a girl, as you say you never were a boy. you know my husband--he has his own affairs. but you always were my friend, in so many ways! it is true that i am laying a secret on your heart--one which you must observe all your life. my letter is for you, and for no other eyes. but now i come once more to you to hold you to your promise. _meriwether lewis, come back to us!_ by this time the trail surely is long enough! we are counting absolutely on your return. i heard mr. merry tell my father--and i may tell it to you--that on your recall rested all hope of the success of our own cause on the lower mississippi--for ourselves and for you. if you do not come back to us, as early as you can, you condemn us to failure--myself--my life--that of my father--yourself also. perhaps your delay may mean even more, meriwether lewis. i have to tell you that times are threatening for this republic. relations between our country and great britain are strained to the breaking-point. mr. merry says that if our cause on the lower mississippi shall not prevail, his own country, as soon as it can finish with napoleon, will come against this republic once more--both on the great lakes and at the mouth of the mississippi. he says that your expedition into the west will split the country, if it goes on. it must be withdrawn or the gap must be mended by war. you see, then, one of the sure results of this mad folly of thomas jefferson. go on, therefore, if you would ruin me, my father--your own future; but will you go on if you face possible ruin _for your own country_ by so doing? this i leave for you to say. surely by now the main object of your expedition will have been accomplished--surely you may return with all practical results of your labors in your hands. were that not a wiser thing? does not your duty lie toward the east, and not further toward the west? there is a limit beyond which not even a forlorn hope is asked to go when it assails a citadel. not every general is dishonored, though he does not complete the campaign laid out for him. expeditions have failed, and will fail, with honor. leaders of men have failed, will fail, with honor. i do not call it failure for you to return to us and let the expedition go on. there is a limit to what may be asked of a man. there are two of you for mr. jefferson; but for us there is only one--it is captain lewis. and--how shall i say it and not be misunderstood?--there is but one for her whose face you see, i hope, on this page. what limit is there to the generosity of a man like you--what limit to his desire to pay each duty, to keep each promise that he has made in all his life? will such a man forget his promise always to kiss away the tears of that companion to whom he has come in rescue? i am in trouble. tears are in my eyes as i write. do you forget that promise? do you wish to make yet happier the woman whom you have so many times made happy--who has cherished so much ambition for you? meriwether lewis, my friend--you who would have been my lover--for whom there is no hope, since fate has been so unkind--come back to us in your generosity! come back to me, even in your hopelessness! will you always see me with tears in my eyes? do you see me now? i swear tears fall even as i write. and you promised always to kiss my tears away! farewell until i see you again. may good fortune attend you always, wherever you go--in whatever direction you may travel--from us or toward us--from me or with me! meriwether lewis sat, his face between his hands, staring down at what he saw. should he go on, or should he hand over all to william clark and return--return to keep his promise--return to comfort, as best he might, with the gift of all his life, that face which indeed he had left in tears by an unpardonable act of his own? he owed her everything she could ask of him. what must she think of him now--that he was not only a dishonorable man, but also a coward running away from the responsibility of what he had done? no blow from the hands of fate could have given him more exquisite agony than this. for a long time--he never knew how long--he sat thus, staring, pondering, but at length with sudden energy he rose and flung open the door of the dancing-room. "will!" he called to his companion. when william clark joined his friend in the outer air, he saw the open letter in lewis's hand--saw also the distress upon his countenance. "merne, it's another letter from that woman! i wish i had her here, that i might wring her neck!" said william clark viciously. "who brought it?" "i don't know." meriwether lewis was folding up the letter. he placed it in the pocket of his coat with its fellow, received months ago. "will," said he at length, "don't you recall what i was telling you this very morning? i felt something coming--i felt that fate had something more for me. you know i spoke in doubt." "listen, merne!" replied william clark. "there is no woman in the world worth the misery this one has put on you. it is a thing execrable, unspeakable!" his friend looked him steadily in the eyes. "rebuke not her, but me!" he said. "this letter asks me to come back to kiss away a woman's tears. will, i was the cause of those tears. i can tell you no more. what _i_ did was a thing execrable, unspeakable--i, your friend, did that!" william clark, more genuinely troubled than ever in his life before, was dumb. "my future is forfeited, will," went on the same even, dull voice, which clark could scarcely recognize; "but i have decided to go on through with you." chapter vi which way? "which way, will?" asked meriwether lewis. "which is the river? if we miss many guesses, the british will beat us through. which is our river here?" they stood at the junction of the yellowstone with the missouri, and faced one of the first of their great problems. it was spring once more. the geese were flying northward again; the grass was green. three weeks ago the ice had run clear, and they had left their winter quarters among the mandans. five months they had spent at the mandan village; for five months they had labored to reach that place; for five months, or more, they had lain at st. louis. time was passing. as meriwether lewis said, few wrong guesses could be afforded. early in april the great barge, manned by ten men, had set out down stream, carrying with it the proof of the success of the expedition. it bore many new things, precious things, things unknown to civilization. among these were sixty specimens of plants, as many of minerals and earth, weapons of the indians, examples of their clothing, specimens of the corn and other vegetables which they raised, horns of the bighorn and the antelope--both animals then new to science--antlers of the deer and elk, stuffed specimens, dried skins, herbs, fruits, flowers; and with all these the broken story of a new geography--the greatest story ever sent out for publication by any man or men; and all done in homeric simplicity. as the great barge had started down the river, the two pirogues which had come so far, joined by the cottonwood dugouts laboriously fabricated during the winter months, had started up the river, manned by thirty-one men. with the pick of the original party, there had come but one woman, the girl sacajawea, with her little baby, born that winter at the mandan fortress. sacajawea now had her place in the camp; she and her infant were the pets of all. she sat in the sunlight, her baby in her lap, by her side an indian dog, a waif which lewis had found abandoned in an indian encampment, and which had attached itself to him. sacajawea smiled as the tall form of the captain came toward her. she had already learned some of the words of his tongue, he some of hers. "which way, sacajawea?" asked meriwether lewis. "what river is this which goes on to the left?" "him ro'shone," replied the girl. "my man call him that. no good! _him_--big river"; and she pointed toward the right-hand stream. "as i thought, will," said lewis, nodding; and again, to the indian girl: "do you remember this place?" she nodded her head vigorously and smiled. "see!" with a pointed stick she began to sketch a map on the sand of the river bar, showing how the yellowstone flowed from the south--how, far on ahead, its upper course bent toward the missouri, with a march of not more than a day between the two. the maps of this new world that first came back to civilization were copies of indians' drawings made with a pointed stick upon the earth, or with a coal on a whitened hide. "she knows, will!" said lewis. "see, this place she marks near the mountain summit, where the two streams are close--some time we must explore that crossing!" "i'm sure i'd rather trust her map than this one, here, of old jonathan carver," answered clark, the map-maker. "his idea of this country is that four great rivers head about where we are now. he marks the river bourbon--which i never heard of--as running north to hudson bay, but he has the st. lawrence rising near here, too--and it must be fifteen hundred or two thousand miles off to the east! the mississippi, too, he thinks heads about here, at the mouth of the yellowstone, and yonder runs the oregon river, which i presume is the columbia. 'tis all very simple, on carver's maps, but perhaps not quite so easy, if we follow that of sacajawea. this country is wider than any of us ever dreamed." "and greater, and more beautiful in every way," assented his companion. they stood and gazed about them at the scene of wild beauty. the river ran in long curves between bold and sculptured bluffs, among groves of native trees, now softly green. above, on the prairies, lay a carpet of the shy wild rose, most beautiful of the prairie blossoms. all about were shrubs and flowers, now putting forth their claims in the renewed life of spring. on the plains fed the buffalo, far as the eye could reach. antelope, deer, the shy bighorn, all these might be seen, and the footprints of the giant bears along the beaches. it was the wilderness, and it was theirs--they owned it all! thus far they had seen no sign of any human occupancy. they did not meet a single human being, red or white, all that summer. a vast, silent, unclaimed land, beautiful and abounding, lay waiting for occupancy. there was no map of it--none save that written on the soil now and then by an indian girl sixteen years of age. they plodded on now, taking the right-hand stream, with full confidence in their guidance, forging onward a little every day, between the high banks of the swift river that came down from the great mountains. april passed, and may. "soon we see the mountains!" insisted sacajawea. and at last, two months out from the mandans, lewis looked westward from a little eminence and saw a low, broken line, white in spots, not to be confused with the lesser eminences of the near by landscape. "it is the mountains!" he exclaimed. "there lie the stonies. they do exist! we shall surely reach them! we have won!" not yet had they won. these shining mountains lay a long distance to the westward; and yet other questions were to be settled ere they might be reached. within a week they came to yet another forking of the stream. a strong river came boiling down from the north, of color and depth much similar to that of the missouri they had known. on the left ran a less turbulent and clearer stream. which was the way? "the north wan, she'll be the right wan, _capitaine_," said cruzatte, himself a good voyageur. most of the men agreed with him. the leaders recalled that the mandans had said that the missouri after a time grew clear in color, and that it would lead to the mountains. which, now, was the missouri? they found the moccasin of an indian not far from here. "blackfoot!" said sacajawea, and pointed to the north, shaking her head. she insisted that the left-hand river was the right one; but, unwilling as yet to rely on her fully, the leaders called a council of the men, and listened to their arguments. they knew well enough that a wrong choice here might mean the failure of their expedition. cruzatte had many adherents. the men began to mutter. "if we go up that left-hand stream we shall be lost among the mountains," one said. "we shall perish when the winter comes!" "we will go both ways," said meriwether lewis at length. "captain clark will explore the lower fork, while i go up the right-hand stream. we will meet here when we know the truth." so lewis traveled two days' journey up the right-hand fork before he turned back, thoughtful. "i have decided," said he to the men who accompanied him. "this stream will lead us far to the north, into the british country. it cannot be the true missouri. i shall call this maria's river, after my cousin in virginia, maria woods. i shall not call it the missouri." he met clark at the fork of the river, and again they held a council. the men were still dissatisfied. clark had advanced some distance up the left-hand stream. "we must prove it yet further," said meriwether lewis. "captain clark, do you remain here, while i go on ahead far enough to know absolutely whether we are right or wrong. if we are not right in our choice, it is as the men say--we shall fail! but where is sacajawea?" he added. "i will ask her once more." sacajawea was ill; she was in a fever. she could not talk to her husband; but to lewis she talked, and always she said, "that way! by and by, big falls--um-m-m, um-m-m!" "guard her well," said lewis anxiously. "much depends on her. i must go on ahead." he took the french interpreter, drouillard, and three of the kentuckians, and started on up the left-hand stream with one boat. the current of the river seemed to stiffen. it cost continually increasing toil to get the boat upstream. they were gone for several days, and no word came back from them. meantime, at the river forks, william clark was busy. it was obvious that the explorers must lighten the loads of their boats. they began to cache all the heavy goods with which they could dispense--their tools, the extra lead and powder-tins, some of the flour, all the heavy stuff which would encumber them most seriously. here, too, was the end of the journey of the red pirogue from st. louis--they hid it in the willows of an island near the mouth of maria's river. lewis himself, weak from toil, fell ill on the way, but still he would not stop. he came to a point from which he could see the mountains plainly on ahead. the river was narrow, flowing through a cañon. the next day they came to the foot of the great falls of the missouri, alone, majestic here in the wilderness, soundless save for their own dashing--those wonderful cascades, now so well known in industry, so nearly forgotten in history. "the girl was right--this is the river!" said lewis to his men. "it comes from the mountains. we are right!" cascade after cascade, rapid after rapid, he pushed on to the head of the great drop of the missouri, where it plunges down from its upper valley for its long journey through the vast plains. now word went down to the mouth of maria's river; but the messenger met clark already toiling upward with his boats, for he had guessed the cause of delay, and at last believed sacajawea. "make some boat-trucks, will," said lewis, when at last they were all encamped at the foot of the falls. "we shall have to portage twenty miles of falls and rapids." and william clark, the ever-ready engineer, who always had a solution for any problem in mechanics or in geography, went to work upon the hardest task in transportation they yet had had. "we must leave more plunder here, merne," said he. "we can't get into the mountains with all this." so again they cached some of their stores. they buried here the great swivel piece which had "made the thunder" among so many savage tribes. also there were stored here the spring's collection of animals and minerals, certain books and maps not needed, and the great grindstone which had come all the way from harper's ferry. they were stripping for their race. it took the party a full month to make the portage. they were worn to the bone by the hard labor, scorched by the sun, and frozen by the night winds. "we must go on!" was always the cry. all felt that the summer was going; none knew what might be on ahead. at the cost of greater and greater toil they pushed on up their river above the falls, until presently its course bent off to the south again. they passed through a country of such wealth as none of them had ever dreamed of, but they did not suspect the hidden treasures of gold and silver which lay so close to them on the floor of the mountain valleys. what interested them more was the excitement of sacajawea, who from time to time pointed out traces of human occupancy. "my people here!" said she, and pointed to camp-fires. "plenty people come here. heap hunt buffalo!" she pointed out the trails made by the lodge-poles. "she knows, will!" said lewis, once more. "we have a guide even here. we are the luckiest of men!" "soon we come where three rivers," said sacajawea one day. they had passed to the south and west through the first range of mountains--through that gate of the mountains near to the rich gold fields of the future state of montana. "by and by, three rivers--i know!" and it was as she had said. the men, wearied to the limit by the toil of getting the boats upstream by line and setting pole, at last found their mountain river broken into three separate streams. "we will camp here," said the leader. "we are tired, we have worked long and hard!" "my people come here," said sacajawea, "plenty time. here the minnetarees struck my people--five snows ago that was. they caught me and took me with them, so i find charbonneau among the mandans. here my people live!" without hesitation she pointed out that one of the three forks of the missouri which led off to the westward--the one that meriwether lewis called the jefferson. and now every man in the party felt that they were on the right path as they turned into that stream; but at the beaver head rock--well known to all the indians--they went into camp once more. "captains make medicine now," said sacajawea to charbonneau, her husband. for once more the captains hesitated. there were many passes, many valleys, many trails. which was the way? the men grew sullen again. they lay in camp for days, sending out parties, feeling out the way; but the explorers always came back uncertain. it was clark who led these scouting parties now, for lewis was well-nigh broken down in health. one night, alone, the leader sat by his little fire, thinking, thinking, as so often he did now. the stars, unspeakably brilliant, lit up the wild scene about him. this was the wilderness! he had sought it all his life. all his life it had called to him aloud. what had it done for him, after all? had it taught him to forget? two years now had passed, and still he saw a face which would not go away. still there arose before him the same questions whose debate had torn his soul, worn out his body, through these weary months. "you will be cold, sir," said one of the men solicitously, as he passed on his way to guard mount. "shall i fetch your coat?" lewis thanked him, and the man brought from his tent the captain's uniform coat, which he had forgotten. absently he sought to put it on, and felt something crinkling in the sleeve. it was a bit of paper. he halted, the old presentiment coming to his mind. "is shannon here?" he asked of the man who had handed him the coat. "he was to get my moccasins mended for me." "no, captain, he is out with captain clark," replied fields, the kentuckian. "very well--that will do, fields." meriwether lewis sat down again by his little fire, his last letter in his hand. gently he ran a finger along the seal--stooped over, kicked together the embers of the fire, and saw scratched in the wax a number. this was number three! he did not open it for a time. he looked at it--no longer in dread, but in eagerness. it seemed to him, indeed, as if the letter had come in response to the outcry of his soul--that it really had dropped from the sky, manna for a hungry heart. it was the absence of this which had worn him thin, left him the shadow of the man he should have been. here, as he knew well, was one more summons to what seemed to him to be a duty. and off to the west, shining cold in the night under the stars, stood the mountains, beckoning. which was the way? he broke the seal slowly, with no haste, knowing that whatever the letter said it could mean only more unhappiness to him. yet he was hungry for it as one who longs for a soothing drug. he pushed together yet more closely the burning sticks of his little fire and bent over to read. it was very little that he saw written, but it spoke to him like a voice in the night: come back to me--ah, come back! i need you. i implore you to return! there was no address, no date, no signature. there was no means of telling whence or how this letter had come to him, more than any of the others. go back to her--how could he, now? it was more than a year since these words had been written! what avail now, if he did return? no, he had delayed, he had gone on, and he had cost her--what? perhaps her happiness as well as his own, perhaps the success of herself and of many others, perhaps his own success in life. against that, what could he measure? the white mountains on ahead made no reply to him. the stars glowed cold and white above him, but they seemed like a thousand facets of pitiless light turned upon his soul. the quavering howl of a wolf on a near by eminence sounded like a voice to him, mocking, taunting, fiendish. never, it seemed to him, had any man been thus unhappy. even the wilderness had failed him! in a land of desolation he sat, a desolate soul. chapter vii the mountains when william clark returned from his three days' scouting trip, his forehead was furrowed with anxiety. his men were silent as they filed into camp and cast down their knapsacks. "it's no use, merne," said clark, "we are in a pocket here. the other two forks, which we called the madison and the gallatin, both come from the southeast, entirely out of our course. the divide seems to face around south of us and bend up again on the west. who knows the way across? our river valley is gone. the only sure way seems back--downstream." "what do you mean?" demanded meriwether lewis quietly. "i scarce know. i am worn out, merne. my men have been driven hard." "and why not?" his companion remained silent under the apparent rebuke. "you don't mean that we should return?" lewis went on. "why not, merne?" said william clark, sighing. "our men are exhausted. there are other years than this." meriwether lewis turned upon his friend with the one flash of wrath which ever was known between them. "good heavens, captain clark," said he, "there is _not_ any other year than this! there is not any other month, or week, or day but this! it is not for you or me to hesitate--within the hour i shall go on. we'll cross over, or we'll leave the bones of every man of the expedition here--this year--now!" clark's florid face flushed under the sting of his comrade's words; but his response was manful and just. "you are right," said he at length. "forgive me if for a moment--just a moment--i seemed to question the possibility of going forward. give me a night to sleep. as i said, i am worn out. if i ever see mr. jefferson again, i shall tell him that all the credit for this expedition rests with you. i shall say that once i wavered, and that i had no cause. you do not waver--yet i know what excuse you would have for it." "you are only weary, will. it is my turn now," said meriwether lewis; and he never told his friend of this last letter. a moment later he had called one of his men. "mcneal," said he, "get reuben fields, whitehouse, and goodrich. make light packs. we are going into the mountains!" the four men shortly appeared, but they were silent, morose, moody. those who were to remain in the camp shared their silence. sacajawea alone smiled as they departed. "that way!" said she, pointing; and she knew that her chief would find the path. may we not wonder, in these later days, if any of us, who reap so carelessly and so selfishly where others have plowed and sown, reflect as we should upon the first cost of what we call our own? the fifteen million dollars paid for the vast empire which these men were exploring--that was little--that was naught. but ah, the cost in blood and toil and weariness, in love and loyalty and faith, in daring and suffering and heartbreak of those who went ahead! it was a few brave leaders who furnished the stark, unflinching courage for us all. sergeant ordway, with pryor and gass, met in one of the many little ominous groups that now began to form among the men in camp. captain clark was sleeping, exhausted. "it stands to reason," said ordway, usually so silent, "that the way across the range is up one valley to the divide and down the next creek on the opposite side. that is the way we crossed the alleghanies." pryor nodded his head. "sure," said he, "and all the game-trails break off to the south and southwest. follow the elk!" "is it so?" exclaimed patrick gass. "you think it aisy to find a way across yonder range? and how d'ye know jist how the alleghanies was crossed first? did they make it the first toime they thried? things is aisy enough after they've been done _wance_--but it's the first toime that counts!" "there is no other way, pat," argued ordway. "'tis the rivers that make passes in any mountain range." "which is the roight river, then?" rejoined gass. "we're lookin' for wan that mebbe is nowhere near here. s'pose we go to the top yonder and take a creek down, and s'pose that creek don't run the roight way at all, but comes out a thousand miles to the southwest--where are you then, i'd like to know? the throuble with us is we're the first wans to cross here, and not comin' along after some one else has done the thrick for us." pryor was willing to argue further. "all the injuns have said the big river was over there somewhere." "'somewhere'!" exclaimed patrick gass. "'somewhere' is a mighty long ways when we're lost and hungry!" "which is just what we are now," rejoined pryor. "the sooner we start back the quicker we'll be out of this." "pryor!" the square face of the irishman hardened at once. "listen to me. ye're my bunkmate and friend, but i warn ye not to say that agin! if ye said it where he could hear ye--that man ahead--do you know what he would do to you?" "i ain't particular. 'tis time we took this thing into our own hands." "it's where we're takin' it _now_, pryor!" said gass ominously. "a coort martial has set for less than that ye've said!" "mebbe you couldn't call one--i don't know." "mebbe we couldn't, eh? i mind me of a little settlement i had with that man wance--no coort martial at all--me not enlisted at the toime, and not responsible under the arthicles of war. i said to his face i was of the belief i could lick him. i said it kindly, and meant no harm, because at the time it seemed to me i could, and 'twould be a pleasure to me. but boys, he hit me wan time, and when i came to i was careless whether it was the arthicles of war or not had hit me. listen to me now, pryor--and you, too, ordway--a man like that is liable to have judgment in his head as well as a punch in his arm. we're safer to folly him than to folly ourselves. moreover, i want you to say to your men that we will not have thim foregatherin' around and talkin' any disrespect to their shuperiors. if we're in a bad place, let us fight our ways out. let's not turn back until we are forced. i never did loike any rooster in the ring that would either squawk or run away. that man yonder, on ahead, naded mighty little persuadin' to fight. i'm with him!" "well, maybe you are right, pat," said ordway after a time. and so the mutiny once more halted. the tide changed quickly when it began to set the other way. lewis led an advance party across the range. one day, deep in the mountains, he was sweeping the country with his spyglass, as was his custom. he gave a sudden exclamation. "what is it, captain?" asked hugh mcneal. "some game?" "no, a man--an indian! riding a good horse, too--that means he has more horses somewhere. come, we will call to him!" the wild rider, however, had nothing but suspicion for the newcomers. staring at them, he wheeled at length and was away at top speed. once more they were alone, and none the better off. "his people are that way," said lewis. "come!" but all that day passed, and that night, and still they found none of the natives. but they began to see signs of indians now, fresh tracks, hoofprints of many horses. and thus finally they came upon two indian women and a child, whom the white men surprised before they were able to escape. lewis took up the child, and showed the mother that he was a friend. "these are shoshones," said he to his men. "i can speak with them--i have learned some of their tongue from sacajawea. these are her people. we are safe!" sixty warriors met them, all mounted, all gorgeously clad. again the great peace pipe, again the spread blanket inviting the council. the shoshones showed no signs of hostility--the few words of their tongue which lewis was able to speak gave them assurance. "mcneal," said lewis, "go back now across the range, and tell captain clark to bring up the men." william clark, given one night's sleep, was his energetic self again, and not in mind to lie in camp. he had already ordered camp broken, more of the heavier articles cached, the canoes concealed here and there along the stream and had pushed on after lewis. he met mcneal coming down, bearing the tidings. sacajawea ran on ahead in glee. "my people! my people!" she cried. they were indeed safe now. sacajawea found her brother, the chief of this band of shoshones, and was made welcome. she found many friends of her girlhood, who had long mourned her as dead. the girls and younger women laughed and wept in turn as they welcomed her and her baby. she was a great person. never had such news as this come among the shoshones.[5] [footnote 5: cam-e-ah-wit was the name of sacajawea's brother, the shoshone chief. the country where lewis met him is remote from any large city today. pass through the gate of the mountains, not far from helena, montana, and ascend the upper valley of the missouri, as it sweeps west of what is now the yellowstone park, and one may follow with a certain degree of comfort the trail of the early explorers. if one should then follow the jefferson fork of the great river up to its last narrowing, one would reach the country of cam-e-ah-wit. here is the crest of the continental divide, where it sweeps up from the south, after walling in, as if in a vast cup, the three main sources of the great river. much of that valley country is in fertile farms today. lewis and clark passed within twelve miles of alder gulch, which wrote roaring history in the early sixties--the wild placer days of gold-mining in montana. as for sacajawea, she has a monument--a very poor and inadequate one--in the city of portland, oregon. the crest of the great divide, where she met her brother, would have been a better place. it was here, in effect, that she ended that extraordinary guidance--some call it nothing less than providential--which brought the white men through in safety. trace this indian girl's birth and childhood, here among the shoshones, who had fled to the mountains to escape the guns of the blackfeet. recall her capture here by the minnetarees from the dakota country. picture her long journey thence to the east, on foot, by horse, in bull-hide canoes, many hundreds of miles, to the mandan villages. it is something of a journey, even now. reverse that journey, go against the swift current of the waters, beyond the great falls, past helena, west of the yellowstone park, and up to the continental divide, where she met her brother. you will find that that is still more of a journey, even today, with roads, and towns, and maps to guide you. meriwether lewis could not have made it without her. while he was studying the courses of the stars, at philadelphia, preparing to lead his expedition, sacajawea was learning the story of nature also; and she was waiting to guide the white men when they reached the mandan villages. who guided her in such unbelievably strange fashion? the indians sometimes made long journeys, their war parties traveled far, and their captives also; but in all the history of the tribes there is no record of a journey made by any indian woman equal to that of sacajawea. why did she make it? what hand pointed out the way for her? a statue to her? she should have a thousand memorials along the old trail! her name should be known familiarly by every school child in america!] all were now content to lie for a few days at the shoshone village. a brisk trade in indian horses now sprang up--they would be footmen no more. "which way, sacajawea?" meriwether lewis once more asked the indian girl. but now she only shook her head. "not know," said she. "these my people. they say big river that way. not know which way." "now, merne," said william clark, "it's my turn again. we have got to learn the best way out from these mountains. if there is a big river below, some of these valleys must run down to it. their waters probably flow to the columbia. the indians talk of salmon and of white men--they have heard of goods which must have been made by white men. we are in touch with the pacific here. i'll get a guide and explore off to the southwest. it looks better there." "no good--no good!" insisted sacajawea. "that way no good. my brother say go that way." she pointed to the north, and insisted that the party should go in that direction. for a hundred miles clark scouted down the headwaters of the salmon river, and at last turned back, to report that neither horse nor boat ever could get through. at the shoshone village, uneasy, the men were waiting for him. "that way!" said sacajawea, still pointing north. the indian guide, who had served clark unwillingly, at length admitted that there was a trail leading across the mountains far up to the northward. "we will go north," said lewis. they cached under the ashes of their camp fire such remaining articles as they could leave behind them. they had now a band of fifty horses. partly mounted, mostly on foot, their half wild horses burdened, they set out once more under the guidance of an old shoshone, who said he knew the way. charbonneau wanted to remain with the shoshones, and to keep with him sacajawea, his wife, so recently reunited to her people. "no!" said sacajawea. "i no go back--i go with the white chief to the water that tastes salt!" and it was so ordered. their course lay along the eastern side of the lofty bitter root mountains. the going was rude enough, since no trail had ever been here; but mile after mile, day after day, they stumbled through to some point on ahead which none knew except the guide. they came on a new tribe of indians--flatheads, who were as amazed and curious as the shoshones had been at the coming of these white men. they received the explorers as friends--asked them to tarry, told them how dangerous it was to go into the mountains. but haste was the order of the day, and they left the flatheads, rejoicing that these also told of streams to the westward up which the salmon came. they had heard of white men, too, to the west, many years before. down the beautiful valley of the bitter root river, with splendid mountains on either side, they pressed on, and on the ninth of september, 1805, they stopped at the mouth of a stream coming down from the heights to the west. their old guide pointed up this valley. "there is a trail," said he, "which comes across here. the indians come to reach the buffalo. on the farther side the water runs toward the sunset." they were at the eastern extremity of that ancient trail, later called the lolo trail, known immemorially to the tribes on both sides of the mountains. laboriously, always pressing forward, they ascended the eastern slopes of the great range, crossed the summit, found the clear waters on the west side, and so came to the kooskooskie or clearwater river, leading to the snake. and always the natives marveled at these white men, the first they ever had seen. the old indians still made maps on the sand for them, showing them how they would come to the great river where the salmon came. they were now among yet another people--the nez percés. with these also they smoked and counciled, and learned that it would be easy for boats to go all the way down to the great river which ran to the sea. "we will leave our horses here," said lewis. "we will take to the boats once more." so gass and bratton and shields and all the other artisans fell to fashioning dugouts from the tall pines and cedars, hewing and burning and shaping, until at length they had transports for their scanty store of goods. by the first week of october they were at the junction of their river with the snake. an old medicine man of the nez percés, twisted hair, a man who also could make maps, had drawn them charts on a white skin with a bit of charcoal. and on ahead, mounted runners of the indians rushed down to inform the tribes of the coming of these strange people. it was no longer an exploration, but a reception for them now. bands of red men, who welcomed them, had heard of white men coming up from the sea. white men had once lived by the tim-tim water, on the great river of the salmon--so they had been told; but never had any living indian heard of white men coming across the great mountains from the sunrise. "will," said lewis, "it is done--we are safe now! we shall be first across to the columbia. this--" he shook the nez percés' scrawled hide--"is the map of a new world!" chapter viii trail's end where lately had been gloom and despair there now reigned joy and confidence. with the great mountains behind them, and this new, pleasant and gentle land all around them, the spirits of the men rose buoyantly. they could float easily down the strong current of the great snake river, laboring but little, if at all. they made long hours every day, and by the middle of autumn they saw ahead of them a yet grander flood than that of the noble river which was bearing them. at last they had found the columbia! they had found what mackenzie never found, what fraser was not to find--that great river, now to be taken over with every right of double discovery by these messengers of the young republic. how swelled their hearts, when at last they knew this truth, unescapable, incontrovertible! it was theirs. they had won! the men had grown reckless now. cruzatte, labiche, drouillard--all the adventurers--sang as they traveled, gayer and more gay from day to day. always the landscape had fascinating interest for them in its repeated changes. they were in a different world. no one had seen the mountains which they saw. the rockies, the bitter roots--these they had passed; and now they must yet pass through another range, this time not by the toilsome process of foot or horse travel, but on the strong flood of the river. the columbia had made a trail for them through the cascades. down the stormy rapids they plunged exulting. mount hood, st. helen's, rainier, adams--all the lofty peaks of the great cascades, so named at a later date, appeared before them, around them, behind them, as they swung into the last lap of their wild journey and headed down toward the sea. cruzatte, labiche, drouillard--all you others--time now, indeed, for you to raise the song of the old voyageurs! none have come so far as you--your paddles are wrinkling new waters. you are brave men, every one, and yours is the reward of the brave! soon, so said the indians, they would come to ships--canoes with trees standing in them, on which teepees were hung. "me," said cruzatte, "i never in my whole life was seen a sheep! i will be glad for see wan now." but they found no ship anywhere in the lower columbia. all the shores were silent, deserted; no vessel lay at anchor. before them lay the empty river, wide as a sea, and told no tales of what had been. they were alone, in the third year out from home. thousands of leagues they had traveled, and must travel back again. here they saw many gulls. as to columbus these birds had meant land, to our discoverers they meant the sea. forty miles below the last village they saw it--rolling in solemn, white-topped waves beyond the bar. every paddle ceased at its work, and the boats lay tossing on the incoming waves. there was the end of the great trail. yonder lay the pacific! meriwether lewis turned and looked into the eyes of william clark, who sat at the bow of the next canoe. each friend nodded to the other. neither spoke. the lips of both were tight. "the big flag, sergeant gass!" said lewis. they turned ashore. there had been four mess fires at each encampment thus far--those of the three sergeants and that of the officers; but now, as they huddled on the wet beach on which they disembarked, the officers ordered the men to build but one fire, and that a large one. grouped about this they all stood, ragged, soaked, gaunt, unkempt, yet the happiest company of adventurers that ever followed a long trail to its end. "men," said meriwether lewis at length, "we have now arrived at the end of our journey. in my belief there has never been a party more loyal to the purpose on which it has been engaged. without your strength and courage we could not have reached the sea. it is my wish to thank you for mr. jefferson, the president of the united states, who sent us here. if at any time one of you has been disposed to doubt, or to resent conditions which necessarily were imposed, let all that be forgotten. we have done our work. here we must pass the winter. in the spring we will make quick time homeward." they gave him three cheers, and three for captain clark. york gave expression to his own emotions by walking about the beach on his hands. "and the confounded ships are all gone back to sea!" grumbled patrick gass. "i've been achin' for days to git here, in the hope of foindin' some sailor man i'd loike to thrash--and here is no one at all, at all!" "will," said meriwether lewis after a time, pulling out the inevitable map, "i wonder where it was that alexander mackenzie struck the pacific twelve years ago! it must have been far north of here. we have come around forty-seven degrees of longitude west from washington, and something like nine degrees north unite with france or spain on the south to known exploration by land. we have driven the wedge home! never again can great britain on the north unite with france or spain on the south to threaten our western frontier. if they dispute the title we purchased from napoleon, they can never deny our claim by right of discovery. this, i say, solidifies our republic! we have done the work given us to do." "yes," grinned william clark, standing on one leg and warming his wet moccasin sole at the fire; "and i wonder where that other gentleman, mr. simon fraser, is just now!" they could not know that fraser, the trader who was their rival in the great race to the pacific, was at that time snow-bound in the rockies more than one thousand miles north of them. three years after the time when this little band of adventurers stood in the rain at the mouth of the columbia, fraser, at the mouth of the river named after him, heard of white men who had come to the ocean somewhere far to the south. word had passed up the coast, among the native tribes, of men who had white skins, and who had with them a black man with curly hair. "that's lewis and clark!" said simon fraser. "they were at the mandan villages. we are beaten!" so now the largest flag left to lewis and clark floated by the side of a single fire on the wet beach on the north shore of the columbia. here a rude bivouac was pitched, while the leaders finished their first hasty investigation along the beach. "there is little to attract us here," said william clark. "on the south shore there is better shelter for our winter camp." so they headed their little boats across the wide flood of the columbia. it was now december of the year 1805. fort clatsop, as they called their new stockade, was soon in process of erection--seven splendid cabins, built of the best-working wood these men ever had seen; a tall stockade with a gate, such as their forefathers had always built in any hostile country. while some worked, others hunted, finding the elk abundant. more than one hundred elk and many deer were killed. and having nothing better, they now set to work to tan the hides of elk and deer, and to make new clothing. as to civilized equipment they had little left. about four hundred pairs of moccasins they made that winter, sacajawea presiding over the moccasin-boards, and teaching the men to sew. clark, the indefatigable, a natural geographer, completed the remarkable series of maps which so fully established the accuracy of their observations and the usefulness of the voyage across the continent. lewis kept up his records and extended his journals. all were busy, all happier than they had been since their departure from the east. christmas was once more celebrated to the tune of the frenchman's fiddle. came new year's day also; and by that time the stockade was finished, the gate was up, the men were ready for any fortune which might occur. "pretty soon, by and by," said the voyageurs, "we will run on the river for home once more!" even sacajawea, having fulfilled her great ambition of looking out over the sea which tasted of salt, said that she, too, would be content to go back to her people. "we must leave a record, will," said lewis one day, looking up from his papers. "we must take no chances of the results of our exploration not reaching washington. should we be lost among the tribes east of here, perhaps some ship may take that word to mr. jefferson." so now, between them, they formulated that famous announcement to the world, which, one year after their safe arrival home overland, the ships brought around by cape horn, to advise the world that a transcontinental path had been blazed: the object of this list is that through the medium of some civilized person who may see the same, it may be made known to the world that the party consisting of the persons whose names are hereunto annexed, and who were sent out by the government of the united states to explore the interior of the continent of north america, did penetrate the same by the way of the missouri and columbia rivers, to the discharge of the latter into the pacific ocean, where they arrived on the 14th day of november, 1805, and departed the 23rd day of march, 1806, on their return trip to the united states by the same route by which they had come out. this, so soon as they knew their starting date, they signed, each of them, and copies were made for posting here and there in such places as naturally would be discovered by any mariners coming in. and today we--who can glibly list the names of the multimillionaires of america--cannot tell the names of more than two of those thirty-one men, each of whom should be an immortal. "boats now, will!" said meriwether lewis. "we must have boats against our start in the spring. these canoes which brought us down from the kooskooskie were well enough in their way, but will not serve for the upstream journey. again we must lift up the entire party against the current of a great river. get some of the indians' seagoing canoes, will--their lines are easier than those of our dugouts." need was for skilful trading now on the part of william clark, for, eager as the natives were for the white men's goods, scant store of them remained. all the fishhooks were gone, most of the beads, practically all the hats and coats which once had served so well. when at length clark announced that he had secured a fine chinook canoe, there remained for all the return voyage, thousands of miles among the indians, only a half-dozen blankets, a few little trinkets, a hat, and a uniform coat. "you could tie up all the rest in a couple of handkerchiefs," said william clark, laughing. "but such as it is, it must last us back to st. louis--or at least to our caches on the missouri." "how is your salt, will?" asked lewis. "and your powder?" "in fine shape," was the reply. "we have put the new-made salt in some of the empty canisters. there is plenty of powder and lead left, and we can pick up more as we reach our caches going eastward. with what dried meat we can lay up from the elk here, we ought to make a good start." thus they planned, these two extraordinary young men, facing a transcontinental journey of four thousand miles, with no better equipment than the rifles which had served them on their way out. as for their followers, all the discontent and doubt had given way to an implicit faith. all seemed well fed and content, save one--the man on whose shoulders had rested the gravest responsibility, the man in whose soul had been born the vision of this very scene. "what is the matter with you, merne?" grumbled his more buoyant companion. "are you still carrying all the weight of the entire world?" lewis turned upon his friend with the same patient smile. both were conscious that between them there was growing a thin, impermeable veil--something mysterious, the only barrier which ever had separated these two loyal souls. sacajawea, the indian girl, was as keen-eyed as the red-headed chief. in the new boldness that she had learned in her position as general pet of the expedition, she would sometimes talk to the chief reproachfully. "capt'in," she said one day, "what for you no laff? what for you no eat? what for you all time think, think, think? see," she extended a hand--"i make you some more moccasin. i got picture your foot--these fit plenty good." "thank you, bird woman," said lewis, rousing himself. "without you we would not be here today. what can i give you in return for all that--in return for these?" he took the pair of handsomely stitched moccasins, dangling them by the strings over one finger; but even as he did so, the old brooding melancholy fell upon him once more. he sat, forgetful of the girl's presence, staring moodily at the fire. sacajawea, grieving like a little child, stole silently away. why did meriwether lewis never laugh? why did he always think, think, think? why had there grown between him and his friend that thin, indefinable reserve? he was hungry--hungry for another message out of the sky--another gift of manna in the wilderness. who had brought those mysterious letters? whoever he was, why did he not bring another? were they all done--should he never hear from her again? chapter ix the summons the winter was wearing away. the wild fowl were passing northward, landward. the game had changed its haunts. march was coming, the month between the seasons for the tribes, the time of want, the leanest period of the year. meriwether lewis, alone one morning in the comfortable cabin which served as a house for himself and his friend, sat pondering on these things, as was his wont. his little indian dog, always his steady companion, had taken its place on the top of the flatted stump which served as a desk, near the maps and papers which lewis had pushed away. here the small creature sat, motionless, mute, its eyes fixed adoringly upon its master. the captain did not notice it. he did not at first hear the rap on the door, nor the footfall of the man who entered inquiringly. "yes, sergeant ordway?" said he presently, looking up. ordway saluted. "something for you, sir. it seems to be a letter." "a letter! how could that be?" "that is the puzzle, sir," said ordway, extending a folded and sealed bit of paper. "we do not know how it came. charbonneau's wife, the indian woman, found it in the baby's hammock just now. she brought it to me, and i saw it was addressed to you. it must have been overlooked by you some time." "possibly--possibly," said lewis. his face was growing pale. "that is all, i think, sergeant," he added. now alone, he turned toward the letter, which lay upon the table. his face lighted with a wondrous smile, though none might see it save the little dog which watched his every movement. for meriwether lewis had received once more the thing for which every fiber of his being clamored! he knew, without one look, that the number scratched in the wax of the seal would be the figure "4." he opened the letter slowly. there fell from it a square of stiff, white paper--all white, he thought, until he turned it over. then he saw it looking up at him--her face indeed! it was a little silhouette in black, done in that day before the camera, when small portraits were otherwise well-nigh impossible. the artist, skilled as were many in this curious form of portraiture, had done his work well. lewis gazed with a sudden leap of his pulses upon the features outlined before him--the profile so cleanly cut and lofty--the hair low over the forehead, the chin round and firm, yet delicate and womanly withal. here even the long lashes of her eyes were visible, just as in life. yes, it was her face! [illustration: "her face indeed!"] and now he read the letter, which covered many closely written sheets: meriwether lewis, i said to you that my face should come to you, wherever you might be. this time it has been long--i cannot tell how long. that is for my messenger to determine, not for you or me. but that it has been long i shall know, else long since there would have been no need of my adding this letter to the others. not one of them has served to bring you back! since you now have this one, let it advise you that she who wrote it is grieved that you gaze upon this little portrait, and not upon the face of her whom it represents. 'tis a monstrous good likeness, they tell me; but would you not rather it were myself? where are you? i cannot tell. what adversities have been yours? i cannot tell that. you cannot know what grief you have caused by your long absence. you cannot know how many hearts you have made sad. you cannot know how you have delayed--destroyed--plans made for you. we are in ignorance, each of the other, now. i do not know where you are--you do not know where i may be. a great wall arises between us. a great gulf is fixed. we cannot touch hands across it. as i know, this will not move you; but i cannot restrain this reproach. i cannot help telling you that you have made me suffer by your silence, by your absence. do i make you suffer by looking at you with reproach in my eyes--as i do now? you have forgotten your childhood friend! i may be dead as you read--would you care? i have been in need--yet you have not come to comfort me and to dry my tears. figure to yourself what has happened to all my plans and dreams for you. even i cannot tell of that, because, as i write, it all lies in the future--that future which is the present for you as you sit reading this. all i know is that as you read it my appeal has failed. i can but guess how or where these presents may find you; for how shall i know how wise or how faithful my messenger has been? are you on the prairie still, meriwether lewis? is it winter? does the snow lie deep? are the winds keen and biting? are you well fed? are you warm? have you bodily comforts? have you physical well-being? how can i answer all these questions? yet they come to my mind as i write. are you in the mountains? were there, after all, those great stony mountains of which men told fables? have you found the great unicorn or the mammoth or the mastadon which mr. jefferson said you were likely to meet? have you found the dinosaur or the dragon or the great serpents of a foregone day? suppose you have. what do they weigh with me--with you? are they so much to you as you thought they would be? is the taste of all your triumphs so sweet as you have dreamed, meriwether lewis? have you grown savage, my friend--have you come to be just a man like the others? tell me--no, i will not ask you! if i thought you could descend to the lawless standard of the wilderness--but no, i cannot think of that! in any case, 'tis too late now. you have not come back to me. you see, i am writing not so much to implore you to return as to reproach you for not returning. by the time this reaches you, it will be too late in our plans. we could not afford to wait months--three months, four, six--has it been so long as that since you left us? if so, it is too late now. if we have failed, why did we fail? they told me--my father and his friends--and i told you plainly, that if your expedition went on, then our plan must fail. but now i must presume that you have succeeded, or by this time are beyond the feeling of either success or failure. if you have failed, it is too late for us to succeed. if you have succeeded, then certainly we have failed. as you read this, you may be doing so with hope. i, who wrote it, will be sitting in despair. meriwether lewis, come back to me, even so! it will be too late for you to aid me. you will have ruined all our hopes. but yours still will be the task--the duty--to look me in the face and say whether you owe aught to me. can i forgive you? why, yes, i could never do aught else than forgive. no matter what you did, i fear i should forgive you. because, after all, my own wish in all this--- ah! let me write slowly here, and think very carefully! my greatest wish in this, greater than any ambition i had for myself or my family--_has been for you!_ see, i am writing those words--would i dare tell them to any other man in all the world? nay, surely not. but that i trust you, the very writing itself is proof. and i write this to you, who never can be to me what man must be to woman if either is to be happy--the man to whom i can never be what woman must be if she is to mean all to any man. apart forever! we are estranged by circumstance, sundered by that, if you please, weak as those words seem. and yet something takes your soul to mine. does something take mine to you, across all the wilderness, across all the miles, across all the long and bitter months? i say to you once more that in all this my demand upon you has not been for myself, nor wholly for my father. let me be careful here. this impassable gulf is fixed between us for all our lives. neither of us may cross it. but i have been desirous to see you stand among men, where you belong. do not ask me why i wished that--you must never ask me. i am mrs. alston, even as i write. and as for you? are you in rags as you read this? are you cold and hungry? are you alone, aloof, deserted, perhaps suffering, with none to comfort you? i cannot aid you. nay, i shall punish you once more, and say that it was your desire--that you brought this on yourself--that you would have it thus, in spite of all my intervention for you. moreover, you shall say to yourself always: "she asked and i refused her!" nay, nay! i shall not be so cruel. i shall not say that at all. let me mark that out! because, if i write that, you will think i wish to hurt you. and, my friend, let me admit the truth--the truth i ought not to lay upon you as any secret--_i could never wish to hurt you._ they say that men far away in the wilderness sometimes long for the sight of the face of a woman. see, now you have that! i look up at you! what is your impulse? i am alone with you--i am in your hands--treat me, therefore, with honor, i pray you! you must not raise my face to yours, must not bend yours to mine. see now, measure my trust in you, meriwether lewis! estimate the great confidence i hold in you as a gentleman because--do you not see?--a gentleman does not kiss the woman whom he has at a disadvantage--the woman who can never be his, who is another's. is it not true? happiness is not for us. we are so far apart. i am sad. good night, meriwether lewis! i, too, have your picture by me--the one you gave me years ago when i was in virginia. and it--good night, mr. meriwether lewis! place me apart--far from you in the room. let my face not look at you direct. but in your heart--your hard heart of a man, intent on dreams, forgetful of all else--please, please let there linger some small memory of her who dares to write these lines--and who hopes that you never may see them! chapter x the abyss the little indian dog sat on the table, silent, motionless, looking at its master, whose head was bowed upon his arms. now and then it had stooped as if it would have looked in his face, but dared not, if for very excess of love. it turned an inquiring eye to the door, which, after a time, opened. william clark, silent, stood once more at the side of his friend. he looked on the sad and haggard face which was turned toward him, and fell back. his eye caught sight of the folded paper crushed between lewis's fingers. he asked no questions, but he knew. "enough!" broke out meriwether lewis hoarsely. "no more of this--we must be gone! are the men ready? why do we delay? why are we not away for the journey home?" so impatient, so incoherent, did his speech seem that for a time clark almost feared lest his friend's reason might have been affected. but he only stood looking at lewis, ready to be of such aid as might be. "in two hours, merne," said he, "we will be on our way." it was now near the end of march. they dated and posted up their bulletins. they had done their task. they had found the great river, they had found the sea, they had mapped the way across the new continent. their glorious work had gloriously been done. such was their joy at starting home again, the boatmen disregarded the down-coming current of the great waters--they sang at the paddles, jested. only their leader was silent and unsmiling, and he drove them hard. short commons they knew often enough before they reached the mouth of the walla walla, where they found friendly indians who gave them horse meat--which seemed exceedingly good food. the nez percés, whose country was reached next beyond the walla wallas, offered guides across the bitter roots, but now the snow lay deep, the horses could not travel. for weeks they lay in camp on the kooskooskie, eating horse meat as the indians then were doing, waiting, fretting. it was the middle of june before they made the effort to pass the bitter roots. sixty horses they had now, with abundance of jerked horse meat, and a half-dozen nez percés guides. by the third of july--just three years from the date of the louisiana purchase as it was made known at mr. jefferson's simplicity dinner--they were across the bitter roots once more, in the pleasant valleys of the eastern slope. "that way," said sacajawea, pointing, "big falls!" she meant the short cut across the string of the bow, which would lead over the continental divide direct to the great falls of the missouri. both the leaders had pondered over this short cut, which the nez percés knew well. "we must part, will," said meriwether lewis. "it is our duty to learn all we can of this wonderful country. i will take the indian trail straight across. do you go on down the way we came. pick up our caches above the three forks of the missouri, and then cross over the mountains to the yellowstone. make boats there, and come on down to the mouth of that river. you should precede me there, perhaps, by some days. wait then until i come." with little more ado these self-reliant men parted in the middle of the vast mountain wilderness. they planned a later junction of their two parties at the mouth of a river which then was less known than the columbia had been, through a pass which none of them had ever seen. lewis had with him nine men, among them sergeant gass, the two fields boys, drouillard and cruzatte, the voyageurs. sacajawea, in spite of her protest, remained with the clark party, where her wonderful knowledge of the country again proved invaluable. this band advanced directly to the southward by easy and pleasant daily stages. "that way short path over mountains," said sacajawea at length, at one point of their journey. she pointed out the big hole trail and what was later known as clark's pass over the continental divide. they came to a new country, a beautiful valley where the grass was good; but sacajawea still pointed onward. "that way," said she, "find boat, find cache!" she showed them another gap in the hills, as yet unknown; and so led them out by a short cut directly to the caches on the jefferson! but they could not tarry long. boots and saddles again, pole and paddle also, for now some of the men must take to the boats while others brought on the horses. at the three forks rendezvous they made yet other changes, for here the boats must be left. captain clark must cross the mountain range to the eastward to find the yellowstone, of which the indian girl had told him. yonder, she said, not quite a full day's march through a notch in the lofty mountains, they would come to the river, which ran off to the east. not one of them had ever heard of that gap in the hills; there was no one to guide them through it except the indian girl, whose memory had hitherto been so positive and so trustworthy. they trusted her implicitly. "that way!" she said. always she pointed on ahead confidently; and always she was right. she was laying out the course of a railroad which one day should come up the yellowstone and cross here to the missouri. they found it to be no more than eighteen or twenty miles, sacajawea's extraordinary short cut between the missouri and the yellowstone. they struck the latter river below the mouth of its great cañon, found good timber, and soon were busy felling great cottonwoods to make dugout canoes. two of these, some thirty feet in length, when lashed side by side, served to carry all their goods and some of their party. the rest--pryor, shannon, hall and one or two others--were to come on down with the horses. the mounted men did well enough until one night the crows stole all their horses, and left them on foot in the middle of the wilderness. not daunted, they built themselves boats of bull hide, as they had seen indians do, and soon they followed on down the river, they could not tell how far, to the rear of the main boat party. with the marvelous good fortune which attended the entire expedition, they had no accident; and in time they met the other explorers at the mouth of the yellowstone, after traveling nine hundred miles on a separate voyage of original discovery! it was on the eighth of august that the last of clark's boats arrived at the yellowstone rendezvous. his men felt now as if they were almost at home. the mandan villages were not far below. as soon as captain lewis should come, they would be on their way, rejoicing. patient, hardy, uncomplaining, they did not know that they were heroes. what of lewis, then gone so long? he and his men were engaged in the yet more dangerous undertaking of exploring the country of the dreaded blackfeet, known to bear arms obtained from the northern traders. they reached the portage of the great falls without difficulty, and eagerly examined the caches which they had left there. now they were to divide their party. "sergeant gass," said captain lewis, "i am going to leave you here. you will get the baggage and the boats below the falls, and take passage on down the river. six of you can attend to that. i shall take drouillard and the fields boys with me, and strike off toward the north and east, where i fancy i shall find the upper portion of maria's river. when you come to the mouth of that river--which you will remember some of you held to be the real missouri--you will go into camp and wait for us. you will remain there until the first day of september. if by that time we have not returned, you will pass on down the missouri to captain clark's camp, at the mouth of the yellowstone, and go home with him. by that time it will have become evident that we shall not return. i plan to meet you at the mouth of maria's river somewhere about the beginning of august." they parted, and it was almost by a miracle that they ever met again; for now the perils of the wilderness asserted themselves even against the marvelous good fortune which had thus far attended them. hitherto, practically all the tribes met had been friendly, but now they were in the country of the dreaded blackfeet, who by instinct and training were hostile to all whites coming in from the south and east. a party of these warriors was met on the second day of their northbound journey from the missouri river. lewis gave the indians such presents as he could, and, as was his custom, told them of his purpose in traveling through the country. he showed no fear of them, although he saw his own men outnumbered ten to one. the two parties, the little band of white men and the far more numerous band of blackfeet, lay down to sleep that night in company. but the blackfeet were unable to resist the temptation to attain sudden wealth by seizing the horses and guns of these strangers. toward dawn lewis himself, confident in the integrity of his guests, and dozing for a time, felt the corner of his robe pulled, felt something spring on his face, heard a noise. his little dog was barking loudly, excitedly. he was more fully awakened by the sound of a shout, and then by a shot. springing from his robes, he saw drouillard and both of the fields boys on their feet, struggling with the savages, who were trying to wrench their rifles from them. "curse you, turn loose of me!" cried reuben fields. he fought for a time longer with his brawny antagonist, till he saw others coming. then his hand went to the long knife at his belt, and the next instant the blackfoot lay dead at his feet. drouillard wrenched his rifle free and stood off his man for a moment, shouting all the time to his leader that the indians were trying to get the horses. lewis saw the thieves tugging at the picket-ropes, and hastened into the fray, cursing himself for his own credulity. a giant blackfoot engaged him, bull-hide shield advanced, battle-ax whirling; but wresting himself free, lewis fired point-blank into his body, and another indian fell dead. the blackfeet found they had met their match. they dropped the picket-ropes and ran as fast as they could, jumped into the river, swam across, and so escaped, leaving the little party of whites unhurt, but much disturbed. "mount, men! hurry!" lewis ordered. as quickly as they could master the frightened horses, his men obeyed. with all thought of further exploration ended, they set out at top speed, and rode all that day and night as fast as the horses could travel. they had made probably one hundred and twenty miles when at length they came to the mouth of the maria's river, escaped from the most perilous adventure any of them had had. here again, by that strange good fortune which seemed to guide them, they arrived just in time to see the canoes of gass and his men coming down the missouri. these latter had made the grand portage at the falls, had taken up all the caches, and had brought the contents with them. the stars still fought for the volunteers for the discovery of the west. there was no time to wait. the blackfeet would be coming soon. lewis abandoned his horses here. the entire party took to the boats, and hurried down the river as fast as they could, paddling in relays, day and night. gaunt, eager, restless, moody, silent, their leader neither urged his men nor chided them, nor did he refer to the encounter with the blackfeet. he did not need to, with drouillard to describe it to them all a dozen times. at times it was necessary for the boats to stop for meat, usually a short errand in a country alive with game; and, as was his custom, lewis stepped ashore one evening to try for a shot at some near by game--elk, buffalo, antelope, whatever offered. he had with him cruzatte, the one-eyed frenchman. it was now that fortune frowned ominously almost for the first time. the two had not been gone more than a few minutes when the men remaining at the boat heard a shot--then a cry, and more shouting. cruzatte came running back to them through the bushes, calling out at the top of his voice: "the captain! i've keeled him--i've keeled the captain--i've shot him!" "what is that you're saying?" demanded patrick gass. "if you've done that, you would be better dead yourself!" he reached out, caught cruzatte's rifle, and flung it away from him. "where is he?" he demanded. cruzatte led the way back. "i see something move on the bushes," said he, "and i shoot. it was not elk--it was the captain. _mon dieu_, what shall we do?" they found captain lewis sitting up, propped against a clump of willows, his legging stripped to the thigh. he was critically examining the path of the bullet, which had passed through the limb. at seeing him still alive, his men gave a shout of joy, and cruzatte received a parting kick from his sergeant. there were actual tears in the eyes of some of the men as they gathered around their commander--tears which touched meriwether lewis deeply. "it is all right, men!" said he. "do not be alarmed. do not reprove the man too much. the sight of a little blood should not trouble you. we are all soldiers. this is only an accident of the trail, and in a short time it will be mended. see, the bone is not broken!" they aided him back to the boats and made a bed upon which he might lie, his head propped up so that he could see what lay ahead. other men completed the evening hunt, and the boats hurried on down the river. the next day found them fifty miles below the scene of the accident. "sergeant," said meriwether lewis, "the natural fever of my wound is coming on. give me my little war-sack yonder--i must see if i can find some medicine." gass handed him his bag of leather, and lewis sought in it for a moment. his hand encountered something that crinkled in the touch--crinkled familiarly! for one instant he stopped, his lips compressed as if in bodily pain. it was another of the mysterious letters! before he opened it, he looked at it, frowning, wondering. whence came these messages, and how, by whose hand? all of them must have been written before he left st. louis in may of 1804. now it was august of 1806. there was no human agency outside his own party that could have carried them. how had they reached him? what messenger had brought them? he forgot the fever of his wound in another and greater fever which arose in his blood. he was with his men now, their eyes were on him all the time. what should he do--cast this letter from him into the river? if he did so, he felt that it would follow him mysteriously, pointing to the _corpus delicti_ of his crime, still insistent on coming to the eye! his men, therefore, saw their leader casually open a bit of paper. they had seen him do such things a thousand times, since journals and maps were a part of the daily business of so many of them. what he did attracted no attention. captain lewis would have felt relieved had it attracted more. before he read any of the words that lay before him, in this same delicate handwriting that he knew so well, he cast a slow and searching gaze upon the face of every man that was turned toward him. in fact, he held the letter up to view rather ostentatiously, hoping that it would evoke some sign; but he saw none. he had not been in touch with the main party for more than a month. he had with him nine men. which of these had secretly carried the letter? was it gass, cruzatte, drouillard, reuben fields, or mcneal? he studied their faces alternately. not an eyelash flickered. the men who looked at him were anxious only for his comfort. there was no trace of guilty knowledge on any of these honest countenances before him, and he who sought such admitted his own failure. meriwether lewis lay back on his couch in the boat, as far as ever from his solution of the mystery. after all, mere curiosity as to the nature of that mystery was a small matter. it seemed of more worth to feel, as he did, that the woman who had planned this system of surprises for him was one of no ordinary mind. and it was no ordinary woman who had written the words that he now read: sir and my friend: almost i am in despair. this is my fifth letter; you receive it, perhaps, some months after your start. i think you would have come back before now, if that had been possible. i had no news of you, and now i dread news. should you still be gone a year from the time i write this, then i shall know that you were dead. dead? yes, i have written that word! the swift thought comes to me that you will never see this at all--that it may, it must, arrive too late. yet i must send it, even under that chance. i must write it, though it ruin all my happiness. shall it come to you too late, others will take it to my husband. then this secret--the one secret of my life--will be known. ah, i hope this may come to your eyes, your living eyes; but should it not, _none the less i must write it_. what matter? if it should be read by any after your death, that would be too late to make difference with you, or any difference for me. after that i should not care for anything--not even that then others would know what i would none might ever know save you and my creator, so long as we both still lived. this wilderness which you love, the wilderness to which you fled for your comfort--what has it done for you? have you found that lonely grave which is sometimes the reward of the adventurer thither? if so, do you sleep well? i shall envy you, if that is true. i swear i often would let that thought come to me--of the vast comfort of the plains, of the mountains--the sweep of the untiring winds, sweet in the trees and grasses--or the perpetual sound of water passing by, washing out, to the voice of its unending murmurs, all memory of our trials, of our sins. what need now to ask you to come back? what need to reproach you any further? how could i--how can i--with this terrible thought in my soul that i am writing to a man whose eyes cannot see, whose ears cannot hear? still, what difference, whether or not you be living? have not your eyes thus far been blind to me? have not your ears been deaf to me, even when i spoke to you direct? it was the call of your country as against my call. was ever thinking woman who could doubt what a strong man would do? i suppose i ought to have known. but oh, the longing of a woman to feel that she is something greater in a man's life even than his deeds and his ambitions--even than his labors--even than his patriotism! it is hard for us to feel that we are but puppets in the great game of life, of so small worth to any man. how can we women read their hearts--what do we know of men? i cannot say, though i am a married woman. my husband married me. we had our honeymoon--and he went away about the business of his plantations. does every girl dream of a continuous courtship and find a dull answer in the facts? i do not know. how freely i write to you, seeing that you are blind and deaf, of that wish of a woman to be the one grand passion of a strong man's life--above all--before even his country! what may once have been my own dream of my capacity to evoke such emotions in the soul of any man i have flung into the scrap-heap of my life. the man, the one man--no! what was i saying, meriwether lewis, to you but now, even though you were blind and deaf? i must not--i _must_ not! nay, let me dream no more! it is too late now. living or dead, you are deaf and blind to all that i could ever do for you. but if you be still living, if this shall meet your living eyes, however cold and clear they may be, please, please remember it was not for myself alone that i took on the large ambitions of which i have spoken to you, the large risks engaged with them. nay, do not reproach me; leave me my woman's right to make all the reproaches. i only wanted to do something for you. i have not written so freely to any man in all my life. i could not do so now did i not feel in some strange way that by this time--perhaps at this very time--you are either dead or in some extreme of peril. if i _knew_ that you would see this, i could not write it. as it is, it gives me some relief--it is my confessional. how often does a woman ever confess her own, her inner and real heart? never, i think, to any man--certainly not to any living, present man. i married; yes. it seemed the ordinary and natural thing to do, a useful, necessary, desirable thing to do. i should not complain--i did that with my eyes well opened and with full counsel of my father. my eyes well opened, but my heart well closed! i took on my duties as one of the species human, my duties as wife, as head of a household, as lady of a certain rank. i did all that, for it is what most women would do. it is the system of society. my husband is content. what am i writing now? arguing, justifying, defending? ah, were it possible that you would read this and come back to me, never, never, though it killed me, would i open my heart to you! i write only to a dead man, i say--to one who can never hear. i write once more to a man who set other things above all that i could have done. deeds, deeds, what you call your country--your own impulses--these were the things you placed above me. you placed above me this adventuring into the wilderness. yes, i know what are the real impulses in your man's life. i know what you valued above me. but you are dead! while you lived, i hoped your conscience was clean. i hope that never once have you descended to any conduct not belonging to meriwether lewis of virginia. i know that no matter what temptation was yours, you would remember that i was mrs. alston--and that you were meriwether lewis of virginia. nay, i _cannot_ stop! how can you mind my garrulous pen--my vain pen--my wicked, wicked, wicked, shameful pen--since you cannot see what it says? ah, i had so hoped once more to see you before it was too late! should this not reach you, and should it reach others, why, let it go to all the world that theodosia burr that was, mrs. alston of carolina that is, once ardently importuned a man to join her in certain plans for the betterment of his fortunes as well as her own; and that you did not care to share in those plans! so i failed. and further--let that also go out to the world--i glory in the truth _that i have failed_! yes, that at last is the truth at the bottom of my heart! i have searched it to the bottom, and i have found the truth. i glory in the truth that you have _not_ come back to me. there--have i not said all that a woman could say to a man, living or dead? just as strongly as i have urged you to return, just as strongly i have hoped that you would not return! in my soul i wanted to see you go on in your own fashion, following your own dreams and caring not for mine. that was the meriwether lewis i had pictured to myself. i shall glory in my own undoing, if it has meant your success. holding to your own ambition, keeping your own loyalty, holding your own counsel and your own speech to the end--pushing on through everything to what you have set out to do--that is the man i could have loved! deeds, deeds, high accomplishments--these in truth are the things which are to prevail. the selfish love of success as success--the love of ease, of money, of power--these are the things women covet _from_ a man--yes, but they are not the things a woman _loves in_ a man. no; it is the stiff-necked man, bound in his own ambition, whom women love, even as they swear they do not. _therefore, do not come back to me_, meriwether lewis! do not come--forget all that i have said to you before--do not return until you have done your work! do not come back to me until you can come content. do not come to me with your splendid will broken. let it triumph even over the will of a burr, not used to yielding, not easily giving up anything desired. this is almost the last letter i shall ever write to any man in all my life. i wonder who will read it--you, or all the world, perhaps! i wish it might rest with you at the last. oh, let this thought lie with you as you sleep--you did not come back to me, _and i rejoiced that you did not_! tell me, why is it that i think of you lying where the wind is sweet in the trees? why is it that i think of myself, too, lying at last, with all my doubts composed, all my restless ambitions ended, all my foolish dreams answered--in some place where the sound of the unceasing waters shall wash out from the memory of the world all my secrets and all my sins? always i hear myself crying: "i hope i shall not be unhappy, for i do not feel that i have been bad." adieu, meriwether lewis, adieu! i am glad you can never read this. i am glad that you have not come back. i am glad that i have failed! chapter xi the bee "captain, dear," said honest patrick gass, putting an arm under his wounded commander's shoulders as he eased his position in the boat, "ye are not the man ye was when ye hit me that punch back yonder on the ohio, three years ago. since ye're so weak now, i have a good mind to return it to ye, with me compliments. 'tis safer now!" gass chuckled at his own jest as his leader looked up at him. the boiling current of the great missouri, bend after bend, vista after vista, had carried them down until at length they had reached the mouth of the yellowstone, and had seen on ahead the curl of blue smoke on the beach--the encampment of their companions, who were waiting for them here. these wonderful young men, these extraordinary wilderness travelers, had performed one more miracle. separated by leagues of wild and unknown land, they met now casually, as though it were only what should be expected. their feat would be difficult even today. william clark, walking up and down along the bank, looking ever upstream for some sign of his friend, hurried down to meet the boats, and gazed anxiously at the figure lifted in the arms of the men. "what's wrong, merne?" he exclaimed. "tell me!" lewis waved a hand at him in reassurance, and smiled as his friend bent above him. "nothing at all, will," said he. "nothing at all--i was playing elk, and cruzatte thought it very lifelike! it is just a bullet through the thigh; the bone is safe, and the wound will soon heal. it is lucky that we are not on horseback now." by marvel, by miracle, the two friends were reunited once more; and surely around the camp fires there were stories for all to tell. sacajawea, the indian girl, sat listening but briefly to all these tales of adventure--tales not new to one of her birth and education. silently and without question, she took the place of nurse to the wounded commander. she had herbs of her own choosing, simple remedies which her people had found good for the treatment of wounds. as if the captain were her child--rather than the forsaken infant who lustily bemoaned his mother's absence from his tripod in the lodge--she took charge of the injured man, until at length he made protest that he was as well as ever, and that they must go on. again the paddles plied, again the bows of the canoes turned downstream. it seemed but a short distance thence to the mandan villages, and once among the mandans they felt almost as if they were at home. the mandans received them as beings back from the grave. the drums sounded, the feast-fires were lighted, and for a time the natives and their guests joined in rejoicing. but still lewis's restless soul was dissatisfied with delay. he would not wait. "we must get on!" said he. "we cannot delay." the boats must start down the last stretch of the great river. would any of the tribesmen like to go to the far east, to see the great father? big white, chief of the mandans, said his savage prayers. "i will go," said he. "i will go and tell him of my people. we are poor and weak. i will ask him to take pity on us and protect us against the sioux." so it was arranged that big white and his women, with jussaume, his wife, and one or two others, should accompany the brigade down the river. loud lamentations mingled with the preparations for the departure. sacajawea, what of her? her husband lived among the mandans. this was the end of the trail for her, and not the rudest man but was sad at the thought of going on without her. they knew well enough that in all likelihood, but for her, their expedition could never have attained success. beyond that, each man of them held memory of some personal kindness received at her hands. she had been the life and comfort of the party, as well as its guide and inspiration. "sacajawea," said meriwether lewis, when the hour for departure came, "i am now going to finish my trail. do you want to go part way with us? i can take you to the village where we started up this river--st. louis. you can stay there for one snow, until big white comes back from seeing the great father. we can take the baby, too, if you like." her face lighted up with a strange wistfulness. "yes, capt'in," said she, "i go with big white--and you." he smiled as he shook his head. "we go farther than that, many sleeps farther." "who shall make the fire? who shall mend your moccasins? see, there is no other woman in your party. who shall make tea? who shall spread down the robes? me--mrs. charbonneau!" she drew herself up proudly with this title; but still meriwether lewis looked at her sadly, as he stood, lean, gaunt, full-bearded, clad in his leather costume of the plains, supporting himself on his crutch. "sacajawea," said he, "i cannot take your husband with me. all my goods are gone--i cannot pay him; and now we do not need him to teach us the language of other peoples. from here we can go alone." "aw right!" said sacajawea, in paleface idiom. "him stay--me go!" meriwether lewis pondered for a time on what fashion of speech he must employ to make her understand. "bird woman," said he at length, "you are a good girl. it would pain my heart to see you unhappy. but if you came with me to my villages, women would say, 'who is that woman there? she has no lodge; she does not belong to any man.' they must not say that of sacajawea--she is a good woman. those are not the things your ears should hear. now i shall tell the great father that, but for sacajawea we should all have been lost; that we should never have come back again. his heart will be open to those words. he will send gifts to you. sometime, i believe, the great father's sons will build a picture of you in iron, out yonder at the parting of the rivers. it will show you pointing on ahead to show the way to the white men. sacajawea must never die--she has done too much to be forgotten. some day the children of the great father will take your baby, if you wish, and bring him up in the way of the white men. what we can do for you we will do. are my words good in your ears?" "your words are good," said sacajawea. "but i go, too! no want to stay here now. no can stay!" "but here is your village, sacajawea--this is your home, where you must live. you will be happier here. see now, when i sleep safe at night, i shall say, 'it was sacajawea showed me the way. we did not go astray--we went straight.' we will not forget who led us." "but," she still expostulated, looking up at him, "how can you cook? how can you make the lodge? one woman--she must help all time." a spasm of pain crossed lewis's face. "sacajawea," said he, "i told you that i had made medicine--that i had promised my dream never to have a lodge of my own. always i shall live upon the trail--no lodge fire in any village shall be the place for me. and i told you i had made a vow to my dream that no woman should light the lodge fire for me. you are a princess--the daughter of a chief, the sister of a chief, a great person; you know about a warrior's medicine. surely, then, you know that no one is allowed to ask about the vows of a chief! "by and by," he added gently, "a great many white men will come here, sacajawea. they will find you here. they will bring you gifts. you will live here long, and your baby will grow to be a man, and his children will live here long. but now i must go to my people." the unwonted tears of an indian woman were in the eyes which looked up at him. "ah!" said she, in reproach. "i went with you. i cooked in the lodges. i showed the way. i was as one of your people. now i say i go to your people, and you say no. you need me once--you no need me now! you say to me, your people are not my people--you not need sacajawea any more!" the indian has no word for good-by. the faithful--nay, loving--girl simply turned away and passed from him; nor did he ever see her more. alone, apart from her people, she seated herself on the brink of the bluff, below which lay the boats, ready to depart. she drew her blanket over her head. when at length the voyage had begun, she did not look out once to watch them pass. they saw her motionless figure high on the bank above them. the bird woman was mourning. the little indian dog, meriwether lewis's constant companion, now, like sacajawea, mercifully banished, sat at her side, as motionless as she. both of them, mute and resigned, accepted their fate. but as for those others, those hardy men, now homeward bound, they were rejoicing. speed was the cry of all the lusty paddlers, who, hour after hour, kept the boats hurrying down, aided by the current and sometimes pushed forward by favorable winds. they were upon the last stretch of their wonderful journey. speed, early and late, was all they asked. they were going home--back over the trail they had blazed for their fellows! "_capitaine, capitaine_, look what i'll found!" they were halting at noonday, far down the missouri, for the boiling of the kettles. lewis lay on his robes, still too lame to walk, watching his men as they scattered here and there after their fashion. it was cruzatte who approached him, looking at something which the voyager held in his hand. "what is it, cruzatte?" smiled lewis. he was anxious always to be as kindly as possible to this unlucky follower, whose terrible mistake had well-nigh resulted in the death of the leader. "ouch, by gar! she'll bite me with his tail. she's hot!" cruzatte held out in his fingers a small but fateful object. it was a bee, an ordinary honey-bee. east of the mississippi, in illinois, kentucky, the virginias, it would have meant nothing. here on the great plains it meant much. meriwether lewis held the tiny creature in the palm of his hand. "why did you kill it, cruzatte?" he asked. "it was on its errand." he turned to his friend who sat near, at the other side. "will," he said, "our expedition has succeeded. here is the proof of it. the bee is following our path. they are coming!" clark nodded. woodsmen as they both were, they knew well enough the indian tradition that the bee is the harbinger of the coming of the white man. when he comes, the plow soon follows, and weeds grow where lately have been the flowers of the forest or the prairie. they sat for a time looking at the little insect, which bore so fateful a message into the west. reverently lewis placed it in his collector's case--the first bee of the plains. "they are coming!" said he again to his friend. chapter xii what voice had called? they lay in camp far down the river whose flood had borne them on so rapidly. they had passed through the last of the dangerous country of the sioux, defying the wild bands whose gantlet they had to run, but which they had run in safety. ahead was only what might be called a pleasure journey, to the end of the river trail. the men were happy as they lay about their fires, which glowed dully in the dusk. each was telling what he presently was going to do, when he got his pay at old st. louis, not far below. william clark, weary with the day's labor, had excused himself and gone to his blankets. lewis, the responsible head of the expedition, alone, aloof, silent, sat moodily looking into his fire, the victim of one of his recurring moods of melancholy. he stirred at length and raised himself restlessly. it was not unusual for him to be sleepless, and always, while awake, he had with him the problems of his many duties; but at this hour something unwontedly disturbing had come to meriwether lewis. he turned once more and bent down, as if figuring out some puzzle of a baffling trail. picking up a bit of stick, he traced here and there, in the ashes at his feet, points and lines, as if it were some problem in geometry. uneasy, strange of look, now and again he muttered to himself. "hoh!" he exclaimed at length, almost like an indian, as if in some definite conclusion. he had run his trail to the end, had finished the problem in the ashes. "hoh!" his voice again rumbled in his chest. and now he threw his tracing-stick away. he sat, his head on one side, as if looking at some distant star. it seemed that he heard a voice calling to him in the night, so faintly that he could not be sure. his face, thin, gaunt, looked set and hard in the light of his little fire. something stern, something wistful, too, showed in his eyes, frowning under the deep brows. was meriwether lewis indeed gone mad? had the hardships of the wilderness at last taken their toll of him--as had sometimes happened to other men? he rose, limping a little, for he still was weak and stiff from his wound, though disdaining staff or crotched bough to lean upon. he looked about him cautiously. the camp was slumbering. here and there, stirred by the passing breeze, the embers of a little fire glowed like an eye in the dark. the men slept, some under their rude shelters, others in the open under the stars, each rolled in his robe, his rifle under the flap to keep it from the dew. meriwether lewis knew the place of every man in the encampment. ordway, pryor, gass--each of the three sergeants slept by his own mess fire, his squad around him. mcneal, bratton, shields, cruzatte, reuben fields, goodrich, whitehouse, coalter, shannon--the captain knew where each lay, rolled up like a mummy. he had marked each when he threw down his bed-roll that night; for meriwether lewis was a leader of men, and no detail escaped him. he passed now, stealthy as an indian, along the rows of sleeping forms. his moccasined foot made no sound. save for his uniform coat, he was clad as a savage himself; and his alert eye, his noiseless foot, might have marked him one. he sought some one of these--and he knew where lay the man he wished to find. he stood beside him silently at last, looking down at the sleeping figure. the man lay a little apart from the others, for he was to stand second watch that night, and the second guard usually slept where he would not disturb the others when awakened for his turn of duty. this man--he was long and straight in his blankets, and filled them well--suddenly awoke, and lay staring up. he had not been called, no hand had touched him, it was not yet time for guard relief; but he had felt a presence, even as he slept. he stared up at a tall and motionless figure looking down. with a swift movement he reached for his rifle; but the next instant, even as he lay, his hand went to his forehead in salute. he was looking up into the face of his commander! "shannon!" he heard a hoarse voice command him. "get up!" george shannon, the youngest of the party, sprang out of his bed half clad. "captain!" he saluted again. "what is it, sir?" he half whispered, as if in apprehension. "put on your jacket, shannon. come with me!" shannon obeyed hurriedly. half stripped, he stood a fine figure of young manhood himself, lithe, supple, yet developed into rugged strength by his years of labor on the trail. "what is it, captain?" he inquired once more. they were apart from the others now, in the shadows beyond lewis's fire. shannon had caught sight of his leader's countenance, noting the wildness of its look, its drawn and haggard lines. his commander's hand thrust in his face a clutch of papers, folded--letters, they seemed to be. shannon could see the trembling of the hand that held them. "you know what i want, shannon! i want the rest of these--i want the last one of them! give it to me now!" the youth felt on his shoulder the grip of a hand hard as steel. he did not make any answer, but stood dumb, wondering what might be the next act of this man, who seemed half a madman. "five of them!" he heard the same hoarse voice go on. "there must be another--there must be one more, at least. you have done this--you brought these letters. give me the last one of them! why don't you answer?" with sudden and violent strength lewis shook the boy as a dog might a rat. "answer me!" "captain, i cannot!" broke out shannon. "what? then there is another?" "i'll not answer! i'll stand my trial before court martial, if you please." again the heavy hand on his shoulder. "there will be no trial!" he heard the hoarse voice of his commander saying. "i cannot sleep. i must have the last one. there is another!" shannon laid a hand on the iron wrist. "how do you know?" he faltered. "why do you think----" "am i not your leader? is it not my business to know? i am a woodsman. you thought you had covered your trail, but it was plain. i know you are the messenger who has been bringing these letters to me from her. i need not name her, and you shall not! for what reason you did this--by what plan--i do not know, but i know you did it. you were absent each time that i found one of these letters. that was too cunning to be cunning! you are young, shannon, you have something to learn. you sing songs--love songs--you write letters--love letters, perhaps! you are irish--you have sentiment. there is romance about you--_you_ are the man she would choose to do what you have done. being a woman, she knew, she chose well; but it is my business to read all these signs. "give me that letter! i am your officer." "captain, i will not!" "i tell you i cannot sleep! give it to me, boy, or, by heaven, you yourself shall sleep the long sleep here and now! what? you still refuse?" "yes, i'll not be driven to it. you say i'm irish. i am--i'll not give up a woman's secret--it's a question of honor, captain. there is a woman concerned, as you know." "yes!" "and i promised her, too. i swear i never planned any wrong to either of you. i would die at your order now, as you know; but you have no right to order this, and i'll not answer!" the hand closed at his throat. the boy could not speak, but still meriwether lewis growled on at him. "shannon! speak! why have you kept secrets from your commanding officer? you have begun to tell me--tell me all!" the boy's hand clutched at his leader's wrists. at length lewis loosed him. "captain," began the victim, "what do you mean? what can i do?" "i will tell you what i mean, shannon. i promised to care for you and bring you back safe to your parents. you'll never see your parents again, save on one condition. i trusted you, thought you had special loyalty for me. was i wrong?" "on my honor, captain," the boy broke out, "i'd have died for you any time, and i'd do it now! i've worked my very best. you're my officer, my chief!" with one movement, meriwether lewis flung off the uniform coat that he wore. they stood now, man to man, stripped, and neither gave back from the other. "shannon," said lewis, "i'm not your officer now. i'm going to choke the truth out of you. will you fight me, or are you afraid?" the last cruelty was too much. the boy began to gulp. "i'm not afraid to fight, sir. i'd fight any man, but you--no, i'll not do it! even stripped, you're my commander still." "is that the reason?" "not all of it. you're weak, captain, your wound has you in a fever. 'twould not be fair--i could do as i liked with you now. i'll not fight you. i couldn't!" "what? you will not obey me as your officer, and will not fight me as a man? do you want to be whipped? do you want to be shot? do you want to be drummed out of camp tomorrow morning? by heaven, private shannon, one of these choices will be yours!" but something of the icy silence of the youth who heard these terrible words gave pause even to the madman that was meriwether lewis now. he halted, his hooked hands extended for the spring upon his opponent. "what is it, boy?" he whispered at last. "what have i done? what did i say?" shannon was sobbing now. "captain," he said, and thrust a hand into the bosom of his tunic--"captain, for heaven's sake, don't do that! don't apologize to me. i understand. leave me alone. here's the letter. there were six--this is the last." lewis's strained muscles relaxed, his blazing eyes softened. "shannon!" he whispered once more. "what have i done?" he took the letter in his hand, but did not look at it, although his fingers could feel the seal unbroken. "why do you give it to me now, boy?" he asked at length. "what changed you?" "because it's orders, sir. she ordered me--that is, she asked me--to give you these letters at times when you seemed to need them most--when you were sick or in trouble, when anything had gone wrong. we couldn't figure so far on ahead when i ought to give you each one. i had to do my best. i didn't know at first, but now i see that you're sick. you're not yourself--you're in trouble. she told me not to let you know who carried them," he added rather inconsequently. "she said that that might end it all. she thought that you might come back." "come back--when?" "she didn't know--we couldn't any of us tell--it was all a guess. all this about the letters was left to me, to do my best. i couldn't ask you, captain, or any one. i don't know what was in the letters, sir, and i don't ask you, for that's not my business; but i promised her." "what did she promise you?" "nothing. she didn't promise me pay, because she knew i wouldn't have done it for pay. she only looked at me, and she seemed sad, i don't know why. i couldn't help but promise her. i gave her my word of honor, because she said her letters might be of use to you, but that no one else must know that she had written them." "when was all this?" "at st. louis, just before we started. i reckon she picked me out because she thought i was especially close to you. you know i have been so." "yes, i know, shannon." "i thought i was doing something for you. you see, she told me that her name must not be mentioned, that no one must know about this, because it would hurt a woman's reputation. she thought the men might talk, and that would be bad for you. i could not refuse her. do you blame me now?" "no, shannon. no! in all this there is but one to blame, and that is your officer, myself!" "i did not think there was any harm in my getting the letters to you, captain. i knew that lady was your friend. i know who she is. she was more beautiful than any woman in st. louis when we were there--more a lady, somehow. of course, i'm not an officer or a gentleman--i'm only a boy from the backwoods, and only a private soldier. i couldn't break my promise to her, and i couldn't very well obey your orders unless i did. if i've broken any of the regulations you can punish me. you see, i held back this letter--i gave it to you now because i had the feeling that i ought to--that she would want me to. it is the fever, sir!" "aye, the fever!" silence fell as they stood there in the night. the boy went on, half tremblingly: "please, please, captain lewis, don't call me a coward! i don't believe i am. i was trying to do something for you--for both of you. it was always on my mind about these letters. i did my best and now----" and now it was the eye of meriwether lewis that suddenly was wet; it was his voice that trembled. "boy," said he, "i am your officer. your officer asks your pardon. i have tried myself. i was guilty. will you forget this?" "not a word to a soul in the world, captain!" broke out shannon. "about a woman, you see, we do not talk." "no, mr. shannon, about a woman we gentlemen do not talk. but now tell me, boy, what can i do for you--what can i ever do for you?" "nothing in the world, captain--but just one thing." "what is it?" "please, sir, tell me that you don't think me a coward!" "a coward? no, shannon, you are the bravest fellow i ever met!" the hand on the boy's shoulder was kindly now. the right hand of captain meriwether lewis sought that of private george shannon. the madness of the trail, of the wilderness--the madness of absence and of remorse--had swept by, so that lewis once more was officer, gentleman, just and generous man. shannon stooped and picked up the coat that his captain had cast from him. he held it up, and aided his commander again to don it. then, saluting, he marched off to his bivouac bed. from that day to the end of his life, no one ever heard george shannon mention a word of this episode. beyond the two leaders of the party, none of the expedition ever knew who had played the part of the mysterious messenger. nor did any one know, later, whence came the funds which eventually carried george shannon through his schooling in the east, through his studies for the bar, and into the successful practise which he later built up in kentucky's largest city. meriwether lewis, limp and lax now, shivering in the chill under the reaction from his excitement, turned away, stepped back to his own lodge, and contrived a little light, after the frontier fashion--a rag wick in a shallow vessel of grease. with this uncertain aid he bent down closer to read the finely written lines, which ran: my friend: this is my last letter to you. this is the one i have marked number six--the last one for my messenger. yes, since you have not returned, now i know you never can. rest well, then, sir, and let me be strong to bear the news when at length it comes, if it ever shall come. let the winds and the waters sound your requiem in that wilderness which you loved more than me--which you loved more than fame or fortune, honor or glory for yourself. the wilderness! it holds you. and for me--when at last i come to lay me down, i hope, too, some wilderness of wood or waters will be around me with its vast silences. after all, what is life? such a brief thing! little in it but duty done well and faithfully. i know you did yours while you lived. i have tried to do mine. it has been hard for me to see what was duty. if i knew as absolute truth that conviction now in my heart--that you never can come back--how then could i go on? meriwether--merne--merne--i have been calling to you! have you not heard me? can you not hear me now, calling to you across all the distances to come back to me? i cannot give you up to the world, because i have loved you so much for myself. it was a cruel fate that parted us--more and more i know that, even as more and more i resolve to do what is my duty. but, oh, i miss you! come back to me--to one who never was and never can be, but _is_--- yours, theodosia. it took him long to read this letter. at last his trembling hand dropped the creased and broken sheets. the guttering light went out. the men were silent, sleeping near their fires. the peace of the great plains lay all about. she had said it--had said that last fated word. now indeed he knew what voice had called to him across the deeps! he reflected now that all these messages had been written to him before he left her; and that when he saw her last she was standing, tears in her eyes, outraged by the act of the man whom she had trusted--nay, whom she had loved! chapter xiii the news a horseman rode furiously over the new road from fort bellefontaine to st. louis village. he carried news. the expedition of lewis and clark had returned! yes, these men so long thought lost, dead, were coming even now with their own story, with their proofs. the boats had passed charette, had passed bellefontaine, and presently would be pulling up the river to the water front of st. louis itself. "run, boys!" cried pierre chouteau to his servants. "call out the people! tell them to ring the bells--tell them to fire the guns at the fort yonder. captains lewis and clark have come back again--those who were dead!" the little settlement was afire upon the instant. laughing, talking, ejaculating, weeping in their joy, the people of st. louis hurried out to meet the men whose voyage meant so much. at last they saw them coming, the paddles flashing in unison in the horny hands which tirelessly drove the boats along the river. they could see them--men with long beards, clad in leggings of elk hide, moccasins of buffalo and deer; their head-dresses those of the indians, their long hair braided. and see, in the prow of the foremost craft sat two men, side by side--lewis and clark, the two friends who had arisen as if from the grave! "present arms!" rang out a sharp command, as the boats lined up along the wharf. the brown and scarred rifles came to place. "aim! fire!" the volley of salutation blazed out even with the chorus of the voyageurs' cheers. and cheers repeated and unceasing greeted them as they stepped from their boats to the wharf. in an instant they were half overpowered. "come with me!" "no, with me!" "with me!" a score of eager voices of the first men of st. louis claimed the privilege of hospitality for them. it was almost by force that pierre chouteau bore them away to his castle on the hill. and always questions, questions, came upon them--ejaculations, exclamations. "_ma foi!_" exclaimed more than one pretty french maiden. "such men--such splendid men--savages, yet white! see! see!" they had gone away as youths, these two captains; they had come back men. four thousand miles out and back they had gone, over a country unmapped, unknown; and they brought back news--news of great, new lands. was it any wonder that they stood now, grave and dignified, feeling almost for the first time the weight of what they had done? they passed over the boat-landing and across the wharf, approaching the foot of the rocky bluff above which lay the long street of st. louis. silent, as was his wont, meriwether lewis had replied to most of the greetings only with the smile which so lighted up his face. but now, suddenly, he ceased even to smile. his eye rested not upon the faces of those acclaiming friends, but upon something else beyond them. yes, there it was--the old fur-shed, the storage-house of the traders here on the wharf, just as he had left it two years before! the door was closed. what lay beyond it? lewis shuddered, as if caught with chill, as he looked at yonder door. just there she had stood, more than two years ago, when he started out on this long journey. there he had kissed that face which he had left in tears--he saw it now! all the glory of his safe return, all the wonderful results which it must mean, he would have given now, could he have had back that picture for a different making. "my matches--my thermometers--my instruments--how did they perform?" the speaker was dr. saugrain, eager to meet again his friends. "perfect, doctor, perfect! we have some of the matches yet. as to the thermometers, we broke the last one before we reached the sea." "you found the sea? _mon dieu!_" "we found the pacific. we found the columbia, the yellowstone--many new rivers. we have found a new continent--made a new geography. we passed the head of the missouri. we found three great mountain ranges." "the beaver--did you find the beaver yonder?" demanded the voice of a swarthy man who had attended them. it was manuel liza, fur-trader, his eyes glowing in his interest in that reply. "beaver?" william clark waved a hand. "how many i could not tell you! thousands and millions--more beaver than ever were known in the world before. millions of buffalo--elk in droves--bears such as you never saw--antelope, great horned sheep, otters, muskrat, mink--the greatest fur country in all the world. we could not tell you half!" "your men, will they be free to make return up the river with trading parties?" william clark smiled at the keenness of the old french trader. "you could not possibly have better men," said he. the men themselves shook their heads in despair. yes, they said, they had found a thousand miles of country ready to be plowed. they had found any quantity of hardwood forests and pine groves. they had seen rivers packed with fish until they were half solid--more fish than ever were in all the world before. they had found great rivers which led far back to the heart of the continent. they had seen trees larger than any man ever had seen--so large that they hardly could be felled by an ax. they had found a country where in the winter men perished, and another where the winters were not cold, and where the bushes grew high as trees. they had found all manner of new animals never known before--in short, a new world. how could they tell of it? "captain," inquired chouteau at length, "your luggage, your boxes--where are they?" meriwether lewis pointed to a skin parfleche and a knotted bandanna handkerchief which george shannon carried for him. "that is all i have left," said he. "but the mail for the east--the mail, m. chouteau--we must get word to the president!" "the president has long ago been advised of your death," said chouteau, laughing. "all the world has said good-by to you. no doubt you can read your own obituaries." "we bring them better news than that. what news for us?" asked the two captains of their host. "news!" the voluble frenchman threw up his hands. "nothing but news! the entire world is changed since you left. i could not tell you in a month. the burr duel----" "yes, we did not know of it for two years," said william clark. "we have just heard about it, up river." "the killing of mr. hamilton ended the career of colonel burr," said chouteau. "but for that we might have different times here in mississippi. he had many friends. but you have heard the last news regarding him?" it was the dark eye of meriwether lewis which now compelled his attention. "no? well, he came out here through this country once more. he was arrested last summer, on the natchez trace, and carried off to washington. the charge is treason against his government. the country is full of it--his trial is to be at richmond. even now it may be going on." he did not notice the sudden change in meriwether lewis's face. "and all the world is swimming in blood across the sea," went on their garrulous informant. "napoleon and great britain are at war again. were it not so, one or the other of them would be at the gates of new orleans, that is sure. this country is still discontented. there was much in the plan of colonel burr to separate this valley into a country of its own, independent--to force a secession from the republic, even though by war on the flag. indeed, he was prepared for that; but now his conspiracy is done. perhaps, however, you do not hold with the theory of colonel burr?" "hold with the theory of colonel burr, sir?" exclaimed the deep voice of meriwether lewis. "hold with it? this is the first time i have known what it was. it was treason! if he had any join him, that was in treason! he sought to disrupt this country? agree with him? what is this you tell me? i had never dreamed such a thing as possible of him!" "he had many friends," went on chouteau; "very many friends. they are scattered even now all up and down this country--men who will not give up their cause. all those men needed was a leader." "but, m. chouteau," rejoined lewis, "i do not understand--i cannot! what colonel burr attempted was an actual treason to this republic. i find it difficult to believe that!" chouteau shrugged his shoulders. "there may be two names for it," he said. "and every one asked to join the cause was asked to join in treason to his country. is it not so?" lewis went on. "there may be two names for it," smiled the other, still shrugging. "he was my friend," said meriwether lewis. "i trusted him!" "always, i repeat, there are two names for treason. but what puzzles me is this," chouteau continued. "what halted the cause of colonel burr here in the west? he seemed to be upon the point of success. his organization was complete--his men were in new orleans--he had great lands purchased as a rendezvous below. he had understandings with foreign powers, that is sure. well, then, here is colonel burr at st. louis, all his plans arranged. he is ready to march, to commence his campaign, to form this valley into a great kingdom, with mexico as part of it. he was a man able to make plans, believe me. but of all this there comes--nothing! why? at the last point something failed--no one knew what. he waited for something--no one knew what. something lacked--no one can tell what. and all the time--this is most curious to me--i learned it through others--colonel burr was eager to hear something of the expedition of lewis and clark into the west. why? no one knows! _does_ no one know?" the captain did not speak, and chouteau presently went on. "why did colonel burr hesitate, why did he give up his plans here--why, indeed, did he fail? you ask me why these things were? i say, it was because of you--_messieurs_, you two young men, with your lewis and clark expedition! it was _you_ who broke the burr conspiracy--for so they call it in these days. _messieurs_, that is your news!" chapter xiv the guests of a nation "attention, men!" the company of volunteers for the discovery of the west fell into line in front of the stone fortress of old st. louis. a motley crew they looked in their half-savage garb. they were veterans, fit for any difficult undertaking in the wilderness. shoulder to shoulder they had labored in the great enterprise. now they were to disband. their leaders had laid aside the costume of the frontier and assumed the uniforms of officers in the army of the united states. fresh from his barber and his tailor, captain lewis stood, tall, clean-limbed, immaculate, facing his men. his beard was gone, his face showed paler where it had been reaped. his hair, grown quite long, and done now in formal cue, hung low upon his shoulders. in every line a gentleman, an officer, and a thoroughbred, he no longer bore any trace of the wilderness. love, confidence, admiration--these things showed in the faces of his men as their eyes turned to him. "men," said he, "you are to be mustered out today. there will be given to each of you a certificate of service in this expedition. it will entitle you to three hundred and twenty acres of land, to be selected where you like west of the mississippi river. you will have double pay in gold as well; but it is not only in this way that we seek to show appreciation of your services. "we have concluded a journey of considerable length and importance. between you and your officers there have been such relations as only could have made successful a service so extraordinary as ours has been. in our reports to our own superior officers we shall have no words save those of praise for any of you. our expedition has succeeded. to that success you have all contributed. your officers thank you. "captain clark will give you your last command, men. as i say farewell to you, i trust i may not be taken to mean that i separate myself from you in my thoughts or memories. if i can ever be of service to any of you, you will call upon me freely." he turned and stepped aside. his place was taken by his associate, william clark, likewise a soldier, an officer, properly attired, and all the figure of a proper man. clark's voice rang sharp and clear. "attention! aim--fire! break ranks--march!" the last volley of the gallant little company was fired. the last order had been given and received. with a sweep of his drawn sword, captain clark dismissed them. the expedition was done. so now they went their way, most of them into oblivion, great though their services had been. for their officers much more remained to do. the progress to washington was a triumph. everywhere their admiring countrymen were excited over their marvelous journey. they were fêted and honored at every turn. the country was ringing with their praises from the mississippi to the atlantic as the news spread eastward just ahead of them. when at last they finished their adieux to the kindly folk of st. louis, who scarce would let them go, they took boat across the river to the old kaskaskia trail, and crossed the illinois country by horse to the falls of the ohio, where the family of william clark awaited him. here was much holiday, be sure; but not even here did they pause long, for they must be on their way to meet their chief at washington. their little cavalcade, growing larger now, passed on across kentucky, over the gap in the cumberlands, down into the country of the virginia gentry. here again they were fêted and dined and wined so long as they would tarry. it was specially difficult for them to leave colonel hancock, at fincastle. here they must pause and tell how they had named certain rivers in the west--the one for maria woods; another for judith hancock--the maria's and judith rivers of our maps today. here william clark delayed yet a time. he found in the charms of the fair judith herself somewhat to give him pause. soon he was to take her as his bride down the ohio to yonder town of st. louis, for whose fame he had done so much, and was to do so much more. toward none of the fair maids who now flocked about them could meriwether lewis be more than smiling gallant, though rumors ran that either he or william clark might well-nigh take his pick. he was alike to all of them in his courtesy. one thought of eager and unalloyed joy rested with him. he was soon to see his mother. in time he rode down from the hilltops of old albemarle to the point beyond the ivy depot where rose the gentle eminence of locust hill, the plantation of the lewis family. always in the afternoon, in all weathers, his mother sat looking down the long lane to the gate, as if she expected that one day a certain figure would appear. sometimes, old as she was, she dozed and dreamed--just now she had done so. she awoke, and saw standing before her, as if pictured in her dream, the form of her son, in bodily presence, although at first she did not accept him as such. "my son!" said she at length, half as much in terror as in joy. "merne!" he stooped down and took her grayed head in his hands as she looked up at him. she recalled other times when he had come from the forest, from the wilderness, bearing trophies in his hands. he bore now trophies greater, perhaps, than any man of his age ever had brought home with him. what washington had defended was not so great as that which lewis won. it required them both to make an america for us haggling and unworthy followers. "my son!" was all she could say. "they told me that you never would come back, that you were dead. i thought the wilderness had claimed you at last, merne!" "i told you i should come back to you safe, mother. there was no danger at any time. from st. louis i have come as fast as any messenger could have come. next i must go to see mr. jefferson at washington--then, back home again to talk with you, for long, long hours." "and what have you found?" "more than i can tell you in a year! we found the mysterious river, the columbia--found where it runs into the ocean, where it starts in the mountains. we found the head of the missouri--the ohio is but a creek beside it. we crossed plains and mountains more wonderful than any we have ever dreamed of. we saw the most wonderful land in all the world, mother--and we made it ours!" "and you did that? merne, was _that_ why the wilderness called to you? my boy has done all that? your country will reward you. i should not complain of all these years of absence. you are happy now, are you not?" "i should be the happiest of men. i can take to mr. jefferson, our best friend, the proof that he was right in his plans. his great dream has come true, and i in some part helped to make it true. should i not now be happy?" "you should be, merne, but are you?" "i am well, and i find you still well and strong. my friend, will clark, has come back with me hearty as a boy. everything has been fortunate with us. look at me," he demanded, turning and stretching out his mighty arms. "i am strong. my men all came through without loss or injury--the splendid fellows! it is wonderful that in risks such as ours we met with no ill fortune." "yes, but are you happy? turn your face to me." but he did not turn his face. "i told my friend, william clark," he said lightly, as he rose, "to join me here after an hour or so. i think i see his party coming now. york rides ahead, do you see? he is a free negro now--he will have stories enough to set all our blacks idle for a month. i must go down to meet will and our other guests." william clark, bubbling over with his own joy of life, set all the household in a whirl. there was nothing but cooking, festivity, dancing, hilarity, so long as he remained at locust hill. but the mother of meriwether lewis looked with jealous eye on william clark. success, glory, honor, fame, reward--these now belonged to meriwether lewis, to them both, his mother knew. but why did not his laugh sound high like that of his friend? her eyes followed her son daily, hourly, until at last she surrendered him to his duty when he declared he could no longer delay his journey to washington. spick and span, cap-a-pie, pictures of splendid young manhood, the two captains rode one afternoon up to the great gate before the mansion house of the nation. lewis looked about him at scenes once familiar; but in the three years and a half since he had seen it last the raw town had changed rapidly. workmen had done somewhat upon the capitol building yonder, certain improvements had been made about the executive mansion itself; but the old negro men at the gate and at the door of the house were just as he had left them. and when, running on ahead of his companion, he knocked at mr. jefferson's office door--flinging it open, as he did so, with the freedom of his old habit--he looked in upon a familiar sight. thomas jefferson was sitting bent over his desk, as usual littered with a thousand papers. the long frame of his multigraph copying-machine was at one side. folded documents lay before him, unfinished briefs upon the other side; a rack of goose quills and an open inkpot stood beyond. and on the top of the desk, spread out long and over all, lay a great map, whose identity these two young men easily could tell--the lewis and clark map sent back from the mandan country! thomas jefferson had kept it at his desk every day since it had come to him, more than two years before. he turned now toward the door, casually, for he was used to the interruptions of his servants. what he saw brought him to his feet. he spread out his arms impulsively--he shook the hand of each in turn, drew them to him before he motioned them to seats. never had meriwether lewis seen such emotion displayed by his chief. "i could hardly wait for you!" said mr. jefferson. he began to pace up and down. "i knew it, i knew it!" he exclaimed. "now they will call us constitutional, perhaps, since we have added a new world to our country! my son, that was our vision. you have proved it. you have been both dreamer and doer!" he came up and placed a half playful hand on meriwether lewis's shoulder. "did i know men, then?" he demanded. "and did i, mr. jefferson? captain clark----" "you do not say the title correctly! it is not captain clark, it is not captain lewis, that stand before me now. you are to have sixteen hundred acres of land, each of you. you, my son, will be governor lewis of the new territory of louisiana; and your friend is not captain clark but general clark, agent of all the indian tribes of the west!" in silence the hand of each of the young men went out to the president. then their own eyes met, and their hands. they were not to be separated after all--they were to work together yonder in st. louis! "governor--general--i welcome you back! you will come back to your old rooms here in my family, merne, and we will find a place for your friend. what we have here is at the service of both of you. you are the guests of the nation!" chapter xv mr. jefferson's advice "merne, my boy," said thomas jefferson, when at length they two were alone once more in the little office, "i cannot say what your return means to me. you come as one from the grave--you resurrect another from the grave." "meaning, mr. jefferson?----" "you surely have heard that my administration is in sad disrepute? there is no man in the country hated so bitterly as myself. we are struggling on the very verge of war." "i heard some talk in the west, mr. jefferson," hesitated meriwether lewis. "yes, they called this louisiana purchase, on which i had set my heart, nothing but extravagance. the machinations of colonel burr have added nothing to its reputation. general jackson is with burr, and many other strong friends. and meantime you know where burr himself is--in the richmond jail. i understand that his friend, mr. merry, has gone yonder to visit him. our country is degenerated to be no more than a scheming-ground, a plotting-place, for other powers. you come back just in the nick of time. you have saved this administration! you bring back success with you. if the issue of your expedition were anything else, i scarce know what would be my own case here. for myself, that would have mattered little; but as to this country for which i have planned so much, your failure would have cost us all the mississippi valley, besides all the valley of the missouri and the columbia. yes, had you not succeeded, aaron burr would have succeeded! instead of a great republic reaching from ocean to ocean, we should have had a scattered coterie of states of no endurance, no continuity, no power. thank god for the presence of one great, splendid thing gloriously done! you cannot, do not, begin to measure its importance." "we are glad that you have been pleased, mr. jefferson," said lewis simply. "pleased! pleased! say rather that i am saved! say rather that this country is saved! had you proved disloyal to me--had you for any cause turned back," he went on, "think what had been the result! what a load, although you knew it not, was placed on your shoulders! suppose that you had turned back on the trail last year, or the summer before--suppose you had not gotten beyond the mandans--can you measure the difference for this republic? can you begin to see what responsibility rested on you? had you failed, you would have dragged the flag of your country in the dust. had you come back any time before you did, then you might have called yourself the man who ruined his president, his friend, his country!" "and i nearly did, mr. jefferson!" broke out meriwether lewis. "do not praise me too much. i was tempted----" the old man turned toward him, his face grave. "you are honest! i value that above all in you--you are punctilious to have no praise not honestly won. listen, now!" he leaned toward the young man, who sat beside him. "i know--i knew all along--how you were tempted. she came here--theodosia--the very day you left!" lewis nodded, mute. "in some way, i knew, the conspirators fought against your success and mine. i knew what agencies they intended to use against you--it was this woman! had you failed, i should have known why. i know many things, whether or not you do. i know the character of aaron burr well enough. he has been crazed, carried away by his own ambitions--god alone knows where he would have stopped. he has been a man not surpassed in duplicity. he would stop at nothing. moreover, he could make black look white. he did so for his daughter. she believed in him absolutely. and knowing somewhat of his plans, i imagined that he would use the attraction of that young lady for you--the power which, all things considered, she might be supposed to possess with you. i knew the depth of your regard for her, the deeper for its hopelessness. and more than all, i knew the intentness and resolution of your character. it was one motive against the other! which was the stronger? you were a young man--the hot blood of youth was yours, and i know its power. had the woman not been married, i should have lost! you would have sold a crown for her. it was honor saved you--your personal honor--that was what brought us success. no country is bigger than the personal honor of its gentlemen." the bowed head of meriwether lewis was his only answer. the keen-faced old man went on: "i knew that before you had left the mouth of the ohio river he would do his best to stop you--i knew it before you had left harper's ferry; but i placed the issue in the lap of the gods. i applied to you all the tests--the severest tests--that one man can to another. i let you alone! for a year, two years, three years, i did not know. but now i do know; and the answer is yonder flag which you have carried from one ocean to the other. the answer is in this map, all these hides scrawled in coal--all those new thousands of miles of land--_our_ land. god keep it safe for us always! and may the people one day know who really secured it for them! it was not so much thomas jefferson as it was meriwether lewis. "each time i dreamed that my subtle enemies were tempting you, i prayed in my own soul that you would be strong; that you would go on; that you would be loyal to your duty, no matter what the cost. god answered those prayers, my boy! whatever was your need, whatever price you paid, you did what i prayed you would do. when the months passed and you did not come back, i knew that not even the woman you loved could have called you back. i knew that you had learned the priceless lesson of renunciation, of sacrifice, through which alone the great deeds of the world always have been done." meriwether lewis stood before his chief, cold and pale, unable to complete much speech. thomas jefferson looked at him for a moment before he went on. "my boy, you are so simple that you will not understand. you do not understand how well i understand you! these things are not done without cost. if there was punishment for you, you took that punishment--or you will! you kept your oath as an officer and your unwritten oath as a gentleman. it is a great thing for a man to have his honor altogether unsullied." "mr. jefferson!" the young man before him lifted a hand. his face was ghastly pale. "do not," said he. "do not, i beg of you!" "what is it, merne?" exclaimed the old man. "what have i done?" "you speak of my honor. do not! indeed, you touch me deep." thomas jefferson, wise old man, raised a hand. "i shall never listen, my son," said he. "i will accord to you the right of hot blood to run hot--you would not be a man worth knowing were it not so. all i know or will know is that whatever the price, you have paid it--or will pay it! but tell me, merne, can you not tear her from your soul? it will ruin you, this hopeless attachment which you cherish. is it always to remain with you? i bid you find some other woman. the best in the land are waiting for you." "mr. jefferson, i shall never marry." the two sat looking into each other's eyes for just a moment. said thomas jefferson at length, slowly: "so! you have come back with all happiness, all success, for me and for others--but not for yourself! such proving as you have had has fallen to the lot of but few men. i know now how great has been the cost--i see it in your face. the fifteen millions i paid for yonder lands was nothing. we have bought them with the happiness of a human soul! the transient gratitude of this republic--the honor of that little paper--bah, they are nothing! but perhaps it may be something for you to know that at least one friend understands." lewis did not speak. "what is lost is lost," the president began again after a time. "what is broken is broken. but see how clearly i look into your soul. you are not thinking now of what you can do for yourself. you are not thinking of your new rank, your honors. you are asking now, at this moment, what you can do for _her_! is it not so?" the smile that came upon the young man's face was a beautiful, a wonderful thing to see. it made the wise old man sad to see it--but thoughtful, too. "she is at richmond, merne?" said mr. jefferson a moment later. the young man nodded. "and the greatest boon she could ask would be her father's freedom--the freedom of the man who sought to ruin this country--the man whom i scarcely dare release." the thin lips compressed for a moment. it was not in implacable, vengeful zeal--it was but in thought. "now, then," said thomas jefferson sharply, "there comes a veil, a curtain, between you and me and all the world. no record must show that either of us raised a hand against the full action of the law, or planned that colonel burr should not suffer the full penalty of the code. yes, for him that is true--but _not for his daughter_!" "mr. jefferson!" the face of meriwether lewis was strangely moved. "i see the actual greatness of your soul; but i ask nothing." "why, in my heart i feel like flinging open every prison door in the world. if you have gained an empire for your country, and paid for it as you have, could not a great and rich country afford to pay to the extent of a woman's happiness? when a king is crowned, he sets free the criminals. and this day i feel as proud and happy as if i were a king--and king of the greatest empire of all the world! i know well who assured that kingdom. let me be, then"--he raised his long hand--"say nothing, do nothing. and let this end all talk between us of these matters. i know you can keep your own counsel." lewis bowed silently. "go to richmond, merne. you will find there a broken conspirator and his unhappy daughter. both are ostracized. none is so poor as to do either of them reverence. she has no door opened to her now, though but lately she was daughter of the vice-president, the rich mrs. alston, wife of the governor of her state. go to them now. tell colonel burr that the president will not ask mercy for him. john marshall is on the bench there; but before him is a jury--john randolph is foreman of that jury. it is there that case will be tried--in the jury room; and _politics will try it_! go to theodosia, merne, in her desperate need." "but what can i do, mr. jefferson?" broke out his listener. "do precisely what i tell you. go to that social outcast. take her on your arm before all the world--_and before that jury_! sit there, before all richmond--and that jury. an hour or so will do. do that, and then, as i did when i trusted you, ask no questions, but leave it on the knees of the gods. if you can call me chief in other matters," the president concluded, "and can call me chief in that fashion of thought which men call religion as well, let me give you unction and absolution, my son. it is all that i have to give to one whom i have always loved as if he were my own son. this is all i can do for you. it may fail; but i would rather trust that jury to be right than trust myself today; because, i repeat, i feel like flinging open every prison door in all the world, and telling every erring, stumbling man to try once more to do what his soul tells him he ought to do!" chapter xvi the quality of mercy in richmond jail lay aaron burr, the great conspirator, the ruins of his ambition fallen about him. he had found a prison instead of a palace. he was eager no longer to gain a scepter, but only to escape a noose. the great conspiracy was at an end. the only question was of the punishment the accused should have--for in the general belief he was certain of conviction. that he never was convicted has always been one of the most mysterious facts of a mysterious chapter in our national development. so crowded were the hostelries of richmond that a stranger would have had difficulty in finding lodging there during the six months of the burr trial. not so with meriwether lewis, now one of the country's famous men. a score of homes opened their doors to him. the town buzzed over his appearance. he had once been the friend of burr, always the friend of jefferson. to which side now would he lean. luther martin, chief of burr's counsel, was eager above all to have a word with meriwether lewis, so close to affairs in washington, possibly so useful to himself. washington irving, too, assistant to martin in the great trial, would gladly have had talk with him. all asked what his errand might be. what was the leaning of the governor of the new territory, a man closer to the administration at washington than any other? meriwether lewis kept his own counsel. he arranged first to see burr himself. the meagerly furnished anteroom of the federal prison in richmond was the discredited adventurer's reception-hall in those days. burr advanced to meet his visitor with something of his own old haughtiness of mien, a little of the former brilliance of his eye. "governor, i am delighted to see you, back safe and sound from your journey. my congratulations, sir!" meriwether lewis made no reply, but gazed at him steadily, well aware of the stinging sarcasm of his words. "i have few friends now," said aaron burr. "you have many. you are on the flood tide--it ebbs for me. when one loses, what mercy is shown to him? that scoundrel merry--he promised everything and gave nothing! yrujo--he is worse yet in his treachery. even the french minister, turreau--who surely might listen to the wishes of the great french population of the mississippi valley--pays no attention to their petitions whatever, and none to mine. these were my former friends! i promised them a country." "you promised them a country, colonel burr--from what?" "from that great ownerless land yonder, the west. but they waited and waited, until your success was sure. why, that scoundrel merry is here this very day--the effrontery of him! he wants nothing more to do with me. no, he is here to undertake to recoup himself in his own losses by reasons of moneys he advanced to me some time ago. he is importuning my son-in-law, mr. alston, to pay him back those funds--which once he was so ready to furnish to us. but mr. alston is ruined--i am ruined--we are all ruined. no, they waited too long!" "they waited until it was too late, yes," lewis returned. "that country is american now, not british or spanish or french. our men are passing across the river in thousands. they will never loose their hold on the west. it was treason to the future that you planned--but it was hopeless from the first!" "it would seem, sir," said aaron burr, a cynical smile twisting his thin lip, "that i may not count upon your friendship!" "that is a hard speech, colonel burr. i was your friend." "more than your chief ever was! i fancy mr. jefferson would like to see me pilloried, drawn and quartered, after the old way." "you are unjust to him. you struck at the greatest ambition of his life--struck at his heart and the heart of his country--when you undertook to separate the west from this republic." "i am a plain man, and a busy man," said aaron burr coldly. "i must employ my time now to the betterment of my situation. i have failed, and you have won. but let me throw the cloak aside, since i know you can be of no service to me. i care not what punishment you may have--what suffering--because i recognize in you the one great cause of my failure. it was _you_, sir, with your cursed expedition, that defeated aaron burr!" he turned, proud and defiant even in his failure, and when meriwether lewis looked up he was gone. even as burr passed, meriwether lewis heard a light step in the long corridor. under guard of the turnkey, some one stood at the door. it was the figure of a woman--a figure which caused him to halt, caused his heart to leap! she came toward him now, all in mourning black--hat, gown, and gloves. her face was pale, her eyes deep, her mouth drooping. theodosia alston was always thus on her daily visit to her father's cell. herself the picture of failure and despair, she was used to avoiding the eyes of all; but she saw meriwether lewis standing before her, strong, tall, splendid in his manhood and vigor, in the full tide of his success. she was almost in touch of his hand when she raised her eyes to his. these two had met at last, after what far wanderings apart! they had met as if each came from the valley of the shadows. out of the vastness of the unknown, over all those long and devious trails, into what now seemed to him a world still more vast, more fraught with desperate peril, he had come back to her. and she--what had been her perils? what were her thoughts? as his eye fell upon her, even as his keen ear had known her coming, the hand of meriwether lewis half unconsciously went to his breast. he felt under it the packet of faded letters which he had so long kept with him--which in some way he felt to be his talisman. yes, it was for this that he had had them! his love and hers--this had been his shield through all. what he saw in her grave face, her mournful eyes uplifted to his own--this was the solution of the riddle of his life, the reason for his moods of melancholy, the answer to a thousand unspoken prayers. he felt his heart thrill strong and full, felt his blood spring in strong current through his veins, until they strained, until he felt his nerves tingle as he stood, silent, endeavoring to still the tumult within him, now that he knew the great and satisfying truth of truths. to her he was--what? a tall and handsome gentleman, immaculately clad, governor of the newest of our territories--the largest and richest realm ever laid under the rule of any viceroy. a bystander might have pondered on such things, but meriwether lewis had no thought of them, nor had the woman who looked up at him. no, to her eyes there stood only the man who made her blood leap, her soul cry out: "yea! yea! now i know!" to her also, from the divine compassion, was given answer for her questionings. she knew that life for her, even though it ended now, had been no blind puzzle, after all, but was a glorious and perfect thing. she had called to him across the deep, and he had heard and come! from the very grave itself he had arisen and come again to her! even here under the shadow of the gallows--even if, as both knew in their supreme renunciation, they must part and never meet again--for them both there could be peaceful calm, with all life's questions answered, beautifully and surely answered, never again to rise for conquering. "sir--captain--that is to say, governor lewis," she corrected herself, "i was not expecting you." her tone seemed icy, though her soul was in her eyes. she was all upon the defense, as lewis instantly understood. he took her hand in both of his own, and looked into her face. she gazed up at him, and swiftly, mercifully, the tears came. gently, as if she had been a child, he dried them for her--as once when a boy, he had promised to do. they were alone now. the cold silence of the prison was about them; but their own long silence seemed a golden, glowing thing. thus only--in their silence--could they speak. they did not know that they stood hand in hand. "my husband is not here," said she at length, gently disengaging her hand from his. "no one knows me now, every one avoids me. you must not be seen with me--a pariah, an outcast! i am my father's only friend. already they condemn him; yet he is as innocent as any man ever was." "i shall say no word to change that belief," said meriwether lewis. "but your husband is not here? it is he whom i must see at once." "why must you see him?" "you must know! it is my duty to go to him and to tell him that i am the man who--who made you weep. he must have his satisfaction. nothing that he can do will punish me as my own conscience has already punished me. it is no use--i shall not ask you to forgive me--i will not be so cheap." "but--_suppose he does not know_?" he could only stand silent, regarding her fixedly. "he must never know!" she went on. "it is no time for quixotism to make yet another suffer. we two must be strong enough to carry our own secret. it is better and kinder that it should be between two than among three. i thought you dead. let the past remain past--let it bury its own dead!" "it is our time of reckoning," said he, at length. "guilty as i have been, sinning as i have sinned--tell me, was i alone in the wrong? listen. those who joined your father's cause were asked to join in treason to their country. what he purposed was _treason_. tell me, did you know this when you came to me?" he saw the quick pain upon her face, the flush that rose to her pale cheek. she drew herself up proudly. "i shall not answer that!" said she. "no!" he exclaimed, swiftly contrite. "nor shall i ask it. forgive me! you never knew--you were innocent. you do right not to answer such a question." "i only wanted you to be happy--that was my one desire." she looked aside, and a moment passed before she heard his deep voice reply. "happy! i am the most unhappy man in all the world. happiness? no--rags, shreds, patches of happiness--that is all that is left of happiness for us, as men and women usually count it. but tell me, what would make you most happy now, of these things remaining? i have come back to pay my debts. is there anything i can do? what would make you happiest?" "_my father's freedom!_" "i cannot promise that; but all that i can do i will." "were my father guilty, that would be the act of a noble mind. but how? you are mr. jefferson's friend, not the friend of aaron burr. all the world knows that." "precisely. all the world knows that, or thinks it does. it thinks it knows that mr. jefferson is implacable. but suppose all the world were set to wondering? i am just wondering myself if it would be right to suborn a juryman, like john randolph of roanoke!"[6] [footnote 6: the import of the visit of governor lewis and mrs. alston to the court-room during the burr trial is better conveyed if there be held in mind the personality of that eccentric and extraordinary man, so prominent in the history of america and the traditions of virginia--john randolph of roanoke. irascible, high-voiced, high-headed, truculent, insolent, vitriolic--yet gallant, courteous, kind, just, and fair; the enemy and the friend in turn of almost every public man of his day; truckling to none, defiant of all, sure to do what could not be predicted of any other man--it was always certain that john randolph of roanoke would do what he liked, and do what--for that present time--he fancied to be just. now the ardent adherent, again the bitter caluminator of jefferson, it would be held probable that john randolph of roanoke would do what he fancied thomas jefferson had not asked him to do, or had asked him not to do. but the shrewd old man at washington spoke advisedly when he said that john randolph of roanoke would try the burr case in the jury-room, and himself preside as judge, counsel, and jury all in one!] "that is impossible. what do you mean?" "i mean this. this afternoon you and i will go into the trial-room together. i have not yet attended a session of the court. today i will hand you to your seat in full sight of the jury box." "you--give your presence to one who is now a social pariah? the ladies of richmond no longer speak to me. but to what purpose?" "perhaps to small purpose. i cannot tell. but let us suppose that i go with you, and that we sit there in sight of all. i am known to be the intimate friend of mr. jefferson. _ergo_----" "_ergo_, mr. jefferson is not hostile to us! and you would do that--you would take that chance?" "for you." and he did--for her! that afternoon all the crowded court-room saw the beadle make way for two persons of importance. one was a tall, grave, distinguished-looking man, impassive, calm, a man whose face was known to all--the new governor of louisiana, viceroy of the country that burr had lost. upon his arm, pale, clad all in black, walked the daughter of the prisoner at the bar! was it in defiance or in compliance that this act was done? was it by orders, or against orders, or without orders, that the president's best friend walked in public, before all the world, with the daughter of the president's worst enemy? it was the guess of anybody and the query of all. there, in full view of all the attendants, in full view of the jury--and of john randolph of roanoke, its foreman--sat the two persons who had had most to do with this scene of which they now made a part. there sat the man who had explored the great west, and the woman who had done her best to prevent that exploration; mr. jefferson's friend, and the daughter of the great conspirator, aaron burr. _ergo, ergo_, said many tongues swiftly--and leaned head to head to whisper it. mind sometimes speaks to mind--even across the rail of a jury-box. sympathy runs deep and swift sometimes. all the world loved meriwether lewis then, would favor him--or favor what he favored. the issue of that great trial was not to come for weeks as yet; but when it came, and by whatever process, aaron burr was acquitted of the charges brought against him. the republic for whose downfall he had plotted set him free and bade him begone. but now, at the close of this day, the two central figures of the tragic drama found themselves together once more. they could be alone nowhere but in the prison room; and it was there that they parted. between them, as they stood now at last, about to part, there stretched an abysmal gulf which might never personally be passed by either. she faced him at length, trembling, pleading, helpless. "how mighty a thing is a man's sense of honor!" she said slowly. "you have done what i never would have asked you to do, and i am glad that you did. i once asked you to do what you would not do, and i am glad that you did not. how can i repay you for what you have done today? i cannot tell how, but i feel that you have turned the tide for us. ah, if ever you felt that you owed me anything, it is paid--all your debt to me and mine. see, i no longer weep. you have dried my tears!" "we cannot balance debits and credits," he replied. "there is no way in the world in which you and i can cry quits. only one thing is sure--i must go!" "i cannot say good-by!" said she. "ah, do not ask me that! we are but beginning now. oh, see! see!" he looked at her still, an unspeakable sadness in his gaze--at her hand, extended pleadingly toward him. "won't you take my hand, merne?" said she. "won't you?" "i dare not," said he hoarsely. "no, i dare not!" "why? do you wish to leave me still feeling that i am in your debt? you can afford so much now," she said brokenly, "for those who have not won!" "think you that i have won?" he broke out. "theodosia--theo--i shall call you by your old name just once--i do not take your hand--i dare not touch you--because i love you! i always shall. god help me, it is the truth!" "did you get my letters?" she said suddenly, and looked him fair in the face. meriwether lewis stood searching her countenance with his own grave eyes. "_letters?_" said he at length. "_what letters?_" her eyes looked up at him luminously. "you are glorious!" said she. "yes, a woman's name would be safe with you. you are strong. how terrible a thing is a sense of honor! but you are glorious! good-by!" chapter xvii the friends allied in fortunes as they had been in friendship, meriwether lewis and william clark went on side by side in their new labors in the capital of that great land which they had won for the republic. their offices in title were distinct, yet scarcely so in fact, for each helped the other, as they had always done. to these two men the new territory of louisiana owed not only its discovery, but its early passing over to the day of law and order. no other men could have done what they did in that time of disorder and change, when, rolling to the west in countless waves, came the white men, following the bee, crossing the great river, striking out into the new lands, a headstrong, turbulent, and lawless population. a thousand new and petty cares came to governor lewis. he passed from one duty to another, from one part of his vast province to another, traveling continually with the crude methods of transportation of that period, and busy night and day. courts must be established. the compilation of the archives must be cared for. records must be instituted to clear up the swarm of conflicts over land-titles. scores of new duties arose, and scores of new remedies needed to be devised. the first figure of the growing capital of st. louis, the new governor was also the central figure of all social activities, the cynosure of all eyes. but the laughing belles of st. louis at length sighed and gave him up--they loved him as governor, since they might not as man. wise, firm, deliberate, kind, sad--he was an old man now, though still young in years. scattered up and down the great valley, above and below st. louis, and harboring in that town, were many of the late adherents of burr's broken conspiracy. these liked not the oncoming of the american government, enforced by so rigid an executive as the one who now held power. threats came to the ears of meriwether lewis, who was hated by the burr adherents as the cause of their discomfiture; but he, wholly devoid of the fear of any man, only laughed at them. honest and blameless, it was difficult for any enemy to injure him, and no man cared to meet meriwether lewis in the open. but at last one means of attack was found. once more--the last time--the great heart of a noble man was pierced. "will," said he to his friend, as they met at william clark's home, according to their frequent custom, "i am in trouble." "fancied trouble, merne," said clark. "you're always finding it!" "would i might call it fancied! but this is something in the way of facts, and very stubborn facts. see here"--he held out certain papers in his hand--"by this morning's mail i get back these bills protested--protested by the government at washington! and they are bills that i have drawn to pay the expenses of administering my office here." "tut, tut!" said william clark gravely. "come, let us see." "look here, and here! will, you know that i am a man of no great fortune. you also know that i have made certain enemies in this country. but now i am not supported by my own government. i am ruined--i am a broken man! did you think that this country could do that for either of us?" "but merne, you, the soul of honor----" "some enemy has done this! what influences have been set to work, i cannot say; but here are the bills, and there are others out in other hands--also protested, i have no doubt. i am publicly discredited, disgraced. i know not what has been said of me at washington." "that is the trouble," said william clark slowly. "washington is so far. but now, you must not let this trouble you. 'tis only some six-dollar-a-week clerk in washington that has done it. you must not consider it to be the deliberate act of any responsible head of the government. you take things too hard, merne. i will not have you brooding over this--it will never do. you have the megrims often enough, as it is. come here and kiss the baby! he is named for you, meriwether lewis--and he has two teeth. sit down and behave yourself. judy will be here in a minute. you are among your friends. do not grieve. 'twill all come well!" this was in the year 1809. mr. jefferson's embargo on foreign trade had paralyzed all western commerce. our ships lay idle; our crops rotted; there was no market. the name of jefferson was now in general execration. in march, when his second term as president expired, he had retired to private life at monticello. he had written his last message to congress that very spring, in which he said of the people of his country: i trust that in their steady character, unshaken by difficulties, in their love of liberty, obedience to law, and support of the public authorities, i see a sure guarantee of the permanence of our republic; and retiring from the charge of their affairs, i carry with me the consolation of a firm persuasion that heaven has in store for our beloved country long ages to come of prosperity and happiness. whatever the veering self-interest of others led them to think or do regarding the memory of that great man, meriwether lewis trusted thomas jefferson absolutely, and relied wholly on his friendship and his counsel. now, in the hour of trouble, he resolved to journey to monticello to ask the advice of his old chief, as he had always done. in this he was well supported by his friend dr. saugrain. "you are ill, governor--you have the fever of these lands," urged that worthy. "by all means leave this country and go back to the east. go by way of new orleans and the sea. the voyage will do you much good." "peria," said meriwether lewis to his french servant and attendant, "make ready my papers for my journey. have a small case, such as can be carried on horseback. i must take with me all my journals, my maps, and certain of the records of my office here. get my old spyglass; i may need it, and i always fancy to have it with me when i travel, as was my custom in the west. secure for our costs in travel some gold--three or four hundred dollars, i imagine. i will take some in my belt, and give the rest to you for the saddle-trunk." "your excellency plans to go by land, then, and not by sea?" "i do not know. i must save all the time possible. and peria----" "yes, excellency." "have my pistols well cared for, and your own as well. see that my small powder-canister, with bullets, is with them in the holsters. the trails are none too safe. be careful whom you advise of our plans. my business is of private nature, and i do not wish to be disturbed. and here, take my watch," he concluded. "it was given to me by a friend--a good friend, mr. wirt, and i prize it very much--so much that i fear to have it on my person. care for it in the saddle-trunk." "yes, excellency." "do not call me 'excellency'--i detest the title! i am governor lewis, and may so be distinguished. go now, and do as i have told you. we shall need about ten men to man the barge. arrange it. have our goods ready for an early start tomorrow morning." all that night, sleepless, fevered, almost distracted, meriwether lewis sat at his desk, writing, or endeavoring to write, with what matters upon his soul we may not ask. but the long night wore away at last, and morning came, a morning of the early fall, beautiful as it may be only in that latitude. without having closed his eyes in sleep, the governor made ready for his journey to the east. whether or not peria was faithful to all his instructions one cannot say, but certainly all st. louis knew of the intended departure of the governor. they loved him, these folk, trusted him, would miss him now, and they gathered almost _en masse_ to bid him godspeed upon his journey. "these papers for mr. jefferson, governor--certain land-titles, of which we spoke to him last year. do you not remember?" thus chouteau, always busy with affairs. "these samples of cloth and of satin, governor," said a dark-eyed french girl, smiling up at him. "would you match them for me in the east? i am to be married in the spring!" "the price of furs--learn of that, governor, if you can, while on your journey. the embargo has ruined the trade in all this inland country!" it was manuel liza, swarthy, taciturn, who thus voiced a general feeling. "books, more books, my son!" implored dr. saugrain. "we are growing here--i must keep up with the surgery of the day; i must know the new discoveries in medicine. bring me books. and take this little case of medicines. you are ill, my son--the fever has you!" "my people--they mourn for me as dead," said big white, the mandan, who had never returned to his people up the missouri river since the repulse of his convoy by the sioux. "tell the great father that he must send me soldiers to take me back home to my people. my heart is poor!" "governor, see if you can get me an artificial limb of some sort while you are in the east." it was young george shannon who said this, leaning on his crutch. shannon had not long ago returned from another trip up the river, where in an encounter with the sioux he had received a wound which cost him a leg and almost cost him his life--though later, as has already been said, he was to become a noted figure at the bar of the state of kentucky. "yes! yes, and yes!" their leader, punctilious as he was kind, agreed to all these commissions--prizing them, indeed, as proof of the confidence of his people. he was ready to depart, but stood still, looking about for the tall figure which presently he saw advancing through the throng--a tall man with wide mouth and sunny hair, with blue eye and stalwart frame--william clark--the friend whom he loved so much, and whom he was now to see for the last time. general clark carried upon his arm the baby which had been named after the governor of the new territory. lewis took him from his father's arms and pressed the child's cool face to his own, suddenly trembling a little about his own lips as he felt the tender flesh of the infant. no child of his own might he ever hold thus! he gave him back with a last look into the face of his friend. "good-by, will!" said he. chapter xviii the wilderness the governor's barge swept down the rolling flood of the mississippi, impelled by the blades of ten sturdy oarsmen. little by little the blue smoke of st. louis town faded beyond the level of the forest. the stone tower of the old spanish stockade, where floated the american flag, disappeared finally. meriwether lewis sat staring back, but seeming not to note what passed. he did not even notice a long bateau which left the wharf just before his own and preceded him down the river, now loafing along aimlessly, sometimes ahead, sometimes behind that of the governor and his party. in time he turned to his lap-desk and began his endless task of writing, examining, revising. now and again he muttered to himself. the fever was indeed in his blood! they proceeded thus, after the usual fashion of boat travel in those days, down the great river, until they had passed the mouth of the ohio and reached what was known as the chickasaw bluffs, below the confluence of the two streams. here was a little post of the army, arranged for the commander, major neely, indian agent at that point. as was the custom, all barges tied up here; and the governor's craft moored at the foot of the bluff. its chief passenger was so weak that he hardly could walk up the steep steps cut in the muddy front of the bank. "governor lewis!" exclaimed major neely, as he met him. "you are ill! you are in an ague!" "perhaps, perhaps. give me rest here for a day or two, if you please. then i fancy i shall be strong enough to travel east. see if you can get horses for myself and my party--i am resolved not to go by sea. i have not time." the governor of louisiana, haggard, flushed with fever, staggered as he followed his friend into the apartment assigned to him in one of the cabins of the little post. he wore his usual traveling-garb; but now, for some strange reason he seemed to lack his usual immaculate neatness. instead of the formal dress of his office, he wore an old, stained, faded uniform coat, its pocket bulging with papers. this he kept at the head of his bed when at length he flung himself down, almost in the delirium of fever. he lay here for two days, restless, sleepless. but at length, having in the mean time scarcely tasted food, he rose and declared that he must go on. "major," said he, "i can ride now. have you horses for the journey?" "are you sure, governor, that your strength is sufficient?" neely hesitated as he looked at the wasted form before him, at the hollow eye, the fevered face. "it is not a question of my personal convenience, major," said meriwether lewis. "time presses for me. i must go on!" "at least you shall not go alone," said major neely. "you should have some escort. doubtless you have important papers?" meriwether lewis nodded. "my servant has arranged everything, i fancy. can you get an extra man or two? the natchez trace is none too safe." that military road, as they both knew, was indeed no more than a horse path cut through the trackless forest which lay across the states of mississippi, tennessee and kentucky. its reputation was not good. many a trader passing north from new orleans with coin, many a settler passing west with packhorses and household effects, had disappeared on this wilderness road, and left no sign. it was customary for parties of any consequence to ride in companies of some force. it was a considerable cavalcade, therefore, which presently set forth from chickasaw bluffs on the long ride eastward to cross the alleghanies, which meant some days or weeks spent in the saddle. apprehension sat upon all, even as they started out. their eyes rested upon the wasted form of their leader, the delirium of whose fever seemed still to hold him. he muttered to himself as he rode, resented the near approach of any traveling companion, demanded to be alone. they looked at him in silence. "he talks to himself all the time," said one of the party--a new man, hired by neely at the army post. he rode with peria now; and none but peria knew that he had come from the long barge which had clung to the governor's craft all the way down the river--and which, unknown to lewis himself, had tied up and waited at chickasaw bluffs. he was a stranger to neely and to all the others, but seemed ready enough to take pay for service along the trace, declaring that he himself was intending to go that way. he was a man well dressed, apparently of education and of some means. he rode armed. "what is wrong with the governor, think you?" inquired this man once more of peria, lewis's servant. "it is his way," shrugged peria. "we leave him alone. his hand is heavy when he is angry." "he rides always with his rifle across his saddle?" "always, on the trail." "loaded, i presume--and his pistols?" "you may well suppose that," said peria. "oh, well," said the new member of the party, "'tis just as well to be safe. i lifted his saddlebags and the desk, or trunk, whatever you call it, that is on the pack horse yonder. heavy, eh?" "naturally," grinned peria. they looked at one another. and thereafter the two, as was well noted, conversed often and more intimately together as the journey progressed. "now it's an odd thing about his coat," volunteered the stranger later in that same day. "he always keeps it on--that ragged old uniform. was it a uniform, do you believe? can't the governor of the new territory wear a coat that shows his own quality? this one's a dozen years old, you might say." "he always wears it on the trail," said peria. "at home he watches it as if it held some treasure." "treasure?" the shifty eyes of the new man flashed in sudden interest. "what treasure? papers, perhaps--bills--documents--money? his pocket bulges at the side. something there--yes, eh?" "hush!" said peria. "you do not know that man, the governor. he has the eye of a hawk, the ear of a fox--you can keep nothing from him. he fears nothing in the world, and in his moods--you'd best leave him alone. don't let him suspect, or----" and peria shook his head. the cavalcade was well out into the wilderness east of the mississippi on that afternoon of october 8, in the year 1809. stopping at the wayside taverns which now and then were found, they had progressed perhaps a hundred miles to the eastward. the day was drawing toward its close when peria rode up and announced that one or two of the horses had strayed from the trail. "i have told you to be more careful, peria," expostulated governor lewis. "there are articles on the packhorse which i need at night. who is this new man that is so careless? why do you not keep the horses up? go, then, and get them. major neely, would you be so kind as to join the men and assure them of bringing on the horses?" "and what of you, governor?" "i shall go on ahead, if you please. is there no house near by? you know the trail. perhaps we can get lodgings not far on." "the first white man's house beyond here," answered neely, "belongs to an old man named grinder. 'tis no more than a few miles ahead. suppose we join you there?" "agreed," said lewis, and setting spurs to his horse, he left them. it was late in the evening when at length meriwether lewis reined up in front of the somewhat unattractive grinder homestead cabin, squatted down alongside the natchez trace; a place where sometimes hospitality of a sort was dispensed. it was an ordinary double cabin that he saw, two cob-house apartments with a covered space between such as might have been found anywhere for hundreds of miles on either side of the alleghanies at that time. at his call there appeared a woman--mrs. grinder, she announced herself. "madam," he inquired, "could you entertain me and my party for the night? i am alone at present, but my servants will soon be up. they are on the trail in search of some horses which have strayed." "my husband is not here," said the woman. "we are not well fixed, but i reckon if we can stand it all the time, you can for a night. how many air there in your party?" "a half-dozen, with an extra horse or two." "i reckon we can fix ye up. light down and come in." she was noting well her guest, and her shrewd eyes determined him to be no common man. he had the bearing of a gentleman, the carriage of a man used to command. certain of his garments seemed to show wealth, although she noted, when he stripped off his traveling-smock, that he wore not a new coat, but an old one--very old, she would have said, soiled, stained, faded. it looked as if it had once been part of a uniform. her guest, whoever he was--and she neither knew nor asked, for the wilderness tavern held no register, and few questions were asked or answered--paid small attention to the woman. he carried his saddlebags into the room pointed out to him, flung them down, and began to pace up and down, sometimes talking to himself. the woman eyed him from time to time as she went about her duties. "set up and eat," she said at last. "i reckon your men are not coming." "i thank you, madam," said the stranger, with gentle courtesy. "do not let me trouble you too much. i have been ill of late, and do not as yet experience much hunger." indeed, he scarcely tasted the food. he sat, as she noted, a long time, gazing fixedly out of the door, over the forest, toward the west. "is it not a beautiful world, madam?" said he, after a time, in a voice of great gentleness and charm. "i have seen the forest often thus in the west in the evening, when the day was done. it is wonderful!" "yes. some of my folks is thinking of going out further into the west." he turned to her abstractedly, yet endeavoring to be courteous. "a wonderful country, madam!" said he; and so he fell again into his moody staring out beyond the door. after a time the hostess of the backwoods cabin sought to make up a bed for him, but he motioned to her to desist. "it is not necessary," said he. "i have slept so much in the open that 'tis rarely i use a bed at all. i see now that my servant has come up, and is in the yard yonder. tell him to bring my robes and blankets and spread them here on the floor, as i always have them. that will answer quite well enough, thank you." peria, it seemed, had by this time found his way to the cabin along the trail. he was alone. "come, man!" said lewis. "make down my bed for me--i am ill. and tell me, where is my powder? where are the bullets for my pistols? i find them empty. haven't i told you to be more careful about these things? and where is my rifle-powder? the canister is here, but 'tis empty. come, come, i must have better service than this!" but even as he chided the remissness of his servant, he seemed to forget the matter in his mind. presently he was again pacing apart, stopping now and then to stare out over the forest. "i must have a place to write," said he at length. "i shall be awake for a time tonight, occupied with business matters of importance. where is major neely? where are the other men? why have they not come up?" peria could not or did not answer these questions, but sullenly went about the business of making his master as comfortable as he might, and then departed to his own quarters, down the hill, in another building. the old backwoods woman herself withdrew to the other apartment, beyond the open space of the double cabin. the soft, velvet darkness of night in the forest now came on apace--a night of silence. there was not even the call of a tree toad. the voice of the whippoorwill was stilled at that season of the year. if there were human beings awake, alert, at that time, they made no sound. meriwether lewis was alone--alone in the wilderness again. its silences, its mysteries, drew about him. but now he stood, not enjoying in his usual fashion the familiar feeling of the night in the forest, the calm, the repose it customarily brought to him. he stood looking intently, as if he expected some one--nay, indeed, as if he saw some one--as if he saw a face! what face was it? at last he made his way across the room to the heavy saddle-case which had been placed there. he flung the lid open, and felt among the contents. it seemed to him there was not so much within the case as there should have been. he missed certain papers, and resolved to ask peria about them. he could not find the little bags of coin which he expected; but he found the watch, lying covered in a corner of the case. he drew it out and, stepping toward the flickering candle, opened it, gazing fixedly at the little silhouette cut round to fit in the back of the case. it was a face that he had seen before--a hundred times he had gazed thus at it on the far western trails. he brought the little portrait close up to his eyes--but not close to his lips. no, he did not kiss the face of the woman who once had written to him: you must not kiss my picture, because i am in your power. meriwether lewis had won his long fight! he had mastered the human emotions of his soul at last. the battle had been such that he sat here now, weak and spent. he sat looking at the face which had meant so much to him all these years. there came into his mind some recollection of words that she had written to him once--something about the sound of water. he lifted his head and listened. yes, there was a sound coming faintly through the night--the trickle of a little brook in the ravine below the window. always, he recalled, she had spoken of the sound of water, saying that that music would blot out memory--saying that water would wash out secrets, would wash out sins. what was it she had said? what was it she had written to him long ago? what did it mean--about the water? the sound of the little brook came to his ears again in some shift of the wind. he rose and stumbled toward the window, carrying the candle in his hand. his haggard face was lighted by its flare as he stood there, leaning out, listening. it was then that his doom came to him. there came the sound of a shot; a second; and yet another. the woman in the cabin near by heard them clearly enough. she rose and listened. there was no sound from the other cabins. the servants paid no attention to the shots, if they had heard them--and why should they not have heard them? no one called out, no one came running. frightened, the woman rose, and after a time stepped timidly across the covered space between the two rooms, toward the light which she saw shining faintly through the cracks of the door. she heard groans within. a tall and ghastly figure met her as she approached the door. she saw his face, white and haggard and stained. from a wound in the forehead a broad band of something dark fell across his cheek. from his throat something dark was welling. he clutched a hand on his breast--and his fingers were dark. he was bleeding from three wounds; but still he stood and spoke to her. "in god's name, madam," said he, "bring me water! i am killed!" she ran away, she knew not where, calling to the others to come; but they did not come. she was alone. once more, forgetful of her errand, incapable of rendering aid, she went back to the door. she heard no sound. she flung open the door and peered into the room. the candle was standing, broken and guttering, on the floor. she could see the scattered belongings of the traveling-cases, empty now. the occupant of the room was gone! in terror she fled once more, back to her own room, and cowered in her bed. staggering, groping, his hands strained to him to hold in the life that was passing, meriwether lewis had left the room where he had received his wounds, and had stepped out into the air, into the night. all the resolution of his soul was bent upon one purpose. he staggered, but still stumbled onward. it seemed to him that he heard the sound of water, and blindly, unconsciously, he headed that way. he entered the shadow of the woods and passed down the little slope of the hill. he fell, rather than seated himself, at the side of the brook whose voice he had heard in the night. he was alone. the wilderness was all about him--the wilderness which had always called to him, and which now was to claim him. he sat, gasping, almost blind, feeling at his pockets. at last he found it--one of the sulphur matches made for him by good old dr. saugrain. tremblingly he essayed to light it, and at last he saw the flare. with skill of custom, though now almost unconsciously, his fingers felt for dry bits of bark and leaves, little twigs. yes, the match served its purpose. a tiny flame flickered between his feet as he sat. did any eye see meriwether lewis as he sat there in the dark at his last camp fire? did any guilty eye look on him making his last fight? he sat alone by the little fire. his hand, dropping sometimes, responsive only to the supreme effort of his will, fumbled in the bosom of his old coat. there were some papers there--some things which no other eyes than his must ever see! here was a secret--it must always be a secret--her secret and his! he would hide forever from the world what had been theirs in common. the tiny flame rose up more strongly, twice, thrice, five times--six times in all! one by one he had placed them on the flames--these letters that he had carried on his heart for years--the six letters that she had written him when he was far away in the unknown. he held the last one long, trying to see the words. he groaned. he was almost blind. his trembling finger found the last word of the last letter. it rose before him in tall characters now, all done in flame and not in block--_theodosia!_ now they were gone! no one could ever see them. no one could know how he had treasured them all these years. she was safe! before his soul, in the time of his great accounting, there rose the passing picture of the years. free from suffering, now absolved, resigned, he was a boy once more, and all the world was young. he saw again the slopes of old albemarle, beautiful in the green and gold of an early autumn day in old virginia. he heard again his mother's voice. what was it that she said? he bent his head as if to listen. "your wish--your great desire--your hope--your dream--all these shall be yours at last, even though the trail be long, even though the burden be too heavy to carry farther." so then she had known--she had spoken the truth in her soothsaying that day so long ago! now his fading eye looked about him, and he nodded his head weakly, as if to assent to something he had heard. he had so earnestly longed--he had so greatly desired--to be an honorable man! he had so longed and desired to do somewhat for others than himself! and here was peace, here indeed was conquest. his great desire was won! his lax hands dropped between his knees as he sat. a little gust of wind sweeping down the gully caught up some of the white ashes--stained as they were with blood that dropped from his veins as he bent above them--carried them down upon the tiny thread of the little brook. it carried them away toward the sea--his blood, the ashes, the secret which they hid. at length he rose once more, his splendid will still forcing his broken body to do its bidding. half crawling up the bank, once more he stood erect and staggered back across the yard, into the room. the woman heard him there again. pity arose in her breast; once more she mastered her terror and approached the door. "in god's name, madam," said he, "bring me water--wine! i am so strong, i am hard to die! bind up my wounds--i have work to do! heal me these wounds!" but not her power nor any power could heal such wounds as his. once more she called out for aid, and none came. the night wore away. the dying man lay on his bearskin pallet on the floor, motionless now and silent, but still breathing, and calm at last. it was dawn when the recreant servant found him there. "peria," said meriwether lewis, turning his fading eye on the man, "do not fear me. i will not hurt you. but my watch--i cannot find it--it seems gone. i am hard to die, it seems. but the little watch--it had--a--picture--ah!" chapter xix down to the sea many days later the french servant, peria, rode up to the gate, to the door, of locust hall, the lewis homestead in old virginia. the news he bore had preceded him. he met a stern-faced, dark-browed woman, who regarded him coldly when he announced his name, regarded him in silence. the servant found himself able to make but small speech. "your son was a brave man--he lived long," said peria, haltingly, at the close of his story. "yes," said the mother of meriwether lewis. "he was a brave man. he was strong!" "he was unhappy; but why he should have killed himself----" "stop!" the dark eyes blazed upon him. "what are you saying? my son kill himself? it is an outrage to his memory to suggest it. he was the victim of some enemy. as for you, begone!" so peria passed from sight and view, and almost from memory, not accused, not acquitted. long afterward a brother of meriwether lewis met him, and found that he was carrying the old rifle and the little watch which every member of the family knew so well. these things had been missing from the effects of meriwether lewis in the inventory--indeed, little remained in the traveling-cases save a few scattered papers and the old spyglass. there was no gold. there were no letters of any kind. soon there came down from monticello to locust hall the coach of thomas jefferson. "madam," said he, when finally he stood at the side of the mistress of locust hall, "it is heavy news i thought to bring--i see that you have heard it. what shall i say--what can we say to each other? i mourn him as if he were my own son." "it has come at last," said the mother of meriwether lewis. "the wilderness has him, as i knew it would! i told him, here at this place, when he was a boy, that at last the load would weigh him down." "the rumor is that he died by his own hand. i find it difficult to believe. it is far more likely that some enemy or robber was guilty of the deed." "whom had he ever harmed?" she demanded of jefferson. "none in the world, with intent; but he had enemies. whether by his own hand or that of another, he died a gallant gentleman. he would not think of himself alone. but listen--bear with me if i tell you that could your son send out the news himself, perhaps he might say 'twas by his own hand he perished, and not by that of another!" "never, mr. jefferson, never will i believe that! it was not in his nature!" "i agree with you. but when we take the last wishes of the dead, we take what is the law for us. and the law of your son was the law of honor. suppose, my dear madam, there were a woman concerned in this matter?" "he never wronged a woman in his life----" "precisely, nor in his death would he wrong one! do you begin to see?" "did he ever speak to you of her?" "it was impossible that he should; but i knew them both. i knew their secret. were it in his power to do so, i am sure that he carried his secret with him, so that it might never be shared by any. that secret he has guarded in death as in life." "but shall i let that stain rest on his name?" the dark eye of the old woman gleamed upon her son's friend. "do not i love him also? i am speaking now only of his own wish--not ours. i know that he would shield her at any cost--nay, i know he did shield her at any cost. may not we shield him--and her--no matter what the cost to us? if he laid that wish on us, ought we not to respect it? madam, i shall frame a letter which will serve to appease the criticism of the public in regard to your son. if it be not the exact truth--and who shall tell the exact truth?--it will at least be accepted as truth, and it will forever silence any talk. what should the public know of a life such as his? there are some lives which are tragically large, and such was his. he lived with honor, and he could not die without it. what was in his heart we shall not ask to know. if ever he sinned, he is purged of any sin." jefferson was silent for a moment, holding the bereaved mother's hand in his own. "he shall have a monument, madam," he went on. "it shall mark his grave in yonder wilderness. they shall name at least a county for him, and hold it his sacred grave-place--there in tennessee, by the old indian road. let him lie there under the trees--that is as he would wish. he shall have some monument--yes, but how futile is all that! his greatest monument will be in the vast new country which he has brought to us. he was a man of a natural greatness not surpassed by any of his time." * * * * * what of theodosia alston, loyal and lofty soul, blameless wife, devoted and pathetic adherent to the fallen fortunes of her ill-starred father? three years after meriwether lewis laid him down to sleep in the forest, a ship put out from charleston wharf. it was bound for the city of new york, where at that time there was living a broken, homeless, forsaken man named aaron burr--a man execrated at home, discredited abroad, but who now, after years of exile, had crept home to the country which had cast him out. a passenger on that ship was theodosia alston, the daughter of aaron burr. that much is known. the ship sailed. it never came to port. no more is known. to this day none knows what was the fate of aaron burr's daughter, one of the most appealing figures of her day, a woman made for happiness, but continually in close touch with tragedy. wherever her body may lie, she has her wish. the sound of the eternal waters is the continuous requiem in her ears. her secret, if she had one, is washed away long ere this, and is one with the eternal secrets of the sea. as to her sin, she had none. above her memory, since she has no grave, there might best be inscribed the words she wrote at a time of her own despair: "i hope to be happy in the next world, for i have not been bad in this." did the little brook in tennessee ever find its way down to the sea? did it carry a scattered drop of a man's lifeblood, little by little thinning, thinning on its long journey? did ever a wandering flake of ashes, melting, rest on its bosom for so great a journey as that toward the sea? did the sound of a voice in the wilderness, passing across the unknown leagues, ever reach an ear that heard? who can tell? perhaps in the great ten thousand years such things may be--perhaps deep calls to deep, and there are no longer sins nor tears. a million hearth-fires mark the camp-fire trail of meriwether lewis. we own the country which he found, and for which he paid. he sleeps. above him stands the monument which his chief assigned to him--his country. it rises now in glory and splendor, the perfected vision which he saw. that is the happy ending of his story--his country! it is ours. as its title came to us in honor, it is for us to love it honorably, to use it honorably, and to defend it honorably. none may withstand us while we hold to his ambitions--while our sons measure to the stature of such a man. "_the books you like to read at the price you like to pay_" there are two sides to everything- --including the wrapper which covers every grosset & dunlap book. when you feel in the mood for a good romance, refer to the carefully selected list of modern fiction comprising most of the successes by prominent writers of the day which is printed on the back of every grosset & dunlap book wrapper. you will find more than five hundred titles to choose from--books for every mood and every taste and every pocket-book. _don't forget the other side, but in case the wrapper is lost, write to the publishers for a complete catalog._ _there is a grosset & dunlap book for every mood and for every taste_ emerson hough's novels may be had wherever books are sold. ask for grosset & dunlap's list. the covered wagon an epic story of the great west from which the famous picture was made. the way of a man a colorful romance of the pioneer west before the civil war. the sagebrusher an eastern girl answers a matrimonial ad. and goes out west in the hills of montana to find her mate. the way out a romance of the feud district of the cumberland country. the broken gate a story of broken social conventions and of a woman's determination to put the past behind her. the way to the west daniel boone, davy crockett and kit carson figure in this story of the opening of the west. heart's desire the story of what happens when the railroad came to a little settlement in the far west. the purchase price a story of kentucky during the days after the american revolution. grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york transcriber's note: minor changes have been made to correct obvious typesetters' errors; otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and intent. oregon and eldorado. oregon and eldorado; or, romance of the rivers. by thomas bulfinch, author of "the age of fable," "the age of chivalry," etc. boston: j. e. tilton and company. 1866. entered, according to act of congress, in the year 1866, by thomas bulfinch, in the clerk's office of the district court of the district of massachusetts. stereotyped by c. j. peters and son. printed by george c. rand and avery. preface. when one observes attentively the maps of south and north america, no feature appears more striking than the provision which nature seems to have made, in both continents, for water-communication across the breadth of each. in the northern continent, this channel of communication is formed by the missouri and columbia rivers, which stretch over an extent of three thousand miles, interrupted only by the ridge of the rocky mountains. in the southern continent, the river amazon, in its path from the andes to the sea, traverses a course of thirty-three hundred miles. in both cases, a few hundred miles of land-carriage will complete the transit from ocean to ocean. the analogy presented in the length and direction of these magnificent water-pathways is preserved in their history. a series of romantic adventures attaches to each. i indulge the hope, that young readers who have so favorably received my former attempts to amuse and instruct them, in my several works reviving the fabulous legends of remote ages, will find equally attractive these true narratives of bold adventure, whose date is comparatively recent. moreover, their scenes are laid, in the one instance, in our own country; and, in the other, in that great and rising empire of brazil to which our distinguished naturalist, prof. agassiz, has gone on a pilgrimage of science. it will enable us better to appreciate the discoveries and observations which the professor will lay before us on his return, to know something beforehand of the history and peculiarities of the region which is the scene of his labors; and, on the other hand, the route across the north-american continent, to which the first part of the volume relates, deprives increased interest, at this time, from the fact that it nearly corresponds to the route of the contemplated northern pacific railroad. boston, june, 1866. t. b. contents. oregon. chapter i. discovery of columbia river 1 chapter ii. lewis and clarke 14 chapter iii. the sioux 23 chapter iv. summary of travel to winter-quarters 33 chapter v. indian tribes 45 chapter vi. the march resumed 57 chapter vii. the journey continued 85 chapter viii. the sources of the missouri and columbia 97 chapter ix. the party in the boats 107 chapter x. the descent of the columbia 120 chapter xi. clarke's river 131 chapter xii. kooskooskee river 147 chapter xiii. winter-quarters 176 chapter xiv. a new year 187 chapter xv. winter life 197 chapter xvi. the return 210 chapter xvii. the rocky mountains 230 chapter xviii. capt. clarke's route down the yellowstone 241 eldorado. chapter i. the discovery 255 chapter ii. orellana descends the river 265 chapter iii. orellana's adventure continued 275 chapter iv. sir walter raleigh 285 chapter v. raleigh's first expedition 293 chapter vi. raleigh's adventures continued 307 chapter vii. raleigh's second expedition 316 chapter viii. the french philosophers 326 chapter ix. madame godin's voyage down the amazon 339 chapter x. madame godin's voyage continued 349 chapter xi. herndon's expedition 361 chapter xii. herndon's expedition continued 373 chapter xiii. herndon's expedition continued 387 chapter xiv. herndon's expedition concluded 396 chapter xv. latest explorations 404 chapter xvi. the naturalist on the amazon 427 chapter xvii. animated nature 446 oregon. oregon. chapter i. discovery of columbia river. a few years ago, there was still standing in bowdoin square, boston, opposite the revere house, an ancient mansion, since removed to make room for the granite range called the coolidge building. in that mansion, then neither old nor inelegant, but, on the contrary, having good pretensions to rank among the principal residences of the place, was assembled, in the year 1787, a group, consisting of the master of the mansion, dr. bulfinch, his only son charles, and joseph barrell, their neighbor, an eminent merchant of boston. the conversation turned upon the topic of the day,--the voyages and discoveries of capt. cook, the account of which had lately been published. the brilliant achievements of capt. cook, his admirable qualities, and his sad fate (slain by the chance stroke of a sandwich-islander, in a sudden brawl which arose between the sailors and the natives),--these formed the current of the conversation; till at last it changed, and turned more upon the commercial aspects of the subject. mr. barrell was particularly struck with what cook relates of the abundance of valuable furs offered by the natives of the country in exchange for beads, knives, and other trifling commodities valued by them. the remark of capt. cook respecting the sea-otter was cited:-"this animal abounds here: the fur is softer and finer than that of any other we know of; and therefore the discovery of this part of the continent, where so valuable an article of commerce may be met with, cannot be a matter of indifference." he adds in a note, "the sea-otter skins are sold by the russians to the chinese at from sixteen to twenty pounds each." mr. barrell remarked, "there is a rich harvest to be reaped there by those who shall first go in." the idea thus suggested was followed out in future conversations at the doctor's fireside, admitting other congenial spirits to the discussion, and resulted in the equipping of an expedition consisting of two vessels, the ship "columbia" and sloop "washington," to make the proposed adventure. the partners in the enterprise were joseph barrell, samuel brown, charles bulfinch, john derby, crowell hatch, and j. m. pintard. so important was the expedition deemed by the adventurers themselves, that they caused a medal to be struck, bearing on one side a representation of the two vessels under sail, and on the other the names of the parties to the enterprise. several copies of this medal were made both in bronze and silver, and distributed to public bodies and distinguished individuals. one of these medals lies before the writer as he pens these lines. a representation is subjoined:-[illustration] the expedition was also provided with sea-letters, issued by the federal government agreeably to a resolution of congress, and with passports from the state of massachusetts; and they received letters from the spanish minister plenipotentiary in the united states, recommending them to the attention of the authorities of his nation on the pacific coast. the "columbia" was commanded by john kendrick, to whom was intrusted the general control of the expedition. the master of the "washington" was robert gray. the two vessels sailed together from boston on the 30th of september, 1787: thence they proceeded to the cape verde islands, and thence to the falkland islands, in each of which groups they procured refreshments. in january, 1788, they doubled cape horn; immediately after which they were separated during a violent gale. the "washington," continuing her course through the pacific, made the north-west coast in august, near the 46th degree of latitude. here capt. gray thought he perceived indications of the mouth of a river; but he was unable to ascertain the fact, in consequence of his vessel having grounded, and been attacked by the savages, who killed one of his men, and wounded the mate. but she escaped without further injury, and, on the 17th of september, reached nootka sound, which had been agreed upon as the port of re-union in case of separation. the "columbia" did not enter the sound until some days afterward. the two vessels spent their winter in the sound; where the "columbia" also lay during the following summer, collecting furs, while capt. gray, in the "washington," explored the adjacent waters. on his return to nootka, it was agreed upon between the two captains that kendrick should take command of the sloop, and remain on the coast, while gray, in the "columbia," should carry to canton all the furs which had been collected by both vessels. this was accordingly done; and gray arrived on the 6th of december at canton, where he sold his furs, and took in a cargo of tea, with which he entered boston on the 10th of august, 1790, having carried the flag of the united states for the first time round the world. kendrick, immediately on parting with the "columbia," proceeded with the "washington" to the strait of fuca, through which he sailed, in its whole length, to its issue in the pacific, in lat. 51. to him belongs the credit of ascertaining that nootka and the parts adjacent are an island, to which the name of vancouver's island has since been given, which it now retains. vancouver was a british commander who followed in the track of the americans a year later. the injustice done to kendrick by thus robbing him of the credit of his discovery is but one of many similar instances; the greatest of all being that by which our continent itself bears the name, not of columbus, but of a subsequent navigator. capt. kendrick, during the time occupied by gray in his return voyage, besides collecting furs, engaged in various speculations; one of which was the collection, and transportation to china, of the odoriferous wood called "sandal," which grows in many of the tropical islands of the pacific, and is in great demand throughout the celestial empire, for ornamental fabrics, and also for medicinal purposes. vancouver pronounced this scheme chimerical; but experience has shown that it was founded on just calculations, and the business has ever since been prosecuted with advantage, especially by americans. another of kendrick's speculations has not hitherto produced any fruit. in the summer of 1791, he purchased from maquinna, wicanish, and other indian chiefs, several large tracts of land near nootka sound, for which he obtained deeds, duly _marked_ by those personages, and witnessed by the officers and men of the "washington." attempts were afterwards made by the owners of the vessel to sell these lands in london, but no purchasers were found; and applications have since been addressed by the legal representatives of the owners to the government of the united states for a confirmation of the title, but hitherto without success. capt. kendrick lost his life by a singular accident. in exchanging salutes with a spanish vessel which they met at the sandwich islands, the wad of the gun of the spaniard struck capt. kendrick as he stood on the deck of his vessel, conspicuous in his dress-coat and cocked hat as commander of the expedition. it was instantly fatal. the ship "columbia" returned to boston from canton under the command of gray, as already stated, arriving on the 10th of august, 1790; but the cargo of chinese articles brought by her was insufficient to cover the expenses of her voyage: nevertheless her owners determined to persevere in the enterprise, and refitted the ship for a new voyage of the same kind. the "columbia," under her former captain, gray, left boston, on her second voyage, on the 28th of september, 1790, and, without the occurrence of any thing worthy of note, arrived at clyoquot, near the entrance of fuca's strait, on the 5th of june, 1791. there, and in the neighboring waters, she remained through the summer and winter following, engaged in trading and exploring. in the spring of 1792, gray took his departure in the ship, on a cruise southward, along the coast, bent on ascertaining the truth of appearances which had led him in the former voyage to suspect the existence of a river discharging its waters at or about the latitude of 46 degrees. during his cruise, he met the english vessels commanded by commodore vancouver. "on the 29th of april," vancouver writes in his journal, "at four o'clock, a sail was discovered to the westward, standing in shore. this was a very great novelty, not having seen any vessel but our consort during the last eight months. she soon hoisted american colors, and fired a gun to leeward. at six, we spoke her. she proved to be the ship 'columbia,' commanded by capt. robert gray, belonging to boston, whence she had been absent nineteen months. i sent two of my officers on board to acquire such information as might be serviceable in our future operations. capt. gray informed them of his having been off the mouth of a river, in the latitude of 46 degrees 10 minutes, for nine days; but the outset or reflux was so strong as to prevent his entering." to this statement of capt. gray, vancouver gave little credit. he remarks, "i was thoroughly persuaded, as were also most persons of observation on board, that we could not have passed any safe navigable opening, harbor, or place of security for shipping, from cape mendocino to fuca's strait." after parting with the english ships, gray sailed along the coast of the continent southward; and on the 7th of may, 1792, he "saw an entrance which had a very good appearance of a harbor." passing through this entrance, he found himself in a bay, "well sheltered from the sea by long sand-bars and spits," where he remained three days trading with the natives, and then resumed his voyage, bestowing on the place thus discovered the name of bulfinch's harbor, in honor of one of the owners of his ship. this is now known as gray's harbor. at daybreak on the 11th, after leaving bulfinch's harbor, gray observed the entrance of his desired port, bearing east-south-east, distant six leagues; and running into it with all sails set, between the breakers, he anchored at one o'clock in a large river of fresh water, ten miles above its mouth. at this spot he remained three days, engaged in trading with the natives, and filling his casks with water; and then sailed up the river about twelve miles along its northern shore, where, finding that he could proceed no farther from having taken the wrong channel, he again came to anchor. on the 20th, he recrossed the bar at the mouth of the river, and regained the pacific. on leaving the river, gray gave it the name of his ship, the columbia, which it still bears. he called the southern point of land, at the entrance, cape adams; and the northern, cape hancock. the former of these names retains its place in the maps, the latter does not; the promontory being known as cape disappointment,--a name it received from lieut. meares, an english navigator, who, like capt. gray, judged from appearances that there was the outlet of a river at that point, but failed to find it, and recorded his failure in the name he assigned to the conspicuous headland which marked the place of his fruitless search. note. as the discovery of columbia river was an event of historical importance, the reader will perhaps be gratified to see it as recorded in the words of capt. gray himself, copied from his logbook as follows:- "may 11 (1792), at eight, p.m., the entrance of bulfinch's harbor bore north, distance four miles. sent up the main-top-gallant yard, and set all sail. at four, a.m., saw the entrance of our desired port, bearing east-south-east, distance six leagues; in steering sails, and hauled our wind in shore. at eight, a.m., being a little to windward of the entrance of the harbor, bore away, and ran in east-north-east between the breakers, having from five to seven fathoms of water. when we were over the bar, we found this to be a large river of fresh water, up which we steered. many canoes came alongside. at one, p.m., came to, with the small bower in ten fathoms black and white sand. the entrance between the bars bore west-south-west, distant ten miles; the north side of the river a half-mile distant from the ship, the south side of the same two and a half miles distance; a village on the north side of the river, west by north, distant three-quarters of a mile. vast numbers of natives came alongside. people employed in pumping the salt water out of our water-casks, in order to fill with fresh, while the ship floated in. so ends." from the mouth of columbia river, gray sailed to nootka sound, where he communicated his recent discoveries to the spanish commandant, quadra; to whom he also gave charts and descriptions of bulfinch's harbor, and of the mouth of the columbia. he departed for canton in september, and thence sailed to the united states. the voyages of kendrick and gray were not profitable to the adventurers, yet not fruitless of benefit to their country. they opened the way to subsequent enterprises in the same region, which were eminently successful. and, in another point of view, these expeditions were fraught with consequences of the utmost importance. gray's discovery of columbia river was the point most relied upon by our negotiators in a subsequent era for establishing the claim of the united states to the part of the continent through which that river flows; and it is in a great measure owing to that discovery that the growing state of oregon is now a part of the american republic. from the date of the discovery of columbia river to the war of 1812, the direct trade between the american coast and china was almost entirely in the hands of the citizens of the united states. the british merchants were restrained from pursuing it by the opposition of their east-india company; the russians were not admitted into chinese ports; and few ships of any other nation were seen in that part of the ocean. the trade was prosecuted by men whose names are still distinguished among us as those of the master-spirits of american commerce,--the thorndikes, the perkinses, lambs, sturgis, cushing, and others of boston, astor and others of new york. the greater number of the vessels sent from the united states were fine ships or brigs laden with valuable cargoes of west-india productions, british manufactured articles, and french, italian, and spanish wines and spirits; and the owners were men of large capital and high reputation in the commercial world, some of whom were able to compete with the british companies, and even to control their movements. during all this period, though constant accessions were made to the knowledge of the coast by means of commercial adventure, the interior of the continent, from the mississippi to the ocean, remained unknown. the intercourse of the people of the united states with the native tribes was restricted by several causes. one was the possession of louisiana by the spaniards; another, the retention by the british of several important posts south of the great lakes, within the acknowledged territory of the union. at length, by the treaty of 1794 between great britain and the united states, those posts were given up to the americans; and by treaty with france, in 1803, louisiana, which had come into possession of that power in 1800, was ceded to the united states. from this period, the government and people of the united states ceased to be indifferent to the immense and important region whose destinies were committed to them; and the ensuing narrative will relate the first attempt made by national authority to occupy and explore the country. chapter ii. lewis and clarke. in the year 1786, john ledyard of connecticut, who had been with capt. cook in his voyage of discovery to the north-west coast of america in 1776-1780, was in paris, endeavoring to engage a mercantile company in the fur-trade of that coast. he had seen, as he thought, unequalled opportunities for lucrative traffic in the exchange of the furs of that country for the silks and teas of china. but his representations were listened to with incredulity by the cautious merchants of europe, and he found it impossible to interest any so far as to induce them to fit out an expedition for the object proposed. disappointed and needy, he applied for advice and assistance to mr. jefferson, at that time the american minister at the court of france. ledyard had no views of pecuniary gain in the contemplated enterprise: he sought only an opportunity of indulging his love of adventure by exploring regions at that time unknown. mr. jefferson, as the guardian of his country's interests and the friend of science, was warmly interested in any scheme which contemplated the opening of the vast interior regions of the american continent to the occupancy of civilized man. since it was impossible to engage mercantile adventurers to fit out an expedition by sea, mr. jefferson proposed to ledyard that he should go as a traveller, by land, through the russian territories, as far as the eastern coast of the continent of asia, and from thence get such conveyance as he could to the neighboring coast of america, and thus reach the spot where his main journey was to begin. ledyard eagerly embraced the proposal. permission was obtained from the empress catharine of russia, and the enterprising traveller, in december, 1786, set forth. he traversed denmark and sweden; passed round the head of the gulf of bothnia, after an unsuccessful attempt to cross it on the ice; and reached st. petersburg in march, 1787, without money, shoes, or stockings, having gone this immense journey on foot in an arctic winter. at st. petersburg he obtained notice, money to the amount of twenty guineas, and permission to accompany a convoy of stores to yakoutsk, in siberia. but, for some unexplained reason, he was arrested at that place by order of the empress, and conveyed back to europe; being cautioned, on his release, not again to set foot within the russian territories, under penalty of death. this harsh treatment is supposed to have arisen from the jealousy of the russian fur-traders, who feared that ledyard's proceedings would rouse up rivals in their trade. mr. jefferson did not, upon this disappointment, abandon the idea of an exploration of the interior of the american continent. at his suggestion, the american philosophical society of philadelphia took measures, in 1792, to send suitable persons to make a similar transit of the continent in the opposite direction; that is, by ascending the missouri, and descending the columbia. nothing was effected, however, at that time, except awakening the attention of capt. meriwether lewis, a young officer in the american army, a neighbor and relative of gen. washington. he eagerly sought to be employed to make the contemplated journey. in 1803, mr. jefferson, being then president of the united states, proposed to congress to send an exploring party to trace the missouri to its source; to cross the highlands, and follow the best water communication which might offer itself, to the pacific ocean. congress approved the proposal, and voted a sum of money to carry it into execution. capt. lewis, who had then been two years with mr. jefferson as his private secretary, immediately renewed his solicitations to have the direction of the expedition. mr. jefferson had now had opportunity of knowing him intimately, and believed him to be brave, persevering, familiar with the indian character and customs, habituated to the hunting life, honest, and of sound judgment. he trusted that he would be careful of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of discipline. on receiving his appointment, capt. lewis repaired to philadelphia, and placed himself under its distinguished professors, with a view to acquire familiarity with the nomenclature of the natural sciences. he selected, as his companion in the proposed expedition, william clarke, a brother-officer, known and esteemed by him. while these things were going on, the treaty with france was concluded, by which the country of louisiana was ceded to the united states. this event, which took place in 1803, greatly increased the interest felt by the people of the united states in the proposed expedition. in the spring of 1804, the preparations being completed, the explorers commenced their route. the party consisted of nine young men from kentucky, fourteen soldiers of the united-states army who volunteered their services, two french watermen, an interpreter, a hunter, and a black servant of capt. clarke. in addition to these, a further force of fifteen men attended on the commencement of the expedition to secure safety during the transit through some indian tribes whose hostility was apprehended. the necessary stores were divided into seven bales and one box, the latter containing a small portion of each article in case of a loss of any one of the bales. the stores consisted of clothing, working tools, ammunition, and other articles of prime necessity. to these were added fourteen bales and one box of indian presents, composed of richly laced coats and other articles of dress, medals, flags, knives, and tomahawks for the chiefs; ornaments of different kinds, particularly beads, looking-glasses, handkerchiefs, paints, and generally such articles as were deemed best calculated for the taste of the indians. the company embarked on board of three boats. the first was a keel-boat, fifty-five feet long, carrying one large square sail and twenty-two oars. a deck of ten feet, at each end, formed a forecastle and cabin. this was accompanied by two open boats of six oars. two horses were to be led along the banks of the river, for bringing home game, or hunting in case of scarcity. the narrative of the expedition was written by the commanders from day to day, and published after their return. we shall tell the story of their adventures nearly in the language of their own journal, with such abridgments as our plan renders necessary. may 14, 1804.--all the preparations being completed, they left their encampment this day. the character of the river itself was the most interesting object of examination for the first part of their voyage. having advanced, in two months, about four hundred and fifty miles, they write as follows: "the ranges of hills on opposite sides of the river are twelve or fifteen miles apart, rich plains and prairies, with the river, occupying the intermediate space, partially covered near the river with cotton-wood or balm-of-gilead poplar. the whole lowland between the parallel ranges of hills seems to have been formed of mud of the river, mixed with sand and clay. the sand of the neighboring banks, added to that brought down by the stream, forms sand-bars, projecting into the river. these drive the stream to the opposite bank, the loose texture of which it undermines, and at length deserts its ancient bed for a new passage. it is thus that the banks of the missouri are constantly falling in, and the river changing its bed. "on one occasion, the party encamped on a sand-bar in the river. shortly after midnight, the sleepers were startled by the sergeant on guard crying out that the sand-bar was sinking: and the alarm was timely given; for scarcely had they got off with the boats before the bank under which they had been lying fell in; and, by the time the opposite shore was reached, the ground on which they had been encamped sunk also. "we had occasion here to observe the process of the undermining of these hills by the missouri. the first attacks seem to be made on the hills which overhang the river. as soon as the violence of the current destroys the grass at the foot of them, the whole texture appears loosened, and the ground dissolves, and mixes with the water. at one point, a part of the cliff, nearly three-quarters of a mile in length, and about two hundred feet in height, had fallen into the river. as the banks are washed away, the trees fall in, and the channel becomes filled with buried logs." river scenery. "july 12.--we remained to-day for the purpose of making lunar observations. capt. clarke sailed a few miles up the namaha river, and landed on a spot where he found numerous artificial mounds. note. a late traveller, rev. samuel parker, speaks thus of these mounds: "the mounds, which some have called the work of unknown generations of men, were scattered here in all varieties of form and magnitude, thousands in number. some of them were conical, some elliptical, some square, and some parallelograms. one group attracted my attention particularly. they were twelve in number, of conical form, with their bases joined, and twenty or thirty feet high. they formed two-thirds of a circle, with an area of two hundred feet in diameter. if these were isolated, who would not say they were artificial? but, when they are only a group among a thousand others, who will presume to say they all are the work of man?... "it is said by those who advocate the belief that they are the work of ancient nations; that they present plain evidence of this in the fact that they contain human bones, articles of pottery, and the like. that some of them have been used for burying-places, is undoubtedly true; but may it not be questioned whether they were _made_, or only _selected_, for burying-places? no one who has ever seen the thousands and ten thousands scattered through the valley of the mississippi will be so credulous as to believe that a hundredth part of them were the work of man." "from the top of the highest mound, a delightful prospect presented itself,--the lowland of the missouri covered with an undulating grass nearly five feet high, gradually rising into a second plain, where rich weeds and flowers were interspersed with copses of the osage plum. farther back from the river were seen small groves of trees, an abundance of grapes, the wild cherry of the missouri,--resembling our own, but larger, and growing on a small bush. the plums are of three kinds,--two of a yellow color, and distinguished by one of the species being larger than the other; a third species of red color. all have an excellent flavor, particularly the yellow kind." pipe-clay rock. "aug. 21.--we passed the mouth of the great sioux river. our indian interpreter tells us that on the head waters of this river is the quarry of red rock of which the indians make their pipes; and the necessity of procuring that article has introduced a law of nations, by which the banks of the stream are sacred; and even tribes at war meet without hostility at these quarries, which possess a right of asylum. thus we find, even among savages, certain principles deemed sacred, by which the rigors of their merciless system of warfare are mitigated." chapter iii. the sioux. the indian tribes which our adventurers had thus far encountered had been friendly, or at least inoffensive; but they were feeble bands, and all of them lived in terror of their powerful neighbors, the sioux. on the 23d of september, the party reached a region inhabited by the tetons, a tribe of sioux. the journal gives an account of their intercourse with these new acquaintances as follows:-"the morning was fine; and we raised a flag-staff, and spread an awning, under which we assembled, with all the party under arms. the chiefs and warriors from the indian camp, about fifty in number, met us; and capt. lewis made a speech to them. after this, we went through the ceremony of acknowledging the chiefs by giving to the grand chief a medal, a flag of the united states, a laced uniform coat, a cocked hat and feather; to the two other chiefs, a medal and some small presents; and to two warriors of consideration, certificates. we then invited the chiefs on board, and showed them the boat, the air-gun, and such curiosities as we thought might amuse them. in this we succeeded too well; for after giving them a quarter of a glass of whiskey, which they seemed to like very much, it was with much difficulty we could get rid of them. they at last accompanied capt. clarke back to shore in a boat with five men; but no sooner had the party landed than three of the indians seized the cable of the boat, and one of the soldiers of the chief put his arms round the mast. the second chief, who affected intoxication, then said that we should not go on; that they had not received presents enough from us. capt. clarke told him that we would not be prevented from going on; that we were not squaws, but warriors; that we were sent by our great father, who could in a moment exterminate them. the chief replied that he, too, had warriors; and was proceeding to lay hands on capt. clarke, who immediately drew his sword, and made a signal to the boat to prepare for action. the indians who surrounded him drew their arrows from their quivers, and were bending their bows, when the swivel in the large boat was pointed towards them, and twelve of our most determined men jumped into the small boat, and joined capt. clarke. this movement made an impression on them; for the grand chief ordered the young men away from the boat, and the chiefs withdrew, and held a short council with the warriors. being unwilling to irritate them, capt. clarke then went forward, and offered his hand to the first and second chiefs, who refused to take it. he then turned from them, and got into the boat, but had not gone more than a stone's-throw, when the two chiefs and two of the warriors waded in after him; and he took them on board. "sept. 26.--our conduct yesterday seemed to have inspired the indians with respect; and, as we were desirous of cultivating their acquaintance, we complied with their wish that we should give them an opportunity of treating us well, and also suffer their squaws and children to see us and our boat, which would be perfectly new to them. accordingly, after passing a small island and several sand-bars, we came to on the south shore, where a crowd of men, women, and children, were waiting to receive us. capt. lewis went on shore, and, observing that their disposition seemed friendly, resolved to remain during the night to a dance which they were preparing for us. the captains, who went on shore one after the other, were met on the landing by ten well-dressed young men, who took them up in a robe highly decorated, and carried them to a large council-house, where they were placed on a dressed buffalo-skin by the side of the grand chief. the hall, or council-room, was in the shape of three-quarters of a circle, covered at the top and sides with skins well dressed, and sewed together. under this shelter sat about seventy men, forming a circle round the chief, before whom were placed a spanish flag and the one we had given them yesterday. in the vacant space in the centre, the pipe of peace was raised on two forked sticks about six or eight inches from the ground, and under it the down of the swan was scattered. a large fire, at which they were cooking, stood near, and a pile of about four hundred pounds of buffalo-meat, as a present for us. "as soon as we were seated, an old man rose, and, after approving what we had done, begged us to take pity upon their unfortunate situation. to this we replied with assurances of protection. after he had ceased, the great chief rose, and delivered an harangue to the same effect. then, with great solemnity, he took some of the more delicate parts of the dog, which was cooked for the festival, and held it to the flag by way of sacrifice: this done, he held up the pipe of peace, and first pointed it towards the heavens, then to the four quarters of the globe, and then to the earth; made a short speech; lighted the pipe, and presented it to us. we smoked, and he again harangued his people; after which the repast was served up to us. it consisted of the dog, which they had just been cooking; this being a great dish among the sioux, and used at all festivals. to this was added _pemitigon_, a dish made of buffalo-meat, dried, and then pounded, and mixed raw with fat; and a root like the potato, dressed like the preparation of indian-corn called hominy. of all these luxuries, which were placed before us in platters, with horn spoons, we took the pemitigon and the potato, which we found good; but we could as yet partake but sparingly of the dog. we ate and smoked for an hour, when it became dark. every thing was then cleared away for the dance; a large fire being made in the centre of the house, giving at once light and warmth to the ball-room. the orchestra was composed of about ten men, who played on a sort of tambourine formed of skin stretched across a hoop, and made a jingling noise with a long stick, to which the hoofs of deer and goats were hung. the third instrument was a small skin bag, with pebbles in it. these, with five or six young men for the vocal part, made up the band. "the women then came forward highly decorated; some with poles in their hands, on which were hung the scalps of their enemies; others with guns, spears, or different trophies, taken in war by their husbands, brothers, or connections. having arranged themselves in two columns, as soon as the music began they danced towards each other till they met in the centre; when the rattles were shaken, and they all shouted, and returned back to their places. they have no steps, but shuffle along the ground; nor does the music appear to be any thing more than a confusion of noises, distinguished only by hard or gentle blows upon the buffalo-skin. the song is perfectly extemporaneous. in the pauses of the dance, any man of the company comes forward, and recites, in a low, guttural tone, some little story or incident, which is either martial or ludicrous. this is taken up by the orchestra and the dancers, who repeat it in a higher strain, and dance to it. sometimes they alternate, the orchestra first performing; and, when it ceases, the women raise their voices, and make a music more agreeable, that is, less intolerable, than that of the musicians. "the harmony of the entertainment had nearly been disturbed by one of the musicians, who, thinking he had not received a due share of the tobacco we had distributed during the evening, put himself into a passion, broke one of the drums, threw two of them into the fire, and left the band. they were taken out of the fire: a buffalo-robe, held in one hand, and beaten with the other, supplied the place of the lost drum or tambourine; and no notice was taken of the offensive conduct of the man. we staid till twelve o'clock at night, when we informed the chiefs that they must be fatigued with all these attempts to amuse us, and retired, accompanied by four chiefs, two of whom spent the night with us on board." the sioux. "the tribe which we this day saw are a part of the great sioux nation, and are known by the name of the _teton okandandas_: they are about two hundred men in number, and their chief residence is on both sides of the missouri, between the cheyenne and teton rivers. "the men shave the hair off their heads, except a small tuft on the top, which they suffer to grow, and wear in plaits over the shoulders. to this they seem much attached, as the loss of it is the usual sacrifice at the death of near relations. in full dress, the men of consideration wear a hawk's feather or calumet feather, worked with porcupine-quills, and fastened to the top of the head, from which it falls back. the face and body are generally painted with a mixture of grease and coal. over the shoulders is a loose robe or mantle of buffalo-skin, adorned with porcupine-quills, which are loosely fixed so as to make a jingling noise when in motion, and painted with various uncouth figures unintelligible to us, but to them emblematic of military exploits or any other incident. the hair of the robe is worn next the skin in fair weather; but, when it rains, the hair is put outside. under this robe they wear in winter a kind of shirt, made either of skin or cloth, covering the arms and body. round the middle is fixed a girdle of cloth or elk-skin, about an inch in width, and closely tied to the body. to this is attached a piece of cloth or blanket or skin about a foot wide, which passes between the legs, and is tucked under the girdle both before and behind. from the hip to the ankle, the man is covered with leggings of dressed antelope-skins, with seams at the sides two inches in width, and ornamented by little tufts of hair, the product of the scalps they have taken in war, which are scattered down the leg. "the moccasons are of dressed buffalo-skin, the hair being worn inwards. on great occasions, or whenever they are in full dress, the young men drag after them the entire skin of a polecat, fixed to the heel of the moccason. "the hair of the women is suffered to grow long, and is parted from the forehead across the head; at the back of which it is either collected into a kind of bag, or hangs down over the shoulders. their moccasons are like those of the men, as are also the leggings, which do not reach beyond the knee, where they are met by a long, loose mantle of skin, which reaches nearly to the ankles. this is fastened over the shoulders by a string, and has no sleeves; but a few pieces of the skin hang a short distance down the arm. sometimes a girdle fastens this skin round the waist, and over all is thrown a robe like that worn by the men. "their lodges are very neatly constructed. they consist of about one hundred cabins, made of white buffalo-hide, with a larger cabin in the centre for holding councils and dances. they are built round with poles about fifteen or twenty feet high, covered with white skins. these lodges may be taken to pieces, packed up, and carried with the nation, wherever they go, by dogs, which bear great burdens. the women are chiefly employed in dressing buffalo-skins. these people seem well-disposed, but are addicted to stealing any thing which they can take without being observed." chapter iv. summary of travel to winter-quarters. sept. 1, 1804.--the daily progress of the expedition from this date is marked by no incidents of more importance than the varying fortunes of travel, as they found the river more or less favorable to navigation, and the game more or less abundant on the banks. their progress was from twelve to twenty miles a day. in general, their sails served them; but they were sometimes obliged to resort to the use of tow-lines, which, being attached to a tree or other firm object on the shore, enabled the men to pull the boat along. this seems but a slow method of voyaging; yet they found it by no means the slowest, and were sorry when the nature of the banks, being either too lofty or too low, precluded their use of it. their narrative is, however, varied by accounts of the scenery and natural productions of the country through which they passed, and by anecdotes of the indians. while they are making their toilsome advance up the river, let us see what they have to tell us of the strange people and remarkable objects which they found on their way. prairie-dogs. "we arrived at a spot on the gradual descent of the hill, nearly four acres in extent, and covered with small holes. these are the residences of little animals called prairie-dogs, who sit erect near the mouth of the hole, and make a whistling noise, but, when alarmed, take refuge in their holes. in order to bring them out, we poured into one of the holes five barrels of water, without filling it; but we dislodged and caught the owner. after digging down another of the holes for six feet, we found, on running a pole into it, that we had not yet dug half-way to the bottom. we discovered two frogs in the hole; and near it we killed a rattlesnake, which had swallowed a small prairie-dog. we have been told, though we never witnessed the fact, that a sort of lizard and a snake live habitually with these animals. "the prairie-dog is well named, as it resembles a dog in most particulars, though it has also some points of similarity to the squirrel. the head resembles the squirrel in every respect, except that the ear is shorter. the tail is like that of the ground-squirrel; the toe-nails are long, the fur is fine, and the long hair is gray." antelopes. "of all the animals we have seen, the antelope possesses the most wonderful fleetness. shy and timorous, they generally repose only on the ridges, which command a view in all directions. their sight distinguishes the most distant danger; their power of smell defeats the attempt at concealment; and, when alarmed, their swiftness seems more like the flight of birds than the movement of an animal over the ground. capt. lewis, after many unsuccessful attempts, succeeded in approaching, undiscovered, a party of seven, which were on an eminence. the only male of the party frequently encircled the summit of the hill, as if to discover if any danger threatened the party. when capt. lewis was at the distance of two hundred yards, they became alarmed, and fled. he immediately ran to the spot they had left. a ravine concealed them from him; but the next moment they appeared on a second ridge, at the distance of three miles. he doubted whether they could be the same; but their number, and the direction in which they fled, satisfied him that it was the same party: yet the distance they had made in the time was such as would hardly have been possible to the swiftest racehorse." pelican island. "42.--this name we gave to a long island, from the numbers of pelicans which were feeding on it. one of them being killed, we poured into his bag five gallons of water." note. "the antelopes are becoming very numerous. their speed exceeds that of any animal i have ever seen. our hounds can do nothing in giving them the chase: so soon are they left far in the rear, that they do not follow them more than ten or twenty rods before they return, looking ashamed of their defeat. our hunters occasionally take the antelope by coming upon them by stealth. when they are surprised, they start forward a very small space, then turn, and, with high-lifted heads, stare for a few seconds at the object which has alarmed them, and then, with a half-whistling snuff, bound off, seeming to be as much upon wings as upon feet. they resemble the goat, but are far more beautiful. though they are of different colors, yet they are generally red, and have a large, fine, prominent eye. their flesh is good for food, and about equals venison."--_parker's tour._ indian villages and agriculture. "we halted for dinner at a deserted village, which we suppose to have belonged to the ricaras. it is situated in a low plain on the river, and consists of about eighty lodges, of an octagon form, neatly covered with earth, placed as close to each other as possible, and picketed round. the skin-canoes, mats, buckets, and articles of furniture, found in the lodges, induce us to suppose that it was left in the spring. we found three different kinds of squashes growing in the village. "another village, which we reached two days later, was situated on an island, which is three miles long, and covered with fields, in which the indians raise corn, beans, and potatoes. we found here several frenchmen living among the indians, as interpreters or traders. the indians gave us some corn, beans, and dried squashes; and we gave them a steel mill, with which they were much pleased. we sat conversing with the chiefs some time, during which they treated us to a bread made of corn and beans, also corn and beans boiled, and a large rich bean which they take from the mice of the prairie, who discover and collect it. we gave them some sugar, salt, and a sun-glass." york, the negro. "the object which seemed to astonish the indians most was capt. clarke's servant, york,--a sturdy negro. they had never seen a human being of that color, and therefore flocked round him to examine the monster. by way of amusement, he told them that he had once been a wild animal, and been caught and tamed by his master, and, to convince them, showed them feats of strength, which, added to his looks, made him more terrible than we wished him to be. at all the villages he was an object of astonishment. the children would follow him constantly, and, if he chanced to turn towards them, would run with great terror." stone-idol creek. "we reached the mouth of a creek, to which we gave the name of stone-idol creek; for, on passing up, we discovered, that, a few miles back from the missouri, there are two stones resembling human figures, and a third like a dog; all which are objects of great veneration among the ricaras. their history would adorn the "metamorphoses" of ovid. a young man was in love with a girl whose parents refused their consent to the marriage. the youth went out into the fields to mourn his misfortunes: a sympathy of feeling led the girl to the same spot; and the faithful dog would not fail to follow his master. after wandering together, and having nothing but grapes to subsist on, they were at last converted into stone, which, beginning at the feet, gradually invaded the nobler parts, leaving nothing unchanged but a bunch of grapes, which the female holds in her hands to this day. such is the account given by the ricara chief, which we had no means of testing, except that we found one part of the story very agreeably confirmed; for on the banks of the creek we found a greater abundance of fine grapes than we had seen elsewhere." goats. "great numbers of goats are crossing the river, and directing their course to the westward. we are told that they spend the summer in the plains east of the missouri, and at this season (october) are returning to the black mountains, where they subsist on leaves and shrubbery during the winter, and resume their migrations in the spring. at one place, we saw large flocks of them in the water. they had been gradually driven into the river by the indians, who now lined the shore so as to prevent their escape, and were firing on them; while boys went into the river, and killed them with sticks. they seemed to have been very successful; for we counted fifty-eight which they had killed. in the evening they made a feast, that lasted till late at night, and caused much noise and merriment. "the country through which we passed has wider river-bottoms and more timber than those we have been accustomed to see; the hills rising at a distance, and by gradual ascents. we have seen great numbers of elk, deer, goats, and buffaloes, and the usual attendants of these last,--the wolves, which follow their movements, and feed upon those who die by accident, or are too feeble to keep pace with the herd. we also wounded a white bear, and saw some fresh tracks of those animals, which are twice as large as the tracks of a man." the prairie on fire. "in the evening, the prairie took fire, either by accident or design, and burned with great fury; the whole plain being enveloped in flames. so rapid was its progress, that a man and a woman were burned to death before they could reach a place of safety. another man, with his wife and child, were much burned, and several other persons narrowly escaped destruction. among the rest, a boy of the half-breed escaped unhurt in the midst of the flames. his safety was ascribed by the indians to the great spirit, who had saved him on account of his being white. but a much more natural cause was the presence of mind of his mother, who, seeing no hopes of carrying off her son, threw him on the ground, and, covering him with the fresh hide of a buffalo, escaped herself from the flames. as soon as the fire had passed, she returned, and found him untouched; the skin having prevented the flame from reaching the grass where he lay." a council. "after making eleven miles, we reached an old field, where the mandans had cultivated grain last summer. we encamped for the night about half a mile below the first village of the mandans. as soon as we arrived, a crowd of men, women, and children, came down to see us. capt. lewis returned with the principal chiefs to the village, while the others remained with us during the evening. the object which seemed to surprise them most was a corn-mill, fixed to the boat, which we had occasion to use; while they looked on, and were delighted at observing the ease with which it reduced the grain to powder. "among others who visited us was the son of the grand chief of the mandans, who had both his little fingers cut off at the second joint. on inquiring into this injury, we found that the custom was to express grief for the death of relations by some corporeal suffering, and that the usual mode was to lose a joint of the little finger, or sometimes of other fingers. "oct. 29, 1804.--the morning was fine, and we prepared our presents and speech for the council. at ten o'clock, the chiefs were all assembled under an awning of our sails. that the impression might be the more forcible, the men were all paraded; and the council opened by a discharge from the swivel of the boat. capt. lewis then delivered a speech, which, like those we had already made, intermingled advice with assurances of friendship and trade. while he was speaking, the ahnahaway chief grew very restless, and observed that he could not wait long, as his camp was exposed to the hostilities of the shoshonees. he was instantly rebuked with great dignity, by one of the chiefs, for this violation of decorum at such a moment, and remained quiet during the rest of the council. this being over, we proceeded to distribute the presents with great ceremony. one chief of each town was acknowledged by the gift of a flag, a medal with the likeness of the president of the united states, a uniform coat, hat, and feather. to the second chiefs we gave a medal representing some domestic animals, and a loom for weaving; to the third chiefs, medals with the impression of a farmer sowing grain. a variety of other products were distributed; but none seemed to give more satisfaction than an iron corn-mill which we gave them. "in the evening, our men danced among themselves to the music of the violin, to the great amusement of the indians." they encamp for the winter. "friday, nov. 7, 1804.--capt. clarke having examined the shores, and found a position where there was plenty of timber, we encamped, and began to fell trees to build our huts. the timber which we employ is cotton-wood (poplar) and elm, with some ash of inferior size. by the 8th, our huts were advanced very well; on the 13th, we unloaded the boat, and stowed away the contents in a storehouse which we had built. "nov. 20.--this day we moved into our huts, which are now completed. we call our place fort mandan. it is situated on a point of low ground on the north side of the missouri, covered with tall and heavy cotton-wood. the works consist of two rows of huts or sheds, forming an angle where they join each other; each row containing four rooms of fourteen feet square and seven feet high, with plank ceiling, and the roof slanting so as to form a loft above the rooms, the highest part of which is eighteen feet from the ground. the backs of the huts formed a wall of that height; and, opposite the angle, the place of the wall was supplied by picketing. in the area were two rooms for stores and provisions. the latitude, by observation, is 47â° 22â´, long. 101â°; and the computed distance from the mouth of the missouri, sixteen hundred miles. "nov. 21.--we are now settled in our winter habitation, and shall wait with much impatience the first return of spring to continue our journey." chapter v. indian tribes. "the villages near which we are established are the residence of three distinct nations,--the mandans, the ahnahaways, and the minnetarees. the mandans say, that, many years ago, their tribe was settled in nine villages, the ruins of which we passed about eighty miles below. finding themselves wasting away before the small-pox and the sioux, they moved up the river, and planted themselves opposite the ricaras. their numbers are very much reduced, and they now constitute but two villages,--one on each side of the river, and at a distance of three miles from each other. both villages together may raise about three hundred and fifty men." ahnahaways. "four miles from the lower mandan village is one inhabited by the ahnahaways. this nation formerly dwelt on the missouri, about thirty miles below where they now live. the assinaboins and sioux forced them to a spot five miles higher, and thence, by a second emigration, to their present situation, in order to obtain an asylum near the minnetarees. their whole force is about fifty men." minnetarees. "about half a mile from this village, and in the same open plain with it, is a village of minnetarees, who are about one hundred and fifty men in number. one and a half miles above this village is a second of the same tribe, who may be considered the proper minnetaree nation. it is situated in a beautiful plain, and contains four hundred and fifty warriors. the mandans say that this people came out of the water to the east, and settled near them. the minnetarees, however, assert that they grew where they now live, and will never emigrate from the spot; the great spirit having declared, that, if they move, they will all perish. "the inhabitants of these villages, all of which are within the compass of six miles, live in harmony with each other. their languages differ to some extent; but their long residence together has enabled them to understand one another's speech as to objects of daily occurrence, and obvious to the senses. "all these tribes are at deadly feud with the sioux, who are much more powerful, and are consequently objects of continual apprehension. the presence of our force kept the peace for the present. "almost the whole of that vast tract of country comprised between the mississippi, the red river of lake winnipeg, the saskatchawan, and the missouri, is loosely occupied by a great nation whose primitive name is dahcotas, but who are called sioux by the french, sues by the english. they are divided into numerous tribes, named yanktons, tetons, assinaboins, &c. these tribes are sometimes at war with one another, but still acknowledge relationship, and are recognized by similarity of language and by tradition." religion. "the religion of the mandans consists in the belief of one great spirit presiding over their destinies. this being must be in the nature of a good genius, since it is associated with the healing art; and the great spirit is synonymous with great medicine,--a name also applied to every thing they do not comprehend. they also believe in a multiplicity of inferior spirits. each individual selects for himself the particular object of his devotion, which is termed his medicine, and is either an invisible being, or more commonly some animal, which thenceforward becomes his protector, or his intercessor with the great spirit. to propitiate the medicine, every attention is lavished, and every personal consideration is sacrificed. 'i was lately owner of seventeen horses,' said a mandan; 'but i have offered them all up to my medicine, and am now poor.' he had in reality taken them into the plain, and, turning them loose, committed them to the care of his medicine, and abandoned them. "their belief in a future state is connected with a tradition of their origin. the whole nation, they say, once dwelt in one large village underground. a grape-vine extended its roots down to their habitation; and the earth, being broken round its stem, gave them a view of the light. some of the more adventurous climbed up the vine, and were delighted with the sight of the earth, which they found covered with buffaloes, and rich with every kind of fruit. returning with the grapes they had gathered, their countrymen were so pleased with the taste, that the whole nation resolved to leave their dull residence for the upper region. men, women, and children ascended by means of the vine; but, when about half the nation had reached the surface, a corpulent woman, who was clambering up the vine, broke it with her weight, and, falling, closed up the cavity. those who had reached the surface, thus excluded from their original seats, cherish the hopes of returning there when they die." indian manners. the following extract imparts some traits of indian manners:-"nov. 22.--this morning, the sentinel informed us that an indian was about to kill his wife near the fort. we went to the house of our interpreter, where we found the parties, and, after forbidding any violence, inquired into the cause of his intending to commit such an atrocity. it appeared that, some days ago, a quarrel had taken place between him and his wife, in consequence of which she had taken refuge in the house where the wives of our interpreter lived. by running away, she forfeited her life, which might be lawfully taken by the husband. he was now come for the purpose of completing his revenge. we gave him a few presents, and tried to persuade him to take his wife home. the grand chief, too, happened to arrive at the same moment, and reproached him with his violence; till at length husband and wife went off together, but by no means in a state of much apparent connubial felicity." the weather. "dec. 12, 1804.--the thermometer at sunrise was thirty-eight degrees below zero; on the 16th, twenty-two below; on the 17th, forty-five below. on the 19th, it moderated a little. notwithstanding the cold, we observed the indians at the village engaged, out in the open air, at a game which resembles billiards. the platform, which answered for a table, was formed with timber, smoothed and joined so as to be as level as the floor of one of our houses. instead of balls, they had circular disks made of clay-stone, and flat like checkers." the argali. "dec. 22.--a number of squaws brought corn to trade for small articles with the men. among other things, we procured two horns of the animal called by the hunters the rocky-mountain sheep, and by naturalists the argali. the animal is about the size of a small elk or large deer; the horns winding like those of a ram, which they resemble also in texture, though larger and thicker. "dec. 23.--the weather was fine and warm. we were visited by crowds of indians of all description, who came either to trade, or from mere curiosity. among the rest, kagohami, the little raven, brought his wife and son, loaded with corn; and she entertained us with a favorite mandan dish,--a mixture of pumpkins, beans, corn, and choke-cherries, all boiled together in a kettle, and forming a composition by no means unpalatable. "dec. 25.--christmas day. we were awakened before day by a discharge of fire-arms from the party. we had told the indians not to visit us, as it was one of our great medicine-days; so that the men remained at home, and amused themselves in various ways, particularly with dancing, in which they take great pleasure. the american flag was hoisted for the first time in the fort; the best provisions we had were brought out; and this, with a little brandy, enabled them to pass the day in great festivity." the blacksmith. "dec. 27.--we were fortunate enough to have among our men a good blacksmith, whom we set to work to make a variety of articles. his operations seemed to surprise the indians who came to see us; but nothing could equal their astonishment at the bellows, which they considered a _very great medicine_." the dying chief. "kagohami came to see us early. his village was afflicted by the death of one of their aged chiefs, who, from his account, must have been more than a hundred years old. just as he was dying, he requested his grand-children to dress him in his best robe, and carry him up to a hill, and seat him on a stone, with his face down the river, towards their old village, that he might go straight to his brother, who had passed before him to the ancient village underground." the medicine-stone. "oheenaw and shahaka came down to see us, and mentioned that several of their countrymen had gone to consult their _medicine-stone_ as to the prospects of the following year. this medicine-stone is the great oracle of the mandans, and whatever it announces is believed with implicit confidence. every spring, and on some occasions during the summer, a deputation visits the sacred spot, where there is a thick, porous stone twenty feet in circumference, with a smooth surface. having reached the place, the ceremony of smoking to it is performed by the deputies, who alternately take a whiff themselves, and then present the pipe to the stone. after this, they retire to an adjoining wood for the night, during which it may be safely presumed all the embassy do not sleep; and, in the morning, they read the destinies of the nation in the white marks on the stone, which those who made them are at no loss to decipher. the minnetarees have a stone of a similar kind, which has the same qualities, and the same influence over the nation." the indians' endurance of cold. "jan. 10, 1805.--the weather now exhibited the intensity of cold. this morning, at sunrise, the mercury stood at forty degrees below zero. one of the men, separated from the rest in hunting, was out all night. in the morning he returned, and told us that he had made a fire, and kept himself tolerably warm. a young indian, about thirteen years of age, came in soon after. he had been overtaken by the night, and had slept in the snow, with no covering but a pair of deer-skin moccasons and leggings, and a buffalo-robe. his feet were frozen; but we restored them by putting them in cold water, rendering him every attention in our power. another indian, who had been missing, returned about the same time. although his dress was very thin, and he had slept in the snow, without a fire, he had not suffered any inconvenience. these indians support the rigors of the season in a way which we had hitherto thought impossible." supplies of food. "our supplies are chiefly procured by hunting; but occasional additions are made by the indians, sometimes in the way of gifts, and sometimes in exchange for the services of the blacksmith, who is a most important member of the party. "feb. 18.--our stock of meat is exhausted, so that we must confine ourselves to vegetable diet till the return of our hunters. for this, however, we are at no loss, since yesterday and to-day our blacksmith got large quantities of corn from the indians who came to the fort. "sunday, march 3.--the men are all employed in preparing the boats. we are visited by a party of indians with corn. a flock of ducks passed up the river to-day. "wednesday, 13.--we had a fine day, and a south-west wind. many indians came to see us, who are so anxious for battle-axes, that our smiths have not a moment's leisure, and procure us an abundance of corn." hunting buffaloes on the ice. "march 25, 1805.--a fine day, the wind south-west. the river rose nine inches, and the ice began breaking away. our canoes are now nearly ready, and we expect to set out as soon as the river is sufficiently clear of ice to permit us to pass. "march 29.--the ice came down this morning in great quantities. we have had few indians at the fort for the last three or four days, as they are now busy in catching the floating buffaloes. every spring, as the river is breaking up, the surrounding plains are set on fire, and the buffaloes tempted to cross the river in search of the fresh grass which immediately succeeds to the burning. on their way, they are often insulated on a large cake or mass of ice which floats down the river. the indians now select the most favorable points for attack, and, as the buffalo approaches, run with astonishing agility across the trembling ice, sometimes pressing lightly a cake of not more than two feet square. the animal is, of course, unsteady, and his footsteps insecure, on this new element, so that he can make but little resistance; and the hunter who has given him his death-wound paddles his icy boat to the shore, and secures his prey." chapter vi. the march resumed. from the 1st of november, 1804, to the 1st of april, 1805, the expedition remained stationary at their fort. some of their number had been sent back to the states with despatches to the government, and with specimens of the natural productions of the country. on resuming their march on the 4th of april, the party consisted of thirty-two persons. besides the commanders, there were three sergeants,--ordway, prior, and gass; twenty-three privates, besides capt. clark's black servant york; two interpreters,--george drewyer and toussaint chaboneau. the wife of chaboneau, an indian woman, with her young child, accompanied her husband. all this party, with the luggage, was stored in six small canoes and two pirogues. they left the fort with fair weather, and, after making four miles, encamped on the north side of the river, nearly opposite the first mandan village. we continue their journal. the river-shore. "april 8.--the river-banks exhibit indications of volcanic agency. the bluffs which we passed to-day are upwards of one hundred feet high, composed of yellow clay and sand, with horizontal strata of carbonated wood resembling pit-coal, from one to five feet in thickness, scattered through the bluff at different elevations. great quantities of pumice-stone and lava are seen in many parts of the hills, where they are broken and washed into gullies by the rain. we passed a bluff which is on fire, and throws out quantities of smoke, which has a strong, sulphurous smell. on the sides of the hills is a white substance, which appears in considerable quantities on the surface, and tastes like a mixture of common salt with glauber salts. many of the springs which come from the foot of the hills are so impregnated with this substance, that the water has an unpleasant taste, and a purgative effect." the prairie-mice. "april, 1805.--we saw, but could not procure, an animal that burrows in the ground, similar to the burrowing-squirrel, except that it is only one-third of its size. this may be the animal whose works we have often seen in the plains and prairies. they consist of a little hillock of ten or twelve pounds of loose earth, which would seem to have been reversed from a flower-pot; and no aperture is seen in the ground from which it could have been brought. on removing gently the earth, you discover that the soil has been broken in a circle of about an inch and a half in diameter, where the ground is looser, though still no opening is perceptible. when we stopped for dinner, the indian woman went out, and, penetrating with a sharp stick the holes of the mice, brought a quantity of wild artichokes, which the mice collect, and hoard in large quantities. the root is white, of an ovate form, from one to three inches long, and generally of the size of a man's finger; and two, four, and sometimes six roots are attached to a single stalk. its flavor, as well as the stalk that issues from it, resemble those of the jerusalem artichoke, except that the latter is much larger." the yellow-stone river. "certain signs, known to the hunters, induced them to believe that we were at no great distance from the yellow-stone river. in order to prevent delay, capt. lewis determined to go on by land in search of that river, and make the necessary observations, so as to enable us to proceed immediately after the boats should join him. "on leaving the party, he pursued his route along the foot of the hills; ascending which, the wide plains watered by the missouri and the yellow-stone spread themselves before his eye, occasionally varied with the wood of the banks, enlivened by the windings of the two rivers, and animated by vast herds of buffaloes, deer, elk, and antelope." natural history. "may, 1805.--we reached the mouth of a river flowing from the north, which, from the unusual number of porcupines near it, we called porcupine river. these animals are so careless and clumsy, that we can approach very near without disturbing them as they are feeding on the young willows. the porcupine is common in all parts of the territory, and for its quills is held in high estimation by the indians. it is interesting to see with how much ingenuity, and in how many various forms, the indians manufacture these quills into ornamental work, such as moccasons, belts, and various other articles." wolves. "the wolves are very numerous, and of two species. first, the small wolf, or burrowing dog of the prairies, which is found in almost all the open plains. it is of an intermediate size, between the fox and dog, very delicately formed, fleet and active. the ears are large, erect, and pointed; the head long and pointed, like that of a fox; the tail long and bushy; the hair and fur of a pale reddish-brown, and much coarser than that of the fox. these animals usually associate in bands of ten or twelve, and are rarely, if ever, seen alone; not being able singly to attack a deer or antelope. they live, and rear their young, in burrows, which they fix near some pass much frequented by game, and sally out in a body against any animal which they think they can overpower, but, on the slightest alarm, retreat to their burrows, making a noise exactly like that of a small dog. "the second species is lower, shorter in the legs, and thicker, than the atlantic wolf. they do not burrow, nor do they bark, but howl; and they frequent the woods and plains, and skulk along the herds of buffaloes, in order to attack the weary or wounded." elk. "among the animals of the deer kind, the elk is the largest and most majestic. it combines beauty with magnitude and strength; and its large, towering horns give it an imposing appearance. its senses are so keen in apprehension, that it is difficult to be approached; and its speed in flight is so great, that it mocks the chase. its flesh resembles beef, but is less highly flavored, and is much sought for by the indians and hunters. its skin is esteemed, and much used in articles of clothing and for moccasons." beavers. "we saw many beavers to-day. the beaver seems to contribute very much to the widening of the river and the formation of islands. they begin by damming up the channels of about twenty yards width between the islands. this obliges the river to seek another outlet; and, as soon as this is effected, the channel stopped by the beaver becomes filled with mud and sand. the industrious animal is thus driven to another channel, which soon shares the same fate; till the river spreads on all sides, and cuts the projecting points of land into islands. "the beaver dams differ in shape, according to the nature of the place in which they are built. if the water in the river or creek have but little motion, the dam is almost straight; but, when the current is more rapid, it is always made with a considerable curve, convex toward the stream. the materials made use of are drift-wood, green willows, birch, and poplars, if they can be got; also mud and stones, intermixed in such a manner as must evidently contribute to the strength of the dam. in places which have been long frequented by beavers undisturbed, their dams, by frequent repairing, become a solid bank, capable of resisting a great force both of water and ice; and as the willow, poplar, and birch generally take root, and shoot up, they, by degrees, form a kind of regular planted hedge, in some places so tall that birds build their nests among the branches. the beaver-houses are constructed of the same materials as their dams, and are always proportioned in size to the number of inhabitants, which seldom exceeds four old and six or eight young ones. the houses are of a much ruder construction than their dams: for, notwithstanding the sagacity of these animals, it has never been observed that they aim at any other convenience in their house than to have a dry place to lie on; and there they usually eat their victuals, such as they take out of the water. their food consists of roots of plants, like the pond-lily, which grows at the bottom of the lakes and rivers. they also eat the bark of trees, particularly those of the poplar, birch, and willow. "the instinct of the beavers leading them to live in associations, they are in an unnatural position, when, in any locality, their numbers are so much reduced as to prevent their following this instinct. the beaver near the settlement is sad and solitary: his works have been swept away, his association broken up, and he is reduced to the necessity of burrowing in the river-bank, instead of building a house for himself. such beavers are called 'terriers.' one traveller says that these solitaries are also called 'old bachelors.'" the white, brown, or grisly bear. "april 29.--all these names are given to the same species, which probably changes in color with the season, or with the time of life. of the strength and ferocity of this animal, the indians give dreadful accounts. they never attack him but in parties of six or eight persons, and, even then, are often defeated with the loss of some of the party. "may 18.--one of our men who had been suffered to go ashore came running to the boats with cries and every symptom of terror. as soon as he could command his breath, he told us, that, about a mile below, he had shot a white bear, which immediately turned and ran towards him, but, being wounded, had not been able to overtake him. capt. lewis, with seven men, went in search of the bear, and, having found his track, followed him by the blood for a mile, came up with him, and shot him with two balls through the skull. he was a monstrous animal, and a most formidable enemy. our man had shot him through the centre of the lungs: yet the bear had pursued him furiously for half a mile; then returned more than twice that distance, and, with his talons, dug himself a bed in the earth, two feet deep and five feet long, and was perfectly alive when they found him, which was at least two hours after he received the wound. the fleece and skin of the bear were a heavy burden for two men; and the oil amounted to eight gallons. "the wonderful power of life of these animals, added to their great strength, renders them very formidable. their very track in the mud or sand, which we have sometimes found eleven inches long and seven and a quarter wide, exclusive of the talons, is alarming; and we had rather encounter two indians than a single brown bear. there is no chance of killing them by a single shot, unless the ball is sent through the brain; and this is very difficult to be done, on account of two large muscles which cover the side of the forehead, and the sharp projection of the frontal bone, which is very thick." note. their strength is astonishingly great. lieut. stein of the dragoons, a man of undoubted veracity, told me he saw some buffaloes passing near some bushes where a grisly bear lay concealed: the bear, with one stroke, tore three ribs from a buffalo, and left it dead.--_parker._ although endowed with such strength, and powers of destruction, the grisly bear is not disposed to begin the attack. mr. drummond, a later traveller, states, that, in his excursions over the rocky mountains, he had frequent opportunity of observing the manners of these animals; and it often happened, that in turning the point of a rock, or sharp angle of a valley, he came suddenly upon one or more of them. on such occasions they reared on their hind-legs, and made a loud noise like a person breathing quick, but much harsher. he kept his ground, without attempting to molest them; and they on their part, after attentively regarding him for some time, generally wheeled round, and galloped off: though, from their known disposition, there is little doubt but he would have been torn in pieces, had he lost his presence of mind and attempted to fly. when he discovered them at a distance, he often frightened them away by beating on a large tin box in which he carried his specimens of plants. the black bear. "the black bear, common in the united states, is scarcely more than half the size of the grisly bear. its favorite food is berries of various kinds; but, when these are not to be procured, it lives upon roots, insects, fish, eggs, and such birds and quadrupeds as it can surprise. it passes the winter in a torpid state, selecting a spot for its den under a fallen tree, and, having scratched away a portion of the soil, retires to the place at the commencement of a snow storm, when the snow soon furnishes it with a close, warm covering. its breath makes a small opening in the den, and the quantity of hoar-frost which gathers round the hole serves to betray its retreat to the hunter. in more southern districts, where the timber is of larger size, bears often shelter themselves in hollow trees." buffaloes. "the buffalo is about as large as our domestic cattle; and their long, shaggy, woolly hair, which covers their head, neck, and shoulders, gives them a formidable appearance, and, at a distance, something like that of the lion. in many respects, they resemble our horned cattle; are cloven-footed, chew the cud, and select the same kind of food. their flesh is in appearance and taste much like beef, but of superior flavor. their heads are formed like the ox, perhaps a little more round and broad; and, when they run, they carry them rather low. their horns, ears, and eyes, as seen through their shaggy hair, appear small, and, cleared from their covering, are not large. their legs and feet are small and trim; the fore-legs covered with the long hair of the shoulders, as low down as the knee. though their figure is clumsy in appearance, they run swiftly, and for a long time without much slackening their speed; and, up steep hills or mountains, they more than equal the best horses. they unite in herds, and, when feeding, scatter over a large space; but, when fleeing from danger, they collect into dense columns: and, having once laid their course, they are not easily diverted from it, whatever may oppose. so far are they from being a fierce or revengeful animal, that they are very shy and timid; and in no case did we see them offer to make an attack but in self-defence, and then they always sought the first opportunity to escape. when they run, they lean alternately from side to side. they are fond of rolling upon the ground like horses, which is not practised by our domestic cattle. this is so much their diversion, that large places are found without grass, and considerably excavated by them." note. rev. mr. parker thus describes a buffalo-hunt:- "to-day we unexpectedly saw before us a large herd of buffaloes. all halted to make preparation for the chase. the young men, and all the good hunters, prepared themselves, selected the swiftest horses, examined the few guns they had, and also took a supply of arrows with their bows. they advanced towards the herd of buffaloes with great caution, lest they should frighten them before they should make a near approach, and also to reserve the power of their horses for the chase, when it should be necessary to bring it into full requisition. when the buffaloes took the alarm, and fled, the rush was made, each indian selecting for himself the one to which he happened to come nearest. all were in swift motion, scouring the valley. a cloud of dust began to rise; firing of guns, and shooting of arrows, followed in close succession. soon, here and there, buffaloes were seen prostrated; and the women, who followed close in the rear, began the work of securing the acquisition, and the men were away again in pursuit of the flying herd. those in the chase, when as near as two rods, shoot and wheel, expecting the wounded animal to turn upon them. the horses seemed to understand the way to avoid danger. as soon as the wounded animal flies again, the chase is renewed; and such is the alternate wheeling and chasing, until the buffalo sinks beneath his wounds." indian method of hunting the buffalo. "may 30, 1805.--we passed a precipice about one hundred and twenty feet high, under which lay scattered the fragments of at least a hundred carcasses of buffaloes. these buffaloes had been chased down the precipice in a way very common on the missouri, and by which vast herds are destroyed in a moment. the mode of hunting is to select one of the most active and fleet young men, who is disguised by a buffalo-skin round his body; the skin of the head, with the ears and horns, fastened on his own head in such a way as to deceive the buffaloes. thus dressed, he fixes himself at a convenient distance between a herd of buffaloes and any of the river precipices, which sometimes extend for some miles. his companions, in the mean time, get in the rear and side of the herd, and, at a given signal, show themselves, and advance towards the buffaloes. they instantly take the alarm; and, finding the hunters beside them, they run toward the disguised indian, or decoy, who leads them on, at full speed, toward the river; when, suddenly securing himself in some crevice of the cliff which he had previously fixed on, the herd is left on the brink of the precipice. it is then in vain for the foremost to retreat, or even to stop. they are pressed on by the hindmost rank, who, seeing no danger but from the hunters, goad on those before them, till the whole are precipitated over the cliff, and the shore is covered with their dead bodies. sometimes, in this perilous adventure, the indian decoy is either trodden under foot, or, missing his footing in the cliff, is urged down the precipice by the falling herd." which is the true river? "june 3, 1805.--we came to for the night, for the purpose of examining in the morning a large river which enters opposite to us. it now became an interesting question, which of those two streams is what the indians call ahmateahza, or the missouri, which, they tell us, has its head waters very near to the columbia. on our right decision much of the fate of the expedition depends; since, if, after ascending to the rocky mountains or beyond them, we should find that the river we have been tracing does not come near the columbia, and be obliged to turn back, we shall have lost the travelling season, and seriously disheartened our men. we determined, therefore, to examine well before deciding on our course, and, for this purpose, despatched two canoes with three men up each of the streams, with orders to ascertain the width, depth, and rapidity of the currents, so as to judge of their comparative bodies of water. parties were also sent out by land to penetrate the country, and discover from the rising grounds, if possible, the distant bearings of the two rivers. while they were gone, the two commanders ascended together the high grounds in the fork of the two rivers, whence they had an extensive prospect of the surrounding country. on every side, it was spread into one vast plain covered with verdure, in which innumerable herds of buffaloes were roaming, attended by their enemies the wolves. some flocks of elk also were seen; and the solitary antelopes were scattered, with their young, over the plain. the direction of the rivers could not be long distinguished, as they were soon lost in the extent of the plain. "on our return, we continued our examination. the width of the north branch is two hundred yards; that of the south is three hundred and seventy-two. the north, though narrower, is deeper than the south: its waters also are of the same whitish-brown color, thickness, and turbidness as the missouri. they run in the same boiling and roaring manner which has uniformly characterized the missouri; and its bed is composed of some gravel, but principally mud. the south fork is broader, and its waters are perfectly transparent. the current is rapid, but the surface smooth and unruffled; and its bed is composed of round and flat smooth stones, like those of rivers issuing from a mountainous country. "in the evening, the exploring parties returned, after ascending the rivers in canoes for some distance, then continuing on foot, just leaving themselves time to return by night. their accounts were far from deciding the important question of our future route; and we therefore determined each of us to ascend one of the rivers during a day and a half's march, or farther, if necessary for our satisfaction. "tuesday, june 4, 1805.--this morning, capt. lewis and capt. clarke set out, each with a small party, by land, to explore the two rivers. capt. lewis traced the course of the north fork for fifty-nine miles, and found, that, for all that distance, its direction was northward; and, as the latitude we were now in was 47â° 24â´, it was highly improbable, that, by going farther north, we should find between this and the saskatchawan any stream which can, as the indians assure us the missouri does, possess a navigable current for some distance within the rocky mountains. "these considerations, with others drawn from the observations of capt. clarke upon the south branch, satisfied the chiefs that the south river was the true missouri; but the men generally were of a contrary opinion, and much of their belief depended upon crusatte, an experienced waterman on the missouri, who gave it as his opinion that the north fork was the main river. in order that nothing might be omitted which could prevent our falling into error, it was agreed that one of us should ascend the southern branch by land until he reached either the falls or the mountains. in the mean time, in order to lighten our burdens as much as possible, we determined to deposit here all the heavy baggage which we could possibly spare, as well as some provisions, salt, powder, and tools. the weather being fair, we dried all our baggage and merchandise, and made our deposit, or cache. our cache is made in this manner: in the high plain on the side of the river, we choose a dry situation, and, drawing a small circle of about twenty inches diameter, remove the sod as carefully as possible. the hole is then sunk perpendicularly a foot deep, or more if the ground be not firm. it is now worked gradually wider as it deepens, till at length it becomes six or seven feet deep, shaped nearly like a kettle, or the lower part of a large still, with the bottom somewhat sunk at the centre. as the earth is dug, it is carefully laid on a skin or cloth, in which it is carried away, and thrown into the river, so as to leave no trace of it. a floor to the cache is then made of dry sticks, on which is thrown hay, or a hide perfectly dry. the goods, being well aired and dried, are laid on this floor, and prevented from touching the sides by other dried sticks, as the baggage is stowed away. when the hole is nearly full, a skin is laid over the goods; and, on this, earth is thrown, and beaten down, until, with the addition of the sod, the whole is on a level with the ground, and there remains no appearance of an excavation. careful measurements are taken to secure the ready recovery of the cache on the return; and the deposit is left in perfect confidence of finding every thing safe and sound after the lapse of months, or even years." the falls of the missouri. "june 12.--this morning, capt. lewis set out with four men on an exploration, to ascend the southern branch, agreeably to our plan. he left the bank of the river in order to avoid the deep ravines, which generally extend from the shore to a distance of two or three miles in the plain. on the second day, having travelled about sixty miles from the point of departure, on a sudden their ears were saluted with the agreeable sound of falling water; and, as they advanced, a spray which seemed driven by the wind rose above the plain like a column of smoke, and vanished in an instant. towards this point, capt. lewis directed his steps; and the noise, increasing as he approached, soon became too powerful to be ascribed to any thing but the great falls of the missouri. having travelled seven miles after first hearing the sound, he reached the falls. the hills, as he approached the river, were difficult of transit, and two hundred feet high. down these he hurried, and, seating himself on a rock, enjoyed the spectacle of this stupendous object, which, ever since the creation, had been lavishing its magnificence upon the desert, unseen by civilized man. "the river, immediately at its cascade, is three hundred yards wide, and is pressed in by a perpendicular cliff, which rises to about one hundred feet, and extends up the stream for a mile. on the other side, the bluff is also perpendicular for three hundred yards above the falls. for ninety or a hundred yards from the left cliff, the water falls in one smooth, even sheet, over a precipice eighty feet in height. the remaining part of the river rushes with an accelerated current, but, being received as it falls by irregular rocks below, forms a brilliant spectacle of perfectly white foam, two hundred yards in length, and eighty in height. the spray is dissipated into a thousand shapes, on all of which the sun impresses the brightest colors of the rainbow. the principal cascade is succeeded by others of less grandeur, but of exceeding beauty and great variety, for about twenty miles in extent."[1] a portage. "june 21.--having reached the falls, we found ourselves obliged to get past them by transporting our boats overland by what is called a _portage_. the distance was eighteen miles. it was necessary to construct a truck or carriage to transport the boats; and the making of the wheels and the necessary framework took ten days. the axle-trees, made of an old mast, broke repeatedly, and the cottonwood tongues gave way; so that the men were forced to carry as much baggage as they could on their backs. the prickly pear annoyed them much by sticking through their moccasons. it required several trips to transport all the canoes and baggage; and, though the men put double soles to their moccasons, the prickly pear, and the sharp points of earth formed by the trampling of the buffaloes during the late rains, wounded their feet; and, as the men were laden as heavily as their strength would permit, the crossing was very painful. they were obliged to halt and rest frequently; and, at almost every stopping-place, they would throw themselves down, and fall asleep in an instant. yet no one complained, and they went on with cheerfulness. "having decided to leave here one of the pirogues, we set to work to fit up a boat of skins, upon a frame of iron which had been prepared at the armory at harper's ferry. it was thirty-six feet long, four feet and a half wide at top, and twenty-six inches wide at bottom. it was with difficulty we found the necessary timber to complete it, even tolerably straight sticks, four and a half feet long. the sides were formed of willow-bark, and, over this, elk and buffalo skins." a narrow escape. "june 29.--capt. clarke, having lost some notes and remarks which he had made on first ascending the river, determined to go up along its banks in order to supply the deficiency. he had reached the falls, accompanied by his negro-servant york, and by chaboneau, the half-breed indian interpreter, and his wife with her young child. on his arrival there, he observed a dark cloud in the west, which threatened rain; and looked around for some shelter. about a quarter of a mile above the falls he found a deep ravine, where there were some shelving rocks, under which they took refuge. they were perfectly sheltered from the rain, and therefore laid down their guns, compass, and other articles which they carried with them. the shower was at first moderate; it then increased to a heavy rain, the effects of which they did not feel. soon after, a torrent of rain and hail descended. the rain seemed to fall in a solid mass, and, instantly collecting in the ravine, came rolling down in a dreadful torrent, carrying the mud and rocks, and every thing that opposed it. capt. clarke fortunately saw it a moment before it reached them, and springing up, with his gun in his left hand, with his right he clambered up the steep bluff, pushing on the indian woman with her child in her arms. her husband, too, had seized her hand, and was pulling her up the hill, but was so terrified at the danger, that, but for capt. clarke, he would have been lost, with his wife and child. so instantaneous was the rise of the water, that, before capt. clarke had secured his gun and begun 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 moment longer, would have swept them into the river, just above the falls, down which they must inevitably have been carried. as it was, capt. clarke lost his compass, chaboneau his gun, shot-pouch, and tomahawk; and the indian woman had just time to grasp her child before the net in which it lay was carried down the current." progress resumed. "july 4.--the boat was now completed, except what was in fact the most difficult part,--the making her seams secure. having been unsuccessful in all our attempts to procure tar, we have formed a composition of pounded charcoal with beeswax and buffalo-tallow to supply its place. if this resource fail us, it will be very unfortunate, as, in every other respect, the boat answers our purpose completely. although not quite dry, she can be carried with ease by five men: she is very strong, and will carry a load of eight thousand pounds, with her complement of men. "july 9.--the boat having now become sufficiently dry, we gave it a coat of the composition, then a second, and launched it into the water. she swam perfectly well. the seats were then fixed, and the oars fitted. but after a few hours' exposure to the wind, which blew with violence, we discovered that nearly all the composition had separated from the skins, so that she leaked very much. to repair this misfortune without pitch was impossible; and, as none of that article was to be procured, we were obliged to abandon her, after having had so much labor in the construction. "it now becomes necessary to provide other means for transporting the baggage which we had intended to stow in her. for this purpose, we shall want two canoes; but for many miles we have not seen a single tree fit to be used for that purpose. the hunters, however, report that there is a low ground about eight miles above us by land, and more than twice that distance by water, in which we may probably find trees large enough. capt. clarke has therefore determined to set out by land for that place, with ten of the best workmen, who will be occupied in building the canoes, till the rest of the party, after taking the boat to pieces and making the necessary deposits, shall transport the baggage, and join them with the other six canoes. "capt. clarke accordingly proceeded on eight miles by land; the distance by water being twenty-three miles. here he found two cottonwood-trees, and proceeded to convert them into boats. the rest of the party took the iron boat to pieces, and deposited it in a _cache_, or hole, with some other articles of less importance. "july 11.--sergeant ordway, with four canoes and eight men, set sail in the morning to the place where capt. clarke had fixed his camp. the canoes were unloaded and sent back, and the remainder of the baggage in a second trip was despatched to the upper camp. "july 15.--we rose early, embarked all our baggage on board the canoes, which, though eight in number, were heavily laden, and at ten o'clock set out on our journey. "july 16.--we had now arrived at the point where the missouri emerges from the rocky mountains. the current of the river becomes stronger as we advance, and the spurs of the mountain approach towards the river, which is deep, and not more than seventy yards wide. the low grounds are now but a few yards in width; yet they furnish room for an indian road, which winds under the hills on the north side of the river. the general range of these hills is from south-east to north-west; and the cliffs themselves are about eight hundred feet above the water, formed almost entirely of a hard black rock, on which are scattered a few dwarf pine and cedar trees. "as the canoes were heavily laden, all the men not employed in working them walked on shore. the navigation is now very laborious. the river is deep, but with little current; the low grounds are very narrow; the cliffs are steep, and hang over the river so much, that, in places, we could not pass them, but were obliged to cross and recross from one side of the river to the other in order to make our way." footnote: [1] dimensions of niagara falls,--american, 960 feet wide, 162 feet high; english, 700 feet wide, 150 feet high. chapter vii. journey continued. july 4.--since our arrival at the falls, we have repeatedly heard a strange noise coming from the mountains, in a direction a little to the north of west. it is heard at different periods of the day and night, sometimes when the air is perfectly still and without a cloud; and consists of one stroke only, or of five or six discharges in quick succession. it is loud, and resembles precisely the sound of a six-pound piece of ordnance, at the distance of three miles. the minnetarees frequently mentioned this noise, like thunder, which they said the mountains made; but we had paid no attention to them, believing it to be some superstition, or else a falsehood. the watermen also of the party say that the pawnees and ricaras give the same account of a noise heard in the black mountains, to the westward of them. the solution of the mystery, given by the philosophy of the watermen, is, that it is occasioned by the bursting of the rich mines of silver confined within the bosom of the mountain.[2] "an elk and a beaver are all that were killed to-day: the buffaloes seem to have withdrawn from our neighborhood. we contrived, however, to spread a comfortable table in honor of the day; and in the evening gave the men a drink of spirits, which was the last of our stock." vegetation. "july 15.--we find the prickly-pear--one of the greatest beauties, as well as one of the greatest inconveniences, of the plains--now in full bloom. the sunflower too, a plant common to every part of the missouri, is here very abundant, and in bloom. the indians of the missouri, and more especially those who do not cultivate maize, make great use of this plant for bread, and 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 times they add a sufficient proportion of marmow-fat to reduce it to the consistency of common dough, and eat it in that manner. this last composition we preferred to the rest, and thought it at that time very palatable. "there are also great quantities of red, purple, yellow, and black currants. the currants are very pleasant to the taste, and much preferable to those of our gardens. the fruit is not so acid, and has a more agreeable flavor." the big-horned or mountain ram. "july 18.--this morning we saw a large herd of the big-horned animals, who were bounding among the rocks in the opposite cliff with great agility. these inaccessible spots secure them from all their enemies; and the only danger they encounter is in wandering among these precipices, where we should suppose it scarcely possible for any animal to stand. a single false step would precipitate them at least five hundred feet into the river. "the game continues abundant. we killed to-day the largest male elk we have yet seen. on placing it in its natural, erect position, we found that it measured five feet three inches from the point of the hoof to the top of the shoulder. "the antelopes are yet lean. this fleet and quick-sighted animal is generally the victim of its curiosity. when they first see the hunters, they run with great velocity. if the hunter lies down on the ground, and lifts up his arm, his hat, or his foot, the antelope returns on a light trot to look at the object, and sometimes goes and returns two or three times, till at last he approaches within reach of the rifle. so, too, they sometimes leave their flock to go and look at the wolves, who crouch down, and, if the antelope be frightened at first, repeat the same manoeuvre, and sometimes relieve each other, till they decoy the antelope from his party near enough to seize it." the gates of the rocky mountains. "july 20.--during the day, in the confined valley through which we are passing, the heat is almost insupportable; yet, whenever we obtain a glimpse of the lofty tops of the mountains, we are tantalized with a view of the snow. a mile and a half farther on, the rocks approach the river on both sides, forming a most sublime and extraordinary spectacle. for six miles, these rocks rise perpendicularly from the water's edge to the height of nearly twelve hundred feet. they are composed of a black granite near the base; but judging from its lighter color above, and from fragments that have fallen from it, we suppose the upper part to be flint, of a yellowish-brown and cream color. nothing can be imagined more tremendous than the frowning darkness of these rocks, which project over the river, and menace us with destruction. the river, one hundred and fifty yards in width, seems to have forced its channel down this solid mass: but so reluctantly has it given way, that, during the whole distance, the water is very deep even at the edges; and, for the first three miles, there is not a spot, except one of a few yards in extent, on which a man could stand between the water and the towering perpendicular of the mountain. the convulsion of the passage must have been terrible; since, at its outlet, there are vast columns of rock torn from the mountain, which are strewed on both sides of the river, the trophies, as it were, of victory. we were obliged to go on some time after dark, not being able to find a spot large enough to encamp on. this extraordinary range of rocks we called the gates of the rocky mountains." natural productions. "july 29.--this morning the hunters brought in some fat deer of the long-tailed red kind, which are the only kind we have found at this place. there are numbers of the sandhill-cranes feeding in the meadows. we caught a young one, which, though it had nearly attained its full growth, could not fly. it is very fierce, and strikes a severe blow with its beak. the kingfisher has become quite common this side of the falls; but we have seen none of the summer duck since leaving that place. small birds are also abundant in the plains. here, too, are great quantities of grasshoppers, or crickets; and, among other animals, large ants, with a reddish-brown body and legs, and a black head, which build little cones of gravel ten or twelve inches high, without a mixture of sticks, and with but little earth. in the river we see a great abundance of fish, but cannot tempt them to bite by any thing on our hooks." the forks of the missouri. "july 28, 1805.--from the height of a limestone cliff, capt. lewis observed the three forks of the missouri, of which this river is one. the middle and south-west forks unite at half a mile above the entrance of the south-east fork. the country watered by these rivers, as far as the eye could command, was a beautiful combination of meadow and elevated plain, covered with a rich grass, and possessing more timber than is usual on the missouri. a range of high mountains, partially covered with snow, is seen at a considerable distance, running from south to west. "to the south-east fork the name of gallatin was assigned, in honor of the secretary of the treasury. on examining the other two streams, it was difficult to decide which was the larger or real missouri: they are each ninety yards wide, and similar in character and appearance. we were therefore induced to discontinue the name of missouri, and to give to the south-west branch the name of jefferson, in honor of the president of the united states and the projector of the enterprise; and called the middle branch madison, after james madison, secretary of state. "july 30.--we reloaded our canoes, and began to ascend jefferson river. the river soon became very crooked; the current, too, is rapid, impeded with shoals, which consist of coarse gravel. the islands are numerous. on the 7th of august, we had, with much fatigue, ascended the river sixty miles, when we reached the junction of a stream from the north-west, which we named wisdom river. we continued, however, to ascend the south-east branch, which we were satisfied was the true continuation of the jefferson." the shoshonees, or snake indians. "july 28.--we are now very anxious to see the snake indians. after advancing for several hundred miles into this wild and mountainous country, we may soon expect that the game will abandon us. with no information of the route, we may be unable to find a passage across the mountains when we reach the head of the river, at least such an one as will lead us to the columbia. and, even were we so fortunate as to find a branch of that river, the timber which we have hitherto seen in these mountains does not promise us any wood fit to make canoes; so that our chief dependence is on meeting some tribe from whom we may procure horses. "sacajawea, our indian woman, informs us that we are encamped on the precise spot where her countrymen, the snake indians, had their huts five years ago, when the minnetarees came upon them, killed most of the party, and carried her away prisoner. she does not, however, show any distress at these recollections, nor any joy at the prospect of being restored to her country; for she seems to possess the folly, or the philosophy, of not suffering her feelings to extend beyond the anxiety of having plenty to eat, and trinkets to wear. "aug. 9.--persuaded of the absolute necessity of procuring horses to cross the mountains, it was determined that one of us should proceed in the morning to the head of the river, and penetrate the mountains till he found the shoshonees, or some other nation, who could assist us in transporting our baggage. immediately after breakfast, capt. lewis took drewyer, shields, and mcneal; and, slinging their knapsacks, they set out, with a resolution to meet some nation of indians before they returned, however long it might be. "aug. 11.--it was not till the third day after commencing their search that they met with any success. capt. lewis perceived with the greatest delight, at the distance of two miles, a man on horseback coming towards them. on examining him with the glass, capt. lewis saw that he was of a different nation from any we had hitherto met. he was armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows, and mounted on an elegant horse without a saddle; while a small string, attached to the under-jaw, answered as a bridle. convinced that he was a shoshonee, and knowing how much our success depended upon the friendly offices of that nation, capt. lewis was anxious to approach without alarming him. he therefore advanced towards the indian at his usual pace. when they were within a mile of each other, the indian suddenly stopped. capt. lewis immediately followed his example; took his blanket from his knapsack, and, holding it with both hands at the two 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 practice of spreading a robe or a skin as a seat for guests to whom they wish to show kindness, is the universal sign of friendship among the indians. as usual, capt. lewis repeated this signal three times. still the indian kept his position, and looked with an air of suspicion on drewyer and shields, who were now advancing on each side. capt. lewis was afraid to make any signal for them to halt, lest he should increase the suspicions of the indian, who began to be uneasy; and they were too distant to hear his voice. he therefore took from his pack some beads, a looking-glass, and a few trinkets, which he had brought for the purpose; and, leaving his gun, advanced unarmed towards the indian, who remained in the same position till capt. lewis came within two hundred yards of him, when he turned his horse, and began to move off slowly. capt. lewis then called out to him, as loud as he could, 'tabba bone,'--which, in the shoshonee language, means _white man_; but, looking over his shoulder, the indian kept his eyes on drewyer and shields, who were still advancing, till capt. lewis made a signal to them to halt. this, drewyer obeyed; but shields did not observe it, and still went forward. the indian, seeing drewyer halt, turned his horse about, as if to wait for capt. lewis, who had now reached within one hundred and fifty paces, repeating the words, 'tabba bone,' and holding up the trinkets in his hand; at the same time stripping up his sleeve to show that he was white. the indian suffered him to advance within one hundred paces, then suddenly turned his horse, and, giving him the whip, leaped across the creek, and disappeared in an instant among the willows. they followed his track four miles, but could not get sight of him again, nor find any encampment to which he belonged. "meanwhile the party in the canoes advanced slowly up the river till they came to a large island, to which they gave the name of three-thousand-mile island, on account of its being at that distance from the mouth of the missouri." footnote: [2] there are many stories, from other sources, confirmatory of these noises in mountainous districts. one solution, suggested by humboldt,--who does not, however, record the fact as of his own observation,--is, that "this curious phenomenon announces a disengagement of hydrogen, produced by a bed of coal in a state of combustion." this solution is applicable only to mountains which contain coal, unless chemical changes in other minerals might be supposed capable of producing a similar effect. chapter viii. the sources of the missouri and columbia. aug. 12, 1805.--capt. lewis decided to advance along the foot of the mountains, hoping to find a road leading across them. at the distance of four miles from his camp, he found a large, plain, indian road, which entered the valley from the north-east. following this road towards the south-west, the valley, for the first five miles, continued in the same direction; then the main stream turned abruptly to the west, through a narrow bottom between the mountains. we traced the stream, which gradually became smaller, till, two miles farther up, it had so diminished, that one of the men, in a fit of enthusiasm, with one foot on each side of the rivulet, thanked god that he had lived to bestride the missouri. four miles from thence, we came to the spot where, from the foot of a mountain, issues the remotest water of the mighty river. "we had now traced the missouri to its source, which had never before been seen by civilized man; and as we quenched our thirst at the pure and icy fountain, and stretched ourselves by the brink of the little rivulet which yielded its distant and modest tribute to the parent ocean, we felt rewarded for all our labors. "we left reluctantly this interesting spot, and, pursuing the indian road, arrived at the top of a ridge, from whence we saw high mountains, partially covered with snow, still to the west of us. the ridge on which we stood formed, apparently, the dividing-line between the waters of the pacific and atlantic oceans. we followed a descent much steeper than that on the eastern side, and, at the distance of three-quarters of a mile, reached a handsome, bold creek of cold, clear water, running to the westward. we stopped for a moment, to taste, for the first time, the waters of the columbia; and then followed the road across hills and valleys, till we found a spring, and a sufficient quantity of dry willow-brush for fuel; and there halted for the night." they meet with indians. "aug. 13.--very early in the morning, capt. lewis resumed the indian road, which led him in a western direction, through an open, broken country. at five miles' distance, he reached a creek about ten yards wide, and, on rising the hill beyond it, had a view of a handsome little valley about a mile in width, through which they judged, from the appearance of the timber, that a stream probably flowed. on a sudden, they discovered two women, a man, and some dogs, on an eminence about a mile before them. the strangers viewed them apparently with much attention; and then two of them sat down, as if to await capt. lewis's arrival. he went on till he had reached within about half a mile; then ordered his party to stop, put down his knapsack and rifle, and, unfurling the flag, advanced alone towards the indians. "the women soon retreated behind the hill; but the man remained till capt. lewis came within a hundred yards of him, when he, too, went off, though capt. lewis called out 'tabba bone' ('white man'), loud enough to be heard distinctly. the dogs, however, were less shy, and came close to him. he therefore thought of tying a handkerchief with some beads round their necks, and then to let them loose, to convince the fugitives of his friendly intentions; but the dogs would not suffer him to take hold of them, and soon left him. "he now made a signal to the men, who joined him; and then all followed the track of the indians, which led along a continuation of the same road they had been travelling. it was dusty, and seemed to have been much used lately both by foot-passengers and horsemen. "they had not gone along it more than a mile, when, on a sudden, they saw three female indians, from whom they had been concealed by the deep ravines which intersected the road, till they were now within thirty paces of them. one of them, a young woman, immediately took to flight: the other two, an old woman and little girl, seeing we were too near for them to escape, sat on the ground, and, holding down their heads, seemed as if reconciled to the death which they supposed awaited them. capt. lewis instantly put down his rifle, and, advancing towards them, took the woman by the hand, raised her up, and repeated the words, 'tabba bone,' at the same time stripping up his sleeve to show that he was a white man; for his hands and face had become by exposure quite as dark as their own. "she appeared immediately relieved from her alarm; and, drewyer and shields now coming up, capt. lewis gave her some beads, a few awls, pewter mirrors, and a little paint, and told drewyer to request the woman to recall her companion, who had escaped to some distance, and, by alarming the indians, might cause them to attack him, without any time for explanation. she did as she was desired, and the young woman returned readily. capt. lewis gave her an equal portion of trinkets, and painted the tawny cheeks of all three of them with vermilion, which, besides its ornamental effect, has the advantage of being held among the indians as emblematic of peace. "after they had become composed, he informed them by signs of his wish to go to their camp in order to see their chiefs and warriors. they readily complied, and conducted the party along the same road down the river. in this way they marched two miles, when they met a troop of nearly sixty warriors, mounted on excellent horses, riding at full speed towards them. as they advanced, capt. lewis put down his gun, and went with the flag about fifty paces in advance. the chief, who, with two men, was riding in front of the main body, spoke to the women, who now explained that the party was composed of white men, and showed exultingly the presents they had received. the three men immediately leaped from their horses, came up to capt. lewis, and embraced him with great cordiality,--putting their left arm over his right shoulder, and clasping his back,--applying at the same time their left cheek to his, and frequently vociferating, 'ah-hi-e!'--'_i am glad! i am glad!_' "the whole body of warriors now came forward, and our men received the caresses, and no small share of the grease and paint, of their new friends. after this fraternal embrace, capt. lewis lighted a pipe, and offered it to the indians, who had now seated themselves in a circle around our party. but, before they would receive this mark of friendship, they pulled off their moccasons; a custom which, we afterwards learned, indicates their sincerity when they smoke with a stranger. "after smoking a few pipes, some trifling presents were distributed among them, with which they seemed very much pleased, particularly with the blue beads and the vermilion. "capt. lewis then informed the chief that the object of his visit was friendly, and should be explained as soon as he reached their camp; but that in the mean time, as the sun was oppressive, and no water near, he wished to go there as soon as possible. they now put on their moccasons; and their chief, whose name was cameahwait, made a short speech to the warriors. capt. lewis then gave him the flag, which he informed him was the emblem of peace, and that now and for the future it was to be the pledge of union between us and them. the chief then moved on, our party followed, and the rest of the warriors brought up the rear. "at the distance of four miles from where they had first met the indians, they reached the camp, which was in a handsome, level meadow on the bank of the river. here they were introduced into a leathern lodge which was assigned for their reception. after being seated on green boughs and antelope-skins, one of the warriors pulled up the grass in the centre of the lodge, so as to form a vacant circle of two feet in diameter, in which he kindled a fire. the chief then produced his pipe and tobacco; the warriors all pulled off their moccasons, and our party were requested to take off their own. this being done, the chief lighted his pipe at the fire, and then, retreating from it, began a speech several minutes long; at the end of which he pointed the stem of his pipe towards the four cardinal points of the heavens, beginning with the east, and concluding with the north. after this ceremony, he presented the stem in the same way to capt. lewis, who, supposing it an invitation to smoke, put out his hand to receive the pipe; but the chief drew it back, and continued to repeat the same offer three times; after which he pointed the stem to the heavens, then took three whiffs himself, and presented it again to capt. lewis. finding that this last offer was in good earnest, he smoked a little, and returned it. the pipe was then held to each of the white men, and, after they had taken a few whiffs, was given to the warriors. "the bowl of the pipe was made of a dense, transparent, green stone, very highly polished, about two and a half inches long, and of an oval figure; the bowl being in the same direction with the stem. the tobacco is of the same kind with that used by the minnetarees and mandans of the missouri. the shoshonees do not cultivate this plant, but obtain it from the bands who live farther south. "the ceremony of smoking being concluded, capt. lewis explained to the chief the purposes of his visit; and, as by this time all the women and children of the camp had gathered around the lodge to indulge in a view of the first white men they had ever seen, he distributed among them the remainder of the small articles he had brought with him. "it was now late in the afternoon, and our party had tasted no food since the night before. on apprising the chief of this fact, he said that he had nothing but berries to eat, and presented some cakes made of service-berries and choke-cherries which had been dried in the sun. of these, capt. lewis and his companions made as good a meal as they were able. "the chief informed him that the stream which flowed by them discharged itself, at the distance of half a day's march, into another of twice its size; but added that there was no timber there suitable for building canoes, and that the river was rocky and rapid. the prospect of going on by land was more pleasant; for there were great numbers of horses feeding round the camp, which would serve to transport our stores over the mountains. "an indian invited capt. lewis into his lodge, and gave him a small morsel of boiled antelope, and a piece of fresh salmon, roasted. this was the first salmon he had seen, and perfectly satisfied him that he was now on the waters of the pacific. "on returning to the lodge, he resumed his conversation with the chief; after which he was entertained with a dance by the indians. the music and dancing--which were in no respect different from those of the missouri indians--continued nearly all night; but capt. lewis retired to rest about twelve o'clock, when the fatigues of the day enabled him to sleep, though he was awaked several times by the yells of the dancers." chapter ix. the party in the boats. august, 1805.--while these things were occurring to capt. lewis, the party in the boats were slowly and laboriously ascending the river. it was very crooked, the bends short and abrupt, and obstructed by so many shoals, over which the canoes had to be dragged, that the men were in the water three-fourths of the day. they saw numbers of otters, some beavers, antelopes, ducks, geese, and cranes; but they killed nothing except a single deer. they caught, however, some very fine trout. the weather was cloudy and cool; and at eight o'clock a shower of rain fell. next day, as the morning was cold, and the men stiff and sore from the fatigues of yesterday, they did not set out till seven o'clock. the river was shallow, and, as it approached the mountains, formed one continued rapid, over which they were obliged to drag the boats with great labor and difficulty. by these means, they succeeded in making fourteen miles; but this distance did not exceed more than six and a half in a straight line. several successive days were passed in this manner (the daily progress seldom exceeding a dozen miles), while the party anxiously expected to be rejoined by capt. lewis and his men, with intelligence of some relief by the aid of friendly indians. in the mean time, capt. lewis was as anxiously expecting their arrival, to confirm the good impressions he had made on the indians, as well as to remove some lurking doubts they still felt as to his intentions. capt. lewis among the shoshonees. aug. 14.--in order to give time for the boats to reach the forks of jefferson river, capt. lewis determined to remain where he was, and obtain all the information he could with regard to the country. having nothing to eat but a little flour and parched meal, with the berries of the indians, he sent out drewyer and shields, who borrowed horses of the natives, to hunt. at the same time, the young warriors set out for the same purpose. there are but few elk or black-tailed deer in this region; and, as the common red deer secrete themselves in the bushes when alarmed, they are soon safe from the arrows of the indian hunters, which are but feeble weapons against any animal which the huntsmen cannot previously run down. the chief game of the shoshonees, therefore, is the antelope, which, when pursued, runs to the open plains, where the horses have full room for the chase. but such is this animal's extraordinary fleetness and wind, that a single horse has no chance of outrunning it, or tiring it down; and the hunters are therefore obliged to resort to stratagem. about twenty indians, mounted on fine horses, and armed with bows and arrows, left the camp. in a short time, they descried a herd of ten antelopes. they immediately separated into little squads of two or three, and formed a scattered circle round the herd for five or six miles, keeping at a wary distance, so as not to alarm them till they were perfectly enclosed. having gained their positions, a small party rode towards the herd; the huntsman preserving his seat with wonderful tenacity, and the horse his footing, as he ran at full speed over the hills, and down the ravines, and along the edges of precipices. they were soon outstripped by the antelopes, which, on gaining the other limit of the circle, were driven back, and pursued by fresh hunters. they turned, and flew, rather than ran, in another direction; but there, too, they found new enemies. in this way they were alternately driven backwards and forwards, till at length, notwithstanding the skill of the hunters, they all escaped; and the party, after running two hours, returned without having caught any thing, and their horses foaming with sweat. this chase, the greater part of which was seen from the camp, formed a beautiful scene; but to the hunters it is exceedingly laborious, and so unproductive, even when they are able to worry the animal down and shoot him, that forty or fifty hunters will sometimes be engaged for half a day without obtaining more than two or three antelopes. soon after they returned, our two huntsmen came in with no better success. capt. lewis therefore made a little paste with the flour, and the addition of some berries formed a tolerable repast. having now secured the good-will of cameahwait, capt. lewis informed him of his wish,--that he would speak to the warriors, and endeavor to engage them to accompany him to the forks of jefferson river, where, by this time, another chief, with a large party of white men, were waiting his return. he added, that it would be necessary to take about thirty horses to transport the merchandise; that they should be well rewarded for their trouble; and that, when all the party should have reached the shoshonee camp, they would remain some time among them, and trade for horses, as well as concert plans for furnishing them in future with regular supplies of merchandise. cameahwait readily consented to do as requested; and, after collecting the tribe together, he made a long harangue, and in about an hour and a half returned, and told capt. lewis that they would be ready to accompany him next morning. capt. lewis rose early, and, having eaten nothing yesterday except his scanty meal of flour and berries, felt the pain of extreme hunger. on inquiry, he found that his whole stock of provisions consisted of two pounds of flour. this he ordered to be divided into two equal parts, and one-half of it boiled with the berries into a sort of pudding; and, after presenting a large share to the chief, he and his three men breakfasted on the remainder. cameahwait was delighted with this new dish. he took a little of the flour in his hand, tasted it, and examined it very carefully, asking if it was made of roots. capt. lewis explained how it was produced, and the chief said it was the best thing he had eaten for a long time. breakfast being finished, capt. lewis endeavored to hasten the departure of the indians, who seemed reluctant to move, although the chief addressed them twice for the purpose of urging them. on inquiring the reason, capt. lewis learned that the indians were suspicious that they were to be led into an ambuscade, and betrayed to their enemies. he exerted himself to dispel this suspicion, and succeeded so far as to induce eight of the warriors, with cameahwait, to accompany him. it was about twelve o'clock when his small party left the camp, attended by cameahwait and the eight warriors. at sunset they reached the river, and encamped about four miles above the narrow pass between the hills, which they had noticed in their progress some days before. drewyer had been sent forward to hunt; but he returned in the evening unsuccessful; and their only supply, therefore, was the remaining pound of flour, stirred in a little boiling water, and divided between the four white men and two of the indians. next morning, as neither our party nor the indians had any thing to eat, capt. lewis sent two of his hunters out to procure some provision. at the same time, he requested cameahwait to prevent his young men from going out, lest, by their noise, they might alarm the game. this measure immediately revived their suspicions, and some of them followed our two men to watch them. after the hunters had been gone about an hour, capt. lewis mounted, with one of the indians behind him, and the whole party set out. just then, they saw one of the spies coming back at full speed across the plain. the chief stopped, and seemed uneasy: the whole band were moved with fresh suspicions; and capt. lewis himself was anxious, lest, by some unfortunate accident, some hostile tribe might have wandered that way. the young indian had hardly breath to say a few words as he came up, when the whole troop dashed forward as fast as their horses could carry them; and capt. lewis, astonished at this movement, was borne along for nearly a mile, before he learned, with great satisfaction, that it was all caused by the spy's having come to announce that one of the white men had killed a deer. when they reached the place where drewyer, in cutting up the deer, had thrown out the intestines, the indians dismounted in confusion, and ran, tumbling over each other, like famished dogs: each tore away whatever part he could, and instantly began to devour it. some had the liver, some the kidneys: in short, no part on which we are accustomed to look with disgust escaped them. it was, indeed, impossible to see these wretches ravenously feeding on the refuse of animals, and the blood streaming from their mouths, without deploring how nearly the condition of savages approaches that of the brute creation. yet, though suffering with hunger, they did not attempt to take (as they might have done) by force the whole deer, but contented themselves with what had been thrown away by the hunter. capt. lewis had the deer skinned, and, after reserving a quarter of it, gave the rest of the animal to the chief, to be divided among the indians, who immediately devoured the whole without cooking. they meet the boat party. as they were now approaching the place where they had been told they should see the white men, capt. lewis, to guard against any disappointment, explained the possibility of our men not having reached the forks, in consequence of the difficulty of the navigation; so that, if they should not find us at that spot, they might be assured of our being not far below. after stopping two hours to let the horses graze, they remounted, and rode on rapidly, making one of the indians carry the flag, so that the party in the boats might recognize them as they approached. to their great mortification, on coming within sight of the forks, no canoes were to be seen. uneasy, lest at this moment he should be abandoned, and all his hopes of obtaining aid from the indians be destroyed, capt. lewis gave the chief his gun, telling him, if the enemies of his nation were in the bushes, he might defend himself with it; and that the chief might shoot him as soon as they discovered themselves betrayed. the other three men at the same time gave their guns to the indians, who now seemed more easy, but still suspicious. luckily, he had a hold on them by other ties than their generosity. he had promised liberal exchanges for their horses; but, what was still more attractive, he had told them that one of their country-women, who had been taken by the minnetarees, accompanied the party below: and one of the men had spread the report of our having with us a man perfectly black, whose hair was short and curled. this last account had excited a great degree of curiosity; and they seemed more desirous of seeing this monster than of obtaining the most favorable barter for their horses. in the mean time, the boat party under capt. clarke, struggling against rapids and shallows, had made their way to a point only four miles by land, though ten by water, from where capt. lewis and the indians were. capt. clarke had seen from an eminence the forks of the river, and sent the hunters up. they must have left it only a short time before capt. lewis's arrival. aug. 17.--capt. lewis rose early, and despatched drewyer and the indian down the river in quest of the boats. they had been gone about two hours, and the indians were all anxiously waiting for some news, when an indian who had straggled a short distance down the river returned, with a report that he had seen the white men, who were not far below, and were coming on. the indians were all delighted; and the chief, in the warmth of his affection, renewed his embrace to capt. lewis, who, though quite as much gratified, would willingly have spared that manifestation of it. the report proved true. on commencing the day's progress, capt. clarke, with chaboneau and his wife, walked by the river-side; but they had not gone more than a mile, when capt. clarke saw sacajawea, the indian woman, who was some distance in advance, begin to dance, and show every mark of extravagant joy, pointing to several indians, whom he now saw advancing on horseback. as they approached, capt. clarke discovered drewyer among them, from whom he learned the situation of capt. lewis and his party. while the boats were performing the circuit, capt. clarke went towards the forks with the indians, who, as they went along, sang aloud with the greatest appearance of delight. they soon drew near the camp; and, as they approached it, a woman made her way through the crowd towards sacajawea, when, recognizing each other, they embraced with the most tender affection. the meeting of these two young women had in it something peculiarly touching. they had been companions in childhood, and, in the war with the minnetarees, had both been taken prisoners in the same battle. they had shared the same captivity, till one had escaped, leaving her friend with scarce a hope of ever seeing her again. while sacajawea was renewing among the women the friendships of former days, capt. clarke went on, and was received by capt. lewis and the chief, who, after the first embraces and salutations, conducted him to a sort of circular tent constructed of willow-branches. here he was seated on a white robe; and the chief tied in his hair six small shells resembling pearls,--an ornament highly valued by these people. after smoking, a conference was held, sacajawea acting as interpreter. capt. lewis told them he had been sent to discover the best route by which merchandise could be conveyed to them, and, since no trade would be begun before our return, it was naturally desirable that we should proceed with as little delay as possible; that we were under the necessity of requesting them to furnish us with horses to transport our baggage across the mountains, and a guide to show us the route; but that they should be amply remunerated for their horses, as well as for any other service they should render us. in the mean time, our first wish was that they should immediately collect as many horses as were necessary to transport our baggage to their village, where, at our leisure, we would trade with them for as many horses as they could spare. the speech made a favorable impression. the chief thanked us for our friendly intentions, and declared their willingness to render us every service. he promised to return to the village next day, and to bring all his own horses, and to encourage his people to bring theirs. we then distributed our presents. to cameahwait we gave a medal of the small size, with the likeness of president jefferson, and on the reverse a figure of hands clasped, with a pipe and tomahawk. to this were added a uniform-coat, a shirt, a pair of scarlet leggings, a lump of tobacco, and some small articles. each of the other chiefs received similar presents, excepting the dress-coat. these honorary gifts were followed by presents of paint, moccasons, awls, knives, beads, and looking-glasses. they had abundant sources of surprise in all they saw. the appearance of the men, their arms, their clothing, the canoes, the strange looks of the negro, and the sagacity of our dog, all in turn shared their admiration, which was raised to astonishment by a shot from the air-gun. this was immediately pronounced a _great medicine_, by which they mean something produced by the great spirit himself in some incomprehensible way. chapter x. the descent of the columbia. august, 1805.--our indian information as to the navigation of the columbia was of a very discouraging character. it was therefore agreed that capt. clarke should set off in the morning with eleven men, furnished, besides their arms, with tools for making canoes; that he should take chaboneau and his wife to the camp of the shoshonees, where he was to leave them to hasten the collection of horses; that he was then to lead his men down to the columbia; and if he found it navigable, and the timber in sufficient quantity, should begin to build canoes. as soon as he should have decided on the question of proceeding, whether down the river or across the mountains, he was to send back one of the men, with information of his decision, to capt. lewis, who would tarry meanwhile at the shoshonee village. aug. 20.--capt. clarke set out at six o'clock. passing through a continuation of hilly, broken country, he met several parties of indians. an old man among them was pointed out, who was said to know more of the nature of the country north than any other person; and capt. clarke engaged him as a guide. the first point to ascertain was the truth of the indian information as to the difficulty of descending the river. for this purpose, capt. clarke and his men set out at three o'clock in the afternoon, accompanied by his indian guide. at the distance of four miles he crossed the river, and, eight miles from the camp, halted for the night. as capt. lewis was the first white man who had visited its waters, capt. clarke gave the stream the name of lewis's river. aug. 23.--capt. clarke set out very early; but as his route lay along the steep side of a mountain, over irregular and broken masses of rocks, which wounded the horses' feet, he was obliged to proceed slowly. at the distance of four miles, he reached the river; but the rocks here became so steep, and projected so far into the stream, that there was no mode of passing except through the water. this he did for some distance, though the current was very rapid, and so deep, that they were forced to swim their horses. after following the edge of the stream for about a mile, he reached a small meadow, below which the whole current of the river beat against the shore on which he was, and which was formed of a solid rock, perfectly inaccessible to horses. he therefore resolved to leave the horses and the greater part of the men at this place, and continue his examination of the river on foot, in order to determine if there were any possibility of descending it in canoes. with his guide and three men he proceeded, clambering over immense rocks, and along the sides of precipices which bordered the stream. the river presented a succession of shoals, neither of which could be passed with loaded canoes; and the baggage must therefore be transported for considerable distances over the steep mountains, where it would be impossible to employ horses. even the empty boats must be let down the rapids by means of cords, and not even in this way without great risk both to the canoes and the men. disappointed in finding a route by way of the river, capt. clarke now questioned his guide more particularly respecting an indian road which came in from the north. the guide, who seemed intelligent, drew a map on the sand, and represented this road as leading to a great river where resided a nation called tushepaws, who, having no salmon on their river, came by this road to the fish-wears on lewis's river. after a great deal of conversation, or rather signs, capt. clarke felt persuaded that his guide knew of a road from the shoshonee village they had left, to the great river toward the north, without coming so low down as this, on a road impracticable for horses. he therefore hastened to return thither, sending forward a man on horseback with a note to capt. lewis, apprising him of the result of his inquiries. from the 25th to the 29th of august, capt. clarke and his men were occupied in their return to the shoshonee village, where capt. lewis and party were awaiting them. during their march, the want of provisions was such, that if it had not been for the liberality of the indians, who gave them a share of their own scanty supplies, they must have perished. the main dependence for food was upon salmon and berries. it was seldom they could get enough of these for a full meal; and abstinence and the strange diet caused some sickness. capt. lewis, on the contrary, had found the game sufficiently abundant to supply their own party, and to spare some to the indians; so that, when their friends rejoined them, they had it in their power to immediately relieve their wants. the shoshonees. the shoshonees are a small tribe of the nation called snake indians,--a vague denomination, which embraces at once the inhabitants of the southern parts of the rocky mountains, and of the plains on each side. the shoshonees, with whom we now are, amount to about a hundred warriors, and three times that number of women and children. within their own recollection, they formerly lived in the plains; but they have been driven into the mountains by the roving indians of the saskatchawan country, and are now obliged to visit only occasionally and by stealth the country of their ancestors. from the middle of may to the beginning of september, they reside on the waters of the columbia. during this time, they subsist chiefly on salmon; and, as that fish disappears on the approach of autumn, they are obliged to seek subsistence elsewhere. they then cross the ridge to the waters of the missouri, down which they proceed cautiously till they are joined by other bands of their own nation, or of the flatheads, with whom they associate against the common enemy. being now strong in numbers, they venture to hunt buffaloes in the plains eastward of the mountains, near which they spend the winter, till the return of the salmon invites them to the columbia. in this loose and wandering existence, they suffer the extremes of want: for two-thirds of the year they are forced to live in the mountains, passing whole weeks without meat, and with nothing to eat but a few fish and roots. yet the shoshonees are not only cheerful, but gay; and their character is more interesting than that of any other indians we have seen. they are frank and communicative; fair in their dealings; and we have had no reason to suspect that the display of our new and valuable wealth has tempted them into a single act of theft. while they have shared with us the little they possess, they have always abstained from begging any thing of us. their wealth is in horses. of these they have at least seven hundred, among which are about forty colts, and half that number of mules. the original stock was procured from the spaniards; but now they raise their own, which are generally of good size, vigorous, and patient of fatigue as well as of hunger. every warrior has one or two tied to a stake near his hut day and night, so as to be always prepared for action. the mules are obtained in the course of trade from the spaniards of california. they are highly valued. the worst are considered as worth the price of two horses. the shoshonee warrior always fights on horseback. he possesses a few bad guns, which are reserved for war; but his common arms are the bow and arrow, a shield, a lance, and a weapon called _pogamogon_, which consists of a handle of wood, with a stone weighing about two pounds, and held in a cover of leather, attached to the handle by a leather thong. at the other end is a loop, which is passed round the wrist, so as to secure the hold of the instrument, with which they strike a very severe blow. the bow is made of cedar or pine, covered on the outer side with sinews and glue. sometimes it is made of the horn of an elk, covered on the back like those of wood. the arrows are more slender than those of other indians we have seen. they are kept, with the implements for striking fire, in a narrow quiver formed of different kinds of skin. it is just long enough to protect the arrows from the weather, and is fastened upon the back of the wearer by means of a strap passing over the right shoulder, and under the left arm. the shield is a circular piece of buffalo-skin, about two feet four inches in diameter, ornamented with feathers, with a fringe round it of dressed leather, and adorned with paintings of strange figures. besides these, they have a kind of armor, something like a coat of mail, which is formed by a great many folds of antelope-skins, united by a mixture of glue and sand. with this they cover their own bodies and those of their horses, and find it impervious to the arrow. the caparison of their horses is a halter and saddle. the halter is made of strands of buffalo-hair platted together; or is merely a thong of raw hide, made pliant by pounding and rubbing. the halter is very long, and is never taken from the neck of the horse when in constant use. one end of it is first tied round the neck in a knot, and then brought down to the under-jaw, round which it is formed into a simple noose, passing through the mouth. it is then drawn up on the right side, and held by the rider in his left hand, while the rest trails after him to some distance. with these cords dangling alongside of them, the horse is put to his full speed, without fear of falling; and, when he is turned to graze, the noose is merely taken from his mouth. the saddle is formed, like the pack-saddles used by the french and spaniards, of two flat, thin boards, which fit the sides of the horse, and are kept together by two cross-pieces, one before and the other behind, which rise to a considerable height, making the saddle deep and narrow. under this, a piece of buffalo-skin, with the hair on, is placed, so as to prevent the rubbing of the board; and, when the rider mounts, he throws a piece of skin or robe over the saddle, which has no permanent cover. when stirrups are used, they consist of wood covered with leather; but stirrups and saddles are conveniences reserved for women and old men. the young warriors rarely use any thing except a small, leather pad stuffed with hair, and secured by a girth made of a leathern thong. in this way, they ride with great expertness; and they have particular dexterity in catching the horse when he is running at large. they make a noose in the rope, and although the horse may be at some distance, or even running, rarely fail to fix it on his neck; and such is the docility of the animal, that, however unruly he may seem, he surrenders as soon as he feels the rope on him. the horse becomes an object of attachment. a favorite is frequently painted, and his ears cut into various shapes. the mane and tail, which are never drawn nor trimmed, are decorated with feathers of birds; and sometimes a warrior suspends at the breast of his horse the finest ornaments he possesses. thus armed and mounted, the shoshonee is a formidable enemy, even with the feeble weapons which he is still obliged to use. when they attack at full speed, they bend forward, and cover their bodies with the shield, while with the right hand they shoot under the horse's neck. indian horses and riders. they are so well supplied with horses, that every man, woman, and child is mounted; and all they have is packed upon horses. small children, not more than three years old, are mounted alone, and generally upon colts. they are tied upon the saddle to keep them from falling, especially when they go to sleep, which they often do when they become fatigued. then they lie down upon the horse's shoulders; and, when they awake, they lay hold of their whip, which is fastened to the wrist of their right hand, and apply it smartly to their horses: and it is astonishing to see how these little creatures will guide and run them. children that are still younger are put into an incasement made with a board at the back, and a wicker-work around the other parts, covered with cloth inside and without, or, more generally, with dressed skins; and they are carried upon the mother's back, or suspended from a high knob upon the fore part of their saddles. chapter xi. clarke's river. aug. 31.--capt. lewis, during the absence of his brother-officer, had succeeded in procuring from the indians, by barter, twenty-nine horses,--not quite one for each man. capt. clarke having now rejoined us, and the weather being fine, we loaded our horses, and prepared to start. we took our leave of the shoshonees, and accompanied by the old guide, his four sons, and another indian, began the descent of the river, which capt. clarke had named lewis's river. after riding twelve miles, we encamped on the bank; and, as the hunters had brought in three deer early in the morning, we did not feel in want of provisions. on the 31st of august, we made eighteen miles. here we left the track of capt. clarke, and began to explore the new route recommended by the indian guide, and which was our last hope of getting out of the mountains. during all day, we rode over hills, from which are many drains and small streams, and, at the distance of eighteen miles, came to a large creek, called fish creek, emptying into the main river, which is about six miles from us. sept. 2.--this morning, all the indians left us, except the old guide, who now conducted us up fish creek. we arrived shortly after at the forks of the creek. the road we were following now turned in a contrary direction to our course, and we were left without any track; but, as no time was to be lost, we began to cut our road up the west branch of the creek. this we effected with much difficulty. the thickets of trees and brush through which we were obliged to cut our way required great labor. our course was over the steep and rocky sides of the hills, where the horses could not move without danger of slipping down, while their feet were bruised by the rocks, and stumps of trees. accustomed as these animals were to this kind of life, they suffered severely. several of them fell to some distance down the sides of the hills, some turned over with the baggage, one was crippled, and two gave out exhausted with fatigue. after crossing the creek several times, we had made five miles with great labor, and encamped in a small, stony, low ground. it was not, however, till after dark that the whole party was collected; and then, as it rained, and we killed nothing, we passed an uncomfortable night. we had been too busily occupied with the horses to make any hunting excursion; and, though we saw many beaver-dams in the creek, we saw none of the animals. next day, our experiences were much the same, with the addition of a fall of snow at evening. the day following, we reached the head of a stream which directed its course more to the westward, and followed it till we discovered a large encampment of indians. when we reached them, and alighted from our horses, we were received with great cordiality. a council was immediately assembled, white robes were thrown over our shoulders, and the pipe of peace introduced. after this ceremony, as it was too late to go any farther, we encamped, and continued smoking and conversing with the chiefs till a late hour. next morning, we assembled the chiefs and warriors, and informed them who we were, and the purpose for which we visited their country. all this was, however, conveyed to them in so many different languages, that it was not comprehended without difficulty. we therefore proceeded to the more intelligible language of presents, and made four chiefs by giving a medal and a small quantity of tobacco to each. we received in turn, from the principal chiefs, a present, consisting of the skins of an otter and two antelopes; and were treated by the women to some dried roots and berries. we then began to traffic for horses, and succeeded in exchanging seven, and purchasing eleven. these indians are a band of the tushepaws, a numerous people of four hundred and fifty tents, residing on the head waters of the missouri and columbia rivers, and some of them lower down the latter river. they seemed kind and friendly, and willingly shared with us berries and roots, which formed their only stock of provisions. their only wealth is their horses, which are very fine, and so numerous that this band had with them at least five hundred. we proceeded next day, and, taking a north-west direction, crossed, within a distance of a mile and a half, a small river from the right. this river is the main stream; and, when it reaches the end of the valley, it is joined by two other streams. to the river thus formed we gave the name of clarke's river; he being the first white man who ever visited its waters. we followed the course of the river, which is from twenty-five to thirty yards wide, shallow, and stony, with the low grounds on its borders narrow; and encamped on its right bank, after making ten miles. our stock of flour was now exhausted, and we had but little corn; and, as our hunters had killed nothing except two pheasants, our supper consisted chiefly of berries. the next day, and the next, we followed the river, which widened to fifty yards, with a valley four or five miles broad. at ten miles from our camp was a creek, which emptied itself on the west side of the river. it was a fine bold creek of clear water, about twenty yards wide; and we called it traveller's rest: for, as our guide told us we should here leave the river, we determined to make some stay for the purpose of collecting food, as the country through which we were to pass has no game for a great distance. toward evening, one of the hunters returned with three indians whom he had met. we found that they were tushepaw flatheads in pursuit of strayed horses. we gave them some boiled venison and a few presents, such as a fish hook, a steel to strike fire, and a little powder; but they seemed better pleased with a piece of ribbon which we tied in the hair of each of them. their people, they said, were numerous, and resided on the great river in the plain below the mountains. from that place, they added, the river was navigable to the ocean. the distance from this place is five "sleeps," or days' journeys. on resuming our route, we proceeded up the right side of the creek (thus leaving clarke's river), over a country, which, at first plain and good, became afterwards as difficult as any we had yet traversed. we had now reached the sources of traveller's-rest creek, and followed the road, which became less rugged. at our encampment this night, the game having entirely failed us, we killed a colt, on which we made a hearty supper. we reached the river, which is here eighty yards wide, with a swift current and a rocky channel. its indian name is kooskooskee. kooskooskee river. sept. 16.--this morning, snow fell, and continued all day; so that by evening it was six or eight inches deep. it covered the track so completely, that we were obliged constantly to halt and examine, lest we should lose the route. the road is, like that of yesterday, along steep hillsides, obstructed with fallen timber, and a growth of eight different species of pine, so thickly strewed, that the snow falls from them upon us as we pass, keeping us continually wet to the skin. we encamped in a piece of low ground, thickly timbered, but scarcely large enough to permit us to lie level. we had made thirteen miles. we were wet, cold, and hungry; yet we could not procure any game, and were obliged to kill another horse for our supper. this want of provisions, the extreme fatigue to which we were subjected, and the dreary prospect before us, began to dispirit the men. they are growing weak, and losing their flesh very fast. after three days more of the same kind of experience, on friday, 20th september, an agreeable change occurred. capt. clarke, who had gone forward in hopes of finding game, came suddenly upon a beautiful open plain partially stocked with pine. shortly after, he discovered three indian boys, who, observing the party, ran off, and hid themselves in the grass. capt. clarke immediately alighted, and, giving his horse and gun to one of the men, went after the boys. he soon relieved their apprehensions, and sent them forward to the village, about a mile off, with presents of small pieces of ribbon. soon after the boys had reached home, a man came out to meet the party, with great caution; but he conducted them to a large tent in the village, and all the inhabitants gathered round to view with a mixture of fear and pleasure the wonderful strangers. the conductor now informed capt. clarke, by signs, that the spacious tent was the residence of the great chief, who had set out three days ago, with all the warriors, to attack some of their enemies towards the south-west; that, in the mean time, there were only a few men left to guard the women and children. they now set before them a small piece of buffalo-meat, some dried salmon, berries, and several kinds of roots. among these last was one which is round, much like an onion in appearance, and sweet to the taste. it is called _quamash_, and is eaten either in its natural state, or boiled into a kind of soup, or made into a cake, which is called _pasheco_. after our long abstinence, this was a sumptuous repast. we returned the kindness of the people with a few small presents, and then went on, in company with one of the chiefs, to a second village in the same plain, at a distance of two miles. here the party was treated with great kindness, and passed the night. the two villages consist of about thirty double tents; and the people call themselves chopunnish, or pierced-nose. the chief drew a chart of the river on the sand, and explained that a greater chief than himself, who governed this village, and was called the twisted-hair, was now fishing at the distance of half a day's ride down the river. his chart made the kooskooskee to fork a little below his camp, below which the river passed the mountains. here was a great fall of water, near which lived white people, from whom they procured the white beads and brass ornaments worn by the women. capt. clarke engaged an indian to guide him to the twisted-hair's camp. for twelve miles, they proceeded through the plain before they reached the river-hills, which are very high and steep. the whole valley from these hills to the rocky mountains is a beautiful level country, with a rich soil covered with grass. there is, however, but little timber, and the ground is badly watered. the plain is so much sheltered by the surrounding hills, that the weather is quite warm (sept. 21), while the cold of the mountains was extreme. from the top of the river-hills we descended for three miles till we reached the water-side, between eleven and twelve o'clock at night. here we found a small camp of five women and three children; the chief himself being encamped, with two others, on a small island in the river. the guide called to him, and he came over. capt. clarke gave him a medal, and they smoked together till one o'clock. next day, capt. clarke passed over to the island with the twisted-hair, who seemed to be cheerful and sincere. the hunters brought in three deer; after which capt. clarke left his party, and, accompanied by the twisted-hair and his son, rode back to the village, where he found capt. lewis and his party just arrived. the plains were now crowded with indians, who came to see the white men and the strange things they brought with them; but, as our guide was a perfect stranger to their language, we could converse by signs only. our inquiries were chiefly directed to the situation of the country. the twisted-hair drew a chart of the river on a white elk-skin. according to this, the kooskooskee forks a few miles from this place: two days' journey towards the south is another and larger fork, on which the shoshonee indians fish; five days' journey farther is a large river from the north-west, into which clarke's river empties itself. from the junction with that river to the falls is five days' journey farther. on all the forks, as well as on the main river, great numbers of indians reside; and at the falls are establishments of whites. this was the story of the twisted-hair. provision here was abundant. we purchased a quantity of fish, berries, and roots; and in the afternoon went on to the second village. we continued our purchases, and obtained as much provision as our horses could carry in their present weak condition. great crowds of the natives are round us all night; but we have not yet missed any thing, except a knife and a few other small articles. sept. 24.--the weather is fair. all round the village the women are busily employed in gathering and dressing the pasheco-root, large quantities of which are heaped up in piles all over the plain. we feel severely the consequence of eating heartily after our late privations. capt. lewis and two of his men were taken very ill last evening, and to-day he can hardly sit on his horse. others could not mount without help; and some were forced to lie down by the side of the road for some time. our situation rendered it necessary to husband our remaining strength; and it was determined to proceed down the river in canoes. capt. clarke therefore set out with twisted-hair and two young men in quest of timber for canoes. sept. 27, 28, and 29.--sickness continued. few of the men were able to work; yet preparations were made for making five canoes. a number of indians collect about us in the course of the day to gaze at the strange appearance of every thing belonging to us. oct. 4.--the men were now much better, and capt. lewis so far recovered as to walk about a little. the canoes being nearly finished, it became necessary to dispose of the horses. they were therefore collected to the number of thirty-eight, and, being branded and marked, were delivered to three indians,--the two brothers and the son of a chief; the chief having promised to accompany us down the river. to each of these men we gave a knife and some small articles; and they agreed to take good care of the horses till our return. we had all our saddles buried in a _cache_ near the river, about half a mile below, and deposited at the same time a canister of powder and a bag of balls. the voyage down the kooskooskee river. oct. 7.--this morning, all the canoes were put in the water, and loaded, the oars fitted, and every preparation made for setting out. when we were all ready, the chief who had promised to accompany us was not to be found: we therefore proceeded without him. the kooskooskee is a clear, rapid stream, with a number of shoals and difficult places. this day and the next, we made a distance of fifty miles. we passed several encampments of indians on the islands and near the rapids, which situations are chosen as the most convenient for taking salmon. at one of these camps we found the chief, who, after promising to descend the river with us, had left us. he, however, willingly came on board, after we had gone through the ceremony of smoking. oct. 10.--a fine morning. we loaded the canoes, and set off at seven o'clock. after passing twenty miles, we landed below the junction of a large fork of the river, from the south. our arrival soon attracted the attention of the indians, who flocked from all directions to see us. being again reduced to fish and roots, we made an experiment to vary our food by purchasing a few dogs; and, after having been accustomed to horse-flesh, felt no disrelish to this new dish. the chopunnish have great numbers of dogs, but never use them for food; and our feeding on the flesh of that animal brought us into ridicule as dog-eaters. this southern branch is, in fact, the main stream of lewis's river, on whose upper waters we encamped when among the shoshonees. at its mouth, lewis's river is about two hundred and fifty yards wide, and its water is of a greenish-blue color. the kooskooskee, whose waters are clear as crystal, is one hundred and fifty yards in width; and, after the union, the joint-stream extends to the width of three hundred yards. the chopunnish, or pierced-nose indians, who reside on the kooskooskee and lewis's rivers, are in person stout, portly, well-looking men. the women are small, with good features, and generally handsome, though the complexion of both sexes is darker than that of the tushepaws. in dress, they resemble that nation, being fond of displaying their ornaments. the buffalo or elk-skin robe, decorated with beads, sea-shells (chiefly mother-of-pearl), attached to an otter-skin collar, is the dress of the men. the same ornaments are hung in the hair, which falls in front in two cues: they add feathers, paints of different colors (principally white, green, and blue), which they find in their own country. in winter, they wear a shirt of dressed skins; long, painted leggings, and moccasons; and a plait of twisted grass round the neck. the dress of the women is more simple, consisting of a long shirt of the mountain-sheep skin, reaching down to the ankles, without a girdle. to this are tied little pieces of brass and shells, and other small articles; but the head is not at all ornamented. the chopunnish have few amusements; for their life is painful and laborious, and all their exertions are necessary to earn a precarious subsistence. during the summer and autumn, they are busily occupied in fishing for salmon, and collecting their winter store of roots. in winter, they hunt the deer on snow-shoes over the plains; and, towards spring, cross the mountains to the missouri in pursuit of the buffalo. the soil of these prairies is a light-yellow clay. it is barren, and produces little more than a bearded grass about three inches high, and the prickly-pear, of which we found three species. the first is the broad-leaved kind, common to this river with the missouri; the second has a leaf of a globular form, and is also frequent on the upper part of the missouri; the third is peculiar to this country. it consists of small, thick leaves of a circular form, which grow from the margin of each other. these leaves are armed with a great number of thorns, which are strong, and appear to be barbed. as the leaf itself is very slightly attached to the stem, as soon as one thorn touches the moccason, it adheres, and brings with it the leaf, which is accompanied with a re-enforcement of thorns. this species was a greater annoyance on our march than either of the others. chapter xii. from the junction of the kooskooskee with lewis's river to the columbia. from the mouth of the kooskooskee to that of the lewis is about a hundred miles; which distance they descended in seven days. the navigation was greatly impeded by rapids, which they passed with more or less danger and difficulty; being greatly indebted to the assistance of the indians, as they thankfully acknowledge. sometimes they were obliged to unload their boats, and to carry them round by land. all these rapids are fishing-places, greatly resorted to in the season. on the 17th of october (1805), having reached the junction of lewis's river with the columbia, they found by observation that they were in latitude 46â° 15â´, and longitude 119â°. they measured the two rivers by angles, and found, that, at the junction, the columbia is 960 yards wide; and lewis's river, 575: but, below their junction, the joint river is from one to three miles in width, including the islands. from the point of junction, the country is a continued plain, rising gradually from the water. there is through this plain no tree, and scarcely any shrub, except a few willow-bushes; and, even of smaller plants, there is not much besides the prickly-pear, which is abundant. in the course of the day, capt. clarke, in a small canoe, with two men, ascended the columbia. at the distance of five miles, he came to a small but not dangerous rapid. on the bank of the river opposite to this is a fishing-place, consisting of three neat houses. here were great quantities of salmon drying on scaffolds; and, from the mouth of the river upwards, he saw immense numbers of dead salmon strewed along the shore, or floating on the water. the indians, who had collected on the banks to view him, now joined him in eighteen canoes, and accompanied him up the river. a mile above the rapids, he observed three houses of mats, and landed to visit them. on entering one of the houses, he found it crowded with men, women, and children, who immediately provided a mat for him to sit on; and one of the party undertook to prepare something to eat. he began by bringing in a piece of pine-wood that had drifted down the river, which he split into small pieces with a wedge made of the elk's horn, by means of a mallet of stone curiously carved. the pieces were then laid on the fire, and several round stones placed upon them. one of the squaws now brought a bucket of water, in which was a large salmon about half dried; and, as the stones became heated, they were put into the bucket till the salmon was sufficiently boiled. it was then taken out, put on a platter of rushes neatly made, and laid before capt. clarke. another was boiled for each of his men. capt. clarke found the fish excellent. at another island, four miles distant, the inhabitants were occupied in splitting and drying salmon. the multitudes of this fish are almost inconceivable. the water is so clear, that they can readily be seen at the depth of fifteen or twenty feet; but at this season they float in such quantities down the stream, and are drifted ashore, that the indians have nothing to do but collect, split, and dry them. the indians assured him by signs that they often used dry fish as fuel for the common occasions of cooking. the evening coming on, he returned to camp. capt. clarke, in the course of his excursion, shot several grouse and ducks; also a prairie-cock,--a bird of the pheasant kind, about the size of a small turkey. it measured, from the beak to the end of the toe, two feet six inches; from the extremity of the wings, three feet six inches; and the feathers of the tail were thirteen inches long. this bird we have seen nowhere except upon this river. its chief food is the grasshopper, and the seeds of wild plants peculiar to this river and the upper missouri. adventure of capt. clarke. oct. 19.--having resumed their descent of the columbia, they came to a very dangerous rapid. in order to lighten the boats, capt. clarke landed, and walked to the foot of the rapid. arriving there before either of the boats, except a canoe, he sat down on a rock to wait for them; and, seeing a crane fly across the river, shot it, and it fell near him. several indians had been, before this, passing on the opposite side; and some of them, alarmed at his appearance or the report of the gun, fled to their houses. capt. clarke was afraid that these people might not have heard that white men were coming: therefore, in order to allay their uneasiness before the whole party should arrive, he got into the canoe with three men, and rowed over towards the houses, and, while crossing, shot a duck, which fell into the water. as he approached, no person was to be seen, except three men; and they also fled as he came near the shore. he landed before five houses close to each other; but no person appeared: and the doors, which were of mat, were closed. he went towards one of them with a pipe in his hand, and, pushing aside the mat, entered the lodge, where he found thirty-two persons, men and women, with a few children, all in the greatest consternation; some hanging down their heads; others crying, and wringing their hands. he went up to them all, and shook hands with them in the most friendly manner. their apprehensions gradually subsided, but revived on his taking out a burning-glass (there being no roof to the lodge), and lighting his pipe. having at length restored some confidence by the gift of some small presents, he visited some other houses, where he found the inhabitants similarly affected. confidence was not completely attained until the boats arrived, and then the two chiefs who accompanied the party explained the friendly intentions of the expedition. the sight of chaboneau's wife also dissipated any remaining doubts, as it is not the practice among the indians to allow women to accompany a war-party. to account for their fears, they told the two chiefs that they had seen the white men fall from the sky. having heard the report of capt. clarke's rifle, and seen the birds fall, and not having seen him till after the shot, they fancied that he had himself dropped from the clouds. this belief was strengthened, when, on entering the lodge, he brought down fire from heaven by means of his burning-glass. we soon convinced them that we were only mortals; and, after one of our chiefs had explained our history and objects, we all smoked together in great harmony. our encampment that night was on the river-bank opposite an island, on which were twenty-four houses of indians, all of whom were engaged in drying fish. we had scarcely landed when about a hundred of them came over to visit us, bringing with them a present of some wood, which was very acceptable. we received them in as kind a manner as we could, smoked with them, and gave the principal chief a string of wampum; but the highest satisfaction they enjoyed was in the music of our two violins, with which they seemed much delighted. they remained all night at our fires. an indian burying-place. we walked to the head of the island for the purpose of examining a vault, or burying-place, which we had remarked in coming along. the place in which the dead are deposited is a building about sixty feet long and twelve feet wide, formed by placing in the ground poles, or forks, six feet high, across which a long pole is extended the whole length of the structure. against this ridge-pole are placed broad boards, and pieces of wood, in a slanting direction, so as to form a shed. the structure stands east and west, open at both ends. on entering the western end, we observed a number of bodies wrapped carefully in leather robes, and arranged in rows on boards, which were then covered with a mat. this part of the building was destined for those who had recently died. a little farther on, limbs, half decayed, were scattered about; and in the centre of the building was a large pile of them heaped promiscuously. at the eastern extremity was a mat, on which twenty-one skulls were arranged in a circular form: the mode of interment being first to wrap the body in robes; and, as it decays, the bones are thrown into the heap, and the skulls placed together in order. from the different boards and pieces of wood which form the vault were suspended on the inside fishing-nets, baskets, wooden bowls, robes, skins, trenchers, and trinkets of various kinds, intended as offerings of affection to deceased relatives. on the outside of the vault were the skeletons of several horses, and great quantities of bones in the neighborhood, which induced us to believe that these animals were sacrificed at the funeral-rites of their masters. in other parts of the route, the travellers found a different species of cemetery. the dead were placed in canoes, and these canoes were raised above the ground by a scaffolding of poles. the motive was supposed to be to protect them from wild beasts. falls of the columbia. about a hundred and fifty miles below the junction of lewis's river, we reached the great falls. at the commencement of the pitch, which includes the falls, we landed, and walked down to examine them, and ascertain on which side we could make a portage most easily. from the lower end of the island, where the rapids begin, to the perpendicular fall, is about two miles. here the river contracts, when the water is low, to a very narrow space; and, with only a short distance of swift water, it makes its plunge twenty feet perpendicularly; after which it rushes on, among volcanic rocks, through a channel four miles in length, and then spreads out into a gentle, broad current. we will interrupt the narrative here to introduce from later travellers some pictures of the remarkable region to which our explorers had now arrived. it was not to be expected that capts. lewis and clarke should have taxed themselves, in their anxious and troubled march, to describe natural wonders, however striking. lieut. frã©mont thus describes this remarkable spot:- the dalles.--"in a few miles we descended to the river, which we reached at one of its highly interesting features, known as the dalles of the columbia. the whole volume of the river at this place passes between the walls of a chasm, which has the appearance of having been rent through the basaltic strata which form the valley-rock of the region. at the narrowest place, we found the breadth, by measurement, fifty-eight yards, and the average height of the walls above the water twenty-five feet, forming a trough between the rocks; whence the name, probably applied by a canadian voyageur." the same scene is described by theodore winthrop in his "canoe and saddle:"- "the dalles of the columbia, upon which i was now looking, must be studied by the american dante, whenever he comes, for imagery to construct his purgatory, if not his inferno. at walla-walla, two great rivers, clarke's and lewis's, drainers of the continent north and south, unite to form the columbia. it flows furiously for a hundred and twenty miles westward. when it reaches the dreary region where the outlying ridges of the cascade chain commence, it finds a great, low surface, paved with enormous polished sheets of basaltic rock. these plates, in french, _dalles_, give the spot its name. the great river, a mile wide not far above, finds but a narrow rift in this pavement for its passage. the rift gradually draws its sides closer, and, at the spot now called the dalles, subdivides into three mere slits in the sharp-edged rock. at the highest water, there are other minor channels; but generally this continental flood is cribbed and compressed within its three chasms suddenly opening in the level floor, each chasm hardly wider than a leap a hunted fiend might take." it is not easy to picture to one's self, from these descriptions, the peculiar scenery of the dalles. frã©mont understands the name as signifying a _trough_; while winthrop interprets it as _plates_, or _slabs_, of rock. the following description by lieut. (now gen.) henry l. abbot, in his "report of explorations for a railroad route," &c., will show that the term, in each of its meanings, is applicable to different parts of the channel:- "at the dalles of the columbia, the river rushes through a chasm only about two hundred feet wide, with vertical, basaltic sides, rising from twenty to thirty feet above the water. steep hills closely border the chasm, leaving in some places scarcely room on the terrace to pass on horseback. the water rushes through this basaltic trough with such violence, that it is always dangerous, and in some stages of the water impossible, for a boat to pass down. the contraction of the river-bed extends for about three miles. near the lower end of it, the channel divides into several sluices, and then gradually becomes broader, until, where it makes a great bend to the south, it is over a quarter of a mile in width." after this interruption, the journal is resumed:-"we soon discovered that the nearest route was on the right side, and therefore dropped down to the head of the rapid, unloaded the canoes, and took all the baggage over by land to the foot of the rapid. the distance is twelve hundred yards, part of it over loose sands, disagreeable to pass. the labor of crossing was lightened by the indians, who carried some of the heavy articles for us on their horses. having ascertained the best mode of bringing down the canoes, the operation was conducted by capt. clarke, by hauling the canoes over a point of land four hundred and fifty-seven yards to the water. one mile farther down, we reached a pitch of the river, which, being divided by two large rocks, descends with great rapidity over a fall eight feet in height. as the boats could not be navigated down this steep descent, we were obliged to land, and let them down as gently as possible by strong ropes of elk-skin, which we had prepared for the purpose. they all passed in safety, except one, which, being loosed by the breaking of the ropes, was driven down, but was recovered by the indians below." our travellers had now reached what have since been called the cascade mountains; and we must interrupt their narrative to give some notices of this remarkable scenery from later explorers. we quote from abbot's report:- "there is great similarity in the general topographical features of the whole pacific slope. the sierra nevada in california, and the cascade range in oregon, form a continuous wall of mountains nearly parallel to the coast, and from one hundred to two hundred miles distant from it. the main crest of this range is rarely elevated less than six thousand feet above the level of the sea, and many of its peaks tower into the region of eternal snow." lieut. abbot thus describes a view of these peaks and of the columbia river:- "at an elevation of five thousand feet above the sea, we stood upon the summit of the pass. for days we had been struggling blindly through dense forests; but now the surrounding country lay spread out before us for more than a hundred miles. the five grand snow-peaks, mount st. helens, mount ranier, mount adams, mount hood, and mount jefferson, rose majestically above a rolling sea of dark fir-covered ridges, some of which the approaching winter had already begun to mark with white. on every side, as far as the eye could reach, terrific convulsions of nature had recorded their fury; and not even a thread of blue smoke from the camp-fire of a wandering savage disturbed the solitude of the scene." the columbia river.--"the columbia river forces its way through the cascade range by a pass, which, for wild and sublime natural scenery, equals the celebrated passage of the hudson through the highlands. for a distance of about fifty miles, mountains covered with clinging spruces, firs, and pines, where not too precipitous to afford even these a foothold, rise abruptly from the water's edge to heights varying from one thousand to three thousand feet. vertical precipices of columnar basalt are occasionally seen, rising from fifty to a hundred feet above the river level. in other places, the long mountain-walls of the river are divided by lateral caã±ons (pronounced _canyons_), containing small tributaries, and occasionally little open spots of good land, liable to be overflowed at high water." caã�ons.--the plains east of the cascade mountains, through the whole extent of oregon and california, are covered with a volcanic deposit composed of trap, basalt, and other rocks of the same class. this deposit is cleft by chasms often more than a thousand feet deep, at the bottom of which there usually flows a stream of clear, cold water. this is sometimes the only water to be procured for the distance of many miles; and the traveller may be perishing with thirst while he sees far below him a sparkling stream, from which he is separated by precipices of enormous height and perpendicular descent. to chasms of this nature the name of _caã±ons_ has been applied, borrowed from the spaniards of mexico. we quote lieut. abbot's description of the caã±on of des chutes river, a tributary of the columbia:- "sept. 30.--as it was highly desirable to determine accurately the position and character of the caã±on of des chutes river, i started this morning with one man to follow down the creek to its mouth, leaving the rest of the party in camp. having yesterday experienced the inconveniences of travelling in the bottom of a caã±on, i concluded to try to-day the northern bluff. it was a dry, barren plain, gravelly, and sometimes sandy, with a few bunches of grass scattered here and there. tracks of antelopes or deer were numerous. after crossing one small ravine, and riding about five miles from camp, we found ourselves on the edge of the vast caã±on of the river, which, far below us, was rushing through a narrow trough of basalt, resembling the dalles of the columbia. we estimated the depth of the caã±on at a thousand feet. on each side, the precipices were very steep, and marked in many places by horizontal lines of vertical, basaltic columns, fifty or sixty feet in height. the man who was with me rolled a large rock, shaped like a grindstone, and weighing about two hundred pounds, from the summit. it thundered down for at least a quarter of a mile,--now over a vertical precipice, now over a steep mass of detritus, until at length it plunged into the river with a hollow roar, which echoed and re-echoed through the gorge for miles. by ascending a slight hill, i obtained a fine view of the surrounding country. the generally level character of the great basaltic table-land around us was very manifest from this point. bounded on the west by the cascade mountains, the plain extends far towards the south,--a sterile, treeless waste." the cascades.--"about forty miles below the dalles, all navigation is suspended by a series of rapids called the cascades. the wild grandeur of this place surpasses description. the river rushes furiously over a narrow bed filled with bowlders, and bordered by mountains which echo back the roar of the waters. the descent at the principal rapids is thirty-four feet; and the total fall at the cascades, sixty-one feet. salmon pass up the river in great numbers; and the cascades, at certain seasons of the year, are a favorite fishing resort with the indians, who build slight stagings over the water's edge, and spear the fish, or catch them in rude dip-nets, as they slowly force their way up against the current." we now return to our travellers. indian mode of packing salmon. near our camp are five large huts of indians engaged in drying fish, and preparing it for market. the manner of doing this is by first opening the fish, and exposing it to the sun on scaffolds. when it is sufficiently dried, it is pounded between two stones till it is pulverized, and is then placed in a basket, about two feet long and one in diameter, neatly made of grass and rushes, and lined with the skin of the salmon, stretched and dried for the purpose. here they are pressed down as hard as possible, and the top covered with skins of fish, which are secured by cords through the holes of the basket. these baskets are then placed in some dry situation, the corded part upwards; seven being usually placed as close as they can be together, and five on the top of them. the whole is then wrapped up in mats, and made fast by cords. twelve of these baskets, each of which contains from ninety to a hundred pounds, form a stack, which is now left exposed till it is sent to market. the fish thus preserved are kept sound and sweet for several years; and great quantities of it, they inform us, are sent to the indians who live lower down the river, whence it finds its way to the whites who visit the mouth of the columbia. we observe, both near the lodges and on the rocks in the river, great numbers of stacks of these pounded fish. beside the salmon, there are great quantities of salmon-trout, and another smaller species of trout, which they save in another way. a hole of any size being dug, the sides and bottom are lined with straw, over which skins are laid. on these the fish, after being well dried, is laid, covered with other skins, and the hole closed with a layer of earth, twelve or fifteen inches deep. these supplies are for their winter food. the stock of fish, dried and pounded, was so abundant, that capt. clarke counted one hundred and seven stacks of them, making more than ten thousand pounds. the indian boatmen. the canoes used by these people are 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 roughest waves. we had an opportunity to-day of seeing the boldness of the indians. one of our 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 bird down with great rapidity. the indian followed it fearlessly to within a hundred and fifty feet of the rocks, where, had he arrived, 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 secured it at the 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. indian houses. while the canoes were coming on, impeded by the difficulties of the navigation, capt. clarke, with two men, walked down the river-shore, and came to a village belonging to a tribe called echeloots. the village consisted of twenty-one houses, scattered promiscuously over an elevated position. the houses were nearly equal in size, and of similar construction. a large hole, twenty feet wide and thirty in length, is dug to the depth of six feet. the sides are lined with split pieces of timber in an erect position, rising a short distance above the surface of the ground. these timbers are secured in their position by a pole, stretched along the side of the building, near the eaves, supported by a post at each corner. the timbers at the gable-ends rise higher, the middle pieces being the tallest. supported by these, there is a ridge-pole running the whole length of the house, forming the top of the roof. from this ridge-pole to the eaves of the house are placed a number of small poles, or rafters, secured at each end by fibres of the cedar. on these poles is laid a covering of white cedar or arbor-vitã¦, kept on by strands of cedar-fibres. a small distance along the whole length of the ridge-pole is left uncovered for the admission of light, and to permit the smoke to escape. the entrance is by a small door at the gable-end, thirty inches high, and fourteen broad. before this hole is hung a mat; and on pushing it aside, and crawling through, the descent is by a wooden ladder, made in the form of those used among us. one-half of the inside is used as a place of deposit for their dried fish, and baskets of berries: the other half, nearest the door, remains for the accommodation of the family. on each side are arranged, near the walls, beds of mats, placed on platforms or bedsteads, raised about two feet from the ground. in the middle of the vacant space is the fire, or sometimes two or three fires, when, as is usually the case, the house contains several families. the inhabitants received us with great kindness, and invited us to their houses. on entering one of them, we saw figures of men, birds, and different animals, cut and painted on the boards which form the sides of the room, the figures uncouth, and the workmanship rough; but doubtless they were as much esteemed by the indians as our finest domestic adornments are by us. 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. 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 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 implements, 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. 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 bag is an object of religious regard, and it is a species of sacrilege for any one but its owner to touch it. in all the houses are images of men, of different shapes, and placed as ornaments in the parts of the house where they are most likely to be seen. a submerged forest. oct. 30.--the river is now about three-quarters of a mile wide, with a current so gentle, that it does not exceed a mile and a half an hour; but its course is obstructed by large rocks, which seem to have fallen from the mountains. 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 having been dammed below, and forced to encroach on the shore. note. rev. s. parker says, "we noticed a remarkable phenomenon,--trees standing in their natural position in the river, where the water is twenty feet deep. in many places, they were so numerous, that we had to pick our way with our canoe as through a forest. the water is so clear, that i had an opportunity of examining their position down to their spreading roots, and found them in the same condition as when standing in their native forest. it is evident that there has been an uncommon subsidence of a tract of land, more than twenty miles in length, and more than a mile in width. that the trees are not wholly decayed down to low-water mark, proves that the subsidence is comparatively of recent date; and their undisturbed natural position proves that it took place in a tranquil manner, not by any tremendous convulsion of nature." the river widens.--they meet the tide. nov. 2, 1805.--longitude about 122â°. at this point the first tidewater commences, and the river widens to nearly a mile in extent. the low grounds, too, become wider; and they, as well as the mountains on each side, are covered with pine, spruce, cotton-wood, a species of ash, and some alder. after being so long accustomed to the dreary nakedness of the country above, the change is as grateful to the eye as it is useful in supplying us with fuel. the ponds in the low grounds on each side of the river are resorted to by vast quantities of fowls, such as swans, geese, brants, cranes, storks, white gulls, cormorants, and plover. the river is wide, and contains a great number of sea-otters. in the evening, the hunters brought in game for a sumptuous supper, which we shared with the indians, great numbers of whom spent the night with us. during the night, the tide rose eighteen inches near our camp. a large village.--columbia valley. nov. 4.--next day, we landed on the left bank of the river, at a village of twenty-five houses. all of these were thatched with straw, and built of bark, except one, which was about fifty feet long, built of boards, in the form of those higher up the river; from which it differed, however, in being completely above ground, and covered with broad split boards. this village contains about two hundred men of the skilloot nation, who seem well provided with canoes, of which there were fifty-two (some of them very large) drawn up in front of the village. on landing, we found an indian from up the river, who had been with us some days ago, and now invited us into a house, of which he appeared to own a part. here he treated us with a root, round in shape, about the size of a small irish potato, which they call _wappatoo_. it is the common arrowhead, or sagittifolia, so much esteemed by the chinese, and, when roasted in the embers till it becomes soft, has an agreeable taste, and is a very good substitute for bread. here the ridge of low mountains running north-west and south-east crosses the river, and forms the western boundary of the plain through which we have just passed.[3] this great plain, or valley, is about sixty miles wide in a straight line; while on the right and left it extends to a great distance. it is a fertile and delightful country, shaded by thick groves of tall timber, watered by small ponds, and lying on both sides of the river. the soil is rich, and capable of any species of culture; but, in the present condition of the indians, its chief production is the wappatoo-root, which grows spontaneously and exclusively in this region. sheltered as it is on both sides, the temperature is much milder than that of the surrounding country. through its whole extent, it is inhabited by numerous tribes of indians, who either reside in it permanently, or visit its waters in quest of fish and wappatoo-roots. we gave it the name of the columbia valley. coffin rock. among some interesting islands of basalt, there is one called coffin rock, situated in the middle of the river, rising ten or fifteen feet above high-freshet water. it is almost entirely covered with canoes, in which the dead are deposited, which gives it its name. in the section of country from wappatoo island to the pacific ocean, the indians, instead of committing their dead to the earth, deposit them in canoes; and these are placed in such situations as are most secure from beasts of prey, upon such precipices as this island, upon branches of trees, or upon scaffolds made for the purpose. the bodies of the dead are covered with mats, and split planks are placed over them. the head of the canoe is a little raised, and at the foot there is a hole made for water to escape. they reach the ocean. next day we passed the mouth of a large river, a hundred and fifty yards wide, called by the indians cowalitz. a beautiful, extensive plain now presented itself; but, at the distance of a few miles, the hills again closed in upon the river, so that we could not for several miles find a place sufficiently level to fix our camp upon for the night. thursday, nov. 7.--the morning was rainy, and the fog so thick, that we could not see across the river. we proceeded down the river, with an indian for our pilot, till, after making about twenty miles, the fog cleared off, and we enjoyed the delightful prospect of the ocean, the object of all our labors, the reward of all our endurance. this cheering view exhilarated the spirits of all the party, who listened with delight to the distant roar of the breakers. for ten days after our arrival at the coast, we were harassed by almost incessant rain. on the 12th, a violent gale of wind arose, accompanied with thunder, lightning, and hail. the waves were driven with fury against the rocks and trees, which had till then afforded us a partial defence. cold and wet; our clothes and bedding rotten as well as wet; the canoes, our only means of escape from the place, at the mercy of the waves,--we were, however, fortunate enough to enjoy good health. saturday, nov. 16.--the morning was clear and beautiful. we put out our baggage to dry, and sent several of the party to hunt. the camp was in full view of the ocean. the wind was strong from the south-west, and the waves very high; yet the indians were passing up and down the bay in canoes, and several of them encamped near us. the hunters brought in two deer, a crane, some geese and ducks, and several brant. the tide rises at this place eight feet six inches, and rolls over the beach in great waves. an excursion down the bay. capt. clarke started on monday, 18th november, on an excursion by land down the bay, accompanied by eleven men. the country is low, open, and marshy, partially covered with high pine and a thick undergrowth. at the distance of about fifteen miles they reached the cape, which forms the northern boundary of the river's mouth, called cape disappointment, so named by capt. meares, after a fruitless search for the river. it is an elevated circular knob, rising with a steep ascent a hundred and fifty feet or more above the water, covered with thick timber on the inner side, but open and grassy in the exposure next the sea. the opposite point of the bay is a very low ground, about ten miles distant, called, by capt. gray, point adams. the water for a great distance off the mouth of the river appears very shallow; and within the mouth, nearest to point adams, there is a large sand-bar, almost covered at high tide. we could not ascertain the direction of the deepest channel; for the waves break with tremendous force across the bay. mr. parker speaks more fully of this peculiarity of the river:- "a difficulty of such a nature as is not easily overcome exists in regard to the navigation of this river; which is, the sand-bar at its entrance. it is about five miles, across the bar, from cape disappointment out to sea. in no part of that distance is the water upon the bar over eight fathoms deep, and in one place only five, and the channel only about half a mile in width. so wide and open is the ocean, that there is always a heavy swell: and, when the wind is above a gentle breeze, there are breakers quite across the bar; so that there is no passing it, except when the wind and tide are both favorable. outside the bar, there is no anchorage; and there have been instances, in the winter season, of ships lying off and on thirty days, waiting for an opportunity to pass: and a good pilot is always needed. high, and in most parts perpendicular, basaltic rocks line the shores." the following is theodore winthrop's description of the columbia, taken from his "canoe and saddle:"- "a wall of terrible breakers marks the mouth of the columbia,--achilles of rivers. "other mighty streams may swim feebly away seaward, may sink into foul marshes, may trickle through the ditches of an oozy delta, may scatter among sand-bars the currents that once moved majestic and united; but to this heroic flood was destined a short life and a glorious one,--a life all one strong, victorious struggle, from the mountains to the sea. it has no infancy: two great branches collect its waters up and down the continent. they join, and the columbia is born--to full manhood. it rushes forward jubilant through its magnificent chasm, and leaps to its death in the pacific." footnote: [3] since called the coast range. chapter xiii. winter-quarters. november, 1805.--having now examined the coast, it becomes necessary to decide on the spot for our winter-quarters. we must rely chiefly for subsistence upon our arms, and be guided in the choice of our residence by the supply of game which any particular spot may offer. the indians say that the country on the opposite side of the river is better supplied with elk,--an animal much larger, and more easily killed, than the deer, with flesh more nutritive, and a skin better fitted for clothing. the neighborhood of the sea is, moreover, recommended by the facility of supplying ourselves with salt, and the hope of meeting some of the trading-vessels, which are expected about three months hence, from which we may procure a fresh supply of trinkets for our journey homewards. these considerations induced us to determine on visiting the opposite side of the bay; and, if there was an appearance of plenty of game, to establish ourselves there for the winter. monday, 25th november, we set out; but, as the wind was too high to suffer us to cross the river, we kept near the shore, watching for a favorable change. on leaving our camp, seven clatsops in a canoe accompanied us, but, after going a few miles, left us, and steered straight across through immense, high waves, leaving us in admiration at the dexterity with which they threw aside each wave as it threatened to come over their canoe. next day, with a more favorable wind, we began to cross the river. we passed between some low, marshy islands, and reached the south side of the columbia, and landed at a village of nine large houses. soon after we landed, three indians came down from the village with wappatoo-roots, which we purchased with fish-hooks. we proceeded along the shore till we came to a remarkable knob of land projecting about a mile and a half into the bay, about four miles round, while the neck of land which unites it to the main is not more than fifty yards across. we went round this projection, which we named point william; but the waves then became so high, that we could not venture any farther, and therefore landed on a beautiful shore of pebbles of various colors, and encamped near an old indian hut on the isthmus. discomforts. nov. 27.--it rained hard all next day, and the next, attended with a high wind from the south-west. it was impossible to proceed on so rough a sea. we therefore sent several men to hunt, and the rest of us remained during the day in a situation the most cheerless and uncomfortable. on this little neck of land, we are exposed, with a miserable covering which does not deserve the name of a shelter, to the violence of the winds. all our bedding and stores are completely wet, our clothes rotting with constant exposure, and no food except the dried fish brought from the falls, to which we are again reduced. the hunters all returned hungry, and drenched with rain; having seen neither deer nor elk, and the swans and brants too shy to be approached. at noon, the wind shifted to the north-west, and blew with such fury, that many trees were blown down near us. the gale lasted with short intervals during the whole night; but towards morning the wind lulled, though the rain continued, and the waves were still high. 30th.--the hunters met with no better success this day and the next, and the weather continued rainy. but on monday, 2d december, one of the hunters killed an elk at the distance of six miles from the camp, and a canoe was sent to bring it. this was the first elk we had killed on the west side of the rocky mountains; and, condemned as we have been to the dried fish, it forms a most acceptable food. the rain continued, with brief interruptions, during the whole month of december. there were occasional falls of snow, but no frost or ice. winter-quarters. capt. lewis returned from an excursion down the bay, having left two of his men to guard six elks and five deer which the party had shot. he had examined the coast, and found a river a short distance below, on which we might encamp for the winter, with a sufficiency of elk for our subsistence within reach. this information was very satisfactory, and we decided on going thither as soon as we could move from the point; but it rained all night and the following day. saturday, 7th december, 1805, was fair. we therefore loaded our canoes, and proceeded: but the tide was against us, and the waves very high; so that we were obliged to proceed slowly and cautiously. we at length turned a point, and found ourselves in a deep bay. here we landed for breakfast, and were joined by a party sent out three days ago to look for the six elk. after breakfast, we coasted round the bay, which is about four miles across, and receives two rivers. we called it meriwether's bay, from the christian name of capt. lewis, who was, no doubt, the first white man who surveyed it. on reaching the south side of the bay, we ascended one of the rivers for three miles to the first point of highland, on its western bank, and formed our camp in a thick grove of lofty pines about two hundred yards from the water, and thirty feet above the level of the high tides. the clatsops at home. capt. clarke started on an expedition to the seashore, to fix upon a place for the salt-works. he took six men with him; but three of them left in pursuit of a herd of elk. he met three indians loaded with fresh salmon, which they had taken, and were returning to their village, whither they invited him to accompany them. he agreed; and they brought out a canoe hid along the bank of a creek. capt. clarke and his party got on board, and in a short time were landed at the village, consisting of twelve houses, inhabited by twelve families of clatsops. these houses were on the south exposure of a hill, and sunk about four feet deep into the ground; the walls, roof, and gable-ends being formed of split-pine boards; the descent through a small door down a ladder. there were two fires in the middle of the room, and the beds disposed round the walls, two or three feet from the floor, so as to leave room under them for their bags, baskets, and household articles. the floor was covered with mats. capt. clarke was received with much attention. as soon as he entered, clean mats were spread, and fish, berries, and roots set before him on small, neat platters of rushes. after he had eaten, the men of the other houses came and smoked with him. they appeared much neater in their persons than indians generally are. towards evening, it began to rain and blow violently; and capt. clarke therefore determined to remain during the night. when they thought his appetite had returned, an old woman presented him, in a bowl made of light-colored horn, a kind of sirup, pleasant to the taste, made from a species of berry common in this country, about the size of a cherry, called by the indians _shelwel_. of these berries a bread is also prepared, which, being boiled with roots, forms a soup, which was served in neat wooden trenchers. this, with some cockles, was his repast. the men of the village now collected, and began to gamble. the most common game was one in which one of the company was banker, and played against all the rest. he had a piece of bone about the size of a large bean; and, having agreed with any one as to the value of the stake, he would pass the bone with great dexterity from one hand to the other, singing at the same time to divert the attention of his adversary. then, holding up his closed hands, his antagonist was challenged to say in which of them the bone was, and lost or won as he pointed to the right or wrong hand. to this game of hazard they abandon themselves with great ardor. sometimes every thing they possess is sacrificed to it; and this evening several of the indians lost all the beads which they had with them. this lasted for three hours; when, capt. clarke appearing disposed to sleep, the man who had been most attentive, and whose name was cuskalah, spread two new mats by the fire; and, ordering his wife to retire to her own bed, the rest of the company dispersed at the same time. capt. clarke then lay down, and slept as well as the fleas would permit him. next morning was cloudy, with some rain. he walked on the seashore, and observed the indians walking up and down, and examining the shore. he was at a loss to understand their object till one of them explained that they were in search of fish, which are thrown on shore by the tide; adding, in english, "sturgeon is good." there is every reason to suppose that these clatsops depend for their subsistence during the winter chiefly on the fish thus casually thrown on the coast. after amusing himself for some time on the beach, capt. clarke returned toward the village. one of the indians asked him to shoot a duck which he pointed out. he did so; and, having accidentally shot off its head, the bird was brought to the village, and all the indians came round in astonishment. they examined the duck, the musket, and the very small bullet (a hundred to the pound); and then exclaimed in their language, "good musket: don't understand this kind of musket." they now placed before him their best roots, fish, and sirup; after which he bought some berry-bread and a few roots in exchange for fish-hooks, and then set out to return by the same route by which he came. he was accompanied by cuskalah and his brother part of the way, and proceeded to the camp through a heavy rain. the party had been occupied during his absence in cutting down trees and in hunting. next day, two of our hunters returned with the pleasing intelligence of their having killed eighteen elk about six miles off. our huts begin to rise; for, though it rains all day, we continue our labors, and are glad to find that the beautiful balsam-pine splits into excellent boards more than two feet in width. dec. 15.--capt. clarke, with sixteen men, set out in three canoes to get the elk which were killed. after landing as near the spot as possible, the men were despatched in small parties to bring in the game; each man returning with a quarter of an animal. it was accomplished with much labor and suffering; for the rain fell incessantly. the fort completed. we now had the meat-house covered, and all our game carefully hung up in small pieces. two days after, we covered in four huts. five men were sent out to hunt, and five others despatched to the seaside, each with a large kettle, in order to begin the manufacture of salt. the rest of the men were employed in making pickets and gates for our fort. dec. 31.--as if it were impossible to have twenty-four hours of pleasant weather, the sky last evening clouded up, and the rain began, and continued through the day. in the morning, there came down two canoes,--one from the wahkiacum village; the other contained three men and a squaw of the skilloot nation. they brought wappatoo and shanatac roots, dried fish, mats made of flags and rushes, dressed elk-skins, and tobacco, for which, particularly the skins, they asked an extravagant price. we purchased some wappatoo and a little tobacco, very much like that we had seen among the shoshonees, put up in small, neat bags made of rushes. these we obtained in exchange for a few articles, among which fish-hooks are the most esteemed. one of the skilloots brought a gun which wanted some repair; and, when we had put it in order, we received from him a present of about a peck of wappatoo. we then gave him a piece of sheepskin and blue cloth to cover the lock, and he very thankfully offered a further present of roots. there is an obvious superiority of these skilloots over the wahkiacums, who are intrusive, thievish, and impertinent. our new regulations, however, and the appearance of the sentinel, have improved the behavior of all our indian visitors. they left the fort before sunset, even without being ordered. chapter xiv. a new year. we were awaked at an early hour by the discharge of a volley of small-arms to salute the new year. this is the only way of doing honor to the day which our situation admits; for our only dainties are boiled elk and wappatoo, enlivened by draughts of water. next day, we were visited by the chief, comowool, and six clatsops. besides roots and berries, they brought for sale three dogs. having been so long accustomed to live on the flesh of dogs, the most of us have acquired a fondness for it; and any objection to it is overcome by reflecting, that, while we subsisted on that food, we were fatter, stronger, and in better health, than at any period since leaving the buffalo country, east of the mountains. the indians also brought with them some whale's blubber, which they obtained, they told us, from their neighbors who live on the sea-coast, near one of whose villages a whale has recently been thrown and stranded. it was white, and not unlike the fat of pork, though of a more porous and spongy texture; and, on being cooked, was found to be tender and palatable, in flavor resembling the flesh of the beaver. two of the five men who were despatched to make salt returned. they had formed an establishment about fifteen miles south-west of our fort, near some scattered houses of the clatsops, where they erected a comfortable camp, and had killed a stock of provisions. they brought with them a gallon of the salt of their manufacture, which was white, fine, and very good. it proves to be a most agreeable addition to our food; and, as they can make three or four quarts a day, we have a prospect of a plentiful supply. the whale. the appearance of the whale seemed to be a matter of importance to all the neighboring indians; and in hopes that we might be able to procure some of it for ourselves, or at least purchase some from the indians, a small parcel of merchandise was prepared, and a party of men got in readiness to set out in the morning. as soon as this resolution was known, chaboneau and his wife requested that they might be permitted to accompany us. the poor woman urged very earnestly that she had travelled a great way with us to see the great water, yet she had never been down to the coast; and, now that this monstrous fish also was to be seen, it seemed hard that she should not be permitted to see either the ocean or the whale. so reasonable a request could not be denied: they were therefore suffered to accompany capt. clarke, who next day, after an early breakfast, set out with twelve men in two canoes. he proceeded down the river on which we are encamped into meriwether bay; from whence he passed up a creek three miles to some high, open land, where he found a road. he there left the canoes, and followed the path over deep marshes to a pond about a mile long. here they saw a herd of elk; and the men were divided into small parties, and hunted them till after dark. three of the elk were wounded; but night prevented our taking more than one, which was brought to the camp, and cooked with some sticks of pine which had drifted down the creeks. the weather was beautiful, the sky clear, and the moon shone brightly,--a circumstance the more agreeable, as this is the first fair evening we have enjoyed for two months. thursday, jan. 2.--there was a frost this morning. we rose early, and taking eight pounds of flesh, which was all that remained of the elk, proceeded up the south fork of the creek. at the distance of two miles we found a pine-tree, which had been felled by one of our salt-makers, on which we crossed the deepest part of the creek, and waded through the rest. we then went over an open, ridgy prairie, three-quarters of a mile to the sea-beach; after following which for three miles, we came to the mouth of a beautiful river, with a bold, rapid current, eighty-five yards wide, and three feet deep in its shallowest crossings. on its north-east side are the remains of an old village of clatsops, inhabited by only a single family, who appeared miserably poor and dirty. we gave the man two fish-hooks to ferry the party over the river, which, from the tribe on its banks, we called clatsop river. the creek which we had passed on a tree approaches this river within about a hundred yards, and, by means of a portage, supplies a communication with the villages near point adams. after going on for two miles, we found the salt-makers encamped near four houses of clatsops and killimucks, who, though poor and dirty, seemed kind and well-disposed. we persuaded a young indian, by the present of a file and a promise of some other articles, to guide us to the spot where the whale lay. he led us for two and a half miles over the round, slippery stones at the foot of a high hill projecting into the sea, and then, suddenly stopping, and uttering the word "peshack," or bad, explained by signs that we could no longer follow the coast, but must cross the mountain. this threatened to be a most laborious undertaking; for the side was nearly perpendicular, and the top lost in clouds. he, however, followed an indian path, which wound along, and favored the ascent as much as possible; but it was so steep, that, at one place, we were forced to draw ourselves up for about a hundred feet by means of bushes and roots. clarke's point of view. at length, after two hours' labor, we reached the top of the mountain, where we looked down with astonishment on the height of ten or twelve hundred feet which we had ascended. we were here met by fourteen indians loaded with oil and blubber, the spoils of the whale, which they were carrying in very heavy burdens over this rough mountain. on leaving them, we proceeded over a bad road till night, when we encamped on a small run. we were all much fatigued: but the weather was pleasant; and, for the first time since our arrival here, an entire day has passed without rain. in the morning we set out early, and proceeded to the top of the mountain, the highest point of which is an open spot facing the ocean. it is situated about thirty miles south-east of cape disappointment, and projects nearly two and a half miles into the sea. here one of the most delightful views imaginable presents itself. immediately in front is the ocean, which breaks with fury on the coast, from the rocks of cape disappointment as far as the eye can discern to the north-west, and against the highlands and irregular piles of rock which diversify the shore to the south-east. to this boisterous scene, the columbia, with its tributary waters, widening into bays as it approaches the ocean, and studded on both sides with the chinook and clatsop villages, forms a charming contrast; while immediately beneath our feet are stretched rich prairies, enlivened by three beautiful streams, which conduct the eye to small lakes at the foot of the hills. we stopped to enjoy the romantic view from this place, which we distinguished by the name of clarke's point of view, and then followed our guide down the mountain. the whale. the descent was steep and dangerous. in many places, the hillsides, which are formed principally of yellow clay, have been loosened by the late rains, and are slipping into the sea in large masses of fifty and a hundred acres. in other parts, the path crosses the rugged, perpendicular, basaltic rocks which overhang the sea, into which a false step would have precipitated us. the mountains are covered with a very thick growth of timber, chiefly pine and fir; some trees of which, perfectly sound and solid, rise to the height of two hundred and ten feet, and are from eight to twelve in diameter. intermixed is the white cedar, or arbor-vitã¦, and some trees of black alder, two or three feet thick, and sixty or seventy in height. at length we reached the sea-level, and continued for two miles along the sand-beach, and soon after reached the place where the waves had thrown the whale on shore. the animal had been placed between two villages of killimucks; and such had been their industry, that there now remained nothing but the skeleton, which we found to be a hundred and five feet in length. capt. clarke named the place ecola, or whale creek. the natives were busied in boiling the blubber in a large square trough of wood by means of heated stones, preserving the oil thus extracted in bladders and the entrails of the whale. the refuse pieces of the blubber, which still contained a portion of oil, were hung up in large flitches, and, when wanted for use, were warmed on a wooden spit before the fire, and eaten, either alone, or with roots of the rush and shanatac. the indians, though they had great quantities, parted with it very reluctantly, at such high prices, that our whole stock of merchandise was exhausted in the purchase of about three hundred pounds of blubber and a few gallons of oil. next morning was fine, the wind from the north-east; and, having divided our stock of the blubber, we began at sunrise to retrace our steps in order to reach our encampment, which we called fort clatsop, thirty-five miles distant, with as little delay as possible. we met several parties of indians on their way to trade for blubber and oil with the killimucks: 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. capt. 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 salt-makers' camp, where we passed the night, while they continued their route. next day, 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. drewyer, the hunter. jan. 12, 1806.--two hunters had been despatched in the morning; and one of them, drewyer, had, before evening, killed seven elks. we should scarcely be able to subsist, were it not for the exertions of this excellent hunter. the game is scarce; and none 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 dexterous aim of the frontier huntsman with the sagacity of the indian in pursuing the faintest tracks through the forest. all our men have indeed become so expert with the rifle, that, when there is game of any kind, we are almost certain of procuring it. monday, jan. 13.--capt. lewis took all the men who could be spared, and brought in the seven elk, which they found untouched by the wolves. the last of the candles which we brought with us being exhausted, we now began to make others of elk-tallow. we also employed ourselves in jerking the meat of the elk. we have three of the canoes drawn up out of the reach of the water, and the other secured by a strong cord, so as to be ready for use if wanted. jan. 16.--to-day we finished curing our meat; and having now a plentiful supply of elk and salt, and our houses dry and comfortable, we wait patiently for the moment of resuming our journey. chapter xv. winter life. jan. 18, 1806.--we are all occupied in dressing skins, and preparing clothes for our journey homewards. this morning, we sent out two parties of hunters in different directions. we were visited by three clatsops, who came merely for the purpose of smoking and conversing with us. jan. 21.--two of the hunters came back with three elks, which form a timely addition to our stock of provision. the indian visitors left us at twelve o'clock. the clatsops and other nations have visited us with great freedom. having acquired much of their language, we are enabled, with the assistance of gestures, to hold conversations with great ease. we find them inquisitive and loquacious; by no means deficient in acuteness. they are generally cheerful, but seldom gay. every thing they see excites their attention and inquiries. their treatment of women and old men depends very much on the usefulness of these classes. thus, among the clatsops and chinooks, who live upon fish and roots, which the women are equally expert with the men in procuring, the women have a rank and influence far greater than they have among the hunting tribes. on many subjects their judgments and opinions are respected; and, in matters of trade, their advice is generally asked and followed. so with the old men: when one is unable to pursue the chase, his counsels may compensate for his want of activity; but in the next state of infirmity, when he can no longer travel from camp to camp as the tribe roams about for subsistence, he is found to be a burden. in this condition they are abandoned among the sioux and other hunting-tribes of the missouri. as the tribe are setting out for some new excursion where the old man is unable to follow, his children or nearest relations place before him a piece of meat and some water; and telling him that he has lived long enough, that it is now time for him to go home to his relations, who can take better care of him than his friends on earth, they leave him without remorse to perish, when his little supply is exhausted. though this is doubtless true as a general rule, yet, in the villages of the minnetarees and ricaras, we saw no want of kindness to old men: on the contrary, probably because in villages the more abundant means of subsistence renders such cruelty unnecessary, the old people appeared to be treated with attention; and some of their feasts, particularly the buffalo-dances, were intended chiefly as an occasion of contribution for the old and infirm. flathead indians. the custom of flattening the head by artificial pressure during infancy prevails among all the nations we have seen west of the rocky mountains. to the east of that barrier the fashion is so perfectly unused, that they designate the western indians, of whatever tribe, by the common name of flatheads. the practice is universal among the killimucks, clatsops, chinooks, and cathlamahs,--the four nations with whom we have had most intercourse. soon after the birth of her child, the mother places it in the compressing-frame, where it is kept for ten or twelve months. the operation is so gradual, that it is not attended with pain. the heads of the children, when they are released from the bandage, are not more than two inches thick about the upper edge of the forehead: nor, with all its efforts, can nature ever restore their shape; the heads of grown persons being often in a straight line from the tip of the nose to the top of the forehead. temperance.--gambling. their houses usually contain several families, consisting of parents, sons and daughters, daughters-in-law and grand-children, among whom the provisions are in common, and harmony seldom interrupted. as these families gradually expand into tribes, or nations, the paternal authority is represented by the chief of each association. the chieftainship is not hereditary: the chief's ability to render service to his neighbors, and the popularity which follows it, is the foundation of his authority, which does not extend beyond the measure of his personal influence. the harmony of their private life is protected by their ignorance of spirituous liquors. although the tribes near the coast have had so much intercourse with the whites, they do not appear to possess any knowledge of those dangerous luxuries; at least, they have never inquired of us for them. indeed, we have not observed any liquor of an intoxicating quality used among any indians west of the rocky mountains; the universal beverage being pure water. they, however, almost intoxicate themselves by smoking tobacco, of which they are excessively fond. but the common vice of all these people is an attachment to games of chance, which they pursue with a ruinous avidity. the game of the pebble has already been described. another game is something like the play of ninepins. two pins are placed on the floor, about the distance of a foot from each other, and a small hole made in the earth behind them. the players then go about ten feet from the hole, into which they try to roll a small piece resembling the men used at checkers. if they succeed in putting it into the hole, they win the stake. if the piece rolls between the pins, but does not go into the hole, nothing is won or lost; but the wager is lost if the checker rolls outside the pins. entire days are wasted at these games, which are often continued through the night round the blaze of their fires, till the last article of clothing or the last blue bead is lost and won. trees. the whole neighborhood of the coast is supplied with great quantities of excellent timber. the predominant growth is the fir, of which we have seen several species. the first species grows to an immense size, and is very commonly twenty-seven feet in circumference, six feet above the earth's surface. they rise to the height of two hundred and thirty feet, and one hundred and twenty of that height without a limb. we have often found them thirty-six feet in circumference. one of our party measured one, and found it to be forty-two feet in circumference at a point beyond the reach of an ordinary man. this tree was perfectly sound; and, at a moderate calculation, its height may be estimated at three hundred feet. the second is a much more common species, and constitutes at least one-half of the timber in this neighborhood. it resembles the spruce, rising from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty feet; and is from four to six feet in diameter, straight, round, and regularly tapering. the stem of the black alder arrives at a great size. it is sometimes found growing to the height of sixty or seventy feet, and is from two to four in diameter. there is a tree, common on the columbia river, much resembling the ash, and another resembling the white maple, though much smaller. the undergrowth consists of honeysuckle, alder, whortleberry, a plant like the mountain-holly, green brier, and fern. animals. the beaver of this country is large and fat: the flesh is very palatable, and, at our table, was a real luxury. on the 7th of january, our hunter found a beaver in his trap, of which he made a bait for taking others. this bait will entice the beaver to the trap as far as he can smell it; and this may be fairly stated to be at the distance of a mile, as their sense of smelling is very acute. the sea-otter resides only on the sea-coast or in the neighborhood of the salt water. when fully grown, he attains to the size of a large mastiff dog. the ears, which are not an inch in length, are thick, pointed, fleshy, and covered with short hair; the tail is ten inches long, thick at the point of insertion, and partially covered with a deep fur on the upper side; the legs are very short, covered with fur, and the feet with short hair. the body of this animal is long, and of the same thickness throughout. from the extremity of the tail to the nose, they measure five feet. the color is a uniform dark brown, and when in good condition, and in season, perfectly black. this animal is unrivalled for the beauty, richness, and softness of his fur. the inner part of the fur, when opened, is lighter than the surface in its natural position. there are some black and shining hairs intermixed with the fur, which are rather longer, and add much to its beauty. horses and dogs. the horse is confined chiefly to the nations inhabiting the great plains of the columbia, extending from latitude forty to fifty north, and occupying the tract of country lying between the rocky mountains and a range of mountains which crosses the columbia river about the great falls. in this region they are very numerous. they appear to be of an excellent race, lofty, well formed, active, and enduring. many of them appear like fine english coursers. some of them are pied, with large spots of white irregularly scattered, and intermixed with a dark-brown bay. the greater part, however, are of a uniform color, marked with stars, and white feet. the natives suffer them to run at large in the plains, the grass of which affords them their only winter subsistence; their masters taking no trouble to lay in a winter's store for them. they will, nevertheless, unless much exercised, fatten on the dry grass afforded by the plains during the winter. the plains are rarely moistened by rain, and the grass is consequently short and thin. whether the horse was originally a native of this country or not, the soil and climate appear to be perfectly well adapted to his nature. horses are said to be found wild in many parts of this country. the dog is small, about the size of an ordinary cur. he is usually party-colored; black, white, brown, and brindle being the colors most predominant. the head is long, the nose pointed, the eyes small, the ears erect and pointed like those of the wolf. the hair is short and smooth, excepting on the tail, where it is long and straight, like that of the ordinary cur-dog. the natives never eat the flesh of this animal, and he appears to be in no other way serviceable to them but in hunting the elk. to us, on the contrary, it has now become a favorite food; for it is found to be a strong, healthy diet, preferable to lean deer or elk, and much superior to horse-flesh in any state. burrowing squirrel. there are several species of squirrels not different from those found in the atlantic states. there is also a species of squirrel, evidently distinct, which we denominate the burrowing squirrel. he measures one foot five inches in length, of which the tail comprises two and a half inches only. the neck and legs are short; the ears are likewise short, obtusely pointed, and lie close to the head. the eyes are of a moderate size, the pupil black, and the iris of a dark, sooty brown. the teeth, and indeed the whole contour, resemble those of the squirrel. these animals associate in large companies, occupying with their burrows sometimes two hundred acres of land. the burrows are separate, and each contains ten or twelve of these inhabitants. there is a little mound in front of the hole, formed of the earth thrown out of the burrow; and frequently there are three or four distinct holes, forming one burrow, with their entrances around the base of a mound. these mounds, about two feet in height and four in diameter, are occupied as watch-towers by the inhabitants of these little communities. the squirrels are irregularly distributed about the tract they thus occupy,--ten, twenty, or thirty yards apart. when any person approaches, they make a shrill whistling sound, somewhat resembling "tweet, tweet, tweet;" the signal for their party to take the alarm, and to retire into their intrenchments. they feed on the grass of their village, the limits of which they never venture to exceed. as soon as the frost commences, they shut themselves up in their caverns, and continue until the spring opens. birds. the grouse, or prairie-hen.--this is peculiarly the inhabitant of the great plains of the columbia, but does not differ from those of the upper portion of the missouri. in the winter season, this bird is booted to the first joint of the toes. the toes are curiously bordered on their lower edges with narrow, hard scales, which are placed very close to each other, and extend horizontally about one-eighth of an inch on each side of the toes, adding much to the broadness of the feet,--a security which nature has furnished them for passing over the snow with more ease,--and, what is very remarkable, in the summer season these scales drop from the feet. the color of this bird is a mixture of dark brown, reddish, and yellowish brown, with white confusedly mixed. the reddish-brown prevails most on the upper parts of the body, wings, and tail; and the white, under the belly and the lower parts of the breast and tail. they associate in large flocks in autumn and winter; and, even in summer, are seen in companies of five or six. they feed on grass, insects, leaves of various shrubs in the plains, and the seeds of several species of plants which grow in richer soils. in winter, their food consists of the buds of the willow and cottonwood, and native berries. the cock of the plains is found on the plains of the columbia in great abundance. the beak is large, short, covered, and convex; the upper exceeding the lower chap. the nostrils are large, and the back black. the color is a uniform mixture of a dark-brown, resembling the dove, and a reddish or yellowish brown, with some small black specks. the habits of this bird resemble those of the grouse, excepting that his food is the leaf and buds of the pulpy-leaved thorn. the flesh is dark, and only tolerable in point of flavor. horned frog. the horned lizard, or horned frog, called, for what reason we never could learn, the prairie buffalo, is a native of these plains as well as of those of the missouri. the color is generally brown, intermixed with yellowish spots. the animal is covered with minute scales, interspersed with small horny points, or prickles, on the upper surface of the body. the belly and throat resemble those of the frog, and are of a light yellowish-brown. the edge of the belly is likewise beset with small horny projections. the eye is small and dark. above and behind the eyes there are several bony projections, which resemble horns sprouting from the head. these animals are found in greatest numbers in the sandy, open plains, and appear most abundant after a shower of rain. they are sometimes found basking in the sunshine, but generally conceal themselves in little holes of the earth. this may account for their appearance in such numbers after rain, as their holes may thus be rendered untenantable. chapter xvi. the return. march, 1806.--many reasons had inclined us to remain at fort clatsop till the 1st of april. besides the want of fuel in the columbian plains, and the impracticability of crossing the mountains before the beginning of june, we were anxious to see some of the foreign traders, from whom, by our ample letters of credit, we might recruit our exhausted stores of merchandise. about the middle of march, however, we became seriously alarmed for the want of food. the elk, our chief dependence, had at length deserted its usual haunts in our neighborhood, and retreated to the mountains. we were too poor to purchase food from the indians; so that we were sometimes reduced, notwithstanding all the exertions of our hunters, to a single day's provision in advance. the men too, whom the constant rains and confinement had rendered unhealthy, might, we hoped, be benefited by leaving the coast, and resuming the exercise of travelling. we therefore determined to leave fort clatsop, ascend the river slowly, consume the month of march in the woody country, where we hoped to find subsistence, and in this way reach the plains about the 1st of april, before which time it will be impossible to cross them. during the winter, we have been very industrious in dressing skins; so that we now have a sufficient quantity of clothing, besides between three and four hundred pairs of moccasons. but the whole stock of goods on which we are to depend for the purchase of horses or of food, during the long journey of four thousand miles, is so much diminished, that it might all be tied in two handkerchiefs. we therefore feel that our chief dependence must be on our guns, which, fortunately, are all in good order, as we took the precaution of bringing a number of extra locks, and one of our men proved to be an excellent gunsmith. the powder had been secured in leaden canisters; and, though on many occasions they had been under water, it remained perfectly dry: and we now found ourselves in possession of one hundred and forty pounds of powder, and twice that weight of lead,--a stock quite sufficient for the route homewards. we were now ready to leave fort clatsop; but the rain prevented us for several days from calking the canoes, and we were forced to wait for calm weather before we could attempt to pass point william, which projects about a mile and a half into the sea, forming, as it were, the dividing-line between the river and the ocean; for the water below is salt, while that above is fresh. on march 23, at one o'clock in the afternoon, we took a final leave of fort clatsop. we doubled point william without any injury, and at six o'clock reached the mouth of a small creek, where we found our hunters. they had been fortunate enough to kill two elks, which were brought in, and served for breakfast next morning. next day, we were overtaken by two wahkiacums, who brought two dogs, for which they wanted us to give them some tobacco; but, as we had very little of that article left, they were obliged to go away disappointed. we received at the same time an agreeable supply of three eagles and a large goose, brought in by the hunters. we passed the entrance of cowalitz river, seventy miles from our winter camp. this stream enters the columbia from the north; is one hundred and fifty yards wide; deep and navigable, as the indians assert, for a considerable distance; and probably waters the country west and north of the cascade mountains, which cross the columbia between the great falls and rapids. during the day, we passed a number of fishing-camps on both sides of the river, and were constantly attended by small parties of skilloots, who behaved in the most orderly manner, and from whom we purchased as much fish and roots as we wanted, on moderate terms. the night continued as the day had been,--cold, wet, and disagreeable; which is the general character of the weather in this region at this season. march 29.--at an early hour, we resumed our route, and halted for breakfast at the upper end of an island where is properly the commencement of the great columbian valley. we landed at a village of fourteen large wooden houses. the people received us kindly, and spread before us wappatoo and anchovies; but, as soon as we had finished enjoying this hospitality (if it deserves that name), they began to ask us for presents. they were, however, perfectly satisfied with the small articles which we distributed according to custom, and equally pleased with our purchasing some wappatoo, twelve dogs, and two sea-otter skins. we also gave the chief a small medal, which he soon transferred to his wife. april 1.--we met a number of canoes filled with families descending the river. these people told us that they lived at the great rapids, but that a scarcity of provisions there had induced them to come down in hopes of finding subsistence in this fertile valley. all those who lived at the rapids, as well as the nations above them, they said, were in much distress for want of food, having consumed their winter store of dried fish, and not expecting the return of the salmon before the next full moon, which will be on the 2d of may. this intelligence was disagreeable and embarrassing. from the falls to the chopunnish nation, the plains afford no deer, elk, or antelope, on which we can rely for subsistence. the horses are very poor at this season; and the dogs must be in the same condition, if their food, the fish, have failed. on the other hand, it is obviously inexpedient to wait for the return of the salmon, since, in that case, we may not reach the missouri before the ice will prevent our navigating it. we therefore decided to remain here only till we collect meat enough to last us till we reach the chopunnish nation, with whom we left our horses on our downward journey, trusting that we shall find the animals safe, and have them faithfully returned to us; for, without them, the passage of the mountains will be almost impracticable. april 2, 1806.--several canoes arrived to visit us; and among the party were two young men who belonged to a nation, which, they said, resides at the falls of a large river which empties itself into the south side of the columbia, a few miles below us; and they drew a map of the country with a coal on a mat. in order to verify this information, capt. clarke persuaded one of the young men, by the present of a burning-glass, to accompany him to the river, in search of which he immediately set out with a canoe and seven of our men. in the evening, capt. clarke returned from his excursion. after descending about twenty miles, he entered the mouth of a large river, which was concealed, by three small islands opposite its entrance, from those who pass up or down the columbia. this river, which the indians call multnomah, from a nation of the same name residing near it on wappatoo island, enters the columbia one hundred and forty miles above the mouth of the latter river. the current of the multnomah, which is also called willamett, is as gentle as that of the columbia; and it appears to possess water enough for the largest ship, since, on sounding with a line of five fathoms, they could find no bottom. capt. clarke ascended the river to the village of his guide. he found here a building two hundred and twenty-six feet in front, entirely above ground, and all under one roof; otherwise it would seem more like a range of buildings, as it is divided into seven distinct apartments, each thirty feet square. the roof is formed of rafters, with round poles laid on them longitudinally. the whole is covered with a double row of the bark of the white cedar, secured by splinters of dried fir, inserted through it at regular distances. in this manner, the roof is made light, strong, and durable. in the house were several old people of both sexes, who were treated with much respect, and still seemed healthy, though most of them were perfectly blind. on inquiring the cause of the decline of their village, which was shown pretty clearly by the remains of several deserted buildings, an old man, father of the guide, and a person of some distinction, brought forward a woman very much marked with the small-pox, and said, that, when a girl, she was near dying with the disorder which had left those marks, and that the inhabitants of the houses now in ruins had fallen victims to the same disease. wappatoo island and root. wappatoo island is a large extent of country lying between the multnomah river and an arm of the columbia. the island is about twenty miles long, and varies in breadth from five to ten miles. the land is high, and extremely fertile, and on most parts is supplied with a heavy growth of cottonwood, ash, and willow. but the chief wealth of this island consists of the numerous ponds in the interior, abounding with the common arrowhead (_sagittaria sagittifolia_), to the root of which is attached a bulb growing beneath it, in the mud. this bulb, to which the indians give the name of _wappatoo_, is the great article of food, and almost the staple article of commerce, on the columbia. it is never out of season; so that, at all times of the year, the valley is frequented by the neighboring indians who come to gather it. it is collected chiefly by the women, who employ for the purpose canoes from ten to fourteen feet in length, about two feet wide, and nine inches deep, tapering from the middle, where they are about twenty inches wide. they are sufficient to contain a single person and several bushels of roots; yet so light, that a woman can carry one with ease. she takes one of these canoes into a pond where the water is as high as the breast, and, by means of her toes, separates from the root this bulb, which, on being freed from the mud, rises immediately to the surface of the water, and is thrown into the canoe. in this manner, these patient females remain in the water for several hours, even in the depth of winter. this plant is found through the whole extent of the valley in which we now are, but does not grow on the columbia farther eastward. scenery of the river and shores. above the junction of the multnomah river, we passed along under high, steep, and rocky sides of the mountains, which here close in on each side of the river, forming stupendous precipices, covered with the fir and white cedar. down these heights frequently descend the most beautiful cascades,--one of which, a large stream, throws itself over a perpendicular rock, three hundred feet above the water; while other smaller streams precipitate themselves from a still greater elevation, and, separating into a mist, again collect, and form a second cascade before they reach the bottom of the rocks. the hills on both sides of the river are about two hundred and fifty feet high, generally abrupt and craggy, and in many places presenting a perpendicular face of black, hard, basaltic rock. from the top of these hills, the country extends itself, in level plains, to a very great distance. to one remarkable elevation we gave the name of beacon rock. it stands on the north side of the river, insulated from the hills. the northern side has a partial growth of fir or pine. to the south, it rises in an unbroken precipice to the height of seven hundred feet, where it terminates in a sharp point, and may be seen at the distance of twenty miles. this rock may be considered as the point where tidewater commences. april 19.--we formed our camp at the foot of the long narrows, a little above a settlement of skilloots. their dwellings were formed by sticks set in the ground, and covered with mats and straw, and so large, that each was the residence of several families. the whole village was filled with rejoicing at having caught a salmon, which was considered as the harbinger of vast quantities that would arrive in a few days. in the belief that it would hasten their coming, the indians, according to their custom, dressed the fish, and cut it into small pieces, one of which was given to every child in the village; and, in the good humor excited by this occurrence, they parted, though reluctantly, with four horses, for which we gave them two kettles, reserving to ourselves only one. we resumed our route, and soon after halted on a hill, from the top of which we had a commanding view of the range of mountains in which mount hood stands, and which continued south as far as the eye could reach; their summits being covered with snow. mount hood bore south thirty degrees west; and another snowy summit, which we have called mount jefferson, south ten degrees west. capt. clarke crossed the river, with nine men and a large part of the merchandise, to purchase, if possible, twelve horses to transport our baggage, and some pounded fish, as a reserve, on the passage across the mountains. he succeeded in purchasing only four horses, and those at double the price that had been paid to the shoshonees. april 20.--as it was much for our interest to preserve the good will of these people, we passed over several small thefts which they had committed; but this morning we learned that six tomahawks and a knife had been stolen during the night. we addressed ourselves to the chief, who seemed angry with his people; but we did not recover the articles: and soon afterwards two of our spoons were missing. we therefore ordered them all from the camp. they left us in ill-humor, and we therefore kept on our guard against any insult. april 22.--we began our march at seven o'clock. we had just reached the top of a hill near the village, when the load of one of the horses turned; and the animal, taking fright at a robe which still adhered to him, ran furiously toward the village. just as he came there, the robe fell, and an indian made way with it. the horse was soon caught; but the robe was missing, and the indians denied having seen it. these repeated acts of knavery had quite exhausted our patience; and capt. lewis set out for the village, determined to make them deliver up the robe, or to burn their houses to the ground. this retaliation was happily rendered unnecessary; for on his way he met two of our men, who had found the robe in one of the huts, hid behind some baggage. april 24.--the indians had promised to take our canoes in exchange for horses; but, when they found that we were resolved on travelling by land, they refused giving us any thing for them, in hopes that we would be forced to leave them. disgusted at this conduct, we determined rather to cut them in pieces than suffer these people to possess them; and actually began to do so, when they consented to give us several strands of beads for each canoe. we had now a sufficient number of horses to carry our baggage, and therefore proceeded wholly by land. passing between the hills and the northern shore of the river, we had a difficult and fatiguing march over a road alternately sandy and rocky. the country through which we have passed for several days is of uniform character. the hills on both sides of the river are about two hundred and fifty feet high, in many places presenting a perpendicular face of black, solid rock. from the top of these hills, the country extends, in level plains, to a very great distance, and, though not as fertile as land near the falls, produces an abundant supply of low grass, which is an excellent food for horses. the grass must indeed be unusually nutritious: for even at this season of the year, after wintering on the dry grass of the plains, and being used with greater severity than is usual among the whites, many of the horses were perfectly fat; nor had we seen a single one that was really poor. having proceeded thirty-one miles, we halted for the night not far from some houses of the walla-wallas. soon after stopping, we were joined by seven of that tribe, among whom we recognized a chief by the name of yellept, who had visited us in october last, when we gave him a medal. he appeared very much pleased at seeing us again, and invited us to remain at his village three or four days, during which he would supply us with such food as they had, and furnish us with horses for our journey. after the cold, inhospitable treatment we had lately received, this kind offer was peculiarly acceptable. after having made a hasty meal, we accompanied him to his village. immediately on our arrival, yellept, who proved to be a man of much influence, collected the inhabitants, and after having made an harangue to them, the object of which was to induce them to treat us hospitably, set them an example by bringing himself an armful of wood, and a platter containing three roasted mullets. they immediately followed the example by furnishing us with an abundance of the only sort of fuel they use,--the stems of shrubs growing in the plains. we then purchased four dogs, on which we supped heartily, having been on short allowance for two days previously. we learned from these people, that, opposite to their village, there was a route which led to the mouth of the kooskooskee; that the road was good, and passed over a level country well supplied with water and grass; and that we should meet with plenty of deer and antelope. we knew that a road in that direction would shorten our route eighty miles; and we concluded to adopt this route. fortunately there was among these walla-wallas a prisoner belonging to a tribe of the shoshonee indians. our shoshonee woman, sacajawea, though she belonged to another tribe, spoke the same language as this prisoner; and by their means we were enabled to explain ourselves to the indians, and to answer all their inquiries with respect to ourselves and the object of our journey. our conversation inspired them with such confidence, that they soon brought several sick persons for whom they requested our assistance. we splintered the broken arm of one, gave some relief to another whose knee was contracted by rheumatism, and administered what we thought would be useful for ulcers and eruptions of the skin on various parts of the body, which are very common disorders among them. but our most valuable medicine was eye-water, which we distributed, and which, indeed, they very much required; for complaints of the eyes, occasioned by living so much on the water, and aggravated by the fine sand of the plains, were universal among them. we were by no means dissatisfied at this new resource for obtaining subsistence, as the indians would give us no provisions without merchandise, and our stock was very much reduced. we carefully abstained from giving them any thing but harmless medicines; and our prescriptions might be useful, and were therefore entitled to some remuneration. may 5.--almost the only instance of rudeness we encountered in our whole trip occurred here. we made our dinner on two dogs and a small quantity of roots. while we were eating, an indian standing by, and looking with great derision at our eating dog's-flesh, threw a half-starved puppy almost into capt. lewis's plate, laughing heartily at the humor of it. capt. lewis took up the animal, and flung it back with great force into the fellow's face, and, seizing his tomahawk, threatened to cut him down if he dared to repeat such insolence. he went off, apparently much mortified; and we continued our dog-repast very quietly. here we met our old chopunnish guide and his family; and soon afterward one of our horses, which had been separated from the others in the charge of twisted-hair, was caught, and restored to us. the walla-walla. we reached (may 1) a branch of the walla-walla river. the hills of this creek are generally abrupt and rocky; but the narrow bottom bordering the stream is very fertile, and both possess twenty times as much timber as the columbia itself. indeed, we now find, for the first time since leaving fort clatsop, an abundance of firewood. the growth consists of cotton-wood, birch, the crimson haw, willow, choke-cherry, yellow currants, gooseberry, honeysuckle, rose-bushes, sumac, together with some corn-grass and rushes. the advantage of a comfortable fire induced us, as the night was come, to halt at this place. we were soon supplied by drewyer with a beaver and an otter; of which we took only a part of the beaver, and gave the rest to the indians. the otter is a favorite food, though much inferior, in our estimation, to the dog, which they will not eat. the horse, too, is seldom eaten, and never except when absolute necessity compels. this fastidiousness does not, however, seem to proceed so much from any dislike to the food as from attachment to the animal; for many of them eat very freely of the horse-beef we give them. there is very little difference in the general face of the country here from that of the plains on the missouri, except that the latter are enlivened by vast herds of buffaloes, elks, and other animals, which are wanting here. over these wide bottoms we continued, till, at the distance of twenty-six miles from our last encampment, we halted for the night. we had scarcely encamped, when three young men from the walla-walla village came in with a steel-trap, which we had inadvertently left behind, and which they had come a whole day's journey on purpose to restore. this act of integrity was the more pleasing because it corresponds perfectly with the general behavior of the walla-wallas, among whom we had lost carelessly several knives, which were always returned as soon as found. we may, indeed, justly affirm, that, of all the indians whom we have met, the walla-wallas were the most hospitable, honest, and sincere. twisted-hair. on wednesday, the 7th of may, we reached the kooskooskee, and found it much more navigable than when we descended it last year. the water was risen, and covered the rocks and shoals. here we found the chief, named twisted-hair, in whose charge we had left our horses in our outward journey. we had suspicions that our horses, and especially our saddles, might not be easily recoverable after our long absence. the twisted-hair was invited to come, and smoke with us. he accepted the invitation, and, as we smoked our pipes over the fire, informed us, that, according to his promise, he had collected the horses, and taken charge of them; but another chief, the broken-arm, becoming jealous of him because the horses were confided to his care, was constantly quarrelling with him. at length, being an old man, and unwilling to live in perpetual disputes, he had given up the care of the horses, which had consequently become scattered. the greater part of them were, however, still in this neighborhood. he added, that on the rise of the river, in the spring, the earth had fallen from the door of the _cache_, and exposed the saddles, some of which had probably been lost; but, as soon as he was acquainted with the situation of them, he had had them buried in another place, where they were now. he promised that he would, on the morrow, send his young men, and collect such of the horses as were in the neighborhood. he kept his word. next day, the indians brought in twenty-one of the horses, the greater part of which were in excellent order; and the twisted-hair restored about half the saddles we had left in the _cache_, and some powder and lead which were buried at the same place. chapter xvii. the rocky mountains. may 17.--the country along the rocky mountains, for several hundred miles in length and fifty in width, is a high level plain; in all its parts extremely fertile, and in many places covered with a growth of tall, long-leaved pine. nearly the whole of this wide tract is covered with a profusion of grass and plants, which are at this time as high as the knee. among these are a variety of esculent plants and roots, yielding a nutritious and agreeable food. the air is pure and dry; the climate as mild as that of the same latitudes in the atlantic states, and must be equally healthy, since all the disorders which we have witnessed may fairly be imputed to other causes than the climate. of course, the degrees of heat and cold obey the influence of situation. thus the rains of the low grounds are snows in the high plains; and, while the sun shines with intense heat in the confined river-bottoms, the plains enjoy a much cooler air; and, at the foot of the mountains, the snows are even now many feet in depth. crossing the mountains. an attempt to cross the mountains in the early part of june failed on account of the snow, which still covered the track. it was plain we should have no chance of finding either grass or underwood for our horses. to proceed, therefore, would be to hazard the loss of our horses; in which case, if we should be so fortunate as to escape with our lives, we should be obliged to abandon our papers and collections. it was accordingly decided not to venture farther; to deposit here all the baggage and provisions for which we had no immediate use, and to return to some spot where we might live by hunting till the snow should have melted, or a guide be procured to conduct us. we submitted, june 17, to the mortification of retracing our steps three days' march. on the 24th june, having been so fortunate as to engage three indians to go with us to the falls of the missouri for the compensation of two guns, we set out on our second attempt to cross the mountains. on reaching the place where we had left our baggage, we found our deposit perfectly safe. it required two hours to arrange our baggage, and prepare a hasty meal; after which the guides urged us to set off, as we had a long ride to make before we could reach a spot where there was grass for our horses. we mounted, and followed their steps; sometimes crossed abruptly steep hills, and then wound along their sides, near tremendous precipices, where, had our horses slipped, we should have been irrecoverably lost. our route lay along the ridges which separate the waters of the kooskooskee and chopunnish, and above the heads of all the streams; so that we met no running water. late in the evening, we reached a spot where we encamped near a good spring of water. it was on the steep side of a mountain, with no wood, and a fair southern aspect, from which the snow seemed to have disappeared for about ten days, and an abundant growth of young grass, like greensward, had sprung up. there was also a species of grass not unlike flag, with a broad succulent leaf, which is confined to the upper parts of the mountains. it is a favorite food with the horses; but it was then either covered with snow, or just making its appearance. june 27.--we continued our route over the high and steep hills of the same great ridge. at eight miles' distance, we reached an eminence where the indians have raised a conical mound of stone six or eight feet high. from this spot we have a commanding view of the surrounding mountains, which so completely enclose us, that, although we have once passed them, we should despair of ever escaping from them without the assistance of the indians; but our guides traverse this trackless region with a kind of instinctive sagacity. they never hesitate; they are never embarrassed; yet so undeviating is their step, that, wherever the snow has disappeared for even a hundred paces, we find the summer road. with their aid, the snow is scarcely a disadvantage; for although we are often obliged to slide down, yet the fallen timber and the rocks, which are now covered up, were much more troublesome when we passed in the autumn. note. a later traveller through this region writes, "the mountains are indeed _rocky_. they are rocks heaped upon rocks, with no vegetation, excepting a few cedars growing out of the crevices near their base. their tops are covered with perpetual snow. the main ridge of the mountains is of _gneiss_ rock; yet, to-day, parallel ridges of a rock, nearly allied to _basalt_, have abounded. these ridges appear to be volcanic, forced up in _dikes_ at different distances from each other, running from east-north-east to west-south-west. the strata are mostly vertical; but some are a little dipped to the south. "our encampment was near a small stream which runs through a volcanic chasm, which is more than a hundred feet deep, with perpendicular sides. here was a passage made for the _water_ by _fire_." the party agree to separate. july 3, 1806.--it was agreed here that the expedition should be divided, to unite again at the confluence of the missouri and the yellowstone. the separation took place near the point where clarke's river is crossed by the forty-seventh parallel of latitude. capt. lewis, with nine men, was to cross the mountains in a direction as nearly due east as possible, expecting to find some tributary of the missouri, by following which he might reach that river, and by it retrace his way homeward. capt. clarke, with the remainder of the party, was to seek the head waters of the yellowstone, and follow that stream to the proposed place of re-union. in conformity with this arrangement, capt. lewis, under the guidance of friendly indians, crossed the mountains by a route which led him, after travelling one hundred and four miles, to medicine river, and by that river to the missouri. he reached the falls of the missouri on the 17th of july, and leaving there a portion of his party, under sergt. gass, to make preparations for transporting their baggage and canoes round the falls, set out, accompanied by drewyer and the two brothers fields, with six horses, to explore maria's river, to ascertain its extent toward the north. from the 18th to the 26th, they were engaged in this exploration. on the eve of their return, an event occurred, which, being the only instance in which the expedition was engaged in any conflict with the indians with loss of life, requires to be particularly related. conflict with the indians. we were passing through a region frequented by the minnetarees, a band of indians noted for their thievish propensities and unfriendly dispositions. capt. lewis was therefore desirous to avoid meeting with them. drewyer had been sent out for game, and capt. lewis ascended a hill to look over the country. scarcely had he reached the top, when he saw, about a mile on his left, a collection of about thirty horses. by the aid of his spy-glass, he discovered that one-half of the horses were saddled, and that, on the eminence above the horses, several indians were looking down towards the river, probably at drewyer. this was a most unwelcome sight. their probable numbers rendered any contest with them of doubtful issue. to attempt to escape would only invite pursuit; and our horses were so bad, that we must certainly be overtaken: besides which, drewyer could not yet be aware that indians were near; and, if we ran, he would most probably be sacrificed. we therefore determined to make the best of our situation, and advance towards them in a friendly manner. the flag which we had brought in case of such an emergency was therefore displayed, and we continued slowly our march towards them. their whole attention was so engaged by drewyer, that they did not immediately discover us. as soon as they did so, they appeared to be much alarmed, and ran about in confusion. when we came within a quarter of a mile, one of the indians mounted, and rode towards us. when within a hundred paces of us, he halted; and capt. lewis, who had alighted to receive him, held out his hand, and beckoned him to approach: but he only looked at us, and then, without saying a word, returned to his companions. the whole party now descended the hill, and rode towards us. as yet we saw only eight, but presumed that there must be more behind, as there were several more horses saddled. capt. lewis had with him but two men; and he told them his fears that these were indians of the minnetaree tribe, and that they would attempt to rob us, and advised them to be on the alert, should there appear any disposition to attack us. when the two parties came within a hundred yards of each other, all the indians, except one, halted. capt. lewis therefore ordered his two men to halt, while he advanced, and, after shaking hands with the indian, went on and did the same with the others in the rear, while the indian himself shook hands with our two men. they all now came up; and, after alighting, the indians asked to smoke with us. capt. lewis, who was very anxious for drewyer's safety, told them that the man who had gone down the river had the pipe, and requested, that, as they had seen him, one of them would accompany r. fields to bring him back. to this they assented; and fields went with a young man in search of drewyer, who returned with them. as it was growing late, capt. lewis proposed that they should encamp with us; for he was glad to see them, and had a great deal to say to them. they assented; and, being soon joined by drewyer, the evening was spent in conversation with the indians, in which capt. lewis endeavored to persuade them to cultivate peace with their neighbors. finding them very fond of the pipe, capt. lewis, who was desirous of keeping a constant watch during the night, smoked with them to a late hour; and, as soon as they were all asleep, he woke r. fields, and ordering him to rouse us all in case any indian left the camp, as he feared they would attempt to steal our horses, he lay down by the side of drewyer in the tent with the indians, while the brothers fields were stretched near the fire at the mouth of the tent. at sunrise, the indians got up, and crowded round the fire, near which j. fields, who was then on watch, had carelessly left his rifle, near the head of his brother, who was asleep. one of the indians slipped behind him, and, unperceived, took his brother's and his own rifle; while at the same time two others seized those of drewyer and capt. lewis. as soon as fields turned round, he saw the indian running off with the rifles; and, instantly calling his brother, they pursued him for fifty or sixty yards; and just as they overtook him, in the scuffle for the rifles, r. fields stabbed him through the heart with his knife. the indian ran a few steps, and fell dead. they recovered their rifles, and ran back to the camp. the moment the fellow touched his gun, drewyer, who was awake, jumped up, and wrested it from him. the noise awoke capt. lewis, who instantly started from the ground, and reached to seize his gun, but found it gone, and, turning about, saw the indian running off with it. he followed, and called to him to lay down the gun; which he did. by this time, the rest of the indians were endeavoring to drive off our horses; and capt. lewis ordered his men to follow them, and fire upon the thieves if they did not release our horses. the result was, that we recovered four of our horses, and as many of theirs which they had left behind; so that we were rather gainers by the contest. besides the indian killed by fields, one other was badly wounded. we had no doubt but that we should be immediately pursued by a much larger party. our only chance of safety was in rejoining our friends, who were many miles distant. we therefore pushed our horses as fast as we could; and, fortunately for us, the indian horses proved very good. the plains were level, free from stones and prickly-pears, and in fine order for travelling over from the late rains. we commenced our ride in the early morning. at three o'clock, we had ridden, by estimate, sixty-three miles. we halted for an hour and a half to refresh our horses; then pursued our journey seventeen miles farther, when, as night came on, we killed a buffalo, and again stopped for two hours. the sky was now overclouded; but, as the moon gave light enough to show us the route, we continued for twenty miles farther, and then, exhausted with fatigue, halted at two in the morning. next day, we rejoined the main body of our party in safety. capt. lewis with his companions pursued their way down the missouri, passing those points already noticed in their ascent. our narrative, therefore, will leave them here, and attend the course of capt. clarke and his party down the yellowstone. chapter xviii. capt. clarke's route down the yellowstone. july 3, 1806.--the party under capt. clarke, consisting of fifteen men, with fifty horses, set out through the valley of clarke's river, along the western side of which they rode in a southern direction. the valley is from ten to fifteen miles in width, and is diversified by a number of small open plains, abounding with grass and a variety of sweet-scented plants, and watered by numerous streams rushing from the western mountains. these mountains were covered with snow about one-fifth of the way from the top; and some snow was still to be seen in the hollows of the mountains to the eastward. july 7.--they reached wisdom river, and stopped for dinner at a hot spring situated in the open plain. the bed of the spring is about fifteen yards in circumference, and composed of loose, hard, gritty stones, through which the water boils in large quantities. it is slightly impregnated with sulphur, and so hot, that a piece of meat, about the size of three fingers, was completely cooked in twenty-five minutes. july 8.--they arrived at jefferson's river, where they had deposited their goods in the month of august the year before. they found every thing safe, though some of the goods were a little damp, and one of the canoes had a hole in it. they had now crossed from traveller's-rest creek to the head of jefferson's river, which seems to form the best and shortest route over the mountains during almost the whole distance of one hundred and sixty-four miles. it is, in fact, an excellent road; and, by cutting down a few trees, it might be rendered a good route for wagons, with the exception of about four miles over one of the mountains, which would require a little levelling. july 10.--the boats were now loaded, and capt. clarke divided his men into two bands. sergt. ordway, with nine men, in six canoes, was to descend the river; while capt. clarke, with the remaining ten, the wife and child of chaboneau, and fifty horses, were to proceed by land to the yellowstone. the latter party set out at five in the afternoon from the forks of the missouri, in a direction nearly east. the plain was intersected by several great roads leading to a gap in the mountain about twenty miles distant, in a direction east-north-east; but the indian woman, who was acquainted with the country, recommended another gap more to the south, through which capt. clarke determined to proceed. they started early the next morning, and, pursuing the route recommended by the squaw, encamped in the evening at the entrance of the gap mentioned by her. through this gap they passed next day, and, at the distance of six miles, reached the top of the dividing ridge which separates the waters of the missouri from those of the yellowstone. nine miles from the summit, they reached the yellowstone itself, about a mile and a half below where it issues from the rocky mountains. the distance from the head of the missouri to this place is forty-eight miles, the greater part of which is through a level plain. they halted for three hours to rest their horses, and then pursued the buffalo road along the banks of the river. although but just emerging from a high, snowy mountain, the yellowstone is here a bold, rapid, and deep stream, one hundred and twenty yards in width. they continued their course along the river till the 23d, when the party embarked on board of two canoes, each of which was twenty-eight feet long, sixteen or eighteen inches deep, and from sixteen to twenty-four inches wide. sergt. prior, with two men, was directed to take the horses to the mandans for safe keeping until the re-union of the expedition. july 24.--at eight o'clock, capt. clarke and the remainder of his party embarked, and proceeded very steadily down the river. they passed the mouths of several large rivers emptying into the yellowstone; one of which was called the big-horn, from the numbers of that remarkable species of sheep seen in its neighborhood. next day, capt. clarke landed to examine a curious rock, situated in an extensive bottom on the right, about two hundred and fifty paces from the shore. it is nearly two hundred paces in circumference, two hundred feet high, and accessible only from the north-east; the other sides consisting of perpendicular cliffs, of a light-colored, gritty stone. the soil on the summit is five or six feet deep, of a good quality, and covered with short grass. from this height, the eye ranges over a wide extent of variegated country. on the south-west are the rocky mountains, covered with snow; on the north, a lower range, called the little wolf mountains. the low grounds of the river extend nearly six miles to the southward, when they rise into plains, reaching to the mountains. the north side of the river is bounded by jutting, romantic cliffs, beyond which the plains are open and extensive, and the whole country enlivened by herds of buffaloes, elks, and wolves. after enjoying the prospect from this rock, to which capt. clarke gave the name of pompey's pillar, he descended, and continued his route. at the distance of six or seven miles, he stopped to secure two bighorns, which had been shot from the boat, and, while on shore, saw in the face of the cliff, about twenty feet above the water, a fragment of the rib of a fish, three feet long, and nearly three inches round, embedded in the rock itself. beavers, buffaloes, mosquitoes. the beavers were in great numbers along the banks of the river, and through the night were flapping their tails in the water round the boats. aug. 1.--the buffaloes appeared in vast numbers. a herd happened to be on their way across the river. such was the multitude of these animals, that although the river, including an island over which they passed, was a mile in width, the herd stretched, as thick as they could swim, completely from one side to the other. our party, descending the river, was obliged to stop for an hour to let the procession pass. we consoled ourselves for the delay by killing four of the herd, and then proceeded, till, at the distance of forty-five miles, two other herds of buffaloes, as numerous as the first, crossed the river in like manner. aug. 4.--the camp became absolutely uninhabitable, in consequence of the multitude of mosquitoes. the men could not work in preparing skins for clothing, nor hunt in the low grounds: in short, there was no mode of escape, except by going on the sand bars in the river, where, if the wind should blow, the insects do not venture. but when there is no wind, and particularly at night, when the men have no covering except their worn-out blankets, the pain they inflict is scarcely to be endured. on one occasion, capt. clarke went on shore, and ascended a hill after one of the bighorns; but the mosquitoes were in such multitudes, that he could not keep them from the barrel of his rifle long enough to take aim. this annoyance continued, till, on the 11th of september, they write, "we are no longer troubled with mosquitoes, which do not seem to frequent this part of the river; and, after having been persecuted with them during the whole route from the falls, it is a most happy exemption. their noise was very agreeably exchanged for that of the wolves, which were howling in various directions all round us." aug. 12, 1806.--the party continued to descend the river. one of their canoes had, by accident, a small hole made in it; and they halted for the purpose of covering it with a piece of elk-skin. while there, about noon, they were overjoyed at seeing the boats of capt. lewis's party heave in sight. the whole expedition being now happily re-united, at about three o'clock all embarked on board the boats; but as the wind was high, accompanied with rain, we did not proceed far before we halted for the night. they part with some of their companions. on the 14th august, having now reached a part of the river where we occasionally met the boats of adventurous traders ascending the river, capt. lewis was applied to by one of the men, colter, who was desirous of joining two trappers, who proposed to him to accompany them, and share their profits. the offer was an advantageous one; and as he had always performed his duty, and his services might be dispensed with, capt. lewis consented to his going, provided none of the rest would ask or expect a similar indulgence. to this they cheerfully answered, that they wished colter every success, and would not apply for a discharge before we reached st. louis. we therefore supplied him, as did his comrades also, with powder and lead, and a variety of articles which might be useful to him; and he left us the next day. the example of this man shows how easily men may be weaned from the habits of civilized life, and brought to relish the manners of the woods. this hunter had now been absent many years from his country, and might naturally be presumed to have some desire to return to his native seats; yet, just at the moment when he is approaching the frontiers, he is tempted by a hunting-scheme to go back to the solitude of the woods. a few days after this, chaboneau, with his wife and child, concluded to follow us no longer, as he could be no longer useful to us. we offered to take him with us to the united states; but he said that he had there no acquaintance, and preferred remaining among the indians. this man has been very serviceable to us, and his wife particularly so, among the shoshonees. she has borne with a patience truly admirable the fatigues of our long journey, encumbered with the charge of an infant, which is now only nineteen months old. we paid him his wages, amounting to five hundred dollars and thirty-three cents, including the price of a horse and a lodge purchased of him, and pursued our journey without him. they reach home. sept. 8, 1806.--we reached council bluffs, and stopped for a short time to examine the situation of the place, and were confirmed in our belief that it would be a very eligible spot for a trading establishment.[4] being anxious to reach the junction of the platte river, we plied our oars so well, that by night we had made seventy-eight miles, and landed at our old encampment, on the ascent, twelve miles above that river. we had here occasion to remark the wonderful evaporation from the missouri. the river does not appear to contain more water, nor is its channel wider, than at the distance of one thousand miles nearer its source, although within that space it receives about twenty rivers (some of them of considerable width), and a great number of smaller streams. a few days more brought us to the mouth of the kansas river. about a mile below it, we landed to view the country. the low grounds are delightful, the whole country exhibiting a rich appearance; but the weather was oppressively warm. descending as we had done from a high, open country, between the latitudes of forty-six and forty-nine degrees, to the wooded plains in thirty-eight and thirty-nine degrees, the heat would have been intolerable, had it not been for the constant winds from the south and the south-west. on the 20th september, we reached the mouth of osage river. a few miles lower down, we saw on the banks some cows feeding; and the whole party involuntarily raised a shout of joy at the sight of this evidence of civilization and domestic life. we soon after reached the little french village of la charette, which we saluted with a discharge of four guns and three hearty cheers. we landed, and were received with kindness by the inhabitants, as well as by some traders who were on their way to traffic with the osages. they were all surprised and pleased at our arrival; for they had long since abandoned all hopes of ever seeing us return. the third day after this,--viz., on tuesday, the 23d of september, 1806,--we arrived at st. louis, and, having fired a salute, went on shore, and received the heartiest and most hospitable welcome from the whole village. conclusion. the successful termination of the expedition was a source of surprise and delight to the whole country. the humblest of its citizens had taken a lively interest in the issue of this journey, and looked forward with impatience for the information it would furnish. their anxieties, too, for the safety of the party, had been kept in a state of excitement by lugubrious rumors, circulated from time to time on uncertain authorities, and uncontradicted by letters or other direct information, from the time when the party left the mandan towns, on their ascent up the river, in 1804, until their actual return to st. louis. the courage, perseverance, and discretion displayed by the commanders, and the fidelity and obedience of the men, were the theme of general approbation, and received the favorable notice of government. a donation of lands was made to each member of the party; capt. lewis was appointed governor of louisiana, which, at that time, embraced the whole country west of the mississippi, within the boundaries of the united states; and capt. clarke was made superintendent of indian affairs. it was not until some years after, however, that the world was put in possession of the detailed history of the expedition. capt. lewis, in the midst of other cares, devoted what time he could to the preparation of his journals for publication, and, in 1809, was on his way to philadelphia for that purpose, but, at a village in tennessee, was taken ill, and prevented from proceeding. here the energetic mind, which had encountered so unfalteringly the perils and sufferings of the desert, gave way. constitutional despondency overcame him: it is probable he lost his reason; for, in a rash moment, he applied a pistol to his head, and destroyed his life. his journals were published under the charge of paul allen of philadelphia. footnote: [4] now the site of omaha city. eldorado. eldorado chapter i. the discovery. what is meant by eldorado? is there such a country? and, if there be, where is it? the name literally means "the golden country," and was given to an unknown region in south america by the spaniards, who had heard from the indians marvellous tales of such a land lying in the interior of the continent, where gold and precious stones were as common as rocks and pebbles in other countries, and to be had for the trouble of picking them up. it was also a land of spices and aromatic gums. the first notion of this favored region was communicated by an indian chief to gonzalo pizarro, brother of the conqueror of peru, whose imagination was captivated by the account, and his ambition fired with a desire to add this, which promised to be the most brilliant of all, to the discoveries and conquests of his countrymen. he found no difficulty in awakening a kindred enthusiasm in the bosoms of his followers. in a short time, he mustered three hundred and fifty spaniards, and four thousand indians. one hundred and fifty of his company were mounted. the indians were to carry the baggage and provisions, and perform the labors of the expedition. a glance at the map of south america will give us a clear idea of the scene of the expedition. the river amazon, the largest river of the globe, rises in the highest ranges of the andes, and flows from west to east through nearly the whole breadth of the continent. pizarro's expedition started in the year 1540 from quito, near the sources of the great river, and, marching east, soon became entangled in the deep and intricate passes of the mountains. as they rose into the more elevated regions, the icy winds that swept down the sides of the cordilleras benumbed their limbs, and many of the natives found a wintry grave in the wilderness. on descending the eastern slope, the climate changed; and, as they came to a lower level, the fierce cold was succeeded by a suffocating heat, while tempests of thunder and lightning poured on them with scarcely any intermission day or night. for more than six weeks, the deluge continued unabated; and the forlorn wanderers, wet, and weary with incessant toil, were scarcely able to drag their limbs along the soil, broken up as it was, and saturated with the moisture. after months of toilsome travel, they reached the region where grew the spice-trees. their produce resembled the cinnamon of the east in taste, but was of inferior quality. they saw the trees bearing the precious bark spreading out into broad forests; yet, however valuable it might be for future commerce, it was of but little worth to them. but, from the savages whom they occasionally met, they learned, that at ten days' distance was a rich and fruitful land, abounding with gold, and inhabited by populous nations. the spaniards were so convinced of the existence of such a country, that if the natives, on being questioned, professed their ignorance of it, they were supposed to be desirous of concealing the fact, and were put to the most horrible tortures, and even burnt alive, to compel them to confess. it is no wonder, therefore, if they told, in many instances, such stories as the spaniards wished to hear, which would also have the effect of ridding their own territories of their troublesome guests by inducing them to advance farther. pizarro had already reached the limit originally proposed for the expedition; but these accounts induced him to continue on. as they advanced, the country spread out into broad plains, terminated by forests, which seemed to stretch on every side as far as the eye could reach. the wood was thickly matted with creepers and climbing plants, and at every step of the way they had to hew open a passage with their axes; while their garments, rotting from the effects of the drenching rains, caught in every bush, and hung about them in shreds. their provisions failed, and they had only for sustenance such herbs and roots as they could gather in the forest, and such wild animals as, with their inadequate means, they could capture. at length they came to a broad expanse of water, from whence flowed a stream,--one of those which discharge their waters into the great river amazon. the sight gladdened their hearts, as they hoped to find a safer and more practicable route by keeping along its banks. after following the stream a considerable distance, the party came within hearing of a rushing noise, that seemed like thunder issuing from the bowels of the earth. the river tumbled along over rapids with frightful velocity, and then discharged itself in a magnificent cataract, which they describe as twelve hundred feet high. doubtless this estimate must be taken with some allowance for the excited feelings of the spaniards, keenly alive to impressions of the sublime and the terrible. for some distance above and below the falls, the bed of the river contracted; so that its width did not exceed twenty feet. they determined to cross, in hopes of finding a country that might afford them better sustenance. a frail bridge was constructed by throwing trunks of trees across the chasm, where the cliffs, as if split asunder by some convulsion of nature, descended sheer down a perpendicular depth of several hundred feet. over this airy causeway, the men and horses succeeded in effecting their passage; though one spaniard, made giddy by heedlessly looking down, lost his footing, and fell into the boiling surges below. they gained little by the exchange. the country wore the same unpromising aspect: the indians whom they occasionally met in the pathless wilderness were fierce and unfriendly, and the spaniards were engaged in perpetual conflict with them. from these they learned that a fruitful country was to be found down the river, at the distance of only a few days' journey; and the spaniards held on their weary way, still hoping, and still deceived, as the promised land flitted before them, like the rainbow, receding as they advanced. at length, spent with toil and suffering, pizarro resolved to construct a bark large enough to transport the weaker part of his company and his baggage. the forests furnished him with timber; the shoes of the horses, which had died on the road, or been slaughtered for food, were converted into nails; gum, distilled from the trees, took the place of pitch; and the tattered garments of the soldiers served for oakum. at the end of two months, the vessel was ready, and the command given to francisco orellana. the troops now moved forward through the wilderness, following the course of the river; the vessel carrying the feebler soldiers. every scrap of provisions had long since been consumed. the last of their horses had been devoured; and they greedily fed upon toads, serpents, and even insects, which that country, teeming with the lower forms of animal life, abundantly supplied. the natives still told of a rich district, inhabited by a populous nation. it was, as usual, at the distance of several days' journey; and pizarro resolved to halt where he was, and send orellana down in his brigantine to procure a stock of provisions, with which he might return, and put the main body in condition to resume their march. orellana, with fifty of the adventurers, pushed off into the middle of the river, where the stream ran swiftly; and his bark, taken by the current, shot forward as with the speed of an arrow, and was soon out of sight. days and weeks passed away, yet the vessel did not return; and no speck was to be seen on the waters as the spaniards strained their eyes to the farthest point, till the banks closed in, and shut the view. detachments were sent out, and, though absent several days, came back without intelligence of their comrades. weary of suspense, pizarro determined to continue their march down the river, which they did, with incredible suffering, for two months longer, till their doubts were dispelled by the appearance of a white man, wandering, half naked, in the woods, in whose famine-stricken countenance they recognized the features of one of their countrymen. orellana had passed swiftly down the river to the point of its confluence with the amazon, where he had been led to expect that he should find supplies for the wants of himself and his companions, but found none. nor was it possible to return as he had come, and make head against the current of the river. in this dilemma, a thought flashed across his mind: it was, to leave the party under pizarro to their fate, and to pursue his course down the great river on which he had entered; to explore eldorado for himself, and make the best of his way home to spain to claim the glory and reward of discovery. his reckless companions readily consented to this course, with the exception of the individual whom pizarro found; and him, when he remonstrated, they put ashore, and left to shift for himself. pizarro and his party, deserted in the wilderness, unable to advance farther, had no alternative but to remain, or retrace their miserable way to quito, the place they had started from more than a year before. they chose the latter, and commenced their return march with heavy hearts. they took a more northerly route than that by which they had approached the amazon; and, though it was attended with fewer difficulties, they experienced yet greater distresses, from their greater inability to overcome them. their only food was such scanty fare as they could pick up in the forest, or happily meet with in some forsaken indian settlement, or wring by violence from the natives. some sickened and sank down by the way, and perished where they fell; for there was none to help them. intense misery had made them selfish; and many a poor wretch was abandoned to his fate, to die alone in the wilderness, or, more probably, to be devoured, while living, by the wild animals which roamed over it. it took them a year to measure back their way to quito; and the miseries they had endured were testified to by their appearance when they arrived, in sadly reduced numbers, at the place of their starting. their horses gone, their arms broken and rusted, the skins of wild animals their only clothes, their long and matted locks streaming wildly down their shoulders, their faces blackened by the tropical sun, their bodies wasted by famine and disfigured by scars, it seemed as if the charnel-house had given up its dead, as, with unsteady step, they crept slowly onwards. more than half of the four thousand indians who had accompanied the expedition had perished; and of the spaniards, only eighty, and many of these irretrievably broken in constitution, found their way back to quito. meanwhile, orellana glided down the stream, which then was nameless and unknown, but which has since been called by his name, though it is more generally known by a name derived from a story which orellana told, in his account of his voyage, of a nation of amazons inhabiting its banks. but an account of orellana's adventures must be reserved for our next chapter. chapter ii. orellana descends the river. when orellana, in his ill-appointed bark, and with his crew enfeebled by famine, had reached the junction of the river napo with the amazon, and found no sources of supply which he had been led to expect, he had no difficulty in satisfying his companions that their only chance of preservation was in continuing their descent of the river, and leaving the party under pizarro to their fate. he then formally renounced the commission which pizarro had given him, and received the command anew from the election of his men, that so he might make discoveries for himself, and not, holding a deputed authority, in the name of another. it was upon the last day of december, 1541, that this voyage was begun,--one of the most adventurous that has ever been undertaken. the little stock of provisions with which they had parted from the army was already exhausted, and they boiled their leathern girdles and the leather of their shoes with such herbs as seemed most likely to be nourishing and harmless; for it was only by experiment that they were able to distinguish the wholesome from the poisonous. on the 8th of january, being reduced almost to the last extremity with hunger, they heard before daylight an indian drum,--a joyful sound; for be the natives what they would, friendly or hostile, this they knew, that it must be their own fault now if they should die of hunger. at daybreak, being eagerly upon the lookout, they perceived four canoes, which put back upon seeing the brigantine; and presently they saw a village where a great body of the natives were assembled, and appeared ready to defend it. the spaniards were too hungry to negotiate. orellana bade them land in good order, and stand by each other. they attacked the indians like men who were famishing, and fought for food, put them speedily to the rout, and found an immediate supply. while they were enjoying the fruits of their victory, the indians came near them, more to gratify curiosity than resentment. orellana spoke to them in some indian language which they partly understood. some of them took courage, and approached him. he gave them a few european trifles, and asked for their chief, who came without hesitation, was well pleased with the presents which were given him, and offered them any thing which it was in his power to supply. provisions were requested; and presently peacocks, partridges, fish, and other things, were brought in great abundance. the next day, thirteen chiefs came to see the strangers. they were gayly adorned with feathers and gold, and had plates of gold upon the breast. orellana received them courteously, required them to acknowledge obedience to the crown of castile, took advantage as usual of their ignorance to affirm that they consented, and took possession of their country in the emperor's name. such is orellana's own account of this first interview. it was his object to create a high idea of the riches of the provinces which he had discovered. it is not probable that these tribes had any gold; for later discoveries showed that none of the tribes on the amazon were so far advanced as to use it. it was here that they heard the first accounts of the rich and powerful nation composed wholly of women, whom, in recollection of the female warriors of classic antiquity, they called the amazons. here the spaniards built a better brigantine than the frail one in which they were embarked. all fell to work, orellana being the first at any exertion that was required. they calked it with cotton; the natives supplied pitch; and in thirty-five days the vessel was launched. on the 24th of april, they once more embarked. for eighty leagues, the banks were peopled with friendly tribes; then the course of the river lay between desert mountains, and they were fain to feed upon herbs and parched corn, not even finding a place where they could fish. thus far they seem to have found the natives friendly, or not actively hostile; but, as they descended, they came to a populous province, belonging to a chief called omagua, if, as is conjectured, that is not rather the name of the tribe itself than of their chief. one morning, a fleet of canoes was seen advancing with hostile demonstrations. the indians carried shields made of the skins of the alligator. they came on with beat of tambour and with war-cries, threatening to devour the strangers. the spaniards brought their two vessels close together, that they might aid one another in the defence. but, when they came to use their powder, it was damp, and they had nothing but their cross-bows to trust to; and, plying these as well as they could, they continued to fall down the stream, fighting as they went. presently they came to an indian town. half the spaniards landed to attack it, leaving their companions to maintain the fight upon the water. they won the town, and loaded themselves with provisions; but eighteen of the party were wounded, and one killed. they had neither surgeon nor any remedy for the wounded. nothing could be done for them except "psalming;" that is, repeating some verses of the psalms over the wound. this mode of treatment was not unusual; and, as it was less absurd than the methods which were ordinarily in use at that day, it is no wonder if it proved more successful. for two days and two nights after this, they were constantly annoyed by the canoes of the natives following, and endeavoring to board them. but the spaniards had now dried some powder; and one of them, getting a steady mark at the chief of the indians, shot him in the breast. his people gathered round him; and, while they were thus occupied, the brigantines shot ahead. thus they proceeded with alternate good and evil fortune, now finding the indians friendly, and supplies of provisions abundant; and then encountering hostile tribes which assailed them with all their power, or long regions of unpeopled country, where they were reduced to the utmost straits for want of food. six months had now been consumed on their voyage, and as yet no appearance of eldorado; though, if their accounts may be trusted, they several times came upon populous places, which had many streets, all opening upon the river, and apparently leading to some greater city in the interior. on the 22d of june, on turning an angle of the river, they saw the country far before them, and great numbers of people collected, seemingly with hostile intentions. orellana offered them trinkets, at which they scoffed; but he persisted in making towards the shore to get food, either by persuasion or force. a shower of arrows was discharged from the shore, which wounded five of the crew. they nevertheless landed, and, after a hot contest, repulsed the natives, killing some seven or eight of them. the historian of the voyage, who was one of the adventurers, affirms that ten or twelve amazons fought at the head of these people, who were their subjects, and fought desperately; because any one who fled in battle would be beaten to death by these female tyrants. he describes the women as very tall and large-limbed, white of complexion, the hair long, platted, and banded round the head. it is amusing to observe how this story was magnified by later narrators, who learned it only by tradition. it is stated in these late accounts that orellana fought on this occasion with a great army of women. of a prisoner whom they took, orellana asked questions about eldorado and the amazons, and got, as usual, such answers as he expected. this may partly be set down to the score of self-deception, and partly to the fact that they conversed with these people by signs, and by means of the few words of their language which the spaniards knew, or supposed they knew, the meaning of. he learned from the prisoner that the country was subject to women, who lived after the manner of the amazons of the ancients, and who possessed gold and silver in abundance. there were in their dominions fine temples of the sun, all covered with plates of gold. their houses were of stone, and their cities walled. we can hardly doubt that the desire to tempt adventurers to join him in his subsequent expedition to conquer and colonize those countries had its effect in magnifying these marvels. shortly after this, the spaniards thought they perceived the _tide_. after another day's voyage, they came to some inhabited islands, and, to their infinite joy, saw that they had not been mistaken; for the marks of the tide here were certain. here they lost another of their party in a skirmish with the natives. from this place the country was low; and they could never venture to land, except upon the islands, among which they sailed, as they supposed, about two hundred leagues; the tide coming up with great force. one day the smaller vessel struck upon a snag, which stove in one of her planks, and she filled. they, however, landed to seek for provisions; but the inhabitants attacked them with such force, that they were forced to retire; and, when they came to their vessels, they found that the tide had left the only serviceable one dry. orellana ordered half his men to fight, and the other half to thrust the vessel into the water: that done, they righted the old brigantine, and fastened in a new plank, all which was completed in three hours, by which time the indians were weary of fighting, and left them in peace. the next day they found a desert place, where orellana halted to repair both vessels. this took them eighteen days, during which they suffered much from hunger. as they drew near the sea, they halted again for fourteen days, to prepare for their sea-voyage; made cordage of herbs; and sewed the cloaks, on which they slept, into sails. on the 8th of august, they proceeded again, anchoring with stones when the tide turned, though it sometimes came in such strength as to drag these miserable anchors. here the natives were happily of a milder mood than those whom they had lately dealt with. from them they procured roots and indian corn; and, having laid in what store they could, they made ready to enter upon the sea in these frail vessels, with their miserable tackling, and with insufficient food, without pilot, compass, or any knowledge of the coast. it was on the 26th of august that they sailed out of the river, passing between two islands, which were about four leagues asunder. the whole length of the voyage from the place where they had embarked to the sea they computed at eighteen hundred leagues. thus far their weather had been always favorable, and it did not fail them now. they kept along the coast to the northward, just at safe distance. the two brigantines parted company in the night. they in the larger one got into the gulf of paria, from whence all their labor at the oar for seven days could not extricate them. during this time, they lived upon a sort of plum called "nogos," being the only food they could find. at length they were whirled through those tremendous channels which columbus called the "dragon's mouths," and, september the 11th, not knowing where they were, reached the island of cubagua, where they found a colony of their countrymen. the old brigantine had arrived at the same place two days before them. here they were received with the welcome which their wonderful adventure deserved; and from hence orellana proceeded to spain, to give the king an account of his discoveries in person. chapter iii. orellana's adventure continued. orellana arrived safe in spain, and was favorably received. his act of insubordination in leaving his commander was forgotten in the success of his achievement; for it had been successful, even if the naked facts only had been told, inasmuch as it was the first event which led to any certain knowledge of the immense regions that stretch eastward from the andes to the ocean, besides being in itself one of the most brilliant adventures of that remarkable age. but orellana's accounts went far beyond these limits, and confirming all previous tales of the wonderful eldorado, with its temples roofed with gold, and its mountains composed of precious stones, drew to his standard numerous followers. every thing promised fairly. the king granted him a commission to conquer the countries which he had explored. he raised funds for the expedition, and even found a wife who was willing to accompany him in may, 1544, he set sail with four ships and four hundred men. but the tide of orellana's fortune had turned. he stopped three months at teneriffe, and two at the cape de verde, where ninety-eight of his people died, and fifty were invalided. the expedition proceeded with three ships, and met with contrary winds, which detained them till their water was exhausted; and, had it not been for heavy rains, all must have perished. one ship put back in this distress, with seventy men and eleven horses on board, and was never heard of after. the remaining two reached the river. having ascended about a hundred leagues, they stopped to build a brigantine. provisions were scarce here, and fifty-seven more of his party died. these men were not, like his former comrades, seasoned to the climate, and habituated to the difficulties of the new world. one ship was broken up here for the materials: the other met with an accident, and became unserviceable; and they cut her up, and made a bark of the timbers. orellana meanwhile, in the brigantine, was endeavoring to discover the main branch of the river, which it had been easy to keep when carried down by the stream, but which he now sought in vain for thirty days among a labyrinth of channels. when he returned from this fruitless search, he was ill, and told his people that he would go back to point st. juan; and there he ordered them to seek him when they had got the bark ready. but he found his sickness increase upon him, and determined to abandon the expedition, and return to europe. while he was seeking provisions for the voyage, the indians killed seventeen of his men. what with vexation and disorder, he died in the river. this sealed the fate of the expedition. the survivors made no further exertions to reach eldorado, but returned to their own country as they could. such was the fate of orellana, who, as a discoverer, surpassed all his countrymen; and though, as a conqueror, he was unfortunate, yet neither is he chargeable with any of those atrocities toward the unhappy natives which have left such a stain on the glories of cortes and pizarro. the next attempt we read of to discover eldorado was made a few years after, under hernando de ribera, by ascending the la plata, or river of paraguay. he sailed in a brigantine with eighty men, and encountered no hostility from the natives. they confirmed the stories of the amazons with their golden city. "how could they get at them?" was the next question: "by land, or by water?"--"only by land," was the reply. "but it was a two-months' journey; and to reach them now would be impossible, because the country was inundated." the spaniards made light of this obstacle, but asked for indians to carry their baggage. the chief gave ribera twenty for himself, and five for each of his men; and these desperate adventurers set off on their march over a flooded country. eight days they travelled through water up to their knees, and sometimes up to their middle. by slinging their hammocks to trees, and by this means only, could they find dry positions for the night. before they could make a fire to dress their food, they were obliged to raise a rude scaffolding; and this was unavoidably so insecure, that frequently the fire burned through, and food and all fell into the water. they reached another tribe, and were told that the amazons' country was still nine days farther on; and then still another tribe, who told them it would take a month to reach them. perhaps they would still have advanced; but here an insuperable obstacle met them. the locusts for two successive years had devoured every thing before them, and no food was to be had. the spaniards had no alternative but to march back. on their way, they were reduced to great distress for want of food; and from this cause, and travelling so long half under water, the greater number fell sick, and many died. of eighty men who accompanied ribera upon this dreadful march, only thirty recovered from its effects. this expedition added a few items to the story of eldorado. ribera declares under oath that the natives told him of a nation of women, governed by a woman, and so warlike as to be dreaded by all their neighbors. they possessed plenty of white and yellow metal: their seats, and all the utensils in their houses, were made of them. they lived on a large island, which was in a huge lake, which they called the "mansion of the sun," because the sun sank into it. the only way of accounting for these stories is, that the spaniards furnished, in the shape of questions, the information which they fancied they received in reply; the indians assenting to what they understood but imperfectly, or not at all. martinez. another expedition, not long after orellana's, was that conducted by don diego ordaz, of which sir walter raleigh, in his "history of guiana," gives an account. the expedition failed; ordaz being slain in a mutiny of his men, and those who went with him being scattered. the only noticeable result was in the adventures of one martinez, an officer of ordaz, who had charge of the ammunition. we tell the story in the language of sir walter, slightly modernized:- "it chanced, that while ordaz, with his army, rested at the port of morequito, by some negligence the whole store of powder provided for the service was set on fire; and martinez, having the chief charge thereof, was condemned by the general to be executed forthwith. martinez, being much favored by the soldiers, had all means possible employed to save his life; but it could not be obtained in other way but this,--that he should be set into a canoe alone, without any food, and so turned loose into the great river. but it pleased god that the canoe was carried down the stream, and that certain of the guianians met it the same evening: and, not having at any time seen any european, they carried martinez into the land to be wondered at; and so from town to town until he came to the great city of manoa, the seat and residence of inga, the emperor. the emperor, when he beheld him, knew him to be a christian of those who had conquered the neighboring country of peru, and caused him to be lodged in his palace, and well entertained. he lived seven months in manoa, but was not suffered to wander into the country anywhere. he was also brought thither all the way blindfolded by the indians, until he came to the entrance of manoa itself. he avowed at his death that he entered the city at noon, and then they uncovered his face; and that he travelled all that day till night through the city, ere he came to the palace of inga. "after martinez had lived seven months in manoa, and began to understand the language of the country, inga asked him whether he desired to return to his own country, or would willingly abide with him. martinez, not desirous to stay, obtained permission of inga to depart, who sent with him some guianians to conduct him to the river of orinoco, with as much gold as they could carry, which he gave to martinez at his departure. but, when he arrived at the river's side, the natives, being at that time at war with inga, robbed him and his guianians of all his treasure, save only two bottles made of gourds, which were filled with beads of gold, which those people thought to contain his drink or food, with which he was at liberty to depart. so, in a canoe, he passed down by the river to trinidad, and from thence to porto rico, where he died. in the time of his extreme sickness, and when he was without hope of life, receiving the sacrament at the hands of his confessor, he delivered this relation of his travels, and also called for his calabazas, or gourds of gold beads, which he gave to the church and the friars, to be prayed for. "this martinez was the one who christened the city of manoa by the name 'eldorado,' and upon this occasion. at the times of their solemn feasts, when the emperor carouses with his captains, tributaries, and governors, the manner is thus: all those that pledge him are first stripped naked, and their bodies anointed all over with a kind of white balsam very precious. when they are anointed all over, certain servants of the emperor, having prepared gold made into fine powder, blow it through hollow canes upon their naked bodies until they be all shining from the head to the foot. upon this sight, and for the abundance of gold which he saw in the city, the images of gold in their temples, the plates, armors, and shields of gold which they use in the wars, he called it eldorado." such is sir walter's narrative of one of the traditions which fired his enthusiasm to undertake the conquest of eldorado. he asserts that he read it in "the chancery of saint juan de porto rico," of which berrio had a copy. it is pretty plainly tinctured with fable, but probably had an historical foundation. after this, a good many years elapsed before any other expedition of note was fitted out in search of eldorado. but the story grew, notwithstanding. an imaginary kingdom was shaped out. it was governed by a potentate who was called the great paytiti, sometimes the great moxu, sometimes the enim, or great parã¡. an impostor at lima affirmed that he had been in his capital, the city of manoa, where not fewer than three thousand workmen were employed in the silversmiths' street. he even produced a map of the country, in which he had marked a hill of gold, another of silver, and a third of salt. the columns of the palace were described as of porphyry and alabaster, the galleries of ebony and cedar: the throne was of ivory, and the ascent to it by steps of gold. the palace was built of white stone. at the entrance were two towers, and between them a column twenty-five feet in height. on its top was a large silver moon; and two living lions were fastened to its base with chains of gold. having passed by these keepers, you came into a quadrangle planted with trees, and watered by a silver fountain, which spouted through four golden pipes. the gate of the palace was of copper, and its bolt was received in the solid rock. within, a golden sun was placed upon an altar of silver; and four lamps were kept burning before it day and night. it may surprise us that tales so palpably false as these should have deceived any, to such an extent as to lead them to get up costly and hazardous expeditions to go in search of the wonder; but we must remember, that what the spaniards had already realized and demonstrated to the world in their conquests of mexico and peru was hardly less astonishing than these accounts. it is therefore no wonder that multitudes should be found willing to admit so much of the marvels of eldorado as to see in them a sufficient inducement to justify the search; and others less credulous were perhaps willing to avail themselves of the credulity of the multitude to accomplish plans of conquest and ambition for themselves. of the latter class, we may imagine the celebrated sir walter raleigh to be one, who, at this time, undertook an expedition for the discovery and conquest of eldorado. chapter iv. sir walter raleigh. walter raleigh was born in the year 1552 in devonshire, england, and received a good education, completed by a residence of two years at the university of oxford. at the age of seventeen, he joined a volunteer corps of english to serve in france in aid of the protestant cause. afterwards he served five years in the netherlands. in 1576, he accompanied his half-brother, sir humphrey gilbert, on an expedition to colonize some part of north america; which expedition was unsuccessful. we next find him commanding a company of the royal troops in ireland during the rebellion raised by the earl of desmond. in consequence of some serious differences which arose between him and his superior officer, he found it necessary to repair to court to justify himself. it was at this time that an incident occurred which recommended him to the notice of queen elizabeth, and was the foundation of his fortunes. raleigh stood in the crowd one day where the queen passed on foot; and when she came to a spot of muddy ground, and hesitated for a moment where to step, he sprang forward, and, throwing from his shoulders his handsome cloak ("his clothes being then," says a quaint old writer, "a considerable part of his estate"), he spread it over the mud, so that the queen passed over dry-shod, doubtless giving an approving look to the handsome and quick-witted young officer. there is another story which is not less probable, because it is not less in character with both the parties. finding some hopes of the queen's favor glancing on him, he wrote, on a window where it was likely to meet her eye,-"fain would i climb, but that i fear to fall." and her majesty, espying it, wrote underneath,-"if thy heart fail thee, wherefore climb at all?" his progress in the queen's favor was enhanced by his demeanor when the matter in dispute between him and his superior officer was brought before the privy council, and each party was called upon to plead his own cause. "what advantage he had in the case in controversy," says a contemporary writer, "i know not; but he had much the better in the manner of telling his tale." the result was, that he became a man of "no slight mark;" "he had gotten the queen's ear in a trice;" "she took him for a kind of oracle," and "loved to hear his reasons to her demands," or, in more modern phrase, "his replies to her questions." the reign of queen elizabeth has been called the heroic age of england. and, let us remember, the england of that day is ours as much as theirs who still bear the name of englishmen. the men whose gallant deeds we now record were our ancestors, and their glory is our inheritance. the reformation in religion had awakened all the energies of the human mind. it had roused against england formidable enemies, among which spain was the most powerful and the most intensely hostile. she fitted out the famous armada to invade england; and england, on her part, sent various expeditions to annoy the spaniards in their lately acquired possessions in south america. these expeditions were generally got up by private adventurers; the queen and her great nobles often taking a share in them. when there was nominal peace with spain, such enterprises were professedly for discovery and colonization, though the adventurers could not always keep their hands off a rich prize of spanish property that fell in their way; but, for the last fifteen years of elizabeth's reign, there was open war between the two powers: and then these expeditions had for their first object the annoyance of spain, and discovery and colonization for their second. we find raleigh, after fortune began to smile upon him, engaged in a second expedition, with sir humphrey gilbert, for discovery and colonization in america. he furnished, from his own means, a ship called "the raleigh," on board of which he embarked; but when a few days out, a contagious disease breaking out among the crew, he put back into port, and relinquished the expedition. sir humphrey, with the rest of the squadron, consisting of five vessels, reached newfoundland without accident, took possession of the island, and left a colony there. he then set out exploring along the american coast to the south, he himself doing all the work in his little ten-ton cutter; the service being too dangerous for the larger vessels to venture on. he spent the summer in this labor till toward the end of august, when, in a violent storm, one of the larger vessels, "the delight," was lost with all her crew. "the golden hind" and "squirrel" were now left alone of the five ships. their provisions were running short, and the season far advanced; and sir humphrey reluctantly concluded to lay his course for home. he still continued in the small vessel, though vehemently urged by his friends to remove to the larger one. "i will not forsake my little company, going homeward," said he, "with whom i have passed so many storms and perils." on the 9th of september, the weather was rough, and the cutter was with difficulty kept afloat, struggling with the violence of the waves. when the vessels came within hearing distance, sir humphrey cried out to his companions in "the hind," "be of good courage: we are as near to heaven by sea as by land." "that night, at about twelve o'clock," writes the historian of the voyage, who was himself one of the adventurers, "the cutter being ahead of us in 'the golden hind,' suddenly her lights were out, and the watch cried, 'the general is cast away!' which was too true." so perished a christian hero. it was a fine end for a mortal man. let us not call it sad or tragic, but heroic and sublime. raleigh, not discouraged by the ill success of this expedition, shortly after obtained letters-patent for another enterprise of the same kind, on the same terms as had been granted to sir humphrey. two barks were sent to explore some undiscovered part of america north of florida, and look out for a favorable situation for the proposed colony. this expedition landed on roanoke island, near the mouth of albemarle sound. having taken formal possession of the country for the queen of england and her servant sir walter raleigh, they returned, and gave so favorable an account of the country, that her majesty allowed it to be called virginia, after herself, a virgin queen. the next year, raleigh sent out a second expedition, and left a colony of a hundred men, which was the first colony planted by englishmen on the continent of america. soon after, raleigh sent a third expedition with a hundred and fifty colonists; but having now expended forty thousand pounds upon these attempts, and being unable to persist further, or weary of waiting so long for profitable returns, he assigned over his patent to a company of merchants, and withdrew from further prosecution of the enterprise. the years which followed were the busiest of raleigh's adventurous life. he bore a distinguished part in the defeat of the spanish armada; and, in the triumphant procession to return thanks at st. paul's for that great deliverance, he was conspicuous as commander of the queen's guard. he was a member of parliament, yet engaged personally in two naval expeditions against the spaniards, from which he reaped honor, but no profit; and was at the height of favor with the queen. but, during his absence at sea, the queen discovered that an intrigue existed between raleigh and one of the maids of honor, which was an offence particularly displeasing to elizabeth, who loved to fancy that all her handsome young courtiers were too much attached to herself to be capable of loving any other object. raleigh, on his return, was committed a prisoner to the tower, and, on being released after a short confinement, retired to his estate in dorsetshire. it was during this retirement that he formed his scheme for the discovery and conquest of eldorado. it had long been a subject of meditation to raleigh, who declares in the dedication of his "history of guiana," published after his return, that "many years since, he had knowledge, by relation, of that mighty, rich, and beautiful empire of guiana, and of that great and golden city which the spaniards call eldorado, and the naturals manoa."--"it is not possible," says one of the historians of these events, "that raleigh could have believed the existence of such a kingdom. credulity was not the vice of his nature; but, having formed the project of colonizing guiana, he employed these fables as baits for vulgar cupidity." other writers judge him more favorably. it is probably true that he believed in the existence of such a country as eldorado; but we can hardly suppose that he put faith in all the marvellous details which accompanied the main fact in popular narration. chapter v. raleigh's first expedition. as the attempts of pizarro and orellana were made by the route of the river of the amazons, and that of ribera by the river of paraguay, raleigh's approach was by the orinoco, a river second in size only to the amazons, and which flows in a course somewhat parallel to that, and some five or ten degrees farther to the north. the region of country where this river discharges itself into the atlantic was nominally in possession of the spaniards, though they had but one settlement in what was called the province of guiana,--the town of st. joseph, then recently founded; and another on the island of trinidad, which lies nearly opposite the mouth of the river. raleigh, arriving at trinidad, stopped some days to procure such intelligence as the spaniards resident there could afford him respecting guiana. he then proceeded to the main land, destroyed the town which the spaniards had lately built there, and took the governor, berrio, on board his own ship. he used his prisoner well, and "gathered from him," he says, "as much of guiana as he knew." berrio seems to have conversed willingly upon his own adventures in exploring the country, having no suspicion of raleigh's views. he discouraged raleigh's attempts to penetrate into the country, telling him that he would find the river unnavigable for his ships, and the nations hostile. these representations had little weight with raleigh, as he attributed them to a very natural wish on berrio's part to keep off foreigners from his province; but, on trying to find the entrance to the river, he discovered berrio's account to be true, so far as related to the difficulties of the navigation. after a thorough search for a practicable entrance, he gave up all hopes of passing in any large vessel, and resolved to go with the boats. he took in his largest boat, with himself, sixty men, including his cousin, his nephew, and principal officers. another boat carried twenty, and two others ten each. "we had no other means," he says in his account afterward published, "but to carry victual for a month in the same, and also to lodge therein as we could, and to boil and dress our meat." the orinoco, at nearly forty leagues from the sea, forms, like the nile, a kind of fan, strewed over with a multitude of little islands, that divide it into numerous branches and channels, and force it to discharge itself through this labyrinth into the sea by an infinity of mouths, occupying an extent of more than sixty leagues. "the indians who inhabit those islands," says raleigh, "in the summer, have houses upon the ground, as in other places; in the winter they dwell upon the trees, where they build very artificial towns and villages: for, between may and september, the river rises to thirty feet upright, and then are those islands overflowed twenty feet high above the level of the ground; and for this cause they are enforced to live in this manner. they use the tops of palmitos for bread; and kill deer, fish, and porks for the rest of their sustenance." raleigh's account is confirmed by later travellers. humboldt says, "the navigator, in proceeding along the channels of the delta of the orinoco at night, sees with surprise the summits of the palm-trees illuminated by large fires. these are the habitations of the guaraons, which are suspended from the trees. these tribes hang up mats in the air, which they fill with earth, and kindle, on a layer of moist clay, the fire necessary for their household wants." passing up with the flood, and anchoring during the ebb, raleigh and his companions went on, till on the third day their galley grounded, and stuck so fast, that they feared their discovery must end there, and they be left to inhabit, like rooks upon trees, with these nations; but on the morrow, after casting out all her ballast, with tugging and hauling to and fro, they got her afloat. after four days more, they got beyond the influence of the tide, and were forced to row against a violent current, till they began to despair; the weather being excessively hot, and the river bordered with high trees, that kept away the air. their provisions began to fail them; but some relief they found by shooting birds of all colors,--carnation, crimson, orange, purple, and of all other sorts, both simple and mixed. an old indian whom they had pressed into their service was a faithful guide to them, and brought them to an indian village, where they got a supply of bread, fish, and fowl. they were thus encouraged to persevere, and next day captured two canoes laden with bread, "and divers baskets of roots, which were excellent meat." probably these roots were no other than potatoes; for the mountains of quito, to which sir walter was now approaching, were the native country of the potato, and the region from whence it was first introduced into europe. the spaniards and portuguese introduced it earlier than the english; but to raleigh belongs the credit of making it known to his countrymen. the story is, that sir walter, on his return home, had some of the roots planted in his garden at youghal, in ireland, and that his gardener was sadly disappointed in autumn on tasting the apples of the "fine american fruit," and proceeded to root up the "useless weeds," when he discovered the tubers. raleigh treated the natives with humanity, and, in turn, received friendly treatment from them. the chiefs told him fine stories about the gold-mines; but, unfortunately, the gold was not to be had without labor, and the adventurers were in no condition to undertake mining operations. what they wanted was to find a region like mexico or peru, only richer, where gold might be found, not in the rocks or the bowels of the earth, but in possession of the natives, in the form of barbaric ornaments that they would freely barter for european articles, or images of their gods, such as christians might seize and carry away with an approving conscience. thus far, their search for such a region had been unsuccessful, and their only hope was of reaching it by farther explorations. but the river was rising daily, and the current flowed with such rapidity, that they saw clearly, if it went on to increase as it had done for some time past, it must soon debar all farther progress. raleigh found by talking with the chiefs that they were all hostile to the spaniards, and willing enough to promise him their aid in driving them out of the country. he accordingly told them that he was sent by a great and virtuous queen to deliver them from the tyranny of the spaniards. he also learned that the indians with whom he was conversing were an oppressed race, having been conquered by a nation who dwelt beyond the mountains,--a nation who wore large coats, and hats of crimson color, and whose houses had many rooms, one over the other. they were called the eperumei; and against them all the other tribes would gladly combine, for they were the general oppressors. moreover, the country of these eperumei abounded in gold and all other good things. he continued to make daily efforts to ascend the river, and to explore the tributary streams, but found his progress debarred in some quarters by the rapid current of the swollen streams, and in others by falls in the rivers. the falls of one of the tributaries of the orinoco, the caroli, he describes as "a wonderful breach of waters, running in three parts; and there appeared some ten or twelve over-falls in sight, every one as high over the other as a church-tower." he was informed that the lake from which the river issued was above a day's journey for one of their canoes to cross, which he computed at about forty miles; that many rivers fall into it, and great store of grains of gold was found in those rivers. on one of these rivers, he was told, a nation of people dwell "whose heads appear not above their shoulders;" which, he says, "though it may be thought a mere fable, yet, for my own part, i am resolved it is true, because every child in those provinces affirm the same. they are reported to have their eyes in their shoulders, and their mouths in the middle of their breasts, and that a long train of hair growth backward between their shoulders." raleigh adds, "it was not my chance to hear of them till i was come away. if i had but spoken one word of it while i was there, i might have brought one of them with me to put the matter out of doubt." it might have been more satisfactory for the philosophers if he had done so; but his word was quite enough for the poets. one of that class, and the greatest of all, william shakspeare, was, at that very time, writing plays for the gratification of raleigh's gracious mistress and her subjects, and eagerly availed himself of this new-discovered tribe to introduce one of them in his play of "the tempest," under the name of caliban. he also makes othello tell the gentle desdemona "of most disastrous chances, and of the cannibals that each other eat; the anthropophagi, and men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders." nor are these the only instances in which we think we trace the influence of the romantic adventurer on the susceptible poet. the name of the divinity whom caliban calls "my dam's god setebos" occurs in raleigh's narrative as the name of an indian tribe; and trinculo's plan of taking caliban to england to make a show of him seems borrowed from this hint of raleigh's. in his days of prosperity, raleigh instituted a meeting of intellectual men at "the mermaid," a celebrated tavern. to this club, shakspeare, beaumont, fletcher, jonson, selden, donne, and other distinguished literary men, were accustomed to repair; and here doubtless the adventures and discoveries of sir walter, set forth with that talent of which his writings furnish abundant proof, often engaged the listening group. raleigh was then forty-eight, and shakspeare thirty-six, years old. but, in justice to raleigh, it should be added, that he did not invent these stories, and that later travellers and missionaries testify that such tales were current among the indians, though as yet no specimen of the tribe has been seen by trustworthy narrators. raleigh now found that he must bring his westward progress to a conclusion: "for no half-day passed but the river began to rage and overflow very fearfully; and the rains came down in terrible showers, and gusts in great abundance, and men began to cry out for want of shift; for no man had place to bestow any other apparel than that which he wore on his back, and that was thoroughly washed on his body for the most part ten times a day; and we had now been near a month, every day passing to the westward, farther from our ships." they turned back, therefore, and, passing down the stream, went, without labor and against the wind, little less than one hundred miles a day. they stopped occasionally, both for provisions, and for conference with the natives. in particular, one old chief, with whom he had conferred formerly on his ascent, gave him the confidential communication, that the attempt to attack the city of manoa, at that time, was desperate; for neither the time of the year was favorable, nor had he nearly a sufficient force. he advised, that, forbearing any further attempts at that time, raleigh should rest satisfied with the information he had gained, and return to his own country for a larger force, with which to come again the next year, and unite all the tribes which were hostile to the eperumei, or people of manoa, and by their aid make an easy conquest of them. the old chief added, that, for his part and his people's, they wanted no share of the spoils of gold or precious stones: they only wanted to be avenged on their enemies, and to rescue from them their women whom the eperumei had carried away in their frequent incursions; "so that, whereas they were wont to have ten or twelve wives apiece, they were now enforced to content themselves with three or four." raleigh met with no material misadventure in his way down the river; and, though a storm attacked them the same night, they anchored in the mouth of the river; so that, in spite of every shelter they could derive from the shores, the galley "had as much to do to live as could be, and there wanted little of her sinking, and all those in her:" yet next day they arrived safe at the island of trinidad, and found the ships at anchor, "than which," says raleigh, "there was never to us a more joyful sight." raleigh was not favorably received by the queen on his return, nor was he welcomed with any popular applause; for he had brought home no booty, and his account of the riches of the land into which he had led the way was received with suspicion. he published it under this boastful title: "the discovery of the large, rich, and beautiful empire of guiana; with a relation of the great and golden city of manoa, which the spaniards call eldorado. performed by sir walter raleigh." in spite of all the great promises which he held out, the acknowledgment that he had made a losing voyage tended to abate that spirit of cupidity and enterprise which he wished to excite. sir walter's history of his expedition contains, besides the marvels already cited, numerous others, some of which have a basis of fact, others not. of the former kind is his account of oysters growing on trees. he says, "we arrived at trinidado the 22d of march, casting anchor at port curiapan. i left the ships, and kept by the shore in my barge, the better to understand the rivers, watering-places, and ports of the island. in the way, i passed divers little brooks of fresh water, and one salt river, that had store of oysters upon the branches of the trees. all their oysters grow upon those boughs and sprays, and not on the ground. the like is commonly seen in the west indies and elsewhere." upon this narrative, sir robert schomburgh, a late explorer, has the following remark: "the first accounts brought to europe, of oysters growing on trees, raised as great astonishment as the relation of eldorado itself; and to those who were unacquainted with the fact that these mollusks select the branches of the tree, on which they fix themselves during high water, when the branches are immersed, it may certainly sound strange, that shells, which we know live in europe on banks in the depths of the sea, should be found in the west indies on the branches of trees. they attach themselves chiefly to the mangrove-tree, which grows along the shore of the sea, and rivers of brackish water, and covers immense tracts of coast; rooting and vegetating in a manner peculiar to itself, even as far as low-water mark. the water flowing off during ebb leaves the branches, with the oysters attached to them, high and dry." respecting the republic of amazons, sir walter says, "i made inquiry among the most ancient and best travelled of the orenoqueponi; and i was very desirous to understand the truth of those warlike women, because of some it is believed, of others not. i will set down what hath been delivered me for truth of those women; and i spake with a cacique, or lord of people, who said that he had been in the river, and beyond it also. the nations of those women are on the south side of the river, in the province of topago; and their chiefest strengths and retreats are in the islands of said river. they accompany with men but once in a year, and for the time of one month, which, i gather from their relation, to be in april. at that time, all the kings of the borders assemble, and the queens of the amazons; and, after the queens have chosen, the rest cast lots for their valentines. this one month they feast, dance, and drink of their wines in abundance; and, the moon being done, they all depart to their own provinces. if a son be born, they return him to the father; if a daughter, they nourish it and retain it, all being desirous to increase their own sex and kind. they carry on wars, and are very blood-thirsty and cruel." sir robert schomburgh, who explored these regions extensively between the years 1835 and 1844, says, in reference to this subject, "the result of this fatiguing and perilous journey has only strengthened our conviction that this republic of women was one of those inventions, designed merely to enhance the wonders, of which the new world was regarded as the seat." it would, however, be unjust to condemn raleigh's proneness to a belief in their existence, when we find that condamine believed in them; that humboldt hesitated to decide against them; and that even southey, the learned historian of brazil, makes this remark, "had we never heard of the amazons of antiquity, i should, without hesitation, believe in those of america. their existence is not the less likely for that reason; and yet it must be admitted, that the probable truth is made to appear suspicious by its resemblance to a known fable." chapter vi. raleigh's adventures continued. when raleigh, on his first arrival, broke up the spanish settlement in trinidad, he took berrio, the governor, prisoner, and carried him with him in his voyage up the river. berrio seems to have borne his fate with good temper, and conciliated the good will of raleigh; so that, when the expedition returned to the mouth of the river, he was set at liberty, and collected his little colony again. berrio probably shared the same belief as raleigh in the existence of the kingdom of eldorado within the limits of his province, and was naturally desirous to avail himself of the respite which he gained by the termination of raleigh's expedition, until it should return in greater force to penetrate to eldorado, and take possession for himself and his countrymen. with these views, he sent an officer of his, domingo de vera, to spain, to levy men; sending, according to raleigh's account, "divers images, as well of men as of beasts, birds, and fishes, cunningly wrought in gold," in hopes to persuade the king to yield him some further help. this agent was more successful than raleigh in obtaining belief. he is described as a man of great ability, and little scrupulous as to truth. having been favorably received by the government, he attracted notice by appearing in a singular dress, which, as he was of great stature, and rode always a great horse, drew all eyes, and made him generally known as the indian chief of eldorado and the rich lands. some trinkets in gold he displayed, of indian workmanship, and some emeralds, which he had brought from america, and promised stores of both; and, by the aid of influential persons, he obtained seventy thousand dollars at madrid, and five thousand afterwards at seville, authority to raise any number of adventurers (though berrio had asked only for three hundred men), and five good ships to carry them out. adventurers flocked to him in toledo, la mancha, and estremadura. the expedition was beyond example popular. twenty captains of infantry, who had served in italy and flanders, joined it. not only those who had their fortunes to seek were deluded: men of good birth and expectations left all to engage in the conquest of eldorado; and fathers of families gave up their employments, and sold their goods, and embarked with their wives and children. solicitations and bribes were made use of by eager volunteers. the whole expedition consisted of more than two thousand persons. they reached trinidad after a prosperous voyage, and took possession of the town. the little mischief which raleigh had done had been easily repaired; for indeed there was little that he could do. the place did not contain thirty families, and the strangers were to find shelter as they could. rations of biscuit and salt meat, pulse, or rice, were served out to them; but, to diminish the consumption as much as possible, detachments were sent off in canoes to the main land, where berrio had founded the town of st. thomas. some flotillas effected their progress safely; but one, which consisted of six canoes, met with bad weather, and only three succeeded in entering the river, after throwing their cargoes overboard. the others made the nearest shore, where they were descried by the caribs, a fierce tribe of natives, who slew them all, except a few women whom they carried away, and one soldier, who escaped to relate the fate of his companions. the city of st. thomas contained at that time four hundred men, besides women and children. berrio, to prepare the way for the discovery and conquest of eldorado, sent out small parties of the new-comers under experienced persons, that they might be seasoned to the difficulties which they would have to undergo, and learn how to conduct themselves in their intercourse with the indians. they were to spread the news that the king had sent out many spaniards, and a large supply of axes, caps, hawk-bells, looking-glasses, combs, and such other articles of traffic as were in most request. they saw no appearance of those riches which raleigh had heard of, nor of that plenty which he had found. the people with whom they met had but a scanty subsistence for themselves, and so little of gold or silver or any thing else to barter for the hatchets and trinkets of the spaniards, that they were glad of the chance to labor as boatmen, or give their children, in exchange for them. berrio was not discouraged by the result of these journeys. like raleigh, he was persuaded that the great and golden city stood on the banks of a great lake, from which the river caroli issued, about twelve leagues east of the mouth whereof his town was placed. a force of eight hundred men was now ordered on the discovery. the command was given to correa, an officer accustomed to indian warfare. three franciscan monks, and a lay brother of the same order, accompanied the expedition. having reached a spot where the country was somewhat elevated, and the temperature cooler than in the region they had passed, they hutted themselves on a sort of prairie, and halted there in the hope that rest might restore those who began to feel the effect of an unwholesome climate. the natives not only abstained from any acts of hostility, but supplied them with fruits, and a sort of cassava (tapioca). this they did in sure knowledge that disease would soon subdue these new-come spaniards to their hands. it was not long before a malignant fever broke out among the adventurers, which carried off a third part of their number. one comfort only was left them: the friars continued every day to perform mass in a place where all the sufferers could hear it; and no person died without performing and receiving all the offices which the romish church has enjoined. correa himself sank under the disease. he might possibly have escaped it, acclimated as he was, if he had not overtasked himself when food was to be sought from a distance, and carried heavy loads to spare those who were less equal to the labor: for now the crafty indians no longer brought supplies, but left the weakened spaniards to provide for themselves as they could; and when correa was dead, of whom, as a man accustomed to indian war, they stood in fear, they collected their forces, and fell upon the spaniards, who apprehended no danger, and were most of them incapable of making any defence. the plan appears to have been concerted with a young indian chief who accompanied the spaniards under pretence of friendship; and the women whom the indians brought with them to carry home the spoils of their enemies bore their part with stones and stakes in the easy slaughter. the spaniards who escaped the first attack fled with all speed, some without weapons, and some without strength to use them. the friars were the last to fly. with the soldiers to protect them, they brought off their portable altar, two crosses, and a crucifix. no attempt at resistance was made, except when a fugitive fell by the way. the word then passed for one of the fathers: some soldiers stood with their muskets to protect him while he hastily confessed and absolved the poor wretch, whom his countrymen then commended to god, and left to the mercy of the indians. in some places, the enemy set fire to the grass and shrubbery, which in that climate grow with extreme luxuriance; by which means many of this miserable expedition perished. not quite thirty out of the whole number got safe back to the town of st. thomas. that place was in a deplorable state, suffering at once from a contagious disease and from a scarcity of provisions. to add to the distress, about a hundred persons more had just arrived from trinidad. they came of necessity; for there were no longer supplies of food at trinidad to sustain them. but they came with high-raised hopes, only repining at their ill luck in not having been in the first expedition, by which they supposed the first spoils of eldorado had already been shared. they arrived like skeletons at a city of death. not only were provisions scarce, but the supply of salt had altogether failed; and, without it, health in that climate cannot be preserved. to add to their misery, the shoes had all been consumed, and the country was infested by that insect (the chigua) which burrows in the feet, and attacks the flesh wherever the slightest wound gives it access. the torment occasioned by these insects was such, that the men willingly submitted to the only remedy they knew of, and had the sores cauterized with hot iron. among those who had come from spain to enter upon this land of promise, there was a "beata," or pious woman, who had been attached to a convent in madrid, and accompanied a married daughter and her husband on this unhappy adventure, and devoted herself to the service of the sick. some of the women, and she among them, looking upon the governor, berrio, as the cause of their miseries, and thinking, that, as long as he lived, there was no hope of their escaping from this fatal place, resolved to murder him, and provided themselves with knives for the purpose. the indignation against him was so general, that they hesitated not to impart their design to one of the friars; and, luckily for berrio, he interposed his influence to prevent it. one of the women who had sold her possessions in spain to join the expedition made her way to the governor when the officers and friars were with him, and, emptying upon the ground before him a bag which contained one hundred and fifty doubloons, said, "tyrant, take what is left, since you have brought us here to die." berrio replied, with less of anger than of distress in his countenance, "i gave no orders to domingo de vera that he should bring more than three hundred men." he offered no opposition to the departure of such as would. many who had strength or resolution enough trusted themselves to the river in such canoes as they could find, without boatmen or pilot, and endeavored to make their way back to trinidad; some perishing by the hands of the natives, others by drowning, others by hunger, on the marshy shores which they reached. vera soon died of a painful disease in trinidad; and berrio did not long survive him. such was the issue of this great attempt for the conquest of the golden empire; "of which," says an old spanish historian, "it may be said, that it was like nebuchadnezzar's image, beginning in gold, but continuing through baser metal, till it ended in rude iron and base clay." chapter vii. raleigh's second expedition. raleigh's first voyage disappointed every one but himself. he pretended to have obtained satisfactory evidence of the existence of eldorado, and information of the place where it was; also proof of the existence of mines of gold; and to have conciliated the good will of the natives, and secured their co-operation with him in any future attempt. but he had brought home no gold; the shining stones which his followers had abundantly supplied themselves with were found to be worthless: and there was no evidence of the existence of a native sovereignty as far advanced in civilization and refinement as the mexicans and peruvians, the conquest of which would reflect as much glory upon the english name as the achievements of cortez and pizarro had reflected upon that of spain. raleigh's boastful representations, therefore, failed of effect. none of his countrymen were inclined to join with him in a further prosecution of the enterprise; and the subject was dropped for the time. raleigh was soon restored to favor, and employed in the naval expeditions against spain which took place at this time. he greatly distinguished himself on several occasions, and was in high favor with queen elizabeth till her death; but, with the accession of james, his fortunes fell. he was accused (whether justly or not is still doubtful) of being concerned in treasonable plots against the king, and was brought to trial, found guilty, condemned to death, and committed prisoner to the tower to await the execution of his sentence. raleigh, withdrawn from active labors by his imprisonment, was not idle. he turned to intellectual pursuits, and, with many minor pieces in prose and verse, executed his greatest work, "the history of the world,"--a project of such vast extent, that the bare idea of his undertaking it excites our admiration. as an author, he stands on an eminence as high as that which he obtained in other paths. hume says, "he is the best model of our ancient style;" and hallam confirms the judgment. his imprisonment lasted thirteen years. at the expiration of that time, he had influence to have his sentence so far remitted as to allow him to go on a second expedition in search of eldorado. twenty years had elapsed since the former expedition; and the present was of a magnitude more like a national enterprise than a private one. sir walter's own ship, "the destiny," carried thirty-six guns and two hundred men. there were six other vessels, carrying from twenty-five guns to three each. raleigh embarked all his means in this expedition. his eldest son commanded one of the ships; and eighty of his companions were gentlemen volunteers and adventurers, many of them his relations. those who have thoughtfully considered raleigh's career have seen reason to doubt whether he really believed the stories which he was so anxious to impress upon others. they have thought it more likely that his real object was to emulate the fame of cortez and pizarro; to dispossess spain of some portion of her conquests in south america, and transfer them to his own country. this latter object was admissible at the time of his first expedition, because spain and england were then at war; but was not so on the second, as the two nations were then at peace. but raleigh had reason to think, that, if he could succeed in his object, there was no danger of his being called to very strict account respecting his measures. he arrived off the coast of guiana on the 12th of november, 1617; having had a long and disastrous voyage. one ship had left him, and returned home; another had foundered; forty-two of his men had died; many were suffering from sickness, and himself among the number. but he found the indians friendly, and not forgetful of his former visit. he writes to his wife, "to tell you that i might be here king of the country were a vanity; but my name hath still lived among them here. they feed me with fresh meat, and all that the country yields. all offer to obey me." being too feeble from sickness to go himself, he sent forward an expedition, under capt. keymis, to enter the orinoco, and take possession of the mines. five companies of fifty men each, in five shallops, composed the expedition; raleigh, with the remainder of his vessels, repairing to trinidad to await the result. since raleigh's former expedition, the spaniards had made a settlement upon the main land, and founded a town to which they gave the name of st. thomas. the governor resided there, and there were in all about five hundred inhabitants. on the 12th of january, the english flotilla reached a part of the river twelve leagues from st. thomas; and an indian fisherman carried the alarm to that place. the governor, palameque, mustered immediately the little force which he had at hand. this consisted of fifty-seven men only. messengers were sent to summon those men who were at their farms, and two horsemen were sent out to watch the invaders' movements. at eleven in the forenoon, the vessels anchored about a league from the town. the men landed, and the scouts hastened back with the intelligence. a spanish officer, with ten men, was placed in ambush near the city. as soon as he was informed of the direction which the english were taking, he cut a match-cord in pieces, which he lighted at dark, and placed at intervals, where they might deceive the invaders by presenting the appearance of a greater force. the first discharge was from two pieces of cannon against the boats. the spaniard, with his little band, then opened his fire upon the troops, and kept it up from the bushes as he retired before them. this skirmishing continued about an hour and a half, till he had fallen back to the place where the governor and his people were drawn up, at the entrance of the city, to make a stand. it was now nine at night. raleigh says, in his account of the action, that some of the english, at the first charge, began to pause and recoil shamefully; whereupon his son, not tarrying for any musketeers, ran up at the head of a company of pikemen, and received a shot wound. pressing then upon a spanish captain with his sword, the spaniard, taking the small end of his musket in his hand, struck him on the head with the stock, and felled him. his last words were, "lord, have mercy upon me, and prosper the enterprise!" and his death was instantly avenged by his sergeant, who thrust the spaniard through with his halberd. in the heat of the fight, and in the confusion which the darkness occasioned, the spanish commander was separated from his people, and slain. the spaniards, however, had the advantage of knowing the ground; and, betaking themselves to the houses, they fired from them on the english, and killed many, till the assailants set fire to the houses; thus depriving themselves of that booty which was their main object. the english were now masters of the place; the remainder of the defendants, with the women and children, under the command of grados, the officer who had deported himself so well in the first ambush, effecting their escape across the river. grados stationed them at a place about ten miles distant from the town, where a few slight huts were erected for the women and children. the captors searched in vain for gold in the city; but they had an idea that there was a rich gold-mine a short distance up the river. accordingly, two launches, with twenty or thirty men in each, were despatched up the orinoco. they came to the mouth of the creek, which led to the place where grados had hutted the women and children; and the largest of the launches was about to enter, when grados, who had posted nine of the invalids in ambush there, with about as many indian bowmen, fired upon them so unexpectedly, and with such good aim, that only one of the crew is said to have escaped unhurt. the other launch also suffered some loss. three days after, three launches were sent to take vengeance for this defeat; but grados had removed his charge some two leagues into the country, and these vessels went up the river about a hundred leagues, treating with the indians, to whom they made presents and larger promises, and after eighteen or twenty days returned, having effected nothing of importance. the english had now been four weeks in the city, annoyed by the spaniards and indians, and losing many of their men, cut off in their foraging excursions by ambushes. after the unsuccessful attempt to discover the mine, no further effort was made for that purpose; keymis alleging in his excuse, that "the spaniards, being gone off in a whole body, lay in the woods between the mine and us, and it was impossible, except they had been beaten out of the country, to pass up the woods and craggy hills without the loss of the commanders, without whom the rest would easily be cut to pieces." the english, accordingly, retreated from the city, setting fire to the few houses that remained, and promising the indians, as they went, that they would return next year, and complete the destruction of the spaniards. raleigh was by no means satisfied with keymis's excuses for his failure to discover the mine, and reproached him with so much severity, that keymis, after the interview, retired to his cabin, and shot himself through the heart. when raleigh arrived in england, he found that the tidings of his attack on the spaniards, and the utter failure of his expedition, had reached there before him. the spanish ambassador was clamorous for punishment on what he called a piratical proceeding; and the king and the nation, who might have pardoned a successful adventurer, had no indulgence to extend to one so much the reverse. finding a proclamation had been issued for his arrest, raleigh endeavored to escape to france, but was taken in the attempt, and committed close prisoner to the tower. he was made a victim to court intrigue. the weak king, james, was then negotiating a spanish match for his son, and, to gratify the king of spain and his court, sacrificed one of the noblest of his subjects. without being put on trial for his late transactions, raleigh's old sentence, which had been suspended sixteen years, was revived against him; and on the 29th of october, 1618, four months after his arrival, he was beheaded on the scaffold. the fate of raleigh caused a great sensation at the time, and has not yet ceased to excite emotion. the poet thomson, in his "summer," finely alludes to the various circumstances of his history, which we have briefly recorded:- "but who can speak the numerous worthies of the 'maiden reign'? in raleigh mark their every glory mixed,-raleigh, the scourge of spain, whose breast with all the sage, the patriot, and the hero, burned. nor sunk his vigor when a coward reign the warrior fettered, and at last resigned to glut the vengeance of a vanquished foe: then, active still and unrestrained, his mind explored the vast extent of ages past, and with his prison-hours enriched the world; yet found no times in all the long research so glorious or so base as those he proved in which he conquered and in which he bled." chapter viii. the french philosophers. after so many abortive attempts to reach the golden empire, the ardor of research greatly abated. no expeditions, composed of considerable numbers, have since embarked in the enterprise; but from time to time, for the century succeeding raleigh's last attempt, private expeditions were undertaken and encouraged by provincial governors; and several hundred persons perished miserably in those fruitless endeavors. the adventure we are now about to record was of an entirely different character in respect to its objects and the means employed; but it occupied the same field of action, and called into exercise the same qualities of courage and endurance. in 1735, the french academy of science made arrangements for sending out two commissions of learned men to different and distant parts of the world to make measurements, with a view to determining the dimensions and figure of the earth. the great astronomer, sir isaac newton, had deduced from theory, and ventured to maintain, that the earth was not a perfect globe, but a spheroid; that is, a globe flattened at the poles. for a long time after newton's splendid discoveries in astronomy, a degree of national jealousy prevented the french philosophers from accepting his conclusions; and they were not displeased to find, when they could, facts opposed to them. now, there were some supposed facts which were incompatible with this idea of newton's, that the earth was flattened at the poles. the point was capable of being demonstrated by measurements, with instruments, on the surface; for, if his theory was true, a degree of latitude would be longer in the northern parts of the globe than in the regions about the equator. we must not allow our story to become a scientific essay; and yet we should like to give our readers, if we could, some idea of the principle on which this process, which is called the measurement of an arc of the meridian, was expected to show the magnitude and form of the earth. we all know that geographical latitude means the position of places north or south of the equator, and is determined by reference to the north or pole star. a person south of the equator would not see the pole-star at all. one at the equator, looking at the pole-star, would see it, if no intervening object prevented, in the horizon. advancing northward, he would see it apparently rise, and advance toward him. as he proceeded, it would continue to rise. when he had traversed half the distance to the pole, he would see the pole-star about as we see it in boston; that is, nearly midway between the horizon and the zenith: and, when he had reached the pole, he would see the pole-star directly over his head. dividing the quarter circle which the star has moved through into ninety parts, we say, when the star has ascended one-ninetieth part, that the observer has travelled over one degree of latitude. when the observer has reached boston, he has passed over somewhat more than forty-two degrees, and, when he has reached the north-pole, ninety degrees, of latitude. thus we measure our latitude over the earth's surface by reference to a circle in the heavens; and, because the portions into which we divide that circle are equal, we infer that the portions of the earth's surface which correspond to them are equal. this would be true if the earth were a perfect globe: but if the earth be a spheroid, as newton's theory requires it to be, it would _not_ be true; for that portion of the earth's surface which is flattened will have less curvature than that which is not so, and less still than that portion which is protuberant. the degrees of least curvature will be longest, and those of greatest curvature shortest; that is, one would have to travel farther on the flattened part of the earth to see any difference in the position of the north-star than in those parts where the curvature is greater. so a degree of latitude near the pole, if determined by the position of the north-star, would be found, by actual measurement, to be longer than one similarly determined at the equator. it was to ascertain whether the fact was so that the two scientific expeditions were sent out. the party which was sent to the northern regions travelled over snow and ice, swamps and morasses, to the arctic circle, and fixed their station at tornea, in lapland. the frozen surface of the river afforded them a convenient level for fixing what is called by surveyors the base line. the cold was so intense, that the glass froze to the mouth when they drank, and the metallic measuring rod to the hand. in spite, however, of perils and discomforts, they persevered in their task, and brought back careful measurements of a degree in latitude 66â° north, to be compared with those made by the other party at the equator, whose movements we propose more particularly to follow. before we take leave of the northern commissioners, however, we will mention another method they took of demonstrating the same fact. if the earth be depressed at the poles, it must follow that bodies will weigh heavier there, because they are nearer the centre of the earth. but how could they test this fact, when all weights would be increased alike,--the pound of feathers and the pound of lead? the question was settled by observing the oscillation of a pendulum. the observers near the pole found that the pendulum vibrated faster than usual, because, being nearer the centre of the earth, the attracting power was increased. to balance this, they had to lengthen the pendulum; and the extent to which they had to do this measured the difference between the earth's diameter at the poles, and that in the latitude from which they came. the commissioners who were sent to the equatorial regions were messrs. bouguer, la condamine, and godin, the last of whom was accompanied by his wife. two spanish officers, messrs. juan and de ulloa, joined the commission. the party arrived at quito in june, 1736, about two hundred years after gonzalo pizarro started from the same place in his search for eldorado. in the interval, the country had become nominally christian. the city was the seat of a bishopric, an audience royal, and other courts of justice; contained many churches and convents, and two colleges. but the population was almost entirely composed of indians, who lived in a manner but very little different from that of their ancestors at the time of the conquest. cuenã§a was the place next in importance to the capital; and there, or in its neighborhood, the chief labors of the commission were transacted. they were conducted under difficulties as great as those of their colleagues in the frozen regions of the north, but of a different sort. the inhabitants of the country were jealous of the french commissioners, and supposed them to be either heretics or sorcerers, and to have come in search of gold-mines. even persons connected with the administration employed themselves in stirring up the minds of the people, till at last, in a riotous assemblage at a bullfight, the surgeon of the french commissioners was killed. after tedious and troublesome legal proceedings, the perpetrators were let off with a nominal punishment. notwithstanding every difficulty, the commissioners completed their work in a satisfactory manner, spending in all eight years in the task, including the voyages out and home. the commissioners who had made the northern measurements reported the length of the degree at 66â° north latitude to be 57.422 toises; messrs. bouguer and la condamine, the equatorial degree, 56.753 toises; showing a difference of 669 toises, or 4,389-â¾ feet. the difference, as corrected by later measurements, is stated by recent authorities at 3,662 english feet; by which amount the polar degree exceeds the equatorial. thus newton's theory was confirmed. his scientific labors having been finished, la condamine conceived the idea of returning home by way of the amazon river; though difficulties attended the project, which we who live in a land of mighty rivers, traversed by steamboats, can hardly imagine. the only means of navigating the upper waters of the river was by rafts or canoes; the latter capable of containing but one or two persons, besides a crew of seven or eight boatmen. the only persons who were in the habit of passing up and down the river were the jesuit missionaries, who made their periodical visits to their stations along its banks. a young spanish gentleman, don pedro maldonado, who at first eagerly caught at the idea of accompanying the french philosopher on his homeward route by way of the river, was almost discouraged by the dissuasives urged by his family and friends, and seemed inclined to withdraw from the enterprise; so dangerous was the untried route esteemed. it was, however, at length resolved that they should hazard the adventure; and a place of rendezvous was appointed at a village on the river. on the 4th of july, 1743, la condamine commenced his descent of one of the streams which flow into the great river of the amazons. the stream was too precipitous in its descent to be navigated by boats of any kind, and the only method used was by rafts. these are made of a light kind of wood, or rather cane, similar to the bamboo, the single pieces of which are fastened together by rushes, in such a manner, that they yield to every shock of moderate violence, and consequently are not subject to be separated even by the strongest. on such a conveyance, the french philosopher glided down the stream of the chuchunga, occasionally stopping on its banks for a day or two at a time to allow the waters to abate, and admit of passing a dangerous rapid more safely; and sometimes getting fast on the shallows, and requiring to be drawn off by ropes by the indian boatmen. it was not till the 19th of july that he entered the main river at laguna, where he found his friend maldonado, who had been waiting for him some weeks. on the 23d of july, 1743, they embarked in two canoes of forty-two and forty-four feet long, each formed out of one single trunk of a tree, and each provided with a crew of eight rowers. they continued their course night and day, in hopes to reach, before their departure, the brigantines of the missionaries, in which they used to send once a year, to parã¡, the cacao which they collected in their missions, and for which they got, in return, supplies of european articles of necessity. on the 25th of july, la condamine and his companion passed the village of a tribe of indians lately brought under subjection, and in all the wildness of savage life: on the 27th, they reached another more advanced in civilization, yet not so far as to have abandoned their savage practices of artificially flattening their heads, and elongating their ears. the 1st of august, they landed at a missionary station, where they found numerous indians assembled, and some tribes so entirely barbarous as to be destitute of clothing for either sex. "there are in the interior," the narration goes on to say, "some tribes which devour the prisoners taken in war; but there are none such on the banks of the river." after leaving this station, they sailed day and night, equal to seven or eight days' journey, without seeing any habitation. on the 5th of august, they arrived at the first of the portuguese missionary stations, where they procured larger and more commodious boats than those in which they had advanced hitherto. here they began to see the first signs of the benefits of access to european sources of supply, by means of the vessel which went every year from parã¡ to lisbon. they tarried six days at the last of the missionary stations, and again made a change of boats and of indian crews. on the 28th august, being yet six hundred miles from the sea, they perceived the ebb and flow of the tide. on the 19th september, they arrived at parã¡, which la condamine describes as a great and beautiful city, built of stone, and enjoying a commerce with lisbon, which made it flourishing and increasing. he observes, "it is, perhaps, the only european settlement where silver does not pass for money; the whole currency being cocoa." he adds in a note, "specie currency has been since introduced." the portuguese authorities received the philosophers with all the civilities and hospitalities due to persons honored with the special protection and countenance of two great nations,--france and spain. the cannon were fired; and the soldiers of the garrison, with the governor of the province at their head, turned out to receive them. the governor had received orders from the home government to pay all their expenses, and to furnish them every thing requisite for their comfort and assistance in their researches. la condamine remained three months at parã¡; and then, declining the urgent request of the governor to embark in a portuguese vessel for home by way of lisbon, he embarked in a boat rowed by twenty-two indians, under the command of a portuguese officer, to coast along the shores of the continent to the french colony of cayenne. the city of parã¡ from whence he embarked is not situated upon the amazon river, but upon what is called the river of parã¡, which branches off from the amazon near its mouth, and discharges itself into the sea at a distance of more than a hundred miles east of the amazon. the intervening land is an island called marajo, along the coast of which la condamine and his party steered till they came to the place where the amazon river discharges into the sea that vast bulk of waters which has been swelled by the contributions of numerous tributaries throughout a course of more than three thousand miles in length. it here meets the current which runs along the north-eastern coast of brazil, and gives rise to that phenomenon which is called by the indians pororoca. the river and the current, having both great rapidity, and meeting nearly at right angles, come into contact with great violence, and raise a mountain of water to the height of one hundred and eighty feet. the shock is so dreadful, that it makes all the neighboring islands tremble; and fishermen and navigators fly from it in the utmost terror. the river and the ocean appear to contend for the empire of the waves: but they seem to come to a compromise; for the sea-current continues its way along the coast of guiana to the island of trinidad, while the current of the river is still observable in the ocean at a distance of five hundred miles from the shore. la condamine passed this place of meeting in safety by waiting for a favorable course of tides, crossing the amazon at its mouth, steering north; and after many delays, caused by the timidity and bad seamanship of his indian crew, arrived at last safe at cayenne on the 26th february, 1744, having been eight months on his voyage, two of which were spent in his passage from parã¡, a passage which he avers a french officer and crew, two years after him, accomplished in six days. la condamine was received with all possible distinction at cayenne, and in due time found passage home to france, where he arrived 25th february, 1745. chapter ix. madame godin's voyage down the amazon. one of the french commissioners, m. godin, had taken with him on his scientific errand to peru his wife; a lady for whom we bespeak the kind interest of our readers, for her name deserves honorable mention among the early navigators of the amazon. the labors of the commission occupied several years; and when, in the year 1742, those labors were happily brought to a conclusion, m. godin was prevented, by circumstances relating to himself individually, from accompanying his colleagues in their return to france. his detention was protracted from year to year, till at last, in 1749, he repaired alone to the island of cayenne to prepare every thing necessary for the homeward voyage of himself and his wife. from cayenne he wrote to paris to the minister of marine, and requested that his government would procure for him the favorable interposition of the court of portugal to supply him with the means of ascending the river amazon to bring away his wife from peru, and descend the stream with her to the island of cayenne. thirteen years had rolled by since their arrival in the country, when at last madame godin saw her earnest wish to return home likely to be gratified. all that time, she had lived apart from her husband; she in peru, he in the french colony of cayenne. at last, m. godin had the pleasure to see the arrival of a galoot (a small vessel having from sixteen to twenty oars on a side, and well adapted for rapid progress), which had been fitted out by the order of the king of portugal, and despatched to cayenne for the purpose of taking him on his long-wished-for journey. he immediately embarked; but, before he could reach the mouth of the amazon river, he was attacked by so severe an illness, that he saw himself compelled to stop at oyapoc, a station between cayenne and the mouth of the river, and there to remain, and to send one tristan, whom he thought his friend, in lieu of himself, up the river to seek madame godin, and escort her to him. he intrusted to him also, besides the needful money, various articles of merchandise to dispose of to the best advantage. the instructions which he gave him were as follows:-the galiot had orders to convey him to loreto about half-way up the amazon river, the first spanish settlement. from there he was to go to laguna, another spanish town about twelve miles farther up, and to give mr. godin's letter, addressed to his wife, in charge to a certain ecclesiastic of that place, to be forwarded to the place of her residence. he himself was to wait at laguna the arrival of madame godin. the galiot sailed, and arrived safe at loreto. but the faithless tristan, instead of going himself to laguna, or sending the letter there, contented himself with delivering the packet to a spanish jesuit, who was going to quite another region on some occasional purpose. tristan himself, in the mean while, went round among the portuguese settlements to sell his commodities. the result was, that m. godin's letter, passing from hand to hand, failed to reach the place of its destination. meanwhile, by what means we know not, a blind rumor of the purpose and object of the portuguese vessel lying at loreto reached peru, and came at last, but without any distinctness, to the ears of madame godin. she learned through this rumor that a letter from her husband was on the way to her; but all her efforts to get possession of it were fruitless. at last, she resolved to send a faithful negro servant, in company with an indian, to the amazon, to procure, if possible, more certain tidings. this faithful servant made his way boldly through all hinderances and difficulties which beset his journey, reached loreto, talked with tristan, and brought back intelligence that he, with the portuguese vessel and all its equipments, were for her accommodation, and waited her orders. now, then, madame godin determined to undertake this most perilous and difficult journey. she was staying at the time at riobamba, about one hundred and twenty miles south of quito, where she had a house of her own with garden and grounds. these, with all other things that she could not take with her, she sold on the best terms she could. her father, m. grandmaison, and her two brothers, who had been living with her in peru, were ready to accompany her. the former set out beforehand to a place the other side of the cordilleras to make arrangements for his daughter's journey on her way to the ship. madame godin received about this time a visit from a certain mr. r., who gave himself out for a french physician, and asked permission to accompany her. he promised, moreover, to watch over her health, and to do all in his power to lighten the fatigues and discomforts of the arduous journey. she replied, that she had no authority over the vessel which was to carry her, and therefore could not answer for it that he could have a place in it. mr. r., thereupon, applied to the brothers of madame godin; and they, thinking it very desirable that she should have a physician with her, persuaded their sister to consent to take him in her company. so, then, she started from riobamba, which had been her home till this time, the 1st of october, 1749, in company of the above-named persons, her black man, and three indian women. thirty indians, to carry her baggage, completed her company. had the luckless lady known what calamities, sufferings, and disappointments awaited her, she would have trembled at the prospect, and doubted of the possibility of living through it all, and reaching the wished-for goal of her journey. the party went first across the mountains to canelos, an indian village, where they thought to embark on a little stream which discharges itself into the amazon. the way thither was so wild and unbroken, that it was not even passable for mules, and must be travelled entirely on foot. m. grandmaison, who had set out a whole month earlier, had stopped at canelos no longer than was necessary to make needful preparations for his daughter and her attendants. then he had immediately pushed on toward the vessel, to still keep in advance, and arrange matters for her convenience at the next station to which she would arrive. hardly had he left canelos, when the small-pox, a disease which in those regions is particularly fatal, broke out, and in one week swept off one-half of the inhabitants, and so alarmed the rest, that they deserted the place, and plunged into the wilderness. consequently, when madame godin reached the place with her party, she found, to her dismay, only two indians remaining, whom the fury of the plague had spared; and, moreover, not the slightest preparation either for her reception, or her furtherance on her journey. this was the first considerable mishap which befell her, and which might have served to forewarn her of the greater sufferings which she was to encounter. a second followed shortly after. the thirty indians who thus far had carried the baggage, and had received their pay in advance, suddenly absconded, whether from fear of the epidemic, or that they fancied, having never seen a vessel except at a distance, that they were to be compelled to go on board one, and be carried away. there stood, then, the deserted and disappointed company, overwhelmed, and knowing not what course to take, or how to help themselves. the safest course would have been to leave all their baggage to its fate, and return back the way they came; but the longing of madame godin for her beloved husband, from whom she had now been separated so many years, gave her courage to bid defiance to all the hinderances which lay in her way, and even to attempt impossibilities. she set herself, therefore, to persuade the two indians above mentioned to construct a boat, and, by means of it, to take her and her company to andoas, another place about twelve days' journey distant. they willingly complied, receiving their pay in advance. the boat was got ready; and all the party embarked in it under the management of the two indians. after they had run safely two days' journey down the stream, they drew up to the bank to pass the night on shore. here the treacherous indians took the opportunity, while the weary company slept, to run away; and, when the travellers awoke next morning, they were nowhere to be found. this was a new and unforeseen calamity, by which their future progress was rendered greatly more hazardous. without a knowledge of the stream or the country, and without a guide, they again got on board their boat, and pushed on. the first day went by without any misadventure. the second, they came up with a boat which lay near the shore, alongside of an indian hut built of branches of trees. they found there an indian, just recovered from the sickness, and prevailed on him, by presents, to embark with them to take the helm. but fate envied them this relief: for, the next day, mr. r.'s hat fell into the water; and the indian, in endeavoring to recover it, fell overboard, and was drowned, not having strength to swim to the shore. now was the vessel again without a pilot, and steered by persons, not one of whom had the least knowledge of the course. ere long, the vessel sprung a leak; and the unhappy company found themselves compelled to land, and build a hut to shelter them. they were yet five or six days' journey from andoas, the nearest place of destination. mr. r. offered, for himself and another frenchman his companion, to go thither, and make arrangements, that, within fourteen days, a boat from there should arrive and bring them off. his proposal was approved of. madame godin gave him her faithful black man to accompany him. he himself took good care that nothing of his property should be left behind. fourteen days were now elapsed; but in vain they strained their eyes to catch sight of the bark which mr. r. had promised to send to their relief. they waited twelve days longer, but in vain. their situation grew more painful every day. at last, when all hope in this quarter was lost, they hewed trees, and fastened them together as well as they could, and made in this way a raft. when they had finished it, they put on their baggage, and seated themselves upon it, and suffered it to float down the stream. but even this frail bark required a steersman acquainted with navigation; but they had none such. in no long time, it struck against a sunken log, and broke to pieces. the people and their baggage were cast into the river. great, however, as was the danger, no one was lost. madame godin sunk twice to the bottom, but was at last rescued by her brothers. wet through and through, exhausted, and half dead with fright, they at last all gained the shore. but only imagine their lamentable, almost desperate, condition! all their supplies lost; to make another raft impossible; even their stock of provisions gone! and where were they when all these difficulties overwhelmed them? in a horrid wilderness, so thick grown up with trees and bushes, that one could make a passage through it no other way than by axe and knife; inhabited only by fiercest tigers, and by the most formidable of serpents,--the rattlesnake. moreover, they were without tools, without weapons! could their situation be more deplorable? chapter x. madame godin's voyage continued. the unfortunate travellers had now but the choice of two desperate expedients,--either to wait where they were the termination of their wretched existence, or try the almost impossible task of penetrating along the banks of the river, through the unbroken forest, till they might reach andoas. they chose the latter, but first made their way back to their lately forsaken hut to take what little provisions they had there left. having accomplished this, they set out on their most painful and dangerous journey. they observed, when they followed the shore of the river, that its windings lengthened their way. to avoid this, they endeavored, without leaving the course of the river, to keep a straight course. by this means, they lost themselves in the entangled forest; and every exertion to find their way was ineffectual. their clothes were torn to shreds, and hung dangling from their limbs; their bodies were sadly wounded by thorns and briers; and, as their scanty provision of food was almost gone, nothing seemed left to them but to sustain their wretched existence with wild fruit, seeds and buds of the palm-trees. at last, they sank under their unremitted labor. wearied with the hardships of such travel, torn and bleeding in every part of their bodies, and distracted with hunger, terror, and apprehensions, they lost the small remnant of their energy, and could do no more. they sat down, and had no power to rise again. in three or four days, one after another died at this stage of their journey. madame godin lay for the space of twenty-four hours by the side of her exhausted and helpless brothers and companions: she felt herself benumbed, stupefied, senseless, yet at the same time tormented by burning thirst. at last, providence, on whom she relied, gave her courage and strength to rouse herself and seek for a rescue, which was in store for her, though she knew not where to look for it. around lay the dead bodies of her brothers and her other companions,--a sight which at another time would have broken her heart. she was almost naked. the scanty remnants of her clothing were so torn by the thorns as to be almost useless. she cut the shoes from her dead brothers' feet, bound the soles under her own, and plunged again into the thicket in search of something to allay her raging hunger and thirst. terror at seeing herself so left alone in such a fearful wilderness, deserted by all the world, and apprehension of a dreadful death constantly hovering before her eyes, made such an impression upon her, that her hair turned gray. it was not till the second day after she had resumed her wandering that she found water, and, a little while after, some wild fruit, and a few eggs of birds. but her throat was so contracted by long fasting, that she could hardly swallow. these served to keep life in her frame. eight long days she wandered in this manner hopelessly, and strove to sustain her wretched existence. if one should read in a work of fiction any thing equal to it, he would charge the author with exaggeration, and violation of probability. but it is history; and, however incredible her story may sound, it is rigidly conformed to the truth in all its circumstances, as it was afterwards taken down from the mouth of madame godin herself. on the eighth day of her hopeless wandering, the hapless lady reached the banks of the bobonosa, a stream which flows into the amazon. at the break of day, she heard at a little distance a noise, and was alarmed at it. she would have fled, but at once reflected that nothing worse than her present circumstances could happen to her. she took courage, and went towards the place whence the sound proceeded; and here she found two indians, who were occupied in shoving their boat into the water. madame godin approached, and was kindly received by them. she told to them her desire to be conveyed to andoas; and the good savages consented to carry her thither in their boat. they did so; and now behold her arrived at that place which the mean and infamous treachery of mr. r. was the only cause of her not having reached long ago. this base fellow had, with unfeeling cruelty, thrown to the winds his promise to procure them a boat, and had gone on business of his own to omaguas, a spanish mission station, without in the least troubling himself about his pledged word, and the rescue of the unfortunates left behind. the honest negro was more true to duty, though he was born and bred a heathen, and the other a christian. while the civilized and polished frenchman unfeelingly went away, and left his benefactress and her companions to languish in the depths of misery, the sable heathen ceased not his exertions till he had procured two indians to go up the river with him, and bring away his deserted mistress and her companions. but, most unfortunately, he did not reach the hut where he had left them before they had carried into execution the unlucky determination to leave the hut, and seek their way through the wilderness. so he had the pain of failing to find her on his arrival. even then, the faithful creature did not feel as if all was done. he, with his indian companions, followed the traces of the party till he came to the place where the bodies of the perished adventurers lay, which were already so decayed, that he could not distinguish one from the other. this pitiable sight led him to conclude that none of the company could have escaped death. he returned to the hut to take away some things of madame godin's which were left there, and carried them not only back with him to andoas, but from thence (another touching proof of his fidelity) to omaguas, that he might deposit the articles, some of which were of considerable value, in the hands of the unworthy mr. r., to be by him delivered to the father of his lamented mistress. and how did this unworthy mr. r. behave when he was apprised by the negro of the lamentable death of those whom he had so unscrupulously given over to destitution? did he shudder at the magnitude and baseness of his crime? oh, no! like a heartless knave, he added dishonesty to cruelty, took the things into his keeping, and, to secure himself in the possession of them, sent the generous negro back to quito. joachim--for that was the name of this honest and noble black man--had unluckily set out on his journey back before madame godin arrived at andoas. thus he was lost to her; and her affliction at the loss of such a tried friend showed that the greatness of her past misfortunes had not made her incapable of feeling new distresses. in andoas she found a christian priest, a spanish missionary; and the behavior of this unchristian christian contrasts with the conduct of her two indian preservers, as that of the treacherous r. with that of the generous negro. for instance, when madame godin was in embarrassment how to show her gratitude to the good indians who had saved her life, she remembered, that, according to the custom of the country, she wore around her neck a pair of gold chains, weighing about four ounces. these were her whole remaining property; but she hesitated not a moment, but took them off, and gave one to each of her benefactors. they were delighted beyond measure at such a gift; but the avaricious and dishonest priest took them away from them before the face of the generous giver, and gave them instead some yards of coarse cotton cloth, which they call, in that country, tukujo. and this man was one of those who were sent to spread christianity among the heathen, and one from whom those same indians whom he had treated so dishonestly would hear the lesson, "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods"! madame godin felt, at seeing such unchristian and unmanly behavior, such deep disgust, that, as soon as she was somewhat recruited from the effects of so many sufferings, she longed for a sight of some boat to enable her to escape from the companionship of this unjust priest, and get to laguna, one of the aforementioned spanish mission stations. a kind indian woman made her a petticoat of cotton cloth, though madame godin had nothing to give her in payment for it. but this petticoat was to her, afterwards, a sacred thing, that she would not have parted with for any price. she laid it carefully away with the slippers which she made of her brothers' shoes, and never could, in after-times, look at the two without experiencing a rush of sad and tender recollections. at laguna she had the good fortune to find a missionary of better disposition. this one received her with kindness and sympathy, and exerted himself every way he could to restore her health, shattered by so much suffering. he wrote also on her behalf to the governor of omaguas, to beg him to aid in expediting her journey. by this means, the elegant mr. r. learned that she was still alive; and as she was not likely in future to be burdensome to him, while he might, through her means, get a passage in the portuguese vessel, he failed not to call upon her at laguna. he delivered to her there some few of the things which joachim had left in his charge; but to the question, "what had become of the rest?" he had no other answer to make but "they were spoilt." the knave forgot, when he said this, that gold bracelets, snuff-boxes, ear-rings, and pearls, of which this property consisted, are not apt to spoil. madame godin could not forbear making to him the well-merited reproach that he was the cause of her late sufferings, and guilty of the mournful death of her brothers and her other companions. she desired to know, moreover, why he had sent away her faithful servant, the good joachim; and his unworthy reply was, he had apprehensions that he would murder him. to the question, how he could have such a suspicion against a man whose tried fidelity and honest disposition were known to him, he knew not what to answer. the good missionary explained to madame godin, after she was somewhat recruited from her late sufferings, the frightful length of the way, and the labors and dangers of her journey yet to come, and tried hard to induce her to alter her intention, and return to rio bambas, her former residence, instead of setting forth to encounter a new series of disappointments and perils. he promised, in that case, to convey her safely and with comfort. but the heroic woman rejected the proposal with immovable firmness. "god, who had so wonderfully protected her so far," she said, "would have her in his keeping for the remainder of her way. she had but one wish remaining, and that was to be re-united to her husband; and she knew no danger terrible enough to induce her to give up this one ruling desire of her heart." the missionary, therefore, had a boat got ready to carry her to the portuguese vessel. the governor of omaguas furnished the boat, and supplied it well with provisions: and, that the commander of the portuguese galiot might be informed of her approach, he sent a smaller boat with provisions, and two soldiers by land, along the banks of the river, and betook himself to loreto, where the galiot had been so long lying; and there he waited till madame godin arrived. she still suffered severely from the consequences of the injuries which she had sustained during her wanderings in the wilderness. particularly, the thumb of one hand, in which she had thrust a thorn, which they had not been able to get out, was in a bad condition. the bone itself was become carious, and she found it necessary to have the flesh cut open to allow fragments of the bone to come out. as for the rest, she experienced from the commander of the portuguese vessel all possible kindness, and reached the mouth of the amazon river without any further misadventure. mr. godin, who still continued at oyapoc (the same place where on account of sickness he had been obliged to stop), was no sooner informed of the approach of his wife than he went on board a vessel, and coasted along the shore till he met the galiot. the joy of again meeting, after a separation of so many years, and after such calamities undergone, was, as may well be supposed, on both sides, indescribably great. their re-union seemed like a resurrection from the dead, since both of them had more than once given up all hope of ever seeing the other in this life. the happy husband now conveyed his wife to oyapoc, and thence to cayenne; whence they departed on their return to france, in company with the venerable mr. de grandmaison. madame godin remained, however, constantly sad, notwithstanding her present ample cause for joy; and every endeavor to raise her spirits was fruitless, so deep and inextinguishable an impression had the terrible sufferings she had undergone made upon her mind. she spoke unwillingly of all that she had suffered; and even her husband found out with difficulty, and by little and little, the circumstances which we have narrated, taken from accounts under his own hand. he thought he could thereby infer that she had kept to herself, to spare his feelings, many circumstances of a distressing nature, which she herself preferred to forget. her heart, too, was, by reason of her sufferings, so attuned to pity and forbearance, that her compassion even extended to the base and wicked men who had treated her with such injustice. she would therefore add nothing to induce her husband to invoke the vengeance of the law against the faithless tristan, the first cause of all her misfortunes, who had converted to his own use many thousand dollars' worth of property which had been intrusted to him. she had even allowed herself to be persuaded to take on board the boat from omaguas down, for a second time, the mean-souled mr. r. so true is it that adversity and suffering do fulfil the useful purpose of rendering the human heart tender, placable, and indulgent. chapter xi. herndon's expedition. in the month of august, 1850, lieut. herndon, of the united-states navy, being on board the frigate "vandalia," then lying at anchor in the harbor of valparaiso, received information that he was designated by the secretary of the navy to explore the valley of the amazon. on the 4th of april, being then at lima, he received his orders, and, on the 21st of may, commenced his land journey to the highest point on the amazon navigable for boats, which is about three hundred miles from its source; in which distance there are twenty-seven rapids, the last of which is called the pongo (or falls) de manseriche. over these the water rushes with frightful rapidity; but they are passed, with great peril and difficulty, by means of rafts. from the pongo de manseriche, lieut. herndon states that an unbroken channel of eighteen feet in depth may be found to the atlantic ocean,--a distance of three thousand miles. the party consisted of lieut. herndon, commander; passed-midshipman gibbon; a young master's mate named richards; a young peruvian, who had made the voyage down the amazon a few years before, who was employed as interpreter to the indians; and mauricio, an indian servant. they were mounted on mules; and their baggage of all kinds, including looking-glasses, beads, and other trinkets for the indians, and some supplies of provisions, were carried also on muleback, under the charge of an _arriero_, or muleteer, who was an indian. the party were furnished with a tent, which often came in use for nightly shelter, as the roadside inns furnished none, and the haciendas, or farm-houses, which they sometimes availed themselves of, afforded but poor accommodation. the following picture of the lieutenant's first night's lodgings, not more than ten miles from lima, is a specimen: "the house was built of _adobe_, or sun-dried bricks, and roofed with tiles. it had but one room, which was the general receptacle for all comers. a mud projection, of two feet high and three wide, stood out from the walls of the room all around, and served as a permanent bedplace for numbers. others laid their blankets and cloaks, and stretched themselves, on the floor; so that, with whites, indians, negroes, trunks, packages, horse-furniture, game-cocks, and guinea-pigs, we had quite a caravansera appearance." the lieutenant found the general answer to his inquiry for provisions for his party, and of fodder for their animals, was, "no hay" (there is none). the refusal of the people to sell supplies of these indispensable articles was a source of continued inconvenience. it arose probably from their fear to have it known that they had possessions, lest the hand of authority should be laid upon them, and their property be taken without payment. the cultivators, it must be remembered, are native indians, under the absolute control of their spanish masters, and have no recognized rights protected by law. while this state of things continues, civilization is effectually debarred progress. the usual day's travel was twelve to fifteen miles. the route ascended rapidly; and the river rimac, along whose banks their road lay, was soon reduced to a mountain torrent, raging in foam over the fragments of the rocky cliffs which overhung its bed. the road occasionally widened out, and gave room for a little cultivation. may 27.--they had now reached a height of ten thousand feet above the level of the sea. here the traveller feels that he is lifted above the impurities of the lower regions of the atmosphere, and is breathing air free from taint. the stars sparkled with intense brilliancy. the temperature at night was getting cool, and the travellers found they required all their blankets. but by day the heat was oppressive until tempered by the sea-breeze, which set in about eleven o'clock in the morning. the productions of the country are indian corn, alfalfa (a species of lucern), and potatoes. the potato, in this its native country, is small, but very fine. they saw here a vegetable of the potato kind called _oca_. boiled or roasted, it is very agreeable to the taste, in flavor resembling green corn. here they entered upon the mining region. "the earth here shows her giant skeleton bare: mountains, rather than rocks, rear their gray heads to the skies; and proximity made the scene more striking and sublime." lieut. herndon had brought letters to the superintendent of the mines, who received the travellers kindly and hospitably. this establishment is managed by a superintendent and three assistants, and about forty working hands. the laborers are indians,--strong, hardy-looking fellows, though low in stature, and stupid in expression. the manner of getting the silver from the ore is this: the ore is broken into pieces of the size of an english walnut, and then ground to a fine powder. the ground ore is then mixed with salt, at the rate of fifty pounds of salt to every six hundred of ore, and taken to the ovens to be toasted. after being toasted, the ore is laid in piles of about six hundred pounds upon the stone floor. the piles are then moistened with water, and quicksilver is sprinkled on them through a woollen cloth. the mass is well mixed by treading with the feet, and working with hoes. a little calcined iron pyrites, called _magistral_, is also added. the pile is often examined to see if the amalgamation is going on well. it is left to stand for eight or nine days until the amalgamation is complete; then carried to an elevated platform, and thrown into a well, or cavity: a stream of water is turned on, and four or five men trample and wash it with their feet. the amalgam sinks to the bottom, and the mud and water are let off by an aperture in the lower part of the well. the amalgam is then put into conical bags of coarse linen, which are hung up; and the weight of the mass presses out a quantity of quicksilver, which oozes through the linen, and is caught in vessels below. the mass, now dry, and somewhat harder than putty, is carried to the ovens, where the remainder of the quicksilver is driven off by heat, and the residue is _plata pina_, or pure silver. the proportion of pure silver in the amalgam is about twenty-two per cent. this is an unusually rich mine. returning from the mine, the party met a drove of llamas on their way from the hacienda. this is quite an imposing sight, especially when the drove is encountered suddenly at a turn of the road. the leader, who is always selected on account of his superior height, has his head decorated with tufts of woollen fringe, hung with little bells; and his great height (often six feet), gallant and graceful carriage, pointed ear, restless eye, and quivering lip, as he faces you for a moment, make him as striking an object as one can well conceive. upon pressing on him, he bounds aside either up or down the cliff, and is followed by the herd, scrambling over places that would be impassable for the mule or the ass. the llama travels not more than nine or ten miles a day, his load being about one hundred and thirty pounds. he will not carry more, and will be beaten to death rather than move when he is overloaded or tired. the males only are worked: they appear gentle and docile, but, when irritated, have a very savage look, and spit at the object of their resentment. the guanaco, or alpaca, is another species of this animal, and the vicunia a third. the guanaco is as large as the llama, and bears a fleece of long and coarse wool. the vicunia is much smaller, and its wool is short and fine: so valuable is it, that it brings at the port of shipment a dollar a pound. our travellers saw no guanacos, but now and then, in crossing the mountains, caught a glimpse of the wild and shy vicunia. they go in herds of ten or fifteen females, accompanied by one male, who is ever on the alert. on the approach of danger, he gives warning by a shrill whistle; and his charge make off with the speed of the wind. on the 31st of may, the thermometer stood at thirty-six degrees at five, a.m. this, it must be remembered, was in the torrid zone, in the same latitude as congo in africa, and sumatra in asia; yet how different the climate! this is owing to the elevation, which at this water-shed of the continent, which separates the rivers of the atlantic from those of the pacific, was about sixteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. the peaks of the cordillera presented the appearance of a hilly country at home on a winter's day; while the lower ranges were dressed in bright green, with placid little lakes interspersed, giving an air of quiet beauty to the scene. the travellers next arrived at morococha, where they found copper-mining to be the prevailing occupation. the copper ore is calcined in the open air, in piles consisting of ore and coal, which burn for a month. the ore thus calcined is taken to the ovens; and sufficient heat is employed to melt the copper, which runs off into moulds below. the copper, in this state, is impure, containing fifty per cent of foreign matter; and is worth fifteen cents the pound in england, where it is refined. there is a mine of fine coal near the hacienda, which yields an abundant supply. the travellers passed other mining districts, rich in silver and copper. a large portion of the silver which forms the circulation of the world is dug from the range of mountains which they were now crossing, and chiefly from that slope of them which is drained off into the amazon. their descent, after leaving the mining country, was rapid. on june 6, we find them at the head of a ravine leading down to the valley of tarma. the height of this spot above the level of the sea was 11,270 feet. as they rode down the steep descent, the plants and flowers that they had left on the other side began to re-appear. first the short grass and small clover, then barley, lucern, indian corn, beans, turnips, shrubs, bushes, trees, flowers, growing larger and gayer in their colors, till the pretty little city of tarma, imbosomed among the hills, and enveloped in its covering of willows and fruit-trees, with its long lawns of _alfalfa_ (the greenest of grasses) stretching out in front, broke upon their view. it is a place of seven thousand inhabitants, beautifully situated in an amphitheatre of mountains, which are clothed nearly to the top with waving fields of barley. the lieutenant gives an attractive description of this mountain city, whose natural productions extend from the apples and peaches of the temperate zone to the oranges and pine-apples of the tropics; and whose air is so temperate and pure, that there was but one physician to a district of twenty thousand people, and he was obliged to depend upon government for a part of his support. the party left tarma on the 16th of june, and resumed their descent of the mountains. the ride was the wildest they had yet had. the ascents and descents were nearly precipitous; and the scene was rugged, wild, and grand beyond description. at certain parts of the road, it is utterly impossible for two beasts to pass abreast, or for one to turn and retreat; and the only remedy, when they meet, is to tumble one off the precipice, or to drag him back by the tail until he reaches a place where the other can pass. they met with a considerable fright in this way one day. they were riding in single file along one of those narrow ascents where the road is cut out of the mountain-side, and the traveller has a perpendicular wall on one hand, and a sheer precipice of many hundreds of feet upon the other. mr. gibbon was riding ahead. just as he was about to turn a sharp bend of the road, the head of a bull peered round it, on the descent. when the bull came in full view, he stopped; and the travellers could see the heads of other cattle clustering over his quarters, and hear the shouts of the cattle-drivers far behind, urging on their herd. the bull, with lowered crest, and savage, sullen look, came slowly on, and actually got his head between the perpendicular rock and the neck of gibbon's mule. but the sagacious beast on which he was mounted, pressing her haunches hard against the wall, gathered her feet close under her, and turned as upon a pivot. this placed the bull on the outside (there was room to pass, though no one would have thought it); and he rushed by at the gallop, followed in single file by the rest of the herd. the lieutenant owns that he and his friend "felt frightened." on the 18th of june, they arrived at the first hacienda, where they saw sugar-cane, yucca, pine-apples, and plantains. besides these, cotton and coffee were soon after found in cultivation. the laborers are native indians, nominally free, but, by the customs of the country, pretty closely held in subjection to their employers. their nominal wages are half a dollar a day; but this is paid in articles necessary for their support, which are charged to them at such prices as to keep them always in debt. as debtors, the law will enforce the master's claim on them; and it is almost hopeless for them to desert; for, unless they get some distance off before they are recognized, they will be returned as debtors to their employers. freedom, under such circumstances, is little better than slavery; but it _is_ better, for this reason,--that it only requires some improvement in the intelligence and habits of the laborers to convert it into a system of free labor worthy of the name. the _yucca_ (cassava-root) is a plant of fifteen or twenty feet in height. it is difficult to distinguish this plant from the _mandioc_, which is called "wild yucca;" and this, "sweet yucca." this may be eaten raw; but the other is poisonous until subjected to heat in cooking, and then is perfectly wholesome. the yucca answers the same purpose in peru that the mandioc does in brazil. it is the general substitute for bread, and, roasted or boiled, is very pleasant to the taste. the indians also make from it an intoxicating drink. each plant will give from twenty to twenty-five pounds of the eatable root, which grows in clusters like the potato, and some tubers of which are as long and thick as a man's arm. chapter xii. herndon's expedition continued. on the 4th of july, the travellers arrived at the great mining station of cerro pasco. the weather was so cold, that the lieutenant, not being quite well, sat by the fire all day, trying to keep himself warm. the town is a most curious-looking place, entirely honey-combed, and having the mouths of mines, some of them two or three yards in diameter, gaping everywhere. from the top of a hill, the best view is obtained of the whole. vast pits, called tajos, surround this hill, from which many millions of silver have been taken; and the miners are still burrowing, like so many rabbits, in their bottoms and sides. the hill is penetrated in every direction; and it would not be surprising if it should cave in, any day, and bury many in its ruins. the falling-in of mines is of frequent occurrence: one caved in, some years ago, and buried three hundred persons. an english company undertook mining here in 1825, and failed. vast sums have been spent in constructing tunnels, and employing steam machinery to drain the mines; and the parties still persevere, encouraged by discovering, that, the lower they penetrate, the richer are the ores. the yield of these mines is about two million dollars' worth a year, which is equal to the yield of all the other mines of peru together. the lieutenant found the leading people here, as well as at tarma, enthusiastic on the subject of opening the amazon to foreign commerce. it will be a great day for them, they say, when the americans get near them with a steamer. on the 14th of july, they arrived at a spot of marshy ground, from which trickled in tiny streams the waters, which, uniting with others, swell till they form the broad river huallaga, one of the head tributaries of the amazon. their descent was now rapid; and the next day they found themselves on a sudden among fruit-trees, with a patch of sugar-cane, on the banks of the stream. the sudden transition from rugged mountain-peaks, where there was no cultivation, to a tropical vegetation, was marvellous. two miles farther on, they came in sight of a pretty village, almost hidden in the luxuriant vegetation. the whole valley here becomes very beautiful. the land, which is a rich river-bottom, is laid off into alternate fields of sugar-cane and alfalfa. the blended green and yellow of this growth, divided by willows, interspersed with fruit-trees, and broken into wavy lines by the serpentine course of the river, presented a scene which filled them with pleasurable emotions, and indicated that they had exchanged a semi-barbarous for a civilized society. the party had had no occasion to complain of want of hospitality in any part of their route; but here they seemed to have entered upon a country where that virtue flourished most vigorously, having at its command the means of gratifying it. the owner of the hacienda of quicacan, an english gentleman named dyer, received the lieutenant and his large party exactly as if it were a matter of course, and as if they had quite as much right to occupy his house as they had to enter an inn. the next day they had an opportunity to compare with the englishman a fine specimen of the peruvian country gentleman. col. lucar is thus described: "he is probably the richest and most influential man in the province. he seems to have been the father of husbandry in these parts, and is the very type of the old landed proprietor of virginia, who has always lived upon his estates, and attended personally to their cultivation. seated at the head of his table, with his hat on to keep the draught from his head, and which he would insist upon removing unless i would wear mine; his chair surrounded by two or three little negro children, whom he fed with bits from his plate; and attending with patience and kindness to the clamorous wants of a pair of splendid peacocks, a couple of small parrots of brilliant and variegated plumage, and a beautiful and delicate monkey,--i thought i had never seen a more perfect pattern of the patriarch. his kindly and affectionate manner to his domestics, and to his little grand-children, a pair of sprightly boys, who came in the evening from the college, was also very pleasing." the mention of a college in a region in some respects so barbarous may surprise our readers; but such there is. it has a hundred pupils, an income of seventy-five thousand dollars yearly, chemical and philosophical apparatus, and one thousand specimens of european minerals. ijurra, our lieutenant's peruvian companion, had written to the governor of the village of tingo maria, the head of canoe navigation on the huallaga, to send indians to meet the travellers here, and take their luggage on to the place of embarkation. july 30.--the indians came shouting into the farm-yard, thirteen in number. they were young, slight, but muscular-looking fellows, and wanted to shoulder the trunks, and be off at once. the lieutenant, however, gave them some breakfast; and then the party set forward, and, after a walk of six miles, reached the river, and embarked in the canoe. two indian laborers, called _peons_, paddled the canoe, and managed it very well. the peons cooked their dinner of cheese and rice, and made them a good cup of coffee. they are lively, good-tempered fellows, and, properly treated, make good and serviceable travelling companions. the canoe was available only in parts of the river where the stream was free from rapids. where these occur, the cargo must be landed, and carried round. lieut. herndon and his party were compelled to walk a good part of the distance to tingo maria, which was thirty-six miles from where they first took the canoe. "i saw here," says our traveller, "the _lucernago_, or fire-fly of this country. it is a species of beetle, carrying two white lights in its eyes, or rather in the places where the eyes of insects generally are, and a red light between the scales of the belly; so that it reminded me somewhat of the ocean steamers. they are sometimes carried to lima (enclosed in an apartment cut into a sugar-cane), where the ladies at balls or theatres put them in their hair for ornament." at tingo maria, their arrival was celebrated with much festivity. the governor got up a ball for them, where there was more hilarity than ceremony. the next morning, the governor and his wife accompanied our friends to the port. the governor made a short address to the canoe-men, telling them that their passengers were "no common persons; that they were to have a special care of them; to be very obedient," &c. they then embarked, and stood off; the boatmen blowing their horns, and the party on shore waving their hats, and shouting their adieus. the party had two canoes, about forty feet long by two and a half broad, each hollowed out of a single log. the rowers stand up to paddle, having one foot in the bottom of the boat, and the other on the gunwale. there is a man at the bow of the boat to look out for rocks or sunken trees ahead; and a steersman, who stands on a little platform at the stern of the boat, and guides her motions. when the river was smooth, and free from obstruction, they drifted with the current, the men sitting on the trunks and boxes, chatting and laughing with each other; but, when they approached a "bad place," their serious looks, and the firm position in which each one planted himself at his post, showed that work was to be done. when the bark had fairly entered the pass, the rapid gestures of the bow-man, indicating the channel; the graceful position of the steersman, holding his long paddle; and the desperate exertions of the rowers, the railroad rush of the canoes, and the wild screaming laugh of the indians as the boat shot past the danger,--made a scene so exciting as to banish the sense of danger. after this specimen of their travel, let us take a glimpse of their lodging. "at half-past five, we camped on the beach. the first business of the boatmen, when the canoe is secured, is to go off to the woods, and cut stakes and palm-branches to make a house for the 'commander.' by sticking long poles in the sand, chopping them half-way in two about five feet above the ground, and bending the upper parts together, they make in a few minutes the frame of a little shanty, which, thickly thatched with palm-leaves, will keep off the dew or an ordinary rain. some bring the drift-wood that is lying about the beach, and make a fire. the provisions are cooked and eaten, the bedding laid down upon the leaves that cover the floor of the shanty, the mosquito nettings spread; and after a cup of coffee, a glass of grog, and a cigar (if they are to be had), everybody retires for the night by eight o'clock. the indians sleep round the hut, each under his narrow mosquito curtain, which glisten in the moonlight like so many tombstones." the indians have very keen senses, and see and hear things that would escape more civilized travellers. one morning, they commenced paddling with great vigor; for they said they heard monkeys ahead. it was not till after paddling a mile that they reached the place. "when we came up to them," says the lieutenant, "we found a gang of large red monkeys in some tall trees by the river-side, making a noise like the grunting of a herd of hogs. we landed; and, in a few moments, i found myself beating my way through the thick undergrowth, and hunting monkeys with as much excitement as i had ever felt in hunting squirrels when a boy." they found the game hard to kill, and only got three,--the lieutenant, with his rifle, one; and the indians, with their blow-guns, two. the indians roasted and ate theirs, and lieut. herndon tried to eat a piece; but it was so tough, that his teeth would make no impression upon it. aug. 19.--the party arrived at tarapoto. it is a town of three thousand five hundred inhabitants, and the district of which it is the capital numbers six thousand. the principal productions are rice, cotton, and tobacco; and cotton-cloth, spun and woven by the women, with about as little aid from machinery as the women in solomon's time, of whom we are told, "she layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff." the little balls of cotton thread which the women spin in this way are used as currency (and this in a land of silver-mines), and pass for twenty-five cents apiece in exchange for other goods, or twelve and a half cents in money. most of the trade is done by barter. a cow is sold for one hundred yards of cotton cloth; a fat hog, for sixty; a large sheep, twelve; twenty-five pounds of salt fish, for twelve; twenty-five pounds of coffee, six; a head of plantains, which will weigh from forty to fifty pounds, for three needles; and so forth. all transportation of merchandise by land is made upon the backs of indians, for want of roads suitable for beasts of burden. the customary weight of a load is seventy-five pounds: the cost of transportation to moyobamba, seventy miles, is six yards of cloth. it is easy to obtain, in the term of six or eight days, fifty or sixty peons, or indian laborers, for the transportation of cargoes, getting the order of the governor, and paying the above price, and supporting the peons on the way. the town is the most important in the province of mainas. the inhabitants are called civilized, but have no idea of what we call comfort in their domestic arrangements. the houses are of mud, thatched with palm, and have uneven earth floors. the furniture consists of a grass hammock, a standing bedplace, a coarse table, and a stool or two. the governor of this populous district wore no shoes, and appeared to live pretty much like the rest of them. vessels of five feet draught of water may ascend the river, at the lowest stage of the water, to within eighteen miles of tarapoto. our travellers accompanied a large fishing-party. they had four or five canoes, and a large quantity of barbasco; a root which has the property of stupefying, or intoxicating, the fish. the manner of fishing is to close up the mouth of an inlet of the river with a network made of reeds; and then, mashing the barbasco-root to a pulp, throw it into the water. this turns the water white, and poisons it; so that the fish soon begin rising to the surface, dead, and are taken into the canoes with small tridents, or pronged sticks. almost at the moment of throwing the barbasco into the water, the smaller fish rise to the surface, and die in one or two minutes; the larger fish survive longer. the salt fish, which constitutes an important article of food and also of barter trade, is brought from down the river in large pieces of about eight pounds each, cut from the _vaca marina_, or sea-cow, also found in our florida streams, and there called _manatee_. it is found in great numbers in the amazon and its principal tributaries. it is not, strictly speaking, a fish, but an animal of the whale kind, which nourishes its young at the breast. it is not able to leave the water; but, in feeding, it gets near the shore, and raises its head out. it is most often taken when feeding. our travellers met a canoe of indians, one man and two women, going up the river for salt. they bought, with beads, some turtle-eggs, and proposed to buy a monkey they had; but one of the women clasped the little beast in her arms, and set up a great outcry, lest the man should sell it. the man wore a long cotton gown, with a hole in the neck for the head to come through, and short, wide sleeves. he had on his arm a bracelet of monkeys' teeth, and the women had nose-rings of white beads. their dress was a cotton petticoat, tied round the waist; and all were filthy. sept. 1.--they arrived at laguna. here they found two travelling merchants, a portuguese and a brazilian. they had four large boats, of about eight tons each, and two or three canoes. their cargo consisted of iron and iron implements, crockery-ware, wine, brandy, copper kettles, coarse short swords (a very common implement of the indians), guns, ammunition, salt, fish, &c., which they expected to exchange for straw hats, cotton cloth, sugar, coffee, and money. they were also buying up all the sarsaparilla they could find, and despatching it back in canoes. they invited our travellers to breakfast; and the lieutenant says, "i thought that i never tasted any thing better than the _farinha_, which i saw now for the first time." farinha is a general substitute for bread in all the course of the amazon below the brazilian frontier. it is used by all classes; and the boatmen seemed always contented with plenty of salt fish and farinha. the women make it in this way: they soak the root of the _mandioc_ in water till it is softened a little, when they scrape off the skin, and grate the root upon a board, which is made into a rude grater by being smeared with some of the adhesive gums of the forest, and then sprinkled with pebbles. the white grated pulp is put into a conical-shaped bag made of the coarse fibres of the palm. the bag is hung up to a peg driven into a post of the hut; a lever is put through a loop at the bottom of the bag; the short end of the lever is placed under a chock nailed to the post below; and the woman hangs her weight on the long end. this elongates the bag, and brings a heavy pressure upon the mass within, causing the juice to ooze out through the wicker-work of the bag. when sufficiently pressed, the mass is put on the floor of a mud oven; heat is applied, and it is stirred with a stick till it granulates into very irregular grains, and is sufficiently toasted to drive off all the poisonous qualities which it has in a crude state. it is then packed in baskets (lined and covered with palm-leaves) of about sixty-four pounds' weight, which are generally sold all along the river at from seventy-five cents to one dollar. the sediment of the juice is tapioca, and is used to make custards, puddings, starch, &c. it will surprise some of our readers to be told that the juice extracted in the preparation of these wholesome and nutritive substances is a powerful poison, and used by the indians for poisoning the points of their arrows. chapter xiii. herndon's expedition continued. the huallaga is navigable, for vessels drawing five feet depth of water, 285 miles; and forty miles farther for canoes. our travellers had now arrived at its junction with the amazon; and their first sight of its waters is thus described: "the march of the great river in its silent grandeur was sublime; but in the untamed might of its turbid waters, as they cut away its banks, tore down the gigantic denizens of the forest, and built up islands, it was awful. i was reminded of our mississippi at its topmost flood; but this stream lacked the charm which the plantation upon the bank, the city upon the bluff, and the steamboat upon the waters, lend to its fellow of the north. but its capacities for trade and commerce are inconceivably great; and to the touch of steam, settlement, and cultivation, this majestic stream and its magnificent water-shed would start up in a display of industrial results that would make the valley of the amazon one of the most enchanting regions on the face of the earth." lieut. herndon speaks of the valley of the amazon in language almost as enthusiastic as that of sir walter raleigh: "from its mountains you may dig silver, iron, coal, copper, zinc, quicksilver, and tin; from the sands of its tributaries you may wash gold, diamonds, and precious stones; from its forests you may gather drugs of virtues the most rare, spices of aroma the most exquisite, gums and resins of the most varied and useful properties, dyes of hue the most brilliant, with cabinet and building woods of the finest polish and the most enduring texture. its climate is an everlasting summer, and its harvest perennial." sept. 8.--the party encamped at night on an island near the middle of the river. "the indians, cooking their big monkeys over a large fire on the beach, presented a savage and most picturesque scene. they looked more like devils roasting human beings, than any thing mortal." we ask ourselves, on reading this, whether some such scene may not have given rise to the stories of cannibalism which raleigh and others record. they arrived at nauta, a village of a thousand inhabitants, mostly indians. the governor of the district received them hospitably. each district has its governor, and each town its lieutenant-governor. these are of european descent. the other authorities of a town are _curacas_, captains, alcades, and constables. all these are indians. the office of curaca is hereditary, and is not generally interfered with by the white governor. the indians treat their curaca with great respect, and submit to corporal punishment at his mandate. sarsaparilla is one of the chief articles of produce collected here. it is a vine of sufficient size to shoot up fifteen or twenty feet from the root without support. it thus embraces the surrounding trees, and spreads to a great distance. the main root sends out many tendrils, generally about the thickness of a straw, and five feet long. these are gathered, and tied up in bundles of about an _arroba_, or thirty-two pounds' weight. it is found on the banks of almost every river of the region; but many of these are not worked, on account of the savages living on them, who attack the parties that come to gather it. the price in nauta is two dollars the arroba, and in europe from forty to sixty dollars. from nauta, lieut. herndon ascended the ucayali, a branch of the amazon, stretching to the north-west in a direction somewhat parallel to the huallaga. there is the essential difference between the two rivers, as avenues for commerce, that the ucayali is still in the occupation of savage tribes, unchristianized except where under the immediate influence of the mission stations planted among them; while the population of the huallaga is tolerably advanced in civilization. the following sentences will give a picture of the indians of the ucayali: "these people cannot count, and i can never get from them any accurate idea of numbers. they are very little removed above 'the beasts that perish.' they are filthy, and covered with sores. the houses are very large, between thirty and forty feet in length, and ten or fifteen in breadth. they consist of immense roofs of small poles and canes, thatched with palm, and supported by short stakes, four feet high, planted in the ground three or four feet apart, and having the spaces, except between two in front, filled in with cane. they have no idea of a future state, and worship nothing. but they can make bows and canoes; and their women weave a coarse cloth from cotton, and dye it. their dress is a long cotton gown. they paint the face, and wear ornaments suspended from the nose and lower lip." next let us take a view of the means in operation to elevate these people to civilization and christianity. sarayacu is a missionary station, governed by four franciscan friars, who are thus described: "father calvo, meek and humble in personal concerns, yet full of zeal and spirit for his office, clad in his long serge gown, belted with a cord, with bare feet and accurate tonsure, habitual stoop, and generally bearing upon his shoulder a beautiful and saucy bird of the parrot kind, was my beau-ideal of a missionary monk. bregati is a young and handsome italian, whom father calvo sometimes calls st. john. lorente is a tall, grave, and cold-looking catalan. a lay-brother named maguin, who did the cooking, and who was unwearied in his attentions to us, made up the establishment. i was sick here, and think that i shall ever remember with gratitude the affectionate kindness of these pious and devoted friars of st. francis." the government is paternal. the indians recognize in the "padre" the power to appoint and remove curacas, captains, and other officers; to inflict stripes, and to confine in the stocks. they obey the priests' orders readily, and seem tractable and docile. the indian men are drunken and lazy: the women do most of the work; and their reward is to be maltreated by their husbands, and, in their drunken frolics, to be cruelly beaten, and sometimes badly wounded. our party returned to the amazon; and we find occurring in their narrative names which are familiar to us in the history of our previous adventurers. they touched at omaguas, the port where madame godin found kind friends in the good missionary and the governor, and where she embarked on her way to the galiot at loreto; and they passed the mouth of the napo, which enters the amazon from the north,--the river down which orellana passed in the first adventure. the lieutenant says, "we spoke two canoes that had come from near quito by the napo. there are few christianized towns on the napo; and the rowers of the boats were a more savage-looking set than i had seen,"--so slow has been the progress of civilization in three hundred years. the amazon seems to be the land of monkeys. our traveller says, "i bought a young monkey of an indian woman to-day. it had coarse gray and white hair; and that on the top of its head was stiff, like the quills of the porcupine, and smoothed down in front as if it had been combed. i offered the little fellow some plantain; but, finding he would not eat, the woman took him, and put him to her breast, when he sucked away manfully and with great gusto. she weaned him in a week, so that he would eat plantain mashed up, and put into his mouth in small bits; but the little beast died of mortification because i would not let him sleep with his arms around my neck." they got from the indians some of the milk from the cow-tree. this the indians drink, when fresh; and, brought in a calabash, it had a foamy appearance, as if just drawn from the cow. it, however, coagulates very soon, and becomes as hard and tenacious as glue. it does not appear to be as important an article of subsistence as one would expect from the name. dec. 2.--they arrived at loreto, the frontier town of the peruvian territory, and which reminds us again of madame godin, who there joined the portuguese galiot. loreto is situated on an eminence on the left bank of the river, which is here three-fourths of a mile wide, and one hundred feet deep. there are three mercantile houses in loreto, which do a business of about ten thousand dollars a year. the houses at loreto are better built and better furnished than those of the towns on the river above. the population of the place is two hundred and fifty, made up of brazilians, mulattoes, negroes, and a few indians. at the next town, tabatinga, the lieutenant entered the territory of brazil. when his boat, bearing the american flag, was descried at that place, the brazilian flag was hoisted; and when the lieutenant landed, dressed in uniform, he was received by the commandant, also in uniform, to whom he presented his passport from the brazilian minister at washington. as soon as this document was perused, and the lieutenant's rank ascertained, a salute of seven guns was fired from the fort; and the commandant treated him with great civility, and entertained him at his table, giving him roast beef, which was a great treat. it was quite pleasant, after coming from the peruvian villages, which are all nearly hidden in the woods, to see that tabatinga had the forest cleared away from about it; so that a space of forty or fifty acres was covered with green grass, and had a grove of orange-trees in its midst. the commandant told him that the trade of the river was increasing very fast; that, in 1849, scarce one thousand dollars' worth of goods passed up; in 1850, two thousand five hundred dollars; and this year, six thousand dollars. the sarsaparilla seems thus far to have been the principal article of commerce; but here they find another becoming of importance,--_manteca_, or oil made of turtle-eggs. the season for making manteca generally ends by the 1st of november. a commandant is appointed every year to take care of the beaches, prevent disorder, and administer justice. sentinels are placed at the beginning of august, when the turtles commence depositing their eggs. they see that no one wantonly interferes with the turtles, or destroys the eggs. the process of making the oil is very disgusting. the eggs are collected, thrown into a canoe, and trodden into a mass with the feet. water is poured on, and the mass is left to stand in the sun for several days. the oil rises to the top, is skimmed off, and boiled in large copper boilers. it is then put in earthen pots of about forty-five pounds' weight. each pot is worth, on the beach, one dollar and thirty cents; and at parã¡, from two and a half to three dollars. the beaches of the amazon and its tributaries yield from five to six thousand pots annually. it is used for the same purposes as lard with us. chapter xiv. herndon's expedition concluded. on jan. 4, at about the point of the junction of the purus river with the amazon, lieut. herndon remarks, "the banks of the river are now losing the character of savage and desolate solitude that characterizes them above, and begin to show signs of habitation and cultivation. we passed to-day several farms, with neatly framed and plastered houses, and a schooner-rigged vessel lying off several of them." they arrived at the junction of the river negro. this is one of the largest of the tributaries of the amazon, and derives its name from the blackness of its waters. when taken up in a tumbler, the water is a light-red color, like a pale juniper-water, and is probably colored by some such berry. this river, opposite the town of barra, is about a mile and a half wide, and very beautiful. it is navigable for almost any draughts to the masaya, a distance of about four hundred miles: there the rapids commence, and the farther ascent must be made in boats. by this river, a communication exists with the orinoco, by means of a remarkable stream, the cassaquiare, which seems to have been formed for the sole purpose of connecting these two majestic rivers, and the future dwellers upon them, in the bonds of perpetual union. humboldt, the great traveller and philosopher, thus speaks of it, "the cassaquiare, as broad as the rhine, and whose course is one hundred and eighty miles in length, will not much longer form in vain a navigable canal between two basins of rivers which have a surface of one hundred and ninety thousand square leagues. the grain of new grenada will be carried to the banks of the rio negro; boats will descend from the sources of the napo and the ucayali, from the andes of quito and upper peru, to the mouths of the orinoco. a country nine or ten times larger than spain, and enriched with the most varied productions, is accessible in every direction by the medium of the natural canal of the cassaquiare and the bifurcation of the rivers." the greatest of all the tributaries of the amazon is the madeira, whose junction our travellers next reached. for four hundred and fifty miles from its mouth, there is good navigation: then occur cascades, which are navigable only for boats, and occupy three hundred and fifty miles, above which the river is navigable for large vessels, by its great tributaries, into bolivia and brazil. they next entered the country where the cocoa is regularly cultivated; and the banks of the river present a much less desolate and savage appearance than they do above. the cocoa-trees have a yellow-colored leaf; and this, together with their regularity of size, distinguishes them from the surrounding forest. lieut. herndon says, "i do not know a prettier place than one of these plantations. the trees interlock their branches, and, with their large leaves, make a shade impenetrable to any ray of the sun; and the large, golden-colored fruits, hanging from branch and trunk, shine through the green with a most beautiful effect. this is the time of the harvest; and we found the people of every plantation engaged in the open space before the house in breaking open the shells of the fruit, and spreading the seed to dry in the sun. they make a pleasant drink for a hot day by pressing out the juice of the gelatinous pulp that envelops the seeds. it is called cocoa-wine: it is a white, viscid liquor, has an agreeable, acid taste, and is very refreshing." we must hasten on, and pass without notice many spots of interest on the river; but, as we have now reached a comparatively civilized and known region, it is less necessary to be particular. the tapajos river stretches its branches to the town of diamantino, situated at the foot of the mountains, where diamonds are found. lieut. herndon saw some of the diamonds and gold-sand in the possession of a resident of santarem, who had traded much on the river. the gold-dust appeared to him equal in quality to that he had seen from california. gold and diamonds, which are always united in this region as in many others, are found especially in the numerous water-courses, and also throughout the whole country. after the rains, the children of diamantino hunt for the gold contained in the earth even of the streets, and in the bed of the river ouro, which passes through the city; and they often collect considerable quantities. it is stated that diamonds are sometimes found in the stomachs of the fowls. the quantity of diamonds found in a year varies from two hundred and fifty to five hundred _oitavas_; the oitava being about seventeen carats. the value depends upon the quality and size of the specimen, and can hardly be reduced to an estimate. it is seldom that a stone of over half an oitava is found; and such a one is worth from two to three hundred dollars. as an offset to the gold and diamonds, we have this picture of the climate: "from the rising to the setting of the sun, clouds of stinging insects blind the traveller, and render him frantic by the torments they cause. take a handful of the finest sand, and throw it above your head, and you would then have but a faint idea of the number of these demons who tear the skin to pieces. it is true, these insects disappear at night, but only to give place to others yet more formidable. large bats (true, thirsty vampires) literally throng the forests, cling to the hammocks, and, finding a part of the body exposed, rest lightly there, and drain it of blood. the alligators are so numerous, and the noise they make so frightful, that it is impossible to sleep." at santarem they were told the tide was perceptible, but did not perceive it. at gurupa it was very apparent. this point is about five hundred miles from the sea. about thirty-five miles below gurupa commences the great estuary of the amazon. the river suddenly flows out into an immense bay, which might appropriately be called the "bay of a thousand islands;" for it is cut up into innumerable channels. the travellers ran for days through channels varying from fifty to five hundred yards in width, between numberless islands. this is the india-rubber country. the shores are low: indeed, one seldom sees the land at all; the trees on the banks generally standing in the water. the party stopped at one of the establishments for making india-rubber. the house was built of light poles, and on piles, to keep it out of the water, which flowed under and around it. this was the store, and, rude as it was, was a palace compared to the hut of the laborer who gathers the india-rubber. the process is as follows: a longitudinal gash is made in the bark of the tree with a hatchet. a wedge of wood is inserted to keep the gash open; and a small clay cup is stuck to the tree, beneath the gash. the cups may be stuck as close together as possible around the tree. in four or five hours, the milk has ceased to run, and each wound has given from three to five table-spoonfuls. the gatherer then collects it from the cups, pours it into an earthen vessel, and commences the operation of forming it into shapes, and smoking it. this must be done at once, as the juice soon coagulates. a fire is made on the ground, and a rude funnel placed over it to collect the smoke. the maker of the rubber now takes his last, if he is making shoes, or his mould, which is fastened to the end of a stick, pours the milk over it with a cup, and passes it slowly several times through the smoke until it is dry. he then pours on the other coats until he has the required thickness, smoking each coating till it is dry. from twenty to forty coats make a shoe. the soles and heels are, of course, given more coats than the body of the shoe. the figures on the shoes are made by tracing them on the rubber, while soft, with a coarse needle, or bit of wire. this is done two days after the coating. in a week, the shoes are taken from the last. the coating occupies about twenty-five minutes. the tree is tall, straight, and has a smooth bark. it sometimes reaches a diameter of thirteen inches or more. each incision makes a rough wound on the tree, which, although it does not kill it, renders it useless, because a smooth place is wanted to which to attach the cups. the milk is white and tasteless, and may be taken into the stomach with impunity. our travellers arrived at parã¡ on the 12th of april, 1852, and were most hospitably and kindly received by mr. norris, the american consul. the journey of our travellers ends here. lieut. herndon's book is full of instruction, conveyed in a pleasant style. he seems to have manifested throughout good judgment, good temper, energy, and industry. he had no collisions with the authorities or with individuals, and, on his part, seems to have met friendly feelings and good offices throughout his whole route. william lewis herndon was born in fredericksburg, va., on the 25th of october, 1813. he entered the navy at the age of fifteen; served in the mexican war; and was afterwards engaged for three years, with his brother-in-law, lieut. maury, in the national observatory at washington. in 1851-2, he explored the amazon river, under commission of the united-states government. in 1857, he was commander of the steamer "central america," which left havana for new york on sept. 8, having on board four hundred and seventy-four passengers and a crew of one hundred and five men, and about two million dollars of gold. on sept. 11, during a violent gale from the north-east and a heavy sea, she sprung a leak, and sunk, on the evening of sept. 12, near the outer edge of the gulf stream, in lat. 31â° 44â´ n. only one hundred and fifty of the persons on board were saved, including the women and children. the gallant commander of the steamer was seen standing upon the wheel-house at the time of her sinking. in a former chapter, we have told the fate of sir humphrey gilbert. how fair a counterpart of that heroic death is this of the gallant herndon! chapter xv. latest explorations. in the year 1845, an english gentleman, henry walter bates, visited the region of the amazon for the purpose of scientific exploration. he went prepared to spend years in the country, in order to study diligently its natural productions. his stay was protracted until 1859, during which time he resided successively at parã¡, santarem, ega, barra, and other places; making his abode for months, or even years, in each. his account of his observations and discoveries was published after his return, and affords us the best information we possess respecting the country, its inhabitants, and its productions, brought down almost to the present time. our extracts relate to the cities, the river and its shores, the inhabitants civilized and savage, the great tributary rivers, the vegetation, and the animals of various kinds. before proceeding with our extracts, we will remark the various names of the river. it is sometimes called, from the name of its discoverer, "orellana." this name is appropriate and well-sounding, but is not in general use. the name of "maraã±on," pronounced maranyon, is still often used. it is probably derived from the natives. it is called "the river of the amazons," from the fable of its former inhabitants. this name is shortened into "the amazons," and, without the plural sign, "the amazon," in common use. above the junction of the river negro, the river is designated as "the upper amazon," or "solimoens." parã�. "on the morning of the 28th of may, 1848, we arrived at our destination. the appearance of the city at sunrise was pleasing in the highest degree. it is built on a low tract of land, having only one small rocky elevation at its southern extremity: it therefore affords no amphitheatral view from the river; but the white buildings roofed with red tiles, the numerous towers and cupolas of churches and convents, the crowns of palm-trees reared above the buildings, all sharply defined against the clear blue sky, give an appearance of lightness and cheerfulness which is most exhilarating. the perpetual forest hems the city in on all sides landwards; and, towards the suburbs, picturesque country-houses are seen scattered about, half buried in luxuriant foliage. "the impressions received during our first walk can never wholly fade from my mind. after traversing the few streets of tall, gloomy, convent-looking buildings near the port, inhabited chiefly by merchants and shopkeepers; along which idle soldiers, dressed in shabby uniforms, carrying their muskets carelessly over their arms; priests; negresses with red water-jars on their heads; sad-looking indian women, carrying their naked children astride on their hips; and other samples of the motley life of the place,--were seen; we passed down a long, narrow street leading to the suburbs. beyond this, our road lay across a grassy common, into a picturesque lane leading to the virgin forest. the long street was inhabited by the poorer class of the population. the houses were mostly in a dilapidated condition; and signs of indolence and neglect were everywhere visible. but amidst all, and compensating every defect, rose the overpowering beauty of the vegetation. the massive dark crowns of shady mangoes were seen everywhere among the dwellings, amidst fragrant, blossoming orange, lemon, and other tropical fruit-trees,--some in flower, others in fruit at various stages of ripeness. here and there, shooting above the more dome-like and sombre trees, were the smooth columnar stems of palms, bearing aloft their magnificent crowns of finely-cut fronds. on the boughs of the taller and more ordinary-looking trees sat tufts of curiously leaved parasites. slender woody lianas hung in festoons from the branches, or were suspended in the form of cords and ribbons; while luxuriant creeping plants overran alike tree-trunks, roofs, and walls, or toppled over palings in copious profusion of foliage. "as we continued our walk, the brief twilight commenced; and the sounds of multifarious life came from the vegetation around,--the whirring of cicadas; the shrill stridulation of a vast number of crickets and grasshoppers, each species sounding its peculiar note; the plaintive hooting of tree-frogs, all blended together in one continuous ringing sound,--the audible expression of the teeming profusion of nature. this uproar of life, i afterwards found, never wholly ceased, night or day: in course of time, i became, like other residents, accustomed to it. after my return to england, the death-like stillness of summer days in the country appeared to me as strange as the ringing uproar did on my first arrival at parã¡." cametã�. "i staid at cametã¡ five weeks, and made a considerable collection of the natural productions of the neighborhood. the town, in 1849, was estimated to contain about five thousand inhabitants. the productions of the district are cacao, india-rubber, and brazil nuts. the most remarkable feature in the social aspect of the place is the mixed nature of the population,--the amalgamation of the white and indian races being here complete. the aborigines were originally very numerous on the western bank of the tocantins; the principal tribe being the cametã¡s, from which the city takes its name. they were a superior nation, settled, and attached to agriculture, and received with open arms the white immigrants who were attracted to the district by its fertility, natural beauty, and the healthfulness of the climate. the portuguese settlers were nearly all males. the indian women were good-looking, and made excellent wives; so the natural result has been, in the course of two centuries, a complete blending of the two races. "the town consists of three long streets running parallel to the river, with a few shorter ones crossing them at right angles. the houses are very plain; being built, as usual in this country, simply of a strong framework, filled up with mud, and coated with white plaster. a few of them are of two or three stories. there are three churches, and also a small theatre, where a company of native actors, at the time of my visit, were representing light portuguese plays with considerable taste and ability. the people have a reputation all over the province for energy and perseverance; and it is often said that they are as keen in trade as the portuguese. the lower classes are as indolent and sensual here as in other parts of the province,--a moral condition not to be wondered at, where perpetual summer reigns, and where the necessaries of life are so easily obtained. but they are light-hearted, quick-witted, communicative, and hospitable. i found here a native poet, who had written some pretty verses, showing an appreciation of the natural beauties of the country; and was told that the archbishop of bahia, the primate of brazil, was a native of cametã¡. it is interesting to find the mamelucos (half-breeds) displaying talent and enterprise; for it shows that degeneracy does not necessarily result from the mixture of white and indian blood. "the forest behind cametã¡ is traversed by several broad roads, which lead over undulating ground many miles into the interior. they pass generally under shade, and part of the way through groves of coffee and orange trees, fragrant plantations of cacao, and tracts of second-growth woods. the narrow, broad-watered valleys, with which the land is intersected, alone have remained clothed with primeval forest, at least near the town. the houses along these beautiful roads belong chiefly to mameluco, mulatto, and indian families, each of which has its own small plantation. there are only a few planters with large establishments; and these have seldom more than a dozen slaves. besides the main roads, there are endless by-paths, which thread the forest, and communicate with isolated houses. along these the traveller may wander day after day, without leaving the shade, and everywhere meet with cheerful, simple, and hospitable people." rivers and creeks. "we made many excursions down the irritiri, and saw much of these creeks. the magoary is a magnificent channel: the different branches form quite a labyrinth, and the land is everywhere of little elevation. all these smaller rivers throughout the parã¡ estuary are of the nature of creeks. the land is so level, that the short local rivers have no sources and downward currents, like rivers, as we understand them. they serve the purpose of draining the land; but, instead of having a constant current one way, they have a regular ebb and flow with the tide. the natives call them _igarapã©s_, or canoe-paths. they are characteristic of the country. the land is everywhere covered with impenetrable forests: the houses and villages are all on the water-side, and nearly all communication is by water. this semi-aquatic life of the people is one of the most interesting features of the country. for short excursions, and for fishing in still waters, a small boat, called _montaria_, is universally used. it is made of five planks,--a broad one for the bottom, bent into the proper shape by the action of heat, two narrow ones for the sides, and two triangular pieces for stem and stern. it has no rudder: the paddle serves for both steering and propelling. the montaria takes here the place of the horse, mule, or camel of other regions. besides one or more montarias, almost every family has a larger canoe, called _igaritã©_. this is fitted with two masts, a rudder, and keel, and has an arched awning or cabin near the stern, made of a framework of tough _lianas_, thatched with palm-leaves. in the igaritã©, they will cross stormy rivers fifteen or twenty miles broad. the natives are all boat-builders. it is often remarked by white residents, that the indian is a carpenter and shipwright by intuition. it is astonishing to see in what crazy vessels these people will risk themselves. i have seen indians cross rivers in a leaky montaria when it required the nicest equilibrium to keep the leak just above water: a movement of a hair's-breadth would send all to the bottom; but they manage to cross in safety. if a squall overtakes them as they are crossing in a heavily-laden canoe, they all jump overboard, and swim about until the heavy sea subsides, when they re-embark." junction of the madeira. "our course lay through narrow channels between islands. we passed the last of these, and then beheld to the south a sea-like expanse of water, where the madeira, the greatest tributary of the amazons, after two thousand miles of course, blends its waters with those of the king of rivers. i was hardly prepared for a junction of waters on so vast a scale as this, now nearly nine hundred miles from the sea. while travelling week after week along the somewhat monotonous stream, often hemmed in between islands, and becoming thoroughly familiar with it, my sense of the magnitude of this vast water-system had become gradually deadened; but this noble sight renewed the first feelings of wonder. one is inclined, in such places as these, to think the paraenses do not exaggerate much when they call the amazons the mediterranean of south america. beyond the mouth of the madeira, the amazons sweeps down in a majestic reach, to all appearance not a whit less in breadth before than after this enormous addition to its waters. the madeira does not ebb and flow simultaneously with the amazons; it rises and sinks about two months earlier: so that it was now fuller than the main river. its current, therefore, poured forth freely from its mouth, carrying with it a long line of floating trees, and patches of grass, which had been torn from its crumbly banks in the lower part of its course. the current, however, did not reach the middle of the main stream, but swept along nearer to the southern shore. "the madeira is navigable 480 miles from its mouth: a series of cataracts and rapids then commences, which extends, with some intervals of quiet water, about 160 miles, beyond which is another long stretch of navigable stream." junction of the rio negro. "a brisk wind from the east sprung up early in the morning of the 22d: we then hoisted all sail, and made for the mouth of the rio negro. this noble stream, at its junction with the amazons, seems, from its position, to be a direct continuation of the main river; while the solimoens, which joins it at an angle, and is somewhat narrower than its tributary, appears to be a branch, instead of the main trunk, of the vast water-system. "the rio negro broadens considerably from its mouth upward, and presents the appearance of a great lake; its black-dyed waters having no current, and seeming to be dammed up by the impetuous flow of the yellow, turbid solimoens, which here belches forth a continuous line of uprooted trees, and patches of grass, and forms a striking contrast with its tributary. in crossing, we passed the line a little more than half-way over, where the waters of the two rivers meet, and are sharply demarcated from each other. on reaching the opposite shore, we found a remarkable change. all our insect pests had disappeared, as if by magic, even from the hold of the canoe: the turmoil of an agitated, swiftly-flowing river, and its torn, perpendicular, earthy banks, had given place to tranquil water, and a coast indented with snug little bays, fringed with sloping, sandy beaches. the low shore, and vivid, light-green, endlessly varied foliage, which prevailed on the south side of the amazons, were exchanged for a hilly country, clothed with a sombre, rounded, and monotonous forest. a light wind carried us gently along the coast to the city of barra, which lies about seven or eight miles within the mouth of the river. "the town of barra is built on a tract of elevated but very uneven land, on the left bank of the rio negro, and contained, in 1850, about three thousand inhabitants. it is now the principal station for the lines of steamers which were established in 1853; and passengers and goods are trans-shipped here for the solimoens and peru. a steamer runs once a fortnight between parã¡ and barra; and another as often between this place and nauta, in the peruvian territory." mamelucos, or half-breeds. "we landed at one of the cacao-plantations. the house was substantially built; the walls formed of strong, upright posts, lathed across, plastered with mud, and whitewashed; and the roof tiled. the family were mamelucos, or offspring of the european and the indian. they seemed to be an average sample of the poorer class of cacao-growers. all were loosely dressed, and barefooted. a broad veranda extended along one side of the house, the floor of which was simply the well-trodden earth; and here hammocks were slung between the bare upright supports, a large rush-mat being spread on the ground, upon which the stout, matron-like mistress, with a tame parrot perched upon her shoulder, sat sewing with two pretty-looking mulatto-girls. the master, coolly clad in shirt and drawers, the former loose about his neck, lay in his hammock, smoking a long gaudily painted wooden pipe. the household utensils--earthenware jars, water-pots, and sauce-pans--lay at one end, near which was a wood-fire, with the ever-ready coffee-pot simmering on the top of a clay tripod. a large shed stood a short distance off, embowered in a grove of banana, papaw, and mango trees; and under it were the troughs, ovens, sieves, and other apparatus, for the preparation of mandioc. the cleared space around the house was only a few yards in extent: beyond it lay the cacao-plantations, which stretched on each side parallel to the banks of the river. there was a path through the forest, which led to the mandioc-fields, and, several miles beyond, to other houses on the banks of an interior channel. we were kindly received, as is always the case when a stranger visits these out-of-the-way habitations; the people being invariably civil and hospitable. we had a long chat, took coffee; and, on departing, one of the daughters sent a basketful of oranges, for our use, down to the canoe." mã�ra indians. "on the 9th of january, we arrived at matari, a miserable little settlement of mãºra indians. here we again anchored, and went ashore. the place consisted of about twenty slightly built mud-hovels, and had a most forlorn appearance, notwithstanding the luxuriant forest in its rear. the absence of the usual cultivated trees and plants gave the place a naked and poverty-stricken aspect. i entered one of the hovels, where several women were employed cooking a meal. portions of a large fish were roasting over a fire made in the middle of the low chamber; and the entrails were scattered about the floor, on which the women, with their children, were squatted. these had a timid, distrustful expression of countenance; and their bodies were begrimed with black mud, which is smeared over the skin as a protection against musquitoes. the children were naked: the women wore petticoats of coarse cloth, stained in blotches with _murixi_, a dye made from the bark of a tree. one of them wore a necklace of monkey's teeth. there were scarcely any household utensils: the place was bare, with the exception of two dirty grass hammocks hung in the corners. i missed the usual mandioc-sheds behind the house, with their surrounding cotton, cacao, coffee, and lemon trees. two or three young men of the tribe were lounging about the low, open doorway. they were stoutly-built fellows, but less well-proportioned than the semi-civilized indians of the lower amazons generally are. the gloomy savagery, filth, and poverty of the people in this place made me feel quite melancholy; and i was glad to return to the canoe." marauã� tribe. a pleasanter picture is presented by the indians of the marauã¡ tribe. our traveller thus describes a visit to them:-"our longest trip was to some indian houses, a distance of fifteen or eighteen miles up the sapã³; a journey made with one indian paddler, and occupying a whole day. the stream is not more than forty or fifty yards broad: its waters are dark in color, and flow, as in all these small rivers, partly under shade, between two lofty walls of forest. we passed, in ascending, seven habitations, most of them hidden in the luxuriant foliage of the banks; their sites being known only by small openings in the compact wall of forest, and the presence of a canoe or two tied up in little shady ports. the inhabitants are chiefly indians of the marauã¡ tribe, whose original territory comprises all the by-streams lying between the jutahã­ and the juruã¡, near the mouths of both these great tributaries. they live in separate families, or small hordes; have no common chief; and are considered as a tribe little disposed to adopt civilized customs, or be friendly with the whites. one of the houses belonged to a jurã­ family; and we saw the owner, an erect, noble-looking old fellow, tattooed, as customary with his tribe, in a large patch over the middle of his face, fishing, under the shade of a colossal tree, with hook and line. he saluted us in the usual grave and courteous manner of the better sort of indians as we passed by. "we reached the last house, or rather two houses, about ten o'clock, and spent there several hours during the heat of the day. the houses, which stood on a high, clayey bank, were of quadrangular shape, partly open, like sheds, and partly enclosed with rude, mud walls, forming one or two chambers. the inhabitants, a few families of marauã¡s, received us in a frank, smiling manner. none of them were tattooed: but the men had great holes pierced in their ear-lobes, in which they insert plugs of wood; and their lips were drilled with smaller holes. one of the younger men, a fine, strapping fellow, nearly six feet high, with a large aquiline nose, who seemed to wish to be particularly friendly to me, showed me the use of these lip-holes, by fixing a number of little sticks in them, and then twisting his mouth about, and going through a pantomime to represent defiance in the presence of an enemy. "we left these friendly people about four o'clock in the afternoon, and, in descending the umbrageous river, stopped, about half-way down, at another house, built in one of the most charming situations i had yet seen in this country. a clean, narrow, sandy pathway led from the shady port to the house, through a tract of forest of indescribable luxuriance. the buildings stood on an eminence in the middle of a level, cleared space; the firm, sandy soil, smooth as a floor, forming a broad terrace round them. the owner was a semi-civilized indian, named manoel; a dull, taciturn fellow, who, together with his wife and children, seemed by no means pleased at being intruded on in their solitude. the family must have been very industrious; for the plantations were very extensive, and included a little of almost all kinds of cultivated tropical productions,--fruit-trees, vegetables, and even flowers for ornament. the silent old man had surely a fine appreciation of the beauties of nature; for the site he had chosen commanded a view of surprising magnificence over the summits of the forest; and, to give a finish to the prospect, he had planted a large number of banana-trees in the foreground, thus concealing the charred and dead stumps which would otherwise have marred the effect of the rolling sea of greenery. the sun set over the tree-tops before we left this little eden; and the remainder of our journey was made slowly and pleasantly, under the checkered shade of the river banks, by the light of the moon." the forest. the following passage describes the scenery of one of the peculiar channels by which the waters of the amazon communicate with those of the parã¡ river:-"the forest wall under which we are now moving consists, besides palms, of a great variety of ordinary forest-trees. from the highest branches of these, down to the water, sweep ribbons of climbing-plants of the most diverse and ornamental foliage possible. creeping convolvuli and others have made use of the slender lianas and hanging air-roots as ladders to climb by. now and then appears a mimosa or other tree, having similar fine pinnate foliage; and thick masses of ingã¡ border the water, from whose branches hang long bean-pods, of different shape and size according to the species, some of them a yard in length. flowers there are very few. i see now and then a gorgeous crimson blossom on long spikes, ornamenting the sombre foliage towards the summits of the forest. i suppose it to belong to a climber of the combretaceous order. there are also a few yellow and violet trumpet-flowers. the blossoms of the ingã¡s, although not conspicuous, are delicately beautiful. the forest all along offers so dense a front, that one never obtains a glimpse into the interior of the wilderness." the liana. "the plant which seems to the traveller most curious and singular is the liana, a kind of osier, which serves for cordage, and which is very abundant in all the hot parts of america. all the species of this genus have this in common, that they twine around the trees and shrubs in their way, and after progressively extending to the branches, sometimes to a prodigious height, throw out shoots, which, declining perpendicularly, strike root in the ground beneath, and rise again to repeat the same course of uncommon growth. other filaments, again, driven obliquely by the winds, frequently attach themselves to contiguous trees, and form a confused spectacle of cord, some in suspension, and others stretched in every direction, not unfrequently resembling the rigging of a ship. some of these lianas are as thick as the arm of a man; and some strangle and destroy the tree round which they twine, as the boa-constrictor does its victims. at times it happens that the tree dies at the root, and the trunk rots, and falls in powder, leaving nothing but the spirals of liana, in form of a tortuous column, insulated and open to the day. thus nature laughs to scorn and defies the imitations of art." cacao. "the amazons region is the original home of the principal species of chocolate-tree,--the theobroma cacao; and it grows in abundance in the forests of the upper river. the forest here is cleared before planting, and the trees are grown in rows. the smaller cultivators are all very poor. labor is scarce: one family generally manages its own small plantation of ten to fifteen thousand trees; but, at harvest-time, neighbors assist each other. it appeared to me to be an easy, pleasant life: the work is all done under shade, and occupies only a few weeks in the year. "the cultivated crop appears to be a precarious one. little or no care, however, is bestowed on the trees; and weeding is done very inefficiently. the plantations are generally old, and have been made on the low ground near the river, which renders them liable to inundation when this rises a few inches more than the average. there is plenty of higher land quite suitable to the tree; but it is uncleared: and the want of labor and enterprise prevents the establishment of new plantations." the cow-tree. "we had heard a good deal about this tree, and about its producing from its bark a copious supply of milk as pleasant to drink as that of the cow. we had also eaten of its fruit at parã¡, where it is sold in the streets by negro market-women: we were glad, therefore, to see this wonderful tree growing in its native wilds. it is one of the largest of the forest-monarchs, and is peculiar in appearance, on account of its deeply-scored, reddish, and ragged bark. a decoction of the bark, i was told, is used as a red dye for cloth. a few days afterward, we tasted its milk, which was drawn from dry logs that had been standing many days in the hot sun at the saw-mills. it was pleasant with coffee, but had a slight rankness when drunk pure. it soon thickens to a glue, which is very tenacious, and is often used to cement broken crockery. i was told that it was not safe to drink much of it; for a slave had recently lost his life through taking it too freely. "to our great disappointment, we saw no flowers, or only such as were insignificant in appearance. i believe it is now tolerably well ascertained that the majority of forest-trees in equatorial brazil have small and inconspicuous flowers. flower-frequenting insects are also rare in the forest. of course, they would not be found where their favorite food was wanting. in the open country, on the lower amazons, flowering trees and bushes are more abundant; and there a large number of floral insects are attracted. the forest-bees in south america are more frequently seen feeding on the sweet sap which exudes from the trees than on flowers." chapter xvi. the naturalist on the amazon. on the 16th of january, the dry season came abruptly to an end. the sea-breezes, which had been increasing in force for some days, suddenly ceased, and the atmosphere became misty: at length, heavy clouds collected where a uniform blue sky had for many weeks prevailed, and down came a succession of heavy showers, the first of which lasted a whole day and night. this seemed to give a new stimulus to animal life. on the first night, there was a tremendous uproar,--tree-frogs, crickets, goat-suckers, and owls, all joining to perform a deafening concert. one kind of goat-sucker kept repeating at intervals, throughout the night, a phrase similar to the portuguese words, 'joao corta pao,'--'john, cut wood;' a phrase which forms the brazilian name of the bird. an owl in one of the trees muttered now and then a succession of syllables resembling the word 'murucututu.' sometimes the croaking and hooting of frogs and toads were so loud, that we could not hear one another's voices within doors. swarms of dragon-flies appeared in the day-time about the pools of water created by the rain; and ants and termites came forth in great numbers." ants. this region is the very headquarters and metropolis of ants. there are numerous species, differing in character and habits, but all of them at war with man, and the different species with one another. our author thus relates his observations of the saã¼ba-ant:-"in our first walks, we were puzzled to account for large mounds of earth, of a different color from the surrounding soil, which were thrown up in the plantations and woods. some of them were very extensive, being forty yards in circumference, but not more than two feet in height. we soon ascertained that these were the work of the saã¼bas, being the outworks, or domes, which overlie and protect the entrances to their vast subterranean galleries. on close examination, i found the earth of which they are composed to consist of very minute granules, agglomerated without cement, and forming many rows of little ridges and turrets. the difference of color from the superficial soil is owing to their being formed of the undersoil brought up from a considerable depth. it is very rarely that the ants are seen at work on these mounds. the entrances seem to be generally closed: only now and then, when some particular work is going on, are the galleries opened. in the larger hillocks, it would require a great amount of excavation to get at the main galleries; but i succeeded in removing portions of the dome in smaller hillocks, and then i found that the minor entrances converged, at the depth of about two feet, to one broad, elaborately worked gallery, or mine, which was four or five inches in diameter. "the habit of the saã¼ba-ant, of clipping and carrying away immense quantities of leaves, has long been recorded in books of natural history; but it has not hitherto been shown satisfactorily to what use it applies the leaves. i discovered this only after much time spent in investigation. the leaves are used to thatch the domes which cover the entrances to their subterranean dwellings, thereby protecting from the deluging rains the young broods in the nests beneath. small hillocks, covering entrances to the underground chambers, may be found in sheltered places; and these are always thatched with leaves, mingled with granules of earth. the heavily-laden workers, each carrying its segment of leaf vertically, the lower end secured by its mandibles, troop up, and cast their burthens on the hillock; another relay of laborers place the leaves in position, covering them with a layer of earthy granules, which are brought one by one from the soil beneath. "it is a most interesting sight to see the vast host of busy, diminutive workers occupied on this work. unfortunately, they choose cultivated trees for their purpose, such as the coffee and orange trees." the fire-ant. "aveyros may be called the headquarters of the fire-ant, which might be fittingly termed the scourge of this fine river. it is found only on sandy soils, in open places, and seems to thrive most in the neighborhood of houses and weedy villages, such as aveyros: it does not occur at all in the shades of the forest. aveyros was deserted a few years before my visit, on account of this little tormentor; and the inhabitants had only recently returned to their houses, thinking its numbers had decreased. it is a small species, of a shining reddish color. the soil of the whole village is undermined by it. the houses are overrun with them: they dispute every fragment of food with the inhabitants, and destroy clothing for the sake of the starch. all eatables are obliged to be suspended in baskets from the rafters, and the cords well soaked with copaiba-balsam, which is the only thing known to prevent them from climbing. they seem to attack persons from sheer malice. if we stood for a few moments in the street, even at a distance from their nests, we were sure to be overrun, and severely punished; for, the moment an ant touched the flesh, he secured himself with his jaws, doubled in his tail, and stung with all his might. the sting is likened, by the brazilians, to the puncture of a red-hot needle. when we were seated on chairs in the evenings, in front of the house, to enjoy a chat with our neighbors, we had stools to support our feet, the legs of which, as well as those of the chairs, were well anointed with the balsam. the cords of hammocks are obliged to be smeared in the same way, to prevent the ants from paying sleepers a visit." butterflies. "at villa nova, i found a few species of butterflies which occurred nowhere else on the amazons. in the broad alleys of the forest, several species of morpho were common. one of these is a sister-form to the morpho hecuba, and has been described under the name of morpho cisseis. it is a grand sight to see these colossal butterflies by twos and threes floating at a great height in the still air of a tropical morning. they flap their wings only at long intervals; for i have noticed them to sail a very considerable distance without a stroke. their wing-muscles, and the thorax to which they are attached, are very feeble in comparison with the wide extent and weight of the wings; but the large expanse of these members doubtless assists the insects in maintaining their aerial course. the largest specimens of morpho cisseis measure seven inches and a half in expanse. another smaller kind, which i could not capture, was of a pale, silvery-blue color; and the polished surface of its wings flashed like a silver speculum, as the insect flapped its wings at a great elevation in the sunlight." the bird-catching spider. "at cametã¡, i chanced to verify a fact relating to the habits of a large, hairy spider of the genus mygale, in a manner worth recording. the individual was nearly two inches in length of body; but the legs expanded seven inches, and the entire body and legs were covered with coarse gray and reddish hairs. i was attracted by a movement of the monster on a tree-trunk: it was close beneath a deep crevice in the tree, across which was stretched a dense white web. the lower part of the web was broken; and two small birds, finches, were entangled in the pieces. they were about the size of the english siskin; and i judged the two to be male and female. one of them was quite dead; the other lay under the body of the spider, not quite dead, and was smeared with the filthy liquor, or saliva, exuded by the monster. i drove away the spider, and took the birds; but the second one soon died. the fact of a species of mygale sallying forth at night, mounting trees, and sucking the eggs and young of hummingbirds, has been recorded long ago by madame merian and palisot de beauvois; but, in the absence of any confirmation, it has come to be discredited. from the way the fact has been related, it would appear that it had been derived from the report of natives, and had not been witnessed by the narrators. i found the circumstance to be quite a novelty to the residents hereabouts. "the mygales are quite common insects. some species make their cells under stones; others form artificial tunnels in the earth; and some build their dens in the thatch of houses. the natives call them crab-spiders. the hairs with which they are clothed come off when touched, and cause a peculiar and almost maddening irritation. the first specimen that i killed and prepared was handled incautiously; and i suffered terribly for three days afterward. i think this is not owing to any poisonous quality residing in the hairs, but to their being short and hard, and thus getting into the fine creases of the skin. some mygales are of immense size. one day, i saw the children belonging to an indian family who collected for me with one of these monsters, secured by a cord round its waist, by which they were leading it about the house as they would a dog." bats. "at caripã­, near parã¡, i was much troubled by bats. the room where i slept had not been used for many months, and the roof was open to the tiles and rafters. i was aroused about midnight by the rushing noise made by vast hosts of bats sweeping about the room. the air was alive with them. they had put out the lamp; and, when i relighted it, the place appeared blackened with the impish multitudes that were whirling round and round. after i had laid about well with a stick for a few minutes, they disappeared among the tiles; but, when all was still again, they returned, and once more extinguished the light. i took no further notice of them, and went to sleep. the next night, several of them got into my hammock. i seized them as they were crawling over me, and dashed them against the wall. the next morning, i found a wound, evidently caused by a bat, on my hip. this was rather unpleasant: so i set to work with the negroes, and tried to exterminate them. i shot a great many as they hung from the rafters; and the negroes, having mounted with ladders to the roof outside, routed out from beneath the eaves many hundreds of them, including young broods. there were altogether four species. by far the greater number belonged to the dysopes perotis, a species having very large ears, and measuring two feet from tip to tip of the wings. i was never attacked by bats, except on this occasion. the fact of their sucking the blood of persons sleeping, from wounds which they make in the toes, is now well established; but it is only a few persons who are subject to this blood-letting." parrots. "on recrossing the river in the evening, a pretty little parrot fell from a great height headlong into the water near the boat, having dropped from a flock which seemed to be fighting in the air. one of the indians secured it for me; and i was surprised to find the bird uninjured. there had probably been a quarrel about mates, resulting in our little stranger being temporarily stunned by a blow on the head from the beak of a jealous comrade. it was of the species called by the natives maracanã¡; the plumage green, with a patch of scarlet under the wings. i wished to keep the bird alive, and tame it; but all our efforts to reconcile it to captivity were vain: it refused food, bit every one who went near it, and damaged its plumage in its exertions to free itself. my friends in aveyros said that this kind of parrot never became domesticated. after trying nearly a week, i was recommended to lend the intractable creature to an old indian woman living in the village, who was said to be a skilful bird-tamer. in two days, she brought it back almost as tame as the familiar love-birds of our aviaries. i kept my little pet for upward of two years. it learned to talk pretty well, and was considered quite a wonder, as being a bird usually so difficult of domestication. i do not know what arts the old woman used. capt. antonio said she fed it with her saliva. "our maracanã¡ used to accompany us sometimes in our rambles, one of the lads carrying it on his head. one day, in the middle of a long forest-road, it was missed, having clung probably to an overhanging bough, and escaped into the thicket without the boy perceiving it. three hours afterwards, on our return by the same path, a voice greeted us in a colloquial tone as we passed, 'maracanã¡!' we looked about for some time, but could not see any thing, until the word was repeated with emphasis, 'maracanã¡!' when we espied the little truant half concealed in the foliage of a tree. he came down, and delivered himself up, evidently as much rejoiced at the meeting as we were." turtle-eggs and oil. "i accompanied cardozo in many wanderings on the solimoens, or upper amazons, during which we visited the _praias_ (sand-islands), the turtle-pools in the forests, and the by-streams and lakes in the great desert river. his object was mainly to superintend the business of digging up turtle-eggs on the sand-banks; having been elected _commandante_ for the year of the _praia-real_ (royal sand-island) of shimuni, the one lying nearest to ega. there are four of these royal praias within the district, all of which are visited annually by the ega people, for the purpose of collecting eggs, and extracting oil from their yolks. each has its commander, whose business is to make arrangements for securing to every inhabitant an equal chance in the egg-harvest, by placing sentinels to protect the turtles while laying. the turtles descend from the interior pools to the main river in july and august, before the outlets dry up, and then seek, in countless swarms, their favorite sand-islands; for it is only a few praias that are selected by them out of the great number existing. "we left ega, on our first trip to visit the sentinels while the turtles were yet laying, on the 26th of september. we found the two sentinels lodged in a corner of the praia, or sand-bank, where it commences, at the foot of the towering forest-wall of the island; having built for themselves a little rancho with poles and palm-leaves. great preparations are obliged to be taken to avoid disturbing the sensitive turtles, who, previous to crawling ashore to lay, assemble in great shoals off the sand-bank. the men, during this time, take care not to show themselves, and warn off any fisherman who wishes to pass near the place. their fires are made in a deep hollow near the borders of the forest, so that the smoke may not be visible. the passage of a boat through the shallow waters where the animals are congregated, or the sight of a man, or a fire on the sand-bank, would prevent the turtles from leaving the water that night to lay their eggs; and, if the causes of alarm were repeated once or twice, they would forsake the praia for some quieter place. soon after we arrived, our men were sent with the net to catch a supply of fish for supper. in half an hour, four or five large basketsful were brought in. the sun set soon after our meal was cooked: we were then obliged to extinguish the fire, and remove our supper-materials to the sleeping-ground, a spit of land about a mile off; this course being necessary on account of the musquitoes, which swarm at night on the borders of the forest. "i rose from my hammock at daylight, and found cardozo and the men already up, watching the turtles. the sentinels had erected for this purpose a stage about fifty feet high, on a tall tree near their station, the ascent to which was by a roughly-made ladder of woody lianas. the turtles lay their eggs by night, leaving the water in vast crowds, and crawling to the central and highest part of the praia. these places are, of course, the last to go under water, when, in unusually wet seasons, the river rises before the eggs are hatched by the heat of the sand. one would almost believe from this that the animals used forethought in choosing a place; but it is simply one of those many instances in animals where unconscious habit has the same result as conscious prevision. the hours between midnight and dawn are the busiest. the turtles excavate, with their broad-webbed paws, deep holes in the fine sand; the first-comer, in each case, making a pit about three feet deep, laying, its eggs (about a hundred and twenty in number), and covering them with sand; the next making its deposit at the top of that of its predecessor; and so on, until every pit is full. the whole body of turtles frequenting a praia does not finish laying in less than fourteen or fifteen days, even when there is no interruption. when all have done, the area over which they have excavated is distinguishable from the rest of the praia only by signs of the sand having been a little disturbed. "on arriving at the edge of the forest, i mounted the sentinels' stage just in time to see the turtles retreating to the water on the opposite side of the sand-bank after having laid their eggs. the sight was well worth the trouble of ascending the shaky ladder. they were about a mile off; but the surface of the sand was blackened with the multitudes which were waddling towards the river. the margin of the praia was rather steep; and they all seemed to tumble, head-first, down the declivity, into the water." * * * * * when the turtles have finished depositing their eggs, the process of collecting them takes place, of which our author gives an account as follows:-the egg-harvest. "my next excursion was made in company of senior cardozo, in the season when all the population of the villages turns out to dig up turtle-eggs, and to revel on the praias. placards were posted on the church-doors at ega, announcing that the excavation on shimuni would commence on the 17th october. we set out on the 16th, and passed on the way, in our well-manned igaritã© (or two-masted boat), a large number of people, men, women, and children, in canoes of all sizes, wending their way as if to a great holiday gathering. by the morning of the 17th, some four hundred persons were assembled on the borders of the sand-bank; each family having erected a rude temporary shed of poles and palm-leaves to protect themselves from the sun and rain. large copper kettles to prepare the oil, and hundreds of red earthenware jars, were scattered about on the sand. "the excavation of the _taboleiro_, collecting the eggs, and preparing the oil, occupied four days. the commandante first took down the names of all the masters of households, with the number of persons each intended to employ in digging. he then exacted a payment of about fourpence a head towards defraying the expense of sentinels. the whole were then allowed to go to the taboleiro. they ranged themselves round the circle, each person armed with a paddle, to be used as a spade; and then all began simultaneously to dig, on a signal being given--the roll of drums--by order of the commandante. it was an animating sight to behold the wide circle of rival diggers throwing up clouds of sand in their energetic labors, and working gradually toward the centre of the ring. a little rest was taken during the great heat of mid-day; and, in the evening, the eggs were carried to the huts in baskets. by the end of the second day, the taboleiro was exhausted: large mounds of eggs, some of them four or five feet in height, were then seen by the side of each hut, the produce of the labors of the family. "when no more eggs are to be found, the mashing process begins. the egg, it may be mentioned, has a flexible or leathery shell: it is quite round, and somewhat larger than a hen's egg. the whole heap is thrown into an empty canoe, and mashed with wooden prongs; but sometimes naked indians and children jump into the mass, and tread it down, besmearing themselves with the yolk, and making about as filthy a scene as can well be imagined. this being finished, water is poured into the canoe, and the fatty mass then left for a few hours to be heated by the sun, on which the oil separates, and rises to the surface. the floating oil is afterwards skimmed off with long spoons, made by tying large mussel-shells to the end of rods, and purified over the fire in copper-kettles. at least six thousand jars, holding each three gallons of the oil, are exported annually from the upper amazons and the madeira to parã¡, where it is used for lighting, frying fish, and other purposes." electric eels. "we walked over moderately elevated and dry ground for about a mile, and then descended three or four feet to the dry bed of another creek. this was pierced in the same way as the former water-course, with round holes full of muddy water. they occurred at intervals of a few yards, and had the appearance of having been made by the hands of man. as we approached, i was startled at seeing a number of large serpent-like heads bobbing above the surface. they proved to be those of electric eels; and it now occurred to me that the round holes were made by these animals working constantly round and round in the moist, muddy soil. their depth (some of them were at least eight feet deep) was doubtless due also to the movements of the eels in the soft soil, and accounted for their not drying up, in the fine season, with the rest of the creek. thus, while alligators and turtles in this great inundated forest region retire to the larger pools during the dry season, the electric eels make for themselves little ponds in which to pass the season of drought. "my companions now cut each a stout pole, and proceeded to eject the eels in order to get at the other fishes, with which they had discovered the ponds to abound. i amused them all very much by showing how the electric shock from the eels could pass from one person to another. we joined hands in a line, while i touched the biggest and freshest of the animals on the head with my hunting-knife. we found that this experiment did not succeed more than three times with the same eel, when out of the water; for, the fourth time, the shock was hardly perceptible." chapter xvii. animated nature. "the number and variety of climbing trees in the amazons forests are interesting, taken in connection with the fact of the very general tendency of the animals also to become climbers. all the amazonian, and in fact all south-american monkeys, are climbers. there is no group answering to the baboons of the old world, which live on the ground. the gallinaceous birds of the country, the representatives of the fowls and pheasants of asia and africa, are all adapted, by the position of the toes, to perch on trees; and it is only on trees, at a great height, that they are to be seen. many other similar instances could be enumerated." monkeys. "on the upper amazons, i once saw a tame individual of the midas leoninus, a species first described by humboldt, which was still more playful and intelligent than the more common m. ursulus. this rare and beautiful monkey is only seven inches in length, exclusive of the tail. it is named leoninus on account of the long, brown mane which hangs from the neck, and which gives it very much the appearance of a diminutive lion. in the house where it was kept, it was familiar with every one: its greatest pleasure seemed to be to climb about the bodies of different persons who entered. the first time i went in, it ran across the room straightway to the chair on which i had sat down, and climbed up to my shoulder: arrived there, it turned round, and looked into my face, showing its little teeth, and chattering, as though it would say, "well, and how do _you_ do?" m. de st. hilaire relates of a species of this genus, that it distinguished between different objects depicted on an engraving. m. ardouin showed it the portraits of a cat and a wasp: at these it became much terrified; whereas, at the sight of a figure of a grasshopper or beetle, it precipitated itself on the picture, as if to seize the objects there represented." the caiarã�ra. "the light-brown caiarã¡ra is pretty generally distributed over the forests of the level country. i saw it frequently on the banks of the upper amazons, where it was always a treat to watch a flock leaping amongst the trees; for it is the most wonderful performer in this line of the whole tribe. the troops consist of thirty or more individuals, which travel in single file. when the foremost of the flock reaches the outermost branch of an unusually lofty tree, he springs forth into the air without a moment's hesitation, and alights on the dome of yielding foliage belonging to the neighboring tree, maybe fifty feet beneath; all the rest following his example. they grasp, on falling, with hands and tail, right themselves in a moment, and then away they go, along branch and bough, to the next tree. "the caiarã¡ra is very frequently kept as a pet in the houses of natives. i kept one myself for about a year, which accompanied me in my voyages, and became very familiar, coming to me always on wet nights to share my blanket. it keeps the house where it is kept in a perpetual uproar. when alarmed or hungry, or excited by envy, it screams piteously. it is always making some noise or other, often screwing up its mouth, and uttering a succession of loud notes resembling a whistle. mine lost my favor at last by killing, in one of his jealous fits, another and much choicer pet,--the nocturnal, owl-faced monkey. some one had given this a fruit which the other coveted: so the two got to quarrelling. the owl-faced fought only with his paws, clawing out, and hissing, like a cat: the other soon obtained the mastery, and, before i could interfere, finished his rival by cracking its skull with its teeth. upon this i got rid of him." the coaita. "the coaita is a large, black monkey, covered with coarse hair, and having the prominent parts of the face of a tawny, flesh-colored hue. the coaitas are called by some french zoã¶logists spider-monkeys, on account of the length and slenderness of their body and limbs. in these apes, the tail, as a prehensile organ, reaches its highest degree of perfection; and, on this account, it would perhaps be correct to consider the coaita as the extreme development of the american type of apes. "the tail of the coaita is endowed with a wonderful degree of flexibility. it is always in motion, coiling and uncoiling like the trunk of an elephant, and grasping whatever comes within reach. "the flesh of this monkey is much esteemed by the natives in this part of the country; and the military commandant every week sends a negro hunter to shoot one for his table. one day i went on a coaita-hunt, with a negro-slave to show me the way. when in the deepest part of the ravine, we heard a rustling sound in the trees overhead; and manoel soon pointed out a coaita to me. there was something human-like in its appearance, as the lean, shaggy creature moved deliberately among the branches at a great height. i fired, but, unfortunately, only wounded it. it fell, with a crash, headlong, about twenty or thirty feet, and then caught a bough with its tail, which grasped it instantaneously; and there the animal remained suspended in mid-air. before i could reload, it recovered itself, and mounted nimbly to the topmost branches, out of the reach of a fowling-piece, where we could perceive the poor thing apparently probing the wound with its fingers." the tame coaita. "i once saw a most ridiculously tame coaita. it was an old female, which accompanied its owner, a trader on the river, in all his voyages. by way of giving me a specimen of its intelligence and feeling, its master set to, and rated it soundly, calling it scamp, heathen, thief, and so forth, all through the copious portuguese vocabulary of vituperation. the poor monkey, quietly seated on the ground, seemed to be in sore trouble at this display of anger. it began by looking earnestly at him; then it whined, and lastly rocked its body to and fro with emotion, crying piteously, and passing its long, gaunt arms continually over its forehead; for this was its habit when excited, and the front of the head was worn quite bald in consequence. at length, its master altered his tone. 'it's all a lie,' my old woman. 'you're an angel, a flower, a good, affectionate old creature,' and so forth. immediately the poor monkey ceased its wailing, and soon after came over to where the man sat." scarlet-faced monkey. the most singular of the simian family in brazil are the scarlet-faced monkeys, called by the indians uakari, of which there are two varieties, the white and red-haired. mr. bates first met with the white-haired variety under the following circumstances:-"early one sunny morning, in the year 1855, i saw in the streets of ega a number of indians carrying on their shoulders down to the port, to be embarked on the upper amazons steamer, a large cage made of strong lianas, some twelve feet in length, and five in height, containing a dozen monkeys of the most grotesque appearance. their bodies (about eighteen inches in height, exclusive of limbs) were clothed from neck to tail with very long, straight, and shining whitish hair; their heads were nearly bald, owing to the very short crop of thin gray hairs; and their faces glowed with the most vivid scarlet hue. as a finish to their striking physiognomy, they had bushy whiskers of a sandy color, meeting under the chin, and reddish yellow eyes. they sat gravely and silently in a group, and altogether presented a strange spectacle." another interesting creature is the owl-faced night ape. these monkeys are not only owl-faced, but their habits are those of the moping bird. "they sleep all day long in hollow trees, and come forth to prey on insects, and eat fruits, only in the night. they are of small size, the body being about a foot long, and the tail fourteen inches; and are clothed with soft gray and brown fur, similar in substance to that of the rabbit. their physiognomy reminds one of an owl or tiger-cat. the face is round, and encircled by a ruff of whitish fur; the muzzle is not at all prominent; the mouth and chin are small; the ears are very short, scarcely appearing above the hair of the head; and the eyes are large, and yellowish in color, imparting the staring expression of nocturnal animals of prey. the forehead is whitish, and decorated with three black stripes, which, in one of the species, continue to the crown, and in the other meet on the top of the forehead. "these monkeys, although sleeping by day, are aroused by the least noise; so that, when a person passes by a tree in which a number of them are concealed, he is startled by the sudden apparition of a group of little striped faces crowding a hole in a trunk." mr. bates had one of the nyctipithã¦ci for a pet, which was kept in a box containing a broad-mouthed glass jar, into which it would dive, head foremost, when any one entered the room, turning round inside, and thrusting forth its inquisitive face an instant afterward to stare at the intruder. the nyctipithecus, when tamed, renders one very essential service to its owner: it clears the house of bats as well as of insect vermin. the most diminutive of the brazilian monkeys is the "hapale pygmã¦us," only seven inches long in the body, with its little face adorned with long, brown whiskers, which are naturally brushed back over the ears. the general color of the animal is brownish-tawny; but the tail is elegantly barred with black. mr. bates closes his account by stating that the total number of species of monkeys which he found inhabiting the margins of the upper and lower amazons was thirty-eight, belonging to twelve different genera, forming two distinct families. the sloth. "i once had an opportunity, in one of my excursions, of watching the movements of a sloth. some travellers in south america have described the sloth as very nimble in its native woods, and have disputed the justness of the name which has been bestowed upon it. the inhabitants of the amazons region, however, both indians and descendants of the portuguese, hold to the common opinion, and consider the sloth as the type of laziness. it is very common for one native to call to another, in reproaching him for idleness, 'bicho do embaã¼ba' (beast of the cecropia-tree); the leaves of the cecropia being the food of the sloth. it is a strange sight to see the uncouth creature, fit production of these silent woods, lazily moving from branch to branch. every movement betrays, not indolence exactly, but extreme caution. he never looses his hold from one branch without first securing himself to the next; and, when he does not immediately find a bough to grasp with the rigid hooks into which his paws are so curiously transformed, he raises his body, supported on his hind legs, and claws around in search of a fresh foothold. after watching the animal for about half an hour, i gave him a charge of shot: he fell with a terrific crash, but caught a bough in his descent with his powerful claws, and remained suspended. two days afterward, i found the body of the sloth on the ground; the animal having dropped, on the relaxation of the muscles, a few hours after death. in one of our voyages, i saw a sloth swimming across a river at a place where it was probably three hundred yards broad. our men caught the beast, and cooked and ate him." the anaconda. "we had an unwelcome visitor while at anchor in the port. i was awakened a little after midnight, as i lay in my little cabin, by a heavy blow struck at the sides of the canoe close to my head, succeeded by the sound of a weighty body plunging in the water. i got up; but all was quiet again, except the cackle of fowls in our hen-coop, which hung over the side of the vessel, about three feet from the cabin-door. next morning i found my poultry loose about the canoe, and a large rent in the bottom of the hen-coop, which was about two feet from the surface of the water. a couple of fowls were missing. "antonio said the depredator was the sucumjãº, the indian name for the anaconda, or great water-serpent, which had for months past been haunting this part of the river, and had carried off many ducks and fowls from the ports of various houses. i was inclined to doubt the fact of a serpent striking at its prey from the water, and thought an alligator more likely to be the culprit, although we had not yet met with alligators in the river. some days afterward, the young men belonging to the different settlements agreed together to go in search of the serpents. they began in a systematic manner, forming two parties, each embarked in three or four canoes, and starting from points several miles apart, whence they gradually approximated, searching all the little inlets on both sides of the river. the reptile was found at last, sunning itself on a log at the mouth of a muddy rivulet, and despatched with harpoons. i saw it the day after it was killed. it was not a very large specimen, measuring only eighteen feet nine inches in length, and sixteen inches in circumference at the widest part of the body." alligators. "our rancho was a large one, and was erected in a line with the others, near the edge of the sand-bank, which sloped rather abruptly to the water. during the first week, the people were all more or less troubled by alligators. some half-dozen full-grown ones were in attendance off the praia, floating about on the lazily flowing, muddy water. the dryness of the weather had increased since we left shimuni, the currents had slackened, and the heat in the middle of the day was almost insupportable. but no one could descend to bathe without being advanced upon by one or other of these hungry monsters. there was much offal cast into the river; and this, of course, attracted them to the place. every day, these visitors became bolder: at length, they reached a pitch of impudence that was quite intolerable. cardozo had a poodle-dog named carlito, which some grateful traveller whom he had befriended had sent him from rio janeiro. he took great pride in this dog, keeping it well sheared, and preserving his coat as white as soap and water could make it. we slept in our rancho, in hammocks slung between the outer posts; a large wood fire (fed with a kind of wood abundant on the banks of the river, which keeps alight all night) being made in the middle, by the side of which slept carlito on a little mat. one night, i was awoke by a great uproar. it was caused by cardozo hurling burning firewood with loud curses at a huge cayman, which had crawled up the bank, and passed beneath my hammock (being nearest the water) towards the place where carlito lay. the dog raised the alarm in time. the reptile backed out, and tumbled down the bank into the river; the sparks from the brands hurled at him flying from his bony hide. cardozo threw a harpoon at him, but without doing him any harm." the puma. "one day, i was searching for insects in the bark of a fallen tree, when i saw a large, cat-like animal advancing towards the spot. it came within a dozen yards before perceiving me. i had no weapon with me but an old chisel, and was getting ready to defend myself if it should make a spring; when it turned round hastily, and trotted off. i did not obtain a very distinct view of it; but i could see its color was that of the puma, or american lion, although it was rather too small for that species. "the puma is not a common animal in the amazons forests. i did not see altogether more than a dozen skins in the possession of the natives. the fur is of a fawn-color. the hunters are not at all afraid of it, and speak in disparaging terms of its courage. of the jaguar they give a very different account." the great ant-eater. "the great ant-eater, _tamandua_ of the natives, was not uncommon here. after the first few weeks of residence, i was short of fresh provisions. the people of the neighborhood had sold me all the fowls they could spare. i had not yet learned to eat the stale and stringy salt fish which is the staple food of these places; and for several days i had lived on rice-porridge, roasted bananas, and farinha. florinda asked me whether i could eat tamandua. i told her almost any thing in the shape of flesh would be acceptable: so she went the next day with an old negro named antonio, and the dogs, and, in the evening, brought one of the animals. the meat was stewed, and turned out very good, something like goose in flavor. the people of caripã­ would not touch a morsel, saying it was not considered fit to eat in those parts. i had read, however, that it was an article of food in other countries of south america. during the next two or three weeks, whenever we were short of fresh meat, antonio was always ready, for a small reward, to get me a tamandua. "the habits of the animal are now pretty well known. it has an excessively long, slender muzzle, and a worm-like, extensile tongue. its jaws are destitute of teeth. the claws are much elongated, and its gait is very awkward. it lives on the ground, and feeds on termites, or white ants; the long claws being employed to pull in pieces the solid hillocks made by the insects, and the long flexible tongue to lick them up from the crevices." the jaguar. our traveller, though he resided long and in various parts of the amazon country, never saw there a jaguar. how near he came to seeing one appears in the following extract. this animal is the nearest approach which america presents to the leopards and tigers of the old world. "after walking about half a mile, we came upon a dry water-course, where we observed on the margin of a pond the fresh tracks of a jaguar. this discovery was hardly made, when a rush was heard amidst the bushes on the top of a sloping bank, on the opposite side of the dried creek. we bounded forward: it was, however, too late; for the animal had sped in a few minutes far out of our reach. it was clear we had disturbed on our approach the jaguar while quenching his thirst at the water-hole. a few steps farther on, we saw the mangled remains of an alligator. the head, fore-quarters, and bony shell, were all that remained: but the meat was quite fresh, and there were many footmarks of the jaguar around the carcass; so that there was no doubt this had formed the solid part of the animal's breakfast." parã�. "i arrived at parã¡ on the 17th of march, 1859, after an absence in the interior of seven years and a half. my old friends, english, american, and brazilian, scarcely knew me again, but all gave me a very warm welcome. i found parã¡ greatly changed and improved. it was no longer the weedy, ruinous, village-looking place that it had appeared when i first knew it in 1848. the population had been increased to twenty thousand by an influx of portuguese, madeiran, and german immigrants; and, for many years past, the provincial government had spent their considerable surplus revenue in beautifying the city. the streets, formerly unpaved, or strewed with stones and sand, were now laid with concrete in a most complete manner: all the projecting masonry of the irregularly-built houses had been cleared away, and the buildings made more uniform. most of the dilapidated houses were replaced by handsome new edifices, having long and elegant balconies fronting the first floors, at an elevation of several feet above the roadway. the large swampy squares had been drained, weeded, and planted with rows of almond and other trees; so that they were now a great ornament to the city, instead of an eye-sore as they formerly were. sixty public vehicles, light cabriolets, some of them built in parã¡, now plied in the streets, increasing much the animation of the beautified squares, streets, and avenues. i was glad to see several new book-sellers' shops; also a fine edifice devoted to a reading-room, supplied with periodicals, globes, and maps; and a circulating library. there were now many printing-offices, and four daily newspapers. the health of the place had greatly improved since 1850,--the year of the yellow-fever; and parã¡ was now considered no longer dangerous to new-comers. "so much for the improvements visible in the place; and now for the dark side of the picture. the expenses of living had increased about fourfold; a natural consequence of the demand for labor and for native products of all kinds having augmented in greater ratio than the supply, in consequence of large arrivals of non-productive residents, and considerable importations of money, on account of the steamboat-company and foreign merchants. "at length, on the 2d of june, i left parã¡,--probably forever. i took a last view of the glorious forest for which i had so much love, and to explore which i had devoted so many years. the saddest hours i recollect ever to have spent were those of the succeeding night, when, the pilot having left us out of sight of land, though within the mouth of the river, waiting for a wind, i felt that the last link which connected me with the land of so many pleasing recollections was broken." the end. press of geo. c. rand & avery, no. 3, cornhill, boston. +------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | | original document have been preserved. | | | | typographical errors corrected in the text: | | | | page 74 sascatchawan changed to saskatchawan | | page 103 cameawait changed to cameahwait | | page 192 chinnook changed to chinook | | page 198 chinnooks changed to chinooks | | page 199 chinnooks changed to chinooks | | page 199 killamucks changed to killimucks | | page 212 wakiacums changed to wahkiacums | | page 224 kooskooskie changed to kooskooskee | | page 224 sacajaweah chanaged to sacajawea | | page 232 kooskooskie changed to kooskooskee | | page 295 palmitoes changed to palmitos | | page 299 groweth changed to growth | | page 360 pursuaded changed to persuaded | +------------------------------------------------+ [frontispiece: stealing from the fort by night.] pathfinders of the west being the thrilling story of the adventures of the men who discovered the great northwest radisson, la vérendrye, lewis and clark by a. c. laut author of "lords of the north," "heralds of empire," "story of the trapper" illustrations by remington, goodwin, marchand and others new york grosset & dunlap publishers copyright, 1904, by the macmillan company. set up and electrotyped. published november, 1904. reprinted february, 1906. wildwood place, wassaic, n.y. august 15, 1904. dear mr. sulte: a few years ago, when i was a resident of the far west and tried to trace the paths of early explorers, i found that all authorities--first, second, and third rate--alike referred to one source of information for their facts. the name in the tell-tale footnote was invariably your own. while i assume _all_ responsibility for upsetting the apple cart of established opinions by this book, will you permit me to dedicate it to you as a slight token of esteem to the greatest living french-canadian historian, from whom we have all borrowed and to whom few of us have rendered the tribute due? faithfully, agnes c. laut. mr. benjamin sulte, president royal society, ottawa, canada. the great northwest i love thee, o thou great, wild, rugged land of fenceless field and snowy mountain height, uprearing crests all starry-diademed above the silver clouds! a sea of light swims o'er thy prairies, shimmering to the sight a rolling world of glossy yellow wheat that runs before the wind in billows bright as waves beneath the beat of unseen feet, and ripples far as eye can see--as far and fleet! here's chances for every man! the hands that work become the hands that rule! thy harvests yield only to him who toils; and hands that shirk must empty go! and here the hands that wield the sceptre work! o glorious golden field! o bounteous, plenteous land of poet's dream! o'er thy broad plain the cloudless sun ne'er wheeled but some dull heart was brightened by its gleam to seize on hope and realize life's highest dream! thy roaring tempests sweep from out the north- ten thousand cohorts on the wind's wild mane- no hand can check thy frost-steeds bursting forth to gambol madly on the storm-swept plain! thy hissing snow-drifts wreathe their serpent train, with stormy laughter shrieks the joy of might- or lifts, or falls, or wails upon the wane- thy tempests sweep their stormy trail of white across the deepening drifts--and man must die, or fight! yes, man must sink or fight, be strong or die! that is thy law, o great, free, strenuous west! the weak thou wilt make strong till he defy thy bufferings; but spacious prairie breast will never nourish weakling as its guest! he must grow strong or die! thou givest all an equal chance--to work, to do their best- free land, free hand--thy son must work or fall grow strong or die! that message shrieks the storm-wind's call! and so i love thee, great, free, rugged land of cloudless summer days, with west-wind croon, and prairie flowers all dewy-diademed, and twilights long, with blood-red, low-hung moon and mountain peaks that glisten white each noon through purple haze that veils the western sky- and well i know the meadow-lark's far rune as up and down he lilts and circles high and sings sheer joy--be strong, be free; be strong or die! foreword the question will at once occur why no mention is made of marquette and jolliet and la salle in a work on the pathfinders of the west. the simple answer is--they were _not_ pathfinders. contrary to the notions imbibed at school, and repeated in all histories of the west, marquette, jolliet, and la salle did not discover the vast region beyond the great lakes. twelve years before these explorers had thought of visiting the land which the french hunter designated as the _pays d'en haut_, the west had already been discovered by the most intrepid _voyageurs_ that france produced,--men whose wide-ranging explorations exceeded the achievements of cartier and champlain and la salle put together. it naturally rouses resentment to find that names revered for more than two centuries as the first explorers of the great northwest must give place to a name almost unknown. it seems impossible that at this late date history should have to be rewritten. such is the fact _if we would have our history true_. not marquette, jolliet, and la salle discovered the west, but two poor adventurers, who sacrificed all earthly possessions to the enthusiasm for discovery, and incurred such bitter hostility from the governments of france and england that their names have been hounded to infamy. these were sieur pierre esprit radisson and sieur médard chouart groseillers, fur traders of three rivers, quebec. [1] the explanation of the long oblivion obscuring the fame of these two men is very simple. radisson and groseillers defied, first new france, then old france, and lastly england. while on friendly terms with the church, they did not make their explorations subservient to the propagation of the faith. in consequence, they were ignored by both church and state. the _jesuit relations_ repeatedly refer to two young frenchmen who went beyond lake michigan to a "forked river" (the mississippi), among the sioux and other indian tribes that used coal for fire because wood did not grow large enough on the prairie. contemporaneous documents mention the exploits of the young frenchmen. the state papers of the marine department, paris, contain numerous references to radisson and groseillers. but, then, the _jesuit relations_ were not accessible to scholars, let alone the general public, until the middle of the last century, when a limited edition was reprinted of the cramoisy copies published at the time the priests sent their letters home to france. the contemporaneous writings of marie de l'incarnation, the abbé belmont, and dollier de casson were not known outside the circle of french savants until still later; and it is only within recent years that the archives of paris have been searched for historical data. meantime, the historians of france and england, animated by the hostility of their respective governments, either slurred over the discoveries of radisson and groseillers entirely, or blackened their memories without the slightest regard to truth. it would, in fact, take a large volume to contradict and disprove half the lies written of these two men. instead of consulting contemporaneous documents,--which would have entailed both cost and labor,--modern writers have, unfortunately, been satisfied to serve up a rehash of the detractions written by the old historians. in 1885 came a discovery that punished such slovenly methods by practically wiping out the work of the pseudo-historians. there was found in the british museum, the bodleian library, and hudson's bay house, london, unmistakably authentic record of radisson's voyages, written by himself. the prince society of boston printed two hundred and fifty copies of the collected journals. the canadian archives published the journals of the two last voyages. francis parkman was too conscientious to ignore the importance of the find; but his history of the west was already written. he made what reparation he could to radisson's memory by appending a footnote to subsequent editions of two of his books, stating that radisson and groseillers' travels took them to the "forked river" before 1660. some ten other lines are all that mr. parkman relates of radisson; and the data for these brief references have evidently been drawn from radisson's enemies, for the explorer is called "a renegade." it is necessary to state this, because some writers, whose zeal for criticism was much greater than their qualifications, wanted to know why any one should attempt to write radisson's life when parkman had already done so. radisson's life reads more like a second robinson crusoe than sober history. for that reason i have put the corroborative evidence in footnotes, rather than cumber the movement of the main theme. i am sorry to have loaded the opening parts with so many notes; but radisson's voyages change the relative positions of the other explorers so radically that proofs must be given. the footnotes are for the student and may be omitted by the general reader. the study of radisson arose from, using his later exploits on hudson bay as the subject of the novel, _heralds of empire_. on the publication of that book, several letters came from the western states asking how far i thought radisson had gone beyond lake superior before he went to hudson bay. having in mind--i am sorry to say--mainly the early records of radisson's enemies, i at first answered that i thought it very difficult to identify the discoverer's itinerary beyond the great lakes. so many letters continued to come on the subject that i began to investigate contemporaneous documents. the path followed by the explorer west of the great lakes--as given by radisson himself--is here written. full corroboration of all that radisson relates is to be found--as already stated--in chronicles written at the period of his life and in the state papers. copies of these i have in my possession. samples of the papers bearing on radisson's times, copied from the marine archives, will be found in the appendix. one must either accept the explorer's word as conclusive,--even when he relates his own trickery,--or in rejecting his journal also reject as fictions the _jesuit relations_, the _marine archives_, _dollier de casson_, _marie de l'incarnation_, and the _abbé belmont_, which record the same events as radisson. in no case has reliance been placed on second-hand chronicles. oldmixon and charlevoix must both have written from hearsay; therefore, though quoted in the footnotes, they are not given as conclusive proof. the only means of identifying radisson's routes are (1) by his descriptions of the countries, (2) his notes of the indian tribes; so that personal knowledge of the territory is absolutely essential in following radisson's narrative. all the regions traversed by radisson--the ottawa, the st. lawrence, the great lakes, labrador, and the great northwest--i have visited, some of them many times, except the shores of hudson bay, and of that region i have some hundreds of photographs. material for the accounts of the other pathfinders of the west has been drawn directly from the different explorers' journals. for historical matter i wish to express my indebtedness to dr. n. e. dionne of the parliamentary library, quebec, whose splendid sketch of radisson and groseillers, read before the royal society of canada, does much to redeem the memory of the discoverers from ignominy; to dr. george bryce of winnipeg, whose investigation of hudson's bay archives adds a new chapter to radisson's life; to mr. benjamin sulte of ottawa, whose destructive criticism of inaccuracies in old and modern records has done so much to stop people writing history out of their heads and to put research on an honest basis; and to m. edouard richard for scholarly advice relating to the marine archives, which he has exploited so thoroughly. for transcripts and archives now out of print, thanks are due mr. l. p. sylvain of the parliamentary library, ottawa, the officials of the archives department, ottawa, mr. f. c. wurtele of quebec, professor andrew baird of winnipeg, mr. alfred matthews of the prince society, boston, the hon. jacob v. brower and mr. warren upham of st. paul. mr. lawrence j. burpee of ottawa was so good as to give me a reading of his exhaustive notes on la vérendrye and of data found on the radisson family. to mrs. fred paget of ottawa, the daughter of a hudson's bay company officer, and to mr. and mrs. c. c. farr of the northern ottawa, i am indebted for interesting facts on life in the fur posts. miss talbot of winnipeg obtained from retired officers of the hudson's bay company a most complete set of photographs relating to the fur trade. to her and to those officers who loaned old heirlooms to be photographed, i beg to express my cordial appreciation. and the thanks of all who write on the north are permanently due mr. c. c. chipman, chief commissioner of the hudson's bay company, for unfailing courtesy in extending information. wildwood place, wassaic, n.y. [1] i of course refer to the west as beyond the great lakes; for nicotet, in 1634, and two nameless frenchmen--servants of jean de lauzon--in 1654, had been beyond the sault. just as this volume was going to the printer, i received a copy of the very valuable minnesota _memoir_, vol. vi, compiled by the hon. j. v. brower of st. paul, to whom my thanks are due for this excellent contribution to western annals. it may be said that the authors of this volume have done more than any other writers to vindicate radisson and groseillers as explorers of the west. the very differences of opinion over the regions visited establish the fact that radisson _did_ explore parts of minnesota. i have purposely avoided trying to say _what_ parts of minnesota he exploited, because, it seems to me, the controversy is futile. radisson's memory has been the subject of controversy from the time of his life. the controversy--first between the governments of france and england, subsequently between the french and english historians--has eclipsed the real achievements of radisson. to me it seems non-essential as to whether radisson camped on an island in the mississippi, or only visited the region of that island. the fact remains that he discovered the great northwest, meaning by that the region west of the mississippi. the same dispute has obscured his explorations of hudson bay, french writers maintaining that he went overland to the north and put his feet in the waters of the bay, the english writers insisting that he only crossed over the watershed toward hudson bay. again, the fact remains that he did what others had failed to do--discovered an overland route to the bay. i am sorry that radisson is accused in this _memoir_ of intentionally falsifying his relations in two respects, (1) in adding a fanciful year to the 1658-1660 voyage; (2) in saying that he had voyaged down the mississippi to mexico. (1) internal evidence plainly shows that radisson's first four voyages were written twenty years afterward, when he was in london, and not while on the voyage across the atlantic with cartwright, the boston commissioner. it is the most natural thing in the world that radisson, who had so often been to the wilds, should have mixed his dates. every slip as to dates is so easily checked by contemporaneous records--which, themselves, need to be checked--that it seems too bad to accuse radisson of wilfully lying in the matter. when radisson lied it was to avoid bloodshed, and not to exalt himself. if he had had glorification of self in mind, he would not have set down his own faults so unblushingly; for instance, where he deceives m. colbert of paris. (2) radisson does not try to give the impression that he went to mexico. the sense of the context is that he met an indian tribe--illinois, mandans, omahas, or some other--who lived next to another tribe who told _of_ the spaniards. i feel almost sure that the scholarly mr. benjamin sulte is right in his letter to me when he suggests that radisson's manuscript has been mixed by transposition of pages or paragraphs, rather than that radisson himself was confused in his account. at the same time every one of the contributors to the minnesota _memoir_ deserves the thanks of all who love _true_ history. addendum since the above foreword was written, the contents of this volume have appeared serially in four new york magazines. the context of the book was slightly abridged in these articles, so that a very vital distinction--namely, the difference between what is given as in dispute, and what is given as incontrovertible fact--was lost; but what was my amusement to receive letters from all parts of the west all but challenging me to a duel. one wants to know "how a reputable author dare" suggest that radisson's voyages be taken as authentic. there is no "dare" about it. it is a fact. for any "reputable" historian to suggest--as two recently have--that radisson's voyages are a fabrication, is to stamp that historian as a pretender who has not investigated a single record contemporaneous with radisson's life. one cannot consult documents contemporaneous with his life and not learn instantly that he was a very live fact of the most troublesome kind the governments of france and england ever had to accept. that is why it impresses me as a presumption that is almost comical for any modern writer to condescend to say that he "accepts" or "rejects" this or that part of radisson's record. if he "rejects" radisson, he also rejects the _marine archives of paris_, and the _jesuit relations_, which are the recognized sources of our early history. another correspondent furiously denounces radisson as a liar because he mixes his dates of the 1660 trip. it would be just as reasonable to call la salle a liar because there are discrepancies in the dates of his exploits, as to call radisson a liar for the slips in his dates. when the mistakes can be checked from internal evidence, one is hardly justified in charging falsification. a third correspondent is troubled by the reference to the mascoutin indians being _beyond_ the mississippi. state documents establish this fact. i am not responsible for it; and radisson could not circle west-northwest from the mascoutins to the great encampments of the sioux without going far west of the mississippi. even if the jesuits make a slip in referring to the sioux's use of some kind of coal for fire because there was no wood on the prairie, and really mean turf or buffalo refuse,--which i have seen the sioux use for fire,--the fact is that only the tribes far west of the mississippi habitually used such substitutes for wood. my wisconsin correspondents i have offended by saying that radisson went beyond the wisconsin; my minnesota friends, by saying that he went beyond minnesota; and my manitoba co-workers of past days, by suggesting that he ever went beyond manitoba. the fact remains that when we try to identify radisson's voyages, we must take his own account of his journeyings; and that account establishes him as the discoverer of the northwest. for those who know, i surely do not need to state that there is no picture of radisson extant, and that some of the studies of his life are just as genuine (?) as alleged old prints of his likeness. contents part one pierre esprit radisson adventures of the first white man to explore the west, the northwest, and the north chapter i radisson's first voyage the boy radisson is captured by the iroquois and carried to the mohawk valley--in league with another captive, he slays their guards and escapes--he is overtaken in sight of home--tortured and adopted in the tribe, he visits orange, where the dutch offer to ransom him--his escape chapter ii radisson's second voyage radisson returns to quebec, where he joins the jesuits to go to the iroquois mission--he witnesses the massacre of the hurons among the thousand islands--besieged by the iroquois, they pass the winter as prisoners of war--conspiracy to massacre the french foiled by radisson chapter iii radisson's third voyage the discovery of the great northwest--radisson and his brother-in-law, groseillers, visit what are now wisconsin, minnesota, dakota, and the canadian northwest--radisson's prophecy on first beholding the west--twelve years before marquette and jolliet, radisson sees the mississippi--the terrible remains of dollard's fight seen on the way down the ottawa--why radisson's explorations have been ignored chapter iv radisson's fourth voyage the success of the explorers arouses envy--it becomes known that they have heard of the famous sea of the north--when they ask permission to resume their explorations, the french governor refuses except on condition of receiving half the profits--in defiance, the explorers steal off at midnight--they return with a fortune and are driven from new france chapter v radisson renounces allegiance to two crowns rival traders thwart the plans of the discoverers--entangled in lawsuits, the two french explorers go to england--the organization of the hudson's bay fur company--radisson the storm-centre of international intrigue--boston merchants in the struggle to capture the fur trade chapter vi radisson gives up a career in the navy for the fur trade though opposed by the monopolists of quebec, he secures ships for a voyage to hudson bay--here he encounters a pirate ship from boston and an english ship of the hudson's bay company--how he plays his cards to win against both rivals chapter vii the last voyage of radisson to hudson bay france refuses to restore the confiscated furs and radisson tries to redeem his fortune--reëngaged by england, he captures back fort nelson, but comes to want in his old age--his character part two the search for the western sea, being an account of the discovery of the rocky mountains, the missouri uplands, and the valley of the saskatchewan chapter viii the search for the western sea m. de la vérendrye continues the exploration of the great northwest by establishing a chain of fur posts across the continent--privations of the explorers and the massacre of twenty followers--his sons visit the mandans and discover the rockies--the valley of the saskatchewan is next explored, but jealousy thwarts the explorer, and he dies in poverty part three search for the northwest passage leads samuel hearne to the arctic circle and athabasca region chapter ix samuel hearne the adventures of hearne in his search for the coppermine river and northwest passage--hilarious life of wassail led by governor norton--the massacre of the eskimo by hearne's indians north of the arctic circle--discovery of the athabasca country--hearne becomes resident governor of the hudson's bay company, but is captured by the french--death of norton and suicide of matonabbee part four first across the rockies--how mackenzie crossed the northern rockies and lewis and clark were first to cross from missouri to columbia chapter x first across the rockies how mackenzie found the great river named after him and then pushed across the mountains to the pacific, forever settling the question of a northwest passage chapter xi lewis and clark the first white men to ascend the missouri to its sources and descend the columbia to the pacific--exciting adventures on the cañons of the missouri, the discovery of the great falls and the yellowstone--lewis' escape from hostiles appendix index illustrations stealing from the fort by night . . . . . . frontispiece map of the great fur country three rivers in 1757 map of the iroquois country in the days of radisson albany from an old print the battery, new york, in radisson's time fort amsterdam, from an ancient engraving executed in holland one of the earliest maps of the great lakes paddling past hostiles jogues, the jesuit missionary, who was tortured by the mohawks château de ramezay, montreal a cree brave, with the wampum string an old-time buffalo hunt on the plains among the sioux father marquette, from an old painting discovered in montreal voyageurs running the rapids of the ottawa river montreal in 1760 château st. louis, quebec, 1669 a parley on the plains martello tower of refuge in time of indian wars--three rivers skin for skin, coat of arms and motto, hudson's bay company hudson's bay company coins, made of lead melted from tea-chests at york factory hudson bay dog trains laden with furs arriving at lower fort garry, red river indians and hunters spurring to the fight fights at the foothills of the rockies, between crows and snakes each man landed with pack on his back and trotted away over portages a cree indian of the minnesota borderlands a group of cree indians the soldiers marched out from mount royal for the western sea traders' boats running the rapids of the athabasca river the ragged sky-line of the mountains hungry hall, 1870 a monarch of the plains fur traders towed down the saskatchewan in the summer of 1900 tepees dotted the valley an eskimo belle samuel hearne eskimo using double-bladed paddle eskimo family, taken by light of midnight sun fort garry, winnipeg, a century ago plan of fort prince of wales, from robson's drawing, 1733-1747 fort prince of wales beaver coin of the hudson's bay company alexander mackenzie eskimo trading his pipe, carved from walrus tusk, for the value of three beaver skins quill and beadwork on buckskin fort william, headquarters northwest company, lake superior running a rapid on mackenzie river slave lake indians good hope, mackenzie river, hudson's bay company fort the mouth of the mackenzie by the light of the midnight sun captain meriwether lewis captain william clark tracking up stream typical mountain trapper the discovery of the great falls fighting a grizzly packer carrying goods across portage spying on enemy's fort indian camp at foothills of rockies on guard indians of the up-country or pays d'en haut part i pierre esprit radisson adventures of the first white man to explore the west, the northwest, and the north [illustration: map of the great fur company.] pathfinders of the west chapter i 1651-1653 radisson's first voyage the boy radisson is captured by the iroquois and carried to the mohawk valley--in league with another captive, he slays their guards and escapes--he is overtaken in sight of home--tortured and adopted in the tribe, he visits orange, where the dutch offer to ransom him--his escape early one morning in the spring of 1652 three young men left the little stockaded fort of three rivers, on the north bank of the st. lawrence, for a day's hunting in the marshes of lake st. peter. on one side were the forested hills, purple with the mists of rising vapor and still streaked with white patches of snow where the dense woods shut out the sunlight. on the other lay the silver expanse of the st. lawrence, more like a lake than a river, with mile on mile southwestward of rush-grown marshes, where plover and curlew and duck and wild geese flocked to their favorite feeding-grounds three hundred years ago just as they do to-day. northeastward, the three mouths of the st. maurice poured their spring flood into the st. lawrence. the hunters were very young. only hunters rash with the courage of untried youth would have left the shelter of the fort walls when all the world knew that the iroquois had been lying in ambush round the little settlement of three rivers day and night for the preceding year. not a week passed but some settler working on the outskirts of three rivers was set upon and left dead in his fields by marauding iroquois. the tortures suffered by jogues, the great jesuit missionary who had been captured by the iroquois a few years before, were still fresh in the memory of every man, woman, and child in new france. it was from three rivers that piescaret, the famous algonquin chief who could outrun a deer, had set out against the iroquois, turning his snowshoes back to front, so that the track seemed to lead north when he was really going south, and then, having thrown his pursuers off the trail, coming back on his own footsteps, slipping up stealthily on the iroquois that were following the false scent, and tomahawking the laggards.[1] it was from three rivers that the mohawks had captured the algonquin girl who escaped by slipping off the thongs that bound her. stepping over the prostrate forms of her sleeping guards, such a fury of revenge possessed her that she seized an axe and brained the nearest sleeper, then eluded her pursuers by first hiding in a hollow tree and afterward diving under the debris of a beaver dam. [illustration: three rivers in 1757.] these things were known to every inhabitant of three rivers. farmers had flocked into the little fort and could venture back to their fields only when armed with a musket.[2] yet the three young hunters rashly left the shelter of the fort walls and took the very dangerous path that led between the forests and the water. one of the young men was barely in his seventeenth year.[3] this was pierre esprit radisson, from st. malo, the town of the famous cartier. young radisson had only come to new france the year before, and therefore could not realize the dangers of indian warfare. like boys the world over, the three went along, boasting how they would fight if the indians came. one skirted the forest, on the watch for iroquois, the others kept to the water, on the lookout for game. about a mile from three rivers they encountered a herdsman who warned them to keep out from the foot of the hills. things that looked like a multitude of heads had risen out of the earth back there, he said, pointing to the forests. that set the young hunters loading their pistols and priming muskets. it must also have chilled their zest; for, shooting some ducks, one of the young men presently declared that he had had enough--he was going back. with that daring which was to prove both the lodestar and the curse of his life, young radisson laughed to scorn the sudden change of mind. thereupon the first hunter was joined by the second, and the two went off in high dudgeon. with a laugh, pierre radisson marched along alone, foreshadowing his after life,--a type of every pathfinder facing the dangers of the unknown with dauntless scorn, an immortal type of the world-hero. shooting at every pace and hilarious over his luck, radisson had wandered some nine miles from the fort, when he came to a stream too deep to ford and realized that he already had more game than he could possibly carry. hiding in hollow trees what he could not bring back, he began trudging toward three rivers with a string of geese, ducks, and odd teal over his shoulders, wading swollen brooks and scrambling over windfalls, he retraced his way without pause till he caught sight of the town chapel glimmering in the sunlight against the darkening horizon above the river. he was almost back where his comrades had left him; so he sat down to rest. the cowherd had driven his cattle back to three rivers.[4] the river came lapping through the rushes. there was a clacking of wild-fowl flocking down to their marsh nests; perhaps a crane flopped through the reeds; but radisson, who had laughed the nervous fears of the others to scorn, suddenly gave a start at the lonely sounds of twilight. then he noticed that his pistols were water-soaked. emptying the charges, he at once reloaded, and with characteristic daring crept softly back to reconnoitre the woods. dodging from tree to tree, he peered up and down the river. great flocks of ducks were swimming on the water. that reassured him, for the bird is more alert to alarm than man. the fort was almost within call. radisson determined to have a shot at such easy quarry; but as he crept through the grass toward the game, he almost stumbled over what rooted him to the spot with horror. just as they had fallen, naked and scalped, with bullet and hatchet wounds all over their bodies, lay his comrades of the morning, dead among the rushes. radisson was too far out to get back to the woods. stooping, he tried to grope to the hiding of the rushes. as he bent, half a hundred heads rose from the grasses, peering which way he might go. they were behind, before, on all sides--his only hope was a dash for the cane-grown river, where he might hide by diving and wading, till darkness gave a chance for a rush to the fort. slipping bullet and shot in his musket as he ran, and ramming down the paper, hoping against hope that he had not been seen, he dashed through the brushwood. a score of guns crashed from the forest.[5] before he realized the penalty that the iroquois might exact for such an act, he had fired back; but they were upon him. he was thrown down and disarmed. when he came giddily to his senses, he found himself being dragged back to the woods, where the iroquois flaunted the fresh scalps of his dead friends. half drawn, half driven, he was taken to the shore. here, a flotilla of canoes lay concealed where he had been hunting wild-fowl but a few hours before. fires were kindled, and the crotched sticks driven in the ground to boil the kettle for the evening meal. the young frenchman was searched, stripped, and tied round the waist with a rope, the indians yelling and howling like so many wolves all the while till a pause was given their jubilation by the alarm of a scout that the french and algonquins were coming. in a trice, the fire was out and covered. a score of young braves set off to reconnoitre. fifty remained at the boats; but if radisson hoped for a rescue, he was doomed to disappointment. the warriors returned. seventy iroquois gathered round a second fire for the night. the one predominating passion of the savage nature is bravery. lying in ambush, they had heard this french youth laugh at his comrades' fears. in defiance of danger, they had seen him go hunting alone. after he had heard an alarm, he had daringly come out to shoot at the ducks. and, then, boy as he was, when attacked he had instantly fired back at numerous enough enemies to have intimidated a score of grown men. there is not the slightest doubt it was radisson's bravery that now saved him from the fate of his companions. his clothes were returned. while the evening meal was boiling, young warriors dressed and combed the frenchman's hair after the manner of braves. they daubed his cheeks with war-paint; and when they saw that their rancid meats turned him faint, they boiled meat in clean water and gave him meal browned on burning sand.[6] he did not struggle to escape, so he was now untied. that night he slept between two warriors under a common blanket, through which he counted the stars. for fifty years his home was to be under the stars. it is typically radisson when he could add: "i slept a sound sleep; for they wakened me upon the breaking of the day." in the morning they embarked in thirty-seven canoes, two indians in each boat, with radisson tied to the cross-bar of one, the scalps lying at his feet. spreading out on the river, they beat their paddles on the gunwales of the canoes, shot off guns, and uttered the shrill war-cry--"ah-oh! ah-oh! ah-oh!" [7] lest this were not sufficient defiance to the penned-up fort on the river bank, the chief stood up in his canoe, signalled silence, and gave three shouts. at once the whole company answered till the hills rang; and out swung the fleet of canoes with more shouting and singing and firing of guns, each paddle-stroke sounding the death knell to the young frenchman's hopes. by sunset they were among the islands at the mouth of the richelieu, where muskrats scuttled through the rushes and wild-fowl clouded the air. the south shore of lake st. peter was heavily forested; the north, shallow. the lake was flooded with spring thaw, and the mohawks could scarcely find camping-ground among the islands. the young prisoner was deathly sick from the rank food that he had eaten and heart-sick from the widening distance between himself and three rivers. still, they treated him kindly, saying, "chagon! chagon!--be merry! cheer up!" the fourth day up the richelieu, he was embarked without being fastened to the cross-bar, and he was given a paddle. fresh to the work, radisson made a labor of his oar. the iroquois took the paddle and taught him how to give the light, deft, feather strokes of the indian canoeman. on the river they met another band of warriors, and the prisoner was compelled to show himself a trophy of victory and to sing songs for his captors. that evening the united bands kindled an enormous campfire and with the scalps of the dead flaunting from spear heads danced the scalp dance, reënacting in pantomime all the episodes of the massacre to the monotonous chant-chant, of a recitative relating the foray. at the next camping-ground, radisson's hair was shaved in front and decorated on top with the war-crest of a brave. having translated the white man into a savage, they brought him one of the tin looking-glasses used by indians to signal in the sun. "i, viewing myself all in a pickle," relates radisson, "smeared with red and black, covered with such a top, . . . could not but fall in love with myself, if i had not had better instructions to shun the sin of pride." radisson saw that apparent compliance with the mohawks might win him a chance to escape; so he was the first to arise in the morning, wakening the others and urging them that it was time to break camp. the stolid indians were not to be moved by an audacious white boy. watching the young prisoner, the keepers lay still, feigning sleep. radisson rose. they made no protest. he wandered casually down to the water side. one can guess that the half-closed eyelids of his guards opened a trifle: was the mouse trying to get away from the cat? to the indians' amusement, instead of trying to escape, radisson picked up a spear and practised tossing it, till a mohawk became so interested that he jumped up and taught the young frenchman the proper throws. that day the indians gave him the present of a hunting-knife. north of lake champlain, the river became so turbulent that they were forced to land and make a _portage_. instead of lagging, as captives frequently did from very fear as they approached nearer and nearer what was almost certain to mean death-torture in the iroquois villages--radisson hurried over the rocks, helping the older warriors to carry their packs. at night he was the first to cut wood for the camp fire. about a week from the time they had left lake st. peter, they entered lake champlain. on the shores of the former had been enacted the most hideous of all indian customs--the scalp dance. on the shores of the latter was performed one of the most redeeming rites of indian warfare. round a small pool of water a coppice of branches was interlaced. into the water were thrown hot stones till the enclosure was steaming. here each warrior took a sweat-bath of purification to prepare for reunion with his family. invoking the spirits as they bathed, the warriors emerged washed--as they thought--of all blood-guilt.[8] [illustration: map of the iroquois country in the days of radisson.] in the night shots sounded through the heavy silence of the forest, and the mohawks embarked in alarm, compelling their white prisoner to lie flat in the bottom of the canoe. in the morning when he awakened, he found the entire band hidden among the rushes of the lake. they spent several days on lake champlain, then glided past wooded mountains down a calm river to lake george, where canoes were abandoned and the warriors struck westward through dense forests to the country of the iroquois. two days from the lake slave women met the returning braves, and in radisson's words, "loaded themselves like mules with baggage." on this woodland march radisson won golden opinions for himself by two acts: struck by an insolent young brave, he thrashed the culprit soundly; seeing an old man staggering under too heavy a load, the white youth took the burden on his own shoulders. the return of the warriors to their villages was always celebrated as a triumph. the tribe marched out to meet them, singing, firing guns, shouting a welcome, dancing as the israelites danced of old when victors returned from battle. men, women, and children lined up on each side armed with clubs and whips to scourge the captives. well for radisson that he had won the warriors' favor; for when the time came for him to run the gantlet of iroquois _diableries_, instead of being slowly led, with trussed arms and shackled feet, he was stripped free and signalled to run so fast that his tormentors could not hit him. shrieks of laughter from the women, shouts of applause from the men, always greeted the racer who reached the end of the line unscathed. a captive huron woman, who had been adopted by the tribe, caught the white boy as he dashed free of a single blow clear through the lines of tormentors. leading him to her cabin, she fed and clothed him. presently a band of braves marched up, demanded the surrender of radisson, and took him to the council lodge of the iroquois for judgment. old men sat solemnly round a central fire, smoking their calumets in silence. radisson was ordered to sit down. a coal of fire was put in the bowl of the great council pipe and passed reverently round the assemblage. then the old huron woman entered, gesticulating and pleading for the youth's life. the men smoked on silently with deep, guttural "ho-ho's," meaning "yes, yes, we are pleased." the woman was granted permission to adopt radisson as a son. radisson had won his end. diplomacy and courage had saved his life. it now remained to await an opportunity for escape. radisson bent all his energies to become a great hunter. he was given firearms, and daily hunted with the family of his adoption. it so happened that the family had lost a son in the wars, whose name had signified the same as radisson's--that is, "a stone"; so the pierre of three rivers became the orimha of the mohawks. the iroquois husband of the woman who had befriended him gave such a feast to the mohawk braves as befitted the prestige of a warrior who had slain nineteen enemies with his own hand. three hundred young mohawks sat down to a collation of moose nose and beaver tails and bears' paws, served by slaves. to this banquet radisson was led, decked out in colored blankets with garnished leggings and such a wealth of wampum strings hanging from wrists, neck, hair, and waist that he could scarcely walk. wampum means more to the indian than money to the white man. it represents not only wealth but social standing, and its value may be compared to the white man's estimate of pink pearls. diamond-cutters seldom spend more than two weeks in polishing a good stone. an indian would spend thirty days in perfecting a single bit of shell into fine wampum. radisson's friends had ornamented him for the feast in order to win the respect of the mohawks for the french boy. striking his hatchet through a kettle of sagamite to signify thus would he break peace to all radisson's foes, the old iroquois warrior made a speech to the assembled guests. the guests clapped their hands and shouted, "chagon, orimha!--be merry, pierre!" the frenchman had been formally adopted as a mohawk. the forests were now painted in all the glories of autumn. all the creatures of the woodlands shook off the drowsy laziness of summer and came down from the uplands seeking haunts for winter retreat. moose and deer were on the move. beaver came splashing down-stream to plaster up their wattled homes before frost. bear and lynx and marten, all were restless as the autumn winds instinct with coming storm. this is the season when the indian sets out to hunt and fight. furnished with clothing, food, and firearms, radisson left the mohawk valley with three hunters. by the middle of august, the rind of the birch is in perfect condition for peeling. the first thing the hunters did was to slit off the bark of a thick-girthed birch and with cedar linings make themselves a skiff. then they prepared to lay up a store of meat for the winter's war-raids. before ice forms a skim across the still pools, nibbled chips betray where a beaver colony is at work; so the hunters began setting beaver traps. one night as they were returning to their wigwam, there came through the leafy darkness the weird sound of a man singing. it was a solitary algonquin captive, who called out that he had been on the track of a bear since daybreak. he probably belonged to some well-known iroquois, for he was welcomed to the camp-fire. the sight of a face from three rivers roused the algonquin's memories of his northern home. in the noise of the crackling fire, he succeeded in telling radisson, without being overheard by the iroquois, that he had been a captive for two years and longed to escape. "do you love the french?" the algonquin asked radisson. "do you love the algonquin?" returned radisson, knowing they were watched. "as i do my own nation." then leaning across to radisson, "brother--white man!--let us escape! the three rivers--it is not far off! will you live like a huron in bondage, or have your liberty with the french?" then, lowering his voice, "let us kill all three this night when they are asleep!" from such a way of escape, the french youth held back. the algonquin continued to urge him. by this time, radisson must have heard from returning iroquois warriors that they had slain the governor of three rivers, duplessis-kerbodot, and eleven other frenchmen, among whom was the husband of radisson's eldest sister, marguerite.[9] while radisson was still hesitating, the suspicious iroquois demanded what so much whispering was about; but the alert algonquin promptly quieted their fears by trumping up some hunting story. wearied from their day's hunt, the three mohawks slept heavily round the camp-fire. they had not the least suspicion of danger, for they had stacked their arms carelessly against the trees of the forest. terrified lest the algonquin should attempt to carry out his threat, radisson pretended to be asleep. rising noiselessly, the algonquin sat down by the fire. the mohawks slept on. the algonquin gave radisson a push. the french boy looked up to see the algonquin studying the postures of the sleeping forms. the dying fire glimmered like a blotch of blood under the trees. stepping stealthy as a cat over the sleeping men, the indian took possession of their firearms. drawn by a kind of horror, radisson had risen. the algonquin thrust one of the tomahawks into the french lad's hands and pointed without a word at the three sleeping mohawks. then the indian began the black work. the mohawk nearest the fire never knew that he had been struck, and died without a sound. radisson tried to imitate the relentless algonquin, but, unnerved with horror, he bungled the blow and lost hold of the hatchet just as it struck the mohawk's head. the iroquois sprang up with a shout that awakened the third man, but the algonquin was ready. radisson's blow proved fatal. the victim reeled back dead, and the third man was already despatched by the algonquin. radisson was free. it was a black deed that freed him, but not half so black as the deeds perpetrated in civilized wars for less cause; and for that deed radisson was to pay swift retribution. taking the scalps as trophies to attest his word, the algonquin threw the bodies into the river. he seized all the belongings of the dead men but one gun and then launched out with radisson on the river. the french youth was conscience-stricken. "i was sorry to have been in such an encounter," he writes, "but it was too late to repent." under cover of the night mist and shore foliage, they slipped away with the current. at first dawn streak, while the mist still hid them, they landed, carried their canoe to a sequestered spot in the dense forest, and lay hidden under the upturned skiff all that day, tormented by swarms of mosquitoes and flies, but not daring to move from concealment. at nightfall, they again launched down-stream, keeping always in the shadows of the shore till mist and darkness shrouded them, then sheering off for mid-current, where they paddled for dear life. where camp-fires glimmered on the banks, they glided past with motionless paddles. across lake champlain, across the richelieu, over long _portages_ where every shadow took the shape of an ambushed iroquois, for fourteen nights they travelled, when at last with many windings and false alarms they swept out on the wide surface of lake st. peter in the st. lawrence. within a day's journey of three rivers, they were really in greater danger than they had been in the forests of lake champlain. iroquois had infested that part of the st. lawrence for more than a year. the forest of the south shore, the rush-grown marshes, the wooded islands, all afforded impenetrable hiding. it was four in the morning when they reached lake st. peter. concealing their canoe, they withdrew to the woods, cooked their breakfast, covered the fire, and lay down to sleep. in a couple of hours the algonquin impatiently wakened radisson and urged him to cross the lake to the north shore on the three rivers side. radisson warned the indian that the iroquois were ever lurking about three rivers. the indian would not wait till sunset. "let us go," he said. "we are past fear. let us shake off the yoke of these whelps that have killed so many french and black robes (priests). . . . if you come not now that we are so near, i leave you, and will tell the governor you were afraid to come." radisson's judgment was overruled by the impatient indian. they pushed their skiff out from the rushes. the water lay calm as a sea of silver. they paddled directly across to get into hiding on the north shore. halfway across radisson, who was at the bow, called out that he saw shadows on the water ahead. the indian stood up and declared that the shadow was the reflection of a flying bird. barely had they gone a boat length when the shadows multiplied. they were the reflections of iroquois ambushed among the rushes. heading the canoe back for the south shore, they raced for their lives. the iroquois pursued in their own boats. about a mile from the shore, the strength of the fugitives fagged. knowing that the iroquois were gaining fast, radisson threw out the loathsome scalps that the algonquin had persisted in carrying. by that strange fatality which seems to follow crime, instead of sinking, the hairy scalps floated on the surface of the water back to the pursuing iroquois. shouts of rage broke from the warriors. radisson's skiff was so near the south shore that he could see the pebbled bottom of the lake; but the water was too deep to wade and too clear for a dive, and there was no driftwood to afford hiding. then a crash of musketry from the iroquois knocked the bottom out of the canoe. the algonquin fell dead with two bullet wounds in his head and the canoe gradually filled, settled, and sank, with the young frenchman clinging to the cross-bar mute as stone. just as it disappeared under water, radisson was seized, and the dead algonquin was thrown into the mohawk boats. radisson alone remained to pay the penalty of a double crime; and he might well have prayed for the boat to sink. the victors shouted their triumph. hurrying ashore, they kindled a great fire. they tore the heart from the dead algonquin, transfixed the head on a pike, and cast the mutilated body into the flames for those cannibal rites in which savages thought they gained courage by eating the flesh of their enemies. radisson was rifled of clothes and arms, trussed at the elbows, roped round the waist, and driven with blows back to the canoes. there were other captives among the mohawks. as the canoes emerged from the islands, radisson counted one hundred and fifty iroquois warriors, with two french captives, one white woman, and seventeen hurons. flaunting from the canoe prows were the scalps of eleven algonquins. the victors fired off their muskets and shouted defiance until the valley rang. as the seventy-five canoes turned up the richelieu river for the country of the iroquois, hope died in the captive hurons and there mingled with the chant of the mohawks' war-songs, the low monotonous dirge of the prisoners:- "if i die, i die valiant! i go without fear to that land where brave men have gone long before me- if i die, i die valiant." twelve miles up the richelieu, the iroquois landed to camp. the prisoners were pegged out on the sand, elbows trussed to knees, each captive tied to a post. in this fashion they lay every night of encampment, tortured by sand-flies that they were powerless to drive off. at the entrance to the mohawk village, a yoke was fastened to the captives' necks by placing pairs of saplings one on each side down the line of prisoners. by the rope round the waist of the foremost prisoner, they were led slowly between the lines of tormentors. the captives were ordered to sing. if one refused or showed fear, a mohawk struck off a finger with a hatchet, or tore the prisoners' nails out, or thrust red-hot irons into the muscles of the bound arms.[10] as radisson appeared, he was recognized with shouts of rage by the friends of the murdered mohawks. men, women, and children armed with rods and skull-crackers--leather bags loaded with stones--rushed on the slowly moving file of prisoners. "they began to cry from both sides," says radisson; "we marching one after another, environed with people to witness that hideous sight, which seriously may be called the image of hell in this world." the prisoners moved mournfully on. the hurons chanted their death dirge. the mohawk women uttered screams of mockery. suddenly there broke from the throng of onlookers the iroquois family that had adopted radisson. pushing through the crew of torturers, the mother caught radisson by the hair, calling him by the name of her dead son, "orimha! orimha!" she cut the thongs that bound him to the poles, and wresting him free shoved him to her husband, who led radisson to their own lodge. "thou fool," cried the old chief, "thou wast my son! thou makest thyself an enemy! thou lovest us not, though we saved thy life! wouldst kill me, too?" then, with a rough push to a mat on the ground, "chagon--now, be merry! it's a merry business you've got into! give him something to eat!" trembling with fear, young radisson put as bold a face on as he could and made a show of eating what the squaw placed before him. he was still relating his adventures when there came a roar of anger from the mohawks outside, who had discovered his absence from the line. a moment later the rabble broke into the lodge. jostling the friendly chief aside, the mohawk warriors carried radisson back to the orgies of the torture. the prisoners had been taken out of the stocks and placed on several scaffoldings. one poor frenchman fell to the ground bruised and unable to rise. the iroquois tore the scalp from his head and threw him into the fire. that was radisson's first glimpse of what was in store for him. then he, too, stood on the scaffolding among the other prisoners, who never ceased singing their death song. in the midst of these horrors--_diableries_, the jesuits called them--as if the very elements had been moved with pity, there burst over the darkened forest a terrific hurricane of hail and rain. this put out the fires and drove all the tormentors away but a few impish children, who stayed to pluck nails from the hands and feet of the captives and shoot arrows with barbed points at the naked bodies. every iniquity that cruelty could invent, these children practised on the captives. red-hot spears were brought from the lodge fires and thrust into the prisoners. the mutilated finger ends were ground between stones. thongs were twisted round wrists and ankles, by sticks put through a loop, till flesh was cut to the bone. as the rain ceased falling, a woman, who was probably the wife of one of the murdered mohawks, brought her little boy to cut one of radisson's fingers with a flint stone. the child was too young and ran away from the gruesome task. gathering darkness fell over the horrible spectacle. the exhausted captives, some in a delirium from pain, others unconscious, were led to separate lodges, or dragged over the ground, and left tied for the night. the next morning all were returned to the scaffolds, but the first day had glutted the iroquois appetite for tortures. the friendly family was permitted to approach radisson. the mother brought him food and told him that the council lodge had decided not to kill him for that day--they wanted the young white warrior for their own ranks; but even as the cheering hope was uttered, came a brave with a pipe of live coals, in which he thrust and held radisson's thumb. no sooner had the tormentor left than the woman bound up the burn and oiled radisson's wounds. he suffered no abuse that day till night, when the soles of both feet were burned. the majority of the captives were flung into a great bonfire. on the third day of torture he almost lost his life. first came a child to gnaw at his fingers. then a man appeared armed for the ghastly work of mutilation. both these the iroquois father of radisson sent away. once, when none of the friendly family happened to be near, radisson was seized and bound for burning, but by chance the lighted faggot scorched his executioner. a friendly hand slashed the thongs that bound him, and he was drawn back to the scaffold. past caring whether he lived or died, and in too great agony from the burns of his feet to realize where he was going, radisson was conducted to the great council. sixty old men sat on a circle of mats, smoking, round the central fire. before them stood seven other captives. radisson only was still bound. a gust of wind from the opening lodge door cleared the smoke for an instant and there entered radisson's indian father, clad in the regalia of a mighty chief. tomahawk and calumet and medicine-bag were in his hands. he took his place in the circle of councillors. judgment was to be given on the remaining prisoners. after passing the council pipe from hand to hand in solemn silence, the sachems prepared to give their views. one arose, and offering the smoke of incense to the four winds of heaven to invoke witness to the justice of the trial, gave his opinion on the matter of life or death. each of the chiefs in succession spoke. without any warning whatever, one chief rose and summarily tomahawked three of the captives. that had been the sentence. the rest were driven, like sheep for the shambles, to life-long slavery. radisson was left last. his case was important. he had sanctioned the murder of three mohawks. not for a moment since he was recaptured had they dared to untie the hands of so dangerous a prisoner. amid deathly silence, the iroquois father stood up. flinging down medicine-bag, fur robe, wampum belts, and tomahawk, he pointed to the nineteen scars upon his side, each of which signified an enemy slain by his own hand. then the old mohawk broke into one of those impassioned rhapsodies of eloquence which delighted the savage nature, calling back to each of the warriors recollection of victories for the iroquois. his eyes took fire from memory of heroic battle. the councillors shook off their imperturbable gravity and shouted "ho, ho!" each man of them had a memory of his part in those past glories. and as they applauded, there glided into the wigwam the mother, singing some battle-song of valor, dancing and gesticulating round and round the lodge in dizzy, serpentine circlings, that illustrated in pantomime those battles of long ago. gliding ghostily from the camp-fire to the outer dark, she suddenly stopped, stood erect, advanced a step, and with all her might threw one belt of priceless wampum at the councillors' feet, one necklace over the prisoner's head. before the applause could cease or the councillors' ardor cool, the adopted brother sprang up, hatchet in hand, and sang of other victories. then, with a delicacy of etiquette which white pleaders do not always observe, father and son withdrew from the council lodge to let the jury deliberate. the old sachems were disturbed. they had been moved more than their wont. twenty withdrew to confer. dusk gathered deeper and deeper over the forests of the mohawk valley. tawny faces came peering at the doors, waiting for the decision. outsiders tore the skins from the walls of the lodge that they, too, might witness the memorable trial of the boy prisoner. sachem after sachem rose and spoke. tobacco was sacrificed to the fire-god. would the relatives of the dead mohawks consider the wampum belts full compensation? could the iroquois suffer a youth to live who had joined the murderers of the mohawks? could the mohawks afford to offend the great iroquois chief who was the french youth's friend? as they deliberated, the other councillors returned, accompanied by all the members of radisson's friendly family. again the father sang and spoke. this time when he finished, instead of sitting down, he caught the necklace of wampum from radisson's neck, threw it at the feet of the oldest sachem, cut the captive's bonds, and, amid shouts of applause, set the white youth free. one of the incomprehensible things to civilization is how a white man _can_ degenerate to savagery. young radisson's life is an illustration. in the first transports of his freedom, with the mohawk women dancing and singing around him, the men shouting, he leaped up, oblivious of pain; but when the flush of ecstasy had passed, he sank to the mat of the iroquois lodge, and he was unable to use his burned feet for more than a month. during this time the iroquois dressed his wounds, brought him the choice portions of the hunt, gave him clean clothing purchased at orange (albany), and attended to his wants as if he had been a prince. no doubt the bright eyes of the swarthy young french boy moved to pity the hearts of the mohawk mothers, and his courage had won him favor among the warriors. he was treated like a king. the women waited upon him like slaves, and the men gave him presents of firearms and ammunition--the indian's most precious possessions. between flattered vanity and indolence, other white men, similarly treated, have lost their self-respect. beckworth, of the missouri, became to all intents and purposes a savage; and bird, of the blackfeet, degenerated lower than the indians. other frenchmen captured from the st. lawrence, and white women taken from the new england colonies, became so enamored of savage life that they refused to leave the indian lodges when peace had liberated them. not so radisson. though only seventeen, flattered vanity never caused him to forget the gratitude he owed the mohawk family. though he relates his life with a frankness that leaves nothing untold, he never at any time returned treachery for kindness. the very chivalry of the french nature endangered him all the more. would he forget his manhood, his birthright of a superior race, his inheritance of nobility from a family that stood foremost among the _noblesse_ of new france? [illustration: albany, from an old print.] the spring of 1653 came with unloosening of the rivers and stirring of the forest sap and fret of the warrior blood. radisson's iroquois father held great feasts in which he heaved up the hatchet to break the kettle of sagamite against all enemies. would radisson go on the war-path with the braves, or stay at home with the women and so lose the respect of the tribe? in the hope of coming again within reach of three rivers, he offered to join the iroquois in their wars. the mohawks were delighted with his spirit, but they feared to lose their young warrior. accepting his offer, they refused to let him accompany them to quebec, but assigned him to a band of young braves, who were to raid the border-lands between the huron country of the upper lakes and the st. lawrence. this was not what radisson wanted, but he could not draw back. there followed months of wild wanderings round the regions of niagara. the band of young braves passed dangerous places with great precipices and a waterfall, where the river was a mile wide and unfrozen. radisson was constrained to witness many acts against the eries, which must have one of two effects on white blood,--either turn the white man into a complete savage, or disgust him utterly with savage life. leaving the mohawk village amid a blare of guns and shouts, the young braves on their maiden venture passed successively through the lodges of oneidas, onondagas, senecas, and cayugas, where they were feasted almost to death by the iroquois confederacy.[11] then they marched to the vast wilderness of snow-padded forests and heaped windfall between lake ontario and lake erie. snow still lay in great drifts under the shadow of hemlock and spruce; and the braves skimmed forward winged with the noiseless speed of snow-shoes. when the snow became too soft from thaw for snow-shoes, they paused to build themselves a skiff. it was too early to peel the bark off the birch, so they made themselves a dugout of the walnut tree. the wind changed from north to south, clearing the lakes of ice and filling the air with the earthy smells of up-bursting growth. "there was such a thawing," writes radisson, "ye little brookes flowed like rivers, which made us embark to wander over that sweet sea." lounging in their skiff all day, carried from shore to shore with the waves, and sleeping round camp-fires on the sand each night, the young braves luxuriated in all the delights of sunny idleness and spring life. but this was not war. it was play, and play of the sort that weans the white man from civilization to savagery. one day a scout, who had climbed to the top of a tree, espied two strange squaws. they were of a hostile tribe. the mohawk bloodthirst was up as a wolf's at the sight of lambs. in vain radisson tried to save the women by warning the iroquois that if there were women, there must be men, too, who would exact vengeance for the squaws' death. the young braves only laid their plans the more carefully for his warning and massacred the entire encampment. prisoners were taken, but when food became scarce they were brutally knocked on the head. these tribes had never heard guns before, and at the sound of shots fled as from diabolical enemies. it was an easy matter for the young braves in the course of a few weeks to take a score of scalps and a dozen prisoners. at one place more than two hundred beaver were trapped. at the end of the raid, the booty was equally divided. radisson asked that the woman prisoner be given to him; and he saved her from torture and death on the return to the mohawks by presenting her as a slave to his indian mother. all his other share of booty he gave to the friendly family. the raid was over. he had failed of his main object in joining it. he had not escaped. but he had made one important gain. his valor had reëstablished the confidence of the indians so that when they went on a free-booting expedition against the whites of the dutch settlements at orange (albany), radisson was taken with them. orange, or albany, consisted at that time of some fifty thatched log-houses surrounded by a settlement of perhaps a hundred and fifty farmers. this raid was bloodless. the warriors looted the farmers' cabins, emptied their cupboards, and drank their beer cellars dry to the last drop. once more radisson kept his head. while the braves entered fort orange roaring drunk, radisson was alert and sober. a drunk indian falls an easy prey in the bartering of pelts. the iroquois wanted guns. the dutch wanted pelts. the whites treated the savages like kings; and the mohawks marched from house to house feasting of the best. radisson was dressed in garnished buckskin and had been painted like a mohawk. suspecting some design to escape, his iroquois friends never left him. the young frenchman now saw white men for the first time in almost two years; but the speech that he heard was in a strange tongue. as radisson went into the fort, he noticed a soldier among the dutch. at the same instant the soldier recognized him as a frenchman, and oblivious of the mohawks' presence blurted out his discovery in iroquois dialect, vowing that for all the paint and grease, this youth was a white man below. the fellow's blundering might have cost radisson's life; but the youth had not been a captive among crafty mohawks for nothing. radisson feigned surprise at the accusation. that quieted the mohawk suspicions and they were presently deep in the beer pots of the dutch. again the soldier spoke, this time in french. it was the first time that radisson had heard his native tongue for months. he answered in french. at that the soldier emitted shouts of delight, for he, too, was french, and these strangers in an alien land threw their arms about each other like a pair of long-lost brothers with exclamations of joy too great for words. [illustration: the battery, new york, in radisson's time.] from that moment radisson became the lion of fort orange. the women dragged him to their houses and forced more dainties on him than he could eat. he was conducted from house to house in triumph, to the amazed delight of the indians. the dutch offered to ransom him at any price; but that would have exposed the dutch settlement to the resentment of the mohawks and placed radisson under heavy obligation to people who were the enemies of new france. besides, his honor was pledged to return to his indian parents; and it was a long way home to have to sail to europe and back again to quebec. perhaps, too, there was deep in his heart what he did not realize--a rooted love for the wilds that was to follow him all through life. by the devious course of captivity, he had tasted of a new freedom and could not give it up. he declined the offer of the dutch. in two days he was back among the mohawks ten times more a hero than he had ever been. mother and sisters were his slaves. but between love of the wilds and love of barbarism is a wide difference. he had not been back for two weeks when that glimpse of crude civilization at orange recalled torturing memories of the french home in three rivers. the filthy food, the smoky lodges, the cruelties of the mohawks, filled him with loathing. the nature of the white man, which had been hidden under the grease and paint of the savage--and in danger of total eclipse--now came upper-most. with radisson, to think was to act. he determined to escape if it cost him his life. taking only a hatchet as if he were going to cut wood, radisson left the indian lodge early one morning in the fall of 1653. once out of sight from the village, he broke into a run, following the trail through the dense forests of the mohawk valley toward fort orange. on and on he ran, all that day, without pause to rest or eat, without backward glance, with eye ever piercing through the long leafy vistas of the forest on the watch for the fresh-chipped bark of the trees that guided his course, or the narrow indurated path over the spongy mould worn by running warriors. and when night filled the forest with the hoot of owl, and the far, weird cries of wild creatures on the rove, there sped through the aisled columns of star light and shadow, the ghostly figure of the french boy slim, and lithe as a willow, with muscles tense as ironwood, and step silent as the mountain-cat. all that night he ran without a single stop. chill daybreak found him still staggering on, over rocks slippery with the night frost, over windfall tree on tree in a barricade, through brawling mountain brooks where his moccasins broke the skim of ice at the edge, past rivers where he half waded, half swam. he was now faint from want of food; but fear spurred him on. the morning air was so cold that he found it better to run than rest. by four of the afternoon he came to a clearing in the forest, where was the cabin of a settler. a man was chopping wood. radisson ascertained that there were no iroquois in the cabin, and, hiding in it, persuaded the settler to carry a message to fort orange, two miles farther on. while he waited indians passed the cabin, singing and shouting. the settler's wife concealed him behind sacks of wheat and put out all lights. within an hour came a rescue party from orange, who conducted him safely to the fort. for three days radisson hid in orange, while the mohawks wandered through the fort, calling him by name. gifts of money from the jesuit, poncet, and from a dutch merchant, enabled radisson to take ship from orange to new york, and from new york to europe. [illustration: fort amsterdam, from an ancient engraving executed in holland. this view of fort amsterdam on the manhattan is copied from an ancient engraving executed in holland. the fort was erected in 1623 but finished upon the above model by governor van twiller in 1635.] père poncet had been captured by the mohawks the preceding summer, but had escaped to orange.[12] embarking on a small sloop, radisson sailed down the hudson to new york, which then consisted of some five hundred houses, with stores, barracks, a stone church, and a dilapidated fort. central park was a forest; goats and cows pastured on what is now wall street; and to east and west was a howling wilderness of marsh and woods. after a stay of three weeks, radisson embarked for amsterdam, which he reached in january, 1654. [1] benjamin sulte in _chronique trifluvienne_. [2] it was in august of this same year, 1652, that the governor of three rivers was slain by the iroquois. parkman gives this date, 1653, garneau, 1651, l'abbé tanguay, 1651; dollier de casson, 1651, belmont, 1653. sulte gives the name of the governor duplessis-kerbodot, not bochart, as given in parkman. [3] dr. bryce has unearthed the fact that in a petition to the house of commons, 1698, radisson sets down his age as sixty-two. this gives the year of his birth as 1636. on the other hand, sulte has record of a pierre radisson registered at quebec in 1681, aged fifty-one, which would make him slightly older, if it is the same radisson. mr. sulte's explanation is as follows: sébastien hayet of st. malo married madeline hénault. their daughter marguerite married chouart, known as groseillers. madeline hénault then married pierre esprit radisson of paris, whose children were pierre, our hero, and two daughters. [4] a despatch from m. talon in 1666 shows there were 461 families in three rivers. state papers from the minister to m. frontenac in 1674 show there were only 6705 french in all the colony. averaging five a family, there must have been 2000 people at three rivers. fear of the iroquois must have driven the country people inside the fort, so that the population enrolled was larger than the real population of three rivers. sulte gives the normal population of three rivers in 1654 as 38 married couples, 13 bachelors, 38 boys, 26 girls--in all not 200. [5] at first flush, this seems a slip in _radisson's relation_. where did the mohawks get their guns? _new york colonial documents_ show that between 1640 and 1650 the dutch at fort orange had supplied the mohawks alone with four hundred guns. [6] one of many instances of radisson's accuracy in detail. all tribes have a trick of browning food on hot stones or sand that has been taken from fire. the assiniboines gained their name from this practice: they were the users of "boiling stones." [7] i have asked both natives and old fur-traders what combination of sounds in english most closely resembles the indian war-cry, and they have all given the words that i have quoted. one daughter of a chief factor, who went through a six weeks' siege by hostiles in her father's fort, gave a still more graphic description. she said: "you can imagine the snarls of a pack of furiously vicious dogs saying 'ah-oh' with a whoop, you have it; and you will not forget it!" [8] this practice was a binding law on many tribes. catlin relates it of the mandans, and hearne of the chipewyans. the latter considered it a crime to kiss wives and children after a massacre without the bath of purification. could one know where and when that universal custom of washing blood-guilt arose, one mystery of existence would be unlocked. [9] i have throughout followed mr. sulte's correction of the name of this governor. the mistake followed by parkman, tanguay, and others--it seems--was first made in 1820, and has been faithfully copied since. elsewhere will be found mr. sulte's complete elucidation of the hopeless dark in which all writers have involved radisson's family. [10] if there were not corroborative testimony, one might suspect the excited french lad of gross exaggeration in his account of iroquois tortures; but the jesuits more than confirm the worst that radisson relates. bad as these torments were, they were equalled by the deeds of white troops from civilized cities in the nineteenth century. a band of montana scouts came on the body of a comrade horribly mutilated by the indians. they caught the culprits a few days afterwards. though the government report has no account of what happened, traders say the bodies of the guilty indians were found skinned and scalped by the white troops. [11] radisson puts the senecas before the cayugas, which is different from the order given by the jesuits. [12] the fact that radisson confessed his sins to this priest seems pretty well to prove that pierre was a catholic and not a protestant, as has been so often stated. chapter ii 1657-1658 radisson's second voyage radisson returns to quebec, where he joins the jesuits to go to the iroquois mission--he witnesses the massacre of the hurons among the thousand islands--besieged by the iroquois, they pass the winter as prisoners of war--conspiracy to massacre the french foiled by radisson. from amsterdam radisson took ship to rochelle. here he found himself a stranger in his native land. all his kin of whom there is any record--pierre radisson, his father, madeline hénault, his mother, marguerite and françoise, his elder and younger sisters, his uncle and aunt, with their daughter, elizabeth--were now living at three rivers in new france.[1] embarking with the fishing fleet that yearly left france for the grand banks, radisson came early in the spring of 1654 to isle percée at the mouth of the st. lawrence. he was still a week's journey from three rivers, but chance befriended him. algonquin canoes were on the way up the river to war on the iroquois. joining the indian canoes, he slipped past the hilly shores of the st. lawrence and in five days was between the main bank on the north side and the muddy shallows of the isle of orleans. sheering out where the montmorency roars over a precipice in a shining cataract, the canoes glided across st. charles river among the forests of masts heaving to the tide below the beetling heights of cape diamond, quebec. [illustration: one of the earliest maps of the great lakes.] it was may, 1651, when he had first seen the turrets and spires of quebec glittering on the hillside in the sun; it was may, 1652, that the iroquois had carried him off from three rivers; and it was may, 1654, when he came again to his own. he was welcomed back as from the dead. changes had taken place in the interval of his captivity. a truce had been arranged between the iroquois and the french. now that the huron missions had been wiped out by iroquois wars, the jesuits regarded the truce as a divine provision for a mission among the iroquois. the year that radisson escaped from the mohawks, jesuit priests had gone among them. a still greater change that was to affect his life more vitally had taken place in the radisson family. the year that radisson had been captured, the outraged people of three rivers had seized a mohawk chief and burned him to death. in revenge, the mohawks murdered the governor of three rivers and a company of frenchmen. among the slain was the husband of radisson's sister, marguerite. when radisson returned, he found that his widowed sister had married médard chouart groseillers, a famous fur trader of new france, who had passed his youth as a lay helper to the jesuit missions of lake huron.[2] radisson was now doubly bound to the jesuits by gratitude and family ties. never did pagan heart hear an evangel more gladly than the mohawks heard the jesuits. the priests were welcomed with acclaim, led to the council lodge, and presented with belts of wampum. not a suspicion of foul play seems to have entered the jesuits' mind. when the iroquois proposed to incorporate into the confederacy the remnants of the hurons, the jesuits discerned nothing in the plan but the most excellent means to convert pagan iroquois by christian hurons. having gained an inch, the iroquois demanded the proverbial ell. they asked that a french settlement be made in the iroquois country. the indians wanted a supply of firearms to war against all enemies; and with a french settlement miles away from help, the iroquois could wage what war they pleased against the algonquins without fear of reprisals from quebec--the settlement of white men among hostiles would be hostage of generous treatment from new france. of these designs, neither priests nor governor had the slightest suspicion. the jesuits were thinking only of the iroquois' soul; the french, of peace with the iroquois at any cost. in 1656 major dupuis and fifty frenchmen had established a french colony among the iroquois.[3] the hardships of these pioneers form no part of radisson's life, and are, therefore, not set down here. peace not bought by a victory is an unstable foundation for indian treaty. the mohawks were jealous that their confederates, the onondagas, had obtained the french settlement. in 1657, eighty iroquois came to quebec to escort one hundred huron refugees back to onondaga for adoption into the confederacy. these hurons were christians, and the two jesuits, paul ragueneau and françois du péron, were appointed to accompany them to their new abode. twenty young frenchmen joined the party to seek their fortunes at the new settlement; but a man was needed who could speak iroquois. glad to repay his debt to the jesuits, young radisson volunteered to go as a _donné_, that is, a lay helper vowed to gratuitous services. it was midsummer before all preparations had been made. on july 26, the party of two hundred, made up of twenty frenchmen, eighty iroquois, and a hundred hurons, filed out of the gates of montreal, and winding round the foot of the mountain followed a trail through the forest that took them past the lachine rapids. the onondaga _voyageurs_ carried the long birch canoes inverted on their shoulders, two indians at each end; and the other iroquois trotted over the rocks with the frenchmen's baggage on their backs. the day was hot, the _portage_ long and slippery with dank moisture. the huron children fagged and fell behind. at nightfall, thirty of the haughty iroquois lost patience, and throwing down their bundles made off for quebec with the avowed purpose of raiding the algonquins. on the way, they paused to scalp three frenchmen at montreal, cynically explaining that if the french persisted in taking algonquins into their arms, the white men need not be surprised if the blow aimed at an algonquin sometimes struck a frenchman. that act opened the eyes of the french to the real meaning of the peace made with the iroquois; but the little colony was beyond recall. to insure the safety of the french among the onondagas, the french governor at quebec seized a dozen iroquois and kept them as hostages of good conduct. meanwhile, all was confusion on lake st. louis, where the last band of colonists had encamped. the iroquois had cast the frenchmen's baggage on the rocks and refused to carry it farther. leaving the whites all embarrassed, the onondagas hurriedly embarked the hurons and paddled quickly out of sight. the act was too suddenly unanimous not to have been premeditated. why had the iroquois carried the hurons away from the frenchmen? father ragueneau at once suspected some sinister purpose. taking only a single sack of flour for food, he called for volunteers among the twenty frenchmen to embark in a leaky, old canoe and follow the treacherous onondagas. young radisson was one of the first to offer himself. six others followed his example; and the seven frenchmen led by the priest struck across the lake, leaving the others to gather up the scattered baggage. the onondagas were too deep to reveal their plots with seven armed frenchmen in pursuit. the indians permitted the french boats to come up with the main band. all camped together in the most friendly fashion that night; but the next morning one iroquois offered passage in his canoe to one frenchman, another iroquois to another of the whites, and by the third day, when they came to lake st. francis, the old canoe had been abandoned. the french were scattered promiscuously among the iroquois, with no two whites in one boat. the hurons were quicker to read the signs of treachery than the french. there were rumors of one hundred mohawks lying in ambush at the thousand islands to massacre the coming hurons. on the morning of august 3 four huron warriors and two women seized a canoe, and to the great astonishment of the encampment launched out before they could be stopped. heading the canoe back for montreal, they broke out in a war chant of defiance to the iroquois. the onondagas made no sign, but they evidently took council to delay no longer. again, when they embarked, they allowed no two whites in one canoe. the boats spread out. nothing was said to indicate anything unusual. the lake lay like a silver mirror in the august sun. the water was so clear that the indians frequently paused to spear fish lying below on the stones. at places the canoes skirted close to the wood-fringed shore, and braves landed to shoot wild-fowl. radisson and ragueneau seemed simultaneously to have noticed the same thing. without any signal, at about four in the afternoon, the onondagas steered their canoes for a wooded island in the middle of the st. lawrence. with radisson were three iroquois and a huron. as the canoe grated shore, the bowman loaded his musket and sprang into the thicket. naturally, the huron turned to gaze after the disappearing hunter. instantly, the onondaga standing directly behind buried his hatchet in the huron's head. the victim fell quivering across radisson's feet and was hacked to pieces by the other iroquois. not far along the shore from radisson, the priest was landing. he noticed an iroquois chief approach a christian huron girl. if the huron had not been a convert, she might have saved her life by becoming one of the chief's many slaves; but she had repulsed the onondaga pagan. as ragueneau looked, the girl fell dead with her skull split by the chief's war-axe. the hurons on the lake now knew what awaited them; and a cry of terror arose from the children. then a silence of numb horror settled over the incoming canoes. the women were driven ashore like lambs before wolves; but the valiant hurons would not die without striking one blow at their inveterate and treacherous enemies. they threw themselves together back to back, prepared to fight. for a moment this show of resistance drove off the iroquois. then the onondaga chieftain rushed forward, protesting that the two murders had been a personal quarrel. striking back his own warriors with a great show of sincerity, he bade the hurons run for refuge to the top of the hill. no sooner had the hurons broken rank, than there rushed from the woods scores of iroquois, daubed in war-paint and shouting their war-cry. this was the hunt to which the young braves had dashed from the canoes to be in readiness behind the thicket. before the scattered hurons could get together for defence, the onondagas had closed around the hilltop in a cordon. the priest ran here, there, everywhere,--comforting the dying, stopping mutilation, defending the women. all the hurons were massacred but one man, and the bodies were thrown into the river. with blankets drawn over their heads that they might not see, the women huddled together, dumb with terror. when the onondagas turned toward the women, the frenchmen stood with muskets levelled. the onondagas halted, conferred, and drew off. [illustration: paddling past hostiles.] the fight lasted for four hours. darkness and the valor of the little french band saved the women for the time. the iroquois kindled a fire and gathered to celebrate their victory. then the old priest took his life in his hands. borrowing three belts of wampum, he left the huddling group of huron women and frenchmen and marched boldly into the circle of hostiles. the lives of all the french and hurons hung by a thread. ragueneau had been the spiritual guide of the murdered tribe for twenty years; and he was now sobbing like a child. the iroquois regarded his grief with sardonic scorn; but they misjudged the manhood below the old priest's tears. ragueneau asked leave to speak. they grunted permission. springing up, he broke into impassioned, fearless reproaches of the iroquois for their treachery. casting one belt of wampum at the onondaga chief's feet, the priest demanded pledges that the massacre cease. a second belt was given to register the onondaga's vow to conduct the women and children safely to the iroquois country. the third belt was for the safety of the french at onondaga. the iroquois were astonished. they had looked for womanish pleadings. they had heard stern demands coupled with fearless threats of punishment. when ragueneau sat down, the onondaga chief bestirred himself to counteract the priest's powerful impression. lounging to his feet, the onondaga impudently declared that the governor of quebec had instigated the massacre. ragueneau leaped up with a denial that took the lie from the scoundrel's teeth. the chief sat down abashed. the council grunted "ho, ho!" accepting the wampum and promising all that the jesuit had asked. among the thousand islands, the french who had remained behind to gather up the baggage again joined the onondagas. they brought with them from the isle of massacres a poor huron woman, whom they had found lying insensible on a rock. during the massacre she had hidden in a hollow tree, where she remained for three days. in this region, radisson almost lost his life by hoisting a blanket sail to his canoe. the wind drifted the boat so far out that radisson had to throw all ballast overboard to keep from being swamped. as they turned from the st. lawrence and lake ontario up the oswego river for onondaga, they met other warriors of the iroquois nation. in spite of pledges to the priest, the meeting was celebrated by torturing the huron women to entertain the newcomers. not the sufferings of the early christians in rome exceeded the martyrdom of the christian hurons among the onondagas. as her mother mounted the scaffold of tortures, a little girl who had been educated by the ursulines of quebec broke out with loud weeping. the huron mother turned calmly to the child:-"weep not my death, my little daughter! we shall this day be in heaven," said she; "god will pity us to all eternity. the iroquois cannot rob us of that." as the flames crept about her, her voice was heard chanting in the crooning monotone of indian death dirge: "jesu--have pity on us! jesu--have pity on us!" the next moment the child was thrown into the flames, repeating the same words. the iroquois recognized radisson. he sent presents to his mohawk parents, who afterwards played an important part in saving the french of onondaga. having passed the falls, they came to the french fort situated on the crest of a hill above a lake. two high towers loopholed for musketry occupied the centre of the courtyard. double walls, trenched between, ran round a space large enough to enable the french to keep their cattle inside the fort. the _voyageurs_ were welcomed to onondaga by major dupuis, fifty frenchmen, and several jesuits. the pilgrims had scarcely settled at onondaga before signs of the dangers that were gathering became too plain for the blind zeal of the jesuits to ignore. cayugas, onondagas, and senecas, togged out in war-gear, swarmed outside the palisades. there was no more dissembling of hunger for the jesuits' evangel. the warriors spoke no more soft words, but spent their time feasting, chanting war-songs, heaving up the war-hatchet against the kettle of sagamite--which meant the rupture of peace. then came four hundred mohawks, who not only shouted their war-songs, but built their wigwams before the fort gates and established themselves for the winter like a besieging army. that the intent of the entire confederacy was hostile to onondaga could not be mistaken; but what was holding the indians back? why did they delay the massacre? then huron slaves brought word to the besieged fort of the twelve iroquois hostages held at quebec. the fort understood what stayed the iroquois blow. the confederacy dared not attack the isolated fort lest quebec should take terrible vengeance on the hostages. [illustration: jogues, the jesuit missionary, who was tortured by the mohawks. from a painting in château de ramezay, montreal.] the french decided to send messengers to quebec for instructions before closing navigation cut them off for the winter. thirteen men and one jesuit left the fort the first week of september. mohawk spies knew of the departure and lay in ambush at each side of the narrow river to intercept the party; but the messengers eluded the trap by striking through the forests back from the river directly to the st. lawrence. then the little fort closed its gates and awaited an answer from quebec. winter settled over the land, blocking the rivers with ice and the forest trails with drifts of snow; but no messengers came back from quebec. the mohawks had missed the outgoing scouts: but they caught the return coureurs and destroyed the letters. not a soul could leave the fort but spies dogged his steps. the jesuits continued going from lodge to lodge, and in this way onondaga gained vague knowledge of the plots outside the fort. the french could venture out only at the risk of their lives, and spent the winter as closely confined as prisoners of war. of the ten drilled soldiers, nine threatened to desert. one night an unseen hand plunged through the dark, seized the sentry, and dragged him from the gate. the sentry drew his sword and shouted, "to arms!" a band of frenchmen sallied from the gates with swords and muskets. in the tussle the sentry was rescued, and gifts were sent out in the morning to pacify the wounded mohawks. fortunately the besieged had plenty of food inside the stockades; but the iroquois knew there could be no escape till the ice broke up in spring, and were quite willing to exchange ample supplies of corn for tobacco and firearms. the huron slaves who carried the corn to the fort acted as spies among the mohawks for the french. in the month of february the vague rumors of conspiracy crystallized into terrible reality. a dying mohawk confessed to a jesuit that the iroquois[4] council had determined to massacre half the company of french and to hold the other half till their own mohawk hostages were released from quebec. among the hostiles encamped before the gates was radisson's indian father. this mohawk was still an influential member of the great council. he, too, reported that the warriors were bent on destroying onondaga.[5] what was to be done? no answer had come from quebec, and no aid could come till the spring. the rivers were still blocked with ice; and there were not sufficient boats in the fort to carry fifty men down to quebec. "what could we do?" writes radisson. "we were in their hands. it was as hard to get away from them as for a ship in full sea without a pilot." they at once began constructing two large flat-bottomed boats of light enough draft to run the rapids in the flood-tide of spring. carpenters worked hidden in an attic; but when the timbers were mortised together, the boats had to be brought downstairs, where one of the huron slaves caught a glimpse of them. boats of such a size he had never before seen. each was capable of carrying fifteen passengers with full complement of baggage. spring rains were falling in floods. the convert huron had heard the jesuits tell of noah's ark in the deluge. returning to the mohawks, he spread a terrifying report of an impending flood and of strange arks of refuge built by the white men. emissaries were appointed to visit the french fort; but the garrison had been forewarned. radisson knew of the coming spies from his indian father; and the jesuits had learned of the council from their converts. before the spies arrived, the french had built a floor over their flatboats, and to cover the fresh floor had heaped up a dozen canoes. the spies left the fort satisfied that neither a deluge nor an escape was impending. birch canoes would be crushed like egg-shells if they were run through the ice jams of spring floods. certain that their victims were trapped, the iroquois were in no haste to assault a double-walled fort, where musketry could mow them down as they rushed the hilltop. the indian is bravest under cover; so the mohawks spread themselves in ambush on each side of the narrow river and placed guards at the falls where any boats must be _portaged_. of what good were the boats? to allay suspicion of escape, the jesuits continued to visit the wigwams.[6] the french were in despair. they consulted radisson, who could go among the mohawks as with a charmed life, and who knew the customs of the confederacy so well. radisson proposed a way to outwit the savages. with this plan the priests had nothing to do. to the harum-scarum radisson belong the sole credit and discredit of the escapade. on his device hung the lives of fifty innocent men. these men must either escape or be massacred. of bloodshed, radisson had already seen too much; and the youth of twenty-one now no more proposed to stickle over the means of victory than generals who wear the victoria cross stop to stickle over means to-day. radisson knew that the indians had implicit faith in dreams; so radisson had a dream.[7] he realized as critics of indian customs fail to understand that the fearful privations of savage life teach the crime of waste. the indian will eat the last morsel of food set before him if he dies for it. he believes that the gods punish waste of food by famine. the belief is a religious principle and the feasts--_festins à tout manger_--are a religious act; so radisson dreamed--whether sleeping or waking--that the white men were to give a great festival to the iroquois. this dream he related to his indian father. the indian like his white brother can clothe a vice under religious mantle. the iroquois were gluttonous on a religious principle. radisson's dream was greeted with joy. _coureurs_ ran through the forest, bidding the mohawks to the feast. leaving ambush of forest and waterfall, the warriors hastened to the walls of onondaga. to whet their appetite, they were kept waiting outside for two whole days. the french took turns in entertaining the waiting guests. boisterous games, songs, dances, and music kept the iroquois awake and hilarious to the evening of the second day. inside the fort bedlam reigned. boats were dragged from floors to a sally-port at the rear of the courtyard. here firearms, ammunition, food, and baggage were placed in readiness. guns which could not be taken were burned or broken. ammunition was scattered in the snow. all the stock but one solitary pig, a few chickens, and the dogs was sacrificed for the feast, and in the barracks a score of men were laboring over enormous kettles of meat. had an indian spy climbed to the top of a tree and looked over the palisades, all would have been discovered; but the french entertainers outside kept their guests busy. [illustration: château de ramezay, montreal, for years the residence of the governor, and later the storehouse of the fur companies.] on the evening of the second day a great fire was kindled in the outer enclosure, between the two walls. the trumpets blew a deafening blast. the mohawks answered with a shout. the french clapped their hands. the outer gates were thrown wide open, and in trooped several hundred mohawk warriors, seating themselves in a circle round the fire. another blare of trumpets, and twelve enormous kettles of mincemeat were carried round the circle of guests. a mohawk chief rose solemnly and gave his deities of earth, air, and fire profuse thanks for having brought such generous people as the french among the iroquois. other chiefs arose and declaimed to their hearers that earth did not contain such hosts as the french. before they had finished speaking there came a second and a third and a fourth relay of kettles round the circle of feasters. not one iroquois dared to refuse the food heaped before him. by the time the kettles of salted fowl and venison and bear had passed round the circle, each indian was glancing furtively sideways to see if his neighbor could still eat. he who was compelled to forsake the feast first was to become the butt of the company. all the while the french kept up a din of drums and trumpets and flageolets, dancing and singing and shouting to drive off sleep. the eyes of the gorging indians began to roll. never had they attempted to demolish such a banquet. some shook their heads and drew back. others fell over in the dead sleep that results from long fasting and overfeeding and fresh air. radisson was everywhere, urging the iroquois to "cheer up! cheer up! if sleep overcomes you, you must awake! beat the drum! blow the trumpet! cheer up! cheer up!" but the end of the repulsive scene was at hand. by midnight the indians had--in the language of the white man--"gone under the mahogany." they lay sprawled on the ground in sodden sleep. perhaps, too, something had been dropped in the fleshpots to make their sleep the sounder. radisson does not say no, neither does the priest, and they two were the only whites present who have written of the episode.[8] but the french would hardly have been human if they had not assured their own safety by drugging the feasters. it was a common thing for the fur traders of a later period to prevent massacre and quell riot by administering a quietus to indians with a few drops of laudanum. the french now retired to the inner court. the main gate was bolted and chained. through the loophole of this gate ran a rope attached to a bell that was used to summon the sentry. to this rope the mischievous radisson tied the only remaining pig, so that when the indians would pull the rope for admission, the noise of the disturbed pig would give the impression of a sentry's tramp-tramp on parade. stuffed effigies of soldiers were then stuck about the barracks. if a spy climbed up to look over the palisades, he would see frenchmen still in the fort. while radisson was busy with these precautions to delay pursuit, the soldiers and priests, led by major dupuis, had broken open the sally-port, forced the boats through sideways, and launched out on the river. speaking in whispers, they stowed the baggage in the flat-boats, then brought out skiffs--dugouts to withstand the ice jam--for the rest of the company. the night was raw and cold. a skim of ice had formed on the margins of the river. through the pitchy darkness fell a sleet of rain and snow that washed out the footsteps of the fugitives. the current of mid-river ran a noisy mill-race of ice and log drift; and the _voyageurs_ could not see one boat length ahead. to men living in savagery come temptations that can neither be measured nor judged by civilization. to the french at onondaga came such a temptation now. their priests were busy launching the boats. the departing soldiers seemed simultaneously to have become conscious of a very black suggestion. cooped up against the outer wall in the dead sleep of torpid gluttony lay the leading warriors of the iroquois nation. were these not the assassins of countless frenchmen, the murderers of women, the torturers of children? had providence not placed the treacherous iroquois in the hands of fifty frenchmen? if these warriors were slain, it would be an easy matter to march to the villages of the confederacy, kill the old men, and take prisoners the women. new france would be forever free of her most deadly enemy. like the indians, the white men were trying to justify a wrong under pretence of good. by chance, word of the conspiracy was carried to the jesuits. with all the authority of the church, the priests forbade the crime. "their answer was," relates radisson, "that they were sent to instruct in the faith of jesus christ and not to destroy, and that the cross must be their sword." locking the sally-port, the company--as the jesuit father records--"shook the dust of onondaga from their feet," launched out on the swift-flowing, dark river and escaped "as the children of israel escaped by night from the land of egypt." they had not gone far through the darkness before the roar of waters told them of a cataract ahead. they were four hours carrying baggage and boats over this _portage_. sleet beat upon their backs. the rocks were slippery with glazed ice; and through the rotten, half-thawed snow, the men sank to mid-waist. navigation became worse on lake ontario; for the wind tossed the lake like a sea, and ice had whirled against the st. lawrence in a jam. on the st. lawrence, they had to wait for the current to carry the ice out. at places they cut a passage through the honeycombed ice with their hatchets, and again they were compelled to _portage_ over the ice. the water was so high that the rapids were safely ridden by all the boats but one, which was shipwrecked, and three of the men were drowned. they had left onondaga on the 20th of march, 1658. on the evening of april 3d they came to montreal, where they learned that new france had all winter suffered intolerable insolence from the iroquois, lest punishment of the hostiles should endanger the french at onondaga. the fleeing colonists waited twelve days at montreal for the ice to clear, and were again held back by a jam at three rivers; but on april 23 they moored safely under the heights of quebec. _coureurs_ from onondaga brought word that the mohawks had been deceived by the pig and the ringing bell and the effigies for more than a week. crowing came from the chicken yard, dogs bayed in their kennels, and when a mohawk pulled the bell at the gate, he could hear the sentry's measured march. at the end of seven days not a white man had come from the fort. at first the mohawks had thought the "black robes" were at prayers; but now suspicions of trickery flashed on the iroquois. warriors climbed the palisades and found the fort empty. two hundred mohawks set out in pursuit; but the bad weather held them back. and that was the way radisson saved onondaga.[9] [1] the uncle, pierre esprit radisson, is the one with whom careless writers have confused the young hero, owing to identity of name. madeline hénault has been described as the explorer's first wife, notwithstanding genealogical impossibilities which make the explorer's daughter thirty-six years old before he was seventeen. even the infallible tanguay trips on radisson's genealogy. i have before me the complete record of the family taken from the parish registers of three rivers and quebec, by the indefatigable mr. sulte, whose explanation of the case is this: that radisson's mother, madeline hénault, first married sébastien hayet, of st. malo, to whom was born marguerite about 1630; that her second husband was pierre esprit radisson of paris, to whom were born our hero and the sisters françoise and elizabeth. [2] i have throughout referred to médard chouart, sieur des groseillers, as simply "groseillers," because that is the name referring to him most commonly used in the _state papers_ and old histories. he was from charly-saint-cyr, near meaux, and is supposed to have been born about 1621. his first wife was helen martin, daughter of abraham martin, who gave his name to the plains of abraham. [3] this is the story of onondaga which parkman has told. unfortunately, when parkman's account was written, _radisson's journals_ were unknown and mr. parkman had to rely entirely on the _letters of marie de l'incarnation_ and the _jesuit relations_. after the discovery of _radisson's journals_, parkman added a footnote to his account of onondaga, _quoting_ radisson in confirmation. if radisson may be quoted to corroborate parkman, radisson may surely be accepted as authentic. at the same time, i have compared this journal with father ragueneau's of the same party, and the two tally in every detail. [4] see _jesuit relations_, 1657-1658. [5] _letters of marie de l'incarnation_. [6] see ragueneau's account. [7] see _marie de l'incarnation_ and dr. dionne's modern monograph. [8] this account is drawn mainly from _radisson's journal_, partly from father ragueneau, and in one detail from a letter of _marie de l'incarnation_. garneau says the feasters were drugged, but i cannot find his authority for this, though from my knowledge of fur traders' escapes, i fancy it would hardly have been human nature not to add a sleeping potion to the kettles. [9] the _festins à tout manger_ must not be too sweepingly condemned by the self-righteous white man as long as drinking bouts are a part of civilized customs; and at least one civilized nation has the gross proverb, "better burst than waste." chapter iii 1658-1660 radisson's third voyage the discovery of the great northwest--radisson and his brother-in-law, groseillers, visit what are now wisconsin, minnesota, dakota, and the canadian northwest--radisson's prophecy on first beholding the west--twelve years before marquette and jolliet, radisson sees the mississippi--the terrible remains of dollard's fight seen on the way down the ottawa--why radisson's explorations have been ignored while radisson was among the iroquois, the little world of new france had not been asleep. before radisson was born, jean nicolet of three rivers had passed westward through the straits of mackinaw and coasted down lake michigan as far as green bay.[1] some years later the great jesuit martyr, jogues, had preached to the indians of sault ste. marie; but beyond the sault was an unknown world that beckoned the young adventurers of new france as with the hands of a siren. of the great beyond--known to-day as the great northwest--nothing had been learned but this: from it came the priceless stores of beaver pelts yearly brought down the ottawa to three rivers by the algonquins, and in it dwelt strange, wild races whose territory extended northwest and north to unknown nameless seas. the great beyond held the two things most coveted by ambitious young men of new france,--quick wealth by means of the fur trade and the immortal fame of being a first explorer. nicolet had gone only as far as green bay and fox river; jogues not far beyond the sault. what secrets lay in the great unknown? year after year young frenchmen, fired with the zeal of the explorer, joined wandering tribes of algonquins going up the ottawa, in the hope of being taken beyond the sault. in august, 1656, there came from green bay two young frenchmen with fifty canoes of algonquins, who told of far-distant waters called lake "ouinipeg," and tribes of wandering hunters called "christinos" (crees), who spent their winters in a land bare of trees (the prairie), and their summers on the north sea (hudson's bay). they also told of other tribes, who were great warriors, living to the south,--these were the sioux. but the two frenchmen had not gone beyond the great lakes.[2] these algonquins were received at château st. louis, quebec, with pompous firing of cannon and other demonstrations of welcome. so eager were the french to take possession of the new land that thirty young men equipped themselves to go back with the indians; and the jesuits sent out two priests, leonard gareau and gabriel dreuillettes, with a lay helper, louis boësme. the sixty canoes left quebec with more firing of guns for a god-speed; but at lake st. peter the mohawks ambushed the flotilla. the enterprise of exploring the great beyond was abandoned by all the french but two. gareau, who was mortally wounded on the ottawa, probably by a frenchman or renegade hunter, died at montreal; and dreuillettes did not go farther than lake nipissing. here, dreuillettes learned much of the unknown from an old nipissing chief. he heard of six overland routes to the bay of the north, whence came such store of peltry.[3] he, too, like the two frenchmen from green bay, heard of wandering tribes who had no settled lodge like the hurons and iroquois, but lived by the chase,--crees and sioux and assiniboines of the prairie, at constant war round a lake called "ouinipegouek." [illustration: a cree brave, with the wampum string.] by one of those curious coincidences of destiny which mark the lives of nations and men, the young frenchman who had gone with the jesuit, dreuillettes, to lake nipissing when the other frenchmen turned back, was médard chouart groseillers, the fur trader married to radisson's widowed sister, marguerite.[4] when radisson came back from onondaga, he found his brother-in-law, groseillers, at three rivers, with ambitious designs of exploration in the unknown land of which he had heard at green bay and on lake nipissing. jacques cartier had discovered only one great river, had laid the foundations of only one small province; champlain had only made the circuit of the st. lawrence, the ottawa, and the great lakes; but here was a country--if the indians spoke the truth--greater than all the empires of europe together, a country bounded only by three great seas, the sea of the north, the sea of the south, and the sea of japan, a country so vast as to stagger the utmost conception of little new france. it was unnecessary for groseillers to say more. the ambition of young radisson took fire. long ago, when a captive among the mohawks, he had cherished boyish dreams that it was to be his "destiny to discover many wild nations"; and here was that destiny opening the door for him, pointing the way, beckoning to the toils and dangers and glories of the discoverer's life. radisson had been tortured among the mohawks and besieged among the onondagas. groseillers had been among the huron missions that were destroyed and among the algonquin canoes that were attacked. both explorers knew what perils awaited them; but what youthful blood ever chilled at prospect of danger when a single _coup_ might win both wealth and fame? radisson had not been home one month; but he had no sooner heard the plan than he "longed to see himself in a boat." a hundred and fifty algonquins had come down the ottawa from the great beyond shortly after radisson returned from onondaga. six of these algonquins had brought their furs to three rivers. some emissaries had gone to quebec to meet the governor; but the majority of the indians remained at montreal to avoid the ambuscade of the mohawks on lake st. peter. radisson and groseillers were not the only frenchmen conspiring to wrest fame and fortune from the upper country. when the indians came back from quebec, they were accompanied by thirty young french adventurers, gay as boys out of school or gold hunters before the first check to their plans. there were also two jesuits sent out to win the new domain for the cross.[5] as ignorant as children of the hardships ahead, the other treasure-seekers kept up nonchalant boasting that roused the irony of such seasoned men as radisson and groseillers. "what fairer bastion than a good tongue," radisson demands cynically, "especially when one sees his own chimney smoke? . . . it is different when food is wanting, work necessary day and night, sleep taken on the bare ground or to mid-waist in water, with an empty stomach, weariness in the bones, and bad weather overhead." giving the slip to their noisy companions, radisson and groseillers stole out from three rivers late one night in june, accompanied by algonquin guides. travelling only at night to avoid iroquois spies, they came to montreal in three days. here were gathered one hundred and forty indians from the upper country, the thirty french, and the two priests. no gun was fired at montreal, lest the mohawks should get wind of the departure; and the flotilla of sixty canoes spread over lake st. louis for the far venture of the _pays d'en haut_. three days of work had silenced the boasting of the gay adventurers; and the _voyageurs_, white and red, were now paddling in swift silence. safety engendered carelessness. as the fleet seemed to be safe from iroquois ambush, the canoes began to scatter. some loitered behind. hunters went ashore to shoot. the hills began to ring with shot and call. at the first _portage_ many of the canoes were nine and ten miles apart. enemies could have set on the algonquins in some narrow defile and slaughtered the entire company like sheep in a pen. radisson and groseillers warned the indians of the risk they were running. many of these algonquins had never before possessed firearms. with the muskets obtained in trade at three rivers, they thought themselves invincible and laughed all warning to scorn. radisson and groseillers were told that they were a pair of timid squaws; and the canoes spread apart till not twenty were within call. as they skirted the wooded shores, a man suddenly dashed from the forest with an upraised war-hatchet in one hand and a blanket streaming from his shoulders. he shouted for them to come to him. the algonquins were panic-stricken. was the man pursued by mohawks, or laying a trap to lure them within shooting range? seeing them hesitate, the indian threw down blanket and hatchet to signify that he was defenceless, and rushed into the water to his armpits. "i would save you," he shouted in iroquois. the algonquins did not understand. they only knew that he spoke the tongue of the hated enemy and was unarmed. in a trice, the algonquins in the nearest canoe had thrown out a well-aimed lasso, roped the man round the waist, and drawn him a captive into the canoe. "brothers," protested the captive, who seems to have been either a huron slave or an iroquois magician, "your enemies are spread up and down! sleep not! they have heard your noise! they wait for you! they are sure of their prey! believe me--keep together! spend not your powder in vain to frighten your enemies by noise! see that the stones of your arrows be not bent! bend your bows! keep your hatchets sharp! build a fort! make haste!" but the algonquins, intoxicated with the new power of firearms, would hear no warning. they did not understand his words and refused to heed radisson's interpretation. beating paddles on their canoes and firing off guns, they shouted derisively that the man was "a dog and a hen." all the same, they did not land to encamp that night, but slept in midstream, with their boats tied to the rushes or on the lee side of floating trees. the french lost heart. if this were the beginning, what of the end? daylight had scarcely broken when the paddles of the eager _voyageurs_ were cutting the thick gray mist that rose from the river to get away from observation while the fog still hid the fleet. from afar came the dull, heavy rumble of a waterfall.[6] there was a rush of the twelve foremost canoes to reach the landing and cross the _portage_ before the thinning mist lifted entirely. twelve boats had got ashore when the fog was cleft by a tremendous crashing of guns, and iroquois ambushed in the bordering forest let go a salute of musketry. everything was instantly in confusion. abandoning their baggage to the enemy, the algonquins and french rushed for the woods to erect a barricade. this would protect the landing of the other canoes. the iroquois immediately threw up a defence of fallen logs likewise, and each canoe that came ashore was greeted with a cross fire between the two barricades. four canoes were destroyed and thirteen of the indians from the upper country killed. as day wore on, the iroquois' shots ceased, and the algonquins celebrated the truce by killing and devouring all the prisoners they had taken, among whom was the magician who had given them warning. radisson and groseillers wondered if the iroquois were reserving their powder for a night raid. the algonquins did not wait to know. as soon as darkness fell, there was a wild scramble for the shore. a long, low trumpet call, such as hunters use, signalled the algonquins to rally and rush for the boats. the french embarked as best they could. the indians swam and paddled for the opposite shore of the river. here, in the dark, hurried council was taken. the most of the baggage had been lost. the indians refused to help either the jesuits or the french, and it was impossible for the white _voyageurs_ to keep up the pace in the dash across an unknown _portage_ through the dark. the french adventurers turned back for montreal. of the white men, radisson and groseillers alone went on. frightened into their senses by the encounter, the algonquins now travelled only at night till they were far beyond range of the iroquois. all day the fugitive band lay hidden in the woods. they could not hunt, lest mohawk spies might hear the gunshots. provisions dwindled. in a short time the food consisted of _tripe de roche_--a greenish moss boiled into a soup--and the few fish that might be caught during hurried nightly launch or morning landing. sometimes they hid in a berry patch, when the fruit was gathered and boiled, but camp-fires were stamped out and covered. turning westward, they crossed the barren region of iron-capped rocks and dwarf growth between the upper ottawa and the great lakes. now they were farther from the iroquois, and staved off famine by shooting an occasional bear in the berry patches. for a thousand miles they had travelled against stream, carrying their boats across sixty _portages_. now they glided with the current westward to lake nipissing. on the lake, the upper indians always _cached_ provisions. fish, otter, and beaver were plentiful; but again they refrained from using firearms, for iroquois footprints had been found on the sand. from lake nipissing they passed to lake huron, where the fleet divided. radisson and groseillers went with the indians, who crossed lake huron for green bay on lake michigan. the birch canoes could not venture across the lake in storms; so the boats rounded southward, keeping along the shore of georgian bay. cedar forests clustered down the sandy reaches of the lake. rivers dark as cathedral aisles rolled their brown tides through the woods to the blue waters of lake huron. at one point groseillers recognized the site of the ruined jesuit missions. the indians waited the chance of a fair day, and paddled over to the straits at the entrance to lake michigan. at manitoulin island were huron refugees, among whom were, doubtless, the waiting families of the indians with radisson. all struck south for green bay. so far radisson and groseillers had travelled over beaten ground. now they were at the gateway of the great beyond, where no white man had yet gone. the first thing done on taking up winter quarters on green bay was to appease the friends of those warriors slain by the mohawks. a distribution of gifts had barely dried up the tears of mourning when news came of iroquois on the war-path. radisson did not wait for fear to unman the algonquin warriors. before making winter camp, he offered to lead a band of volunteers against the marauders. for two days he followed vague tracks through the autumn-tinted forests. here were markings of the dead leaves turned freshly up; there a moccasin print on the sand; and now the ashes of a hidden camp-fire lying in almost imperceptible powder on fallen logs told where the mohawks had bivouacked. on the third day radisson caught the ambushed band unprepared, and fell upon the iroquois so furiously that not one escaped. after that the indians of the upper country could not do too much for the white men. radisson and groseillers were conducted from camp to camp in triumph. feasts were held. ambassadors went ahead with gifts from the frenchmen; and companies of women marched to meet the explorers, chanting songs of welcome. "but our mind was not to stay here," relates radisson, "but to know the remotest people; and, because we had been willing to die in their defence, these indians consented to conduct us." before the opening of spring, 1659, radisson and groseillers had been guided across what is now wisconsin to "a mighty river, great, rushing, profound, and comparable to the st. lawrence." [7] on the shores of the river they found a vast nation--"the people of the fire," prairie tribes, a branch of the sioux, who received them well.[8] this river was undoubtedly the upper mississippi, now for the first time seen by white men. radisson and groseillers had discovered the great northwest.[9] they were standing on the threshold of the great beyond. they saw before them not the sea of china, as speculators had dreamed, not kingdoms for conquest, which the princes of europe coveted; not a short road to asia, of which savants had spun a cobweb of theories. they saw what every westerner sees to-day,--illimitable reaches of prairie and ravine, forested hills sloping to mighty rivers, and open meadow-lands watered by streams looped like a ribbon. they saw a land waiting for its people, wealth waiting for possessors, an empire waiting for the nation builders. [illustration: an old-time buffalo hunt on the plains among the sioux.] what were radisson's thoughts? did he realize the importance of his discovery? could he have the vaguest premonition that he had opened a door of escape from stifled older lands to a higher type of manhood and freedom than the most sanguine dreamer had ever hoped?[10] after an act has come to fruition, it is easy to read into the actor's mind fuller purpose than he could have intended. columbus could not have realized to what the discovery of america would lead. did radisson realize what the discovery of the great northwest meant? here is what he says, in that curious medley of idioms which so often results when a speaker knows many languages but is master of none:-"the country was so pleasant, so beautiful, and so fruitful, that it grieved me to see that the world could not discover such inticing countries to live in. this, i say, because the europeans fight for a rock in the sea against one another, or for a steril land . . . where the people by changement of air engender sickness and die. . . . contrariwise, these kingdoms are so delicious and under so temperate a climate, plentiful of all things, and the earth brings forth its fruit twice a year, that the people live long and lusty and wise in their way. what a conquest would this be, at little or no cost? what pleasure should people have . . . instead of misery and poverty! why should not men reap of the love of god here? surely, more is to be gained converting souls here than in differences of creed, when wrongs are committed under pretence of religion! . . . it is true, i confess, . . . that access here is difficult . . . but nothing is to be gained without labor and pains." [11] [illustration: father marquette, from an old painting discovered in montreal by mr. mcnab. the date on the picture is 1669.] here radisson foreshadows all the best gains that the west has accomplished for the human race. what are they? mainly room,--room to live and room for opportunity; equal chances for all classes, high and low; plenty for all classes, high and low; the conquests not of war but of peace. the question arises,--when radisson discovered the great northwest ten years before marquette and jolliet, twenty years before la salle, a hundred years before de la vérendrye, why has his name been slurred over and left in oblivion?[12] the reasons are plain. radisson was a christian, but he was not a slave to any creed. such liberality did not commend itself to the annalists of an age that was still rioting in a very carnival of religious persecution. radisson always invoked the blessing of heaven on his enterprises and rendered thanks for his victories; but he was indifferent as to whether he was acting as lay helper with the jesuits, or allied to the huguenots of london and boston. his discoveries were too important to be ignored by the missionaries. they related his discoveries, but refrained from mentioning his name, though twice referring to groseillers. what hurt radisson's fame even more than his indifference to creeds was his indifference to nationality. like columbus, he had little care what flag floated at the prow, provided only that the prow pushed on and on and on,--into the unknown. he sold his services alternately to france and england till he had offended both governments; and, in addition to withstanding a conspiracy of silence on the part of the church, his fame encountered the ill-will of state historians. he is mentioned as "the adventurer," "the hang-dog," "the renegade." only in 1885, when the manuscript of his travels was rescued from oblivion, did it become evident that history must be rewritten. here was a man whose discoveries were second only to those of columbus, and whose explorations were more far-ranging and important than those of champlain and la salle and de la vérendrye put together. the spring of 1659 found the explorers still among the prairie tribes of the mississippi. from these people radisson learned of four other races occupying vast, undiscovered countries. he heard of the sioux, a warlike nation to the west, who had no fixed abode but lived by the chase and were at constant war with another nomadic tribe to the north--the crees. the crees spent the summer time round the shores of salt water, and in winter came inland to hunt. between these two was a third,--the assiniboines,--who used earthen pots for cooking, heated their food by throwing hot stones in water, and dressed themselves in buckskin. these three tribes were wandering hunters; but the people of the fire told radisson of yet another nation, who lived in villages like the iroquois, on "a great river that divided itself in two," and was called "the forked river," because "it had two branches, the one toward the west, the other toward the south, . . . toward mexico." these people were the mandans or omahas, or iowas, or other people of the missouri.[13] a whole world of discoveries lay before them. in what direction should they go? "we desired not to go to the north till we had made a discovery in the south," explains radisson. the people of the fire refused to accompany the explorers farther; so the two "put themselves in hazard," as radisson relates, and set out alone. they must have struck across the height of land between the mississippi and the missouri; for radisson records that they met several nations having villages, "all amazed to see us and very civil. the farther we sojourned, the delightfuller the land became. i can say that in all my lifetime i have never seen a finer country, for all that i have been in italy. the people have very long hair. they reap twice a year. they war against the sioux and the cree. . . . it was very hot there. . . . being among the people they told us . . . of men that built great cabins and have beards and have knives like the french." the indians showed radisson a string of beads only used by europeans. these people must have been the spaniards of the south. the tribes on the missouri were large men of well-formed figures. there were no deformities among the people. radisson saw corn and pumpkins in their gardens. "their arrows were not of stone, but of fish bones. . . . their dishes were made of wood. . . . they had great calumets of red and green stone . . . and great store of tobacco. . . . they had a kind of drink that made them mad for a whole day." [14] "we had not yet seen the sioux," relates radisson. "we went toward the south and came back by the north." the _jesuit relations_ are more explicit. written the year that radisson returned to quebec, they state: "continuing their wanderings, our two young frenchmen visited the sioux, where they found five thousand warriors. they then left this nation for another warlike people, who with bows and arrows had rendered themselves redoubtable." these were the crees, with whom, say the jesuits, wood is so rare and small that nature has taught them to make fire of a kind of coal and to cover their cabins with skins of the chase. the explorers seem to have spent the summer hunting antelope, buffalo, moose, and wild turkey. the sioux received them cordially, supplied them with food, and gave them an escort to the next encampments. they had set out southwest to the mascoutins, mandans, and perhaps, also, the omahas. they were now circling back northeastward toward the sault between lake michigan and lake superior. how far westward had they gone? only two facts gave any clew. radisson reports that mountains lay far inland; and the jesuits record that the explorers were among tribes that used coal. this must have been a country far west of the mandans and mascoutins and within sight of at least the bad lands, or that stretch of rough country between the prairie and outlying foothills of the rockies.[15] the course of the first exploration seems to have circled over the territory now known as wisconsin, perhaps eastern iowa and nebraska, south dakota, montana, and back over north dakota and minnesota to the north shore of lake superior. "the lake toward the north is full of rocks, yet great ships can ride in it without danger," writes radisson. at the sault they found the crees and sautaux in bitter war. they also heard of a french establishment, and going to visit it found that the jesuits had established a mission. radisson had explored the southwest. he now decided to essay the northwest. when the sautaux were at war with the crees, he met the crees and heard of the great salt sea in the north. surely this was the sea of the north--hudson bay--of which the nipissing chief had told groseillers long ago. then the crees had great store of beaver pelts; and trade must not be forgotten. no sooner had peace been arranged between sautaux and crees, than cree hunters flocked out of the northern forests to winter on lake superior. a rumor of iroquois on the war-path compelled radisson and groseillers to move their camp back from lake superior higher up the chain of lakes and rivers between what is now minnesota and canada, toward the country of the sioux. in the fall of 1659 groseillers' health began to fail from the hardships; so he remained in camp for the winter, attending to the trade, while radisson carried on the explorations alone. this was one of the coldest winters known in canada.[16] the snow fell so heavily in the thick pine woods of minnesota that radisson says the forest became as sombre as a cellar. the colder the weather the better the fur, and, presenting gifts to insure safe conduct, radisson set out with a band of one hundred and fifty cree hunters for the northwest. they travelled on snow-shoes, hunting moose on the way and sleeping at night round a camp-fire under the stars. league after league, with no sound through the deathly white forest but the soft crunch-crunch of the snowshoes, they travelled two hundred miles toward what is now manitoba. when they had set out, the snow was like a cushion. now it began to melt in the spring sun, and clogged the snow-shoes till it was almost impossible to travel. in the morning the surface was glazed ice, and they could march without snow-shoes. spring thaw called a halt to their exploration. the crees encamped for three weeks to build boats. as soon as the ice cleared, the band launched back down-stream for the appointed rendezvous on green bay. all that radisson learned on this trip was that the bay of the north lay much farther from lake superior than the old nipissing chief had told dreuillettes and groseillers.[17] groseillers had all in readiness to depart for quebec; and five hundred indians from the upper country had come together to go down the ottawa and st. lawrence with the explorers. as they were about to embark, _coureurs_ came in from the woods with news that more than a thousand iroquois were on the war-path, boasting that they would exterminate the french.[18] somewhere along the ottawa a small band of hurons had been massacred. the indians with groseillers and radisson were terrified. a council of the elders was called. "brothers, why are ye so foolish as to put yourselves in the hands of those that wait for you?" demanded an old chief, addressing the two white men. "the iroquois will destroy you and carry you away captive. will you have your brethren, that love you, slain? who will baptize our children?" (radisson and groseillers had baptized more than two hundred children.[19]) "stay till next year! then you may freely go! our mothers will send their children to be taught in the way of the lord!" fear is like fire. it must be taken in the beginning, or it spreads. the explorers retired, decided on a course of action, and requested the indians to meet them in council a second time. eight hundred warriors assembled, seating themselves in a circle. radisson and groseillers took their station in the centre.[20] "who am i?" demanded groseillers, hotly. "am i a foe or a friend? if a foe, why did you suffer me to live? if a friend, listen what i say! you know that we risked our lives for you! if we have no courage, why did you not tell us? if you have more wit than we, why did you not use it to defend yourselves against the iroquois? how can you defend your wives and children unless you get arms from the french!" "fools," cried radisson, striking a beaver skin across an indian's shoulder, "will you fight the iroquois with beaver pelts? do you not know the french way? we fight with guns, not robes. the iroquois will coop you up here till you have used all your powder, and then despatch you with ease! shall your children be slaves because you are cowards? do what you will! for my part i choose to die like a man rather than live like a beggar. take back your beaver robes. we can live without you--" and the white men strode out from the council. consternation reigned among the indians. there was an uproar of argument. for six days the fate of the white men hung fire. finally the chiefs sent word that the five hundred young warriors would go to quebec with the white men. radisson did not give their ardor time to cool. they embarked at once. the fleet of canoes crossed the head of the lakes and came to the upper ottawa without adventure. scouts went ahead to all the _portages_, and great care was taken to avoid an ambush when passing overland. below the chaudière falls the scouts reported that four iroquois boats had crossed the river. again radisson did not give time for fear. he sent the lightest boats in pursuit; and while keeping the enemy thus engaged with half his own company on guard at the ends of the long _portage_, he hurriedly got cargoes and canoes across the landing. the iroquois had fled. by that radisson knew they were weak. somewhere along the long sault rapids, the scouts saw sixteen iroquois canoes. the indians would have thrown down their goods and fled, but radisson instantly got his forces in hand and held them with a grip of steel. distributing loaded muskets to the bravest warriors, he pursued the iroquois with a picked company of hurons, algonquins, sautaux, and sioux. beating their paddles, radisson's company shouted the war-cry till the hills rang; but all the warriors were careful not to waste an ounce of powder till within hitting range. the iroquois were not used to this sort of defence. they fled. the long sault was always the most dangerous part of the ottawa. radisson kept scouts to rear and fore, but the iroquois had deserted their boats and were hanging on the flanks of the company to attempt an ambush. it was apparent that a fort had been erected at the foot of the rapids. leaving half the band in their boats, radisson marched overland with two hundred warriors. iroquois shots spattered from each side; but the huron muskets kept the assailants at a distance, and those of radisson's warriors who had not guns were armed with bows and arrows, and wore a shield of buffalo skin dried hard as metal. the iroquois rushed for the barricade at the foot of the sault. five of them were picked off as they ran. for a moment the iroquois were out of cover, and their weakness was betrayed. they had only one hundred and fifty men, while radisson had five hundred; but the odds would not long be in his favor. ammunition was running out, and the enemy must be dislodged without wasting a shot. radisson called back encouragement to his followers. they answered with a shout. tying the beaver pelts in great bundles, the indians rolled the fur in front nearer and nearer the iroquois boats, keeping under shelter from the shots of the fort. the iroquois must either lose their boats and be cut off from escape, or retire from the fort. it was not necessary for radisson's warriors to fire a shot. abandoning even their baggage and glad to get off with their lives, the iroquois dashed to save their boats. [illustration: voyageurs running the rapids of the ottawa river.] a terrible spectacle awaited radisson inside the enclosure of the palisades.[21] the scalps of dead indians flaunted from the pickets. not a tree but was spattered with bullet marks as with bird shot. here and there burnt holes gaped in the stockades like wounds. outside along the river bank lay the charred bones of captives who had been burned. the scarred fort told its own tale. here refugees had been penned up by the iroquois till thirst and starvation did their work. in the clay a hole had been dug for water by the parched victims, and the ooze through the mud eagerly scooped up. only when he reached montreal did radisson learn the story of the dismantled fort. the rumor carried to the explorers on lake michigan of a thousand iroquois going on the war-path to exterminate the french had been only too true. half the warriors were to assault quebec, half to come down on montreal from the ottawa. one thing only could save the french--to keep the bands apart. those on the ottawa had been hunting all winter and must necessarily be short of powder. to intercept them, a gallant band of seventeen french, four algonquins, and sixty hurons led by dollard took their stand at the long sault. the french and their indian allies were boiling their kettles when two hundred iroquois broke from the woods. there was no time to build a fort. leaving their food, dollard and his men threw themselves into the rude palisades which indians had erected the previous year. the iroquois kept up a constant fire and sent for reinforcements of six hundred warriors, who were on the richelieu. in defiance the indians fighting for the french sallied out, scalped the fallen iroquois, and hoisted the sanguinary trophies on long poles above the pickets. the enraged iroquois redoubled their fury. the fort was too small to admit all the hurons; and when the iroquois came up from the richelieu with huron renegades among their warriors, the hurons deserted their french allies and went over in a body to the enemy. for two days the french had fought against two hundred iroquois. for five more days they fought against eight hundred. "the worst of it was," relates radisson, "the french had no water, as we plainly saw; for they had made a hole in the ground out of which they could get but little because the fort was on a hill. it was pitiable. there was not a tree but what was shot with bullets. the iroquois had rushed to make a breach (in the wall). . . . the french set fire to a barrel of powder to drive the iroquois back . . . but it fell inside the fort. . . . upon this, the iroquois entered . . . so that not one of the french escaped. . . . it was terrible . . . for we came there eight days after the defeat." [22] without a doubt it was dollard's splendid fight that put fear in the hearts of the iroquois who fled before radisson. the passage to montreal was clear. the boats ran the rapids without unloading; but groseillers almost lost his life. his canoe caught on a rock in midstream, but righting herself shot down safely to the landing with no greater loss than a damaged keel. the next day, after two years' absence, radisson and groseillers arrived at montreal. a brief stop was made at three rivers for rest till twenty citizens had fitted out two shallops with cannon to escort the discoverers in fitting pomp to quebec. as the fleet of canoes glided round cape diamond, battery and bastion thundered a welcome. welcome they were, and thrice welcome; for so ceaseless had been the iroquois wars that the three french ships lying at anchor would have returned to france without a single beaver skin if the explorers had not come. citizens shouted from the terraced heights of château st. louis, and bells rang out the joy of all new france over the discoverers' return. for a week radisson and groseillers were fêted. viscomte d'argenson, the new governor, presented them with gifts and sent two brigantines to carry them home to three rivers. there they rested for the remainder of the year, groseillers at his seigniory with his wife, marguerite; radisson, under the parental roof.[23] [1] mr. benjamin sulte establishes this date as 1634. [2] see _jesuit relations_, 1656-57-58. i have purposely refrained from entering into the heated controversy as to the identity of these two men. it is apart from the subject, as there is no proof these men went beyond the green bay region. [3] these routes were; (1) by the saguenay, (2) by three rivers and the st. maurice, (3) by lake nipissing, (4) by lake huron, through the land of the sautaux, (5) by lake superior overland, (6) by the ottawa. see _jesuit relations_ for detailed accounts of these routes. dreuillettes went farther west to the crees a few years later, but that does not concern this narrative. [4] the dispute as to whether eastern minnesota was discovered on the 1654-55-56 trip, and whether groseillers discovered it, is a point for savants, but will, i think, remain an unsettled dispute. [5] the _relations_ do not give the names of these two jesuits, probably owing to the fact that the enterprise failed. they simply state that two priests set out, but were compelled to remain behind owing to the caprice of the savages. [6] whether they were now on the ottawa or the st. lawrence, it is impossible to tell. dr. dionne thinks that the band went overland from lake ontario to lake huron. i know both waters--lake ontario and the ottawa--from many trips, and i think radisson's description here tallies with his other descriptions of the ottawa. it is certain that they must have been on the ottawa before they came to the lake of the castors or nipissing. the noise of the waterfall seems to point to the chaudière falls of the ottawa. if so, the landing place would be the tongue of land running out from hull, opposite the city of ottawa, and the _portage_ would be the aylmer road beyond the rapids above the falls. mr. benjamin sulte, the scholarly historian, thinks they went by way of the ottawa, not lake ontario, as the st. lawrence route was not used till 1702. [7] _jesuit relations_, 1660. [8] _jesuit relations_, 1660, and _radisson's journal_. these "people of the fire," or mascoutins, were in three regions, (1) wisconsin, (2) nebraska, (3) on the missouri. see appendix e. [9] benjamin sulte unequivocally states that the river was the mississippi. of writers contemporaneous with radisson, the jesuits, marie de l'incarnation, and charlevoix corroborate radisson's account. in the face of this, what are we to think of modern writers with a reputation to lose, who brush radisson's exploits aside as a possible fabrication? the only conclusion is that they have not read his _journal_. [10] i refer to radisson alone, because for half the time in 1659 groseillers was ill at the lake, and we cannot be sure that he accompanied radisson in all the journeys south and west, though radisson generously always includes him as "we." besides, groseillers seems to have attended to the trading, radisson to the exploring. [11] if any one cares to render radisson's peculiar jumble of french, english, italian, and indian idioms into more intelligent form, they may try their hand at it. his meaning is quite clear; but the words are a medley. the passage is to be found on pp. 150-151, of the _prince society reprint_. see also _jesuit relations_, 1660. [12] it will be noted that what i claim for radisson is the honor of discovering the great northwest, and refrain from trying to identify his movements with the modern place names of certain states. i have done this intentionally--though it would have been easy to advance opinions about green bay, fox river, and the wisconsin, and so become involved in the childish quarrel that has split the western historical societies and obscured the main issue of radisson's feat. needless to say, the world does not care whether radisson went by way of the menominee, or snow-shoed across country. the question is: did he reach the mississippi valley before marquette and jolliet and la salle? that question this chapter answers. [13] i have refrained from quoting radisson's names for the different indian tribes because it would only be "caviare to the general." if radisson's manuscript be consulted it will be seen that the crucial point is the whereabouts of the mascoutins--or people of the fire. reference to the last part of appendix e will show that these people extended far beyond the wisconsin to the missouri. it is ignorance of this fact that has created such bitter and childish controversy about the exact direction taken by radisson west-north-west of the mascoutins. the exact words of the document in the marine department are; "in the lower missipy there are several other nations very numerous with whom we have no commerce who are trading yet with nobody. above missoury river which is in the mississippi below the river illinois, to the south, there are the mascoutins, nadoessioux (sioux) with whom we trade and who are numerous." benjamin sulte was one of the first to discover that the mascoutins had been in nebraska, though he does not attempt to trace this part of radisson's journey definitely. [14] the entire account of the people on "the forked river" is so exact an account of the mandans that it might be a page from catlin's descriptions two centuries later. the long hair, the two crops a year, the tobacco, the soap-stone calumets, the stationary villages, the knowledge of the spaniards, the warm climate--all point to a region far south of the northern states, to which so many historians have stupidly and with almost wilful ignorance insisted on limiting radisson's travels. parkman has been thoroughly honest in the matter. his _la salle_ had been written before the discovery of the _radisson journals_; but in subsequent editions he acknowledges in a footnote that radisson had been to "the forked river." other writers (with the exception of five) have been content to quote from radisson's enemies instead of going directly to his journals. even garneau slurs over radisson's explorations; but garneau, too, wrote before the discovery of the radisson papers. abbé tanguay, who is almost infallible on french-canadian matters, slips up on radisson, because his writings preceded the publication of the _radisson relations_. the five writers who have attempted to redeem radisson's memory from ignominy are: dr. n. e. dionne, of the parliamentary library, quebec; mr. justice prudhomme, of st. boniface, manitoba; dr. george bryce, of winnepeg, mr. benjamin sulte, of ottawa; and judge j. v. brower, of st. paul. it ever a monument be erected to radisson--as one certainly ought in every province and state west of the great lakes--the names of these four champions should be engraved upon it. [15] this claim will, i know, stagger preconceived ideas. in the light of only radisson's narrative, the third voyage has usually been identified with wisconsin and minnesota; but in the light of the _jesuit relations_, written the year that radisson returned, to what tribes could the descriptions apply? even parkman's footnote acknowledged that radisson was among the people of the missouri. grant that, and the question arises, what people on the missouri answer the description? the indians of the far west use not only coal for fire, but raw galena to make bullets for their guns. in fact, it was that practice of the tribes of idaho that led prospectors to find the blue bell mine of kootenay. granting that the jesuit account--which was of course, from hearsay--mistook the use of turf, dry grass, or buffalo refuse for a kind of coal, the fact remains that only the very far western tribes had this custom. [16] _letters of marie de l'incarnation_. [17] _jesuit relations_, 1658. [18] see marie de l'incarnation, dollier de casson, and abbé belmont. [19] _jesuit relations_, 1660. [20] it may be well to state as nearly as possible exactly _what_ tribes radisson had met in this trip. those rejoined on the way up at manitoulin island were refugee hurons and ottawas. from the hurons, ottawas, and algonquins of green bay, radisson went west with pottowatomies, from them to the escotecke or sioux of the fire, namely a branch of the mascoutins. from these wisconsin mascoutins, he learns of the nadoneceroron, or sioux proper, and of the christinos or crees. going west with the mascoutins, he comes to "sedentary" tribes. are these the mandans? he compares this country to italy. from them he hears of white men, that he thinks may be spaniards. this tribe is at bitter war with sioux and crees. at green bay he hears of the sautaux in war with crees. his description of buffalo hunts among the sioux tallies exactly with the pembina hunts of a later day. oldmixon says that it was from crees and assiniboines visiting at green bay that radisson learned of a way overland to the great game country of hudson bay. [21] there is a mistake in radisson's account here, which is easily checked by contemporaneous accounts of marie de l'incarnation and dollier de casson. radisson describes dollard's fight during his fourth trip in 1664, when it is quite plain that he means 1660. the fight has been so thoroughly described by mr. parkman, who drew his material from the two authorities mentioned, and the _jesuit relations_ that i do not give it in detail. i give a brief account of radisson's description of the tragedy. [22] it will be noticed that radisson's account of the battle at the long sault--which i have given in his own words as far as possible--differs in details from the only other accounts written by contemporaries; namely, marie de l'incarnation, dollier de casson, the abbé belmont, and the jesuits. all these must have written from hearsay, for they were at quebec and montreal. radisson was on the spot a week after the tragedy; so that his account may be supposed to be as accurate as any. [23] mr. benjamin sulte states that the explorers wintered on green bay, 1658-1659, then visited the tribes between milwaukee and the river wisconsin in the spring of 1659. here they learn of the sioux and the crees. they push southwest first, where they see the mississippi between april and july, 1659. thence they come back to the sault. then they winter, 1659-1660, among the sioux. i have not attempted to give the dates of the itinerary; because it would be a matter of speculation open to contradiction; but if we accept radisson's account at all--and that account is corroborated by writers contemporaneous with him--we must then accept _his_ account of _where_ he went, and not the casual guesses of modern writers who have given his journal one hurried reading, and then sat down, without consulting documents contemporaneous with radisson, to inform the world of _where_ he went. because this is such a very sore point with two or three western historical societies, i beg to state the reasons why i have set down radisson's itinerary as much farther west than has been generally believed, though how far west he went does not efface the main and essential fact _that radisson was the true discoverer of the great northwest_. for that, let us give him a belated credit and not obscure the feat by disputes. (1) the term "forked river" referred to the missouri and mississippi, not the wisconsin and mississippi. (2) no other rivers in that region are to be compared to the ottawa and st. lawrence but the missouri and mississippi. (3) the mascoutins, or people of the fire, among whom radisson found himself when he descended the wisconsin from green bay, conducted him westward only as far as the tribes allied to them, the mascoutins of the missouri or nebraska. hence, radisson going west-north-west to the sioux--as he says he did--must have skirted much farther west than wisconsin and minnesota. (4) his descriptions of the indians who knew tribes in trade with the spaniards must refer to the indians south of the big bend of the missouri. (5) his description of the climate refers to the same region. (6) the _jesuit relations_ confirm beyond all doubt that he was among the main body of the great sioux confederacy. (7) both his and the jesuit reference is to the treeless prairie, which does not apply to the wooded lake regions of eastern minnesota or northern wisconsin. to me, it is simply astounding--and that is putting it mildly--that any one pretending to have read _radisson's journal_ can accuse him of "claiming" to have "descended to the salt sea" (gulf of mexico). radisson makes no such claim; and to accuse him of such is like building a straw enemy for the sake of knocking him down, or stirring up muddy waters to make them look deep. the exact words of radisson's narrative are: "we went into ye great river that divides itself in 2, where the hurrons with some ottauake . . . had retired. . . . this nation have warrs against those of the forked river . . . so called because it has 1 branches the one towards the west, the other towards the south, wch. we believe runns towards mexico, by the tokens they gave us . . . they told us the prisoners they take tells them that they have warrs against a nation . . . that have great beards and such knives as we have" . . . etc., etc., etc. . . . "which made us believe they were europeans." this statement is _no_ claim that radisson went to mexico, but only that he met tribes who knew tribes trading with spaniards of mexico. and yet, on the careless reading of this statement, one historian brands radisson as a liar for "having claimed he went to mexico." the thing would be comical in its impudence if it were not that many such misrepresentations of what radisson wrote have dimmed the glory of his real achievements. chapter iv 1661-1664 radisson's fourth voyage the success of the explorers arouses envy--it becomes known that they have heard of the famous sea of the north--when they ask permission to resume their explorations, the french governor refuses except on condition of receiving half the profits--in defiance, the explorers steal off at midnight--they return with a fortune and are driven from new france radisson was not yet twenty-six years of age, and his explorations of the great northwest had won him both fame and fortune. as spain sought gold in the new word, so france sought precious furs. furs were the only possible means of wealth to the french colony, and for ten years the fur trade had languished owing to the iroquois wars. for a year after the migration of the hurons to onondaga, not a single beaver skin was brought to montreal. then began the annual visits of the indians from the upper country to the forts of the st. lawrence. sweeping down the northern rivers like wild-fowl, in far-spread, desultory flocks, came the indians of the _pays d'en haut_. down the ottawa to montreal, down the st. maurice to three rivers, down the saguenay and round to quebec, came the treasure-craft,--light fleets of birch canoes laden to the water-line with beaver skins. whence came the wealth that revived the languishing trade of new france? from a vague, far eldorado somewhere round a sea in the north. hudson had discovered this sea half a century before radisson's day; jean bourdon, a frenchman, had coasted up labrador in 1657 seeking the bay of the north; and on their last trip the explorers had learned from the crees who came through the dense forests of the hinterland that there lay round this bay of the north a vast country with untold wealth of furs. the discovery of a route overland to the north sea was to become the lodestar of radisson's life.[1] [illustration: montreal in 1760: 1, the st. lawrence; 20, the dock; 18-19, arsenal; 16, the church; 13-15, the convent and hospital; 8-12, sally-ports, river side; 17, cannon and wall; 3-4-5, houses on island.] "we considered whether to reveal what we had learned," explains radisson, "for we had _not_ been in the bay of the north, knowing only what the crees told us. we wished to discover it ourselves and have assurance before revealing anything." but the secret leaked out. either groseillers told his wife, or the jesuits got wind of the news from the indians; for it was announced from quebec that two priests, young la vallière, the son of the governor at three rivers, six other frenchmen, and some indians would set out for the bay of the north up the saguenay. radisson was invited to join the company as a guide. needless to say that a man who had already discovered the great northwest and knew the secret of the road to the north, refused to play a second part among amateur explorers. radisson promptly declined. nevertheless, in may, 1661, the jesuits, gabriel dreuillettes and claude dablon, accompanied by couture, la vallière, and three others, set out with indian guides for the discovery of hudson's bay by land. on june 1 they began to ascend the saguenay, pressing through vast solitudes below the sombre precipices of the river. the rapids were frequent, the heat was terrific, and the _portages_ arduous. owing to the obstinacy of the guides, the french were stopped north of lake st. john. here the priests established a mission, and messengers were sent to quebec for instructions. meanwhile, radisson and groseillers saw that no time must be lost. if they would be first in the north, as they had been first in the west, they must set out at once. two indian guides from the upper country chanced to be in montreal. groseillers secured them by bringing both to three rivers. then the explorers formally applied to the french governor, d'avaugour, for permission to go on the voyage of discovery. new france regulated the fur trade by license. imprisonment, the galleys for life, even death on a second offence, were the punishments of those who traded without a license. the governor's answer revealed the real animus behind his enthusiasm for discovery. he would give the explorers a license if they would share half the profits of the trip with him and take along two of his servants as auditors of the returns. one can imagine the indignation of the dauntless explorers at this answer. their cargo of furs the preceding year had saved new france from bankruptcy. offering to venture their lives a second time for the extension of the french domain, they were told they might do so if they would share half the profits with an avaricious governor. their answer was characteristic. discoverers were greater than governors; still, if the indians of the upper country invited his excellency, radisson and groseillers would be glad to have the honor of his company; as for his servants--men who went on voyages of discovery had to act as both masters and servants. d'avaugour was furious. he issued orders forbidding the explorers to leave three rivers without his express permission. radisson and groseillers knew the penalties of ignoring this order. they asked the jesuits to intercede for them. though gareau had been slain trying to ascend the ottawa and father ménard had by this time preached in the forests of lake michigan, the jesuits had made no great discoveries in the northwest. all they got for their intercessions was a snub.[2] while messages were still passing between the governor and the explorers, there swept down the st. lawrence to three rivers seven canoes of indians from the upper country, asking for radisson and groseillers. the explorers were honorable to a degree. they notified the governor of quebec that they intended to embark with the indians. d'avaugour stubbornly ordered the indians to await the return of his party from the saguenay. the indians made off to hide in the rushes of lake st. peter. the sympathy of three rivers was with the explorers. late one night in august radisson and groseillers--who was captain of the soldiers and carried the keys of the fort--slipped out from the gates, with a third frenchman called larivière. as they stepped into their canoe, the sentry demanded, "who goes?" "groseillers," came the answer through the dark. "god give you a good voyage, sir," called the sentry, faithful to his captain rather than the governor. the skiff pushed out on the lapping tide. a bend in the river--and the lights of the fort glimmering in long lines across the water had vanished behind. the prow of radisson's boat was once more heading upstream for the unknown. paddling with all swiftness through the dark, the three frenchmen had come to the rushes of lake st. peter before daybreak. no indians could be found. men of softer mettle might have turned back. not so radisson. "we were well-armed and had a good boat," he relates, "so we resolved to paddle day and night to overtake the indians." at the west end of the lake they came up with the north-bound canoes. for three days and nights they pushed on without rest. naturally, radisson did not pause to report progress at montreal. game was so plentiful in the surrounding forests that iroquois hunters were always abroad in the regions of the st. lawrence and ottawa.[3] once they heard guns. turning a bend in the river, they discovered five iroquois boats, just in time to avoid them. that night the frenchman, larivière, dreamed that he had been captured by the mohawks, and he shouted out in such terror that the alarmed indians rushed to embark. the next day they again came on the trail of iroquois. the frightened indians from the upper country shouldered their canoes and dashed through the woods. larivière could not keep up and was afraid to go back from the river lest he should lose his bearings. fighting his way over windfall and rock, he sank exhausted and fell asleep. far ahead of the iroquois boats the upper country indians came together again. the frenchman was nowhere to be found. it was dark. the indians would not wait to search. radisson and groseillers dared not turn back to face the irate governor. larivière was abandoned. two weeks afterwards some french hunters found him lying on the rocks almost dead from starvation. he was sent back to three rivers, where d'avaugour had him imprisoned. this outrage the inhabitants of three rivers resented. they forced the jail and rescued larivière. three days after the loss of larivière radisson and groseillers caught up with seven more canoes of indians from the upper country. the union of the two bands was just in time, for the next day they were set upon at a _portage_ by the iroquois. ordering the indians to encase themselves in bucklers of matting and buffalo hide, radisson led the assault on the iroquois barricade. trees were cut down, and the upper indians rushed the rude fort with timbers extemporized into battering-rams. in close range of the enemy, radisson made a curious discovery. frenchmen were directing the iroquois warriors. who had sent these french to intercept the explorers? if radisson suspected treachery on the part of jealous rivals from quebec, it must have redoubled his fury; for the indians from the upper country threw themselves in the breached barricade with such force that the iroquois lost heart and tossed belts of wampum over the stockades to supplicate peace. it was almost night. radisson's indians drew off to consider the terms of peace. when morning came, behold an empty fort! the french renegades had fled with their indian allies. [illustration: château st. louis, quebec, 1669, from one of the oldest prints in existence.] glad to be rid of the first hindrance, the explorers once more sped north. in the afternoon, radisson's scouts ran full tilt into a band of iroquois laden with beaver pelts. the iroquois were smarting from their defeat of the previous night; and what was radisson's amusement to see his own scouts and the iroquois running from each other in equal fright, while the ground between lay strewn with booty! radisson rushed his indians for the waterside to intercept the iroquois' flight. the iroquois left their boats and swam for the opposite shore, where they threw up the usual barricade and entrenched themselves to shoot on radisson's passing canoes. using the captured beaver pelts as shields, the upper indians ran the gantlet of the iroquois fire with the loss of only one man. the slightest defeat may turn well-ordered retreat into panic. if the explorers went on, the iroquois would hang to the rear of the travelling indians and pick off warriors till the upper country people became so weakened they would fall an easy prey. not flight, but fight, was radisson's motto. he ordered his men ashore to break up the barricade. darkness fell over the forest. the iroquois could not see to fire. "they spared not their powder," relates radisson, "but they made more noise than hurt." attaching a fuse to a barrel of powder, radisson threw this over into the iroquois fort. the crash of the explosion was followed by a blaze of the iroquois musketry that killed three of radisson's men. radisson then tore the bark off a birch tree, filled the bole with powder, and in the darkness crept close to the iroquois barricade and set fire to the logs. red tongues of fire leaped up, there was a roar as of wind, and the iroquois fort was on fire. radisson's men dashed through the fire, hatchet in hand. the iroquois answered with their death chant. friend and foe merged in the smoke and darkness. "we could not know one another in that skirmish of blows," says radisson. "there was noise to terrify the stoutest man." in the midst of the mêlée a frightful storm of thunder and sheeted rain rolled over the forest. "to my mind," writes the disgusted radisson, "that was something extraordinary. i think the devil himself sent that storm to let those wretches escape, so that they might destroy more innocents." the rain put out the fire. as soon as the storm had passed, radisson kindled torches to search for the missing. three of his men were slain, seven wounded. of the enemy, eleven lay dead, five were prisoners. the rest of the iroquois had fled to the forest. the upper indians burned their prisoners according to their custom, and the night was passed in mad orgies to celebrate the victory. "the sleep we took did not make our heads giddy," writes radisson. the next day they encountered more iroquois. both sides at once began building forts; but when he could, radisson always avoided war. having gained victory enough to hold the iroquois in check, he wanted no massacre. that night he embarked his men noiselessly; and never once stopping to kindle camp-fire, they paddled from friday night to tuesday morning. the _portages _over rocks in the dark cut the _voyageurs'_ moccasins to shreds. every landing was marked with the blood of bruised feet. sometimes they avoided leaving any trace of themselves by walking in the stream, dragging their boats along the edge of the rapids. by tuesday the indians were so fagged that they could go no farther without rest. canoes were moored in the hiding of the rushes till the _voyageurs_ slept. they had been twenty-two days going from three rivers to lake nipissing, and had not slept one hour on land. it was october when they came to lake superior. the forests were painted in all the glory of autumn, and game abounded. white fish appeared under the clear, still waters of the lake like shoals of floating metal; bears were seen hulking away from the watering places of sandy shores; and wild geese whistled overhead. after the terrible dangers of the voyage, with scant sleep and scanter fare, the country seemed, as radisson says, a terrestrial paradise. the indians gave solemn thanks to their gods of earth and forest, "and we," writes radisson, "to the god of gods." indian summer lay on the land. november found the explorers coasting the south shore of lake superior. they passed the island of michilimackinac with its stone arches. radisson heard from the indians of the copper mines. he saw the pictured rocks that were to become famous for beauty. "i gave it the name of st. peter because that was my name and i was the first christian to see it," he writes of the stone arch. "there were in these places very deep caves, caused by the violence of the waves." jesuits had been on the part of lake superior near the sault, and poor ménard perished in the forests of lake michigan; but radisson and groseillers were the first white men to cruise from south to west and west to north, where a chain of lakes and waterways leads from the minnesota lake country to the prairies now known as manitoba. before the end of november the explorers rounded the western end of lake superior and proceeded northwest. radisson records that they came to great winter encampments of the crees; and the crees did not venture east for fear of sautaux and iroquois. he mentions a river of sturgeons, where was a great store of fish. the crees wished to conduct the two white men to the wooded lake region, northwest towards the land of the assiniboines, where indian families took refuge on islands from those tigers of the plains--the sioux--who were invincible on horseback but less skilful in canoes. the rivers were beginning to freeze. boats were abandoned; but there was no snow for snow-shoe travelling, and the explorers were unable to transport the goods brought for trade. bidding the crees go to their families and bring back slaves to carry the baggage, radisson and groseillers built themselves the first fort and the first fur post between the missouri and the north pole. it was evidently somewhere west of duluth in either what is now minnesota or northwestern ontario. this fur post was the first habitation of civilization in all the great northwest. not the railway, not the cattle trail, not the path of forward-marching empire purposely hewing a way through the wilderness, opened the west. it was the fur trade that found the west. it was the fur trade that explored the west. it was the fur trade that wrested the west from savagery. the beginning was in the little fort built by radisson and groseillers. no great factor in human progress ever had a more insignificant beginning. the fort was rushed up by two men almost starving for food. it was on the side of a river, built in the shape of a triangle, with the base at the water side. the walls were of unbarked logs, the roof of thatched branches interlaced, with the door at the river side. in the middle of the earth floor, so that the smoke would curl up where the branches formed a funnel or chimney, was the fire. on the right of the fire, two hewn logs overlaid with pine boughs made a bed. on the left, another hewn log acted as a table. jumbled everywhere, hanging from branches and knobs of branches, were the firearms, clothing, and merchandise of the two fur traders. naturally, a fort two thousand miles from help needed sentries. radisson had not forgotten his boyhood days of onondaga. he strung carefully concealed cords through the grass and branches around the fort. to these bells were fastened, and the bells were the sentries. the two white men could now sleep soundly without fear of approach. this fort, from which sprang the buoyant, aggressive, prosperous, free life of the great northwest, was founded and built and completed in two days. the west had begun.[4] it was a beginning which every western pioneer was to repeat for the next two hundred years: first, the log cabins; then, the fight with the wilderness for food. radisson, being the younger, went into the woods to hunt, while groseillers kept house. wild geese and ducks were whistling south, but "the whistling that i made," writes radisson, "was another music than theirs; for i killed three and scared the rest." strange indians came through the forest, but were not admitted to the tiny fort, lest knowledge of the traders' weakness should tempt theft. many a night the explorers were roused by a sudden ringing of the bells or crashing through the underbrush, to find that wild animals had been attracted by the smell of meat, and wolverine or wildcat was attempting to tear through the matted branches of the thatched roof. the desire for firearms has tempted indians to murder many a trader; so radisson and groseillers _cached_ all the supplies that they did not need in a hole across the river. news of the two white men alone in the northern forest spread like wild-fire to the different sautaux and ojibway encampments; and radisson invented another protection in addition to the bells. he rolled gunpowder in twisted tubes of birch bark, and ran a circle of this round the fort. putting a torch to the birch, he surprised the indians by displaying to them a circle of fire running along the ground in a series of jumps. to the indians it was magic. the two white men were engirt with a mystery that defended them from all harm. thus white men passed their first winter in the great northwest. toward winter four hundred crees came to escort the explorers to the wooded lake region yet farther west towards the land of the assiniboines, the modern manitoba. "we were caesars," writes radisson. "there was no one to contradict us. we went away free from any burden, while those poor miserables thought themselves happy to carry our equipage in the hope of getting a brass ring, or an awl, or a needle. . . . they admired our actions more than the fools of paris their king. . . .[5] they made a great noise, calling us gods and devils. we marched four days through the woods. the country was beautiful with clear parks. at last we came within a league of the cree cabins, where we spent the night that we might enter the encampment with pomp the next day. the swiftest indians ran ahead to warn the people of our coming." embarking in boats, where the water was open, the two explorers came to the cree lodges. they were welcomed with shouts. messengers marched in front, scattering presents from the white men,--kettles to call all to a feast of friendship; knives to encourage the warriors to be brave; swords to signify that the white men would fight all enemies of the cree; and abundance of trinkets--needles and awls and combs and tin mirrors--for the women. the indians prostrated themselves as slaves; and the explorers were conducted to a grand council of welcome. a feast was held, followed by a symbolic dance in celebration of the white men's presence. their entry to the great northwest had been a triumph: but they could not escape the privations of the explorer's life. winter set in with a severity to make up for the long, late autumn. snow fell continuously till day and night were as one, the sombre forests muffled to silence with the wild creatures driven for shelter to secret haunts. four hundred men had brought the explorers north. allowing an average of four to each family, there must have been sixteen hundred people in the encampment of crees. to prevent famine, the crees scattered to the winter hunting-grounds, arranging to come together again in two months at a northern rendezvous. when radisson and groseillers came to the rendezvous, they learned that the gathering hunters had had poor luck. food was short. to make matters worse, heavy rains were followed by sharp frost. the snow became iced over, destroying rabbit and grouse, which feed the large game. radisson noticed that the indians often snatched food from the hands of hungry children. more starving crees continued to come into camp. soon the husbands were taking the wives' share of food, and the women were subsisting on dried pelts. the crees became too weak to carry their snow-shoes, or to gather wood for fire. the cries of the dying broke the deathly stillness of the winter forest; and the strong began to dog the footsteps of the weak. "good god, have mercy on these innocent people," writes radisson; "have mercy on us who acknowledge thee!" digging through the snow with their rackets, some of the crees got roots to eat. others tore the bark from trees and made a kind of soup that kept them alive. two weeks after the famine set in, the indians were boiling the pulverized bones of the waste heap. after that the only food was the buckskin that had been tanned for clothing. "we ate it so eagerly," writes radisson, "that our gums did bleed. . . . we became the image of death." before the spring five hundred crees had died of famine. radisson and groseillers scarcely had strength to drag the dead from the tepees. the indians thought that groseillers had been fed by some fiend, for his heavy, black beard covered his thin face. radisson they loved, because his beardless face looked as gaunt as theirs.[6] relief came with the breaking of the weather. the rain washed the iced snows away; deer began to roam; and with the opening of the rivers came two messengers from the sioux to invite radisson and groseillers to visit their nation. the two sioux had a dog, which they refused to sell for all radisson's gifts. the crees dared not offend the sioux ambassadors by stealing the worthless cur on which such hungry eyes were cast, but at night radisson slipped up to the sioux tepee. the dog came prowling out. radisson stabbed it so suddenly that it dropped without a sound. hurrying back, he boiled and fed the meat to the famishing crees. when the sioux returned to their own country, they sent a score of slaves with food for the starving encampment. no doubt radisson had plied the first messengers with gifts; for the slaves brought word that thirty picked runners from the sioux were coming to escort the white men to the prairie. to receive their benefactors, and also, perhaps, to show that they were not defenceless, the crees at once constructed a fort; for cree and sioux had been enemies from time immemorial. in two days came the runners, clad only in short garments, and carrying bow and quiver. the crees led the young braves to the fort. kettles were set out. fagged from the long run, the sioux ate without a word. at the end of the meal one rose. shooting an arrow into the air as a sign that he called deity to witness the truth of his words, he proclaimed in a loud voice that the elders of the sioux nation would arrive next day at the fort to make a treaty with the french. the news was no proof of generosity. the sioux were the great warriors of the west. they knew very well that whoever formed an alliance with the french would obtain firearms; and firearms meant victory against all other tribes. the news set the crees by the ears. warriors hastened from the forests to defend the fort. the next day came the elders of the sioux in pomp. they were preceded by the young braves bearing bows and arrows and buffalo-skin shields on which were drawn figures portraying victories. their hair was turned up in a stiff crest surmounted by eagle feathers, and their bodies were painted bright vermilion. behind came the elders, with medicine-bags of rattlesnake skin streaming from their shoulders and long strings of bears' claws hanging from neck and wrist. they were dressed in buckskin, garnished with porcupine quills, and wore moccasins of buffalo hide, with the hair dangling from the heel. in the belt of each was a skull-cracker--a sort of sling stone with a long handle--and a war-hatchet. each elder carried a peace pipe set with precious stones, and stuck in the stem were the quills of the war eagle to represent enemies slain. women slaves followed, loaded with skins for the elders' tents. [illustration: a parley on the plains.] a great fire had been kindled inside the court of the cree stockades. round the pavilion the sioux elders seated themselves. first, they solemnly smoked the calumet of peace. then the chief of the sioux rose and chanted a song, giving thanks for their safe journey. setting aside gifts of rare beaver pelts, he declared that the sioux had come to make friends with the french, who were masters of peace and war; that the elders would conduct the white men back to the sioux country; that the mountains were levelled and the valleys cast up, and the way made smooth, and branches strewn on the ground for the white men's feet, and streams bridged, and the doors of the tepees open. let the french come to the sioux! the indians would die for the french. a gift was presented to invoke the friendship of the crees. another rich gift of furs let out the secret of the sioux' anxiety: it was that the french might give the sioux "thunder weapons," meaning guns. the speech being finished, the crees set a feast before their guests. to this feast radisson and groseillers came in a style that eclipsed the sioux. cree warriors marched in front, carrying guns. radisson and groseillers were dressed in armor.[7] at their belts they wore pistol, sword, and dagger. on their heads were crowns of colored porcupine quills. two pages carried the dishes and spoons to be used at the feast; and four cree magicians followed with smoking calumets in their hands. four indian maids carried bearskins to place on the ground when the two explorers deigned to sit down. inside the fort more than six hundred councillors had assembled. outside were gathered a thousand spectators. as radisson and groseillers entered, an old cree flung a peace pipe at the explorers' feet and sang a song of thanksgiving to the sun that he had lived to see "those terrible men whose words (guns) made the earth quake." stripping himself of his costly furs, he placed them on the white men's shoulders, shouting: "ye are masters over us; dead or alive, dispose of us as you will." then radisson rose and chanted a song, in which he declared that the french took the crees for brethren and would defend them. to prove his words, he threw powder in the fire and had twelve guns shot off, which frightened the sioux almost out of their senses. a slave girl placed a coal in the calumet. radisson then presented gifts; the first to testify that the french adopted the sioux for friends; the second as a token that the french also took the crees for friends; the third as a sign that the french "would reduce to powder with heavenly fire" any one who disturbed the peace between these tribes. the fourth gift was in grateful recognition of the sioux' courtesy in granting free passage through their country. the gifts consisted of kettles and hatchets and awls and needles and looking-glasses and bells and combs and paint, but _not_ guns. radisson's speech was received with "ho, ho's" of applause. sports began. radisson offered prizes for racing, jumping, shooting with the bow, and climbing a greased post. all the while, musicians were singing and beating the tom-tom, a drum made of buffalo hide stretched on hoops and filled with water. fourteen days later radisson and groseillers set out for the sioux country, or what are now known as the northwestern states.[8] on the third voyage radisson came to the sioux from the south. on this voyage, he came to them from the northeast. he found that the tribe numbered seven thousand men of fighting age. he remarked that the sioux used a kind of coke or peat for fire instead of wood. while he heard of the tribes that used coal for fire, he does not relate that he went to them on this trip. again he heard of the mountains far inland, where the indians found copper and lead and a kind of stone that was transparent.[9] he remained six weeks with the sioux, hunting buffalo and deer. between the missouri and the saskatchewan ran a well-beaten trail northeastward, which was used by the crees and the sioux in their wars. it is probable that the sioux escorted radisson back to the crees by this trail, till he was across what is now the boundary between minnesota and canada, and could strike directly eastward for the lake of the woods region, or the hinterland between james bay and lake superior. in spring the crees went to the bay of the north, which radisson was seeking; and after leaving the sioux, the two explorers struck for the little fort north of lake superior, where they had _cached_ their goods. spring in the north was later than spring in the south; but the shore ice of the northern lakes had already become soft. to save time they cut across the lakes of minnesota, dragging their sleighs on the ice. groseillers' sleigh was loaded with pelts obtained from the sioux, and the elder man began to fag. radisson took the heavy sleigh, giving groseillers the lighter one. about twelve miles out from the shore, on one of these lakes, the ice suddenly gave, and radisson plunged through to his waist. it was as dangerous to turn back as to go on. if they deserted their merchandise, they would have nothing to trade with the indians; but when radisson succeeded in extricating himself, he was so badly strained that he could not go forward another step. there was no sense in risking both their lives on the rotten ice. he urged groseillers to go on. groseillers dared not hesitate. laying two sleds as a wind-break on each side of radisson, he covered the injured man with robes, consigned him to the keeping of god, and hurried over the ice to obtain help from the crees. the crees got radisson ashore, and there he lay in agony for eight days. the indians were preparing to set out for the north. they invited radisson to go with them. his sprain had not healed; but he could not miss the opportunity of approaching the bay of the north. for two days he marched with the hunters, enduring torture at every step. the third day he could go no farther and they deserted him. groseillers had gone hunting with another band of crees. radisson had neither gun nor hatchet, and the indians left him only ten pounds of pemmican. after a short rest he journeyed painfully on, following the trail of the marching crees. on the fifth day he found the frame of a deserted wigwam. covering it with branches of trees and kindling a fire to drive off beasts of prey, he crept in and lay down to sleep. he was awakened by a crackling of flame. the fire had caught the pine boughs and the tepee was in a blaze. radisson flung his snow-shoes and clothing as far as he could, and broke from the fire-trap. half-dressed and lame, shuddering with cold and hunger, he felt through the dark over the snow for his clothing. a far cry rang through the forest like the bay of the wolf pack. radisson kept solitary watch till morning, when he found that the cry came from indians sent out to find him by groseillers. he was taken to an encampment, where the crees were building canoes to go to the bay of the north. the entire band, with the two explorers, then launched on the rivers flowing north. "we were in danger to perish a thousand times from the ice jam," writes radisson. ". . . at last we came full sail from a deep bay . . . we came to the seaside, where we found an old house all demolished and battered with bullets. . . . they (the crees) told us about europeans. . . . we went from isle to isle all that summer. . . . this region had a great store of cows (caribou). . . . we went farther to see the place that the indians were to pass the summer. . . . the river (where they went) came from the lake that empties itself in . . . the saguenay . . . a hundred leagues from the great river of canada (the st. lawrence) . . . to where we were in the bay of the north. . . . we passed the summer quietly coasting the seaside. . . . the people here burn not their prisoners, but knock them on the head. . . . they have a store of turquoise. . . . they find green stones, very fine, at the same bay of the sea (labradorite). . . . we went up another river to the upper lake (winnipeg)." [10] for years the dispute has been waged with zeal worthy of a better cause whether radisson referred to hudson bay in this passage. the french claim that he did; the english that he did not. "the house demolished with bullets" was probably an old trading post, contend the english; but there was no trading post except radisson's west of lake superior at that time, retort the french. by "cows" radisson meant buffalo, and no buffalo were found as far east as hudson bay, say the english; by "cows" radisson meant caribou and deer, and herds of these frequented the shores of hudson bay, answer the french. no river comes from the saguenay to hudson bay, declare the english; yes, but a river comes from the direction of the saguenay, and was followed by subsequent explorers, assert the french.[11] the stones of turquoise and green were agates from lake superior, explain the english; the stones were labradorites from the east coast of the bay, maintain the french. so the childish quarrel has gone on for two centuries. england and france alike conspired to crush the man while he lived; and when he died they quarrelled over the glory of his discoveries. the point is not whether radisson actually wet his oars in the different indentations of hudson and james bays. the point is that he found where it lay from the great lakes, and discovered the watershed sloping north from the great lakes to hudson bay. this was new ground, and entitled radisson to the fame of a discoverer. from the indians of the bay, radisson heard of another lake leagues to the north, whose upper end was always frozen. this was probably some vague story of the lakes in the region that was to become known two centuries later as mackenzie river. the spring of 1663 found the explorers back in the lake of the woods region accompanied by seven hundred indians of the upper country. the company filled three hundred and sixty canoes. indian girls dived into the lake to push the canoes off, and stood chanting a song of good-speed till the boats had glided out of sight through the long, narrow, rocky gaps of the lake of the woods. at lake superior the company paused to lay up a supply of smoked sturgeon. at the sault four hundred crees turned back. the rest of the indians hoisted blankets on fishing-poles, and, with a west wind, scudded across lake huron to lake nipissing. from lake nipissing they rode safely down the ottawa to montreal. cannon were fired to welcome the discoverers, for new france was again on the verge of bankruptcy from a beaver famine. a different welcome awaited them at quebec. d'argenson, the governor, was about to leave for france, and nothing had come of the jesuit expedition up the saguenay. he had already sent couture, for a second time, overland to find a way to hudson bay; but no word had come from couture, and the governor's time was up. the explorers had disobeyed him in leaving without his permission. their return with a fortune of pelts was the salvation of the impecunious governor. from 1627 to 1663 five distinct fur companies, organized under the patronage of royalty, had gone bankrupt in new france.[12] therefore, it became a loyal governor to protect his majesty's interests. besides, the revenue collectors could claim one-fourth of all returns in beaver except from posts farmed expressly for the king. no sooner had radisson and groseillers come home than d'argenson ordered groseillers imprisoned. he then fined the explorers $20,000, to build a fort at three rivers, giving them leave to put their coats-of-arms on the gate; a $30,000 fine was to go to the public treasury of new france; $70,000 worth of beaver was seized as the tax due the revenue. of a cargo worth $300,000 in modern money, radisson and groseillers had less than $20,000 left.[13] had d'argenson and his successors encouraged instead of persecuted the discoverers, france could have claimed all north america but the narrow strip of new england on the east and the spanish settlements on the south. having repudiated radisson and groseillers, france could not claim the fruits of deeds which she punished.[14] [1] the childish dispute whether bourdon sailed into the bay and up to its head, or only to 50 degrees n. latitude, does not concern radisson's life, and, therefore, is ignored. one thing i can state with absolute certainty from having been up the coast of labrador in a most inclement season, that bourdon could not possibly have gone to and back from the inner waters of hudson bay between may 2 and august 11. j. edmond roy and mr. sulte both pronounce bourdon a myth, and his trip a fabrication. [2] "shame put upon them," says radisson. ménard did _not_ go out with radisson and groseillers, as is erroneously recorded. [3] i have purposely avoided stating whether radisson went by way of lake ontario or the ottawa. dr. dionne thinks that he went by ontario and niagara because radisson refers to vast waterfalls under which a man could walk. radisson gives the height of these falls as forty feet. niagara are nearer three hundred; and the chaudière of the ottawa would answer radisson's description better, were it not that he says a man could go under the falls for a quarter of a mile. "the lake of the castors" plainly points to lake nipissing. [4] the two main reasons why i think that radisson and groseillers were now moving up that chain of lakes and rivers between minnesota and canada, connecting lake of the woods with lake winnipeg, are: (1) oldmixon says it was the report of the assiniboine indians from lake assiniboine (lake winnipeg) that led radisson to seek for the bay of the north overland. these assiniboines did not go to the bay by way of lake superior, but by way of lake winnipeg. (2) a mémoire written by de la chesnaye in 1696--see _documents nouvelle france_, 1492-1712--distinctly refers to a _coureur's_ trail from lake superior to lake assiniboine or lake winnipeg. there is no record of any frenchmen but radisson and groseillers having followed such a trail to the land of the assiniboines--the manitoba of to-day--before 1676. [5] one can guess that a man who wrote in that spirit two centuries before the french revolution would not be a sycophant in courts,--which, perhaps, helps to explain the conspiracy of silence that obscured radisson's fame. [6] my reason for thinking that this region was farther north than minnesota is the size of the cree winter camp; but i have refrained from trying to localize this part of the trip, except to say it was west and north of duluth. some writers recognize in the description parts of minnesota, others the hinterland between lake superior and james bay. in the light of the _mémoire_ of 1696 sent to the french government, i am unable to regard this itinerary as any other than the famous fur traders' trail between lake superior and lake winnipeg by way of sturgeon river and the lake of the woods. [7] _radisson relations_, p. 207. [8] we are now on safe ground. there was a well-known trail from what is now known as the rat portage region to the great sioux camps west of the mississippi and red river valleys. but again i refuse to lay myself open to controversy by trying definitely to give either the dates or exact places of this trip. [9] if any proof is wanted that radisson's journeyings took him far west of the mississippi, these details afford it. [10] _radisson's journal_, pp. 224, 225, 226. [11] mr. a. p. low, who has made the most thorough exploration of labrador and hudson bay of any man living, says, "rupert river forms the discharge of the mistassini lakes . . . and empties into rupert bay close to the mouth of the nottoway river, and rises in a number of lakes close to the height of land dividing it from the st. maurice river, which joins the st. lawrence at three rivers." [12] _les compagnies de colonisation sous l'ancien régime_, by chailly-bert. [13] oldmixon says: "radisson and groseillers met with some savages on the lake of assiniboin, and from them they learned that they might go by land to the bottom of hudson's bay, where the english had not been yet, at james bay; upon which they desired them to conduct them thither, and the savages accordingly did it. they returned to the upper lake the same way they came, and thence to quebec, where they offered the principal merchants to carry ships to hudson's bay; but their project was rejected." vol. i, p. 548. radisson's figures are given as "pounds "; but by "_l_" did he mean english "pound" or french livre, that is 17 cents? a franc in 1660 equalled the modern dollar. [14] the exact tribes mentioned in the _mémoire of 1696_, with whom the french were in trade in the west are: on the "missoury" and south of it, the mascoutins and sioux; two hundred miles beyond the "missisipy" the issaguy, the octbatons, the omtous, of whom were sioux capable of mustering four thousand warriors, south of lake superior, the sauteurs, on "sipisagny, the river which is the discharge of lake asemipigon" (winnipeg), the "nation of the grand rat," algonquins numbering two thousand, who traded with the english of hudson bay, de la chesnaye adds in his mémoire details of the trip from lake superior to the lake of the assiniboines. knowing what close co-workers he and radisson were, we can guess where he got his information. chapter v 1664-1676 radisson renounces allegiance to two crowns rival traders thwart the plans of the discoverers--entangled in lawsuits, the two french explorers go to england--the organization of the hudson's bay fur company--radisson the storm-centre of international intrigue--boston merchants in the struggle to capture the fur trade henceforth radisson and groseillers were men without a country. twice their return from the north with cargoes of beaver had saved new france from ruin. they had discovered more of america than all the other explorers combined. their reward was jealous rivalry that reduced them to beggary; injustice that compelled them to renounce allegiance to two crowns; obloquy during a lifetime; and oblivion for two centuries after their death. the very force of unchecked impulse that carries the hero over all obstacles may also carry him over the bounds of caution and compromise that regulate the conduct of other men. this was the case with radisson and groseillers. they were powerless to resist the extortion of the french governor. the company of one hundred associates had given place to the company of the west indies. this trading venture had been organized under the direct patronage of the king.[1] it had been proclaimed from the pulpits of france. privileges were promised to all who subscribed for the stock. the company was granted a blank list of titles to bestow on its patrons and servants. no one else in new france might engage in the beaver trade; no one else might buy skins from the indians and sell the pelts in europe; and one-fourth of the trade went for public revenue. in spite of all the privileges, fur company after fur company failed in new france; but to them radisson had to sell his furs, and when the revenue officers went over the cargo, the minions of the governor also seized a share under pretence of a fine for trading without a license. groseillers was furious, and sailed for france to demand restitution; but the intriguing courtiers proved too strong for him. though he spent 10,000 pounds, nothing was done. d'avaugour had come back to france, and stockholders of the jealous fur company were all-powerful at court. groseillers then relinquished all idea of restitution, and tried to interest merchants in another expedition to hudson bay by way of the sea.[2] he might have spared himself the trouble. his enthusiasm only aroused the quiet smile of supercilious indifference. his plans were regarded as chimerical. finally a merchant of rochelle half promised to send a boat to isle percée at the mouth of the st. lawrence in 1664. groseillers had already wasted six months. eager for action, he hurried back to three rivers, where radisson awaited him. the two secretly took passage in a fishing schooner to anticosti, and from anticosti went south to isle percée. here a jesuit just out from france bore the message to them that no ship would come. the promise had been a put-off to rid france of the enthusiast. new france had treated them with injustice. old france with mockery. which way should they turn? they could not go back to three rivers. this attempt to go to hudson bay without a license laid them open to a second fine. baffled, but not beaten, the explorers did what ninety-nine men out of a hundred would have done in similar circumstances--they left the country. some rumor of their intention to abandon new france must have gone abroad; for when they reached cape breton, their servants grumbled so loudly that a mob of frenchmen threatened to burn the explorers. dismissing their servants, radisson and groseillers escaped to port royal, nova scotia. [illustration: martello tower of refuge in time of indian wars--three rivers.] in port royal they met a sea-captain from boston, zechariah gillam, who offered his ship for a voyage to hudson bay, but the season was far spent when they set out. captain gillam was afraid to enter the ice-locked bay so late in summer. the boat turned back, and the trip was a loss. this run of ill-luck had now lasted for a year. they still had some money from the northern trips, and they signed a contract with ship-owners of boston to take two vessels to hudson bay the following spring. provisions must be laid up for the long voyage. one of the ships was sent to the grand banks for fish. rounding eastward past the crescent reefs of sable island, the ship was caught by the beach-combers and totally wrecked on the drifts of sand. instead of sailing for hudson bay in the spring of 1665, radisson and groseillers were summoned to boston to defend themselves in a lawsuit for the value of the lost vessel. they were acquitted; but lawsuits on the heels of misfortune exhausted the resources of the adventurers. the exploits of the two frenchmen had become the sensation of boston. sir robert carr, one of the british commissioners then in the new england colonies, urged radisson and groseillers to renounce allegiance to a country that had shown only ingratitude, and to come to england.[3] when sir george cartwright sailed from nantucket on august 1, 1665, he was accompanied by radisson and groseillers.[4] misfortune continued to dog them. within a few days' sail of england, their ship encountered the dutch cruiser _caper_. for two hours the ships poured broadsides of shot into each other's hulls. the masts were torn from the english vessel. she was boarded and stripped, and the frenchmen were thoroughly questioned. then the captives were all landed in spain. accompanied by the two frenchmen, sir george cartwright hastened to england early in 1666. the plague had driven the court from london to oxford. cartwright laid the plans of the explorers before charles ii. the king ordered 40s. a week paid to radisson and groseillers for the winter. they took chambers in london. later they followed the court to windsor, where they were received by king charles. the english court favored the project of trade in hudson bay, but during the dutch war nothing could be done. the captain of the dutch ship _caper_ had sent word of the french explorers to de witt, the great statesman. de witt despatched a spy from picardy, france, one eli godefroy touret, who chanced to know groseillers, to meet the explorers in london. masking as groseillers' nephew, touret tried to bribe both men to join the dutch. failing this, he attempted to undermine their credit with the english by accusing radisson and groseillers of counterfeiting money; but the english court refused to be deceived, and touret was imprisoned. owing to the plague and the war, two years passed without the vague promises of the english court taking shape. montague, the english ambassador to france, heard of the explorers' feats, and wrote to prince rupert. prince rupert was a soldier of fortune, who could enter into the spirit of the explorers. he had fought on the losing side against cromwell, and then taken to the high seas to replenish broken fortunes by piracy. the wealth of the beaver trade appealed to him. he gave all the influence of his _prestige_ to the explorers' plans. by the spring of 1668 money enough had been advanced to fit out two boats for hudson bay. in the _eagle_, with captain stannard, went radisson; in the _nonsuch_, with captain zechariah gillam of boston, went groseillers. north of ireland furious gales drove the ships apart. radisson's vessel was damaged and driven back to london; but his year was not wasted. it is likely that the account of his first voyages was written while groseillers was away.[5] sometime during his stay in london he married mary kirke, a daughter of the huguenot john kirke, whose family had long ago gone from boston and captured quebec. gillam's journal records that the _nonsuch_ left gravesend the 3d of june, 1668, reached resolution island on august 4, and came to anchor at the south of james bay on september 29.[6] it was here that radisson had come overland five years before, when he thought that he discovered a river flowing from the direction of the st. lawrence. the river was nemisco. groseillers called it rupert in honor of his patron. a palisaded fort was at once built, and named king charles after the english monarch. by december, the bay was locked in the deathly silence of northern frost. snow fell till the air became darkened day after day, a ceaseless fall of muffling snow; the earth--as gillam's journal says--"seemed frozen to death." gillam attended to the fort, groseillers to the trade. dual command was bound to cause a clash. by april, 1669, the terrible cold had relaxed. the ice swept out of the river with a roar. wild fowl came winging north in myriad flocks. by june the fort was sweltering in almost tropical heat. the _nonsuch_ hoisted anchor and sailed for england, loaded to the water-line with a cargo of furs. honors awaited groseillers in london. king charles created him a _knight de la jarretière_, an order for princes of the royal blood.[7] in addition, he was granted a sum of money. prince rupert and radisson had, meanwhile, been busy organizing a fur company. the success of groseillers' voyage now assured this company a royal charter, which was granted in may, 1670. such was the origin of the hudson's bay company. prince rupert was its first governor; charles bayly was appointed resident governor on the bay. among the first shareholders were prince rupert, the duke of york, sir george cartwright, the duke of albermarle, shaftesbury, sir peter colleton, who had advanced radisson a loan during the long period of waiting, and sir john kirke, whose daughter had married radisson. that spring, radisson and groseillers again sailed for the bay. in 1671, three ships were sent out from england, and radisson established a second post westward at moose. with governor bayly, he sailed up and met the indians at what was to become the great fur capital of the north, port nelson, or york. the third year of the company's existence, radisson and groseillers perceived a change. not so many indians came down to the english forts to trade. those who came brought fewer pelts and demanded higher prices. rivals had been at work. the english learned that the french had come overland and were paying high prices to draw the indians from the bay. in the spring a council was held.[8] should they continue on the east side of the bay, or move west, where there would be no rivalry? groseillers boldly counselled moving inland and driving off french competition. bayly was for moving west. he even hinted that groseillers' advice sprang from disloyalty to the english. the clash that was inevitable from divided command was this time avoided by compromise. they would all sail west, and all come back to rupert's river. when they returned, they found that the english ensign had been torn down and the french flag raised.[9] a veteran jesuit missionary of the saguenay, charles albanel, two french companions, and some indian guides had ensconced themselves in the empty houses.[10] the priest now presented governor bayly with letters from count frontenac commending the french to the good offices of governor bayly.[11] france had not been idle. when it was too late, the country awakened to the injustice done radisson and groseillers. while radisson was still in boston, all restrictions were taken from the beaver trade, except the tax of one-fourth to the revenue. the jesuit dablon, who was near the western end of lake superior, gathered all the information he could from the indians of the way to the sea of the north. father marquette learned of the mississippi from the indians. the western tribes had been summoned to the sault, where sieur de saint-lusson met them in treaty for the french; and the french flag was raised in the presence of père claude allouez, who blessed the ceremony. m. colbert sent instructions to m. talon, the intendant of new france, to grant titles of nobility to groseillers' nephew in order to keep him in the country.[12] on the saguenay was a jesuit, charles albanel, loyal to the french and of english birth, whose devotion to the indians during the small-pox scourge of 1670 had given him unbounded influence. talon, the intendant of new france, was keen to retrieve in the north what d'argenson's injustice had lost. who could be better qualified to go overland to hudson bay than the old missionary, loyal to france, of english birth, and beloved by the indians? albanel was summoned to quebec and gladly accepted the commission. he chose for companions saint-simon and young couture, the son of the famous guide to the jesuits. the company left quebec on august 6, 1671, and secured a guide at tadoussac. embarking in canoes, they ascended the shadowy cañon of the saguenay to lake st. john. on the 7th of september they left the forest of lake st. john and mounted the current of a winding river, full of cataracts and rapids, toward mistassini. on this stream they met indians who told them that two european vessels were on hudson bay. the indians showed albanel tobacco which they had received from the english. it seemed futile to go on a voyage of discovery where english were already in possession. the priest sent one of the frenchmen and two indians back to quebec for passports and instructions. what the instructions were can only be guessed by subsequent developments. the messengers left the depth of the forest on the 19th of september, and had returned from quebec by the 10th of october. snow was falling. the streams had frozen, and the indians had gone into camp for the winter. going from wigwam to wigwam through the drifted forest. father albanel passed the winter preaching to the savages. skins of the chase were laid on the wigwams. against the pelts, snow was banked to close up every chink. inside, the air was blue with smoke and the steam of the simmering kettle. indian hunters lay on the moss floor round the central fires. children and dogs crouched heterogeneously against the sloping tent walls. squaws plodded through the forest, setting traps and baiting the fish-lines that hung through airholes of the thick ice. in these lodges albanel wintered. he was among strange indians and suffered incredible hardships. where there was room, he, too, sat crouched under the crowded tent walls, scoffed at by the braves, teased by the unrebuked children, eating when the squaws threw waste food to him, going hungry when his french companions failed to bring in game. sometimes night overtook him on the trail. shovelling a bed through the snow to the moss with his snow-shoes, piling shrubs as a wind-break, and kindling a roaring fire, the priest passed the night under the stars. when spring came, the indians opposed his passage down the river. a council was called. albanel explained that his message was to bring the indians down to quebec and keep them from going to the english for trade. the indians, who had acted as middlemen between quebec traders and the northern tribes, saw the advantage of undermining the english trade. gifts were presented by the frenchmen, and the friendship of the indians was secured. on june 1, 1672, sixteen savages embarked with the three frenchmen. for the next ten days, the difficulties were almost insurmountable. the river tore through a deep gorge of sheer precipices which the _voyageurs_ could pass only by clinging to the rock walls with hands and feet. one _portage_ was twelve miles long over a muskeg of quaking moss that floated on water. at every step the travellers plunged through to their waists. over this the long canoes and baggage had to be carried. on the 10th of june they reached the height of land that divides the waters of hudson bay from the st. lawrence. the watershed was a small plateau with two lakes, one of which emptied north, the other, south. as they approached lake mistassini, the lake indians again opposed their free passage down the rivers. "you must wait," they said, "till we notify the elders of your coming." shortly afterwards, the french met a score of canoes with the indians all painted for war. the idea of turning back never occurred to the priest. by way of demonstrating his joy at meeting the warriors, he had ten volleys of musketry fired off, which converted the war into a council of peace. at the assemblage, albanel distributed gifts to the savages. "stop trading with the english at the sea," he cried; "they do not pray to god; come to lake st. john with your furs; there you will always find a _robe noire_ to instruct you and baptize you." the treaty was celebrated by a festival and a dance. in the morning, after solemn religious services, the french embarked. on the 18th of june they came to lake mistassini, an enormous body of water similar to the great lakes.[13] from mistassini, the course was down-stream and easier. high water enabled them to run many of the rapids; and on the 28th of june, after a voyage of eight hundred leagues, four hundred rapids, and two hundred waterfalls, they came to the deserted houses of the english. the very next day they found the indians and held religious services, making solemn treaty, presenting presents, and hoisting the french flag. for the first three weeks of july they coasted along the shores of james bay, taking possession of the country in the name of the french king. then they cruised back to king charles fort on rupert's river.[14] they were just in time to meet the returned englishmen. governor bayly of the hudson's bay company was astounded to find the french at rupert's river. now he knew what had allured the indians from the bay, but he hardly relished finding foreigners in possession of his own fort. the situation required delicate tact. governor bayly was a bluff tradesman with an insular dislike of frenchmen and catholics common in england at a time when bigoted fanaticism ran riot. king charles was on friendly terms with france. therefore, the jesuit's passport must be respected; so albanel was received with at least a show of courtesy. but bayly was the governor of a fur company; and the rights of the company must be respected. to make matters worse, the french voyageurs brought letters to groseillers and radisson from their relatives in quebec. bayly, no doubt, wished the jesuit guest far enough. albanel left in a few weeks. then bayly's suspicions blazed out in open accusations that the two french explorers had been playing a double game and acting against english interests. in september came the company ship to the fort with captain gillam, who had never agreed with radisson from the time that they had quarrelled about going from port royal to the straits of hudson bay. it has been said that, at this stage, radisson and groseillers, feeling the prejudice too strong against them, deserted and passed overland through the forests to quebec. the records of the hudson's bay company do not corroborate this report. bayly in the heat of his wrath sent home accusations with the returning ship. the ship that came out in 1674 requested radisson to go to england and report. this he did, and so completely refuted the charges of disloyalty that in 1675 the company voted him 100 pounds a year; but radisson would not sit quietly in england on a pension. owing to hostility toward him among the english employees of the company, he could not go back to the bay. meantime he had wife and family and servants to maintain on 100 pounds a year. if england had no more need of him, france realized the fact that she had. debts were accumulating. restless as a caged tiger, radisson found himself baffled until a message came from the great colbert of france, offering to pay all his debts and give him a position in the french navy. his pardon was signed and proclaimed. in 1676, france granted him fishing privileges on the island of anticosti; but the lodestar of the fur trade still drew him, for that year he was called to quebec to meet a company of traders conferring on the price of beaver.[15] in that meeting assembled, among others, jolliet, la salle, groseillers, and radisson--men whose names were to become immortal. it was plain that the two adventurers could not long rest.[16] [1] chailly-bert. [2] the jesuit expeditions of dablon and dreuillettes in 1661 had failed to reach the bay overland. cabot had coasted labrador in 1497; captain davis had gone north of hudson bay in 1585-1587; hudson had lost his life there in 1610. sir thomas button had explored baffin's land, nelson river, and the button islands in 1612; munck, the dane, had found the mouth of the churchill river in 1619, james and fox had explored the inland sea in 1631; shapley had brought a ship up from boston in 1640; and bourdon, the frenchman, had gone up to the straits in 1656-1657. [3] george carr, writing to lord arlington on december 14, 1665, says: "hearing some frenchmen discourse in new england . . . of a great trade of beaver, and afterward making proof of what they had said, he thought them the best present he could possibly make his majesty and persuaded them to come to england." [4] colonel richard nicolls, writing on july 31, 1665, says he "supposes col. geo. cartwright is now at sea." [5] it plainly could not have been written while _en route_ across the atlantic with sir george cartwright, for it records events after that time. [6] robson's _hudson bay_. [7] see dr. n. e. dionne, also marie de l'incarnation, but sulte discredits this granting of a title. [8] see robson's _hudson bay_, containing reference to the journal kept by gorst, bayly's secretary, at rupert fort. [9] see state papers, canadian archives, 1676, january 26, whitehall: memorial of the hudson bay company complaining of albanel, a jesuit, attempting to seduce radisson and groseillers from the company's services; in absence of ships pulling down the british ensign and tampering with the indians. [10] i am inclined to think that albanel may not have been aware of the documents which he carried from quebec to the traders being practically an offer to bribe radisson and groseillers to desert england. some accounts say that albanel was accompanied by groseillers' son, but i find no authority for this. on the other hand, albanel does not mention the englishmen being present. just as radisson and groseillers, ten years before, had taken possession of the old house battered with bullets, so albanel took possession of the deserted huts. here is what his account says (cramoisy edition of the _relations_): "le 28 june à peine avions nous avancé un quart de lieue, que nous rencontrasmes à main gauche dans un petit ruisseau un heu avec ses agrez de dix ou dou tonneaux, qui portoit le pavilion anglois et la voile latine; delà à la portée du fusil, nous entrasmes dans deux maisons desertes . . . nous rencontrasmes deux ou trois cabanes et un chien abandonné. . . ." his tampering with the indians was simply the presentation of gifts to attract them to quebec. [11] see state papers, canadian archives: m. frontenac, the commander of french (?) king's troops at hudson bay, introduces and recommends father albanel. [12] state papers, canadian archives. [13] for some years there were sensational reports that mistassini was larger than lake superior. mr. low, of the canadian geological survey, in a very exhaustive report, shows this is not so. still, the lake ranks with the large lakes of america. mr. low gives its dimensions as one hundred miles long and twelve miles wide. [14] there is a discrepancy in dates here which i leave savants to worry out. _albanel's relation_ (cramoisy) is of 1672. thomas gorst, secretary to governor bayly, says that the quarrel took place in 1674. oldmixon, who wrote from hearsay, says in 1673. robson, who had access to hudson's bay records, says 1676; and i am inclined to think they all agree. in a word, radisson and groseillers were on bad terms with the local hudson's bay company governor from the first, and the open quarrel took place only in 1675. considering the bigotry of the times, the quarrel was only natural. bayly was governor, but he could not take precedence over radisson and groseillers. he was protestant and english. they were catholics and french. besides, they were really at the english governor's mercy; for they could not go back to canada until publicly pardoned by the french king. [15] state papers, canadian archives, october 20, 1676, quebec: report of proceedings regarding the price of beaver . . . by an ordinance, october 19, 1676, m. jacques duchesneau, intendant, had called a meeting of the leading fur traders to consult about fixing the price of beaver. there were present, among others, robert, cavelier de la salle, . . . charles le moyne, . . . two godefroys of three rivers, . . . groseillers, . . . jolliet, . . . pierre radisson. [16] mr. low's geological report on labrador contains interesting particulars of the route followed by father albanel. he speaks of the gorge and swamps and difficult _portages_ in precisely the same way as the priest, though albanel must have encountered the worst possible difficulties on the route, for he went down so early in the spring. chapter vi 1682-1684 radisson gives up a career in the navy for the fur trade though opposed by the monopolists of quebec, he secures ships for a voyage to hudson bay--here he encounters a pirate ship from boston and an english ship of the hudson's bay company--how he plays his cards to win against both rivals a clever man may be a dangerous rival. both france and england recognized this in radisson. the hudson's bay company distrusted him because he was a foreigner. the fur traders of quebec were jealous. the hudson's bay company had offered him a pension of 100 pounds a year to do nothing. france had pardoned his secession to england, paid his debts, and given him a position in the navy, and when the fleet was wrecked returning from the campaign against dutch possessions in the west indies, the french king advanced money for radisson to refit himself; but france distrusted the explorer because he had an english wife. all that france and england wanted radisson to do was to keep quiet. what the haughty spirit of radisson would _not_ do for all the fortunes which two nations could offer to bribe him--was to keep quiet. he cared more for the game than the winnings; and the game of sitting still and drawing a pension for doing nothing was altogether too tame for radisson. groseillers gave up the struggle and retired for the time to his family at three rivers. at quebec, in 1676, radisson heard of others everywhere reaping where he had sown. jolliet and la salle were preparing to push the fur trade of new france westward of the great lakes, where radisson had penetrated twenty years previously. fur traders of quebec, who organized under the name of the company of the north, yearly sent their canoes up the ottawa, st. maurice, and saguenay to the forests south of hudson bay, which radisson had traversed. on the bay itself the english company were entrenched. north, northwest, and west, radisson had been the explorer; but the reward of his labor had been snatched by other hands. [illustration: "skin for skin," coat of arms and motto, hudson's bay company.] radisson must have served meritoriously on the fleet, for after the wreck he was offered the command of a man-of-war; but he asked for a commission to new france. from this request there arose complications. his wife's family, the kirkes, had held claims against new france from the days when the kirkes of boston had captured quebec. these claims now amounted to 40,000 pounds. m. colbert, the great french statesman, hesitated to give a commission to a man allied by marriage with the enemies of new france. radisson at last learned why preferment had been denied him. it was on account of his wife. twice radisson journeyed to london for mary kirke. those were times of an easy change in faith. charles ii was playing double with catholics and protestants. the kirkes were closely attached to the court; and it was, perhaps, not difficult for the huguenot wife to abjure protestantism and declare herself a convert to the religion of her husband. but when radisson proposed taking her back to france, that was another matter. sir john kirke forbade his daughter's departure till the claims of the kirke family against new france had been paid. when radisson returned without his wife, he was reproached by m. colbert for disloyalty. the government refused its patronage to his plans for the fur trade; but m. colbert sent him to confer with la chesnaye, a prominent fur trader and member of the council in new france, who happened to be in paris at that time. la chesnaye had been sent out to canada to look after the affairs of a rouen fur-trading company. soon he became a commissioner of the west indies company; and when the merchants of quebec organized the company of the north, la chesnaye became a director. no one knew better than he how bitterly the monopolists of quebec would oppose radisson's plans for a trip to hudson bay; but the prospects were alluring. la chesnaye was deeply involved in the fur trade and snatched at the chance of profits to stave off the bankruptcy that reduced him to beggary a few years later. in defiance of the rival companies and independent of those with which he was connected, he offered to furnish ships and share profits with radisson and groseillers for a voyage to hudson bay. m. colbert did not give his patronage to the scheme; but he wished radisson a god-speed. the jesuits advanced radisson money to pay his passage; and in the fall of 1681, he arrived in quebec. la chesnaye met him, and groseillers was summoned. the three then went to the château saint-louis to lay their plans before the governor. though the privileges of the west indies company had been curtailed, the fur trade was again regulated by license.[1] frontenac had granted a license to the company of the north for the fur trade of hudson bay. he could not openly favor radisson; but he winked at the expedition by granting passports to the explorers, and the three men who were to accompany him, jean baptiste, son of groseillers, pierre allemand, the pilot who was afterward given a commission to explore the eskimo country, and jean godefroy, an interpreter.[2] jean baptiste, radisson's nephew, invested 500 pounds in goods for barter. others of three rivers and quebec advanced money, to provision the ship.[3] ten days after radisson's arrival in quebec, the explorers had left the high fortress of the st. lawrence to winter in acadia. when spring came, they went with the fishing fleets to isle percée, where la chesnaye was to send the ships. radisson's ship, the _st. pierre_,--named after himself,--came first, a rickety sloop of fifty tons with a crew of twelve mutinous, ill-fed men, a cargo of goods for barter, and scant enough supply of provisions. groseillers' ship, the _st. anne_, was smaller and better built, with a crew of fifteen. the explorers set sail on the 11th of july. from the first there was trouble with the crews. fresh-water _voyageurs_ make bad ocean sailors. food was short. the voyage was to be long. it was to unknown waters, famous for disaster. the sea was boisterous. in the months of june and july, the north atlantic is beset with fog and iceberg. the ice sweeps south in mountainous bergs that have thawed and split before they reach the temperate zones.[4] on the 30th of july the two ships passed the straits of belle isle. fog-banks hung heavy on the blue of the far watery horizon. out of the fog, like ghosts in gloom, drifted the shadowy ice-floes. the coast of labrador consists of bare, domed, lonely hills alternated with rock walls rising sheer from the sea as some giant masonry. here the rock is buttressed by a sharp angle knife-edged in a precipice. there, the beetling walls are guarded by long reefs like the teeth of a saw. over these reefs, the drifting tide breaks with multitudinous voices. the french _voyageurs_ had never known such seafaring. in the wail of the white-foamed reefs, their superstition heard the shriek of the demons. the explorers had anchored in one of the sheltered harbors, which the sailors call "holes-in-the-wall." the crews mutinied. they would go no farther through ice-drift and fog to an unknown sea. radisson never waited for the contagion of fear to work. he ordered anchors up and headed for open sea. then he tried to encourage the sailors with promises. they would not hear him; for the ship's galley was nearly empty of food. then radisson threatened the first mutineer to show rebellion with such severe punishment as the hard customs of the age permitted. the crew sulked, biding its time. at that moment the lookout shouted "sail ho!" all hands discerned a ship with a strange sail, such as dutch and spanish pirates carried, bearing down upon them shoreward. the lesser fear was forgotten in the greater. the _st. pierre's_ crew crowded sail. heading about, the two explorers' ships threaded the rock reefs like pursued deer. the pirate came on full speed before the wind. night fell while radisson was still hiding among the rocks. notwithstanding reefs and high seas, while the pirate ship hove to for the night, radisson stole out in the dark and gave his pursuer the slip. the chase had saved him a mutiny. as the vessels drove northward, the ice drifted past like a white world afloat. when radisson approached the entrance to hudson bay, he met floes in impenetrable masses. so far the ships had avoided delay by tacking along the edges of the ice-fields, from lake to lake of ocean surrounded by ice. now the ice began to crush together, driven by wind and tide with furious enough force to snap the two ships like egg-shells. radisson watched for a free passage, and, with a wind to rear, scudded for shelter of a hole-in-the-wall. here he met the eskimo, and provisions were replenished; but the dangers of the ice-fields had frightened the crews again. in two days radisson put to sea to avoid a second mutiny. the wind was landward, driving the ice back from the straits, and they passed safely into hudson bay. the ice again surrounded them; but it was useless for the men to mutiny. ice blocked up all retreat. jammed among the floes, groseillers was afraid to carry sail, and fell behind. radisson drove ahead, now skirting the ice-floes, now pounded by breaking icebergs, now crashing into surface brash or puddled ice to the fore. "we were like to have perished," he writes, "but god was pleased to preserve us." on the 26th of august, six weeks after sailing from isle percée, radisson rode triumphantly in on the tide to hayes river, south of nelson river, where he had been with the english ships ten years before. two weeks later the _ste. anne_, with groseillers, arrived. the two ships cautiously ascended the river, seeking a harbor. fifteen miles from salt water, radisson anchored. at last he was back in his native element, the wilderness, where man must set himself to conquer and take dominion over earth. groseillers was always the trader, radisson the explorer. leaving his brother-in-law to build the fort, radisson launched a canoe on hayes river to explore inland. young jean groseillers accompanied him to look after the trade with the indians.[5] for eight days they paddled up a river that was destined to be the path of countless traders and pioneers for two centuries, and that may yet be destined to become the path of a northern commerce. by september the floodtide of hayes river had subsided. in a week the _voyageurs_ had travelled probably three hundred miles, and were within the region of lake winnipeg, where the cree hunters assemble in october for the winter. radisson had come to this region by way of lake superior with the cree hunters twenty years before, and his visit had become a tradition among the tribes. beaver are busy in october gnawing down young saplings for winter food. radisson observed chips floating past the canoe. where there are beaver, there should be indians; so the _voyageurs_ paddled on. one night, as they lay round the camp-fire, with canoes overturned, a deer, startled from its evening drinking-place, bounded from the thicket. a sharp whistle--and an indian ran from the brush of an island opposite the camp, signalling the white men to head the deer back; but when radisson called from the waterside, the savage took fright and dashed for the woods. all that night the _voyageurs_ kept sleepless guard. in the morning they moved to the island and kindled a signal-fire to call the indians. in a little while canoes cautiously skirted the island, and the chief of the band stood up, bow and arrow in hand. pointing his arrows to the deities of north, south, east, and west, he broke the shaft to splinters, as a signal of peace, and chanted his welcome:- "ho, young men, be not afraid! the sun is favorable to us! our enemies shall fear us! this is the man we have wished since the days of our fathers!" with a leap, the chief sprang into the water and swam ashore, followed by all the canoes. radisson called out to know who was commander. the chief, with a sign as old and universal as humanity, bowed his head in servility. radisson took the indian by the hand, and, seating him by the fire, chanted an answer in cree:- "i know all the earth! your friends shall be my friends! i come to bring you arms to destroy your enemies! nor wife nor child shall die of hunger! for i have brought you merchandise! be of good cheer! i will be thy son! i have brought thee a father! he is yonder below building a fort where i have two great ships!" [6] the chief kept pace with the profuse compliments by vowing the life of his tribe in service of the white man. radisson presented pipes and tobacco to the indians. for the chief he reserved a fowling-piece with powder and shot. white man and indian then exchanged blankets. presents were sent for the absent wives. the savages were so grateful that they cast all their furs at radisson's feet, and promised to bring their hunt to the fort in spring. in paris and london radisson had been harassed by jealousy. in the wilderness he was master of circumstance; but a surprise awaited him at groseillers' fort. the french habitation--called fort bourbon--had been built on the north shore of hayes or ste. therese river. directly north, overland, was another broad river with a gulflike entrance. this was the nelson. between the two rivers ran a narrow neck of swampy, bush-grown land. the day that radisson returned to the newly erected fort, there rolled across the marshes the ominous echo of cannon-firing. who could the newcomers be? a week's sail south at the head of the bay were the english establishments of the hudson's bay company. the season was far advanced. had english ships come to winter on nelson river? ordering jean groseillers to go back inland to the indians, radisson launched down hayes river in search of the strange ship. he went to the salt water, but saw nothing. upon returning, he found that jean groseillers had come back to the fort with news of more cannonading farther inland. radisson rightly guessed that the ship had sailed up nelson river, firing cannon as she went to notify indians for trade. picking out three intrepid men, radisson crossed the marsh by a creek which the indian canoes used, to go to nelson river.[7] through the brush the scout spied a white tent on an island. all night the frenchmen lay in the woods, watching their rivals and hoping that some workman might pass close enough to be seized and questioned. at noon, next day, radisson's patience was exhausted. he paddled round the island, and showed himself a cannon-shot distant from the fort. holding up a pole, radisson waved as if he were an indian afraid to approach closer in order to trade. the others hallooed a welcome and gabbled out indian words from a guide-book. radisson paddled a length closer. the others ran eagerly down to the water side away from their cannon. in signal of friendship, they advanced unarmed. radisson must have laughed to see how well his ruse worked. "who are you?" he demanded in plain english, "and what do you want?" the traders called back that they were englishmen come for beaver. again the crafty frenchman must have laughed; for he knew very well that all english ships except those of the hudson's bay company were prohibited by law from coming here to trade.[8] though the strange ship displayed an english ensign, the flag did not show the magical letters "h. b. c." "whose commission have you?" pursued radisson. "no commission--new englanders," answered the others. "contrabands," thought radisson to himself. then he announced that he had taken possession of all that country for france, had built a strong fort, and expected more ships. in a word, he advised the new englanders to save themselves by instant flight; but his canoe had glided nearer. to radisson's surprise, he discovered that the leader of the new england poachers was ben gillam of boston, son of captain gillam, the trusted servant of the hudson's bay company, who had opposed radisson and groseillers on rupert's river. it looked as if the contraband might be a venture of the father as well as the son.[9] radisson and young gillam recognized each other with a show of friendliness, gillam inviting radisson to inspect the ship with much the same motive that the fabled spider invited the fly. radisson took tactful precaution for his own liberty by graciously asking that two of the new england servants go down to the canoe with the three frenchmen. no sooner had radisson gone on the new england ship than young gillam ordered cannon fired and english flags run up. having made that brave show of strength, the young man proposed that the french and the new englanders should divide the traffic between them for the winter. radisson diplomatically suggested that such an important proposal be laid before his colleagues. in leaving, he advised gillam to keep his men from wandering beyond the island, lest they suffer wrong at the hands of the french soldiers. incidentally, that advice would also keep the new englanders from learning how desperately weak the french really were. neither leader was in the slightest deceived by the other; each played for time to take the other unawares, and each knew the game that was being played. [illustration: hudson's bay company coins, made of lead melted from tea chests at york factory, each coin representing so many beaver skins.] instead of returning by the creek that cut athwart the neck of land between the two rivers, radisson decided to go down nelson river to the bay, round the point, and ascend hayes river to the french quarters. cogitating how to frighten young gillam out of the country or else to seize him, radisson glided down the swift current of nelson river toward salt water. he had not gone nine miles from the new englanders when he was astounded by the spectacle of a ship breasting with full-blown sails up the tide of the nelson directly in front of the french canoe. the french dashed for the hiding of the brushwood on shore. from their concealment they saw that the ship was a hudson's bay company vessel, armed with cannon and commission for lawful trade. if once the hudson's bay company ship and the new englanders united, the english would be strong enough to overpower the french. the majority of leaders would have escaped the impending disaster by taking ingloriously to their heels. radisson, with that adroit presence of mind which characterized his entire life, had provided for his followers' safety by landing them on the south shore, where the french could flee across the marsh to the ships if pursued. then his only thought was how to keep the rivals apart. instantly he had an enormous bonfire kindled. then he posted his followers in ambush. the ship mistook the fire for an indian signal, reefed its sails, and anchored. usually natives paddled out to the traders' ships to barter. these indians kept in hiding. the ship waited for them to come; and radisson waited for the ship's hands to land. in the morning a gig boat was lowered to row ashore. in it were captain gillam, radisson's personal enemy, john bridgar,[10] the new governor of the hudson's bay company for nelson river, and six sailors. all were heavily armed, yet radisson stood alone to receive them, with his three companions posted on the outskirts of the woods as if in command of ambushed forces. fortune is said to favor the dauntless, and just as the boat came within gunshot of the shore, it ran aground. a sailor jumped out to drag the craft up the bank. they were all at radisson's mercy--without cover. he at once levelled his gun with a shout of "halt!" at the same moment his own men made as if to sally from the woods. the english imagined themselves ambushed, and called out that they were the officers of the hudson's bay company. radisson declared who he was and that he had taken possession of the country for france. his musket was still levelled. his men were ready to dash forward. the english put their heads together and decided that discretion was the better part of valor. governor bridgar meekly requested permission to land and salute the commander of the french. then followed a pompous melodrama of bravado, each side affecting sham strength. radisson told the english all that he had told the new englanders, going on board the company's ship to dine, while english hostages remained with his french followers. for reasons which he did not reveal, he strongly advised governor bridgar not to go farther up nelson river. above all, he warned captain gillam not to permit the english sailors to wander inland. having exchanged compliments, radisson took gracious leave of his hosts, and with his three men slipped down the nelson in their canoe. past a bend in the river, he ordered the canoe ashore. the french then skirted back through the woods and lay watching the english till satisfied that the hudson's bay company ship would go no nearer the island where ben gillam lay hidden. groseillers and his son looked after the trade that winter. radisson had his hands full keeping the two english crews apart. ten days after his return, he again left hayes river to see what his rivals were doing. the hudson's bay company ship had gone aground in the ooze a mile from the fort where governor bridgar had taken up quarters. that division of forces weakened the english fort. introducing his man as captain of a french ship, radisson entered the governor's house. the visitors drained a health to their host and fired off muskets to learn whether sentinels were on guard. no attention was paid to the unwonted noise. "i judged," writes radisson, "that they were careless, and might easily be surprised." he then went across to the river flats, where the tide had left the vessel, and, calmly mounting the ladder, took a survey of gillam's ship. when the irate old captain rushed up to know the meaning of the intrusion radisson suavely proffered provisions, of which they were plainly in need. the new englanders had been more industrious. a stoutly palisaded fort had been completed on young gillam's island, and cannon commanded all approach. radisson fired a musket to notify the sentry, and took care to beach his canoe below the range of the guns. young gillam showed a less civil front than before. his lieutenant ironically congratulated radisson on his "safe" return, and invited him to visit the fort if he would enter _alone_. when radisson would have introduced his four followers, the lieutenant swore "if the four french were forty devils, they could not take the new englanders' fort." the safety of the french habitation now hung by a hair. everything depended on keeping the two english companies apart, and they were distant only nine miles. the scheme must have flashed on radisson in an intuition; for he laid his plans as he listened to the boastings of the new englanders. if father and son could be brought together through radisson's favor, captain gillam would keep the english from coming to the new england fort lest his son should be seized for poaching on the trade of the company; and ben gillam would keep his men from going near the english fort lest governor bridgar should learn of the contraband ship from boston. incidentally, both sides would be prevented from knowing the weakness of the french at fort bourbon. at once radisson told young gillam of his father's presence. ben was eager to see his father and, as he thought, secure himself from detection in illegal trade. radisson was to return to the old captain with the promised provisions. he offered to take young gillam, disguised as a bush-ranger. in return, he demanded (1) that the new englanders should not leave their fort; (2) that they should not betray themselves by discharging cannon; (3) that they shoot any hudson's bay company people who tried to enter the new england fort. to young gillam these terms seemed designed for his own protection. what they really accomplished was the complete protection of the french from united attack. father and son would have put themselves in radisson's power. a word of betrayal to bridgar, the hudson's bay governor, and both the gillams would be arrested for illegal trade. ben gillam's visit to his father was fraught with all the danger that radisson's daring could have desired. a seaman half suspected the identity of the bush-ranger, and governor bridgar wanted to know how radisson had returned so soon when the french fort was far away. "i told him, smiling," writes radisson, "that i could fly when there was need to serve my friends." young gillam had begun to suspect the weakness of the french. when the two were safely out of the hudson's bay company fort, he offered to go home part of the way with radisson. this was to learn where the french fort lay. radisson declined the kindly service and deliberately set out from the new englanders' island in the wrong direction, coming down the nelson past young gillam's fort at night. the delay of the trick nearly cost radisson his life. fall rains had set in, and the river was running a mill-race. great floes of ice from the north were tossing on the bay at the mouth of the nelson river in a maelstrom of tide and wind. in the dark radisson did not see how swiftly his canoe had been carried down-stream. before he knew it his boat shot out of the river among the tossing ice-floes of the bay. surrounded by ice in a wild sea, he could not get back to land. the spray drove over the canoe till the frenchman's clothes were stiff with ice. for four hours they lay jammed in the ice-drift till a sudden upheaval crushed the canoe to kindling wood and left the men stranded on the ice. running from floe to floe, they gained the shore and beat their way for three days through a raging hurricane of sleet and snow toward the french habitation. they were on the side of the hayes opposite the french fort. four _voyageurs_ crossed for them, and the little company at last gained the shelter of a roof. radisson now knew that young gillam intended to spy upon the french; so he sent scouts to watch the new englanders' fort. the scouts reported that the young captain had sent messengers to obtain additional men from his father; but the new england soldiers, remembering radisson's orders to shoot any one approaching, had levelled muskets to fire at the reënforcements. the rebuffed men had gone back to governor bridgar with word of a fort and ship only nine miles up nelson river. bridgar thought this was the french establishment, and old captain gillam could not undeceive him. the hudson's bay company governor had sent the two men back to spy on what he thought was a french fort. at once radisson sent out men to capture bridgar's scouts, who were found half dead with cold and hunger. the captives reported to radisson that the english ship had been totally wrecked in the ice jam. bridgar's people were starving. many traders would have left their rivals to perish. radisson supplied them with food for the winter. they were no longer to be feared; but there was still danger from young gillam. he had wished to visit the french fort. radisson decided to give him an opportunity. ben gillam was escorted down to hayes river. a month passed quietly. the young captain had learned that the boasted forces of the french consisted of less than thirty men. his insolence knew no bounds. he struck a french servant, called radisson a pirate, and gathering up his belongings prepared to go home. radisson quietly barred the young man's way. "you pitiful dog!" said the frenchman, coolly. "you poor young fool! why do you suppose you were brought to this fort? we brought you here because it suited us! we keep you here as long as it suits us! we take you back when it suits us!" ben gillam was dumfounded to find that he had been trapped, when he had all the while thought that he was acting the part of a clever spy. he broke out in a storm of abuse. radisson remanded the foolish young man to a french guard. at the mess-room table radisson addressed his prisoner:-"gillam, to-day i set out to capture your fort." at the table sat less than thirty men. young gillam gave one scornful glance at the french faces and laughed. "if you had a hundred men instead of twenty," he jeered. "how many have you, ben?" "nine; and they'll kill you before you reach the palisades." radisson was not talking of killing. "gillam," he returned imperturbably, "pick out nine of my men, and i have your fort within forty-eight hours." gillam chose the company, and radisson took one of the hudson bay captives as a witness. the thing was done as easily as a piece of farcical comedy. french hostages had been left among the new englanders as guarantee of gillam's safety in radisson's fort. these hostages had been instructed to drop, as if by chance, blocks of wood across the doors of the guard-room and powder house and barracks. even these precautions proved unnecessary. two of radisson's advance guard, who were met by the lieutenant of the new england fort, reported that "gillam had remained behind." the lieutenant led the two frenchmen into the fort. these two kept the gates open for radisson, who marched in with his band, unopposed. the keys were delivered and radisson was in possession. at midnight the watch-dogs raised an alarm, and the french sallied out to find that a new englander had run to the hudson's bay company for aid, and governor bridgar's men were attacking the ships. all of the assailants fled but four, whom radisson caught ransacking the ship's cabin. radisson now had more captives than he could guard, so he loaded the hudson's bay company men with provisions and sent them back to their own starving fort. radisson left the new england fort in charge of his frenchmen and returned to the french quarters. strange news was carried to him there. bridgar had forgotten all benefits, waited until radisson's back was turned, and, with one last desperate cast of the die to retrieve all by capturing the new england fort and ship for the fur company, had marched against young gillam's island. the french threw open the gates for the hudson's bay governor to enter. then they turned the key and told governor bridgar that he was a prisoner. their _coup_ was a complete triumph for radisson. both of his rivals were prisoners, and the french flag flew undisputed over port nelson. spring brought the indians down to the bay with the winter's hunt. the sight of threescore englishmen captured by twenty frenchmen roused the war spirit of the young braves. they offered radisson two hundred beaver skins to be allowed to massacre the english. radisson thanked the savages for their good will, but declined their offer. floods had damaged the water-rotted timbers of the two old hulls in which the explorers voyaged north. it was agreed to return to quebec in ben gillam's boat. a vessel was constructed on one of the hulls to send the english prisoners to the hudson's bay company forts at the south end of the bay.[11] young jean groseillers was left, with seven men, to hold the french post till boats came in the following year. on the 27th of july the ships weighed anchor for the homeward voyage. young gillam was given a free passage by way of quebec. bridgar was to have gone with his men to the hudson's bay company forts at the south of the bay, but at the last moment a friendly englishman warned radisson that the governor's design was to wait till the large ship had left, head the bark back for hayes river, capture the fort, and put the frenchmen to the sword. to prevent this bridgar, too, was carried to quebec. twenty miles out the ship was caught in ice-floes that held her for a month, and bridgar again conspired to cut the throats of the frenchmen. henceforth young gillam and bridgar were out on parole during the day and kept under lock at night. the same jealousy as of old awaited radisson at quebec. the company of the north was furious that la chesnaye had sent ships to hudson bay, which the shareholders considered to be their territory by license.[12] farmers of the revenue beset the ship to seize the cargo, because the explorers had gone north without a permit. la chesnaye saved some of the furs by transshipping them for france before the vessel reached quebec. then followed an interminable lawsuit, that exhausted the profits of the voyage. la barre had succeeded frontenac as governor. the best friends of la barre would scarcely deny that his sole ambition as governor was to amass a fortune from the fur trade of canada. inspired by the jealous company of the north, he refused to grant radisson prize money for the capture of the contraband ship, restored the vessel to gillam, and gave him clearance to sail for boston.[13] for this la barre was sharply reprimanded from france; but the reprimand did not mend the broken fortunes of the two explorers, who had given their lives for the extension of the french domain.[14] m. colbert summoned radisson and groseillers to return to france and give an account of all they had done; but when they arrived in paris, on january 15, 1684, they learned that the great statesman had died. lord preston, the english envoy, had lodged such complaints against them for the defeat of the englishmen in hudson bay, that france hesitated to extend public recognition of their services. [1] within ten years so many different regulations were promulgated on the fur trade that it is almost impossible to keep track of them. in 1673 orders came from paris forbidding french settlers of new france from wandering in the woods for longer than twenty-four hours. in 1672 m. frontenac forbade the selling of merchandise to _coureurs du bois_, or the purchase of furs from them. in 1675 a decree of the council of state awarded to m. jean oudiette one-fourth of all beaver, with the exclusive right of buying and selling in canada. in 1676 frontenac withdrew from the _cie indes occidentales_ all the rights it had over canada and other places. an ordinance of october 1, 1682, forbade all trade except under license. an ordinance in 1684 ordered all fur traders trading in hudson bay to pay one-fourth to farmers of the revenue. [2] it is hard to tell who this godefroy was. of all the famous godefroys of three rivers (according to abbé tanguay) there was only one, jean batiste, born 1658, who might have gone with radisson; but i hardly think so. the godefroys descended from the french nobility and themselves bore titles from the king, but in spite of this, were the best canoemen of new france, as ready--according to mr. sulte--to _faire la cuisine_ as to command a fort. radisson's godefroy evidently went in the capacity of a servant, for his name is not mentioned in the official list of promoters. on the other hand, parish records do not give the date of jean batiste godefroy's death; so that he may have gone as a servant and died in the north. [3] state papers, 1683, state that dame sorel, la chesnaye, chaujon, gitton, foret, and others advanced money for the goods. [4] in 1898, when up the coast of labrador, i was told by the superintendent of a northern whaling station--a man who has received royal decorations for his scientific research of ocean phenomena--that he has frequently seen icebergs off labrador that were nine miles long. [5] jean was born in 1654 and was, therefore, twenty-eight. [6] i have written both addresses as the indians would chant them. to be sure, they will not scan according to the elephantine grace of the pedant's iambics; but then, neither will the indian songs scan, though i know of nothing more subtly rhythmical. rhythm is so much a part of the indian that it is in his walk, in the intonation of his words, in the gesture of his hands. i think most westerners will bear me out in saying that it is the exquisitely musical intonation of words that betrays indian blood to the third and fourth generation. [7] see robson's map. [8] state papers: "the governor of new england is ordered to seize all vessels trading in hudson bay contrary to charter--" [9] _radisson's journal_, p. 277. [10] robson gives the commission to this governor. [11] later in hudson bay history, when another commander captured the forts, the prisoners were sold into slavery. radisson's treatment of his rivals hardly substantiates all the accusations of rascality trumped up against him. just how many prisoners he took in this _coup_, no two records agree. [12] archives, september 24, 1683: ordinance of m. de meulles regarding the claims of persons interested in the expedition to hudson bay, organized by m. de la chesnaye, gitton, bruneau, mme. sorel. . . . in order to avoid difficulties with the company of the north, they had placed a vessel at isle percée to receive the furs brought back . . . and convey them to holland and spain. . . . joachims de chalons, agent of the company of the north, sent a _bateau_ to percée to defeat the project. de la chesnaye, summoned to appear before the intendant, maintained that the company had no right to this trade, . . . that the enterprise involved so many risks that he could not consent to divide the profits, if he had any. the partners having been heard, m. de meulles orders that the boats from hudson bay be anchored at quebec. [13] archives, october 25, 1683: m. de la barre grants benjamin gillam of boston clearance for the ship _le garçon_, now in port at quebec, although he had no license from his britannic majesty permitting him to enter hudson bay. [14] such foundationless accusations have been written against radisson by historians who ought to have known better, about these furs, that i quote the final orders of the government on the subject: november 5, 1683, m. de la barre forbids chalons, agent of la ferme du canada, confiscating the furs brought from hudson bay; november 8 m. de la chesnaye is to be paid for the furs seized. chapter vii 1684-1710 the last voyage of radisson to hudson bay france refuses to restore the confiscated furs and radisson tries to redeem his fortune--reëngaged by england, he captures back fort nelson, but comes to want in his old age--his character radisson was now near his fiftieth year. he had spent his entire life exploring the wilds. he had saved new france from bankruptcy with cargoes of furs that in four years amounted to half a million of modern money. in ten years he had brought half a million dollars worth of furs to the english company.[1] yet he was a poor man, threatened with the sponging-house by clamorous creditors and in the power of avaricious statesmen, who used him as a tool for their own schemes. la chesnaye had saved his furs; but the half of the cargo that was the share of radisson and groseillers had been seized at quebec.[2] on arriving in france, groseillers presented a memorial of their wrong to the court.[3] probably because england and france were allied by treaty at that time, the petition for redress was ignored. groseillers was now an old man. he left the struggle to radisson and retired to spend his days in quietness.[4] radisson did not cease to press his claim for the return of confiscated furs. he had a wife and four children to support; but, in spite of all his services to england and france, he did not own a shilling's worth of property in the whole world. from january to may he waited for the tardy justice of the french court. when his suit became too urgent, he was told that he had offended the most christian king by attacking the fur posts under the protection of a friendly monarch, king charles. the hollowness of that excuse became apparent when the french government sanctioned the fitting out of two vessels for radisson to go to hudson bay in the spring. lord preston, the english ambassador, was also playing a double game. he never ceased to reproach the french for the destruction of the fur posts on hudson bay. at the same time he besieged radisson with offers to return to the service of the hudson's bay company. radisson was deadly tired of the farce. from first to last france had treated him with the blackest injustice. if he had wished to be rich, he could long ago have accumulated wealth by casting in his lot with the dishonest rulers of quebec. in england a strong clique, headed by bridgar, gillam, and bering opposed him; but king charles and the duke of york, prince rupert, when he was alive, sir william young, sir james hayes, and sir john kirke were in his favor. his heart yearned for his wife and children. just then letters came from england urging him to return to the hudson's bay company. lord preston plied the explorer with fair promises. under threat of punishment for molesting the english of hudson bay, the french government tried to force him into a contract to sail on a second voyage to the north on the same terms as in 1682-1683--not to share the profits. england and france were both playing double. radisson smiled a grim smile and took his resolution. daily he conferred with the french marine on details of the voyage. he permitted the date of sailing to be set for april 24. sailors were enlisted, stores put on board, everything was in readiness. at the last moment, radisson asked leave of absence to say good-by to his family. the request was granted. without losing a moment, he sailed for england, where he arrived on the 10th of may and was at once taken in hand by sir william young and sir james hayes. he was honored as his explorations entitled him to be. king charles and the duke of york received him. both royal brothers gave him gifts in token of appreciation. he took the oath of fealty and cast in his lot with the english for good. it was characteristic of the enthusiast that he was, when radisson did not sign a strictly business contract with the hudson's bay company. "i accepted their commission with the greatest pleasure in the world," he writes; ". . . without any precautions on my part for my own interests . . . since they had confidence in me, i wished to be generous towards them . . . in the hope they would render me all the justice due from gentlemen of honor and probity." but to the troubles of the future radisson always paid small heed. glad to be off once more to the adventurous freedom of the wilds, he set sail from england on may 17, 1684, in the _happy return_, accompanied by two other vessels. no incident marked the voyage till the ships had passed through the straits and were driven apart by the ice-drift of the bay. about sixty miles out from port nelson, the _happy return_ was held back by ice. fearing trouble between young jean groseillers' men and the english of the other ships, radisson embarked in a shallop with seven men in order to arrive at hayes river before the other boats came. rowing with might and main for forty-eight hours, they came to the site of the french fort. the fort had been removed. jean groseillers had his own troubles during radisson's absence. a few days after radisson's departure in july, 1683, cannon announced the arrival of the annual english ships on nelson river. jean at once sent out scouts, who found a tribe of indians on the way home from trading with the ships that had fired the cannon. the scouts brought the indians back to the french fort. young groseillers admitted the savages only one at a time; but the cunning braves pretended to run back for things they had forgotten in the french house. suspecting nothing, jean had permitted his own men to leave the fort. on different pretexts, a dozen warriors had surrounded the young trader. suddenly the mask was thrown off. springing up, treacherous as a tiger cat, the chief of the band struck at groseillers with a dagger. jean parried the blow, grabbed the redskin by his collar of bears' claws strung on thongs, threw the assassin to the ground almost strangling him, and with one foot on the villain's throat and the sword point at his chest, demanded of the indians what they meant. the savages would have fled, but french soldiers who had heard the noise dashed to groseillers' aid. the indians threw down their weapons and confessed all: the englishmen of the ship had promised the band a barrel of powder to massacre the french. jean took his foot from the indian's throat and kicked him out of the fort. the english outnumbered the french; so jean removed his fort farther from the bay, among the indians, where the english could not follow. to keep the warriors about him, he offered to house and feed them for the winter. this protected him from the attacks of the english. in the spring indians came to the french with pelts. jean was short of firearms; so he bribed the indians to trade their peltries to the english for guns, and to retrade the guns to him for other goods. it was a stroke worthy of radisson himself, and saved the little french fort. the english must have suspected the young trader's straits, for they again paid warriors to attack the french; but jean had forestalled assault by forming an alliance with the assiniboines, who came down hayes river from lake winnipeg four hundred strong, and encamped a body-guard around the fort. affairs were at this stage when radisson arrived with news that he had transferred his services to the english. young groseillers was amazed.[5] letters to his mother show that he surrendered his charge with a very ill grace. "do not forget," radisson urged him, "the injuries that france has inflicted on your father." young groseillers' mother, marguerite hayet, was in want at three rivers.[6] it was memory of her that now turned the scales with the young man. he would turn over the furs to radisson for the english company, if radisson would take care of the far-away mother at three rivers. the bargain was made, and the two embraced. the surrender of the french furs to the english company has been represented as radisson's crowning treachery. under that odium the great discoverer's name has rested for nearly three centuries; yet the accusation of theft is without a grain of truth. radisson and groseillers were to obtain half the proceeds of the voyage in 1682-1683. neither the explorers nor jean groseillers, who had privately invested 500 pounds in the venture, ever received one sou. the furs at port nelson--or fort bourbon--belonged to the frenchmen, to do what they pleased with them. the act of the enthusiast is often tainted with folly. that radisson turned over twenty thousand beaver pelts to the english, without the slightest assurance that he would be given adequate return, was surely folly; but it was not theft. the transfer of all possessions to the english was promptly made. radisson then arranged a peace treaty between the indians and the english. that peace treaty has endured between the indians and the hudson's bay company to this day. a new fort was built, the furs stored in the hold of the vessels, and the crews mustered for the return voyage. radisson had been given a solemn promise by the hudson's bay company that jean groseillers and his comrades should be well treated and reëngaged for the english at 100 pounds a year. now he learned that the english intended to ship all the french out of hudson bay and to keep them out. the enthusiast had played his game with more zeal than discretion. the english had what they wanted--furs and fort. in return, radisson had what had misled him like a will-o'-the-wisp all his life--vague promises. in vain radisson protested that he had given his promise to the french before they surrendered the fort. the english distrusted foreigners. the frenchmen had been mustered on the ships to receive last instructions. they were told that they were to be taken to england. no chance was given them to escape. some of the french had gone inland with the indians. of jean's colony, these alone remained. when radisson realized the conspiracy, he advised his fellow-countrymen to make no resistance; for he feared that some of the english bitter against him might seize on the pretext of a scuffle to murder the french. his advice proved wise. he had strong friends at the english court, and atonement was made for the breach of faith to the french. the ships set sail on the 4th of september and arrived in england on the 23d of october. without waiting for the coach, radisson hired a horse and spurred to london in order to give his version first of the quarrel on the bay. the hudson's bay company was delighted with the success of radisson. he was taken before the directors, given a present of a hundred guineas, and thanked for his services. he was once more presented to the king and the duke of york. the company redeemed its promise to radisson by employing the frenchmen of the surrendered fort and offering to engage young groseillers at 100 pounds a year.[7] [illustration: hudson bay dog trains laden with furs arriving at lower fort garry, red river. (courtesy of c. c. chipman, commissioner h. b. company.)] for five years the english kept faith with radisson, and he made annual voyages to the bay; but war broke out with france. new france entered on a brilliant campaign against the english of hudson bay. the company's profits fell. radisson, the frenchman, was distrusted. france had set a price on his head, and one martinière went to port nelson to seize him, but was unable to cope with the english. at no time did radisson's salary with the company exceed 100 pounds; and now, when war stopped dividends on the small amount of stock which had been given to him, he fell into poverty and debt. in 1692 sir william young petitioned the company in his favor; but a man with a price on his head for treason could plainly not return to france.[8] the french were in possession of the bay. radisson could do no harm to the english. therefore the company ignored him till he sued them and received payment in full for arrears of salary and dividends on stock which he was not permitted to sell; but 50 pounds a year would not support a man who paid half that amount for rent, and had a wife, four children, and servants to support. in 1700 radisson applied for the position of warehouse keeper for the company at london. even this was denied. the dauntless pathfinder was growing old; and the old cannot fight and lose and begin again as radisson had done all his life. state papers of paris contain records of a radisson with tonty at detroit![9] was this his nephew, françois radisson's son, who took the name of the explorer, or radisson's own son, or the game old warrior himself, come out to die on the frontier as he had lived? history is silent. until the year 1710 radisson drew his allowance of 50 pounds a year from the english company, then the payments stopped. did the dauntless life stop too? oblivion hides all record of his death, as it obscured the brilliant achievements of his life. there is no need to point out radisson's faults. they are written on his life without extenuation or excuse, so that all may read. there is less need to eulogize his virtues. they declare themselves in every act of his life. this, only, should be remembered. like all enthusiasts, radisson could not have been a hero, if he had not been a bit of a fool. if he had not had his faults, if he had not been as impulsive, as daring, as reckless, as inconstant, as improvident of the morrow, as a savage or a child, he would not have accomplished the exploration of half a continent. men who weigh consequences are not of the stuff to win empires. had radisson haggled as to the means, he would have missed or muddled the end. he went ahead; and when the way did not open, he went round, or crawled over, or carved his way through. there was an old saying among retired hunters of three rivers that "one learned more in the woods than was ever found in l' petee cat-ee-cheesm." radisson's training was of the woods, rather than the curé's catechism; yet who that has been trained to the strictest code may boast of as dauntless faults and noble virtues? he was not faithful to any country, but he was faithful to his wife and children; and he was "faithful to his highest hope,"--that of becoming a discoverer,--which is more than common mortals are to their meanest aspirations. when statesmen played him a double game, he paid them back in their own coin with compound interest. perhaps that is why they hated him so heartily and blackened his memory. but amid all the mad license of savage life, radisson remained untainted. other explorers and statesmen, too, have left a trail of blood to perpetuate their memory; radisson never once spilled human blood needlessly, and was beloved by the savages. memorial tablets commemorate other discoverers. radisson needs none. the great northwest is his monument for all time. [1] radisson's petition to the hudson's bay company gives these amounts. [2] see state papers quoted in chapter vi. i need scarcely add that radisson did not steal a march on his patrons by secretly shipping furs to europe. this is only another of the innumerable slanders against radisson which state papers disprove. [3] it seems impossible that historians with the slightest regard for truth should have branded this part of _radisson's relation_ as a fabrication, too. yet such is the case, and of writers whose books are supposed to be reputable. since parts of radisson's life appeared in the magazines, among many letters i received one from a well-known historian which to put it mildly was furious at the acceptance of _radisson's journal_ as authentic. in reply, i asked that historian how many documents contemporaneous with radisson's life he had consulted before he branded so great an explorer as radisson as a liar. needless to say, that question was not answered. in corroboration of this part of radisson's life, i have lying before me: (1) chouart's letters--see appendix. (2) a letter of frontenac recording radisson's first trip by boat for de la chesnaye and the complications it would be likely to cause. (3) a complete official account sent from quebec to france of radisson's doings in the bay, which tallies in every respect with _radisson's journal_. (4) report of m. de meulles to the minister on the whole affair with the english and new englanders. (5) an official report on the release of gillam's boat at quebec. (6) the memorial presented by groseillers to the french minister. (7) an official statement of the first discovery of the bay overland. (8) a complete statement (official) of the complications created by radisson's wife being english. (9) a statement through a third party--presumably an official--by radisson himself of these complications dated 1683. (10) a letter from the king to the governor at quebec retailing the english complaints of radisson at nelson river. in the face of this, what is to be said of the historian who calls radisson's adventures "a fabrication"? such misrepresentation betrays about equal amounts of impudence and ignorance. [4] from charlevoix to modern writers mention is made of the death of these two explorers. different names are given as the places where they died. this is all pure supposition. therefore i do not quote. no records exist to prove where radisson and groseillers died. [5] see appendix. [6] state papers record payment of money to her because she was in want. [7] dr. george bryce, who is really the only scholar who has tried to unravel the mystery of radisson's last days, supplies new facts about his dealings with the company to 1710. [8] marquis de denonville ordered the arrest of radisson wherever he might be found. [9] appendix; see state papers. part ii the search for the western sea: being an account of the discovery of the rocky mountains, the missouri uplands, and the valley of the saskatchewan chapter viii 1730-1750 the search for the western sea[1] m. de la vérendrye continues the exploration of the great northwest by establishing a chain of fur posts across the continent--privations of the explorers and the massacre of twenty followers--his sons visit the mandans and discover the rockies--the valley of the saskatchewan is next explored, but jealousy thwarts the explorer, and he dies in poverty i 1731-1736 a curious paradox is that the men who have done the most for north america did not intend to do so. they set out on the far quest of a crack-brained idealist's dream. they pulled up at a foreshortened purpose; but the unaccomplished aim did more for humanity than the idealist's dream. columbus set out to find asia. he discovered america. jacques cartier sought a mythical passage to the orient. he found a northern empire. la salle thought to reach china. he succeeded only in exploring the valley of the mississippi, but the new continent so explored has done more for humanity than asia from time immemorial. of all crack-brained dreams that led to far-reaching results, none was wilder than the search for the western sea. marquette, jolliet, and la salle had followed the trail that radisson had blazed and explored the valley of the mississippi; but like a will-o'-the-wisp beckoning ever westward was that undiscovered myth, the western sea, thought to lie like a narrow strait between america and japan. the search began in earnest one sweltering afternoon on june 8, 1731, at the little stockaded fort on the banks of the st. lawrence, where montreal stands to-day. fifty grizzled adventurers--wood runners, voyageurs, indian interpreters--bareheaded, except for the colored handkerchief binding back the lank hair, dressed in fringed buckskin, and chattering with the exuberant nonchalance of boys out of school, had finished gumming the splits of their ninety-foot birch canoes, and now stood in line awaiting the coming of their captain, sieur pierre gaultier de varennes de la vérendrye. the french soldier with his three sons, aged respectively eighteen, seventeen, and sixteen, now essayed to discover the fabled western sea, whose narrow waters were supposed to be between the valley of the "great forked river" and the empire of china. [illustration: indians and hunters spurring to the fight.] certainly, if it were worth while for peter the great of russia to send vitus bering coasting the bleak headlands of ice-blocked, misty shores to find the western sea, it would--as one of the french governors reported--"be nobler than open war" for the little colony of new france to discover this "sea of the setting sun." the quest was invested with all the rainbow tints of "_la gloire_"; but the rainbow hopes were founded on the practical basis of profits. leading merchants of montreal had advanced goods for trade with the indians on the way to the western sea. their expectations of profits were probably the same as the man's who buys a mining share for ten cents and looks for dividends of several thousand per cent. and the fur trade at that time was capable of yielding such profits. traders had gone west with less than $2000 worth of goods in modern money, and returned three years later with a sheer profit of a quarter of a million. hope of such returns added zest to de la vérendrye's venture for the discovery of the western sea. goods done up in packets of a hundred pounds lay at the feet of the _voyageurs_ awaiting de la vérendrye's command. a dozen soldiers in the plumed hats, slashed buskins, the brightly colored doublets of the period, joined the motley company. priests came out to bless the departing _voyageurs_. chapel bells rang out their god-speed. to the booming of cannon, and at a word from de la vérendrye, the gates opened. falling in line with measured tread, the soldiers marched out from mount royal. behind, in the ambling gait of the moccasined woodsman, came the _voyageurs_ and _coureurs_ and interpreters, pack-straps across their foreheads, packets on the bent backs, the long birch canoes hoisted to the shoulders of four men, two abreast at each end, heads hidden in the inverted keel. the path led between the white fret of lachine rapids and the dense forests that shrouded the base of mount royal. checkerboard squares of farm patches had been cleared in the woods. la salle's old thatch-roofed seigniory lay not far back from the water. st. anne's was the launching place for fleets of canoes that were to ascend the ottawa. here, a last look was taken of splits and seams in the birch keels. with invocations of st. anne in one breath, and invocations of a personage not mentioned in the curé's "petee cat-ee-cheesm" in the next breath, and imprecations that their "souls might be smashed on the end of a picket fence,"--the _voyageur's_ common oath even to this day,--the boatmen stored goods fore, aft, and athwart till each long canoe sank to the gunwale as it was gently pushed out on the water. a last sign of the cross, and the lithe figures leap light as a mountain cat to their place in the canoes. there are four benches of paddlers, two abreast, with bowman and steersman, to each canoe. one can guess that the explorer and his sons and his nephew, sieur de la jemmeraie, who was to be second in command, all unhatted as they heard the long last farewell of the bells. every eye is fastened on the chief bowman's steel-shod pole, held high--there is silence but for the bells--the bowman's pole is lowered--as with one stroke out sweep the paddles in a poetry of motion. the chimes die away over the water, the chapel spire gleams--it, too, is gone. some one strikes up a plaintive ditty,--the _voyageur's_ song of the lost lady and the faded roses, or the dying farewell of cadieux, the hunter, to his comrades,--and the adventurers are launched for the western sea. [illustration: fight at the foot-hills of the rockies between crows and snakes.] ii 1731-1736 every mile westward was consecrated by heroism. there was the place where cadieux, the white hunter, went ashore single-handed to hold the iroquois at bay, while his comrades escaped by running the rapids; but cadieux was assailed by a subtler foe than the iroquois, _la folie des bois_,--the folly of the woods,--that sends the hunter wandering in endless circles till he dies from hunger; and when his companions returned, cadieux lay in eternal sleep with a death chant scribbled on bark across his breast. there were the rapids of the long sault where dollard and seventeen frenchmen fought seven hundred iroquois till every white man fell. not one of all de la vérendrye's fifty followers but knew that perils as great awaited him. streaked foam told the voyageurs where they were approaching rapids. alert as a hawk, the bowman stroked for the shore; and his stroke was answered by all paddles. if the water were high enough to carry the canoes above rocks, and the rapids were not too violent, several of the boatmen leaped out to knees in water, and "tracked" the canoes up stream; but this was unusual with loaded craft. the bowman steadied the beached keel. each man landed with pack on his back, lighted his pipe, and trotted away over portages so dank and slippery that only a moccasined foot could gain hold. on long portages, camp-fires were kindled and the kettles slung on the crotched sticks for the evening meal. at night, the voyageurs slept under the overturned canoes, or lay on the sand with bare faces to the sky. morning mist had not risen till all the boats were once more breasting the flood of the ottawa. for a month the canoe prows met the current when a portage lifted the fleet out of the ottawa into a shallow stream flowing toward lake nipissing, and from lake nipissing to lake huron. the change was a welcome relief. the canoes now rode with the current; and when a wind sprang up astern, blanket sails were hoisted that let the boatmen lie back, paddles athwart. going with the stream, the _voyageurs_ would "run"--"_sauter les rapides_"--the safest of the cataracts. bowman, not steersman, was the pilot of such "runs." a faint, far swish as of night wind, little forward leaps and swirls of the current, the blur of trees on either bank, were signs to the bowman. he rose in his place. a thrust of the steel-shod pole at a rock in mid-stream--the rock raced past; a throb of the keel to the live waters below--the bowman crouches back, lightening the prow just as a rider "lifts" his horse to the leap; a sudden splash--the thing has happened--the canoe has run the rapids or shot the falls. [illustration: "each man landed with pack on his back, and trotted away over portages."] pause was made at lake huron for favorable weather; and a rear wind would carry the canoes at a bouncing pace clear across to michilimackinac, at the mouth of lake michigan. this was the chief fur post of the lakes at that time. all the boats bound east or west, sioux and cree and iroquois and fox, traders' and priests' and outlaws'--stopped at michilimackinac. vice and brandy and religion were the characteristics of the fort. [illustration: a cree indian of the minnesota borderlands.] this was familiar ground to de la vérendrye. it was at the lonely fur post of nepigon, north of michilimackinac, in the midst of a wilderness forest, that he had eaten his heart out with baffled ambition from 1728 to 1730, when he descended to montreal to lay before m. de beauharnois, the governor, plans for the discovery of the western sea. born at three rivers in 1686, where the passion for discovery and radisson's fame were in the very air and traders from the wilderness of the upper country wintered, young pierre gaultier de varennes de la vérendrye, at the ambitious age of fourteen, determined that he would become a discoverer.[2] at eighteen he was fighting in new england, at nineteen in newfoundland, at twenty-three in europe at the battle of malplaquet, where he was carried off the field with nine wounds. eager for more distinguished service, he returned to canada in his twenty-seventh year, only to find himself relegated to an obscure trading post in far northern wilds. then the boyhood ambitions reawakened. all france and canada, too, were ringing with projects for the discovery of the western sea. russia was acting. france knew it. the great priest charlevoix had been sent to canada to investigate plans for the venture, and had recommended an advance westward through the country of the sioux; but the sioux[3] swarmed round the little fort at lake pepin on the mississippi like angry wasps. that way, exploration was plainly barred. nothing came of the attempt except a brisk fur trade and a brisker warfare on the part of the sioux. at the lonely post of nepigon, vague indian tales came to de la vérendrye of "a great river flowing west" and "a vast, flat country devoid of timber" with "large herds of cattle." ochagach, an old indian, drew maps on birch bark showing rivers that emptied into the western sea. de la vérendrye's smouldering ambitions kindled. he hurried to michilimackinac. there the traders and indians told the same story. glory seemed suddenly within de la vérendrye's grasp. carried away with the passion for discovery that ruled his age, he took passage in the canoes bound for quebec. the marquis charles de beauharnois had become governor. his brother claude had taken part in the exploration of the mississippi. the governor favored the project of the western sea. perhaps russia's activity gave edge to the governor's zest; but he promised de la vérendrye the court's patronage and prestige. this was not money. france would not advance the enthusiast one sou, but granted him a monopoly of the fur trade in the countries which he might discover. the winter of 1731-1732 was spent by de la vérendrye as the guest of the governor at château st. louis, arranging with merchants to furnish goods for trade; and on may 19 the agreement was signed. by a lucky coincidence, the same winter that m. de la vérendrye had come down to quebec, there had arrived from the mississippi fort, his nephew, christopher dufrost, sieur de la jemmeraie, who had commanded the sioux post and been prisoner among the indians. so m. de la vérendrye chose jemmeraie for lieutenant. and now the explorer was back at michilimackinac, on the way to the accomplishment of the daring ambition of his life. the trip from montreal had fatigued the _voyageurs_. brandy flowed at the lake post freely as at a modern mining camp. the explorer kept military discipline over his men. they received no pay which could be squandered away on liquor. discontent grew rife. taking father messaiger, the jesuit, as chaplain, m. de la vérendrye ordered his grumbling _voyageurs_ to their canoes, and, passing through the straits of the sault, headed his fleet once more for the western sea. other explorers had preceded him on this part of the route. the jesuits had coasted the north shore of lake superior. so had radisson. in 1688 de noyon of three rivers had gone as far west as the lake of the woods towards what is now minnesota and manitoba; and in 1717 de lanoue had built a fur post at kaministiquia, near what is now fort william on lake superior. the shore was always perilous to the boatman of frail craft. the harbors were fathoms deep, and the waves thrashed by a cross wind often proved as dangerous as the high sea. it took m. de la vérendrye's canoemen a month to coast from the straits of mackinaw to kaministiquia, which they reached on the 26th of august, seventy-eight days after they had left montreal. the same distance is now traversed in two days. prospects were not encouraging. the crews were sulky. kaministiquia was the outermost post in the west. within a month, the early northern winter would set in. one hunter can scramble for his winter's food where fifty will certainly starve; and the indians could not be expected back from the chase with supplies of furs and food till spring. the canoemen had received no pay. free as woodland denizens, they chafed under military command. boats were always setting out at this season for the homeland hamlets of the st. lawrence; and perhaps other hunters told de la vérendrye's men that this western sea was a will-o'-the-wisp that would lead for leagues and leagues over strange lands, through hostile tribes, to a lonely death in the wilderness. when the explorer ordered his men once more in line to launch for the western sea, there was outright mutiny. soldiers and boatmen refused to go on. the jesuit messaiger threatened and expostulated with the men. jemmeraie, who had been among the sioux, interceded with the _voyageurs_. a compromise was effected. half the boatmen would go ahead with jemmeraie if m. de la vérendrye would remain with the other half at lake superior as a rear guard for retreat and the supply of provisions. so the explorer suffered his first check in the advance to the western sea. iii 1732-1736 equipping four canoes, lieutenant de la jemmeraie and young jean ba'tiste de la vérendrye set out with thirty men from kaministiquia, _portaged_ through dense forests over moss and dank rock past the high cataract of the falls, and launched westward to prepare a fort for the reception of their leader in spring. before winter had closed navigation, fort st. pierre--named in honor of the explorer--had been erected on the left bank or minnesota side of rainy lake, and the two young men not only succeeded in holding their mutinous followers, but drove a thriving trade in furs with the crees. perhaps the furs were obtained at too great cost, for ammunition and firearms were the price paid, but the same mistake has been made at a later day for a lesser object than the discovery of the western sea. the spring of 1732 saw the young men back at lake superior, going post-haste to michilimackinac to exchange furs for the goods from montreal. on the 8th of june, exactly a year from the day that he had left montreal, m. de la vérendrye pushed forward with all his people for fort st. pierre. five weeks later he was welcomed inside the stockades. uniformed soldiers were a wonder to the awe-struck crees, who hung round the gateway with hands over their hushed lips. gifts of ammunition won the loyalty of the chiefs. not to be lacking in generosity, the indians collected fifty of their gaudiest canoes and offered to escort the explorer west to the lake of the woods. de la vérendrye could not miss such an offer. though his _voyageurs_ were fatigued, he set out at once. he had reached fort st. pierre on july 14. in august his entire fleet glided over the lake of the woods. the threescore canoes manned by the cree boatmen threaded the shadowy defiles and labyrinthine channels of the lake of the woods--or lake of the isles--coasting island after island along the south or minnesota shore westward to the opening of the river at the northwest angle. this was the border of the sioux territory. before the boatmen opened the channel of an unknown river. around them were sheltered harbors, good hunting, and good fishing. the crees favored this region for winter camping ground because they could hide their families from the sioux on the sheltered islands of the wooded lake. night frosts had painted the forests red. the flacker of wild-fowl overhead, the skim of ice forming on the lake, the poignant sting of the north wind--all fore-warned winter's approach. jean de la vérendrye had not come up with the supplies from michilimackinac. the explorer did not tempt mutiny by going farther. he ordered a halt and began building a fort that was to be the centre of operations between montreal and the unfound western sea. the fort was named st. charles in honor of beauharnois. it was defended by four rows of thick palisades fifteen feet high. in the middle of the enclosure stood the living quarters, log cabins with thatched roofs. [illustration: a group of cree indians.] by october the indians had scattered to their hunting-grounds like leaves to the wind. the ice thickened. by november the islands were ice-locked and snow had drifted waist-high through the forests. the _voyageurs_ could still fish through ice holes for food; but where was young jean who was to bring up provisions from michilimackinac? the commander did not voice his fears; and his men were too deep in the wilds for desertion. one afternoon, a shout sounded from the silent woods, and out from the white-edged evergreens stepped a figure on snowshoes--jean de la vérendrye, leading his boatmen, with the provisions packed on their backs, from a point fifty miles away where the ice had caught the canoes. if the supplies had not come, the explorer could neither have advanced nor retreated in spring. it was a risk that de la vérendrye did not intend to have repeated. suspecting that his merchant partners were dissatisfied, he sent jemmeraie down to montreal in 1733 to report and urge the necessity for prompt forwarding of all supplies. with jemmeraie went the jesuit messaiger; but their combined explanations failed to satisfy the merchants of montreal. de la vérendrye had now been away three years. true, he had constructed two fur posts and sent east two cargoes of furs. his partners were looking for enormous wealth. disappointed and caring nothing for the western sea; perhaps, too, secretly accusing de la vérendrye of making profits privately, as many a gentleman of fortune did,--the merchants decided to advance provisions only in proportion to earnings. what would become of the fifty men in the northern wilderness the partners neither asked nor cared. young jean had meanwhile pushed on and built fort maurepas on lake winnipeg; but his father dared not leave fort st. charles without supplies. de la vérendrye's position was now desperate. he was hopelessly in debt to his men for wages. that did not help discipline. his partners were not only withholding supplies, but charging up a high rate of interest on the first equipment. to turn back meant ruin. to go forward he was powerless. leaving jemmeraie in command, and permitting his eager son to go ahead with a few picked men to fort maurepas on lake winnipeg, de la vérendrye took a small canoe and descended with all swiftness to quebec. the winter of 1634-1635 was spent with the governor; and the partners were convinced that they must either go on with the venture or lose all. they consented to continue supplying goods, but also charging all outlay against the explorer. father aulneau went back with de la vérendrye as chaplain. the trip was made at terrible speed, in the hottest season, through stifling forest fires. behind, at slower pace, came the provisions. de la vérendrye reached the lake of the woods in september. fearing the delay of the goods for trade, and dreading the danger of famine with so many men in one place, de la vérendrye despatched jemmeraie to winter with part of the forces at lake winnipeg, where jean and pierre, the second son, had built fort maurepas. the worst fears were realized. ice had blocked the northern rivers by the time the supplies had come to lake superior. fishing failed. the hunt was poor. during the winter of 1736 food became scantier at the little forts of st. pierre, st. charles, and maurepas. rations were reduced from three times to once and twice a day. by spring de la vérendrye was put to all the extremities of famine-stricken traders, his men subsisting on parchment, moccasin leather, roots, and their hunting dogs. he was compelled to wait at st. charles for the delayed supplies. while he waited came blow upon blow: jean and pierre arrived from fort maurepas with news that jemmeraie had died three weeks before on his way down to aid de la vérendrye. wrapped in a hunter's robe, his body was buried in the sand-bank of a little northern stream, la fourche des roseaux. over the lonely grave the two brothers had erected a cross. father and sons took stock of supplies. they had not enough powder to last another month, and already the indians were coming in with furs and food to be traded for ammunition. if the crees had known the weakness of the white men, short work might have been made of fort st. charles. it never entered the minds of de la vérendrye and his sons to give up. they decided to rush three canoes of twenty _voyageurs_ to michilimackinac for food and powder. father aulneau, the young priest, accompanied the boatmen to attend a religious retreat at michilimackinac. it had been a hard year for the youthful missionary. the ship that brought him from france had been plague-stricken. the trip to fort st. charles had been arduous and swift, through stifling heat; and the year passed in the north was one of famine. accompanied by the priest and led by jean de la vérendrye, now in his twenty-third year, the _voyageurs_ embarked hurriedly on the 8th of june, 1736, five years to a day from the time that they left montreal--and a fateful day it was--in the search for the western sea. the crees had always been friendly; and when the boatmen landed on a sheltered island twenty miles from fort st. charles to camp for the night, no sentry was stationed. the lake lay calm as glass in the hot june night, the camp-fire casting long lines across the water that could be seen for miles. an early start was to be made in the morning and a furious pace to be kept all the way to lake superior, and the _voyageurs_ were presently sound asleep on the sand. the keenest ears could scarcely have distinguished the soft lapping of muffled paddles; and no one heard the moccasined tread of ambushed indians reconnoitring. seventeen sioux stepped from their canoes, stole from cover to cover, and looked out on the unsuspecting sleepers. then the indians as noiselessly slipped back to their canoes to carry word of the discovery to a band of marauders. [illustration: "the soldiers marched out from mount royal."] something had occurred at fort st. charles without m. de la vérendrye's knowledge. hilarious with their new possessions of firearms, and perhaps, also, mad with the brandy of which father aulneau had complained, a few mischievous crees had fired from the fort on wandering sioux of the prairie. "who--fire--on--us?" demanded the outraged sioux. "the french," laughed the crees. the sioux at once went back to a band of one hundred and thirty warriors. "tigers of the plains" the sioux were called, and now the tigers' blood was up. they set out to slay the first white man seen. by chance, he was one bourassa, coasting by himself. taking him captive, they had tied him to burn him, when a slave squaw rushed out, crying: "what would you do? this frenchman is a friend of the sioux! he saved my life! if you desire to be avenged, go farther on! you will find a camp of frenchmen, among whom is the son of the white chief!" the _voyageur_ was at once unbound, and scouts scattered to find the white men. night had passed before the scouts had carried news of jean de la vérendrye's men to the marauding warriors. the ghostly gray of dawn saw the _voyageurs_ paddling swiftly through the morning mist from island to island of the lake of the woods. cleaving the mist behind, following solely by the double foam wreaths rippling from the canoe prows, came the silent boats of the sioux. when sunrise lifted the fog, the pursuers paused like stealthy cats. at sunrise jean de la vérendrye landed his crews for breakfast. camp-fires told the indians where to follow. a few days later bands of sautaux came to the camping ground of the french. the heads of the white men lay on a beaver skin. all had been scalped. the missionary, aulneau, was on his knees, as if in morning prayers. an arrow projected from his head. his left hand was on the earth, fallen forward, his right hand uplifted, invoking divine aid. young vérendrye lay face down, his back hacked to pieces, a spear sunk in his waist, the headless body mockingly decorated with porcupine quills. so died one of the bravest of the young nobility in new france. the sautaux erected a cairn of stones over the bodies of the dead. all that was known of the massacre was vague indian gossip. the sioux reported that they had not intended to murder the priest, but a crazy-brained fanatic had shot the fatal arrow and broken from restraint, weapon in hand. rain-storms had washed out all marks of the fray. in september the bodies of the victims were carried to fort st. charles, and interred in the chapel. eight hundred crees besought m. de la vérendrye to let them avenge the murder; but the veteran of malplaquet exhorted them not to war. meanwhile, fort st. charles awaited the coming of supplies from lake superior. iv 1736-1740 a week passed, and on the 17th of june the canoe loads of ammunition and supplies for which the murdered _voyageurs_ had been sent arrived at fort st. charles. in june the indian hunters came in with the winter's hunt; and on the 20th thirty sautaux hurried to fort st. charles, to report that they had found the mangled bodies of the massacred frenchmen on an island seven leagues from the fort. again la vérendrye had to choose whether to abandon his cherished dreams, or follow them at the risk of ruin and death. as before, when his men had mutinied, he determined to advance. jean, the eldest son, was dead. pierre and françois were with their father. louis, the youngest, now seventeen years of age, had come up with the supplies. pierre at once went to lake winnipeg, to prepare fort maurepas for the reception of all the forces. winter set in. snow lay twelve feet deep in the forests now known as the minnesota borderlands. on february 8, 1737, in the face of a biting north wind, with the thermometer at forty degrees below zero, m. de la vérendrye left fort st. charles, françois carrying the french flag, with ten soldiers, wearing snow-shoes, in line behind, and two or three hundred crees swathed in furs bringing up a ragged rear. the bright uniforms of the soldiers were patches of red among the snowy everglades. bivouac was made on beds of pine boughs,--feet to the camp-fire, the night frost snapping like a whiplash, the stars flashing with a steely clearness known only in northern climes. the march was at a swift pace, for three weeks by canoe is short enough time to traverse the minnesota and manitoba borderlands northwest to lake winnipeg; and in seventeen days m. de la vérendrye was at fort maurepas. fort maurepas (in the region of the modern alexander) lay on a tongue of sand extending into the lake a few miles beyond the entrance of red river. tamarack and poplar fringe the shore; and in windy weather the lake is lashed into a roughness that resembles the flux of ocean tides. i remember once going on a steamer towards the site of maurepas. the ship drew lightest of draft. while we were anchored the breeze fell, and the ship was stranded as if by ebb tide for twenty-four hours. the action of the wind explained the indian tales of an ocean tide, which had misled la vérendrye into expecting to find the western sea at this point. he found a magnificent body of fresh water, but not the ocean. the fort was the usual pioneer fur post--a barracks of unbarked logs, chinked up with frozen clay and moss, roofed with branches and snow, occupying the centre of a courtyard, palisaded by slabs of pine logs. m. de la vérendrye was now in the true realm of the explorer--in territory where no other white man had trod. with a shout his motley forces emerged from the snowy tamaracks, and with a shout from pierre de la vérendrye and his tawny followers the explorer was welcomed through the gateway of little fort maurepas. [illustration: traders' boats running the rapids of the athabasca river.] pierre de la vérendrye had heard of a region to the south much frequented by the assiniboine indians, who had conducted radisson to the sea of the north fifty years before--the forks where the assiniboine river joins the red, and the city of winnipeg stands to-day. it was reported that game was plentiful here. two hundred tepees of assiniboines were awaiting the explorer. his forces were worn with their marching, but in a few weeks the glaze of ice above the fathomless drifts of snow would be too rotten for travel, and not until june would the riverways be clear for canoes. but such a scant supply of goods had his partners sent up that poor de la vérendrye had nothing to trade with the waiting assiniboines. sending his sons forward to reconnoitre the forks of the assiniboine,--the modern winnipeg,--he set out for montreal as soon as navigation opened, taking with him fourteen great canoes of precious furs. the fourteen canoe loads proved his salvation. as long as there were furs and prospects of furs, his partners would back the enterprise of finding the western sea. the winter of 1738 was spent as the guest of the governor at château st. louis. the partners were satisfied, and plucked up hope of their venture. they would advance provisions in proportion to earnings. by september he was back at fort maurepas on lake winnipeg, pushing for the undiscovered bourne of the western sea. leaving orders for trade with the chief clerk at maurepas, de la vérendrye picked out his most intrepid men; and in september of 1738, for the first time in history, white men glided up the ochre-colored, muddy current of the red for the forks of the assiniboine. ten cree wigwams and two war chiefs awaited de la vérendrye on the low flats of what are now known as south winnipeg. not the fabled western sea, but an illimitable ocean of rolling prairie--the long russet grass rising and falling to the wind like waves to the run of invisible feet--stretched out before the eager eyes of the explorer. northward lay the autumn-tinged brushwood of red river. south, shimmering in the purple mists of indian summer, was red river valley. westward the sun hung like a red shield, close to the horizon, over vast reaches of prairie billowing to the sky-line in the tide of a boundless ocean. such was the discovery of the canadian northwest. doubtless the weary gaze of the tired _voyageurs_ turned longingly westward. where was the western sea? did it lie just beyond the horizon where skyline and prairie met, or did the trail of their quest run on--on--on--endlessly? the assiniboine flows into the red, the red into lake winnipeg, the lake into hudson bay. plainly, assiniboine valley was not the way to the western sea. but what lay just beyond this assiniboine valley? an old cree chief warned the boatmen that the assiniboine river was very low and would wreck the canoes; but he also told vague yarns of "great waters beyond the mountains of the setting sun," where white men dwelt, and the waves came in a tide, and the waters were salt. the western sea where the spaniards dwelt had long been known. it was a western sea to the north, that would connect louisiana and canada, that de la vérendrye sought. the indian fables, without doubt, referred to a sea beyond the assiniboine river, and thither would de la vérendrye go at any cost. some sort of barracks or shelter was knocked up on the south side of the assiniboine opposite the flats. it was subsequently known as fort rouge, after the color of the adjacent river, and was the foundation of winnipeg. leaving men to trade at fort rouge, de la vérendrye set out on september 26, 1738, for the height of land that must lie beyond the sources of the assiniboine. de la vérendrye was now like a man hounded by his own frankenstein. a thousand leagues--every one marked by disaster and failure and sinking hopes--lay behind him. a thousand leagues of wilderness lay before him. he had only a handful of men. the assiniboine indians were of dubious friendliness. the white men were scarce of food. in a few weeks they would be exposed to the terrible rigors of northern winter. yet they set their faces toward the west, types of the pioneers who have carved empire out of wilderness. [illustration: the ragged sky-line of the mountains.] the assiniboine was winding and low, with many sand bars. on the wooded banks deer and buffalo grazed in such countless multitudes that the boatmen took them for great herds of cattle. flocks of wild geese darkened the sky overhead. as the boats wound up the shallows of the river, ducks rose in myriad flocks. prairie wolves skulked away from the river bank, and the sand-hill cranes were so unused to human presence that they scarcely rose as the voyageurs poled past. while the boatmen poled, the soldiers marched in military order across country, so avoiding the bends of the river. daily, crees and assiniboines of the plains joined the white men. a week after leaving the forks or fort rouge, de la vérendrye came to the portage of the prairie, leading north to lake manitoba and from the lake to hudson bay. clearly, northward was not the way to the western sea; but the assiniboines told of a people to the southwest--the mandans--who knew a people who lived on the western sea. as soon as his baggage came up, de la vérendrye ordered the construction of a fort--called de la reine--on the banks of the assiniboine. this was to be the forwarding post for the western sea. to the mandans living on the missouri, who knew a people living on salt water, de la vérendrye now directed his course. [illustration: hungry hall, 1870; near the site of the vérendrye fort in rainy river region.] on the morning of october 18 drums beat to arms. additional men had come up from the other forts. fifty-two soldiers and _voyageurs_ now stood in line. arms were inspected. to each man were given powder, balls, axe, and kettle. pierre and françois de la vérendrye hoisted the french flag. for the first time a bugle call sounded over the prairie. at the word, out stepped the little band of white men, marking time for the western sea. the course lay west-southwest, up the souris river, through wooded ravines now stripped of foliage, past alkali sloughs ice-edged by frost, over rolling cliffs russet and bare, where gopher and badger and owl and roving buffalo were the only signs of life. on the 21st of october two hundred assiniboine warriors joined the marching white men. in the sheltered ravines buffalo grazed by the hundreds of thousands, and the march was delayed by frequent buffalo hunts to gather pemmican--pounded marrow and fat of the buffalo--which was much esteemed by the mandans. within a month so many assiniboines had joined the french that the company numbered more than six hundred warriors, who were ample protection against the sioux; and the sioux were the deadly terror of all tribes of the plains. but m. de la vérendrye was expected to present ammunition to his assiniboine friends. four outrunners went speeding to the missouri to notify the mandans of the advancing warriors. the _coureurs_ carried presents of pemmican. to prevent surprise, the assiniboines marched under the sheltered slopes of the hills and observed military order. in front rode the warriors, dressed in garnished buckskin and armed with spears and arrows. behind, on foot, came the old and the lame. to the rear was another guard of warriors. lagging in ragged lines far back came a ragamuffin brigade, the women, children, and dogs--squaws astride cayuses lean as barrel hoops, children in moss bags on their mothers' backs, and horses and dogs alike harnessed with the _travaille_--two sticks tied into a triangle, with the shafts fastened to a cinch on horse or dog. the joined end of the shafts dragged on the ground, and between them hung the baggage, surmounted by papoose, or pet owl, or the half-tamed pup of a prairie-wolf, or even a wild-eyed young squaw with hair flying to the wind. at night camp was made in a circle formed of the hobbled horses. outside, the dogs scoured in pursuit of coyotes. the women and children took refuge in the centre, and the warriors slept near their picketed horses. by the middle of november the motley cavalcade had crossed the height of land between the assiniboine river and the missouri, and was heading for the mandan villages. mandan _coureurs_ came out to welcome the visitors, pompously presenting de la vérendrye with corn in the ear and tobacco. at this stage, the explorer discovered that his bag of presents for his hosts had been stolen by the assiniboines; but he presented the mandans with what ammunition he could spare, and gave them plenty of pemmican which his hunters had cured. the two tribes drove a brisk trade in furs, which the northern indians offered, and painted plumes, which the mandans displayed to the envy of assiniboine warriors. on the 3d of december, de la vérendrye's sons stepped before the ragged host of six hundred savages with the french flag hoisted. the explorer himself was lifted to the shoulders of the mandan _coureurs_. a gun was fired and the strange procession set out for the mandan villages. in this fashion white men first took possession of the upper missouri. some miles from the lodges a band of old chiefs met de la vérendrye and gravely handed him a grand calumet of pipestone ornamented with eagle feathers. this typified peace. de la vérendrye ordered his fifty french followers to draw up in line. the sons placed the french flag four paces to the fore. the assiniboine warriors took possession in stately indian silence to the right and left of the whites. at a signal three thundering volleys of musketry were fired. the mandans fell back, prostrated with fear and wonder. the command "forward" was given, and the mandan village was entered in state at four in the afternoon of december 3, 1738. the village was in much the same condition as a hundred years later when visited by prince maximilian and by the artist catlin. it consisted of circular huts, with thatched roofs, on which perched the gaping women and children. around the village of huts ran a moat or ditch, which was guarded in time of war with the sioux. flags flew from the centre poles of each hut; but the flags were the scalps of enemies slain. in the centre of the village was a larger hut. this was the "medicine lodge," or council hall, of the chiefs, used only for ceremonies of religion and war and treaties of peace. thither de la vérendrye was conducted. here the mandan chiefs sat on buffalo robes in a circle round the fire, smoking the calumet, which was handed to the white man. the explorer then told the indians of his search for the western sea. of a western sea they could tell him nothing definite. they knew a people far west who grew corn and tobacco and who lived on the shores of water that was bitter for drinking. the people were white. they dressed in armor and lived in houses of stone. their country was full of mountains. more of the western sea, de la vérendrye could not learn. meanwhile, six hundred assiniboine visitors were a tax on the hospitality of the mandans, who at once spread a rumor of a sioux raid. this gave speed to the assiniboines' departure. among the assiniboines who ran off in precipitate fright was de la vérendrye's interpreter. it was useless to wait longer. the french were short of provisions, and the missouri indians could not be expected to support fifty white men. though it was the bitter cold of midwinter, de la vérendrye departed for fort de la reine. two frenchmen were left to learn the missouri dialects. a french flag in a leaden box with the arms of france inscribed was presented to the mandan chief; and de la vérendrye marched from the village on the 8th of december. scarcely had he left, when he fell terribly ill; but for the pathfinder of the wilderness there is neither halt nor retreat. m. de la vérendrye's ragged army tramped wearily on, half blinded by snow glare and buffeted by prairie blizzards, huddling in snowdrifts from the wind at night and uncertain of their compass over the white wastes by day. there is nothing so deadly silent and utterly destitute of life as the prairie in midwinter. moose and buffalo had sought the shelter of wooded ravines. here a fox track ran over the snow. there a coyote skulked from cover, to lope away the next instant for brushwood or hollow, and snow-buntings or whiskey-jacks might have followed the marchers for pickings of waste; but east, west, north, and south was nothing but the wide, white wastes of drifted snow. on christmas eve of 1738 low curling smoke above the prairie told the wanderers that they were nearing the indian camps of the assiniboines; and by nightfall of february 10, 1739, they were under the shelter of fort de la reine. "i have never been so wretched from illness and fatigue in all my life as on that journey," reported de la vérendrye. as usual, provisions were scarce at the fort. fifty people had to be fed. buffalo and deer meat saved the french from starvation till spring. [illustration: a monarch of the plains.] all that de la vérendrye had accomplished on this trip was to learn that salt water existed west-southwest. anxious to know more of the northwest, he sent his sons to the banks of a great northern river. this was the saskatchewan. in their search of the northwest, they constructed two more trading posts, fort dauphin near lake manitoba, and bourbon on the saskatchewan. winter quarters were built at the forks of the river, which afterwards became the site of fort poskoyac. this spring not a canoe load of food came up from montreal. papers had been served for the seizure of all de la vérendrye's forts, goods, property, and chattels to meet the claims of his creditors. desperate, but not deterred from his quest, de la vérendrye set out to contest the lawsuits in montreal. v 1740-1750 which way to turn now for the western sea that eluded their quest like a will-o'-the-wisp was the question confronting pierre, françois, and louis de la vérendrye during the explorer's absence in montreal. they had followed the great saskatchewan westward to its forks. no river was found in this region flowing in the direction of the western sea. they had been in the country of the missouri; but neither did any river there flow to a western sea. yet the mandans told of salt water far to the west. thither they would turn the baffling search. the two men left among the mandans to learn the language had returned to the assiniboine river with more news of tribes from "the setting sun" who dwelt on salt water. pierre de la vérendrye went down to the missouri with the two interpreters; but the mandans refused to supply guides that year, and the young frenchman came back to winter on the assiniboine. here he made every preparation for another attempt to find the western sea by way of the missouri. on april 29, 1742, the two brothers, pierre and françois, left the assiniboine with the two interpreters. their course led along the trail that for two hundred years was to be a famous highway between the missouri and hudson bay. heading southwest, they followed the souris river to the watershed of the missouri, and in three weeks were once more the guests of the smoky mandan lodges. round the inside walls of each circular hut ran berth beds of buffalo skin with trophies of the chase,--hide-shields and weapons of war, fastened to the posts that separated berth from berth. a common fire, with a family meat pot hanging above, occupied the centre of the lodge. in one of these lodges the two brothers and their men were quartered. the summer passed feasting with the mandans and smoking the calumet of peace; but all was in vain. the missouri indians were arrant cowards in the matter of war. the terror of their existence was the sioux. the mandans would not venture through sioux territory to accompany the brothers in the search for the western sea. at last two guides were obtained, who promised to conduct the french to a neighboring tribe that might know of the western sea. [illustration: fur traders' boats towed down the saskatchewan in the summer of 1900.] the party set out on horseback, travelling swiftly southwest and along the valley of the little missouri toward the black hills. here their course turned sharply west toward the powder river country, past the southern bounds of the yellowstone. for three weeks they saw no sign of human existence. deer and antelope bounded over the parched alkali uplands. prairie dogs perched on top of their earth mounds, to watch the lonely riders pass; and all night the far howl of grayish forms on the offing of the starlit prairie told of prowling coyotes. on the 11th of august the brothers camped on the powder hills. mounting to the crest of a cliff, they scanned far and wide for signs of the indians whom the mandans knew. the valleys were desolate. kindling a signal-fire to attract any tribes that might be roaming, they built a hut and waited. a month passed. there was no answering signal. one of the mandan guides took himself off in fright. on the fifth week a thin line of smoke rose against the distant sky. the remaining mandans went to reconnoitre and found a camp of beaux hommes, or crows, who received the french well. obtaining fresh guides from the crows and dismissing the mandans, the brothers again headed westward. the crows guided them to the horse indians, who in turn took the french to their next western neighbors, the bows. the bows were preparing to war on the snakes, a mountain tribe to the west. tepees dotted the valley. women were pounding the buffalo meat into pemmican for the raiders. the young braves spent the night with war-song and war-dance, to work themselves into a frenzy of bravado. the bows were to march west; so the french joined the warriors, gradually turning northwest toward what is now helena. it was winter. the hills were powdered with snow that obliterated all traces of the fleeing snakes. the way became more mountainous and dangerous. iced sloughs gave place to swift torrents and cataracts. on new year's day, 1743, there rose through the gray haze to the fore the ragged sky-line of the bighorn mountains. women and children were now left in a sheltered valley, the warriors advancing unimpeded. françois de la vérendrye remained at the camp to guard the baggage. pierre went on with the raiders. in two weeks they were at the foot of the main range of the northern rockies. against the sky the snowy heights rose--an impassable barrier between the plains and the western sea. what lay beyond--the beyond that had been luring them on and on, from river to river and land to land, for more than ten years? surely on the other side of those lofty summits one might look down on the long-sought western sea. never suspecting that another thousand miles of wilderness and mountain fastness lay between him and his quest, young de la vérendrye wanted to cross the great divide. destiny decreed otherwise. the raid of the bows against the snakes ended in a fiasco. no snakes were to be found at their usual winter hunt. had they decamped to massacre the bow women and children left in the valley to the rear? the bows fled back to their wives in a panic; so de la vérendrye could not climb the mountains that barred the way to the sea. the retreat was made in the teeth of a howling mountain blizzard, and the warriors reached the rendezvous more dead than alive. no snake indians were seen at all. the bows marched homeward along the valley of the upper missouri through the country of the sioux, with whom they were allied. on the banks of the river the brothers buried a leaden plate with the royal arms of france imprinted. at the end of july, 1743, they were once more back on the assiniboine river. for thirteen years they had followed a hopeless quest. instead of a western sea, they had found a sea of prairie, a sea of mountains, and two great rivers, the saskatchewan and the missouri. vi 1743-1750 but the explorer, who had done so much to extend french domain in the west, was a ruined man. to the accusations of his creditors were added the jealous calumnies of fur traders eager to exploit the new country. the eldest son, with tireless energy, had gone up the saskatchewan to fort poskoyac when he was recalled to take a position in the army at montreal. in 1746 de la vérendrye himself was summoned to quebec and his command given to m. de noyelles. the game being played by jealous rivals was plain. de la vérendrye was to be kept out of the west while tools of the quebec traders spied out the fur trade of the assiniboine and the missouri. immediately on receiving freedom from military duty, young chevalier de la vérendrye set out for manitoba. on the way he met his father's successor, m. de noyelles, coming home crestfallen. the supplanter had failed to control the indians. in one year half the forts of the chain leading to the western sea had been destroyed. these chevalier de la vérendrye restored as he passed westward. governor beauharnois had always refused to believe the charges of private peculation against m. de la vérendrye. governor de la galissonnière was equally favorable to the explorer; and de la vérendrye was decorated with the order of the cross of st. louis, and given permission to continue his explorations. the winter of 1749 was passed preparing supplies for the posts of the west; but a life of hardship and disappointment had undermined the constitution of the dauntless pathfinder. on the 6th of december, while busy with plans for his hazardous and thankless quest, he died suddenly at montreal. rival fur traders scrambled for the spoils of the manitoba and missouri territory like dogs for a bone. de la jonquière had become governor. allied with him was the infamous bigot, the intendant, and those two saw in the western fur trade an opportunity to enrich themselves. the rights of de la vérendrye's sons to succeed their father were entirely disregarded. legardeur de saint-pierre was appointed commander of the western sea. the very goods forwarded by de la vérendrye were confiscated. [illustration: "tepees dotted the valley."] but saint-pierre had enough trouble from his appointment. his lieutenant, m. de niverville, almost lost his life among hostiles on the way down the saskatchewan after building fort lajonquière at the foothills of the rockies, where calgary now stands. saint-pierre had headquarters in manitoba on the assiniboine, and one afternoon in midwinter, when his men were out hunting, he saw his fort suddenly fill with armed assiniboines bent on massacre. they jostled him aside, broke into the armory, and helped themselves to weapons. saint-pierre had only one recourse. seizing a firebrand, he tore the cover off a keg of powder and threatened to blow the indians to perdition. the marauders dashed from the fort, and saint-pierre shot the bolts of gate and sally-port. when the white hunters returned, they quickly gathered their possessions together and abandoned fort de la reine. four days later the fort lay in ashes. so ended the dream of enthusiasts to find a way overland to the western sea. [1] the authorities for la vérendrye's life are, of course, his own reports as found in the state papers of the canadian archives, pierre margry's compilation of these reports, and the rev. father jones' collection of the _aulneau letters_. [2] the _pays d'en haut_ or "up-country" was the vague name given by the fur traders to the region between the missouri and the north pole. [3] throughout this volume the word "sioux" is used as applying to the entire confederacy, and not to the minnesota sioux only. part iii 1769-1782 search for the northwest passage leads samuel hearne to the arctic circle and athabasca region chapter ix 1769-1782 samuel hearne the adventures of hearne in his search for the coppermine river and the northwest passage--hilarious life of wassail led by governor norton--the massacre of the eskimo by hearne's indians north of the arctic circle--discovery of the athabasca country--hearne becomes resident governor of the hudson's bay company, but is captured by the french--frightful death of norton and suicide of matonabbee for a hundred years after receiving its charter to exploit the furs of the north, the hudson's bay company slumbered on the edge of a frozen sea. its fur posts were scattered round the desolate shores of the northern bay like beads on a string; but the languid company never attempted to penetrate the unknown lands beyond the coast. it was unnecessary. the indians came to the company. the company did not need to go to the indians. just as surely as spring cleared the rivers of ice and set the unlocked torrents rushing to the sea, there floated down-stream indian dugout and birch canoe, loaded with wealth of peltries for the fur posts of the english company. so the english sat snugly secure inside their stockades, lords of the wilderness, and drove a thriving trade with folded hands. for a penny knife, they bought a beaver skin; and the skin sold in europe for two or three shillings. the trade of the old company was not brisk; but it paid. [illustration: an eskimo belle. note the apron of ermine and sable]. it was the prod of keen french traders that stirred the slumbering giant. in his search for the western sea, de la vérendrye had pushed west by way of the great lakes to the missouri and the rocky mountains and the saskatchewan. henceforth, not so many furs came down-stream to the english company on the bay. de la vérendrye had been followed by hosts of free-lances--_coureurs_ and _voyageurs_--who spread through the wilderness from the missouri to the athabasca, intercepting the fleets of furs that formerly went to hudson bay. the english company rubbed its eyes; and rivals at home began to ask what had been done in return for the charter. france had never ceased seeking the mythical western sea that was supposed to lie just beyond the mississippi; and when french buccaneers destroyed the english company's forts on the bay, the english ambassador at paris exacted such an enormous bill of damages that the hudson bay traders were enabled to build a stronger fortress up at prince of wales on the mouth of churchill river than the french themselves possessed at quebec on the st. lawrence. what--asked the rivals of the company in london--had been done in return for such national protection? france had discovered and explored a whole new world north of the missouri. what had the english done? where did the western sea of which spain had possession in the south lie towards the north? what lay between the hudson bay and that western sea? was there a northwest passage by water through this region to asia? if not, was there an undiscovered world in the north, like louisiana in the south? there was talk of revoking the charter. then the company awakened from its long sleep with a mighty stir. the annual boats that came out to hudson bay in the summer of 1769 anchored on the offing, six miles from the gray walls of fort prince of wales, and roared out a salute of cannon becoming the importance of ships that bore almost revolutionary commissions. the fort cannon on the walls of churchill river thundered their answer. a pinnace came scudding over the waves from the ships. a gig boat launched out from the fort to welcome the messengers. where the two met halfway, packets of letters were handed to moses norton, governor at fort prince of wales, commanding him to despatch his most intrepid explorers for the discovery of unknown rivers, strange lands, rumored copper mines, and the mythical northwest passage that was supposed to lead directly to china. the fort lay on a spit of sand running out into the bay at the mouth of churchill river. it was three hundred yards long by three hundred yards wide, with four bastions, in three of which were stores and wells of water. the fourth bastion contained the powder-magazine. the walls were thirty feet wide at the bottom and twenty feet wide at the top, of hammer-dressed stone, mounted with forty great cannon. a commodious stone house, furnished with all the luxuries of the chase, stood in the centre of the courtyard. this was the residence of the governor. offices, warehouses, barracks, and hunters' lodges were banked round the inner walls of the fort. the garrison consisted of thirty-nine common soldiers and a few officers. in addition, there hung about the fort the usual habitués of a northern fur post,--young clerks from england, who had come out for a year's experience in the wilds; underpaid artisans, striving to mend their fortunes by illicit trade; hunters and _coureurs_ and _voyageurs_, living like indians but with a strain of white blood that forever distinguished them from their comrades; stately indian sachems, stalking about the fort with whiffs of contempt from their long calumets for all this white-man luxury; and a ragamuffin brigade,--squaws, youngsters, and beggars,--who subsisted by picking up food from the waste heap of the fort. the commission to despatch explorers to the inland country proved the sensation of a century at the fort. round the long mess-room table gathered officers and traders, intent on the birch-bark maps drawn by old indian chiefs of an unknown interior, where a "far-off-metal river" flowed down to the northwest passage. huge log fires blazed on the stone hearths at each end of the mess room. smoky lanterns and pine fagots, dipped in tallow and stuck in iron clamps, shed a fitful light from rafters that girded ceiling and walls. on the floor of flagstones lay enormous skins of the chase--polar bear, arctic wolf, and grizzly. heads of musk-ox, caribou, and deer decorated the great timber girders. draped across the walls were company flags--an english ensign with the letters "h. b. c." painted in white on a red background, or in red on a white background. at the head of the table sat one of the most remarkable scoundrels known in the annals of the company, moses norton, governor of fort prince of wales, a full-blooded indian, who had been sent to england for nine years to be educated and had returned to the fort to resume all the vices and none of the virtues of white man and red. clean-skinned, copper-colored, lithe and wiry as a tiger cat, with the long, lank, oily black hair of his race, norton bore himself with all the airs of a european princelet and dressed himself in the beaded buckskins of a savage. before him the indians cringed as before one of their demon gods, and on the same principle. bad gods could do the indians harm. good gods wouldn't. therefore, the indians propitiated the bad gods; and of all indian demons norton was the worst. the black arts of mediaeval poisoning were known to him, and he never scrupled to use them against an enemy. the indians thought him possessed of the power of the evil eye; but his power was that of arsenic or laudanum dropped in the food of an unsuspecting enemy. two of his wives, with all of whom he was inordinately jealous, had died of poison. against white men who might offend him he used more open means,--the triangle, the whipping post, the branding iron. needless to say that a man who wielded such power swelled the company's profits and stood high in favor with the directors. at his right hand lay an enormous bunch of keys. these he carried with him by day and kept under his pillow by night. they were the keys to the apartments of his many wives, for like all indians norton believed in a plurality of wives, and the life of no indian was safe who refused to contribute a daughter to the harem. the two master passions of the governor were jealousy and tyranny; and while he lived like a turkish despot himself, he ruled his fort with a rod of iron and left the brand of his wrath on the person of soldier or officer who offered indignity to the indian race. it was a common thing for norton to poison an indian who refused to permit a daughter to join the collection of wives; then to flog the back off a soldier who casually spoke to one of the wives in the courtyard; and in the evening spend the entire supper hour preaching sermons on virtue to his men. by a curious freak, marie, his daughter, now a child of nine, inherited from her father the gentle qualities of the english life in which he had passed his youth. she shunned the native women and was often to be seen hanging on her father's arm, as officers and governor smoked their pipes over the mess-room table. near norton sat another famous indian, matonabbee, the son of a slave woman at the fort, who had grown up to become a great ambassador to the native tribes for the english traders. measuring more than six feet, straight as a lance, supple as a wrestler, thin, wiry, alert, restless with the instinct of the wild creatures, matonabbee was now in the prime of his manhood, chief of the chipewyans at the fort, and master of life and death to all in his tribe. it was matonabbee whom the english traders sent up the saskatchewan to invite the tribes of the athabasca down to the bay. the athabascans listened to the message of peace with a treacherous smile. at midnight assassins stole to his tent, overpowered his slave, and dragged the captive out. leaping to his feet, matonabbee shouted defiance, hurled his assailants aside like so many straws, pursued the raiders to their tents, single-handed released his slave, and marched out unscathed. that was the way matonabbee had won the athabascans for the hudson's bay company. officers of the garrison, bluff sea-captains, spinning yarns of iceberg and floe, soldiers and traders, made up the rest of the company. among the white men was one eager face,--that of samuel hearne, who was to explore the interior and now scanned the birch-bark drawings to learn the way to the "far-off-metal river." [illustration: samuel hearne.] by november 6 all was in readiness for the departure of the explorer. two indian guides, who knew the way to the north, were assigned to hearne; two european servants went with him to look after the provisions; and two indian hunters joined the company. in the gray mist of northern dawn, with the stars still pricking through the frosty air, seven salutes of cannon awakened the echoes of the frozen sea. the gates of the fort flung open, creaking with the frost rust, and hearne came out, followed by his little company, the dog bells of the long toboggan sleighs setting up a merry jingling as the huskies broke from a trot to a gallop over the snow-fields for the north. heading west-northwest, the band travelled swiftly with all the enthusiasm of untested courage. north winds cut their faces like whip-lashes. the first night out there was not enough snow to make a wind-break of the drifts; so the sleighs were piled on edge to windward, dogs and men lying heterogeneously in their shelter. when morning came, one of the indian guides had deserted. the way became barer. frozen swamps across which the storm wind swept with hurricane force were succeeded by high, rocky barrens devoid of game, unsheltered, with barely enough stunted shrubbery for the whittling of chips that cooked the morning and night meals. in a month the travellers had not accomplished ten miles a day. where deer were found the indians halted to gorge themselves with feasts. where game was scarce they lay in camp, depending on the white hunters. within three weeks rations had dwindled to one partridge a day for the entire company. the indians seemed to think that hearne's white servants had secret store of food on the sleighs. the savages refused to hunt. then hearne suspected some ulterior design. it was to drive him back to the fort by famine. henceforth, he noticed on the march that the indians always preceded the whites and secured any game before his men could fire a shot. one night toward the end of november the savages plundered the sleighs. hearne awakened in amazement to see the company marching off, laden with guns, ammunition, and hatchets. he called. their answer was laughter that set the woods ringing. hearne was now two hundred miles from the fort, without either ammunition or food. there was nothing to do but turn back. the weather was fair. by snaring partridges, the white men obtained enough game to sustain them till they reached the fort on the 11th of december. [illustration: eskimo using double-bladed paddle.] the question now was whether to wait till spring or set out in the teeth of midwinter. if hearne left the fort in spring, he could not possibly reach the arctic circle till the following winter; and with the north buried under drifts of snow, he could not learn where lay the northwest passage. if he left the fort in winter in order to reach the arctic in summer, he must expose his guides to the risks of cold and starvation. the indians told of high, rocky barrens, across which no canoes could be carried. they advised snow-shoe travel. obtaining three chipewyans and two crees as guides, and taking no white servants, hearne once more set out, on february 23, 1770, for the "far-away-metal river." this time there was no cannonading. the guns were buried under snow-drifts twenty feet deep, and the snow-shoes of the travellers glided over the fort walls to the echoing cheers of soldiers and governor standing on the ramparts. the company travelled light, depending on chance game for food. all wood that could be used for fire lay hidden deep under snow. at wide intervals over the white wastes mushroom cones of snow told where a stunted tree projected the antlered branches of topmost bough through the depths of drift; but for the most part camp was made by digging through the shallowest snow with snow-shoes to the bottom of moss, which served the double purpose of fuel for the night kettle and bed for travellers. in the hollow a wigwam was erected, with the door to the south, away from the north wind. snared rabbits and partridges supplied the food. the way lay as before--west-northwest--along a chain of frozen lakes and rivers connecting hudson bay with the arctic ocean. by april the marchers were on the margin of a desolate wilderness--the indian region of "little sticks,"--known to white men as the barren lands, where dwarf trees project above the billowing wastes of snow like dismantled masts on the far offing of a lonely sea. game became scarcer. neither the round footprint of the hare nor the frost tracery of the northern grouse marked the snowy reaches of unbroken white. caribou had retreated to the sheltered woods of the interior; and a cleverer hunter than man had scoured the wide wastes of game. only the wolf pack roamed the barren lands. it was unsafe to go on without food. hearne kept in camp till the coming of the goose month--april--when birds of passage wended their way north. for three days rations consisted of snow water and pipes of tobacco. the indians endured the privations with stoical indifference, daily marching out on a bootless quest for game. on the third night hearne was alone in his tent. twilight deepened to night, night to morning. still no hunters returned. had he been deserted? not a sound broke the waste silence but the baying of the wolf pack. weak from hunger, hearne fell asleep. before daylight he was awakened by a shout; and his indians shambled over the drifts laden with haunches of half a dozen deer. that relieved want till the coming of the geese. in may hearne struck across the barren lands. by june the rotting snow clogged the snow-shoes. dog trains drew heavy, and food was again scarce. for a week the travellers found nothing to eat but cranberries. half the company was ill from hunger when a mangy old musk-ox, shedding his fur and lean as barrel hoops, came scrambling over the rocks, sure of foot as a mountain goat. a single shot brought him down. in spite of the musky odor of which the coarse flesh reeked, every morsel of the ox was instantly devoured. sometimes during their long fasts they would encounter a solitary indian wandering over the rocky barren. if he had arms, gun, or arrow, and carried skins of the chase, he was welcomed to camp, no matter how scant the fare. otherwise he was shunned as an outcast, never to be touched or addressed by a human being; for only one thing could have fed an indian on the barren lands who could show no trophies of the chase, and that was the flesh of some human creature weaker than himself. the outcast was a cannibal, condemned by an unwritten law to wander alone through the wastes. snow had barely cleared from the barren lands when hearne witnessed the great traverse of the caribou herds, marching in countless multitudes with a clicking of horns and hoofs from west to east for the summer. indians from all parts of the north had placed themselves at rivers across the line of march to spear the caribou as they swam; and hearne was joined by a company of six hundred savages. summer had dried the moss. that gave abundance of fuel. caribou were plentiful. that supplied the hunters with pemmican. hearne decided to pass the following winter with the indians; but he was one white man among hundreds of savages. nightly his ammunition was plundered. one of his survey instruments was broken in a wind storm. others were stolen. it was useless to go on without instruments to take observations of the arctic circle; so for a second time hearne was compelled to turn back to fort prince of wales. terrible storms impeded the return march. his dog was frozen in the traces. tent poles were used for fire-wood; and the northern lights served as the only compass. on midday of november 25, 1770, after eight months' absence, in which he had not found the "far-off-metal river," hearne reached shelter inside the fort walls. beating through the gales of sleet and snow on the homeward march, hearne had careened into a majestic figure half shrouded by the storm. the explorer halted before a fur-muffled form, six feet in its moccasins, erect as a mast pole, haughty as a king; and the gauntleted hand of the indian chief went up to his forehead in sign of peace. it was matonabbee, the ambassador of the hudson's bay company to the athabascans, now returning to fort prince of wales, followed by a long line of slave women driving their dog sleighs. the two travellers hailed each other through the storm like ships at sea. that night they camped together on the lee side of the dog sleighs, piled high as a wind-break; and matonabbee, the famous courser of the northern wastes, gave hearne wise advice. women should be taken on a long journey, the indian chief said; for travel must be swift through the deadly cold of the barrens. men must travel light of hand, trusting to chance game for food. women were needed to snare rabbits, catch partridges, bring in game shot by the braves, and attend to the camping. and then in a burst of enthusiasm, perhaps warmed by hearne's fine tobacco, matonabbee, who had found the way to the athabasca, offered to conduct the white man to the "far-off-metal river" of the arctic circle. the chief was the greatest pathfinder of the northern tribes. his offer was the chance of a lifetime. hearne could hardly restrain his eagerness till he reached the fort. leaving matonabbee to follow with the slave women, the explorer hurried to fort prince of wales, laid the plan before governor norton, and in less than two weeks from the day of his return was ready to depart for the unknown river that was to lead to the northwest passage. the weather was dazzlingly clear, with that burnished brightness of polished steel known only where unbroken sunlight meets unbroken snow glare. on the 7th of december, 1770, hearne left the fort, led by matonabbee and followed by the slave indians with the dog sleighs. one of matonabbee's wives lay ill; but that did not hinder the iron pathfinder. the woman was wrapped in robes and drawn on a dog sleigh. there was neither pause nor hesitation. if the woman recovered, good. if she died, they would bury her under a cairn of stones as they travelled. matonabbee struck directly west-northwest for some _caches_ of provisions which he had left hidden on the trail. the place was found; but the _caches_ had been rifled clean of food. that did not stop matonabbee. nor did he show the slightest symptoms of anger. he simply hastened their pace the more for their hunger, recognizing the unwritten law of the wilderness--that starving hunters who had rifled the _cache_ had a right to food wherever they found it. day after day, stoical as men of bronze, the marchers reeled off the long white miles over the snowy wastes, pausing only for night sleep with evening and morning meals. here nibbled twigs were found; there the stamping ground of a deer shelter; elsewhere the small, cleft foot-mark like the ace of hearts. but the signs were all old. no deer were seen. even the black marble eye that betrays the white hare on the snow, and the fluffy bird track of the feather-footed northern grouse, grew rarer; and the slave women came in every morning empty-handed from untouched snares. in spite of hunger and cold, matonabbee remained good-natured, imperturbable, hard as a man of bronze, coursing with the winged speed of snow-shoes from morning till night without pause, going to a bed of rock moss on a meal of snow water and rising eager as an arrow to leave the bow-string for the next day's march. for three days before christmas the entire company had no food but snow. christmas was celebrated by starvation. hearne could not indulge in the despair of the civilized man's self-pity when his faithful guides went on without complaint. [illustration: eskimo family, taken by light of midnight sun.--c. w. mathers.] by january the company had entered the barren lands. the barren lands were bare but for an occasional oasis of trees like an island of refuge in a shelterless sea. in the clumps of dwarf shrubs, the indians found signs that meant relief from famine--tufts of hair rubbed off on tree trunks, fallen antlers, and countless heart-shaped tracks barely puncturing the snow but for the sharp outer edge. the caribou were on their yearly traverse east to west for the shelter of the inland woods. the indians at once pitched camp. scouts went scouring to find which way the caribou herds were coming. pounds of snares were constructed of shrubs and saplings stuck up in palisades with scarecrows on the pickets round a v-shaped enclosure. the best hunters took their station at the angle of the v, armed with loaded muskets and long, lank, and iron-pointed arrows. women and children lined the palisades to scare back high jumpers or strays of the caribou herd. then scouts and dogs beat up the rear of the fleeing herd, driving the caribou straight for the pound. by a curious provision of nature, the male caribou sheds its antlers just as he leaves the barren lands for the wooded interior, where the horns would impede flight through brush, and he only leaves the woods for the bare open when the horns are grown enough to fight the annual battle to protect the herd from the wolf pack ravenous with spring hunger. for one caribou caught in the pound by hearne's indians, a hundred of the herd escaped; for the caribou crossed the barrens in tens of thousands, and matonabbee's braves obtained enough venison for the trip to the "far-off-metal river." the farther north they travelled the scanter became the growth of pine and poplar and willow. snow still lay heavy in april; but matonabbee ordered a halt while there was still large enough wood to construct dugouts to carry provisions down the river. the boats were built large and heavy in front, light behind. this was to resist the ice jam of northern currents. the caribou hunt had brought other indians to the barren lands. matonabbee was joined by two hundred warriors. though the tribes puffed the calumet of peace together, they drew their war hatchets when they saw the smoke of an alien tribe's fire rise against the northern sky. a suspicion that he hardly dared to acknowledge flashed through hearne's mind. eleven thousand beaver pelts were yearly brought down to the fort from the unknown river. how did the chipewyans obtain these pelts from the eskimo? what was the real reason of the indian eagerness to conduct the white man to the "far-off-metal river"? the white man was not taken into the confidence of the indian council; but he could not fail to draw his own conclusions. scouts were sent cautiously forward to trail the path of the aliens who had lighted the far moss fire. women and children were ordered to head about for a rendezvous southwest on lake athabasca. carrying only the lightest supplies, the braves set out swiftly for the north on june 1. mist and rain hung so heavily over the desolate moors that the travellers could not see twenty feet ahead. in places the rocks were glazed with ice and scored with runnels of water. half the warriors here lost heart and turned back. the others led by hearne and matonabbee crossed the iced precipices on hands and knees, with gun stocks strapped to backs or held in teeth. on the 21st of june the sun did not set. hearne had crossed the arctic circle. the sun hung on the southern horizon all night long. henceforth the travellers marched without tents. during rain or snow storm, they took refuge under rocks or in caves. provisions turned mouldy with wet. the moss was too soaked for fire. snow fell so heavily in drifting storms that hearne often awakened in the morning to find himself almost immured in the cave where they had sought shelter. ice lay solid on the lakes in july. once, clambering up steep, bare heights, the travellers met a herd of a hundred musk-oxen scrambling over the rocks with the agility of squirrels, the spreading, agile hoof giving grip that lifted the hulking forms over all obstacles. down the bleak, bare heights there poured cataract and mountain torrent, plainly leading to some near river bed; but the thick gray fog lay on the land like a blanket. at last a thunder-storm cleared the air; and hearne saw bleak moors sloping north, bare of all growth but the trunks of burnt trees, with barren heights of rock and vast, desolate swamps, where the wild-fowl flocked in myriads. [illustration: fort garry, winnipeg, a century ago.] all count of day and night was now lost, for the sun did not set. sometime between midnight and morning of july 12, 1771, with the sun as bright as noon, the lakes converged to a single river-bed a hundred yards wide, narrowing to a waterfall that roared over the rocks in three cataracts. this, then, was the "far-off-metal river." plainly, it was a disappointing discovery, this coppermine river. it did not lead to china. it did not point the way to a northwest passage. in his disappointment, hearne learned what every other discoverer in north america had learned--that the great northwest was something more than a bridge between europe and asia, that it was a world in itself with its own destiny.[1] but hearne had no time to brood over disappointment. the conduct of his rascally companions could no longer be misunderstood. hunters came in with game; but when the hungry slaves would have lighted a moss fire to cook the meat, the forbidding hand of a chief went up. no fires were to be lighted. the indians advanced with whispers, dodging from stone to stone like raiders in ambush. spies went forward on tiptoe. then far down-stream below the cataracts hearne descried the domed tent-tops of an eskimo band sound asleep; for it was midnight, though the sun was at high noon. when hearne looked back to his companions, he found himself deserted. the indians were already wading the river for the west bank, where the eskimo had camped. hearne overtook his guides stripping themselves of everything that might impede flight or give hand-hold to an enemy, and daubing their skin with war-paint. hearne begged matonabbee to restrain the murderous warriors. the great chief smiled with silent contempt. he was too true a disciple of a doctrine which indians' practised hundreds of years before white men had avowed it--the survival of the fit, the extermination of the weak, for any qualms of pity towards a victim whose death would contribute profit. wearing only moccasins and bucklers of hardened hide, armed with muskets, lances, and tomahawks, the indians jostled hearne out of their way, stole forward from stone to stone to within a gun length of the eskimo, then with a wild war shout flung themselves on the unsuspecting sleepers. the eskimo were taken unprepared. they staggered from their tents, still dazed in sleep, to be mowed down by a crashing of firearms which they had never before heard. the poor creatures fled in frantic terror, to be met only by lance point and gun butt. a young girl fell coiling at hearne's feet like a wounded snake. a well-aimed lance had pinioned the living form to earth. she caught hearne round the knees, imploring him with dumb entreaty; but the white man was pushed back with jeers. sobbing with horror, hearne begged the indians to put their victim out of pain. the rocks rang with the mockery of the torturers. she was speared to death before hearne's eyes. on that scene of indescribable horror the white man could no longer bear to look. he turned toward the river, and there was a spectacle like a nightmare. some of the eskimo were escaping by leaping to their hide boats and with lightning strokes of the double-bladed paddles dashing down the current to the far bank of the river; but sitting motionless as stone was an old, old woman--probably a witch of the tribe--red-eyed as if she were blind, deaf to all the noise about her, unconscious of all her danger, fishing for salmon below the falls. there was a shout from the raiders; the old woman did not even look up to face her fate; and she too fell a victim to that thirst for blood which is as insatiable in the redskin as in the wolf pack. odd commentary in our modern philosophies--this white-man explorer, unnerved, unmanned, weeping with pity, this champion of the weak, jostled aside by bloodthirsty, triumphant savages, represented the race that was to jostle the indian from the face of the new world. something more than a triumphant, aggressive strength was needed to the permanency of a race; and that something more was represented by poor, weak, vacillating hearne, weeping like a woman. horror of the massacre robbed hearne of all an explorer's exultation. a day afterward, on july 17, he stood on the shores of the arctic ocean,--the first white man to reach it overland in america. ice extended from the mouth of the river as far as eye could see. not a sign of land broke the endless reaches of cold steel, where the snow lay, and icy green, where pools of the ocean cast their reflection on the sky of the far horizon. at one in the morning, with the sun hanging above the river to the south, hearne formally took possession of the arctic regions for the hudson's bay company. the same company rules those regions to-day. not an eye had been closed for three days and nights. throwing themselves down on the wet shore, the entire band now slept for six hours. the hunters awakened to find a musk-ox nosing over the mossed rocks. a shot sent it tumbling over the cliffs. whether it was that the moss was too wet for fuel to cook the meat, or the massacre had brutalized the men into beasts of prey, the indians fell on the carcass and devoured it raw.[2] [illustration: plan of fort prince of wales, from robson's drawing, 1733-47.] the retreat from the arctic was made with all swiftness, keeping close to the coppermine river. for thirty miles from the sea not a tree was to be seen. the river was sinuous and narrow, hemmed in by walls of solid rock, down which streamed cascades and mountain torrents. on both sides of the high bank extended endless reaches of swamps and barrens. twenty miles from the sea hearne found the copper mines from which the indians made their weapons. his guides were to join their families in the athabasca country of the southwest, and thither matonabbee now led the way at such a terrible pace that moccasins were worn to shreds and toe-nails torn from the feet of the marchers; and woe to the man who fell behind, for the wolf pack prowled on the rear. when the smoke of moss fires told of the wives' camp, the indians halted to take the sweat bath of purification for the cleansing of all blood guilt from the massacre. heated stones were thrown into a small pool. in this each indian bathed himself, invoking his deity for freedom from all punishment for the deaths of the slain.[3] by august the indians had joined their wives. by october they were on lake athabasca, which had already frozen. here one of the wives, in the last stages of consumption, could go no farther. for a band short of food to halt on the march meant death to all. the northern wilderness has its grim unwritten law, inexorable and merciless as death. for those who fall by the way there is no pity. a whole tribe may not be exposed to death for the sake of one person. civilized nations follow the same principle in their quarantine. giving the squaw food and a tent, the indians left her to meet her last enemy, whether death came by starvation or cold or the wolf pack. again and again the abandoned squaw came up with the marchers, weeping and begging their pity, only to fall from weakness. but the wilderness has no pity; and so they left her. christmas of 1771 was passed on athabasca lake, the northern lights rustling overhead with the crackling of a flag. there was food in plenty; for the athabasca was rich in buffalo meadows and beaver dams and moose yards. on the lake shore hearne found a little cabin, in which dwelt a solitary woman of the dog rib tribe who for eight months had not seen a soul. her band had been massacred. she alone escaped and had lived here in hiding for almost a year. in spring the indians of the lake carried their furs to the forts of hudson bay. with the athabascans went hearne, reaching fort prince of wales on june 30, 1772, after eighteen months' absence. he had discovered coppermine river, the arctic ocean, and the athabasca country,--a region in all as large as half european russia. for his achievements hearne received prompt promotion. within a year of his return to the fort, governor norton, the indian bully, fell deadly ill. in the agony of death throes, he called for his wives. the great keys to the apartments of the women were taken from his pillow, and the wives were brought in. norton lay convulsed with pain. one of the younger women began to sob. an officer of the garrison took her hand to comfort her grief. norton's rolling eyes caught sight of the innocent conference between the officer and the young wife. with a roar the dying bully hurled himself up in bed:-"i'll burn you alive! i'll burn you alive," he shrieked. with oaths on his lips he fell back dead. [illustration: fort prince of wales (churchill), from hearne's account, 1799 edition.] samuel hearne became governor of the fort. for ten years nothing disturbed the calm of his rule. marie, norton's daughter, still lived in the shelter of the fort; the wives found consolation in other husbands; and matonabbee continued the ambassador of the company to strange tribes. one afternoon of august, 1782, the sleepy calm of the fort was upset by the sentry dashing in breathlessly with news that three great vessels of war with full-blown sails and carrying many guns were ploughing straight for prince of wales. at sundown the ships swung at anchor six miles from the fort. from their masts fluttered a foreign flag--the french ensign. gig boat and pinnace began sounding the harbor. hearne had less than forty men to defend the fort. in the morning four hundred french troopers lined up on churchill river, and the admiral, la perouse, sent a messenger with demand of surrender. hearne did not feel justified in exposing his men to the attack of three warships carrying from seventy to a hundred guns apiece, and to assault by land of four hundred troopers. he surrendered without a blow. [illustration: beaver coin of hudson's bay company, melted from old tea chests, one coin representing one beaver.] the furs were quickly transferred to the french ships, and the soldiers were turned loose to loot the fort. the indians fled, among them moses norton's gentle daughter, now in her twenty-second year. she could not revert to the loathsome habits of savage life; she dared not go to the fort filled with lawless foreign soldiers; and she perished of starvation outside the walls. matonabbee had been absent when the french came. he returned to find the fort where he had spent his life in ruins. the english whom he thought invincible were defeated and prisoners of war. hearne, whom the dauntless old chief had led through untold perils, was a captive. matonabbee's proud spirit was broken. the grief was greater than he could bear. all that living stood for had been lost. drawing off from observation, matonabbee blew his brains out. [1] i have purposely avoided bringing up the dispute as to a mistake of some few degrees made by hearne in his calculations--the point really being finical. [2] i am sorry to say that in pioneer border warfares i have heard of white men acting in a precisely similar beastly manner after some brutal conflict. to be frank, i know of one case in the early days of minnesota fur trade, where the irate fur trader killed and devoured his weak companion, not from famine, but sheer frenzy of brutalized passion. such naked light does wilderness life shed over our drawing-room philosophies of the triumphantly strong being the highest type of manhood. [3] again the wilderness plunges us back to the primordial: if man be but the supreme beast of prey, whence this consciousness of blood guilt in these unschooled children of the wilds? part iv 1780-1793 first across the rockies--how mackenzie crossed the northern rockies and lewis and clark were first to cross from missouri to columbia chapter x 1780-1793 first across the rockies how mackenzie found the great river named after him and then pushed across the mountains to the pacific, forever settling the question of a northwest passage there is an old saying that if a man has the right mettle in him, you may stick him a thousand leagues in the wilderness on a barren rock and he will plant pennies and grow dollar bills. in other words, no matter where or how, success will succeed. no class illustrates this better than a type that has almost passed away--the old fur traders who were lords of the wilderness. cut off from all comfort, from all encouragement, from all restraint, what set of men ever had fewer incentives to go up, more temptations to go down? yet from the fur traders sprang the pioneer heroes of america. when young donald smith came out--a raw lad--to america, he was packed off to eighteen years' exile on the desert coast of labrador. donald smith came out of the wilderness to become the lord strathcona of to-day. sir alexander mackenzie's life presents even more dramatic contrasts. a clerk in a counting-house at montreal one year, the next finds him at detroit setting out for the backwoods of michigan to barter with indians for furs. then he is off with a fleet of canoes forty strong for the upper country of forest and wilderness beyond the great lakes, where he fights such a desperate battle with rivals that one of his companions is murdered, a second lamed, a third wounded. in all this alexander mackenzie was successful while still in the prime of his manhood,--not more than thirty years of age; and the reward of his success was to be exiled to the sub-arctics of the athabasca, six weeks' travel from another fur post,--not a likely field to play the hero. yet mackenzie emerged from the polar wilderness bearing a name that ranks with columbus and carrier and la salle. [illustration: alexander mackenzie, from a painting of the explorer.] far north of the missouri beyond the borderlands flows the saskatchewan. as far north again, beyond the saskatchewan, flows another great river, the athabasca, into athabasca lake, on whose blue shores to the north lies a little white-washed fort of some twenty log houses, large barn-like stores, a catholic chapel, an episcopal mission, and a biggish residence of pretence for the chief trader. this is fort chipewyan. at certain seasons indian tepees dot the surrounding plains; and bronze-faced savages, clad in the ill-fitting garments of white people, shamble about the stores, or sit haunched round the shady sides of the log houses, smoking long-stemmed pipes. these are the chipewyans come in from their hunting-grounds; but for the most part the fort seems chiefly populated by regiments of husky dogs, shaggy-coated, with the sharp nose of the fox, which spend the long winters in harness coasting the white wilderness, and pass the summers basking lazily all day long except when the bell rings for fish time, when half a hundred huskies scramble wildly for the first meat thrown. a century ago chipewyan was much the same as to-day, except that it lay on the south side of the lake. mails came only once in two years instead of monthly, and rival traders were engaged in the merry game of slitting each other's throats. all together, it wasn't exactly the place for ambition to dream; but ambition was there in the person of alexander mackenzie, the young fur trader, dreaming what he hardly dared hope. business men fight shy of dreamers; so mackenzie told his dreams to no one but his cousin roderick, whom he pledged to secrecy. for fifty years the british government had offered a reward of 20,000 pounds to any one who should discover a northwest passage between the atlantic and the pacific. the hope of such a passageway had led many navigators on bootless voyages; and here was mackenzie with the same bee in his bonnet. to the north of chipewyan he saw a mighty river, more than a mile wide in places, walled in by great ramparts, and flowing to unknown seas. to the west he saw another river rolling through the far mountains. where did this river come from, and where did both rivers go? mackenzie was not the man to leave vital questions unanswered. he determined to find out; but difficulties lay in the way. he couldn't leave the athabascan posts. that was overcome by getting his cousin roderick to take charge. the northwest fur company, which had succeeded the french fur traders of quebec and montreal when canada passed from the hands of the french to the english, wouldn't assume any cost or risk for exploring unknown seas. this was more niggardly than the hudson's bay company, which had paid all cost of outlay for its explorers; but mackenzie assumed risk and cost himself. then the indians hesitated to act as guides; so mackenzie hired guides when he could, seized them by compulsion when he couldn't hire them, and went ahead without guides when they escaped. [illustration: eskimo trading his pipe, carved from walrus tusk, for the value of three beaver skins.] may--the frog moon--and june--the bird's egg moon--were the festive seasons at fort chipewyan on lake athabasca. indian hunters came tramping in from the barren lands with toboggan loads of pelts drawn by half-wild husky dogs. woody crees and slaves and chipewyans paddled across the lake in canoes laden to the gunwales with furs. a world of white skin tepees sprang up like mushrooms round the fur post. by june the traders had collected the furs, sorted and shipped them in flotillas of keel boat, barge, and canoe, east to lake superior and montreal. on the evening of june 2, 1789, alexander mackenzie, chief trader, had finished the year's trade and sent the furs to the eastern warehouses of the northwest company, on lake superior, at fort william, not far from where radisson had first explored, and la vérendrye followed. indians lingered round the fort of the northern lake engaged in mad _boissons_, or drinking matches, that used up a winter's earnings in the spree of a single week. along the shore lay upturned canoes, keels red against the blue of the lake, and everywhere in the dark burned the red fires of the boatmen melting resin to gum the seams of the canoes; for the canoes were to be launched on a long voyage the next day. mackenzie was going to float down with the current of the athabasca or grand river, and find out where that great river emptied in the north. the crew must have spent the night in a last wild spree; for it was nine in the morning before all hands were ready to embark. in mackenzie's large birch canoe went four canadian _voyageurs_, their indian wives, and a german. in other canoes were the indian hunters and interpreters, led by "english chief," who had often been to hudson bay. few provisions were taken. the men were to hunt, the women to cook and keep the _voyageurs_ supplied with moccasins, which wore out at the rate of one pair a day for each man. traders bound for slave lake followed behind. only fifty miles were made the first day. henceforth mackenzie embarked his men at three and four in the morning. [illustration: quill and bead work on buckskin, mackenzie river indians.] the mouth of peace river was passed a mile broad as it pours down from the west, and the boatmen _portaged_ six rapids the third day, one of the canoes, steered by a squaw more intent on her sewing than the paddles, going over the falls with a smash that shivered the bark to kindling-wood. the woman escaped, as the current caught the canoe, by leaping into the water and swimming ashore with the aid of a line. ice four feet thick clung to the walls of the rampart shores, and this increased the danger of landing for a _portage_, the indians whining out their complaints in exactly the tone of the wailing north wind that had cradled their lives--"eduiy, eduiy!--it is hard, white man, it is hard!" and harder the way became. for nine nights fog lay so heavily on the river that not a star was seen. this was followed by driving rain and wind. mackenzie hoisted a three-foot sail and cut over the water before the wind with the hiss of a boiling kettle. though the sail did the work of the paddles, it gave the _voyageurs_ no respite. cramped and rain-soaked, they had to bail out water to keep the canoe afloat. in this fashion the boats entered slave lake, a large body of water with one horn pointing west, the other east. out of both horns led unknown rivers. which way should mackenzie go? low-lying marshlands--beaver meadows where the wattled houses of the beaver had stopped up the current of streams till moss overgrew the swamps and the land became quaking muskeg--lay along the shores of the lake. there were islands in deep water, where caribou had taken refuge, travelling over ice in winter for the calves to be safe in summer from wolf pack and bear. mackenzie hired a guide from the slave indians to pilot the canoes over the lake; but the man proved useless. days were wasted poking through mist and rushes trying to find an outlet to the grand river of the north. finally, english chief lost his temper and threatened to kill the slave indian unless he succeeded in taking the canoes out of the lake. the waters presently narrowed to half a mile; the current began to race with a hiss; sails were hoisted on fishing-poles; and mackenzie found himself out of the rushes on the grand river to the west of slave lake. [illustration: fort william, headquarters northwest company, lake superior.] here pause was made at a camp of dog ribs, who took the bottom from the courage of mackenzie's comrades by gruesome predictions that old age would come upon the _voyageurs_ before they reached salt water. there were impassable falls ahead. the river flowed through a land of famine peopled by a monstrous race of hostiles who massacred all indians from the south. the effect of these cheerful prophecies was that the slave lake guide refused to go on. english chief bodily put the recalcitrant into a canoe and forced him ahead at the end of a paddle. snow-capped mountains loomed to the west. the river from bear lake was passed, greenish of hue like the sea, and the slave lake guide now feigned such illness that watch was kept day and night to prevent his escape. the river now began to wind, with lofty ramparts on each side; and once, at a sharp bend in the current, mackenzie looked back to see slave lake indians following to aid the guide in escaping. after that one of the white men slept with the fellow each night to prevent desertion; but during the confusion of a terrific thunder-storm, when tents and cooking utensils were hurled about their heads, the slave succeeded in giving his watchers the slip. mackenzie promptly stopped at an encampment of strange indians, and failing to obtain another guide by persuasion, seized and hoisted a protesting savage into the big canoe, and signalled the unwilling captive to point the way. the indians of the river were indifferent, if not friendly; but once mackenzie discovered a band hiding their women and children as soon as the boatmen came in view. the unwilling guide was forced ashore, as interpreter, and gifts pacified all fear. but the incident left its impression on mackenzie's comrades. they had now been away from chipewyan for forty days. if it took much longer to go back, ice would imprison them in the polar wilderness. snow lay drifted in the valleys, and scarcely any game was seen but fox and grouse. the river was widening almost to the dimensions of a lake, and when this was whipped by a north wind the canoes were in peril enough. the four canadians besought mackenzie to return. to return mackenzie had not the slightest intention; but he would not tempt mutiny. he promised that if he did not find the sea within seven days, he would go back. that night the sun hung so high above the southern horizon that the men rose by mistake to embark at twelve o'clock. they did not realize that they were in the region of midnight sun; but mackenzie knew and rejoiced, for he must be near the sea. the next day he was not surprised to find a deserted eskimo village. at that sight the enthusiasm of the others took fire. they were keen to reach the sea, and imagined that they smelt salt water. in spite of the lakelike expanse of the river, the current was swift, and the canoes went ahead at the rate of sixty and seventy miles a day--if it could be called day when there was no night. between the 13th and 14th of july the _voyageurs_ suddenly awakened to find themselves and their baggage floating in rising water. what had happened to the lake? their hearts took a leap; for it was no lake. it was the tide. they had found the sea. how hilariously jubilant were mackenzie's men, one may guess from the fact that they chased whales all the next day in their canoes. the whales dived below, fortunately; for one blow of a finback or sulphur bottom would have played skittles with the canoes. coming back from the whale hunt, triumphant as if they had caught a dozen finbacks, the men erected a post, engraving on it the date, july 14, 1789, and the names of all present. it had taken six weeks to reach the arctic. it took eight to return to chipewyan, for the course was against stream, in many places tracking the canoes by a tow-line. the beaver meadows along the shore impeded the march. many a time the quaking moss gave way, and the men sank to mid-waist in water. while skirting close ashore, mackenzie discovered the banks of the river to be on fire. the fire was a natural tar bed, which the indians said had been burning for centuries and which burns to-day as when mackenzie found it. on september 12, with a high sail up and a driving wind, the canoes cut across lake athabasca and reached the beach of chipewyan at three in the afternoon, after one hundred and two days' absence. mackenzie had not found the northwest passage. he had proved there was no northwest passage, and discovered the mississippi of the north--mackenzie river. [illustration: running a rapid on mackenzie river.] mackenzie spent the long winter at fort chipewyan; but just as soon as the rivers cleared of ice, he took passage in the east-bound canoes and hurried down to the grand portage or fort william on lake superior, the headquarters of the northwest company, where he reported his discovery of mackenzie river. his report was received with utter indifference. the company had other matters to think about. it was girding itself for the life-and-death struggle with its rival, the hudson's bay company. "my expedition was hardly spoken of, but that is what i expected," he writes to his cousin. but chagrin did not deter purpose. he asked the directors' permission to explore that other broad stream--peace river--rolling down from the mountains. his request was granted. winter saw him on furlough in england, studying astronomy and surveying for the next expedition. here he heard much of the western sea--the pacific--that fired his eagerness. the voyages of cook and hanna and meares were on everybody's lips. spain and england and russia were each pushing for first possession of the northwest coast. mackenzie hurried back to his company's fort on the banks of peace river, where he spent a restless winter waiting for navigation to open. doubts of his own ambitions began to trouble him. what if peace river did not lead to the west coast at all? what if he were behind some other discoverer sent out by the spaniards or the russians? "i have been so vexed of late that i cannot sit down to anything steadily," he confesses in a letter to his cousin. such a tissue-paper wall separates the aims of the real hero from those of the fool, that almost every ambitious man must pass through these periods of self-doubt before reaching the goal of his hopes. but despondency did not benumb mackenzie into apathy, as it has weaker men. by april he had shipped the year's furs from the forks of peace river to chipewyan. by may his season's work was done. he was ready to go up peace river. a birch canoe thirty feet long, lined with lightest of cedar, was built. in this were stored pemmican and powder. alexander mackay, a clerk of the company, was chosen as first assistant. six canadian _voyageurs_--two of whom had accompanied mackenzie to the arctic--and two indian hunters made up the party of ten who stepped into the canoes at seven in the evening of may 9, 1793. peace river tore down from the mountains flooded with spring thaw. the crew soon realized that paddles must be bent against the current of a veritable mill-race; but it was safer going against, than with, such a current, for unknown dangers could be seen from below instead of above, where suction would whirl a canoe on the rocks. keen air foretold the nearing mountains. in less than a week snow-capped peaks had crowded the canoe in a narrow cañon below a tumbling cascade where the river was one wild sheet of tossing foam as far as eye could see. the difficulty was to land; for precipices rose on each side in a wall, down which rolled enormous boulders and land-slides of loose earth. to _portage_ goods up these walls was impossible. fastening an eighty-foot tow-line to the bow, mackenzie leaped to the declivity, axe in hand, cut foothold along the face of the steep cliff to a place where he could jump to level rock, and then, turning, signalled through the roar of the rapids for his men to come on. the _voyageurs_ were paralyzed with fear. they stripped themselves ready to swim if they missed the jump, then one by one vaulted from foothold to foothold where mackenzie had cut till they came to the final jump across water. here mackenzie caught each on his shoulders as the _voyageurs_ leaped. the tow-line was then passed round trees growing on the edge of the precipice, and the canoe tracked up the raging cascade. the waves almost lashed the frail craft to pieces. once a wave caught her sideways; the tow-line snapped like a pistol shot, for just one instant the canoe hung poised, and then the back-wash of an enormous boulder drove her bow foremost ashore, where the _voyageurs_ regained the tow-line. [illustration: slave lake indians.] the men had not bargained on this kind of work. they bluntly declared that it was absurd trying to go up cañons with such cascades. mackenzie paid no heed to the murmurings. he got his crew to the top of the hill, spread out the best of a regale--including tea sweetened with sugar--and while the men were stimulating courage by a feast, he went ahead to reconnoitre the gorge. windfalls of enormous spruce trees, with a thickness twice the height of a man, lay on a steep declivity of sliding rock. up this climbed mackenzie, clothes torn to tatters by devil's club (a thorn bush with spines like needles), boots hacked to pieces by the sharp rocks, and feet gashed with cuts. the prospect was not bright. as far as he could see the river was one succession of cataracts fifty feet wide walled in by stupendous precipices, down which rolled great boulders, shattering to pebbles as they fell. the men were right. no canoe could go up that stream. mackenzie came back, set his men to repairing the canoe and making axe handles, to avoid the idleness that breeds mutiny, and sent mackay ahead to see how far the rapids extended. mackay reported that the _portage_ would be nine miles over the mountain. leading the way, axe in hand, mackenzie began felling trees so that the trunks formed an outer railing to prevent a fall down the precipice. up this trail they warped the canoe by pulling the tow-line round stumps, five men going in advance to cut the way, five hauling and pushing the canoe. in one day progress was three miles. by five in the afternoon the men were so exhausted that they went to bed--if bare ground with sky overhead could be called bed. one thing alone encouraged them: as they rose higher up the mountain side, they saw that the green edges of the glaciers and the eternal snows projected over the precipices. they were nearing the summit--they must surely soon cross the divide. the air grew colder. for three days the choppers worked in their blanket coats. when they finally got the canoe down to the river-bed, it was to see another range of impassable mountains barring the way westward. all that kept mackenzie's men from turning back was that awful _portage_ of nine miles. nothing ahead could be worse than what lay behind; so they embarked, following the south branch where the river forked. the stream was swift as a cascade. half the crew walked to lighten the canoe and prevent grazing on the rocky bottoms. once, at dusk, when walkers and paddlers happened to have camped on opposite shores, the marchers came dashing across stream, wading neck-high, with news that they had heard the firearms of indian raiders. fires were put out, muskets loaded, and each man took his station at the foot of a tree, where all passed a sleepless night. no hostiles appeared. the noise was probably falling avalanches. and once when mackenzie and mackay had gone ahead with the indian interpreters, they came back to find that the canoe had disappeared. in vain they kindled fires, fired guns, set branches adrift on the swift current as a signal--no response came from the _voyageurs_. the boatmen evidently did not wish to be found. what mackenzie's suspicions were one may guess. it would be easier for the crew to float back down peace river than pull against this terrific current with more _portages_ over mountains. the indians became so alarmed that they wanted to build a raft forthwith and float back to chipewyan. the abandoned party had not tasted a bite of food for twenty-four hours. they had not even seen a grouse, and in their powder horns were only a few rounds of ammunition. separating, mackenzie and his indian went up-stream, mackay and his went down-stream, each agreeing to signal the other by gunshots if either found the canoe. barefooted and drenched in a terrific thunderstorm, mackenzie wandered on till darkness shrouded the forest. he had just lain down on a soaking couch of spruce boughs when the ricochetting echo of a gun set the boulders crashing down the precipices. hurrying down-stream, he found mackay at the canoe. the crew pretended that a leakage about the keel had caused delay; but the canoe did not substantiate the excuse. mackenzie said nothing; but he never again allowed the crew out of his sight on the east side of the mountains. so far there had been no sign of indians among the mountains; and now the canoe was gliding along calm waters when savages suddenly sprang out of a thicket, brandishing spears. the crew became panic-stricken; but mackenzie stepped fearlessly ashore, offered the hostiles presents, shook hands, and made his camp with them. the savages told him that he was nearing a _portage_ across the divide. one of them went with mackenzie the next day as guide. the river narrowed to a small tarn--the source of peace river; and a short _portage_ over rocky ground brought the canoe to a second tarn emptying into a river that, to mackenzie's disappointment, did not flow west, but south. he had crossed the divide, the first white man to cross the continent in the north; but how could he know whether to follow this stream? it might lead east to the saskatchewan. as a matter of fact, he was on the sources of the fraser, that winds for countless leagues south through the mountains before turning westward for the pacific. full of doubt and misgivings, uncertain whether he had crossed the divide at all, mackenzie ordered the canoe down this river. snowy peaks were on every side. glaciers lay along the mountain tarns, icy green from the silt of the glacier grinding over rock; and the river was hemmed in by shadowy cañons with roaring cascades that compelled frequent _portage_. mackenzie wanted to walk ahead, in order to lighten the canoe and look out for danger; but fear had got in the marrow of his men. they thought that he was trying to avoid risks to which he was exposing them; and they compelled him to embark, vowing, if they were to perish, he was to perish with them. to quiet their fears, mackenzie embarked with them. barely had they pushed out when the canoe was caught by a sucking undercurrent which the paddlers could not stem--a terrific rip told them that the canoe had struck--the rapids whirled her sideways and away she went down-stream--the men jumped out, but the current carried them to such deep water that they were clinging to the gunwales as best they could when, with another rip, the stern was torn clean out of the canoe. the blow sent her swirling--another rock battered the bow out--the keel flattened like a raft held together only by the bars. branches hung overhead. the bowman made a frantic grab at these to stop the rush of the canoe--he was hoisted clear from his seat and dropped ashore. mackenzie jumped out up to his waist in ice-water. the steersman had yelled for each to save himself; but mackenzie shouted out a countermand for every man to hold on to the gunwales. in this fashion they were all dragged several hundred yards till a whirl sent the wreck into a shallow eddy. the men got their feet on bottom, and the wreckage was hauled ashore. during the entire crisis the indians sat on top of the canoe, howling with terror. all the bullets had been lost. a few were recovered. powder was spread out to dry; and the men flatly refused to go one foot farther. mackenzie listened to the revolt without a word. he got their clothes dry and their benumbed limbs warmed over a roaring fire. he fed them till their spirits had risen. then he quietly remarked that the experience would teach them how to run rapids in the future. men of the north--to turn back? such a thing had never been known in the history of the northwest fur company. it would disgrace them forever. think of the honor of conquering disaster. then he vowed that he would go ahead, whether the men accompanied him or not. then he set them to patching the canoe with oil-cloth and bits of bark; but large sheets of birch bark are rare in the rockies; and the patched canoe weighed so heavily that the men could scarcely carry it. it took them fourteen hours to make the three-mile _portage_ of these rapids. the indian from the mountain tribe had lost heart. mackenzie and mackay watched him by turns at night; but the fellow got away under cover of darkness, the crew conniving at the escape in order to compel mackenzie to turn back. finally the river wound into a large stream on the west side of the main range of the rockies. mackenzie had crossed the divide. for a week after crossing the divide, the canoe followed the course of the river southward. this was not what mackenzie expected. he sought a stream flowing directly westward, and was keenly alert for sign of indian encampment where he might learn the shortest way to the western sea. once the smoke of a camp-fire rose through the bordering forest; but no sooner had mackenzie's interpreters approached than the savages fired volley after volley of arrows and swiftly decamped, leaving no trace of a trail. there was nothing to do but continue down the devious course of the uncertain river. the current was swift and the outlook cut off by the towering mountains; but in a bend of the river they came on an indian canoe drawn ashore. a savage was just emerging from a side stream when mackenzie's men came in view. with a wild whoop, the fellow made off for the woods; and in a trice the narrow river was lined with naked warriors, brandishing spears and displaying the most outrageous hostility. when mackenzie attempted to land, arrows hissed past the canoe, which they might have punctured and sunk. determined to learn the way westward from these indians, mackenzie tried strategy. he ordered his men to float some distance from the savages. then he landed alone on the shore opposite the hostiles, having sent one of his interpreters by a detour through the woods to lie in ambush with fusee ready for instant action. throwing aside weapons, mackenzie displayed tempting trinkets. the warriors conferred, hesitated, jumped in the canoes, and came, backing stern foremost, toward mackenzie. he threw out presents. they came ashore and were presently sitting by his side. from them he learned the river he was following ran for "many moons" through the "shining mountains" before it reached the "midday sun." it was barred by fearful rapids; but by retracing the way back up the river, the white men could leave the canoe at a carrying place and go overland to the salt water in eleven days. from other tribes down the same river, mackenzie gathered similar facts. he knew that the stream was misleading him; but a retrograde movement up such a current would discourage his men. he had only one month's provisions left. his ammunition had dwindled to one hundred and fifty bullets and thirty pounds of shot. instead of folding his hands in despondency, mackenzie resolved to set the future at defiance and go on. from the indians he obtained promise of a man to guide him back. then he frankly laid all the difficulties before his followers, declaring that he was going on alone and they need not continue unless they voluntarily decided to do so. his dogged courage was contagious. the speech was received with huzzas, and the canoe was headed upstream. the indian guide was to join mackenzie higher upstream; but the reappearance of the white men when they had said they would not be back for "many moons" roused the suspicions of the savages. the shores were lined with warriors who would receive no explanation that mackenzie tried to give in sign language. the canoe began to leak so badly that the boatmen had to spend half the time bailing out water; and the _voyageurs_ dared not venture ashore for resin. along the river cliff was a little three-cornered hut of thatched clay. here mackenzie took refuge, awaiting the return of the savage who had promised to act as guide. the three walls protected the rear, but the front of the hut was exposed to the warriors across the river; and the whites dared not kindle a fire that might serve as a target. two nights were passed in this hazardous shelter, mackay and mackenzie alternately lying in their cloaks on the wet rocks, keeping watch. at midnight of the third day's siege, a rustling came from the woods to the rear and the boatmen's dog set up a furious barking. the men were so frightened that they three times loaded the canoe to desert their leader, but something in the fearless confidence of the explorer deterred them. as daylight sifted through the forest, mackenzie descried a vague object creeping through the underbrush. a less fearless man would have fired and lost all. mackenzie dashed out to find the cause of alarm an old blind man, almost in convulsions from fear. he had been driven from this river hut. mackenzie quieted his terror with food. by signs the old man explained that the indians had suspected treachery when the whites returned so soon; and by signs mackenzie requested him to guide the canoe back up the river to the carrying place; but the old creature went off in such a palsy of fear that he had to be lifted bodily into the canoe. the situation was saved. the hostiles could not fire without wounding one of their own people; and the old man could explain the real reason for mackenzie's return. rations had been reduced to two meals a day. the men were still sulking from the perils of the siege when the canoe struck a stump that knocked a hole in the keel, "which," reports mackenzie, laconically, "gave them all an opportunity to let loose their discontent without reserve." camp after camp they passed, which the old man's explanations pacified, till they at length came to the carrying place. here, to the surprise and delight of all, the guide awaited them. [illustration: good hope, mackenzie river. hudson's bay company fort.] on july 4, provisions were _cached_, the canoe abandoned, and a start made overland westward, each carrying ninety pounds of provisions besides musket and pistols. and this burden was borne on the rations of two scant meals a day. the way was ridgy, steep, and obstructed by windfalls. at cloud-line, the rocks were slippery as glass from moisture, and mackenzie led the way, beating the drip from the branches as they marched. the record was twelve miles the first day. when it rained, the shelter was a piece of oil-cloth held up in an extemporized tent, the men crouching to sleep as best they could. the way was well beaten and camp was frequently made for the night with strange indians, from whom fresh guides were hired; but when he did not camp with the natives, mackenzie watched his guide by sleeping with him. though the fellow was malodorous from fish oil and infested with vermin, mackenzie would spread his cloak in such a way that escape was impossible without awakening himself. no sentry was kept at night. all hands were too deadly tired from the day's climb. once, in the impenetrable gloom of the midnight forest, mackenzie was awakened by a plaintive chant in a kind of unearthly music. a tribe was engaged in religious devotions to some woodland deity. totem poles of cedar, carved with the heads of animals emblematic of family clans, told mackenzie that he was nearing the coast tribes. barefooted, with ankles swollen and clothes torn to shreds, they had crossed the last range of mountains within two weeks of leaving the inland river. they now embarked with some natives for the sea. one can guess how mackenzie's heart thrilled as they swept down the swift river--six miles an hour--past fishing weirs and indian camps, till at last, far out between the mountains, he descried the narrow arm of the blue, limitless sea. the canoe leaked like a sieve; but what did that matter? at eight o'clock on the morning of saturday, july 20, the river carried them to a wide lagoon, lapped by a tide, with the seaweed waving for miles along the shore. morning fog still lay on the far-billowing ocean. sea otters tumbled over the slimy rocks with discordant cries. gulls darted overhead; and past the canoe dived the great floundering grampus. there was no mistaking. this was the sea--the western sea, that for three hundred years had baffled all search overland, and led the world's greatest explorers on a chase of a will-o'-the-wisp. what cartier and la salle and la vérendrye failed to do, mackenzie had accomplished. but mackenzie's position was not to be envied. ten starving men on a barbarous coast had exactly twenty pounds of pemmican, fifteen of rice, six of flour. of ammunition there was scarcely any. between home and their leaky canoe lay half a continent of wilderness and mountains. the next day was spent coasting the cove for a place to take observations. canoes of savages met the white men, and one impudent fellow kept whining out that he had once been shot at by men of mackenzie's color. mackenzie took refuge for the night on an isolated rock which was barely large enough for his party to gain a foothold. the savages hung about pestering the boatmen for gifts. two white men kept guard, while the rest slept. on monday, when mackenzie was setting up his instruments, his young indian guide came, foaming at the mouth from terror, with news that the coast tribes were to attack the white men by hurling spears at the unsheltered rock. the boatmen lost their heads and were for instant flight, anywhere, everywhere, in a leaky canoe that would have foundered a mile out at sea. mackenzie did not stir, but ordered fusees primed and the canoe gummed. mixing up a pot of vermilion, he painted in large letters on the face of the rock where they had passed the night:-"alexander mackenzie, from canada, by land, the twenty-second of july, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three." the canoe was then headed eastward for the homeward trip. only once was the explorer in great danger on his return. it was just as the canoe was leaving tide-water for the river. the young indian guide led him full tilt into the village of hostiles that had besieged the rock. mackenzie was alone, his men following with the baggage. barely had he reached the woods when two savages sprang out, with daggers in hand ready to strike. quick as a flash, mackenzie quietly raised his gun. they dropped back; but he was surrounded by a horde led by the impudent chief of the attack on the rock the first night on the sea. one warrior grasped mackenzie from behind. in the scuffle hat and cloak came off; but mackenzie shook himself free, got his sword out, and succeeded in holding the shouting rabble at bay till his men came. then such was his rage at the indignity that he ordered his followers in line with loaded fusees, marched to the village, demanded the return of the hat and cloak, and obtained a peace-offering of fish as well. the indians knew the power of firearms, and fell at his feet in contrition. mackenzie named this camp rascal village. at another time his men lost heart so completely over the difficulties ahead that they threw everything they were carrying into the river. mackenzie patiently sat on a stone till they had recovered from their panic. then he reasoned and coaxed and dragooned them into the spirit of courage that at last brought them safely over mountain and through cañon to peace river. on august 24, a sharp bend in the river showed them the little home fort which they had left four months before. the joy of the _voyageurs_ fairly exploded. they beat their paddles on the canoe, fired off all the ammunition that remained, waved flags, and set the cliffs ringing with shouts. mackenzie spent the following winter at chipewyan, despondent and lonely. "what a situation, starving and alone!" he writes to his cousin. the hard life was beginning to wear down the dauntless spirit. "i spend the greater part of my time in vague speculations. . . . in fact my mind was never at ease, nor could i bend it to my wishes. though i am not superstitious, my dreams cause me great annoyance. i scarcely close my eyes without finding myself in company with the dead." the following winter mackenzie left the west never to return. the story of his travels was published early in the nineteenth century, and he was knighted by the english king. the remainder of his life was spent quietly on an estate in scotland, where he died in 1820. [illustration: the mouth of the mackenzie by the light of the midnight sun.--c. w. mathers.] chapter xi 1803-1806 lewis and clark the first white men to ascend the missouri to its sources and descend the columbia to the pacific--exciting adventures on the cañons of the missouri, the discovery of the great falls and the yellowstone--lewis' escape from hostiles the spring of 1904 witnessed the centennial celebration of an area as large as half the kingdoms of europe, that has the unique distinction of having transferred its allegiance to three different flags within twenty-four hours. at the opening of the nineteenth century spain had ceded all the region vaguely known as louisiana back to france, and france had sold the territory, to the united states; but post-horse and stage of those old days travelled slowly. news of spain's cession and france's sale reached louisiana almost simultaneously. on march 9, 1804, the spanish grandees of st. louis took down their flag and, to the delight of louisiana, for form's sake erected french colors. on march 10, the french flag was lowered for the emblem that has floated over the great west ever since--the stars and stripes. how vast was the new territory acquired, the eastern states had not the slightest conception. as early as 1792 captain gray, of the ship _columbia_, from boston, had blundered into the harbor of a vast river flowing into the pacific. what lay between this river and that other great river on the eastern side of the mountains--the missouri? jefferson had arranged with john ledyard of connecticut, who had been with captain cook on the pacific, to explore the northwest coast of america by crossing russia overland; but russia had similar designs for herself, and stopped ledyard on the way. in 1803 president jefferson asked congress for an appropriation to explore the northwest by way of the missouri. now that the wealth of the west is beyond the estimate of any figure, it seems almost inconceivable that there were people little-minded enough to haggle over the price paid for louisiana--$15,000,000--and to object to the appropriation required for its exploration--$2500; but fortunately the world goes ahead in spite of hagglers. may of 1804 saw captain meriwether lewis, formerly secretary to president jefferson, and captain william clark of virginia launch out from wood river opposite st. louis, where they had kept their men encamped all winter on the east side of the mississippi, waiting until the formal transfer of louisiana for the long journey of exploration to the sources of the missouri and the columbia. their escort consisted of twenty soldiers, eleven _voyageurs_, and nine frontiersmen. the main craft was a keel boat fifty-five feet long, of light draft, with square-rigged sail and twenty-two oars, and tow-line fastened to the mast pole to track the boat upstream through rapids. an american flag floated from the prow, and behind the flag the universal types of progress everywhere--goods for trade and a swivel-gun. horses were led alongshore for hunting, and two pirogues--sharp at prow, broad at stern, like a flat-iron or a turtle--glided to the fore of the keel boat. [illustration: captain meriwether lewis.] the missouri was at flood tide, turbid with crumbling clay banks and great trees torn out by the roots, from which keel boat and pirogues sheered safely off. for the first time in history the missouri resounded to the fourth of july guns; and round camp-fire the men danced to the strains of a _voyageur's_ fiddle. usually, among forty men is one traitor, and liberte must desert on pretence of running back for a knife; but perhaps the fellow took fright from the wild yarns told by the lonely-eyed, shaggy-browed, ragged trappers who came floating down the platte, down the osage, down the missouri, with canoe loads of furs for st. louis. these men foregathered with the _voyageurs_ and told only too true stories of the dangers ahead. fires kindled on the banks of the river called neighboring indians to council. council bluffs commemorates one conference, of which there were many with iowas and omahas and ricarees and sioux. pause was made on the south side of the missouri to visit the high mound where blackbird, chief of the omahas, was buried astride his war horse that his spirit might forever watch the french _voyageurs_ passing up and down the river. [illustration: captain william clark.] by october the explorers were sixteen hundred miles north of st. louis, at the mandan villages near where bismarck stands to-day. the mandans welcomed the white men; but the neighboring tribes of ricarees were insolent. "had i these white warriors on the upper plains," boasted a chief to charles mackenzie, one of the northwest fur company men from canada, "my young men on horseback would finish them as they would so many wolves; for there are only two sensible men among them, the worker of iron [blacksmith] and the mender of guns." four canadian traders had already been massacred by this chief. captain lewis knew that his company must winter on the east side of the mountains, and there were a dozen traders--hudson bay and nor'westers--on the ground practising all the unscrupulous tricks of rivals, nor'westers driving off hudson bay horses, hudson bay men driving off nor'-westers', to defeat trade; so captain lewis at once had a fort constructed. it was triangular in shape, the two converging walls consisting of barracks with a loopholed bastion at the apex, the base being a high wall of strong pickets where sentry kept constant guard. hitherto captain lewis had been able to secure the services of french trappers as interpreters with the indians; but the next year he was going where there were no trappers; and now he luckily engaged an old nor'wester, chaboneau, whose indian wife, sacajawea, was a captive from the snake tribe of the rockies.[1] on christmas morning, the stars and stripes were hoisted above fort mandan; and all that night the men danced hilariously. on new years of 1805, the white men visited the mandan lodges, and one _voyageur_ danced "on his head" to the uproarious applause of the savages. all winter the men joined in the buffalo hunts, laying up store of pemmican. in february, work was begun on the small boats for the ascent of the missouri. by the end of march, the river had cleared of ice, and a dozen men were sent back to st. louis. at five, in the afternoon of april 7, six canoes and two pirogues were pushed out on the missouri. sails were hoisted; a cheer from the canadian traders and indians standing on the shore--and the boats glided up the missouri with flags flying from foremost prow. hitherto lewis and clark had passed over travelled ground. now they had set sail for the unknown. within a week they had passed the little missouri, the height of land that divides the waters of the missouri from those of the saskatchewan, and the great yellowstone river, first found by wandering french trappers and now for the first time explored. the current of the missouri grew swifter, the banks steeper, and the use of the tow-line more frequent. the voyage was no more the holiday trip that it had been all the way from st. louis. hunters were kept on the banks to forage for game, and once four of them came so suddenly on an open-mouthed, ferocious old bear that he had turned hunter and they hunted before guns could be loaded; and the men saved themselves only by jumping twenty feet over the bank into the river. for miles the boats had to be tracked up-stream by the tow-line. the shore was so steep that it offered no foothold. men and stones slithered heterogeneously down the sliding gravel into the water. moccasins wore out faster than they could be sewed; and the men's feet were cut by prickly-pear and rock as if by knives. on sunday, may 26, when captain lewis was marching to lighten the canoes, he had just climbed to the summit of a high, broken cliff when there burst on his glad eyes a first glimpse of the far, white "shining mountains" of which the indians told, the rockies, snowy and dazzling in the morning sun. one can guess how the weather-bronzed, ragged man paused to gaze on the glimmering summits. only one other explorer had ever been so far west in this region--young de la vérendrye, fifty years before; but the frenchman had been compelled to turn back without crossing the mountains, and the two americans were to assail and conquer what had proved an impassable barrier. the missouri had become too deep for poles, too swift for paddles; and the banks were so precipitous that the men were often poised at dizzy heights above the river, dragging the tow-line round the edge of rock and crumbly cliff. captain lewis was leading the way one day, crawling along the face of a rock wall, when he slipped. only a quick thrust of his spontoon into the cliff saved him from falling almost a hundred feet. he had just struck it with terrific force into the rock, where it gave him firm handhold, when he heard a voice cry, "good god, captain, what shall i do?" [illustration: tracking up-stream.] windsor, a frontiersman, had slipped to the very verge of the rock, where he lay face down with right arm and leg completely over the precipice, his left hand vainly grabbing empty air for grip of anything that would hold him back. captain lewis was horrified, but kept his presence of mind; for the man's life hung by a thread. a move, a turn, the slightest start of alarm to disturb windsor's balance--and he was lost. steadying his voice, captain lewis shouted back, "you're in little danger. stick your knife in the cliff to hoist yourself up." with the leverage of the knife, windsor succeeded in lifting himself back to the narrow ledge. then taking off his moccasins, he crawled along the cliff to broader foothold. lewis sent word for the crews to wade the margin of the river instead of attempting this pass--which they did, though shore water was breast high and ice cold. [illustration: typical mountain trapper.] the missouri had now become so narrow that it was hard to tell which was the main river and which a tributary; so captain lewis and four men went in advance to find the true course. leaving camp at sunrise, captain lewis was crossing a high, bare plain, when he heard the most musical of all wilderness sounds--the far rushing that is the voice of many waters. far above the prairie there shimmered in the morning sun a gigantic plume of spray. surely this was the great falls of which the indians told. lewis and his men broke into a run across the open for seven miles, the rush of waters increasing to a deafening roar, the plume of spray to clouds of foam. cliffs two hundred feet high shut off the view. down these scrambled lewis, not daring to look away from his feet till safely at bottom, when he faced about to see the river compressed by sheer cliffs over which hurled a white cataract in one smooth sheet eighty feet high. the spray tossed up in a thousand bizarre shapes of wind-driven clouds. captain lewis drew the long sigh of the thing accomplished. he had found the great falls of the missouri. [illustration: the discovery of the great falls.] seating himself on the rock, he awaited his hunters. that night they camped under a tree near the falls. morning showed that the river was one succession of falls and rapids for eighteen miles. here was indeed a stoppage to the progress of the boats. sending back word to captain clark of the discovery of the falls, lewis had ascended the course of the cascades to a high hill when he suddenly encountered a herd of a thousand buffalo. it was near supper-time. quick as thought, lewis fired. what was his amazement to see a huge bear leap from the furze to pounce on the wounded quarry; and what was bruin's amazement to see the unusual spectacle of a thing as small as a man marching out to contest possession of that quarry? man and bear reared up to look at each other. bear had been master in these regions from time immemorial. man or beast--which was to be master now? lewis had aimed his weapon to fire again, when he recollected that it was not loaded; and the bear was coming on too fast for time to recharge. captain lewis was a brave man and a dignified man; but the plain was bare of tree or brush, and the only safety was inglorious flight. but if he had to retreat, the captain determined that he _would_ retreat only at a walk. the rip of tearing claws sounded from behind, and lewis looked over his shoulder to see the bear at a hulking gallop, open-mouthed,--and off they went, explorer and exploited, in a sprinting match of eighty yards, when the grunting roar of pursuer told pursued that the bear was gaining. turning short, lewis plunged into the river to mid-waist and faced about with his spontoon at the bear's nose. a sudden turn is an old trick with all indian hunters; the bear floundered back on his haunches, reconsidered the sport of hunting this new animal, man, and whirled right about for the dead buffalo. [illustration: fighting a grizzly.] it took the crews from the 15th to the 25th of june to _portage_ past the great falls. cottonwood trees yielded carriage wheels two feet in diameter, and the masts of the pirogues made axletrees. on these wagonettes the canoes were dragged across the _portage_. it was hard, hot work. grizzlies prowled round the camp at night, wakening the exhausted workers. the men actually fell asleep on their feet as they toiled, and spent half the night double-soling their torn moccasins, for the cactus already had most of the men limping from festered feet. yet not one word of complaint was uttered; and once, when the men were camped on a green along the _portage_, a _voyageur_ got out his fiddle, and the sore feet danced, which was more wholesome than moping or poulticing. the boldness of the grizzlies was now explained. antelope and buffalo were carried over the falls. the bears prowled below for the carrion. after failure to construct good hide boats, two other craft, twenty-five and thirty-three feet long, were knocked together, and the crews launched above the rapids for the far shining mountains that lured like a mariner's beacon. night and day, when the sun was hot, came the boom-boom as of artillery from the mountains. the _voyageurs_ thought this the explosion of stones, but soon learned to recognize the sound of avalanche and land-slide. the river became narrower, deeper, swifter, as the explorers approached the mountains. for five miles rocks rose on each side twelve hundred feet high, sheer as a wall. into this shadowy cañon, silent as death, crept the boats of the white men, vainly straining their eyes for glimpse of egress from the watery defile. a word, a laugh, the snatch of a _voyageur's_ ditty, came back with elfin echo, as if spirits hung above the dizzy heights spying on the intruders. springs and tenuous, wind-blown falls like water threads trickled down each side of the lofty rocks. the water was so deep that poles did not touch bottom, and there was not the width of a foot-hold between water and wall for camping ground. flags were unfurled from the prows of the boats to warn marauding indians on the height above that the _voyageurs_ were white men, not enemies. darkness fell on the cañon with the great hushed silence of the mountains; and still the boats must go on and on in the darkness, for there was no anchorage. finally, above a small island in the middle of the river, was found a tiny camping ground with pine-drift enough for fire-wood. here they landed in the pitchy dark. they had entered the gates of the rockies on the 19th of july. in the morning bighorn and mountain goat were seen scrambling along the ledges above the water. on the 25th the three forks of the missouri were reached. here the indian woman, sacajawea, recognized the ground and practically became the guide of the party, advising the two explorers to follow the south fork or the jefferson, as that was the stream which her tribe followed when crossing the mountains to the plains. [illustration: packer carrying goods across portage.] it now became absolutely necessary to find mountain indians who would supply horses and guide the white men across the divide. in the hope of finding the indian trail, captain lewis landed with two men and preceded the boats. he had not gone five miles when to his sheer delight he saw a snake indian on horseback. ordering his men to keep back, he advanced within a mile of the horseman and three times spread his blanket on the ground as a signal of friendship. the horseman sat motionless as bronze. captain lewis went forward, with trinkets held out to tempt a parley, and was within a few hundred yards when the savage wheeled and dashed off. lewis' men had disobeyed orders and frightened the fellow by advancing. deeply chagrined, lewis hoisted an american flag as sign of friendship and continued his march. tracks of horses were followed across a bog, along what was plainly an indian road, till the sources of the missouri became so narrow that one of the men put a foot on each side and thanked god that he had lived to bestride the missouri. stooping, all drank from the crystal spring whose waters they had traced for three thousand miles from st. louis. following a steep declivity, they were presently crossing the course of a stream that flowed west and must lead to some branch of the columbia. [illustration: spying on an enemy's fort.] suddenly, on the cliff in front, captain lewis discovered two squaws, an indian, and some dogs. unfurling his flag, he advanced. the indians paused, then dashed for the woods. lewis tried to tie some presents round the dogs' necks as a peace-offering, but the curs made off after their master. the white men had not proceeded a mile before they came to three squaws, who never moved but bowed their heads to the ground for the expected blow that would make them captives. throwing down weapons, lewis pulled up his sleeve to show that he was white. presents allayed all fear, and the squaws had led him two miles toward their camp when sixty warriors came galloping at full speed with arrows levelled. the squaws rushed forward, vociferating and showing their presents. three chiefs at once dismounted, and fell on captain lewis with such greasy embraces of welcome that he was glad to end the ceremony. pipes were smoked, presents distributed, and the white men conducted to a great leathern lodge, where lewis announced his mission and prepared the indians for the coming of the main force in the boats. [illustration: indian camp at foothills of rockies.] the snakes scarcely knew whether to believe the white man's tale. the indian camp was short of provisions, and lewis urged the warriors to come back up the trail to meet the advancing boats. the braves hesitated. cameahwait, the chief, harangued till a dozen warriors mounted their horses and set out, lewis and his men each riding behind an indian. captain clark could advance only slowly, and the indians with lewis grew suspicious as they entered the rocky denies without meeting the explorers' party. half the snakes turned back. among those that went on were three women. to demonstrate good faith, lewis again mounted a horse behind an indian, though the bare-back riding over rough ground at a mad pace was almost jolting his bones apart. a spy came back breathless with news for the hungry warriors that one of the white hunters had killed a deer, and the whole company lashed to a breakneck gallop that nearly finished lewis, who could only cling for dear life to the indian's waist. the poor wretches were so ravenous that they fell on the dead deer and devoured it raw. it was here that lewis expected the boats. they were not to be seen. the indians grew more distrustful. the chief at once put fur collars, after the fashion of indian dress, round the white men's shoulders. as this was plainly a trick to conceal the whites in case of treachery on their part, lewis at once took off his hat and placed it on the chief's head. then he hurried the indians along, lest they should lose courage completely. to his mortification, captain clark did not appear. to revive the indians' courage, the white men then passed their guns across to the snakes, signalling willingness to suffer death if the indians discovered treachery. that night all the indians hid in the woods but five, who slept on guard round the whites. if anything had stopped clark's advance, lewis was lost. though neither knew it, lewis and clark were only four miles apart, clark, chaboneau, the guide, and sacajawea, the indian woman, were walking on the shore early in the morning, when the squaw began to dance with signs of the most extravagant joy. looking ahead, clark saw one of lewis' men, disguised as an indian, leading a company of snake warriors that the squaw had recognized as her own people, from whom she had been wrested when a child. the indians broke into songs of delight, and sacajawea, dashing through the crowd, threw her arms round an indian woman, sobbing and laughing and exhibiting all the hysterical delight of a demented creature. sacajawea and the woman had been playmates in childhood and had been captured in the same war; but the snake woman had escaped, while sacajawea became a slave and married the french guide. meanwhile, captain clark was being welcomed by lewis and the chief, cameahwait. sacajawea was called to interpret. cameahwait rose to speak. the poor squaw flung herself on him with cries of delight. in the chief of the snakes she had recognized her brother. laced coats, medals, flags, and trinkets were presented to the snakes; but though willing enough to act as guides, the indians discouraged the explorers about going on in boats. the western stream was broken for leagues by terrible rapids walled in with impassable precipices. boats were abandoned and horses bought from the snakes. the white men set their faces northwestward, the southern trail, usually followed by the snakes, leading too much in the direction of the spanish settlements. game grew so scarce that by september the men were without food and a colt was killed for meat. by october the company was reduced to a diet of dog; but the last divide had been crossed. horses were left with an indian chief of the flatheads, and the explorers glided down the clearwater, leading to the columbia, in five canoes and one pilot boat. great was the joy in camp on november 8, 1805; for the boats had passed the last _portage_ of the columbia. when heavy fog rose, there burst on the eager gaze of the _voyageurs_ the shining expanse of the pacific. the shouts of the jubilant _voyageurs_ mingled with the roar of ocean breakers. like alexander mackenzie of the far north a decade before, lewis and clark had reached the long-sought western sea. they had been first up the missouri, first across the middle rockies, and first down the columbia to the pacific. seven huts, known as fort clatsop, were knocked up on the south side of the columbia's harbor for winter quarters; and a wretched winter the little fort spent, beleaguered not by hostiles, but by such inclement damp that all the men were ill before spring and their very leather suits rotted from their backs. many a time, coasting the sea, were they benighted. spreading mats on the sand, they slept in the drenching rain. unused to ocean waters, the inland voyageurs became deadly seasick. once, when all were encamped on the shore, an enormous tidal wave broke over the camp with a smashing of log-drift that almost crushed the boats. nez perces and flatheads had assisted the white men after the snake guides had turned back. clatsops and chinooks were now their neighbors. christmas and new year of 1806 were celebrated by a discharge of firearms. no boats chanced to touch at the columbia during the winter. the time was passed laying up store of elk meat and leather; for the company was not only starving, but nearly naked. the pacific had been reached on november 14, 1805. fort clatsop was evacuated on the afternoon of march 23, 1806. the goods left to trade for food and horses when lewis and clark departed from the coast inland had dwindled to what could have been tied in two handkerchiefs; but necessity proved the mother of invention, and the men cut the brass buttons from their tattered clothes and vended brass trinkets to the indians. the medicine-chest was also sacrificed, every indian tribe besieging the two captains for eye-water, fly-blisters, and other patent wares. the poverty of the white man roused the insolence of the natives on the return over the mountains. rocks were rolled down on the boatmen at the worst _portages_ by aggressive indians; and once, when the hungry _voyageurs_ were at a meal of dog meat, an indian impudently flung a live pup straight at captain lewis' plate. in a trice the pup was back in the fellow's face; lewis had seized a weapon; and the crestfallen aggressor had taken ignominiously to his heels. when they had crossed the mountains, the forces divided into three parties, two to go east by the yellowstone, one under lewis by the main missouri. somewhere up the height of land that divides the southern waters of the saskatchewan from the northern waters of the missouri, the tracks of minnetaree warriors were found. these were the most murderous raiders of the plains. over a swell of the prairie lewis was startled to see a band of thirty horses, half of them saddled. the indians were plainly on the war-path, for no women were in camp; so lewis took out his flag and advanced unfalteringly. an indian came forward. lewis and the chief shook hands, but lewis now had no presents to pacify hostiles. camping with the minnetarees for the night, as if he feared nothing, lewis nevertheless took good care to keep close watch on all movements. he smoked the pipe of peace with them as late as he dared; and when he retired to sleep, he had ordered fields and the other two white men to be on guard. at sunrise the indians crowded round the fire, where fields had for the moment carelessly laid his rifle. simultaneously, the warriors dashed at the weapons of the sleeping white men, while other indians made off with the explorers' horses. with a shout, fields gave the alarm, and pursuing the thieves, grappled with the indian who had stolen his rifle. in the scuffle the indian was stabbed to the heart. drewyer succeeded in wresting back his gun, and lewis dashed out with his pistol, shouting for the indians to leave the horses. the raiders were mounting to go off at full speed. the white men pursued on foot. twelve horses fell behind; but just as the indians dashed for hiding behind a cliff, lewis' strength gave out. he warned them if they did not stop he would shoot. an indian turned to fire with one of the stolen weapons, and instantly lewis' pistol rang true. the fellow rolled to earth mortally wounded; but lewis felt the whiz of a bullet past his own head. having captured more horses than they had lost, the white men at once mounted and rode for their lives through river and slough, sixty miles without halt; for the minnetarees would assuredly rally a larger band of warriors to their aid. a pause of an hour to refresh the horses and a wilder ride by moonlight put forty more miles between captain lewis and danger. at daylight the men were so sore from the mad pace for twenty-four hours that they could scarcely stand; but safety depended on speed and on they went again till they reached the main missouri, where by singularly good luck some of the other _voyageurs_ had arrived. [illustration: on guard.] the entire forces were reunited below the yellowstone on august 12th. traders on the way up the missouri from st. louis brought first news of the outer world, and the discoverers were not a little amused to learn that they had been given up for dead. at the mandans, colter, one of the frontiersmen, asked leave to go back to the wilds; and chaboneau, with his dauntless wife, bade the white men farewell. on september 20th settlers on the river bank above st. louis were surprised to see thirty ragged men, with faces bronzed like leather, passing down the river. then some one remembered who these worn _voyageurs_ were, and cheers of welcome made the cliffs of the missouri ring. on september 23d, at midday, the boats drew quietly up to the river front of st. louis. lewis and clark, the greatest pathfinders of the united states, had returned from the discovery of a new world as large as half europe, without losing a single man but sergeant floyd, who had died from natural causes a few months after leaving st. louis. what radisson had begun in 1659-1660, what de la vérendrye had attempted when he found the way barred by the rockies--was completed by lewis and clark in 1805. it was the last act in that drama of heroes who carved empire out of wilderness; and all alike possessed the same hero-qualities--courage and endurance that were indomitable, the strength that is generated in life-and-death grapple with naked primordial reality, and that reckless daring which defies life and death. those were hero-days; and they produced hero-types, who flung themselves against the impossible--and conquered it. what they conquered we have inherited. it is the great northwest. [illustration: indians of the up-country or _pays d'en haut_.] [1] mention of this man is to be found in northwest company manuscripts, lately sold in the masson collection of documents to the canadian archives and mcgill college library. it was also my good fortune--while this book was going to print--to see the entire family collection of clark's letters, owned by mrs. julia clark voorhis of new york. among these letters is one to chaboneau from clark. in spite of the cordial relations between the nor'westers and lewis and clark, these fur traders cannot conceal their fear that this trip presages the end of the fur trade. appendix for the very excellent translations of the almost untranslatable transcripts taken from the marine archives of paris, and forwarded to me by the canadian archives, i am indebted to mr. r. roy, of the marine department, ottawa, the eminent authority on french canadian genealogical matters. some of the topics in the appendices are of such a controversial nature--the whereabouts of the mascoutins, for instance--that at my request mr. roy made the translation absolutely literal no matter how incongruous the wording. to those who say radisson was not on the missouri i commend appendix e, where the tribes of the west are described. appendix a copy of letter written to m. comporté by m. chouart, at london, the 29th april, 1685 sir, i have received the two letters with which you have honored me; i have even received one inclosed that i have not given, for reasons that i will tell you, god willing, in a few days. i have received your instructions contained in the one and the other, as to the way i should act, and i should not have failed to execute all that you order me for the service of our master, if i had been at full liberty so to do; you must have no doubt about it, because my inclination and my duty agree perfectly well. all the advantages that i am offered did not for a moment cause me to waver, but, in short, sir, i could not go to paris, and i shall be happy to go and meet you by the route you travel. i shall be well pleased to find landed the people you state will be there; in case they may have the commission you speak of in your two letters, have it accompanied if you please with a memorandum of what i shall have to do for the service of our master. i know of a case whereby i am sufficiently taught that it is not safe to undertake too many things, however advantageous they may be, nor undertaking too little. i am convinced, sir, that having orders, i will carry them out at the risk of my life, and i flatter myself that you do not doubt it. there is much likelihood that the men you sent last year are lost. i should like, sir, to be at the place you desire me to go; be assured i will perish, or be there as soon as i possibly can; it is saying enough. i do not answer to the rest of your letter, it is sufficient that i am addressing a sensible man, who, knowing my heart, will not doubt that i will keep my word with him, as i believe he will do all he can for my interests. i am, with much anxiety to see you, sir, your most humble and most obedient servant, (signed) chouart. i will leave here only on the 25th of next month. appendix b copy of letter written by m. chouart to mrs. des groseillers, his mother at london, 11th april, 1685. my very dear mother, i learn by the letter you have written me, of the 2nd november last, that my father has returned from france without obtaining anything at that court, which made you think of leaving quebec; my sentiment would be that you abandon this idea as i am strongly determined to go and be by you at the first opportunity i get, which shall be, god willing, as soon as i have taken means to that effect when i have returned from the north. i hope to start on this voyage in a month or six weeks at the latest; i cannot determine on what date i could be near you; my father may know what difficulties there are. however, i hope to surmount them, and there is nothing i would not do to that end. the money i left with my cousin is intended to buy you a house, as i have had always in mind to do, had not my father opposed it, but now i will do it so as to give you a chance to get on, and always see you in the country where i will live. i have been made, here, proposals of marriage, to which i have not listened, not being here under the rule of my king nor near my parents, and i would have left this kingdom had i been given the liberty to do so, but they hold back on me my pay and the price of my merchandise, and i cannot sail away as orders have been given to arrest me in case i should prepare to leave. what you fear in reference to my money should not give you any uneasiness on account of the english. i will cause it to be pretty well known that i never intended to follow the english. i have been surprised and forced by my uncle's subterfuges to risk this voyage being unable to escape the english vessels where my uncle made me go without disclosing his plan, which he has worked out in bringing me here, but i will not disclose mine either: to abandon this nation. i am willing that my cousin should pay you the income on my money, until i return home. m. the earl of denonville, your governor, will see to my mother's affairs, as they who render service to the country will not be forsaken as in the past, and being generous as he is, loyal and zealous for his country, he will inform the court what there is to be done for the benefit of our nation. i am, my dear mother, to my father and to you, most obedient servant, (signed) chouart. and below is written:-mother, i pray you to see on my behalf m. du lude, and assure him of my very humble services. i will have the honor of seeing him as soon as i can. please do the same with m. peray and all our good friends. appendix c council held at fort pontchartrain, in lake erie strait, 8th june, 1704. by the indians kiskacous, ottawa, sinagot of the sable nation, hurons, saulteurs (sault indians), amikoique (amikoués), mississaugas, nipissings, miamis and wolves, in the presence of m. de lamothe-cadillac, commanding at the said fort; de tonty, captain of a detachment of marines; the rev f. constantin, recollet missionary at the said post; messrs desnoyers and radisson, principal clerks of the company of the colony, and of all the french, soldiers as well as _voyageurs_. the one named forty sols, (40 half-penny), indian chief of the huron nation speaks as much on behalf of the said nation as of all those present at the meeting. the french having come, he said:-"we ask that all the french be present at this council so that they hear and know what we will say to you. "we are well on this land, it is very good, and we are much pleased with it; listen well, father, we pray you. "mrs de tonty went away last year; she did not return; we see you going away to-day, father, with your wife, your children and all the frenchwomen as well as that of m. radisson, who is going down with you; that reveals to us that you abandon us. "we are angry for good and ill-disposed if the women go away. we pray you to pay attention to this because we could not stop you nor your young men: we demand that radisson remains, or at least, that he returns promptly." by a necklace (wampum) "we will escort your wife and the other frenchwomen who intend to go down to montreal. now, mind well what we are asking you. "we readily see that the governor is a liar, as he does not keep to what he has promised us; as he has lied to us we will lie to him also, and we will listen no more to his word. "what brings that man here (speaking of m. desnoyers)? we do not know him and do not understand him; we are ill-disposed. it is two years since you have been gathering in our peltries, part of which has been taken down; we will allow nothing to leave until the french come up with goods." by another necklace "father, we pray you to send back that man (speaking of m. desnoyers), because if he remains here, we do not answer for his safety; our people have told us that he despises our peltries and only wanted beaver; where does he want us to get it. we absolutely want him to go; nothing will leave the house where the trading is done and where the peltries and bundles are, until the french arrive here with merchandise and they be allowed to trade. when we came here, the governor did not tell us that the merchants would be masters over the merchandise; he lied to us; we ask that all the frenchmen trade here; we pray you to write and tell him what we are saying, and if he does not listen to us, we will also refuse to accept his word. "the land is not yours, it is ours, and we will leave it to go where we like without anybody finding fault. we regret having allowed the surgeon to leave as we apprehend he will not come back. "we pray you will cause to remain gauvereau the blacksmith and gunsmith. "i have nothing more to say, i have spoken for all the nations here present." m. de lamothe had a question put to the ottawa and the other nations, if that was their sentiment; they all answered: yes, and that they were of one and the same mind. he told them that, seeing they had taken time to think over what they had just said, he would consider as to what he had to answer them, and, put them off to the morrow, after having accepted their necklace. (not signed.) council held at fort pontchartrain, in lake erie strait, the 9th june, 1704. by the indians kiskacous; ottawas; sinagotres, the sable nation; hurons; sauteux (sault ste marie indians); amikoique (beaver nation); mississaugas; miamis and wolves in the presence of m. de lamothe-cadillac, commanding at the said fort; de tonty, captain of a detachment of marines; the rev f. constantin, recollet missionary at the said post, messrs desnoyers and radisson, principal clerks of the company of the colony, and of all the french, soldiers as well as _voyageurs_. m. de lamothe addressed all the said nations:-"as you requested me to pay attention to your words, please listen, the same, to-day. "i was aware that mdme. de tonty's trip to montreal last year had given you umbrage, because she did not come back; and the cause of it is her pregnancy. "i knew also that my wife's setting out for montreal as also the other frenchwomen was causing you uneasiness, because you believed i was going to abandon you. it is true she was going away, but it was not for ever. i showed her your necklace; that her children would miss her very much and that they begged of her to stay. when she heard of your grief, she accepted your necklace and she will stay for some time, because she does not like to refuse her children; the other frenchwomen will remain also. "you spoke ill of the governor when you said he was a liar. if anyone told you that he was forsaking you, i will be pleased if you will tell me who it is. as for me i have no knowledge of it. "m. desnoyers was present when you offered your necklace, and like me he heard your statement. he told me you were wrong to complain about him because he would not take your peltries and that he wanted beaver only; you are complaining inopportunely seeing that he has not done any trading. you should tell me who made those reports. but as you are not glad to see him, he has decided to go back, and as i am going down to montreal on good business, he will accompany me, and also m. radisson, because the governor wants him, and he must obey, and we will arrange so that we come back together. "you have asked me to write down your speech to the governor. i will be the bearer of it. i have not the authority to have the french to trade here; it is a matter that m. the governor will settle with m. the intendant. "the governor did not lie to you because he did not notify you the first year, that the merchants would be masters of the merchandise, because it was the king who sent it here then and i could dispose of it; since then, an order came from the king in favor of the merchants. "this land is mine, because i am the first one who lighted a fire thereon, and you all took some to light yours. "i am very glad that you like this land, and that you find it is good. "it is of no consequence that the surgeon left, because when one goes another comes, and the same applies for the gunsmith. "i have no more to tell you. here is some tobacco that you may all smoke together, and that it may give you wisdom until i return and the governor sends you his word. attend to your mother during my absence, and see that she does not want for provisions, for if you do not take care of her, on my return i will not give you a drink of brandy. "m. de tonty replaces me; i pray you to be on good terms with him." forty sols, chief of the hurons, spoke for all the indians:-"we remember well, father, of what we said yesterday because you repeat it to-day. we thank you for having listened to us and granted all we asked you. we thank the women for not going away, because their remaining is as if you remained. from to-morrow we will stimulate our young men to go after provisions for our mother. "it is three years ago, when in montreal at the general meeting our chiefs died, the governor told us to have courage, that he was sorry for us, that he saw we were very far to come and get goods in montreal, and he invited us to come and settle around you, and that he would send us merchandise at the same price as in montreal. this worked well for two years, but goods rose up too much in price the third year. "the first year you came, we were very happy, but now we are naked, not even having a bad shirt to put on our back. we would be pleased by the establishment of several stores here, because if we were refused in one, we could go to another. "we are very glad of m. desnoyers' going back because we do not know him and we fear some of our young men may be ill-disposed. "we were under the impression the governor had sold us to the merchants since they are the masters of the commerce. "it is true that we took of your fire to light ours but we have waited two years without anything coming this way so that your land is ours. i told the same thing to the governor last year in montreal. "have courage, father, we will pray god for you during your voyage so that you may bring back good news." (not signed.) appendix d cie des indes (indies co'y) renders account to the said company of the death of mr. radisson, receiver at montreal, of the nomination ad interim of mr. gamelin to fill the vacancy of receiver, of account to render by mr. deplessis, heir of mr. radisson to reëstablish price of summer beaver as before ordinance of the 4th january, 1733. at quebec, the 25th october, 1735. gentlemen, i have received the letter you did me the honor to send me of the 9th march last. m. radisson, your receiver at montreal, died there the 14th of june and immediately m. gamelin, merchant, to whom messrs la gorgendière and daine had given three years ago, had commissioned to look after your interests in default or in case of death of m. radisson, applied to m. michel, my sub-delegate to affix the seals on of all your effects, which was done according to the account rendered you by messrs. la gorgendière and daine. it was necessary to fill the vacancy. i have appointed temporarily in virtue of the authority, you gave, gentlemen, the same m. gamelin; i thought i could not have your interests in better hands, as much for his honesty than his intelligence in regulating his sales and his receipts. independently of the knowledge he has of the different qualities of beaver, i have had the honor to speak to you on this subject in my preceding letters and to say that the only obstacle i find to giving him the office of receiver at montreal was his quality of merchant outfitter for the upper country, which might render him suspicious to you because of the returns he gets in beaver. although i have a pretty good opinion of him to believe his loyalty proof against any particular interest, you shall see, gentlemen, by the copy of the commission i have given him, which is sent you, that it is on condition either directly or indirectly to do no traffic in the upper country, and to confine himself either to marine trade or other inland commerce, to which he has agreed, but nevertheless has represented to me that being engaged as a partner with m. lamarque, another merchant, for the working out of the post named "the western sea" and that of the sioux; this partnership only terminating in 1737; that he was looking around to sell his share, but, if this thing was impossible requesting me to kindly allow him to continue until that term, past which he would cease all commerce in the upper country. i agreed to this arrangement on account of his good qualities, and this will not turn to any account of consequence; whatever, selection you may make, gentlemen, you will not find a better one in this country. m. de la gorgendière having offered me his son to act as clerk to m. gamelin and comptroller in the montreal office, for the auditing to be made, without increasing on that score the expenditure of your administration, i have consented on these conditions; m. gamelin to give him 800 livres (shillings) on the commission of one per cent the company allow the receiver at montreal, and m. daine has assured me he was satisfied with his work. i will not entertain, you, messieurs, with the discussion of the account to be rendered by m. duplessis, m. radisson's heir, to your agent, who claims he owes 5 to 6000 livres. those discussions did not take place in my presence. most of the beaver shipped this year were put up in bundles, and shortage in cotton cloth for packing prevented shipment of the whole. the disturbances which have occurred for some years in the upper country have effectively prevented the indians from hunting; the post of the bay which abounds ordinarily with beaver, produced nothing; those of detroit and michilimakinac, only furnished very little. happily the post of the sioux and of the western sea produced near to 100,000 which swelled up the receipt; otherwise it would have been very middling. the party commanded by m. desnoyelles against the indians sakis and foxes was not as successful as expected on account of the desertion and retreat of 100 hurons and iroquois who left him when at the kakanons (kiskanons of michilimakinac?) without his being able to hold them, so that this officer found himself after a long tramp at those indians' fort, not only inferior in numbers but also much in want of provisions. he was under the necessity of returning after a rather sharp skirmish which took place between some of his men and the enemy. we lost two frenchmen and one of our indians; the foxes and sakis lost 21 men, either killed, wounded or captured. if the sakis come back to the bay, as they pledged themselves to m. desnoyelles we are in hopes here that peace will again flourish and consequently the trade of the upper country. i have seen, gentlemen, what you were pleased to say as to reduction in price on the summer-beaver. i had been assured by reliable persons that this reduction might become very injurious to your commerce. i have learned that some of this kind of beaver were carried to the english who pay two livres (shillings) for one and at a higher price than you pay over your counters. it was from what you wrote me in 1732, that the hatters could make no use of that beaver, that at your request i published an ordinance of the 4th january, 1733, reducing the price of summer-beaver either green (gras) or dry (sec) to ten pence a pound, on condition that it should be burned. there could be nothing suspicious in that. but since you now deem that that reduction may be harmful, as i have also had in mind to invite the indians and even the french under this pretence to take the good as well as the bad beaver to the english; i will restore the price of the summer-beaver as it was before my ordinance. i will not be at a loss for a cause: it is not in your interest to give a lower price. you run your commerce, gentlemen, with too much good faith to give rise to suspicion that you wished for a reduction in price to 10 pence for this kind of beaver, and having it burned only to procure it yourself at that price and not burn it. besides, the quantity received is too small a matter to deserve consideration. [sidenote: beaver hats half worked made in the country.] m. the marquis de beauharnois and i have received the orders of the king with reference to beaver hats half worked made in canada. his majesty has ordered us to break up the workmen's benches and to prevent any manufacture of hats. we have made some representations on this subject, to those made to us, namely by a man named ------, hatter, and your receiver at quebec. it is true that the making of beaver hats half worked and other for export to france could turn out of consequence in ruining your privilege and the hat establishments in france. these are the only inconveniences, to my mind, to be feared, as i do not look upon such, the making of hats for the use of residents of the country. so that we have satisfied ourselves, until further orders, to forbid the going, out of the colony, of all kind of hats, as you will see by the ordinance we have published together, m. the general and i. if we had been more strict, the three hatters established in this colony, who know no other business than their trade, the man -----amongst others, who follow that calling from father to son, would have been reduced to begging. the quantity of hats they will manufacture when export is stopped, cannot be of any injury to the manufactures of the kingdom and be but of small matter to your commerce. moreover, i am aware that these hatters employ the worst kind of beaver, which they get very cheap, and your stores at paris are that much rid of them. [sidenote: defects in list of cloth sent.] the cloths you sent this year are of better quality than the precedding shipment. messrs la gorgendiere, daine and gamelin have observed on defects which happen in the lists; they told me they would inform you. [sidenote: remittance of 300 livres (shillings) to the baron de longueuil.] i have the honor to thank you, gentlemen, for the remittance of 300 livres you were pleased to grant to m. the baron of longueuil, on my recommendation. it is very difficult to prevent the indians going to chouaguen; the brandy that the english give out freely is an invincible attraction. i have heard, the same as you, that some frenchmen disguised as indians had been there; if i can discover some one, you may be sure that i will deal promptly with them. you may have heard that the man lenoir, resident of montreal, having gone to england three years ago without leave, i have kept him in prison till he had settled the fine he was condemned to pay, and which i transferred to the hospitals. i add that a part of the interest you have in the indians not going to chouaguen, i have another on account of the trading carried on for the benefit of the king at niagara and at fort frontenac which that english post has ruined. by all means you may rely on my attention to break up english trade. i fear i may not succeed in this so long as the brandy traffic, although moderate, will find adversaries among those who govern consciences. [sidenote: foreign trade; beaver at trade at labrador.] i will do my best to prevent the beaver which is traded at labrador and the other posts in the lower part of the river to be smuggled to france by ships from bayonne, st malo and marseille. this will be difficult as we cannot have at those posts any inspector. i will try, however, to give an ordinance so as to prevent that, which may intimidate some of those who carry on that commerce. it is true that the commandants of the upper country posts have relaxed in the sending of the declarations made or to be made by the _voyageurs_ as to the quantity and quality of the bundles of beaver they take down to montreal. m. the general and i have renewed the necessary orders on this subject so that the commandants shall conform to them. [sidenote: asks for continuation of gratuity received by mr. michel, even to increase it.] m. michel, my subdelegate at montreal has received the bounty of 500 livres you have requested your agent to pay to him; he hopes that you will be pleased to have it continued next year. i have the honor to pray you to do so, and even augment it, if possible. i can assure you, gentlemen that he lends himself on all occasions to all that may concern your commerce. as for myself, i am very flattered by the opinion you entertain that i have at heart your interests. i always feel a true satisfaction in renewing you these assurances. i am, respectfully, [sidenote: thanks for the coffee sent.] gentlemen, m. de la gorgendière has delivered to me on your behalf, a bale of moka coffee. i am very sensible, gentlemen, to this token of friendship on your part. i have the honor to thank you, and to assure you that i am very truly and respectfully, etc. (signed) hocquart. appendix e memorandum re canada (no locality) 1697 all the discoveries in america were only made step by step and little by little, especially those of lands held by the french in that part of the north. it being certain that during the reign of king francis i, several of his subjects, amateurs of shipping and of discoveries, in imitation of the portuguese and the spaniards, made the voyage, where they found the great cod bank. the quality of birds frequenting this sea where they always find food, caused them to heave the lead, and bottom was found and the said great bank. he got an opinion on the nearest lands, and other curious persons desired to go farther, and discovered cape breton, virginia and florida. some even inhabited and took possession of the divers places, abandoned since, through misunderstanding of the commanders and their poor skill in knowing how to keep on good terms with the indians of those countries, who, good natured all at the beginning, could not suffer the rigor with which it was wanted to subjugate them, so that after a short occupation, they left to return to europe. and since, the spaniards and the english successfully have taken possession of the land and all the coasts that the said english have kept until this day to much advantage, so that frenchmen who have returned since have been obliged to settle at cape breton and acadia. about the year 1540, the said cape breton was fortified by jacques carrier, captain of st malo, who afterward entered the river st. lawrence up to 7 or 8 leagues above quebec, where desiring to know more, the season also being too far advanced he stopped off to winter at a small river which bears his name and which forms the boundary of m. de becancourt's land whom he knew; he made sociable a number of indians who came aboard his ship and brought back beaver pretty abundantly. since, he made another voyage with saintonge men which did not prevent several other ships to go after the said beaver; men from dieppe, brittany and la rochelle, some with a passport and others by fraud and piracy, especially the latter, the civil war having carried away persons out of dutifulness, the admiralty and the marine being then held in very little consideration, which lasted a long time. however, i believe for having heard it said, that the lands after new discoveries were given since to m. chabot or to m. ventadour, where a certain gentleman from saintonge named m. du champlain, had very free admittance and who may have mingled with those of his country who had navigated with carrier and had given him a longing to see that of which he had only heard speak. he was a proper man for such a scheme; a great courage, wisdom, sensible, pious, fair and of great experience; a robust body which would render him indefatigable and capable to resist hunger, cold and heat. this gentleman then solicited permission to come to canada and obtained it. his small estate and his friends supplied him with a medium sized vessel for the passage. this new commandant or governor pitied much the indians and had the satisfaction at his arrival to see that he was much feared and loved by them. he took memoranda through his interpreter of their wars, their mode of living and of their interests. at that time they were numerous and proud of the great advantages they had over the iroquois, their enemy. with this information he recrossed to france; gave an account of his voyage, and was so charmed with the land, the climate and of the good which would result from a permanent establishment that he persuaded his wife to accompany him. his example induced missionaries of st. françois and some parisian families to follow him. he was granted a commission or governor's provisions to take his living from the country. he erected a palissade fort at the place now occupied by the fort st louis of quebec. to please the indians he went with them and three frenchmen only, warring in the iroquois country, which has no doubt given rise to our quarrel with this nation. the commerce was then in the hands of the rochelois (?) who supplied some provisions to the said m. de champlain, a man without interest and disposed to be content with little. he returns to france in the interests of the country and took back madam his wife who died in a ursuline convent, at saintes, i believe, and he at quebec, after having worked hard there, with little help because of the misfortunes of france. m. the cardinal of richelieu have inspired france with confidence by the humiliation of the rochelois (?) wanted to take care of the marine and formed at that time, about 1626 or 1627 what was then called the "society of one hundred," in which joined persons of all qualifications, and also merchants from dieppe and rouen. dieppe was then reputed for good navigators and for navigation. the said m. the cardinal got granted to the said company the islands of st christophe, newly discovered and all the lands of canada. the company composed of divers states did not take long to disjoin, and of this great company several were formed by themselves, the ones concerning themselves about the isles and the others about canada, where they were also divided up in a company of miscou, which is an island of the bay in the lower part of the river, where all the indians meet, and a company of tadoussac or quebec. the basques, rochelois, bretons, and normans, who during the disorders of the war had commenced secretly on the river, crossed their commerce much by the continuation of their runs without passport. sometimes on pretext of cod or whale fishing, notwithstanding the interdiction of decrees, the gain made them risk everything, as the two sides of the river were all settled and many more came down from inland. those companies for being badly served on account of inexperience and through poor economy, as will happen at the beginning of all affairs, were put to large expenses. the english had already seized on boston abandoned by the french after their new discovery; beaver and elk peltry were much sought after and at a very high price in europe; they could be had for a needle, a hawk-bell or a tin looking-glass, a marked copper coin. our possession was there very well-off. the english who made war to us in france, also made it in canada, and began to take the fleet about isle percée, as it was ascending to quebec. as four or five vessels came every year loaded with goods for the indians, it was at that time quantity of peas, plums, raisins, figs and others and provisions for m. de champlain; a garrison of 15 or 20 men; a store in the lower town where the clerks of the company lived with 10 or 12 families already used to the country. this succor failing, much hardship was endured in a country which then produced nothing by itself, so that the english presenting themselves the next year with their fleet, surrender was obligatory; the governor and the recollets crossed over to france and the families were treated honestly enough. happily in 1628 or 1629, france made it up with england and the treaty gave back canada to the french, when m. de champlain, returned and died some years later. those of the company of 100, who were persons of dignity and consideration, living in paris, thought fit to leave the care and benefits of commerce for canada with the rouen and dieppe merchants, with whom joined a few from paris. they were charged with the payment of the governor's appointments, to furnish him with provisions and subsistence and to keep up the garrisons of quebec and three-rivers where there was also a post on account of the large number of indians calling; to furnish the things necessary for the war; to pay themselves off the product and give account of the surplus to the directors of the company who had an office at paris. it has been said that dieppe and rouen benefitted and that paris suffered and was disgusted. to m. de champlain succeeded m. de montmagny, very wise and very dignified; knight of malta; relative of m. de poinsy, who commanded at the island of st christophe where the said m. de montmagny died after leaving canada after a sojourn of 14 or 15 years, loved and cherished by the french and the natives--we say the french, although the complaints made against him by the principals were the cause of his sorrow and he resigned voluntarily. it is to be remarked that all the commerce was done at rouen to go out through dieppe on the hearsay and the fine connections that the jesuit fathers who had taken the recollets' place, took great care to have printed and distributed every year. canada was in vogue and several families from normandy and the perche took sail to come and reside in it; there were nobles, the most of them poor, we might say, who found out from the first, that m. de montmagny was too disinterested to be willing to consider the change they desired for their advantage. they intrigued against him five or six families without the participation of the others, got leave from him to go to france to ask for favors and there had one of themselves as governor; obtained liberty in the beaver trade, which until then had been strictly forbidden to the inhabitants who had been reserved the fruits of the country to advance the culture of the land such as pease, indian corn, and wheat bread. that was the first title of the inhabitants to trade with the indians. to arrive at that end they promised to pay annually 1000 beaver to the paris office for its seignorial right which it did not receive through its attention and management of its affairs. they got permission to form a board from their principal men, to transact with the governor all matters in the country for peace, for war, the settlement of accounts of their society or little republic, and also sitting on cases concerning interests of private individuals. it was then that to keep up this sham republic or society, a tax of one-fourth was imposed on the export of beaver. by these means the authority of the company and its store were ruined and the whole was turning to the advantage of those four or six families, the others, either poor or slighted by the authority of m. d'ailleboust, their governor. on this footing it was not hard for them to find large credit at la rochelle, because loans were made in the name of the community, although it consisted only of these four or six families; which from their being poor found themselves in large managements enlarged their household, ran into expense, that of their vessels and shipments was excessive and the wealth derived from the beaver was to pay all. their bad management altered their credit and brought them to agree, after several years' enjoyment so as not to pay la rochelle, to take their ships to hâvre-de-grace, where, on arrival they sold to messrs lick and tabac; this perfidy which they excused because of the large interest taken from them, alarmed la rochelle who complained to paris, and after much pressing a trustee was appointed to give bonds in the name of the society for large sums yet due to the city of la rochelle. their vessels all bore off to normandy; they took on their cargoes there in part, and part at la rochelle, the trade having been allowed those two places, because rouen and dieppe had several persons on the roll of the company and obligation was due la rochelle for having loaned property. the governor and the families addressed reproaches to each other, and the king being pleased to listen to them, had the kindness to appoint from the body of the company persons of first dignity to give attention to what was going on in this colony, who were called commissioners; they were messrs de morangis, de la marguerid, verthamont and chame, and since, messrs de lamoignon, de boucherat and de lauzon, the latter also of the body of the company offered to pass over to this country to arrange the difficulties, and he asked for its government, which was accorded him. he embarked at la rochelle because of the obligation of the creditors of that city to treat him gently; rouen did not care much. he was a literary man; he made friends with the r. f. jesuits, and created a new council in virtue of the powers he had brought, rebuke the one and the other place, even the inhabitants, in forbidding them to barter in what was called the limits of tadoussac, which he bounded for a particular lease as a security for his payment and of what has always since been called the offices of the country or the state of the 33,000 livres; the emoluments of the councillors, the garrison, the jesuits, the parish, the ursulines, the hote-dieu, etc. the pretext given was that the iroquois having burned and ruined the hurons or ottawa, the tax of one-fourth did not produce enough to meet those demands, and because tadoussac also was not sufficient to meet all the expenditure contemplated to give war to the iroquois, he it was also who began in not paying the thousand weight in beaver owing for seignorial right to the company who was irritated and blamed his conduct, and after the lapse of some years his friends write him they could not longer shield him he anticipated his recall in returning to france, where he has since served as sub-dean of the council, residing at the cloister of notre-dame with his son, canon at the said church. i only saw him two years in canada where he was hardly liked, by reason of the little care he took to keep up his rank, without servant, living on pork and peas like an artisan or a peasant. however, having decided to go back, for a second time he threw open the tadoussac trade, by an order of his council. m. de lamoignon, the first president, got named to replace him, m. d'argenson, young man of 30 to 32 years steady as could be, who remained four or five years to the satisfaction of everybody; he kept up the council as it is intended for the security of his emoluments and of the garrison, selected twelve of the most notable persons to whom he gave the faculty of trading at tadoussac and all the sureties to be wished for the administration and maintenance. he had the misfortune to fall out with the jesuit fathers, and they, with messieurs de mont royal, of st sulpice who had sent mr the abbey de queysac, in the hope of making a bishop of him; the former wishing to have one of their nomination presented to the queen-mother of the reigning king, whom god preserve, m. de laval, to-day elder and first bishop, who, very rigid, not only backed the jesuits against the governor in all difficulties but specially in the matter of the liquor traffic with the indians. although (d'argenson) a much god-fearing-man he had his private opinions, and this offended him; he asked m. de lamoignon for his recall, which was done in 1661, when m. d'avaugour came out. it was in 1660 that the office in paris, at the request of the governor, of the local council and on the advice of messrs de lamoignon, chame and other commissioners made an agreement with the rouen merchants to supply the inhabitants with all goods they would require with 60% profit on dry goods and 100% on liquors, freight paid. it was pretended that the country was not safely secured by ships of private parties, and that when they arrived alone by unforeseen accidents, they happened unexpectedly, to the ruin of the country; as well as the beaver fallen to a low price and which was restored only at the marriage of the king should keep up. the creditors then pressing payment of their claims, a decree ordered that of the 60%, 10% should be taken for the payment of debts which were fixed at 10,000 livres at the rate of the consumption of the time and of which the company of normandy took charge. the country was favorable enough to this treaty because they were well served, but when the treaty arrived at first, the bishop who was jealous because he had not been consulted and that some little gratification had been given to facilitate matters had it opposed by some of the inhabitants and by m. d'avaugour, governor in the place of the said d'argenson. the society of normandy consented to the breaking off of the treaty on receiving a minute account and being paid some compensation, as to which they had no satisfaction because of the changes, for m. d'avaugour, like the others, fell out with the bishop who went to france and had him revoked, presenting in his stead m. de mezy, a norman gentleman who did nothing better than to overdo all the difficulties arising on the question of the bishop and the governor's powers. the beaver dropped down, as soon, to a low price, and there was a difference by half when the king in 1664 formed the company of the west indies, which alone, to the exclusion of all others, had to supply the country with merchandise and receive also all the beaver; in 1669, came m. de tracy, de courcelles and talon; the latter did not want any company and employed all kinds of ways to ruin the one he found established. he gave to understand to m. colbert that this country was too big to be bounded; that there should come out of it fleets and armies; his plans appeared too broad, still he met with no contradiction at first, on the contrary he was lauded, which moved him to establish a large trade and put out that of the company, which through bad success in its affairs at the isles, was relaxing enough of itself in all sorts of undertakings. m. talon desiring to bring together the government and the superintendence was spending on a large scale to make friends and therefore there was not a merchant when the company quit who could transact any business in his presence; he gets his goods free of dues, freight and insurance; he also refused to pay the import tax on his wines, liquors and tobacco. finally his friends or enemies told him aloud that it was of profits of his commerce that the king would be enriched. they fell out, m. de courcelles and he; their misunderstanding forced the first to ask for his discharge. m. de frontenac, who succeeded him also complained and i believe he returned to france without his congé whence he never came back although he had promised so to all his friends. you are aware as well as and perhaps better than i of the disputes of m. de frontenac and m. du chesneau. and that is all i have been told for my satisfaction of what occurred previous to 1655 when i came here to attend to the affairs of the rouen company. i have also learned at the time of my arrival that properly speaking, though there were a very large number of indians, known under divers names, which they bear with reference to certain action that their chiefs had performed or with reference to lakes, rivers, lands or mountains which they inhabit, or sometimes to animals stocking their rivers and forests, nevertheless they could all be comprised under two mother languages, to wit: the huron and the algonquin. at that period, i was told, the huron was the most spread over men and territory, and at present, i believe, that the algonquin can well be compared to it. to note, that all the indians of the algonquin language are stationed and occupy land that we call land of the north on account of the river which divides the country into two parts, and where they all live by fishing and hunting. as well as the indians of the huron language who inhabit land to the south, where they till the land and winter wheat, horse-beans, pease, and other similar seeds to subsist; they are sedentary and the algonquin follow fish and game. however, this nation has always passed for the noblest, proudest and hardest to manage when prosperous. when the french came here the true algonquin owned land from tadoussac to quebec, and i have always thought they were issued from the saguenay. it was a tradition that they had expelled the iroquois from the said place of quebec and neighborhood where they once lived; we were shown the sites of their villages and towns covered by trees of a fresh growth, and now that the lands are of value through cultivation, the farmers find thereon tools, axes and knives as they were used to make them. we must believe that the said algonquin were really masters over the said iroquois, because they obliged them to move away so far. nobody could tell me anything certain about the origin of their war but it was of a more cruel nature between these two nations than between the said iroquois and hurons, who have the same language or nearly so. it is only known that the iroquois commenced first to burn, importuned by their enemies who came to break their heads whilst at work in their wilderness; they imagined that such cruel treatment would give them relaxation, and since, all the nations of this continent have used fire, with the exception of the abenakis and other tribes of virginia. these iroquois having had the best of the fight and reduced the algonquins since our discovery of this country, principally because their pride giving us apprehension about their large number, they would not arm themselves until a long time after the dutch had armed the iroquois, made war and ruined all the other nations who were not nearly so warlike as the algonquin, and after the war, diseases came on that killed those remaining; some have scattered in the woods, but in comparison to what i have seen on my arrival, one might say that there are no more men in this country outside of the fastnesses of the forests recently discovered. the hurons before their defeat by the iroquois had, through the hope of their conversion obliged the jesuits to establish with them a strong mission, and as from time to time it was necessary to carry to them necessities of life, the governors began to allow some of their servants to run up there every three or four years, from where they brought that good green (gras) huron beaver that the hatters seek for so much. sometimes this was kept up; sometimes no one offered for the voyage there being then so little greediness it is true that the iroquois were so feared; m. de lauson was the only one to send two individuals in 1656 who each secured 14 to 15,000 livres and came back with an indian fleet worth 100,000 crowns. however, m. d'argenson who succeeded him and was five years in the country sent nobody neither did messrs avaugour and de mezy. it was consequently after the arrival of m. talon that under pretext of discovery, and of finding copper mines, he alone became director of those voyages, for he obliged m. de courcelles to sign him congés which he got worked, but on a dispute between the workers he handled some himself, of which i remember. you know the number and the regulations given under the first administration of m. the earl of frontenac. it is certain that it is the holders of congés who look after and bring down the beaver, and, can it be said that it is wrong to have an abundance of goods. the french and the indians have come down this year; the receipts of the office must total up 200 millions or thereabouts, which judging from your letter, will surprise those gentlemen very much. the clerks have rejected it as much as they liked; i am told that they admitted somewhere about six thousands of muscovy; during our administration there were 28 or 30 thousands received, which is a large difference without taking into account other qualities, and all this does not give the french much trouble, and at the most for the year we were not informed. i have given my sentiments to the meeting, and in particular to m. de frontenac and to m. de champigny. we should be agreeable to our prince's wishes who is doing so much good to this country: his tenants who must supply him in such troubled times, lose, and it is proper that people in canada contribute something to compensate them by freely agreeing to a pretty rich receipt on their commodity but what resource in regard to the indian so interested that everything moves with him, through necessity; they are asked and sought after to receive english goods, infinitely better than ours, at a cost half as low and to pay their beaver very high. this commercial communication gives them peace with their enemies and liberty to hunt, and consequently to live in abundance instead of their living at present with great hardship. should we not say that it requires a great affection not to break away in the face of such strong attractions; if we lose them once we lose them for ever, that it is certain, and from friends they become our enemies; thus we lose not only the beaver but the colony, and absolutely no more cattle, no more grains, no more fishing. the colony with all the forces of the kingdom cannot resist the indians when they have the english or other europeans to supply them with ammunitions of war, which leads me to the query: what is the beaver worth to the english that they seek to get it by all means? if also the rumors set agoing are true the farmers-general would not sell a considerable part to the danes at a very high price, should they not have had somebody in their employ who understands and knows that article well, it appears to me that the thing is worth while. all the same, people are asking why they want to sell so dear, what costs them so little, for taking one and the other, that going out this year should not cost them more than 50s (_sous_), the entries, tadoussac, and the tax of one fourth, does it not pay the lease with profit. this is in everybody's mind, and everyone looks at it as he fancies. i was of opinion to arrange the receipts on a basis that these gentlemen got m. benac to offer, so as to avoid the difficulties on the qualities, and this opinion served to examine the loss this proposition would bring to the country in the general receipt. i have no other interest than the prince's service, and to please these gentlemen i should like to know, heartily, of some expedient, because it is absolutely necessary to find one to satisfy the indian; m. the earl of frontenac is under a delusion: i may say it, they will give us the goby, and after that all shall be lost, i am not sure even, if they would not repeat the sicilian vespers, to show their good will, and that they never want to make it up. i am so isolated that i do not say anything about it, as i am afraid for myself, but i know well that it is indian's nature to betray, and that our affairs are not at all good in the upper country. to a great evil great remedy. i had said to m. de frontenac that the 25 per cent could be abolished and make it up on something else, as it is a question of saving the country, but he did not deem fit of anything being said about it. i also told him and m. de champigny that we might treat with a dutchman to bring on a clearance english and dutch goods which are much thought of by our indians for their good quality and their price, that this vessel would not go up the river but stay below at a stated place, where we could go for his goods, and give him beaver for his rightful lading. the company should have the control of these merchandise, so as to sell them to the indians on the base of a tariff, so as to prevent the greediness of the _voyageurs_ which contributes very much to the discontent of the natives, because at first the french only went to the hurons and since to michilimakinac where they sold to the indians of the locality, who then went to exchange with other indians in distant woods, lands and rivers, but now the said frenchmen holding permits to have a larger gain pass over all the ottawas and indians of michilimakinac to go themselves and find the most distant tribes which displeased the former very much. this has led to fine discoveries and four or five hundred young men of canada's best men are employed at this business. through them we have become acquainted with several indian's names we knew not, and 4 and 500 leagues farther away, there are other indians unknown to us. down the gulf in french acadia, we have always known the abenakis and micmacs. on the north shore of the river, from seven islands up we have always known the papinachois, montagnais, poissons blancs, (white fish), (these being in what is called limits of tadoussac), mistassinis, algonquins. at quebec there are hurons, remains of the ancient hurons, defeated by the iroquois, in lake huron. there is also south of the chaudière (river), five leagues from quebec, a large village of christian abenakis. the hurons & abenakis are under the jesuit fathers. these hurons have staid at quebec so as to pray god more conveniently and without fear of the iroquois. the abenakis pray god with more fervor than any indians of these countries. i have seen and been twice with them when warring; they must have faith to believe as they do and their exactitude to live well according to principles of our religion. blessed be god! they are very good men at war and those who have give and still give so much trouble to the bostoners. at three-rivers wolves and algonquins both sides of the river. at montroyal or ville-marie there are iroquois of the five nations who have left their home to pray (everyone is free to believe) but it is certain that threefourths have no other motive nor interest to stay with us than to pray. there are, then, senecas, mohawks, cayugas, wyandotts, oneida partly on the mountain of mont-royal under the direction of messrs of st sulpice, and partly at the sault (recollet) south side, that is to say, above the rapids, under the r. f. jesuits, whose mission is larger than st sulpice's. 150 leagues from mont royal the grand river leading to the ottawas; to the north are the temiscamingues, abitiby, outanloubys, who speak algonquin. at lake nepissing, the nipissiniens, algonquin language, always going up the grand river. in lake huron, 200 leagues from montreal, the mississagues and amikoués: algonquins. at michilimackinac, the negoaschendaching or people of the sable, ottawas, linage kikacons or cut tail, the men from forked lake onnasaccoctois, the hurons, in all 1000 men or thereabouts half huron and half algonquin language. in the michigan or lake illinois, north side, the noquets, algonquins, malomini (menomeenee), or men of the folle-avoine: different language. south of puants (green) bay the wanebagoes otherwise puans, because of the name of the bay; language different from the two others. the sakis, 3 leagues from the bay, and pottewatamis, about 200 warriors. towards lake illinois, on river st joseph, the miamis or men of the crane who have three different languages, though they live together. united they would form about 600 men. above the bay, on fox river, the ottagamis, the mascoutins and the kicapoos: all together 1200 men. at maramegue river where is situated nicholas perrot's post, are some more miamis numbering five to six hundred; always the same language. the illinois midway on the illinois river making 5 to 6 different villages, making in all 2000 men. we traffic with all these nations who are all at war with the iroquois. in the lower missipy there are several other nations very numerous with whom we have no commerce and who are trading yet with nobody. above missoury river which is of the mississippi below the river illinois, to the south, there are the mascoutins nadoessioux, with whom we trade, and who are numerous. sixty leagues above the missisipi and st anthony of padua fall, there is lake issaquy otherwise lake of buade, where there are 23 villages of sioux nadoessioux who are called issaquy, and beyond lake oettatous, lower down the auctoustous, who are sioux, and could muster together 4000 warriors. because of their remoteness they only know the iroquois from what they heard the french say. in lake superior, south side are the saulteurs who are called ouchijoe (objibway), macomili, ouxcinacomigo, mixmac and living at chagoumigon, it is the name of the country, the malanas or men of the cat-fish; 60 men; always the algonquin language. michipicoten, name of the land; the machacoutiby and opendachiliny, otherwise dung-heads; lands' men; algonquin language. the picy is the name of a land of men, way inland, who come to trade. bagoasche, also name of a place of men of same nation who come also to trade 200 and 300 men. osepisagny river being discharge of lake asemipigon; sometimes the indians of the lake come to trade; they are called kristinos and the nation of the great rat. these men are algonquins, numbering more than 2000, and also go to trade with the english of the north. there are too the chichigoe who come sometimes to us, sometimes north to the english. towards west-northwest, it is nations called fir-trees; numerous; all their traffic is with the english. all those north nations are rovers, as was said, living on fish and game or wild-oats which is abundant on the shores of their lakes and rivers. in lake ontario, south side, the five iroquois nations; our enemies; about 1200 warriors live on indian corn and by hunting. we can say, that, of all the indians they are the most cruel during war, as during peace they are the most humane, hospitable, and sociable; they are sensible at their meetings, and their behaviour resembles much to the manners of republics of europe. lake ontario has 200 leagues in circumference. lake erie above niagara 250 leagues; lakes huron and michigan joined 552 leagues: to have access to these three lakes by boat, there is only the portage of niagara, of two leagues, above the said lake ontario. all those who have been through those lakes say they are terrestrial paradises for abundance of venison, game, fishing, and good quality of the land. from the said lakes to go to lake superior there is only one portage of 15 (?). the said lake is 500 leagues long in a straight line, from point to point, without going around coves nor the bays of michipicoten and kaministiquia. to go from lake superior to lake asemipigon there is only 15 leagues to travel, in which happen seven portages averaging 3 good leagues; the said lake has a circumference of 280 leagues. from lake huron to lake nipissing there is the river called french river, 25 leagues long; there are 3 portages; the said lake has 60 to 80 leagues of circumference. lake assiniboel is larger than lake superior, and an infinity of others, lesser and greater have to be discovered, for which i approve of m. the marquis of denonville's saying, often repeated:--that the king of france, our monarch was not high lord enough to open up such a vast country, as we are only beginning to enter on the confines of the immensity of such a great country. the road to enter it is by the grand river and lake ontario by niagara, which should be easy in peaceful times in establishing families at niagara for the portage, and building boats on lake erie. i did not find that a difficult thing, and i want to do it under m. the marquis of denonville, who did not care, so soon as he perceived that his war expedition had not succeeded. i have given you in this memorandum the names of the natives known to us and with whom our wood rovers (coureurs de bois) have traded; my information comes from some of the most experienced. the surplus of the memorandum will serve to inform you that prior to m. de tracy, de courcelle and talon's arrival, nothing was regulated but by the governor's will, although there was a board; as they were his appointments and that by appearances, only his creatures got in, he was the absolute master of it and which was the cause that the colony and the inhabitants suffered very much at the beginning. m. de tracy on his arrival by virtue of his commission dismissed the board and the councillors, to appoint another one with members chosen by himself and the bishop, which existed until the 2nd and 3rd year of m. de frontenac's reign, who had them granted at court, provisions by a decree for the establishment of the council. it is only from that time that the king having given the country over to the gentlemen of the co'y of west indies, the tax of one fourth and the tadoussac trade were looked upon as belonging to the company, and since to the king, because m. talon, who crippled as much as he could, this company dare not touch to these two items of the domain, of which the enjoyment remained to them until cessation of their lease. so, it was in favor of this company that all the regulations were granted in reference to the limits and working out of tadoussac as well as to prevent cheating on the beaver tax. tadoussac is leased to six gentlemen for the sum of ---yearly; i took shares for one fourth, as it was an occasion to dispose of some goods and a profit to everyone of at most 20 ---yearly. about beavers there is no fraud to be feared, everybody preferring to get letters of exchange to avoid the great difficulties on going out, the entry and sale in france, and of large premiums for the risks; in a word, no one defrauds nor thinks of it. the office is not large enough to receive all the beaver. the ships came in very late; i could not get m. dumenu the secretary to the board to send you the regulations you ask for the beaver trade; you shall have them, next year, if it pleases god. they contain prohibition to embark from france under a penalty of 3000 livres' fine, confiscation of the goods, even of the ships; however, under the treaty of normandy, i had a dieppe captain seized for about 200 crowns worth of beaver, and the council here confiscated the vessel, and imposed a fine of 1500 livres, on which the captain appealed to france, and he obtained at the king's council, replevin on his ship and the fine was reduced to 30 livres. as prior to m. talon nobody sent traders in the woods as explained in this memorandum there was not to my knowledge any regulation as to the said woods before the decree of 1675. on the contrary i remember that those two individuals under m. de lauzon's government who brought in each for 14. or 15,000 livres applied to me to be exempted from the tax of one fourth, because, they said we were obliged to them for having brought down a fleet which enriched the country. (not signed.) index [transcriber's note: many index entries contain references like the "9 n." in the "arms" entry. the "n." appears to refer to the footnote(s) that were on their host pages in the original book. in this e-book, all footnotes have been moved to the end of their respective chapters.] a abenaki indians, the, 363. abitiby indians, the, 364. acadia, indian tribes located in, 363. albanel, charles, jesuit missionary, 141; overland trip of, to hudson bay, 143-146; at king charles fort, 147. albany (orange), 32; iroquois freebooting expedition against, 36-38; radisson's escape to, 39-41. algonquin indian, murder of mohawk hunters by a, 20. algonquin indians, radisson and groseillers travel to the west with, 73-79; territory of the, 359; wars with the iroquois, 359-360; tribes of, on lake huron, 364. allemand, pierre, companion of radisson, 154. allouez, père claude, 142. amsterdam, radisson's early visit to, 42. arctic ocean, hearne's overland trip to, 257-265; arrival at, 265-266; mackenzie's trip of exploration to, 281-286. arms, supplied to mohawks by dutch, 9 n.; desire for, cause of sioux' friendliness to radisson, 120, 122. assiniboine indians, origin of name, 10 n., 85; radisson learns of, from prairie tribes, 85; defence of the younger groseillers by, 184; de la vérendrye meets the, 218-221; accompany de la vérendrye to the mandans, 223-227; saint-pierre's encounter with, 237. assiniboine river, 218, 219, 221-222. athabasca country, hearne explores the, 268-269. athabasca lake; hearne's arrival at, 268-269. athabasca river, 277. athabascan tribes, matonabbee and the, 249. aulneau, father, 210, 211; killed by indians, 214. b baptism of indian children by radisson and groseillers, 92. barren lands, region of "little sticks," 253-254, 259-260. bath of purification, indian, 14, 268. bay of the north. _see_ hudson bay. bayly, charles, governor of hudson's bay company, 140; in canada, 140-142; encounter with the jesuit albanel, 141-142, 147; accusations against radisson and groseillers, 147-148. bear, lewis's experience with a, 318. beauharnois, charles de, governor of new france, 201, 203, 235. _beaux hommes_, crow indians, 232. beckworth, prisoner among missouri indians, 33. belmont, abbé, cited, 5 n., 98 n. bering, vitus, 195. bigot, intendant of new france, 236. bird, prisoner of the blackfeet, 33. bird's egg moon, the (june), 279. blackbird, omaha chief, grave of, 311. bochart, governor of three rivers. _see_ duplessis-kerbodot. boësme, louis, 70. _boissons_, drinking matches, 280. boston, radisson and groseillers in, 136. bourassa, _voyageur_, 213. bourdon, jean, explorations by, 102, 134 n. bow indians, the, 232-233. bridgar, john, governor of hudson's bay company, 166, 169, 171, 173, 174, 175, 180. brower, j. v., cited, 88 n. bryce, dr. george, 6 n., 88 n., 187 n. buffalo-hunts, sioux, 92 n., 124. button, sir thomas, explorations of, 134 n. c cadieux, exploit and death of, 197-198. cameahwait, snake indian chief, 324-326. cannibalism among indians, 24, 77. cannibals of the barren lands, 255. cape breton, discovery and fortification of, 350. caribou, radisson's remarks on, 127. caribou herds in barren lands, 255; indian method of hunting, 259. carr, george, letter from, to lord darlington, 136 n. carr, sir robert, urges radisson to renounce france, 136. carrier, jacques, 71, 193, 350-351. cartwright, sir george, radisson and groseillers sail with, 136-137; shareholder in hudson's bay company, 140. catlin, cited, 14 n., 226. cayuga indians, the, 34, 55, 364. chaboneau, guide to lewis and clark, 312, 326, 332. chame, m., commissioner of company of normandy, 355, 357. champlain, governor in canada, 351-353. charlevoix, mission of, 202. chichigoe tribe of indians, the, 365. chinook indians, lewis and clark friends with, 328. chipewyans, bath of purification practised by, 14 n.; hearne's journey with, 257-263; massacre of eskimo by, 263-265. chouart, m., letters of, 335-337. _see_ groseillers, jean baptiste. chouart, médard. see groseillers, médard chouart. _chronique trifluvienne_, sulte's, 4 n. clark, william, companion of meriwether lewis, 308-309; exploration of yellowstone river by, 329; hero-qualities of, 332-333. _see_ lewis. clatsop indians, lewis and clark among the, 328. clearwater river, lewis and clark on the, 327. coal, use of, by indians, 89. colbert, radisson pardoned and commissioned by, 148; withholds advancement from radisson, 152; summons radisson and groseillers to france, 176-177; death of, 177. colleton, sir peter, shareholder in hudson's bay company, 140. colter, frontiersman with lewis and clark, 332. columbia river, lewis and clark travel down the, 327. company of miscou, the, 352. company of normandy, the, 354-357. company of the north, the, 151, 154, 175, 176. company of one hundred associates, the, 133, 352, 353. company of tadoussac, the, 352. company of the west indies, the, 133, 153; account of formation of, 357. comporté, m., letter to, from m. chouart, 335-336. coppermine river ("far-off-metal river"), 245, 249, 252, 262, 267. copper mines, radisson receives reports of, 112, 124; discovery of, by hearne, 267. council bluffs, origin of name, 311. council pipe, smoking the, 16, 29. couture, explorations of, 103, 129-130. couture (the younger), 143. cree indians, first reports of, 69, 85; radisson's second visit to, 112-113, 116; wintering in a settlement of, 117; a famine among, 118-119; de la vérendrye assisted by, 206-208. crow indians, de la vérendrye's sons among, 232-233. d dablon, claude, jesuit missionary, 103, 134 n., 142. d'ailleboust, m., governor of company of normandy, 354. dakota, radisson's explorations in, 89. d'argenson, viscomte, governor of new france, 99, 129-130, 356-357, 360. d'avaugour, governor, 104, 105, 107, 133, 143, 357, 360. death-song, huron, 24, 54. de casson, dollier, cited, 5 n., 96 n., 98 n. de la galissonnière, governor, 235. de la jonquière, governor, 236. de lanoue, fur-trade pioneer, 204. de la vérendrye, francois, 215, 222, 229, 230, 233. de la vérendrye, jean baptiste, 197, 205, 208-209, 210, 212; murder of, by sioux, 214. de la vérendrye, louis, 215, 229. de la vérendrye, pierre, 215, 222, 229, 230, 235, 315. de la vérendrye, pierre gaultier de varennes, leaves montreal on search for western sea (1731), 194-197; at nepigon, 201; previous career, 201-203; traverses lake superior to kaministiquia, 204; fort st. pierre named for, 206; among the cree indians, 206-208; return to quebec to raise supplies, 210; loss of eldest son in sioux massacre, 214; explores minnesota and manitoba to lake winnipeg, 215-216; at fort maurepas, 217; return to montreal with furs, 218; explores valley of the assiniboine, 219-221; visits the mandan indians, 224-225; takes possession for france of the upper missouri, 225; superseded by de noyelles (1746), 235; decorated with order of cross of st. louis, 235; death at montreal, 236. de niverville, lieutenant of saint-pierre, 236-237. denonville, marquis of, 336, 366, 367. de noyelles, supersession of de la vérendrye by, 235. de noyon, explorations of, 204. dieppe, merchants of, interested in canada trade, 352, 353. dionne, dr. n. e., cited, 76 n., 88 n., 106 n., 139 n. dog rib indians, mackenzie among, 283-284. dollard, fight of, against the iroquois, 96-98, 198. dreuillettes, gabriel, discoveries by, 70-71, 103, 134 n. drewyer, companion of meriwether lewis, 331. drugging of indians, 63-64. duchesnau, m. jacques, 149 n., 358. dufrost, christopher, sieur de la jemmeraie, 197, 203, 205, 209, 210, 211. du péron, francois, 47. duplessis-kerbodot, murder of, by iroquois, 5 n., 19, 45. dupuis, major, at onondaga, 46, 55-66. dutch, arms supplied to mohawk indians by, 9 n.; war of, with the english, 137-138. e england, arrival of radisson and groseillers in, 137; effect of war between holland and, on exploring propositions, 137-138; hudson's bay company organized in, 139-140; fur-trading expeditions from, 140-149. _see_ hudson's bay company _and_ radisson. erie indians, the, 34. eskimo, massacre of, by chipewyans, 263-265. f "far-off-metal river," the, 245, 249, 252; hearne reaches the, 262. feasts, indian, 60, 62-63, 67 n. _festins à tout manger_, 60, 67 n. fields, companion of meriwether lewis, 330-331. flathead indians, assistance given lewis and clark by, 327, 328. floyd, sergeant, of lewis and clark's expedition, 332. forked river, term applied to mississippi and missouri rivers, 86, 100; radisson's account of people on the, 86-87. fort, dollard's so-called, at the long sault, 97; radisson and groseillers', in the northwest, 114-115. fort bourbon (port royal), on hayes river, 161-175, 182-186. fort bourbon, on saskatchewan, 229. fort chipewyan, 277. fort clatsop, lewis and clark's winter quarters, 327-328. fort dauphin, 229. fort king charles, 139, 146. fort lajonquière, 237. fort mandan, stars and stripes hoisted at, 312. fort maurepas, construction, 209; description, 216-217; de la vérendrye at, 217. fort orange, radisson and the iroquois at, 36-38; radisson's escape to, 39-41. fort poskoyac, 229, 235. fort prince of wales, building of, 243; description, 244-245; hearne becomes governor of, 270; surrender and destruction of, 271-272. fort de la reine, construction of, 222; de la vérendrye returns to, after visiting mandans, 228; abandonment of, 237. fort rouge, 221. fort st. charles, 208-209, 210, 215. fort st. louis, of quebec, first fortification on site of, 351. fort st. pierre, 206. fort william, 280, 283, 287. fraser river, mackenzie's explorations on, 294-302. frog moon, the (may), 279. frontenac, governor of new france, 154, 358, 360, 361, 362, 367. fur companies of new france, 130, 133, 151, 153, 175-176, 352-358. fur company, hudson's bay. _see_ hudson's bay company. fur trade, the french, 101-102, 104; regulations governing the, 104, 153 n.; effect of, on development of west, 113. g gantlet, running the, 15-16. gareau, leonard, journey and death of, 70. garneau, cited, 5 n., 87 n. gillam, ben, encounters with radisson, 163-164, 168-175. gillam, zechariah, radisson's first transactions with, 135-136; groseillers' voyage to hudson bay with, 138-139; at rupert river with hudson's bay company ship, 148; active enmity of, toward radisson, 165-167, 168-169, 171, 176, 180. godefroy, jean, companion of radisson, 154. godefroy family, the, 154 n. goose month (april), 253-254. gorst, thomas, 140 n., 147 n. grand river of the north. _see_ mackenzie river. gray, captain, 308. great falls of the missouri, lewis discovers the, 317. great rat, nation of the, 131, 365. green bay, western limit of french explorations until radisson, 69; radisson's winter quarters at, 79-80, 99-100. groseillers, nephew of explorer, title of nobility ordered granted to, 142. groseillers, jean baptiste, accompanies radisson to hudson bay (1682), 154; trip up hayes river, 158, 161; left in charge of fort bourbon, 175; troubles with indians and with english, 182-183; surrenders fort to radisson, acting for hudson's bay company, 184; letters to mother, 184, 335-337; carried to england by force, 186; offer from hudson's bay company, 187. groseillers, médard chouart, birth, birthplace, and marriage, 45; journey to lake nipissing, 71; engages with radisson in voyage of exploration to the west (1658), 71-79; winter quarters at green bay, 79-80; explorations in west and northwest, 80-90; return to quebec, 99; second trip to northwest (1661), 103-129; imprisoned and fined on return to quebec (1663), 130; goes to france to seek reparation, 133; meets with neglect and indifference, 133-134; deceived into returning to three rivers and going to isle percée, 135; goes to port royal, n.s., becomes involved with boston sea-captain, and reaches england _via_ boston and spain (1666), 135-137; backed by prince rupert, fits out ship for hudson bay, and spends year in trading expedition (1668-1669),138-139; on return to london, created a _knight de la jarretière_, 139; second voyage from england (1670), 140; involved with radisson in suspicions of double-dealing, 147-148; in meeting of fur traders at quebec, 149; retires to family at three rivers, 151; summoned by radisson to join expedition in private french interests to hayes river (1681-1682), 153-158; successful trade in furs, 158, 167; jealousy and lawsuits on return to quebec, 175-176; summoned to france by colbert (1684), 176-177; petition for redress of wrongs ignored by french court, 179; gives up struggle and retires to three rivers, 179. h hayes, sir james, 180, 181. hayes river, radisson's canoe trip up the, 158-160; fort bourbon established on, 161; radisson's second visit to, 182-186. hayet, marguerite, radisson's sister, 6 n., 43; death of first husband, 19, 45; marriage with groseillers, 45; letters from son, 184, 335-337. hayet, sébastien, 6 n., 43 n. hearne, samuel, cited, 14 n.; departure from fort prince of wales on exploring trip, 249-252; in the barren lands, 253-255, 259-260; crosses the arctic circle, 261; discovers the coppermine river, 262-263; massacre of eskimo by indians accompanying, 264-265; arrival at arctic ocean, 265; takes possession of arctic regions for hudson's bay company, 266-267; returns up the coppermine river and discovers copper mines, 267; travels in athabasca region, 268-269; returns to fort prince of wales, 269; becomes governor of post, 270; surrenders fort to the french, 271-272. hénault, madeline, radisson's mother, 6 n., 43. hudson bay, overland routes to, 71; radisson's early discoveries regarding, 90-91, 127-128. _hudson bay_, robson's, cited, 139 n., 140 n., 147 n., 161 n., 166 n. hudson's bay company, origin of, 139-140; early expeditions, 140-149; distrust of radisson by, 150; contract between radisson and, 181-182; final treaty of peace made between indians and, 185; poor treatment of radisson by, 188; quietly prosperous career of, 241-242; encroachments of french traders, 242-243; demand for activity, 243-244; possession taken of arctic regions for, by hearne, 266-267. huron indians, death songs of, 24, 54; massacre of christian, by iroquois, 50-54; band of, with dollard, against the iroquois, 97-98; territory of, 359; tribes of, at michilimackinac, 364. husky dogs, 277. i icebergs, labradorian, 155. iroquois confederacy, the five tribes composing the, 34; characteristics of, 366. iroquois indians, murder of inhabitants of three rivers by, 5 n., 19, 45; treatment of prisoners by, 15-16, 25-28, 54; radisson's life with, 16-39; frenchmen at montreal scalped by, 48; hostages of, held at quebec, 48, 55-56; siege of onondaga by, 55-67; encounters between algonquins and radisson and, 76-78, 79-80; radisson's fight with, on the grand sault, 94-96; bollard's battle with, 97-98; radisson's fights with, on second western trip, 107-108, 109-111; wars between algonquins and, 359. isle of massacres, 50-54. issaguy tribe of indians, 131 n. j jemmeraie, sieur de la, de la vérendrye's lieutenant, 197, 203, 205, 209, 210; death of, 211. _jesuit relations_, cited, 57 n., 69 n., 71 n., 73 n., 80 n., 81 n., 82 n., 91 n., 92 n., 96 n., 141 n.; quoted, 88. jesuits, in onondaga expedition, 44-67; lives of iroquois saved by, 65; start with radisson and groseillers on first western expedition, 73; turn back to montreal, 77. jogues, father, 4, 56, 68, 69. jolliet, 84 n., 149, 151. k kaministiquia, fur post at, 204. kickapoo indians, location of, 364. king charles fort. _see_ fort king charles. kirke, mary, marriage with radisson, 138; becomes a catholic, 152. kirke, sir john, shareholder in hudson's bay company, 140; claims of, against new france, 152; forbids daughter's going to france, 152; friendly influence used for radisson, 180. _knight de la jarretière_, groseillers created a, 139. l la barre, governor of new france, 176 la chesnaye, cited, 115 n., 131 n.; backs radisson in northern expedition, 152-153; outcome of radisson's dealings with, 175-176. lake assiniboel, 366. "lake of the castors," the (lake nipissing), 76 n., 106 n., 364. lake ontario, tribes about, 366. lake superior, exploration of, by radisson, 89; explorer's second visit to, 111-112. lamoignon, m. de, president of company of normandy, 355, 356, 357. la perouse, french admiral, 271. larivière, companion of radisson and groseillers, 105, 106-107. la salle, 84 n., 85, 149, 151, 194. lauzon, m. de, governor of company of normandy, 355-356, 368. la vallière, 103. la vérendrye. _see_ de la vérendrye. ledyard, john, 308. _letters of marie de l'incarnation_, cited, 46 n., 58 n., 60 n., 63 n., 81 n., 90 n., 96 n., 98 n., 139 n. lewis, meriwether, starts on expedition to explore missouri and columbia rivers, 308-309; reaches villages of mandan indians, 311-313; first views the rocky mountains, 314-315; discovers the great falls of the missouri, 317; narrowly escapes death from a bear, 318-319; enters the gates of the rockies, 321; reaches sources of the missouri, 322-323; makes friends with snake indians, 323-327; crosses divide to the clearwater river and travels down the columbia, 327; arrival on pacific ocean, 327; winters at fort clatsop (1805-1806), 327-328; return trip by main stream of the missouri, 329; adventures with minnetaree indians, 329-331; arrival at st. louis, 332; tribute to character and qualities of, 332-333. liberte, traitor in lewis and clark's expedition, 311. little missouri, lewis and clark pass the, 313. "little sticks," region of, 253-254, 259-260. london, radisson's first visit to, 137-138. long sault, rapids of, dollard's battle at, 96-98, 198. lord preston, english envoy in france, 177, 180, 181. low, a. p., quoted, 128 n., 146 n., 149 n. m mackay, alexander, mackenzie's lieutenant, 288, 291, 292, 293, 296, 299. mackenzie, sir alexander, early career of, 276; stationed at fort chipewyan, 276-277; exploration of mackenzie river by, 280-285; crosses the arctic circle, 285; reaches arctic ocean, 285-286; returns up the mackenzie to fort chipewyan, 286; exploration of peace river by, 288-294; discovers source of peace river, 294; crosses the divide and reaches head waters of fraser river, 294; travels down the fraser, 294-298; adventures with indians, 298-300; reaches the pacific ocean, 302-303; return to fort chipewyan _via_ peace river, 304-305; later life, 306. mackenzie, charles, 311. mackenzie, roderick, 278, 279. mackenzie river, exploration of, 280-287, 296-302. mandan indians, bath of purification practised by, 14 n.; radisson discovers the, 86, 88; de la vérendrye's visit to, 222, 225-227; the younger de la vérendryes' second visit to, 230-231; lewis and clark at villages of, 311-313, 332. manitoba, radisson's explorations in, 113-128. marquette, père, 84 n. martin, abraham, plains of abraham named for, 45 n. martin, helen, groseillers' first wife, 45 n. martinière, plan of, to capture radisson for french, 188. mascoutins, "people of the fire," 80, 131 n., 364, 365; location of the, 86; radisson among the, 100. matonabbee, chief of chipewyans, 248-249; aid afforded hearne by, 256-263; massacre of eskimo directed by, 264-265; suicide of, 272. ménard, father, 105, 112. messaiger, father, 204, 205, 209. miami indians, location of the, 364. michigan, indian tribes in, 364. michilimackinac, island of, radisson; passes, 112; early headquarters of fur trade, 201; indian tribes at, 364. micmac indians, the, 363. minnesota, dispute as to discovery of eastern, 71 n.; radisson's explorations in, 89; radisson may have wintered in, on second trip, 113. minnetaree indians, lewis and the, 329-331. mississippi, radisson discovers the upper, 80-81. mississippi valley, radisson first to explore the, 85-89. missouri, tribes of the, 86; de la vérendrye takes possession of the upper, 225; lewis and clark explore the, 313-323. mistassini, lake, father albanel at, 146. mistassini indians, the, 363. mohawk indians, murder of french of three rivers by, 5 n., 19, 45; adoption of radisson by a family of, 17; murder of three, by radisson and an algonquin, 20; jealous as to french settlement among onondagas, 47-48; siege of onondaga by, 55-59; outwitted by radisson at onondaga, 59-67; location of the, 364. montagnais indians, the, 363. montana, punishment of indians by scouts in, 25 n. montmagny, m. de, governor in canada, 353-354. montreal, expedition for onondaga leaves, 47; iroquois scalp frenchmen at, 48; return of onondaga party, 66; de la vérendrye's departure from, 194-197; indian tribes located in vicinity of, 363-364. munck, explorations of, 134 n. n "nation of the grand rat," 131, 365. nelson river, radisson on the, 140, 161, 164-167, 170-174, 179 n. nemisco river, called the rupert, 139. nepigon, de la vérendrye at, 201, 202. new york in 1653, 41-42. _new york colonial documents_, 9 n. nez perces indians, help given to lewis and clark by, 328. nicolet, jean, 68, 69. nicolls, colonel richard, quoted, 136 n. nipissing, lake, 76 n., 106 n., 364. nipissinien indians, the, 364. northwest, the great, discovery of, by radisson, 80-85. northwest fur company, the, 279, 280, 287. northwest passage, reward of l20,000 offered for discovery of, 278. norton, marie, 247, 270, 271-272. norton, moses, governor of fort prince of wales, 244; character of, 246-247; death of, 269-270. o ochagach, indian hunter, 202. octbaton tribe of indians, 131 n. ojibway indians, 115, 365. oldmixon, john, cited, 92 n., 114 n., 130 n., 147 n. omaha indians, radisson's possible visit to, 86, 88. omtou tribe of indians, 131 n. oneida indians, the, 34, 364. onondaga, settlement at, 46; iroquois conspiracy against, 46-48; garrison besieged at, 55-63; escape of french from, 64-67. onondaga tribe, the, 34; jesuit mission among (1656), 46-47; treacherous conduct of, toward christian hurons, 50-54. orange. _see_ albany. orimha, radisson's mohawk name, 16. oudiette, jean, 154 n. "ouinipeg," lake, 69, 71. outanlouby indians, the, 364. p pacific ocean, mackenzie's expedition reaches the, 302-303; lewis and clark's expedition reaches, 327. papinachois indians, the, 363. parkman, francis, cited, 5 n., 19 n., 46 n., 87 n., 96 n. _pays d'en haut_, "up-country," defined, 201 n. peace river, the, 281; exploration of, 287; mackenzie reaches the source of the, 294. pemmican, defined, 223. "people of the fire," the, mascoutin indians, 80 n., 86 n., 100, 131 n. pictured rocks of lake superior, the, 112. piescaret, algonquin chief, 4. pipe of peace, smoking the, 121-123. plains of abraham, named for abraham martin, 45 n. poinsy, m. de, commander at st. christopher, 353. poissons blancs (white fish) indians, the, 363. poncet, père, 41. port nelson, 140, 161-175, 182-186. port royal, nova scotia, radisson and groseillers at, 135. prince maximilian, 226. prince rupert, patron of french explorers, 138-139, 180; first governor of hudson's bay company, 140. prisoners, treatment of, by iroquois, 15-16, 25-28, 54. prudhomme, mr. justice, 88 n. purification, bath of, indian rite, 14, 268. q quebec, iroquois hostages for safety of onondaga held at, 48, 55-56; celebration at, on return of radisson and groseillers, 99; meeting of fur traders at (1676), 149; indian tribes located about, 363. r radisson, pierre esprit (the elder), 6 n., 43 n. radisson, pierre esprit, uncle of the explorer, 43 n. radisson, pierre esprit, date and place of birth, 6; genealogy of, 6 n., 43 n.; captured by iroquois indians, 9; adopted into mohawk tribe, 17; escape to fort orange (1653), 39-41; proof of catholicism of, 41 n.; visits europe and returns to three rivers (1654), 42-44; joins expedition to onondaga (1657), 47; besieged by iroquois throughout winter, 55-64; saves the garrison and returns to montreal, 65-67; goes on trapping and exploring trip to the west (1658), 73-74; reaches lake nipissing and lake huron, 78; in winter quarters at green bay, 79-80; crosses present state of wisconsin and discovers upper mississippi, 80-85; explorations to the west and south, 86-89; in minnesota and manitoba, 89-91; encounter with iroquois at long sault of the ottawa, 94-96; at scene of dollard's fight of a week before, 96-98; arrival at quebec (1660), 99; sets forth on voyage of discovery toward hudson bay (1661), 105; traverses lake superior, 111-112; builds fort and winters west of present duluth, 113-116; visits the sioux, 123-124; reaches lake winnipeg, 127; returns to quebec (1663), 129; bad treatment by french officials, 130; goes to france to gain his rights, 133-134; ill-treatment, deception by rochelle merchant, dealings with captain gillam of boston, and visit to boston (1665), 134-136; goes to england, 137-138; marriage with mary kirke, 138; formation of hudson's bay company (1670), 139-140; trading voyage to port nelson (1671), 140-141; recalled to england and poorly treated (1674-1675), 148; receives commission in french navy (1675-1676), 148; complications between wife's father and french government, 152; backed by la chesnaye, engages in new expedition to hudson bay, 152-153; returns to quebec (1681) and sails to hayes river (1682), 153-158; troubles with english and boston ships, 161-175; jealousy and lawsuits on return to quebec, 175-177; unsuccessfully presses claims in france, 179-180; commissioned by hudson's bay company, 181-182; sails to hayes river and takes possession of fort bourbon and french furs (1684), 182-185; return to england, 186-187; annual voyages to hudson bay for five years, 188; distrusted on breaking out of war with france, and neglect in old age, 188-189: consideration of character and career, 189-190. _radisson's relation_, cited, 9 n., 46 n., 63 n., 80 n., 81 n., 98 n., 99 n., 122, 127, 163 n., 179; language used in, 82; time of writing, 138. ragueneau, father paul, 46 n., 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 59 n., 63 n. rascal village, indian camp, 305. red river, first white men on, 219. rhythm as an indian characteristic, 160 n. ricaree indians, insolence of, to lewis and clark, 311-312. robson, cited, 139, 140, 147, 161, 166. rochelle, radisson's visit to, in 1654, 43. rocky mountains, radisson's nearest approach to the, 89; pierre de la vérendrye reaches the, 233; lewis's first view of the, 314-315; lewis and clark enter gates of the, 321. rouen, merchants of, interested in canada trade, 352, 353, 357. roy, j. edmond, cited, 102 n. roy, r., translations of documents, 335. rupert river, the nemisco renamed the, 139. s sacajawea, squaw guide to lewis and clark, 312, 321, 326, 332. st. louis, departure of lewis and clark's expedition from, 308-309; return to, 332. saint-lusson, sieur de, 142. saint-pierre, legardeur de, 236-237. saskatchewan river, exploration of, 229. sautaux indians, the, 89-90, 92 n., 131 n., 365. scalp dance, the, 12, 14. seneca indians, the, 34, 55, 364. sioux indians, the, 69; radisson and the, 85, 88, 120-124; desire of, for firearms, 120, 122; location of the, 365. skull-crackers, indian, defined, 25, 121. slave lake, mackenzie on, 282. slave lake indians, the, 280, 282, 290. smith, donald (lord strathcona), 275-276. snake indians, lewis and clark make friends with, 323-326. society of one hundred. _see_ company of one hundred associates. songs, indian, 159, 160. sturgeons, radisson's river of, 112. sulte, benjamin, cited, 4, 5 n., 6 n., 7 n., 19 n., 43 n., 68 n., 76 n., 86 n., 99 n., 102 n., 139 n., 154 n. t tadoussac (quebec), company of, 352. talon, intendant of new france, 7 n., 142-143, 357-358, 360, 367, 368. tanguay, abbé, 5 n., 19 n., 88 n. tar bed, mackenzie's discovery of a, in the arctic, 286. temiscamingue indians, the, 364. thousand islands, massacre of huron captives by iroquois at, 53-54. three forks of the missouri, lewis and clark arrive at, 321. three rivers, population of, 7 n.; in 1654, 44-45; de la vérendrye born at, 201; indians of, 363. touret, eli godefroy, french spy, 137. torture, indian methods of, 15-16, 25-28, 54. _travaille_, defined, 224. _tripe de roches_, defined, 78. v vérendrye. _see_ de la vérendrye. ville-marie (montreal), indian tribes about, 363-364. voorhis, mrs. julia clark, clark letters owned by, 312 n. w wampum, significance to indians, 17. war-cry, indian, sounds representing the, 11 n. waste, viewed by indians as crime, 60. west indies company. _see_ company of the west indies. windsor, member of lewis and clark's expedition, 315-316. winnipeg, lake, first reports of, 69, 71; radisson arrives at, 127; rumours of a tide on, 216; de la vérendrye on, 216-218. wisconsin, radisson's travels in, 80-8l, 89. wolf indians located at three rivers, 363. wyandotte indians, the, 364. y yellowstone river, exploration of, by lewis and clark, 313, 329. york (port nelson), 140, 161-175, 182-186. young, sir william, champions radisson's cause, 180, 181, 188. available by internet archive (https://archive.org) note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see 42925-h.htm or 42925-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42925/42925-h/42925-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42925/42925-h.zip) images of the original pages are available through internet archive. see https://archive.org/details/conquesttruestor00dyeerich transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). the conquest the true story of lewis and clark by eva emery dye * * * * * just ready [illustration: william clark] [illustration: meriwether lewis] the expedition of lewis and clark reprinted from the edition of 1814 with an introduction and index by james k. hosmer, ll.d. notwithstanding that in america few names are more familiar upon the tongue than those of lewis and clark, it is a singular fact that the journals of their expedition have for a long time been practically unattainable. the lack thus existing, felt now more and more as the centenary of the great exploration draws near, this new edition has been planned to fill. the text used is that of the 1814 edition, which must hold its place as the only account approaching adequacy. dr. hosmer, well-known for his work in western history, has furnished an introduction, giving the events which led up to the great expedition and showing the vast development that has flowed from it, in a way to make plain the profound significance of the achievement. there has also been added an elaborate analytic index, a feature which the original edition lacked. the publishers offer this work in the belief that it will fill all requirements and become the standard popular edition of this great american classic. _in two square octavo volumes, printed from new type of a large clear face, with new photogravure portraits and fac-simile maps._ in box, $5.00 net; delivered, $5.36. a. c. mcclurg & co., chicago * * * * * the conquest * * * * * by mrs. dye mcloughlin & old oregon a chronicle fourth edition 12mo. $1.50 "a graphic page of the story of the american pioneer."--_n.y. mail and express._ * * * * * [illustration: from a rare painting. "judith"] the conquest the true story of lewis and clark by eva emery dye author of "mcloughlin and old oregon" chicago a. c. mcclurg & company 1902 copyright a. c. mcclurg & co 1902 entered at stationers' hall, london published nov. 12, 1902 university press · john wilson and son · cambridge, u. s. a. note of acknowledgment the author hereby acknowledges obligation to the lewis and clark families, especially to william hancock clark of washington, d.c., and john o'fallon clark of st. louis, grandsons of governor clark, and to c. harper anderson of ivy depot, virginia, the nephew and heir of meriwether lewis, for letters, documents, and family traditions; to mrs. meriwether lewis clark of louisville and mrs. jefferson k. clark of new york, widows of governor clark's sons, and to more than twenty nieces and nephews; to reuben gold thwaites of the university of wisconsin, for access to the valuable draper collection of clark, boone, and tecumseh manuscripts, and for use of the original journals of lewis and clark which mr. thwaites is now editing; to george w. martin of the kansas historical society at topeka, for access to the clark letter-books covering william clark's correspondence for a period of thirty years; to colonel reuben t. durrett of louisville, for access to his valuable private library; to mr. horace kephart of the mercantile library, and mr. pierre chouteau, st. louis; to the historical societies of missouri, at st. louis and columbia; to mrs. laura howie, for montana manuscripts at helena; to miss kate c. mcbeth, the greatest living authority on nez percé tradition; to the descendants of dr. saugrain, and to the families and friends of sergeants pryor, gass, floyd, ordway, and privates bratton, shannon, drouillard, of the lewis and clark expedition; also to the librarian of congress for copies of government documents. e. e. d. oregon city, oregon, september 1, 1902. contents book i when red men ruled page i. a child is born 1 ii. the clark home 7 iii. exit dunmore 12 iv. the wilderness road 14 v. a barrel of gunpowder 17 vi. the feudal age 19 vii. kaskaskia 24 viii. the spanish donna 28 ix. vincennes 32 x. the city of the strait 38 xi. a prisoner of war 41 xii. two wars at once 43 xiii. the key of the country 47 xiv. behind the curtain 50 xv. the attack on st. louis 53 xvi. old chillicothe 60 xvii. "detroit must be taken" 63 xviii. on the ramparts 69 xix. exit cornwallis 72 xx. the old virginia home 77 xxi. down the ohio 81 xxii. mulberry hill 87 xxiii. mississippi troubles 91 xxiv. st. clair 97 xxv. the sword of "mad anthony" wayne 102 xxvi. the spaniard 106 xxvii. the brothers 113 xxviii. the maid of fincastle 119 xxix. the president's secretary 122 xxx. the president talks with meriwether 131 book ii into the west i. the louisiana purchase 139 ii. the knight of the white house 144 iii. recruiting for oregon 149 iv. the feud is ended 154 v. the cession of st. louis 157 vi. sergeant ordway writes a letter 166 vii. into the land of anarchy 167 viii. "the sioux! the sioux!" 176 ix. the romance of the mandans 185 x. the first dakota christmas 192 xi. the british fur traders 199 xii. farewell to fort mandan 204 xiii. toward the sunset 208 xiv. the shining mountains 214 xv. a woman pilot 221 xvi. idaho 228 xvii. down the columbia 235 xviii. fort clatsop by the sea 242 xix. a whale ashore 249 xx. a race for empire 257 xxi. "a ship! a ship!" 259 xxii. back to civilisation 265 xxiii. camp chopunnish 272 xxiv. over the bitter root range 277 xxv. beware the blackfeet 279 xxvi. down the yellowstone 283 xxvii. the home stretch 288 xxviii. the old stone forts of st. louis 296 xxix. to washington 303 xxx. the plaudits of a nation 307 book iii the red head chief i. the shadow of napoleon 315 ii. american rule in st. louis 319 iii. farewell to fincastle 322 iv. the boat horn 327 v. a bride in st. louis 331 vi. the first fort in montana 335 vii. a mystery 337 viii. a lonely grave in tennessee 343 ix. trade follows the flag 344 x. tecumseh 352 xi. clark guards the frontier 360 xii. the story of a sword 369 xiii. portage des sioux 376 xiv. "for our children, our children" 386 xv. too good to the indians 390 xvi. the red head chief 397 xvii. the great council at prairie du chien 404 xviii. the lords of the rivers 415 xix. four indian ambassadors 421 xx. black hawk 429 xxi. a great life ends 434 xxii. the new west 438 the conquest book i _when red men ruled_ i _a child is born_ the old brick palace at williamsburg was in a tumult. the governor tore off his wig and stamped it under foot in rage. "i'll teach them, the ingrates, the rebels!" snatching at a worn bell-cord, but carefully replacing his wig, he stood with clinched fists and compressed lips, waiting. "they are going to meet in williamsburg, eh? i'll circumvent them. these virginia delegates! these rebellious colonists! i'll nip their little game! the land is ripe for insurrection. negroes, indians, rebels! there are enough rumblings now. let me but play them off against each other, and then these colonists will know their friends. let but the indians rise--like naked chicks they'll fly to mother wings for shelter. i'll show them! i'll thwart their hostile plans!" again lord dunmore violently rang the bell. a servant of the palace entered. "here, sirrah! take this compass and dispatch a messenger to daniel boone. bade him be gone at once to summon in the surveyors at the falls of the ohio. an indian war is imminent. tell him to lose no time." the messenger bowed himself out, and a few minutes later a horse's hoofs rang down the cobblestone path before the governor's mansion of his majesty's colony of virginia in the year of our lord 1774. lord dunmore soliloquised. "lewis is an arrant rebel, but he is powerful as old warwick. i'll give him a journey to travel." again he rang the bell and again a servant swept in with low obeisance. "you, sirrah, dispatch a man as fast as horse or boat can speed to bottetourt. tell andrew lewis to raise at once a thousand men and march from lewisburg across mt. laurel to the mouth of the great kanawha. here are his sealed orders." the messenger took the packet and went out. "an indian war will bring them back. i, myself, will lead the right wing, the pick and flower of the army. i'll make of the best men my own scouts. to myself will i bind this boone, this kenton, morgan, and that young surveyor, george rogers clark, before these agitators taint their loyalty. i, myself, will lead my troops to the shawnee towns. let lewis rough it down the great kanawha." it was the sixth of june when the messenger drew rein at boone's door in powell's valley. the great frontiersman sat smoking in his porch, meditating on the death of that beloved son killed on the way to kentucky. the frightened emigrants, the first that ever tried the perilous route, had fallen back to powell's valley. boone heard the message and looked at his faithful wife, rebecca, busy within the door. she nodded assent. the messenger handed him the compass, as large as a saucer. for a moment boone balanced it on his hand, then slipped it into his bosom. out of a huge wooden bowl on a cross-legged table near he filled his wallet with parched corn, took his long rifle from its peg over the door, and strode forth. other messengers were speeding at the hest of lord dunmore, hither and yon and over the blue ridge. andrew lewis was an old indian fighter from dinwiddie's day,--dinwiddie, the blustering, scolding, letter-writing dinwiddie, who undertook to instruct andrew lewis and george washington how to fight indians! had not the shawnees harried his border for years? had he not led rangers from fairfax's lodge to the farthest edge of bottetourt? side by side with washington he fought at long meadows and spilled blood with the rest on braddock's field. more than forty years before, his father, john lewis, had led the first settlers up the shenandoah. they had sown it to clover, red clover, red, the indians said, from the blood of red men slain by the whites. but what were they to do when peaceful settlers, fugitives from the old world, staked their farms on vacant land only to be routed by the scalp halloo? which was preferable, the tyranny of kings or the indian firestake? hunted humanity must choose. the shawnees, too, were a hunted people. driven from south and from north, scouted by the cherokees, scalped by the iroquois, night and day they looked for a place of rest and found it not. beside the shining shenandoah, daughter of the stars, they pitched their wigwams, only to find a new and stronger foe, the dreaded white man. do their best, interests would conflict. civilisation and savagery could not occupy the same territory. and now a party of emigrants were pressing into the mingo country on the upper ohio. early in april the family of logan, the noted mingo chief, was slaughtered by the whites. it was a dastardly deed, but what arm had yet compassed the lawless frontier? all indians immediately held accountable all whites, and burnings and massacres began in reprisal. here was an indian war at the hand of lord dunmore. few white men had gone down the kanawha in those days. washington surveyed there in 1770, and two years later george rogers clark carried chain and compass in the same region. that meant settlers,--now, war. but lewis, blunt, irascible, shrank not. of old cromwellian stock, sternly aggressive and fiercely right, he felt the land was his, and like the men of bible times went out to smite the heathen hip and thigh. buckling on his huge broadsword, and slipping into his tall boots and heavy spurs, he was off. at his call they gathered, defenders of the land beyond the blue ridge, scotch-irish, protestants of protestants, long recognised by the cavaliers of tidewater virginia as a mighty bulwark against the raiding red men. charles lewis brought in his troop from augusta, kinsfolk of the covenanters, fundamentally democratic, presbyterian irish interpreting their own bibles, believing in schools, born leaders, dominating their communities and impressing their character on the nation yet unborn. it was august when, in hunting shirts and leggings, they marched into rendezvous at staunton, with long knives in their leathern belts and rusty old firelocks above their shoulders. in september they camped at lewisburg. flour and ammunition were packed on horses. three weeks of toil and travail through wilderness, swamp, and morass, and they were at the mouth of the great kanawha. but where was dunmore? with his thousand men he was to march over the braddock road to meet them there on the ohio. rumour now said he was marching alone on the shawnee towns. "and so expose himself!" ejaculated lewis. but just then a runner brought word from lord dunmore, "join me at the shawnee towns." "what does it mean?" queried lewis of his colonels, charles lewis of augusta, fleming of bottetourt, shelby and field of culpepper. "it looks like a trap. not in vain have i grown gray in border forays. there's some mistake. it will leave the whole western portion of virginia unprotected." brief was the discussion. before they could cross the ohio, guns sounded a sharp surprise. andrew lewis and his men found themselves penned at point pleasant without a hope of retreat. behind them lay the ohio and the kanawha, in front the woods, thick with delawares, iroquois, wyandots, shawnees, flinging themselves upon the entrapped army. daylight was just quivering in the treetops when the battle of point pleasant began. at the first savage onset fleming, charles lewis, and field lay dead. it was surprise, ambuscade, slaughter. grim old andrew lewis lit his pipe and studied the field while his riflemen and sharp-shooters braced themselves behind the white-armed sycamores. there was a crooked run through the brush unoccupied. while the surging foes were beating back and forth, andrew lewis sent a party through that run to fall upon the indians from behind. a hercules himself, he gathered up his men with a rush, cohorns roaring. from the rear there came an answering fire. above the din, the voice of cornstalk rose, encouraging his warriors, "be strong! be strong!" but panic seized the indians; they broke and fled. andrew lewis looked and the sun was going down. two hundred whites lay stark around him, some dead, some yet to rise and fight on other fields. the ground was slippery with gore; barked, hacked, and red with blood, the white-armed sycamores waved their ghostly hands and sighed, where all that weary day red men and white had struggled together. and among the heaps of indian slain, there lay the father of a little shawnee boy, tecumseh. cornstalk, chief of the shawnees, red hawk, pride of the delawares, and logan, logan the great mingo, were carried along in the resistless retreat of their people, down and over the lurid ohio, crimson with blood and the tint of the setting sun. on that october day, 1774, civilisation set a milestone westward. lewis and his backwoodsmen had quieted the indians in one of the most hotly contested battles in all the annals of indian warfare. "let us go on," they said, and out of the debris of battle, lewis and his shattered command crossed the ohio to join lord dunmore at the shawnee towns. "we have defeated them. now let us dictate peace at their very doors," said lewis. but dunmore, amazed at this success of rebel arms, sent the flying word, "go back. retrace your steps. go home." lewis, astounded, stopped. "go back now? what does the governor mean? we must go on, to save him if nothing else. he is in the very heart of the hostile country." and he pressed on. again the messenger brought the word, "retreat." "retreat?" roared lewis, scarce believing his ears. "we've reached this goal with hardship. we've purchased a victory with blood!" there was scorn in the old man's voice. "march on!" he said. but when within three miles of the governor's camp, lord dunmore himself left his command and hastened with an indian chief to the camp of lewis. dunmore met him almost as an indian envoy, it seemed to lewis. "why have you disobeyed my orders?" thundered the governor, drawing his sword and reddening with rage. "i say go back. retrace your steps. go home. i will negotiate a peace. there need be no further movement of the southern division." his manner, his tone, that indian!--the exhausted and overwrought borderers snatched their bloody knives and leaped toward the governor. andrew lewis held them back. "this is no time for a quarrel. i will return." and amazed, enraged, silenced, andrew lewis began his retreat from victory. but suspicious murmurings rolled along the line. "he ordered us there to betray us." "why is my lord safe in the enemy's country?" "why did the indians fall upon us while the governor sat in the shawnee towns?" "that sword--" andrew lewis seemed not to hear these ebullitions of his men, but his front was stern and awful. as one long after said, "the very earth seemed to tremble under his tread." all virginia rang with their praises, as worn and torn and battered with battle, lewis led his troop into the settlements. leaving them to disperse to their homes with pledge to reassemble at a moment's notice, he set forth for williamsburg where news might be heard of great events. on his way he stopped at ivy creek near charlottesville, at the house of his kinsman, william lewis. an infant lay in the cradle, born in that very august, while they were marching to battle. "and what have you named the young soldier?" asked the grim old borderer, as he looked upon the sleeping child. "meriwether lewis, meriwether for his mother's people," answered the proud and happy father. "and will you march with the minute men?" "i shall be there," said william lewis. ii _the clark home_ "what do you see, william?" a red-headed boy was standing at the door of a farmhouse on the road between fredericksburg and richmond, in the valley of the rappahannock. "the soldiers, mother, the soldiers!" excitedly the little four-year-old flew down under the mulberry trees to greet his tall and handsome brother, george rogers clark, returning from the dunmore war. busy, sewing ruffles on her husband's shirt and darning his long silk stockings, the mother sat, when suddenly she heard the voice of her son with his elder brother. "i tell you, jonathan, there is a storm brewing. but i cannot take an oath of allegiance to the king that my duty to my country may require me to disregard. the governor has been good to me, i admit that. i cannot fight him--and i will not fight my own people. heigh-ho, for the kentucky country." dropping her work, mrs. clark, ann rogers, a descendant of the martyr of smithfield, and heir through generations of "iron in the blood and granite in the backbone," looked into the approaching, luminous eyes. "i hope my son has been a credit to his country?" "a credit?" exclaimed jonathan. "why, mother, lord dunmore has offered him a commission in the british army!" "but i cannot take it," rejoined george rogers, bending to press a kiss on the cheek of his brown-eyed little mother. "lord dunmore means right, but he is misunderstood. and he swears by the king." "and do we not all swear by the king?" almost wrathfully exclaimed john clark, the father, entering the opposite door at this moment. "who has suffered more for the king than we self-same cavaliers, we who have given virginia her most honourable name--'the old dominion'? let the king but recognise us as britons, entitled to the rights of englishmen, and we will swear by him to the end." it was a long speech for john clark, a man of few words and intensely loyal, the feudal patriarch of this family, and grandson of a cavalier who came to virginia after the execution of charles i. but his soul had been stirred to the centre, by the same wrongs that had kindled patrick henry and thomas jefferson. these were his friends, his neighbours, who had the same interests at stake, and the same high love of liberty. "if the king would have us loyal, aye, then, let him be loyal to us, his most loyal subjects. did not patrick henry's father drink the king's health at the head of his regiment? did not thomas jefferson's grandsires sit in the first house of burgesses in the old church at jamestown, more than a century before the passage of the stamp act? and who swore better by the king? none of us came over here from choice! we came because we loved our king and would not bide his enemies." george rogers clark looked approvingly at his father, and yet, he owed fealty to lord dunmore. even as a stripling he had been singled out for favours. "i see the storm gathering," he said. "if i choose, it must be with my people. but i need not choose,--i will go to kentucky." it was the selfsame thought of daniel boone. "but here are the children!" nine-year-old lucy danced to her brother, william still clung to his hand, and their bright locks intermingled. "three red-headed clarks," laughed the teasing jonathan. more than a century since, the first john clark settled on the james, a bachelor and tobacco planter. but one day mary byrd of westover tangled his heart in her auburn curls. in every generation since, that red hair had re-appeared. "a strain of heroic benevolence runs through the red-headed clarks," said an old dame who knew the family. "they win the world and give it away." but the dark-haired clarks, they were the moneymakers. already jonathan, the eldest, had served as clerk in the spottsylvania court at fredericksburg, where he often met colonel george washington. three younger brothers, john, richard, and edmund, lads from twelve to seventeen, listened not less eagerly than ann, elizabeth, lucy, and fanny, the sisters of this heroic family. but george was the adventurer. when he came home friends, neighbours, acquaintances, gathered to listen. the border wars had kindled military ardour with deeds to fire a thousand tales of romance and fireside narrative. moreover, george was a good talker. but he seemed uncommonly depressed this night,--the choice of life lay before him. at sixteen george rogers clark had set out as a land surveyor, like washington and boone and wayne, penetrating and mapping the western wilds. to survey meant to command. watched by red men over the hills, dogged by savages in the brakes, scalped by demons in the wood, the frontier surveyor must be ready at any instant to drop chain and compass for the rifle and the knife. like wayne and washington, clark had drilled boy troops when he and madison were pupils together under the old scotch dominie, donald robertson, in albemarle. while still in his teens george and a few others, resolute young men, crossed the alleghanies, went over braddock's route, and examined fort necessity where washington had been. they floated down the monongahela to fort pitt. in the angle of the rivers, overlooking the flood, mouldered the remains of old fort du quesne, blown up by the french when captured by the english. the mound, the moat, the angles and bastions yet remained, but overgrown with grass, and cattle grazed where once an attempt had been made to plant mediæval institutions on the sod of north america. as if born for battles, clark studied the ground plans. "two log gates swung on hinges here," explained the colonel from fort pitt, "one opening on the water and one on the land side with a mediæval drawbridge. every night they hauled up the ponderous bridge, leaving only a dim dark pit down deep to the water." with comprehensive glance george rogers clark took in the mechanism of intrenchments, noted the convenient interior, with magazine, bake-house, and well in the middle. "so shall i build my forts." pencil in hand the young surveyor had the whole scheme instantly sketched. the surprised colonel took a second look. seldom before had he met so intelligent a study of fortifications. "are you an officer?" "i am major of virginia militia under lord dunmore." with a missionary to the indians, clark slid down the wild ohio and took up a claim beyond the farthest. here for a year he lived as did boone, beating his corn on a hominy block and drying his venison before his solitary evening fire. then he journeyed over into the scioto. so, when the dunmore war broke out, here was a scout ready at hand for the governor. major clark knew every inch of the braddock route and every trail to the shawnee towns. when a fort was needed, it was the skilled hand and fertile brain of george rogers clark that planned the bastioned stockade that became the nucleus of the future city of wheeling. then dunmore came by. like a war-horse, clark scented the battle of point pleasant afar off. "and i not there to participate!" he groaned. but dunmore held him at his own side, with morgan, boone, and kenton, picked scouts of the border. when back across the ohio the mingoes came flying, clark wild, eager, restless, was pacing before dunmore's camp. beaten beyond precedent by the mighty valour of andrew lewis, cornstalk and his warriors came pleading for peace. "why did you go to war?" asked dunmore. "long, long ago there was a great battle between the red indians and the white ones," said cornstalk, "and the red indians won. this nerved us to try again against the whites." but logan refused to come. "go," said lord dunmore, to george rogers clark and another, "go to the camp of the sullen chief and see what he has to say." they went. the great mingo gave a vehement talk. they took it down in pencil and, rolled in a string of wampum, carried it back to the camp of lord dunmore. in the council clark unrolled and read the message. like the wail of an old roman it rang in the woods of ohio. "i appeal to any white man if ever he entered logan's cabin and he gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked and he clothed him not. during the course of the last long and bloody war, logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed and said, 'logan is the friend of the white man.' i had even thought to have lived with you but for the injuries of one man. colonel cresap, last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of logan, not even sparing my women and children. there runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. this drove me to revenge. i have sought it; i have killed many; i have fully glutted my vengeance; for my country i rejoice at the beams of peace. but do not harbour a thought that mine is the joy of fear. logan never felt fear. he will not turn on his heel to save his life. who is there to mourn for logan? not one." one by one, half a dozen of clark's army comrades had dropped in around the hickory flame, while the substance of logan's tale unfolded. "and was cresap guilty?" "no," answered george rogers clark, "i perceived he was angry to hear it read so before the army and i rallied him. i told him he must be a very great man since the indians shouldered him with everything that happened." little william had fallen asleep, sitting in the lap of his elder brother, but, fixed forever, his earliest memory was of the dunmore war. there was a silence as they looked at the sleeping child. a little negro boy crouched on the rug and slumbered, too. his name was york. iii _exit dunmore_ on the last day of that same august in which meriwether lewis was born and andrew lewis was leading the virginia volunteers against the shawnees, patrick henry and george washington set out on horseback together for philadelphia, threading the bridle-paths of uncut forests, and fording wide and bridgeless rivers to the continental congress. it had been nine years since patrick henry, "alone and unadvised," had thrilled the popular heart with his famous first resolutions against the stamp act. from the lobby of the house of burgesses, thomas jefferson, a student, looked that morning at the glowing orator and said in his heart, "he speaks as homer wrote." it was an alarm bell, a call to resistance. "cæsar had his brutus, charles the first his cromwell, and george the third"--how the staid, bewigged, beruffled old burgesses rose in horror!--"and george the third may profit by their example." "most indecent language," muttered the burgesses as they hurried out of the capitol, pounding their canes on the flagstone floor. but the young men lifted him up, and for a hundred years an aureole has blazed around the name of patrick henry. the congress at philadelphia adjourned, and the delegates plodded their weary way homeward through winter mire. from his indian war lord dunmore came back to williamsburg to watch the awakening of virginia. then came that breathless day when dunmore seized and carried off the colony's gunpowder. the virginians promptly demanded its restoration. the minute men flew to arms. "by the living god!" cried dunmore, "if any insult is offered to me or to those who have obeyed my orders, i will declare freedom to the slaves and lay the town in ashes." patrick henry called together the horsemen of hanover and marched upon williamsburg. the terrified governor sent his wife and daughters on board a man-of-war and fortified the palace. and on came patrick henry. word flew beyond the remotest blue ridge. five thousand men leaped to arms and marched across country to join patrick henry. but at sunrise on the second day a panting messenger from dunmore paid him for the gunpowder. patrick henry, victorious, turned about and marched home to hanover. again lord dunmore summoned the house of burgesses. they came, grim men in hunting shirts and rifles. then his lordship set a trap at the door of the old powder magazine. some young men opened it for arms and were shot. before daylight lord dunmore evacuated the palace and fled from the wrath of the people. on shipboard he sailed up and down for weeks, laying waste the shores of the chesapeake, burning norfolk and cannonading the fleeing inhabitants. andrew lewis hastened down with his minute men. his old scotch ire was up as he ran along the shore. he pointed his brass cannon at dunmore's flagship, touched it off, and lord dunmore's best china was shattered to pieces. "good god, that i should ever come to this!" exclaimed the unhappy governor. he slipped his cables and sailed away in a raking fire, and with that tragic exit all the curtains of the past were torn and through the rent the future dimly glimmered. after dunmore's flight, every individual of the nobler sort felt that the responsibility of the country depended upon him, and straightway grew to that stature. men looked in one another's faces and said, "we ourselves are kings." around the great fire little william clark heard his father and brothers discuss these events, and vividly remembered in after years the lightning flash before the storm. he had seen his own brothers go out to guard henry from the wrath of dunmore on his way to the second continental congress. and now dunmore had fled, and as by the irony of fate, on the day after the signing of the declaration of independence, patrick henry became the first american governor of virginia, with headquarters at the palace. iv _the wilderness road_ daniel boone threw back his head and laughed silently. for a hundred miles in the barrier ridge of the alleghanies there is but a single depression, cumberland gap, where the cumberland river breaks through, with just room enough for the stream and a bridle path. through this gap as through a door boone passed into the beautiful kentucky, and there, by the dark and rushing water of dick's river, george rogers clark and john floyd were encamped. the young men leaped to their feet and strode toward the tall, gaunt woodsman, who, axe in hand, had been vigorously hewing right and left a path for the pioneers. "they are coming,--boone's trace must be ready. can you help?" boone removed his coonskin cap and wiped his perspiring face with a buckskin handkerchief. his forehead was high, fine-skinned, and white. "that is our business,--to settle the country," answered the young surveyors, and through the timber, straight as the bird flies over rivers and hills, they helped boone with the wilderness road. it was in april of 1775. kentucky gleamed with the dazzling dogwood as if snows had fallen on the forests. as their axes rang in the primeval stillness, another rover stepped out of the sycamore shadows. it was simon kenton, a fair-haired boy of nineteen, with laughing blue eyes that fascinated every beholder. "any more of ye?" inquired boone, peering into the distance behind him. "none. i am alone. i come from my corn-patch on the creek. are you going to build?" "yes, when i reach a certain spring, and a bee-tree on the kentucky river." "let us see," remarked floyd. "we may meet indians. i nominate major clark generalissimo of the frontier." "and floyd surveyor-in-chief," returned clark. "an' thee, boy, shall be my chief guard," said daniel boone, laying his kindly hand on the lad's broad shoulder. "an' i--_am the people_." the boones were quakers, the father of daniel was intimate with penn; his uncle james came to america as penn's private secretary; sometimes the old hunter dropped into their speech. but people were coming. one richard henderson, at a treaty in the hill towns of the cherokees, had just paid ten thousand pounds for the privilege of settling kentucky. boone left before the treaty was signed and a kindly old cherokee chieftain took him by the hand in farewell. "brother," he said, "we have given you a fine land, but i believe you will have much trouble in settling it." they were at hand. through the cumberland gap, as through a rift in a holland dyke, a rivulet of settlers came trickling down the newly cut wilderness road. under the green old trees a mighty drama was unfolding, a homeric song, the epic of a nation, as they piled up the bullet-proof cabins of boonsboro. this rude fortification could not have withstood the smallest battery, but so long as the indians had no cannon this wooden fort was as impregnable as the walls of a castle. in a few weeks other forts, harrodsburg and logansport, dotted the canebrakes, and the startled buffalo stampeded for the salt licks. in september boone brought out his wife and daughters, the first white women that ever trod kentucky soil. "ugh! ugh! ugh!" a hundred shawnees from their summer hunt in the southern hills came trailing home along the warrior's path, the indian highway north and south, from cumberland gap to the scioto. "ugh! ugh! ugh!" they pause and point to the innumerable trackings of men and beasts into their beloved hunting grounds. astonishment expands every feature. they creep along and trace the road. they see the settlements. it cannot be mistaken, the white man has invaded their sacred arcanum. amazement gives place to wrath. every look, every gesture bespeaks the red man's resolve. "we will defend our country to the last; we will give it up only with our lives." forthwith a runner flies over the hills to johnson hall on the mohawk. sir william is dead, dead endeavouring to unravel the perplexities of the dunmore war, but his son, sir guy, meets the complaining shawnees. "the cherokees sold kentucky? that cannot be. kentucky belongs to the king. my father bought it for him at fort stanwix, of the iroquois. the cherokees have no right to sell kentucky. go in and take the land." and so, around their campfires, and at the lake forts of the british, the shawnee-iroquois planned to recover kentucky. v _a barrel of gunpowder_ scarcely was jefferson home from signing the declaration when back from kentucky came little william's tall strong brother, george rogers clark, elected by those far-away settlers, in june of 1776, to represent them in the assembly of virginia. cut by a thousand briars, with ragged clothes and blistered feet, clark looked in at the home in caroline and hurried on to williamsburg. "the assembly adjourned? then i must to the governor. before the assembly meets again i may effect what i wish." patrick henry was lying sick at his country-home in hanover when the young envoy from kentucky was ushered to his bedside. pushing his reading spectacles up into his brown wig, the governor listened keenly as the young man strode up and down his bed-chamber. the scintillant brown eyes flashed. "your cause is good. i will give you a letter to the council." "five hundredweight of gunpowder!" the council lifted their eyebrows when clark brought in his request. "virginia is straining every nerve to help washington; how can she be expected to waste gunpowder on kentucky?" "let us move those settlers back to virginia at the public expense," suggested one, "and so save the sum that it would take to defend them in so remote a frontier." "move boone and kenton and logan back?" clark laughed. too well he knew the tenacity of that border germ. "so remote a frontier? it is your own back door. the people of kentucky may be exterminated for the want of this gunpowder which i at such hazard have sought for their relief. then what bulwark will you have to shield you from the savages? the british are employing every means to engage those indians in war." clark knew there was powder at pittsburg. one hundred and thirty-six kegs had just been brought up by lieutenant william linn with infinite toil from new orleans, the first cargo ever conveyed by white men up the mississippi and ohio. "we will lend you the powder as to friends in distress, but you must be answerable for it and pay for its transportation." clark shook his head,--"i cannot be answerable, nor can i convey it through that great distance swarming with foes." "we can go no farther," responded the council, concluding the interview. "god knows we would help you if we could, but how do we even know that kentucky will belong to us? the assistance we have already offered is a stretch of power." "very well," and clark turned on his heel. "a country that is not worth defending is not worth claiming. since virginia will not defend her children, they must look elsewhere. kentucky will take care of herself." his words, that manner, impressed the council. "what will kentucky do?" to his surprise, the next day clark was recalled and an order was passed by the virginia council for five hundred pounds of gunpowder, "for the use of said inhabitants of kentucki," to be delivered to him at pittsburg. hardly a month old was the declaration of independence when the new nation reached out to the west. "did you get the powder?" was the first greeting of young william clark as his brother re-entered the home in caroline. "yes, and i fancy i shall get something more." "what is it?" inquired the little diplomat, eager as his brother for the success of his embassy. "recognition of kentucky." and he did, for when he started back major clark bore the word that the assembly of virginia had made kentucky a county. with that fell henderson's proprietary claim and all the land was free. with buoyant heart clark and jones, his colleague, hastened down to pittsburg. seven boatmen were engaged and the precious cargo was launched on the ohio. but indians were lurking in every inlet. scarce were they afloat before a canoe darted out behind, then another and another. with all the tremendous energy of life and duty in their veins, clark and his boatmen struck away and away. for five hundred miles the chase went down the wild ohio. at last, eluding their pursuers, almost exhausted, up limestone creek they ran, and on kentucky soil, dumped out the cargo and set the boat adrift. while the indians chased the empty canoe far down the shore, clark hid the powder amid rocks and trees, and struck out overland for help from the settlements. at dead of night he reached harrod's station. kenton was there, and with twenty-eight others they set out for the creek and returned, each bearing a keg of gunpowder on his shoulder. vi _the feudal age_ what a summer for the little forts! dressed in hunting shirt and moccasins, his rifle on his shoulder, his tomahawk in his belt, now leading his eager followers on the trail of the red marauders, now galloping at the head of his horsemen to the relief of some beleaguered station, clark guarded kentucky. no life was safe beyond the walls. armed sentinels were ever on the watchtowers, armed guards were at the gates. and outside, indians lay concealed, watching as only indians can watch, nights and days, to cut off the incautious settler who might step beyond the barricades. by instinct the settlers came to know when a foe was near; the very dogs told it, the cattle and horses became restless, the jay in the treetop and the wren in the thorn-hollow chattered it. even the night-owl hooted it from the boughs of the ghostly old sycamore. in this, the feudal age of north america, every man became a captain and fought his own battles. like knights of old, each borderer, from ticonderoga to wheeling and boonsboro, sharpened his knife, primed his flintlock, and started. no martial music or gaudy banner, no drum or bugle, heralded the border foray. silent as the red man the stark hunter issued from his wooden fort and slid among the leaves. silent as the panther he stole upon his prey. but all at once the hill homes of the cherokees emptied themselves to scourge kentucky. shawnees of the scioto, chippewas of the lakes, delawares of the muskingum hovered on her shores. march, april, may, june, july, august,--the days grew hot and stifling to the people cooped up in the close uncomfortable forts. there had been no planting, scarce even a knock at the gate to admit some forest rover, and still the savages sat before boonsboro. clark was walled in at harrodsburg, logan at logansport. ammunition was failing, provisions were short; now and then there was a sally, a battle, a retreat, then the dressing of wounds and the burial of the dead. every eye was watching clark, the leader whose genius consisted largely in producing confidence. in the height of action he brooded over these troubles; they knew he had plans; the powder exploit made them ready to rely upon him to any extent. he would meet those indians, somewhere. men bound with families could not leave,--clark was free. timid men could not act,--clark was bold. narrow men could not see,--clark was prescient. more than any other he had the napoleonic eye. glancing away to the lakes and detroit, the scalp market of the west, he reasoned in the secrecy of his own heart: "these indians are instigated by the british. through easily influenced red men they hope to annihilate our frontier. never shall we be safe until we can control the british posts." unknown to any he had already sent scouts to reconnoitre those very posts. "and what have you learned?" he whispered, when on the darkest night of those tempestuous midsummer days they gave the password at the gate. "what have we learned? that the forts are negligently guarded; that the french are secretly not hostile; that preparations are on foot for an invasion of kentucky with british, indians, and artillery." "i will give them something to do in their own country," was clark's inward comment. without a word of his secret intent, clark buckled on his sword, primed his rifle, and set out for virginia. with regret and fear the people saw him depart, and yet with hope. putting aside their detaining hands, "i will surely return," he said. with almost superhuman daring the leather-armoured knight from the beleaguered castle in the wood ran the gauntlet of the sleeping savages. all the wilderness road was lit with bonfires, and woe to the emigrant that passed that way. cumberland gap was closed; fleet-winged he crossed the very mountain tops, where never foot of man or beast had trod before. scarce noting the hickories yellow with autumn and the oaks crimson with indian summer, the young man passed through charlottesville, his birthplace, and reached his father's house in caroline at ten o'clock at night. in his low trundle-bed little william heard that brother's step and sprang to unclose the door. like an apparition george rogers clark appeared before the family, haggard and worn with the summer's siege. all the news of his brothers gone to the war was quickly heard. "and will you join them?" "no, my field is kentucky. to-morrow i must be at williamsburg." the old colonial capital was aflame with hope and thanksgiving as clark rode into duke of gloucester street. burgoyne had surrendered. men were weeping and shouting. in the _mêlée_ he met jefferson and proposed to him a secret expedition. in the exhilaration of the moment jefferson grasped his hand,--"let us to the governor." crowds of people were walking under the lindens of the governor's palace. out of their midst came dorothea, the wife of patrick henry, and did the honours of her station as gracefully as, thirty years later, dolly madison, her niece and namesake, did the honours of the white house. again patrick henry pushed his reading spectacles up into his brown wig and scanned the envoy from kentucky. "well, sirrah, did you get the powder?" "we got the powder and saved kentucky. but for it she would have been wiped out in this summer's siege. all the indians of the lakes are there. i have a plan." "unfold it," said patrick henry. in a few words clark set forth his scheme of conquest. "destroy detroit, vincennes, kaskaskia, and you have quelled the indians. there they are fed, clothed, armed, and urged to prey upon us. i have sent spies to reconnoitre, and have received word that assures me that their capture is feasible." the scintillating blue eyes burned with an inward light, emitting fire, as patrick henry leaned to inquire, "what would you do in case of a repulse?" "cross the mississippi and seek protection from the spaniards," answered the ready chief. with his privy council, mason, wythe, and jefferson, patrick henry discussed the plan, and at their instance the house of delegates empowered george rogers clark "to aid any expedition against their western enemies." "everything depends upon secrecy," said the governor as he gave clark his instructions and twelve hundred pounds in continental paper currency. "but you must recruit your men west of the blue ridge; we can spare none from here." kindred spirits came to clark,--bowman, helm, harrod and their friends, tall riflemen with long buckhorn-handled hunting-knives, enlisting for the west, but no one guessing their destination. despite remonstrances twenty pioneer families on their flat-boats at redstone-old-fort joined their small fleet to his. "we, too, are going to kentucky." jumping in as the last boat pulled out of pittsburg, captain william linn handed clark a letter. he broke the seal. "ye gods, the very stars are for us! the french have joined america!" with strange exhilaration the little band felt themselves borne down the swift-rushing waters to the falls of the ohio. before them blossomed a virgin world. clark paused while the boats clustered round. "do you see that high, narrow, rocky island at the head of the rapids? it is safe from the indian. while the troops erect a stockade and blockhouse, let the families clear a field and plant their corn." axes rang. the odour of hawthorn filled the air. startled birds swept over the falls,--eagles, sea gulls, and mammoth cranes turning up their snowy wings glittering in the sunlight. on the mainland, deer, bear, and buffalo roamed under the sycamores serene as in eden. "halloo-oo!" it was the well-known call of simon kenton, paddling down to corn island with captain john montgomery and thirty kentuckians. "what news of the winter?" "boone and twenty-seven others have been captured by the indians." "boone? we are laying a trap for those very indians," and then and there major clark announced the object of the expedition. some cheered the wild adventure, some trembled and deserted in the night, but one hundred and eighty men embarked with no baggage beyond a rifle and a wallet of corn for each. the snows of the alleghanies were melting. a million rivulets leaped to the blue ohio. it was the june rise, the river was booming. poling his little flotilla out into the main channel clark and his borderers shot the rapids at the very moment that the sun veiled itself in an all but total eclipse at nine o'clock in the morning. it was a dramatic dash, as on and on he sped down the river, bank-full, running like a millrace. vii _kaskaskia_ double manned, relays of rowers toiled at the oars by night and by day. "do you see those hunters?" at the mouth of the tennessee, almost as if prearranged, two white men emerged from the illinois swamps as clark shot by. he paused and questioned the strangers. "we are just from kaskaskia. rocheblave is alone with neither troops nor money. the french believe you long knives to be the most fierce, cruel, and bloodthirsty savages that ever scalped a foe." "all the better for our success. now pilot us." governor rocheblave, watching st. louis and dreaming of conquest, was to be rudely awakened. all along the mississippi he had posted spies and was watching the spaniard, dreaming not of kentucky. out upon the open, for miles across the treeless prairies, the hostile indians might have seen his little handful of one hundred and eighty men, but clark of twenty-six, like the corsican of twenty-six, "with no provisions, no munitions, no cannon, no shoes, almost without an army," was about to change the face of three nations. twilight fell as they halted opposite kaskaskia on the night of july 4, without a grain of corn left in their wallets. "boys, the town must be taken to-night at all hazards." softly they crossed the river,--the postern gate was open. "brigands!" shouted governor rocheblave, leaping from his bed at midnight when kenton tapped him on the shoulder. it was useless to struggle; he was bound and secured in the old jesuit mansion which did duty as a fort at kaskaskia. "brigands!" screamed fat madame rocheblave in a high falsetto, tumbling out of bed in her frilled nightcap and gown. seizing her husband's papers, plump down upon them she sat. "no gentleman would ever enter a lady's bed-chamber." "right about, face!" laughed kenton, marching away the governor. "never let it be said that american soldiers bothered a lady." in revenge madame tore up the papers, public archives, causing much trouble in future years. "sacred name of god!" cried the french habitants, starting from their slumbers. from their windows they saw the streets filled with men taller than any indians. "what do they say?" "keep in your houses on pain of instant death!" "keep close or you will be shot!" in a moment arose a dreadful shriek of men, women, and children,--"the long knives! the long knives!" the gay little village became silent as death. before daylight the houses of kaskaskia were disarmed. the wild virginians whooped and yelled. the timid people quaked and shuddered. "grant but our lives and we will be slaves to save our families." it was the pleading of father gibault, interceding for his people. "let us meet once more in the church for a last farewell. let not our families be separated. permit us to take food and clothing, the barest necessities for present needs." "do you take us for savages?" inquired clark in amaze. "do you think americans would strip women and children and take the bread out of their mouths? my countrymen never make war on the innocent. it was to protect our own wives and children that we have penetrated this wilderness, to subdue these british posts whence the savages are supplied with arms and ammunition to murder us. we do not war against frenchmen. the king of france is our ally. his ships and soldiers fight for us. go, enjoy your religion and worship when you please. retain your property. dismiss alarm. we are your friends come to deliver you from the british." the people trembled; then shouts arose, and wild weeping. the bells of old kaskaskia rang a joyous peal. "your rights shall be respected," continued colonel clark, "but you must take the oath of allegiance to congress." from that hour father gibault became an american, and all his people followed. "let us tell the good news to cahokia," was their next glad cry. sixty miles to the north lay cahokia, opposite the old spanish town of st. louis. the kaskaskians brought out their stoutest ponies, and on them clark sent off bowman and thirty horsemen. "the big knives?" cahokia paled. "but they come as friends," explained the kaskaskians. without a gun the gates were opened, and the delighted frenchmen joyfully banqueted the kentuckians. the indians were amazed. "the great chief of the long knives has come," the rumour flew. for five hundred miles the chiefs came to see the victorious americans. "i will not give them presents. i will not court them. never will i seem to fear them. let them beg for peace." and with martial front clark bore himself as if about to exterminate the entire indian population. the ruse was successful; the indians flocked to the council of the great chief as if drawn by a magnet. eagerly they leaned and listened. "men and warriors: i am a warrior, not a counsellor." holding up before them a green belt and another the colour of blood, "take your choice," he cried, "peace or war." so careless that magnificent figure stood, so indifferent to their choice, that the hearts of the red men leaped in admiration. "peace, peace, peace," they cried. from all directions the indians flocked; clark became apprehensive of such numbers,--chippewas, ottawas, pottawattamies, sacs, foxes, maumees. "the big knives are right," said the chiefs. "the great king of the french has come to life." without the firing of a gun or the loss of a life, the great tactician subjugated red men and white. clark had no presents to give,--he awed the indians. he devoted great care to the drilling of his troops, and the nations sat by to gaze at the spectacle. the frenchmen drilled proudly with the rest. while clark was holding his councils kenton had gone to vincennes. three days and three nights he lay reconnoitring. he spoke with the people, then by special messenger sent word, "the governor has gone to detroit. you can take vincennes." clark was ready. "do not move against vincennes," pleaded father gibault, "i know my people. let me mediate for you." clark accepted gibault's offer, and the patriot priest hastened away on a lean-backed pony to the wabash. with his people gathered in the little log church he told the tale of a new dominion. there under the black rafters, kissing the crucifix to the united states, the priest absolved them from their oath of allegiance to the british king. "amen," said gibault solemnly, "we are new men. we are americans." to the astonishment of the indians the american flag flew over the ramparts of vincennes. "what for?" they begged to know. "your old father, the king of france, has come to life again. he is mad at you for fighting for the english. make peace with the long knives, they are friends of the great king." the alarmed indians listened. word went to all the tribes. from the wabash to the mississippi, clark, absolute, ruled the country, a military dictator. but the terms of the three-months militia had expired. "how many of you can stay with me?" he entreated. one hundred re-enlisted; the rest were dispatched to the falls of the ohio under captain william linn. "tell the people of corn island to remove to the mainland and erect a stockade fort." thus was the beginning of louisville. captain john montgomery and levi todd (the grandfather of the wife of abraham lincoln) were dispatched with reports and governor rocheblave as a prisoner-of-war to virginia. on arrival of the news the virginia assembly immediately created the county of illinois, and patrick henry appointed john todd of kentucky its first american governor. viii _the spanish donna_ in the year that penn camped at philadelphia the french reared their first bark huts at kaskaskia, in the american bottom below the missouri mouth. here for a hundred years around the patriarchal, mud-walled, grass-roofed cabins had gathered children and grandchildren, to the fourth and fifth generation. around the houses were spacious piazzas, where the genial, social frenchmen reproduced the feudal age of europe. gardens were cultivated in the common fields, cattle fed in the common pastures, and lovers walked in the long and narrow street. the young men went away to hunt furs; their frail bark canoes had been to the distant platte, and up the missouri, no one knows how far. sixty miles north of kaskaskia lay cahokia, and opposite cahokia lay st. louis. now and then a rumour of the struggle of the american revolution came to st. louis, brought by traders over the detroit trail from canada. but the rebellious colonies seemed very far away. in the midst of his busy days at kaskaskia, colonel clark was surprised by an invitation from the spanish governor at st. louis, to dine with him at the government house. father gibault was well acquainted in st. louis. he dedicated, in 1770, the first church of god west of the mississippi, and often went there to marry and baptise the villagers. so, with father gibault, colonel clark went over to visit the governor. "l'americain colonel clark, your excellency." the long-haired, bare-headed priest stood _chapeau_ in hand before the heavy oaken door of the government house, at st. louis. then was shown the splendid hospitality innate to the spanish race. the governor of upper louisiana, don francisco de leyba, was friendly even to excess. he extended his hand to colonel clark. "i feel myself flattered by this visit of de señor le colonel, and honoured, honoured. de fame of your achievement haf come to my ear and awakened in me emotions of de highest admiration. de best in my house is at your service; command me to de extent of your wishes, even to de horses in my stable, de wines in my basement. my servant shall attend you." colonel clark, a man of plain, blunt speech, was abashed by this profusion of compliment. his cheeks reddened. "you do me too much honour," he stammered. all his life, the truth, the plain truth, and nothing but the truth, had been clark's code of conversation. could it be possible that the governor meant all these fine phrases? but every succeeding act and word seemed to indicate his sincerity. "my wife, madam marie,--zis ees de great americain general who haf taken de illinoa, who haf terrified de sauvages, and sent de briton back to canada. and my leetle children,--dees ees de great commandante who ees de friend of your father. "and, my sister,--dees ees de young americain who haf startled de world with hees deeds of valour." if ever clark was off his guard, it was when he thus met unexpectedly the strange and startling beauty of the donna de leyba. each to the other seemed suddenly clothed with light, as if they two of all the world were standing there alone. what the rest said and did, clark never knew, although he replied rationally enough to their questions,--in fact, he carried on a long conversation with the garrulous governor and his amiable dark-haired wife. but the donna, the donna-far beyond the appointed hour clark lingered at her side. she laughed, she sang. she could not speak a word of english, clark could not speak spanish. nevertheless they fell desperately in love. for the first and only time in his life, george rogers clark looked at a woman. how they made an appointment to meet again no one could say; but they did meet, and often. "the colonel has a great deal of business in st. louis," the soldiers complained. "le great americain colonel kiss te governor's sister," whispered the creoles of st. louis. how that was discovered nobody knows, unless it was that sancho, the servant, had peeped behind the door. clark even began to think he would like to settle in louisiana. and the governor favoured his project. "de finest land in de world, señor, and we can make it worth your while. you shall have de whole district of new madrid. commandants, bah! we are lacking de material. his majesty, de king of spain, will gladly make you noble." "and i, for my part," clark responded, "can testify to all the subjects of spain the high regard and sincere friendship of my countrymen toward them. i hope it will soon be manifest that we can be of mutual advantage to one another." indeed, through de leyba, clark even dreamed of a possible spanish alliance for america, like that with france, and de leyba encouraged it. boon companion with the governor over the wine, and with the fascinating donna smiling upon him, colonel clark became not unbalanced as mark antony did,--although once in a ball-room he kissed the donna before all the people. but there was a terrible strain on clark's nerves at this time. his resources were exhausted, they had long been exhausted, in fact; like napoleon he had "lived on the country." and yet no word came from virginia. continental paper was the only money in clark's military chest. it took twenty dollars of this to buy a dollar's worth of coffee at kaskaskia. even then the frenchmen hesitated. they had never known any money but piastres and peltries; they could not even read the english on the ragged scrip of the revolution. "we do not make money," said the creoles, "we use hard silver." but francis vigo, a spanish trader of st. louis, said, "take the money at its full value. it is good. i will take it myself." in matters of credit and finance the word of vigo was potential. "ah, yes, now you can haf supplies," said the cheerful creoles, "m'sieur vigo will take the money, you can haf de meat an' moccasin." colonel vigo, a st. louis merchant who had large dealings for the supply of the spanish troops, had waited on colonel clark at cahokia and voluntarily tendered to him such aid as he could furnish. "i offer you my means and influence to advance the cause of liberty." the offer was gratefully accepted. when the biting winds of winter swept over kaskaskia, "here," he said, "come to my store and supply your necessities." his advances were in goods and silver piastres, for which clark gave scrip or a check on the agent of virginia at new orleans. gabriel cerré in early youth moved to kaskaskia, where he became a leading merchant and fur trader. "i am bitterly opposed to _les américains_," he said. then he met clark; that magician melted him into friendship, sympathy, and aid. "from the hour of my first interview i have been the sworn ally of george rogers clark!" exclaimed charles gratiot, a swiss trader of cahokia. "my house, my purse, my credit are at his command." clark could not be insensible to this profusion of hospitality, which extended, not only to himself, but to his whole little army and to the cause of his country. the frenchmen dug their potatoes, gathered the fruits of their gnarled apple-trees, and slew the buffalo and bear around for meat. winter came on apace, and yet the new governor had not arrived. colonel clark's headquarters at the house of michel aubrey, one of the wealthiest fur traders of kaskaskia, became a sort of capitol. in front of it his soldiers constantly drilled with the newly enlisted frenchmen. all men came to clark about their business; the piazzas and gardens were seldom empty. in short, the american colonel suddenly found himself the father and adviser of everybody in the village. ix _vincennes_ "i will dispossess these americans," said governor hamilton at detroit. "i will recover vincennes. i will punish kentucky. i will subdue all virginia west of the mountains." and on the seventh of october, 1778, he left detroit with eight hundred men,--regulars, volunteers, and picked indians. the french habitants of vincennes were smoking their pipes in their rude verandas, when afar they saw the gleam of red coats. vincennes sank without a blow and its people bowed again to the british king. "i will quarter here for the winter," said governor hamilton. then he sent an express to the spanish governor at st. louis with the threat, "if any asylum be granted the rebels in your territory, the spanish post will be attacked." in their scarlet tunics, emblem of britain, to chickasaw and cherokee his runners flew. at mackinac the lake indians were to "wipe out the rebels of illinoi'." far over to the sioux went presents and messages, even to the distant assiniboine. thousands of red-handled scalping knives were placed in their hands. emissaries watched kaskaskia. picked warriors lingered around the ohio to intercept any boats that might venture down with supplies for the little virginian army. new year's dawned for 1779. danger hovered over clark at kaskaskia. "not for a whole year have i received a scrape of a pen," he wrote to patrick henry. too small was his force to stand a siege, too far away to hope for relief. he called his kentuckians from cahokia, and day and night toiled at the defences of kaskaskia. how could they withstand the onslaught of hamilton and his artillery? but hark! there is a knocking at the gate, and francis vigo enters. closeted with clark he unfolds his errand. "i am just from vincennes. listen! hamilton has sent his indian hordes in every direction. they are guarding the ohio, watching the settlements, stirring up the most distant tribes to sweep the country. but he has sent out so many that he is weak. at this moment there are not more than eighty soldiers left in garrison, nor more than three pieces of cannon and some swivels mounted." with inspiration born of genius and desperate courage clark made his resolve. "if i don't take hamilton he'll take me; and, by heaven! i'll take hamilton!" but it was midwinter on the bleak prairies of illinois, where to this day the unwary traveller may be frozen stark in the icy chill. clark's men were almost entirely without clothing, ammunition, provisions. can genius surmount destitution? clark turned to vigo. "i have not a blanket, an ounce of bread, nor a pound of powder. can you fit me out in the name of virginia?" francis vigo, a sardinian by birth but republican at heart, answered, "i can fit you out. here is an order for money. down yonder is a swivel and a boatload of powder. i will bid the merchants supply whatever you need. they can look to me for payment." in two days clark's men were fitted out and ready. clad in skins, they stepped out like trappers. on the shore lay a new bateau. vigo's swivel was rolled aboard, and some of the guns of kaskaskia. "now, captain john rogers," said colonel clark to his cousin, "with these forty-eight men and these cannon you go down the mississippi, up the ohio, and enter the wabash river. station yourself a few miles below vincennes; suffer nothing to pass, and wait for me." on the 4th of february the little galley slid out with rogers and his men. "now who will go with me?" inquired clark, turning to his comrades. "it will be a desperate service. i must call for volunteers." stirred by the daring of the deed, one hundred and thirty young men swore to follow him to the death. all the remaining inhabitants were detailed to garrison kaskaskia and cahokia. the fickle weather-vanes of old kaskaskia veered and whirled, the winds blew hot and cold, then came fair weather for the starting. it was february 5, 1779, when george rogers clark set out with his one hundred and thirty men to cross the illinois. vigo pointed out the fur-trader's trail to vincennes and detroit. father gibault blessed them as they marched away. the creole girls put flags in the hands of their sweethearts, and begged them to stand by "le colonel." "o mother of god, sweet virgin, preserve my beloved," prayed the donna de leyba in the government house at st. louis. over all the prairies the snows were melting, the rains were falling, the rivers were flooding. hamilton sat at vincennes planning his murders. "next year," he exulted, "there will be the greatest number of savages on the frontier that has ever been known. the six nations have received war belts from all their allies." but clark and his men were coming in the rain. eleven days after leaving kaskaskia they heard the morning guns of the fort. deep and deeper grew the creeks and sloughs as they neared the drowned lands of the wabash. still they waded on, through water three feet deep; sometimes they were swimming. between the two wabashes the water spread, a solid sheet five miles from shore to shore. the men looked out, amazed, as on a rolling sea. but clark, ever ahead, cheering his men, grasped a handful of gunpowder, and with a whoop, the well-known peal of border war, blackened his face and dashed into the water. the men's hearts leaped to meet his daring, and with "death or victory" humming in their brains, they plunged in after. on and on they staggered, buffeting the icy water, stumbling in the wake of their undaunted leader. seated on the shoulders of a tall shenandoah sergeant, little isham floyd, the fourteen-year-old drummer boy, beat a charge. deep and deeper grew the tide; waist deep, breast high, over their shoulders it played; and above, the leaden sky looked down upon this unparalleled feat of human endeavour. never had the world seen such a march. five days they passed in the water,--days of chill and whoops and songs heroic to cheer their flagging strength. the wallets were empty of corn, the men were fainting with famine, when lo! an indian canoe of squaws hove in sight going to vincennes. they captured the canoe, and--most welcome of all things in the world to those famished men--it contained a quarter of buffalo and corn and kettles! on a little island they built a fire; with their sharp knives prepared the meat, and soon the pots were boiling. so exhausted were they that clark would not let them have a full meal at once, but gave cups of broth to the weaker ones. on the sixteenth day clark cheered his men. "beyond us lies vincennes. cross that plain and you shall see it." on february 22, washington's birthday, fatigued and weary they slept in a sugar camp. "heard the evening and morning guns of the fort. no provisions yet. lord help us!" is the record of bowman's journal. still without food, the 23d saw them crossing the horseshoe plain,--four miles of water breast high. frozen, starved, they struggled through, and on a little hill captured a frenchman hunting ducks. "no one dreams of your coming at this time of year," said the duck-hunter. "there are six hundred people in vincennes, troops, indians, and all. this very day hamilton completed the walls of his fort." clark pressed his determined lips. "the situation is all that i can ask. it is death or victory." and there in the mud, half frozen, chilled to the marrow, starved, clark penned on his knee a letter: "to the inhabitants of post vincennes: "gentlemen,--being now within two miles of your village with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being willing to surprise you, i take this method to request such as are true citizens to remain still in your houses. those, if any there be, that are friends of the king, will instantly repair to the fort, join the hair-buyer general, and fight like men. if any such do not go and are found afterwards, they may depend on severe punishment. on the contrary, those who are the friends of liberty may depend on being well treated, and i once more request them to keep out of the streets. every one i find in arms on my arrival i shall treat as an enemy. george rogers clark." "take this. tell the people my quarrel is with the british. we shall be in vincennes by the rising of the moon. prepare dinner." the messenger flew ahead; upon the captured horses of other duck-hunters clark mounted his officers. it was just at nightfall when they entered the lower gate. "silence those drunken indians," roared hamilton at the sound of guns. but the frenchmen themselves turned their rifles on the fort. under the friendly light of the new moon clark and his men threw up an intrenchment, and from behind its shelter in fifteen minutes the skilled volleys of the border rifle had silenced two of the cannon. "surrender!" was clark's stentorian summons at daylight. hamilton, with the blood of many a borderer on his head,--what had he to hope? hot and hotter rained the bullets. "give me three days to consider." "not an hour!" was clark's reply. "let me fight with you?" said the tobacco's son, the principal chief on the wabash. "no," answered clark, "you sit back and watch us. americans do not hire indians to fight their battles." amazed, the indians fell back and waited. the fort fell, and with it british dominion in the northwest territory. then the galley hove in sight and the flag waved above vincennes. "a convoy up de _rivière_ on its way with goods, from le detroit," whispered a frenchman. directly clark dispatched his boatmen to capture the flotilla. "_sur la feuille ron--don don don_," the _voyageurs_ were singing. merrily rowing down the river came the british, when suddenly out from a bend swung three boats. "surrender!" amid the wild huzzas of vincennes the americans returned, bringing the captive convoy with fifty thousand dollars' worth of food, clothing, and ammunition, and forty prisoners. with a heart full of thanksgiving clark paid and clothed his men out of that prize captured on the wabash. "let the british flag float a few days," he said. "i may entertain some of the hair-buying general's friends." very soon painted red men came striding in with bloody scalps dangling at their belts. but as each one entered, red-handed from murder, clark's long knives shot him down before the face of the guilty hamilton. fifty fell before he lowered the british flag. but from that day the red men took a second thought before accepting rewards for the scalps of white men. "now what shall you do with me?" demanded hamilton. "you? i shall dispatch you as a prisoner of war to virginia." x _the city of the strait_ clark was not an hour too soon. indians were already on the march. "hamilton is taken!" wabasha, the sioux, from the falls of st. anthony, heard, and stopped at prairie du chien. "hamilton is taken!" matchekewis, the gray-haired chief of the chippewas, coming down from sheboygan, heard the astounding word and fell back to st. joseph's. the great hamilton carried away by the rebels! the indians were indeed cowed. the capture of hamilton completed clark's influence. the great red-coat sent away as a prisoner of war was an object-lesson the indians could not speedily forget. out of hamilton's captured mail, clark discovered that the french in the neighbourhood of detroit were not well-affected toward the british, and were ready to revolt whenever favourable opportunity offered. "very well, then, detroit next!" but clark had more prisoners than he knew what to do with. "here," said he, to the captured detroiters, "i am anxious to restore you to your families. i know you are unwilling instruments in this war, but your great king of france has allied himself with the americans. go home, bear the good news, bid your friends welcome the coming of their allies, the americans. and tell captain lernoult i am glad to hear that he is constructing new works at detroit. it will save us americans some expense in building." the city of the strait was lit with bonfires. "we have taken an oath not to fight the virginians," said the paroled frenchmen. the people rejoiced when they heard of hamilton's capture; they hated his tyranny, and, certain of clark's onward progress, prepared a welcome reception for "_les américains_." "see," said the mistress of a lodging house to captain lernoult. "see what viands i haf prepared for le colonel clark." and the captain answered not a word. baptiste drouillard handed him a printed proclamation of the french alliance. everywhere detroiters were drinking, "success to the thirteen united states!" "success to congress and the american arms! i hope the virginians will soon be at detroit!" "now colonel butler and his scalping crew will meet their deserts. i know the colonel for a coward and i'll turn hangman for him!" "don't buy a farm now. when the virginians come you can get one for nothing." "see how much leather i am tanning for the virginians. when they come i shall make a great deal of money." "town and country kept three days in feasting and diversions," wrote clark to jefferson, "and we are informed that the merchants and others provided many necessaries for us on our arrival." but this the colonel did not learn until long after. left alone in command, with only eighty men in the garrison, lernoult could do nothing. bitterly he wrote to his commander-in-chief, "the canadians are rebels to a man. in building the fort they aid only on compulsion." even at montreal the frenchmen kept saying, "a french fleet will certainly arrive and retake the country"; and haldimand, governor general, was constantly refuting these rumours. "now let me help you," again pleaded the tobacco's son to clark at vincennes. "i care not whether you side with me or not," answered the american colonel. "if you keep the peace, very well. if not you shall suffer for your mischief." such a chief! awed, the indians retired to their camps and became spectators. to divert clark, the british officers urged these indians to attack vincennes. the tobacco's son sent back reply, "if you want to fight the bostons at st. vincent's you must cut your way through them, as we are big knives, too!" their fame spread to superior and the distant missouri. "in the vicinity of chicago the rebels are purchasing horses to mount their cavalry." "the virginians are building boats to take michilimackinac." "they are sending belts to the chippewas and ottawas." "the virginians are at milwaukee." so the rumours flew along the lakes, terrifying every briton into strengthening his stronghold. and this, for the time, kept them well at home. "had i but three hundred i could take detroit," said clark. every day now came the word from the french of the city, "come,--come to our relief." "but vincennes must be garrisoned. my men are too few." then a messenger arrived with letters from thomas jefferson, now governor of virginia, with "thanks from the assembly for the heroic service you have rendered," and the promise of troops. now for the first time were the soldiery made aware of the gratitude of their country. tumultuous cheers rent the air. the indians heard, and thought it was news of another victory. "let us march this day on detroit," begged the soldiers, few as they were. half the population of vincennes, and all the indians, would have followed. "too many are ill," clark said to himself. "bowman is dying, the lands are flooded, the rains are falling. an unsustained march might end in disaster. for five hundred troops, i would bind myself a slave for seven years!" to the soldiers he explained, "montgomery is coming with men and powder. let us rendezvous here in june and make a dash at detroit." leaving a garrison in the fort, in answer to imperative call, clark set out with six boatloads of troops and prisoners for a flying trip to kaskaskia. but every step of the way, day and night, "detroit must be taken, detroit must be taken," was the dream of the disturbed commander. "i cannot rest. nothing but the fall of detroit will bring peace to our frontiers. in case i am not disappointed, detroit is already my own." xi _a prisoner of war_ "a prisoner of war? no, indeed, he is a felon, a murderer!" exclaimed the virginians, as weary, wet, and hungry the late governor of detroit sat on his horse in the rain at the door of the governor's palace at williamsburg, where jefferson now resided. the mob gathered to execrate the "hair-buyer general" and escort him to jail. there were twenty-seven prisoners, altogether, brought by a band of borderers, most of the way on foot. every step of the long journey captain john rogers and his men had guarded the "hair-buyer general" from the imprecations of an outraged people. it was the first news of vincennes, as the startled cry ran,-"governor hamilton, charged with having incited indians to scalp, torture, and burn, is at the door,--hamilton, who gave standing rewards for scalps but none for prisoners; and dejean, chief justice of detroit, the merciless keeper of its jails, a terror to captives with threats of giving them over to savages to be burnt alive; lamothe, a captain of volunteer scalping parties; major hay, one of hamilton's chief officers, and others." "load them with heavy fetters and immure them in a dungeon," said governor jefferson. "too many of our boys are rotting in british prison ships." this from jefferson, so long the humane friend of burgoyne's surrendered troops now quartered at charlottesville! the british commanders blustered and protested, but jefferson firmly replied, "i avow my purpose to repay cruelty, hangings, and close confinement. it is my duty to treat hamilton and his officers with severity. iron will be retaliated with iron, prison ships by prison ships, and like by like in general." washington advised a mitigation of the extreme severity, but jefferson's course had its effect. the british were more merciful thereafter. and with the coming of hamilton came all the wonderful story of the capture of vincennes. and who can tell it? who has told it? historians hesitate. romancers shrink from the task. not one has surpassed george rogers clark's own letters, which read like fragments of the gospel of liberty. before the home fire at caroline, john rogers told the tale. a hush fell. the mother softly wept as she thought of her scattered boys, one in the west, two with washington tracking the snows of valley forge, one immured in a prison ship where patriot martyrs groaned their lives away. little william heard the tale, and his young heart swelled with emotion. john clark listened, then spoke but one sentence. "if i had as many more sons i would give them all to my country." all the way from kentucky daniel boone was sent to the virginia legislature. he said to jefferson: "i doubt these charges against governor hamilton. last spring i was captured by the shawnees and dragged to detroit. governor hamilton took pity on me and offered the indians one hundred dollars for my release. they refused to take it. but he gave me a horse, and on that horse i eventually made my escape." "did that prevent governor hamilton from sending an armed force of british and indians to besiege boonsboro?" inquired jefferson. boone had to admit that it did not. but for that timely escape and warning boonsboro would have fallen. but boone in gratitude went to the dungeon and offered what consolation he could to the imprisoned governor. the fact is, that daniel boone carried ever on his breast, wrapped in a piece of buckskin, that old commission of lord dunmore's. it saved him from the indians; it won hamilton. xii _two wars at once_ the sunbeams glistened on the naked skin of an indian runner, as, hair flying in the wind, from miles away he came panting to clark at kaskaskia. "there is to be an attack on san loui'. wabasha, the sioux, and matchekewis--" "how do you know?" "i hear at michilimackinac,--winnebagoe, sauk, fox, menomonie." clark laughed and gave the messenger a drink of taffia. but the moment the painted savage slid away the colonel prepared to inform his friends at st. louis. "pouf!" laughed the careless commandant, drinking his wine at the government house. "why need we fear? are not our relation wit de indian friendly? never haf been attack on san luis, never will be. be seat, haf wine, tak' wine, señor le colonel." "pouf!" echoed the guests at the governor's table. "some trader angry because he lose de peltry stole in de spanish country. it never go beyond threat." an attack? the very idea seemed to amuse the governor in his cups. but father gibault looked grave. "i, too, have heard such a rumour." "it may be only a belated report of hamilton's scheming," replied clark. "now he is boxed up it may blow over. but in case the english attempt to seize the west bank of this river i pledge you all the assistance in my power." "t'anks, t'anks, my good friend, i'll not forget. in de middle of de night you get my summon." but, unknown to them, that very may, spain declared war against great britain. and great britain coveted the mississippi. madame marie and the charming donna had been listeners. colonel clark handed the maiden a bouquet of wild roses as he came in, but spoke not a word. all the year had she been busy, embroidering finery for "le colonel." such trifles were too dainty for the soldier's life--but he wore them next his heart. while the dinner party overwhelmed the victor with congratulations and drank to his health, clark saw only the donna, child of the convent, an exotic, strangely out of place in this wild frontier. "i am a soldier," he whispered, "and cannot tarry. my men are at the boats, but i shall _watch_ st. louis." her eyes followed him, going away so soon, with father gibault and de leyba down to the river. as he looked back a handkerchief fluttered from an upper window, and he threw her a kiss. "i am not clear but the spaniards would suffer their settlements to fall with ours for the sake of having the opportunity of retaking them both," muttered clark as he crossed the river, suspicious of de leyba's inaction. at kaskaskia forty recruits under captain robert george had arrived by way of new orleans. then montgomery, with another forty, came down the ohio. they must be fed and clothed directly. in the midst of these perplexities appeared john todd, the new governor. "ah, my friend," clark grasped his hand. "now i see myself happily rid of a piece of trouble i take no delight in. i turn the civil government over to you. but our greatest trouble is the lack of money." "money? why, here are continental bills in abundance." "worth two cents on the dollar. 'dose british traders,' say the habitants, 'dey will not take five huntert to one. dey will have nought but skins.' this has brought our virginia paper into disrepute. they will not even take a coin unless it is stamped with the head of a king." "what have you done?" "done? purchased supplies on my own credit. several merchants of this country have advanced considerable sums and i have given them drafts on our virginian agent in new orleans. they come back, protested for want of funds. francis vigo has already loaned me ten thousand dollars in silver piastres." "but virginia will pay it,--she is bound to pay it. the service must not suffer." thus reassured that his course had been right, colonel clark continued: "four posts must be garrisoned to hold this country,--kaskaskia, cahokia, vincennes, and the falls of the ohio,--not one has sufficient defence. colonel montgomery's force is not half what i expected. but if i am not deceived in the kentuckians i shall yet be able to complete my designs on detroit. i only want sufficient men to make me appear respectable in passing among the savages." the cautious french settlers were a trial to clark. father gibault tried to persuade them, parting with his own tithes and horses to set an example to his parishioners to make equal sacrifices to the american cause. altogether, father gibault advanced seven thousand eight hundred livres, french money, equal to fifteen hundred and sixty dollars,--his little all. governor todd said, "if the people will not spare willingly, you must press it." "i cannot press it," answered clark. "we must keep the inhabitants attached to us by every means in our power. rather will i sign notes right and left on my own responsibility to procure absolute necessities to hold illinois, trusting to virginia to make it right." then after a thoughtful pause,--"i cannot think of the consequences of losing possession of the country without resolving to risk every point rather than suffer it." the bad crops of 1779 and the severity of the winter of 1780 made distress in illinois. nevertheless the cheerful habitants sold their harvests to clark and received in payment his paper on new orleans. "you encourage me to attempt detroit," clark wrote to jefferson. "it has been twice in my power. when i first arrived in this country, or when i was at vincennes, could i have secured my prisoners and had only three hundred men, i should have attempted it, and i since learn there could have been no doubt of my success. but they are now completing a new fort, too strong i fear for any force that i shall ever be able to raise in this country." then he hurried back to vincennes. thirty only were there of the three hundred expected. an indian army camped ready to march at his call. "never depend upon injuns," remarked simon kenton, reappearing after an absence of weeks. "kenton? well, where have you been? you look battered." "battered i am, but better, the scars are almost gone. captured by shawnees, made to run the gauntlet twice, then dragged to st. dusky to be burnt at the stake." "how did you escape?" "one of your detroit frenchmen, pierre drouillard, late interpreter for your captured hamilton, told them the officers at detroit wanted to question me about the big knife. ha! ha! it took a long powwow and plenty of wampum, and the promise to bring me back." "did he intend to do it?" "lord, no! as soon as we were out of sight he told me, 'never will i abandon you to those inhuman wretches,' a trader's wife enabled me to escape from detroit." "do you think i can take detroit?" "take it, man? as easy as you took vincennes. only the day of surprise is past. a cloud of red injuns watch the approaches. you must have troops." troops! troops! none came. none could come. what had happened? taking with him one of hamilton's light brass cannon to fortify the falls of the ohio, clark discovered that at the very time of his capture, hamilton had appointed a great council of indians to meet at the mouth of the tennessee. "the cherokees have risen on the tennessee settlements, and the regiments intended for you have turned south." the sword and belt of hamilton had done their work. america was fighting two wars at once. xiii _the key of the country_ "the falls is the key of the country. it shall be my depot of supplies. here will i build a fort. a great city will one day arise on this spot." and in honour of the king who had helped america, clark named it louisville. axes, hammers, and saws made music while clark's busy brain was planning parks and squares to make his city the handsomest in america. but, ever disturbing this recreation, "detroit" was in his soul. "public interest requires that i reside here until provision can be made for the coming campaign." "since clark's feat the world is running mad for kentucky," said the neighbours in caroline. through all that autumn, emigrants were hurrying down to take advantage of the new land laws of virginia. "a fleet of flatboats!" shouted the workmen at the falls. down with others from pittsburg, when the autumn rains raised the river, came clark's old comrade, john floyd, and his brothers and his bride, jane buchanan. one of those brothers was isham floyd, the boy drummer of vincennes. "i, too, shall build a fort," said john floyd to his friends, "here on bear grass creek, close to louisville." still emigrants were on their way, when a most terrific winter set in. stock was frozen, wild beasts and game died. the forests lay deep with snow, and rivers were solid with ice. the cabins of louisville were crowded, the fort was filled with emigrants. food gave out, corn went up to one hundred and fifty dollars a bushel in depreciated continental currency. even a cap of native fur cost five hundred dollars. the patient people shivered under their buffalo, bear, and elk-skin bedquilts, penned in the little huts, living on boiled buffalo beef and venison hams, with fried bear or a slice of turkey breast for bread, and dancing on christmas night with pineknot torches bracketed on the walls. "did you not say the conquerors of vincennes waded through the drowned lands in february?" asked a fair one of her partner at the dance. "yes, but that was an open winter. this, thank god, is cold enough to deter our enemies from attempting to recover what they have lost." "but colonel clark said the weather was warm?" "warm, did you say? who knows what clark would have called warm weather in february? the water up to their armpits could not have been warm at that time of year." the spring waters broke; a thousand emigrants went down the ohio to louisville. and carcasses of bear, elk, deer, and lesser game floated out of the frozen forests. during the june rise more than three hundred flatboats arrived at the falls loaded with wagons; for months long trains were departing from louisville with these people bound for the interior. floyd's fort on the bear grass became a rendezvous; the little harbour an anchorage for watercraft. "we must establish a claim to the mississippi," wrote jefferson to clark. "go down to the mouth of the ohio and build a fort on chickasaw bluff. it will give us a claim to the river." while clark was preparing, an express arrived from kaskaskia,-"we are threatened with invasion. fly to our relief." without money save land warrants, without clothing save skins, depending on their rifles for food, clark's little flotilla with two hundred men set down the ohio, on the very flood that was bringing the emigrants, to clinch the hold on illinois. "i have now two thousand warriors on the lakes. the wabash indians have promised to amuse mr. clark at the falls." de peyster, the new commandant at detroit, was writing to general haldimand at quebec. even as clark left, a few daring savages came up and fired on the fort at louisville. "she is strong enough now to defend herself," said clark as he pulled away. colonel bird, working hard at detroit, started his pottawattamies. they went but a little way. "ugh! ugh! ugh! long knives coming!" pell-mell, back they fell, to be fitted out all over again. "these unsteady rogues put me out of all patience!" exclaimed the angry colonel bird. "they are always cooking or counciling. indians are most happy when most frequently fitted out." "such is the dependence on indians without troops to lead them," sagely remarked de peyster. "but without them we could not hold the country." "it is distressing," wrote governor haldimand, "to reflect that notwithstanding the vast treasure lavished upon these people, no dependence can be had on them." "amazing sum!" he exclaimed when the bills came in. "i observe with great concern the astonishing consumption of rum at detroit. this expense cannot be borne." however, the pottawattamies sharpened their hatchets and, newly outfitted, set out for the rapids of the ohio. "bring them in alive if possible," was the parting admonition of de peyster, warned by the obloquy of hamilton. vain remonstrance with four hundred and seventy-six dozen scalping knives at bird's command! from every unwary emigrant along the ohio, daily the delawares and shawnees brought their offerings of scalps to detroit, and throwing them down at the feet of the commander said, "father, we have done as you directed us; we have struck your enemies." the bounty was paid; the scalps were counted and flung into a cellar under the council house. and de peyster, really a good fellow, like andré, a _bon vivant_ and lover of books and music, went on with his cards, balls, and assemblies, little feeling the iron that goes to the making of nations. "kentuckians very bad people! ought to be scalped as fast as taken," said the indians. xiv _behind the curtain_ "we must dislodge this american general from his new conquest," said the british officers, "or tribe after tribe will be gained over and subdued. thus will be destroyed the only barrier which protects the great trading establishments of the northwest and hudson's bay. nothing could then prevent the americans from gaining the source of the mississippi, gradually extending themselves by the red river to lake winnipeg, from whence the descent of nelson's river to york fort would in time be easy." another strong factor in this decision was the dissatisfaction of the british traders with the new movement that was deflecting the fur trade down the mississippi. the french families of cahokia and kaskaskia sent their furs down to new orleans, greatly to the displeasure of their late english rulers, who wanted them to go to canada, by the st. louis trail to detroit. "why should it not continue over the old detroit trail to montreal?" they questioned. "is our fur trade to be cut off by these beggarly rebels and spaniards? it belongs to canada, canada shall have it!" so all north america was fought over for the fur trade. "i will use my utmost endeavours to send as many indians as i can to attack the spanish settlements, early in february," said pat sinclair, the british commander at michilimackinac. "i have taken steps to engage the sioux under their own chief, wabasha, a man of uncommon abilities. wabasha is allowed to be a very extraordinary indian and well attached to his majesty's interest." and wabasha, king of the buffalo plains above the falls of st. anthony, _was_ an extraordinary indian. in old days he fought for pontiac, but after de peyster brought the sioux, the proudest of the tribes, to espouse the english cause, every year wabasha made a visit to his british father at michilimackinac. on such a visit as this he came from prairie du chien after hearing that hamilton was taken, and was received with songs and cannonading: "hail to great wabashaw! cannonier--fire away, hoist the fort-standard, and beat all the drums; ottawa and chippewa, whoop! for great wabashaw! he comes--beat drums--the sioux chief comes. "hail to great wabashaw! soldiers your triggers draw, guard,--wave the colours, and give him the drum! choctaw and chickasaw, whoop for great wabashaw! raise the port-cullis!--the king's friend is come." by such demonstrations and enormous gifts, the indians were held to the british standard. it was wabasha and his brothers, red wing and little crow, who in 1767 gave a deed to jonathan carver of all the land around st. anthony's falls, on which now stand the cities of st. paul and minneapolis, but no government confirmation of the deed has ever been discovered. "the reduction of st. louis will be an easy matter, and of the rebels at kaskaskia also," continued sinclair. "all the traders who will secure the posts on the spanish side of the mississippi have my promise for the exclusive trade of the missouri." the northwest red men were gathering,--menomonies, sacs, foxes, winnebagoes,--at the portage of the wisconsin and fox rivers, collecting all the corn and canoes in the country, to set out on the tenth of march. again sinclair writes, "seven hundred and fifty men set out down the mississippi the second of may." another party assembled at chicago to come by the illinois,--indians, british, and traders. "captain hesse will remain at st. louis," continued governor sinclair. "wabasha will attack ste. genevieve and the rebels at kaskaskia. two vessels leave here on the second of june to attend matchekewis, who will return by the illinois river with prisoners." very well de peyster knew matchekewis, the puissant chief who "at foot-ball sport with arms concealed, surprised the fort," at michilimackinac in pontiac's war. it was matchekewis himself who kicked the ball over the pickets, and rushing in with his band fell on the unprepared ranks of the british garrison. on the reoccupation of mackinac, matchekewis had been sent to quebec and imprisoned, but, released and dismissed with honours and a buffalo barbecue, now he was leading his chippewas for the king. all this was part of a wider scheme, devised in london, for the subjugation of the mississippi. xv _the attack on st. louis_ scarce had clark time to set his men to work on fort jefferson, on the chickasaw bluffs overlooking the mississippi, before he received two other expresses, one from montgomery, one from the spanish governor himself,--"haste, haste to our relief." not wishing to alarm his men, clark picked out a strong escort,--"i shall be gone a few days. finish the fort. keep a constant guard." they thought he had gone to kentucky. all through the year 1779 the frenchmen remembered clark's warning. at last, so great became the general apprehension, that the people themselves, directed by madame rigauche, the school-mistress, erected a sort of defence of logs and earth, five or six feet high, and posted a cannon in each of the three gates. "pouf! pouf!" laughed the governor. but he did not interfere. but so many days elapsed, so little sign of change appeared in the accustomed order of things, that the reassured frenchmen went on as usual digging in their fields, racing their horses, and clicking their billiard balls. night after night they played their fiddles and danced till dawn on their footworn puncheon floors. and all the while the lake indians of the north were planning and counselling. all through the spring they were gathering at rendezvous, paddling down lake michigan's shore into the chicago river, and then by portage into the illinois, where they set up the cry, "on to st. louis!" so long had been the fear allayed, so much the rumour discredited, that when old man quenelle came back across the river, white with excitement, the people listened to his tale as of one deranged. "what? do you ask? what?" his teeth chattered. "ducharme, ducharme the absconder, meet me across te river an' say--'te injun comin'!' fifteen huntert down te river of te illinois!" terrified was the old man. hearers gathered round plying him with questions. the incredulous laughed at his incoherence. "what? what?" he gasped. "you laugh?" some believed him. dismay began to creep over the more timid ones. "what is it?" inquired the burly governor de leyba, bustling up. "what? that same old yarn to frighten the people? quenelle is an old dotard. take him to prison." thus reassured, again the people went on with work, games, festivity. but now the people of cahokia became excited. early in march colonel gratiot sent a boatload of goods for trade to prairie du chien. it was captured by indians on the mississippi. breathless half-breed runners reported the apparition upon the waters,--"all te waves black with canoes. a great many sauvages." "clark," was the spoken and unspoken thought of all. "clark, the invincible, where is he?" some said, "he is camped with his long knives in the american bottom." "no, he is building a fort at the chickasaw bluffs." hurriedly the villagers prepared an express for clark. charles gratiot was sent, the brainiest man in cahokia, one who could speak english, and, moreover, a great friend of clark. on the swiftest canoe charles gratiot launched amid the prayers of cahokia. down he swept on the mississippi with the precious papers calling for succour. safely he passed a thousand snags, safely reached the bluffs of chickasaw, and saw the fort. toiling up he gave his message. "colonel clark? he is gone. we think he left for louisville." without delay a messenger was dispatched to follow his supposed direction. meanwhile, clark and his soldiers, joining montgomery by land, had hurried to cahokia. immediately he crossed to st. louis. it was the feast of corpus christi, may 25. service in the little log chapel was over. "come," said the people in holiday attire, "let us gather strawberries on the flowery mead." from their covert, peeped the indians. "to-morrow!" they said, "to-morrow!" out of the picnic throng, with lap full of flowers, the beautiful donna ran to greet her lover. "so long"--she drew a sigh--"i haf watched and waited!" love had taught her english. never had the donna appeared so fair, with shining eyes and black hair waving on her snowy shoulders. with tumultuous heart colonel clark bent and kissed her. "vengeance i swear on any indian that shall ever mar this lovely head!" then crushing her hand with the grip of a giant,--"wait a little, my dear, i must see your brother the governor." outside the maiden waited while clark entered the government house. at last don francisco de leyba was come to his senses: "i fear, but i conceal from de people. i sent for lieutenant cartabona from de ste. genevieve. he haf arrived with twenty-five soldier. will you not command of both side de river? i need you. you promised." de leyba wore a long scarf of crape for his lately deceased wife. clark had never seen him look so ill; he was worn out and trembling. the ruffle at his wrist shook like that of a man with palsy. clark took the nervous hand in his own firm grasp. "certainly, my friend, i will do everything in my power. what are your defences?" "we haf a stockade, you note it? de cannon at gates? i assure de people no danger, de rumour false; i fear dey scarce will believe now." together they went out to review cartabona's soldiers and the works of defence. "le colonel clark! le colonel clark!" the people cheered as he passed. "now we are safe!" de leyba had sent out a hunter to shoot ducks for the colonel's dinner. and while the governor and clark were in discussion, the hunter met a spy. "who commands at cahokia?" inquired the stranger. "colonel clark; he has arrived with a great force." "colonel clark! oh, no," answered the spy in amazement, "that cannot be! clark is in kentucky. we have just killed an express with dispatches to him there." "i don't know about that," answered the hunter, in his turn surprised. "colonel clark is at this moment in st. louis, and i have been sent to kill some ducks for his dinner." the stranger disappeared. clark was in st. louis about two hours. "cartabona is here. i shall be ready to answer his slightest signal. be sure i shall answer." he turned to go. "going? no, no, señor colonel, i cannot permit--" the hands of governor de leyba shook still more. "i expect you to dine,--haf sent a hunter for ducks." but when did george rogers clark ever stop to eat when there was fighting on hand? hastily recrossing the river, he put cahokia into immediate defence. the next day dawned clear and bright, but the people, wearied with all-night dancing, slumbered late. grandfather jean marie cardinal had not danced. he was uncommonly industrious that morning. hastening away in the dewy dawn, he went to planting corn in his slightly plowed fields. gradually others strolled out on the grand prairie. it was high noon when an indian down by the spring caught the eye of grandfather jean marie cardinal. "he must not give the alarm," thought the savage, so on the instant he slew and scalped him where he stood. then all was tumult. the people in the village heard the sound of firearms. lieutenant cartabona and his garrison fired a gunshot from the tower to warn the scattered villagers in the fields. erelong they came stumbling into the north gate half dead with fright and exhaustion. "the chippewas! the chippewas!" they had crossed the river and murdered the family of françois bellhome. "_sacre dieu! le sauvage! la tour! la tour!_" cried the frantic habitants, but the tower was occupied by cartabona and his coward soldiers. every man rushed to the place des armes, powder-horn and bullet-pouch in hand. "to arms! to arms!" was the terrified cry. "where is the garrison? where is the governor?" but they came not forth. cartabona and his men continued to garrison the tower. the governor cowered in the government house with doors shut and barricaded. women and children hid in the houses, telling their beads. it was about noon when the quick ear of clark, over in cahokia, heard the cannonading and small arms in st. louis. he sent an express. "here, murray and jaynes, go over the river and inquire the cause." slipping through the cottonwood trees, the express met an old negro woman on a keen run for cahokia. she screamed, "run, boston, run! a great many salvages!" all together ran back, just in time to meet colonel clark marching out of the east gate. in the thick woods of cahokia creek he caught a view of the foe. "boom!" rang his brass six-pounder,--tree-tops and indians fell together. amazed at this rear fire the indians turned in confusion. one terrified look,--"it is the long knife! we have been deceived. we will not fight the long knife!" with one wild whoop they scurried to their boats. the handful of traders, deserted, raised the siege and retired. it was the period of the spring rise of the powerful and turbulent mississippi, which, undermining its shores, dumped cottonwood trees into the river. "the whole british army is coming on rafts!" in terror seeing the supposed foe advancing, cartabona's soldiers began firing at the white-glancing trees on the midnight waters. on, on came the ghostly flotilla. "cease firing!" demanded de leyba emerging from his retreat. "de cowardly, skulking old goffner! hide heself! abandon de people!" in wrath they tore toward him, sticks and stones flying. the governor fled, and the daft spaniards, watching the river, spiked the cannon, preparing to fly the moment the british landed. cahokia trembled all night long. there were noises and howls of wolves, but no indians. clark himself in the darkness made the rounds of his sentinels. even through the shadows they guessed who walked at night. "pass, grand round, keep clear of my arms and all's well," was the successive cry from post to post in the picket gardens of old cahokia. with the first pale streak of dawn the sleepless habitants looked out. all was still. the indians were gone, but over at st. louis seven men were found dead, scalped by the retreating foe. many more were being carried off prisoners, but clark's pursuing party rescued thirty. the prisoners, dragged away to the north by their captors, suffered hardships until restored at the end of the war, in 1783. when clark heard of the incompetence of de leyba he was furious. on his way to the government house, he saw the lovely donna at her casement. her hair was dishevelled, her eyes wet with tears. she extended her hand. clark took one step toward her, and then pride triumphed. "never will i become the father of a race of cowards," and turning on his heel he left st. louis forever. in one month de leyba was dead, some said by his own hand. he knew that auguste chouteau had gone to complain of him at new orleans,--the people believed he had been bribed by great britain; he knew that only disgrace awaited him, and he succumbed to his many disasters and the universal obloquy in which he was held. he was buried in the little log chapel, beneath the altar, by the side of his wife, where his tomb is pointed out to this day. and the beautiful donna de leyba? she waited and wept but clark came not. then, taking with her the two little orphan nieces, rita and perdita, she went down to new orleans. here for a time she lingered among friends, and at last, giving up all hope, retired to the ursuline convent and became a nun. presently auguste chouteau returned from new orleans with the new governor, don francisco de cruzat, who pacified fears and fortified the town with half-a-dozen circular stone turrets, twenty feet high, connected by a stout stockade of cedar posts pierced with loopholes for artillery. on the river bank a stone tower called the half moon, and west of it a square log tower called the bastion, still stood within the memory of living men. "next year a thousand sioux will be in the field under wabasha," wrote sinclair to haldimand, his chief in canada. but the sioux had no more desire to go back to "the high walled house of thunder," where the cannon sounded not "hail to great wabashaw!" their own losses were considerable, for clark ordered an immediate pursuit. some of the spaniards, grateful for the succour of the americans, crossed the river and joined montgomery's troops in his chase after the retreating red men. "the americans are coming," was the scare-word at prairie du chien. "better get up your furs." with wabasha's help the traders hastily bundled three hundred packs of their best furs into canoes, and setting fire to the remaining sixty packs, burned them, together with the fort, while they hurried away to michilimackinac. matchekewis went by the lakes. "two hundred illinois cavalry arrived at chicago five days after the vessels left," is the record of the haldimand papers. the watchfulness and energy of clark alone saved illinois; nevertheless, de peyster felt satisfied, for he thought that diversion kept clark from detroit. after the terror was all over, long in the annals of the fireside, the french of st. louis related the feats of "_l'année du coup_." "auguste chouteau, he led te defence, he and he brother." "no, madame rigauche, te school-meestress, she herself touch te cannon." "well, at any rate, we hid in te chouteau garden, behind te stone wall." xvi _old chillicothe_ with a wrench at his hot heart stifled only by wrath and determination, clark strode from st. louis. at cahokia french deserters were talking to montgomery. "a tousand british and indians on te march to kentucky with cannon." "when did they start?" thundered clark. the frenchman dodged as if shot. "dey start same time dis. colonel bird to keep clark busy in kentucky so sinclair get san loui' an' brak up te fur trade." for once in his life clark showed alarm. "i know the situation of that country. i shall attempt to get there before bird does." drawing montgomery aside, he said, "and you, colonel, chase these retreating indians. chase them to michilimackinac if possible. destroy their towns and crops, distress them, convince them that we will retaliate and thus deter them from joining the british again." without pausing to breathe after the fatigue of the last few days, with a small escort clark launched a boat and went flying down to chickasaw bluffs. disguised as indians, feathered and painted, he and a few others left fort jefferson. clark's army the year before had carried glowing news of illinois. already emigration had set in. on the way now he met forty families actually starving because they could not kill buffaloes. a gun?--it was a part of clark. he used his rifle-barrelled firelock as he used his hands, his feet, his eyes, instantly, surely, involuntarily. he showed them how to strike the buffalo in a vital part, killed fourteen, and hurried on, thirty miles a day, fording stream and swamp and tangled forest to save kentucky. kentucky was watching for her deliverer. into his ear was poured the startling tale. with simon girty, the renegade, and six hundred indians, down the high waters of the miami and up the licking, bird came to ruddle's station and fired his cannon. down went the wooden palisades like a toy blockhouse before his six-pounders. "surrender!" came the summons from colonel bird. "yes, if we can be prisoners to the british and not to the indians." bird assented. the gates were thrown open. indians flew like dogs upon the helpless people. "you promised security," cried captain ruddle. "i cannot stop them," said bird. "i, too, am in their power." madly the indians sacked the station and killed the cattle. loading the household goods upon the backs of the unfortunate owners, they drove them forth and gave their cabins to the flames. the same scenes were enacted at martin's station. the indians were wild for more. but bird would not permit further devastation. he could easily have taken every fort in kentucky, not one could have withstood his artillery; but to his honour be it said, he led his forces out. loaded with plunder, the wretched captives, four hundred and fifty men, women, and children, were driven away to detroit. whoever faltered was tomahawked. clark immediately called on the militia of kentucky. hastening to harrodsburg he found the newcomers wild over land entries. "land!" they cried, "you can have all you can hold against the indians." it was a grewsome joke. the indians would not even let them survey. like a military dictator, clark closed the land office,--"nor will it be opened again until after this expedition." immediately a thousand men enlisted. logan, linn, floyd, harrod, all followed the banner of clark. boone and kenton set on ahead as guides, into the land they knew so well. "is it not dangerous to invade the shawnee country?" inquired one. "i was not born in the woods to be scared by an owl," was clark's sententious reply. all the provisions they had for twenty-five days was six quarts of parched corn each, except what they got in the indian country. canoeing down the licking, on the first day of august they crossed the ohio. scarce touching shore they heard the scalp halloo. some fell. within fifteen minutes clark had his axes in the forest building a blockhouse for his wounded. on that spot now stands cincinnati. on pressed clark in his retaliatory dash,--before the shawnees even suspected, the kentuckians were at old chillicothe. they flew to arms, but the long knives swooped down with such fury that simon girty drew off. "it is folly to fight such madmen." chillicothe went down in flames; piqua followed; fields, gardens, more than five hundred acres of corn were razed to the level of the sod. piqua was tecumseh's village; again he learned to dread and hate the white man. "that will keep them at home hunting for a while," remarked clark, turning back to the future cincinnati. xvii _"detroit must be taken"_ again george rogers clark sped through cumberland gap, fair as a tyrolean vale, to virginia. and dashing along the same highway, down the valley of virginia, came the minute men of the border, in green hunting shirts, hard-riders and sharp-shooters of fincastle. "hey and away, and what news?" the restless mountaineers of the appalachians, almost as fierce and warlike as the goths and vandals of an earlier day, answered: "we have broken the back of tarleton's army at king's mountain, cornwallis is facing this way, and cruisers are coming up into the chesapeake." "marse gawge! marse gawge!" this time it was little york, the negro, who, peeping from the slave quarters of old york and rose, detected the stride of george rogers clark out under the mulberry trees. the long, low, virginia farmhouse was wrapped in slumber, an almost funeral pall hung over the darkened porch, as john clark stepped out to grasp the hand of his son. "three of my boys in british prisons, we looked for nothing less for you, george. william alone is left." "girls do not count, i suppose," laughed the saucy lucy, peeping out in her night-curls with a candle in her hand. "over at bowling green the other day, when all the gallants were smiling on me, one jealous girl said, 'i do not see what there is so interesting about lucy clark. she is not handsome, and she has red hair.' 'ah,' i replied, 'i can tell her. they know i have five brothers all officers in the revolutionary army!'" "what, edmund gone, too?" exclaimed george. "he is but a lad!" "big enough to don the buff and blue, and shoulder a gun," answered the father. "he would go,--left school, led all his mates, and six weeks later was taken prisoner along with jonathan and the whole army." that was the fall of charleston, in the very may when clark was saving st. louis. "we are all at war," spoke up elizabeth, the elder sister, sadly. "even the boys drill on mimic battlefields; all the girls in virginia are spinning and weaving clothes for the soldiers; mrs. washington keeps sixteen spinning-wheels busy at mount vernon; mother and all the ladies have given their jewels to fit out the army. mrs. jefferson herself led the call for contributions, and mrs. lewis of albemarle collected five thousand dollars in continental currency. father has given up his best horses, and jefferson impressed his own horses and waggons at monticello to carry supplies to general gates. all the lads in the country are moulding bullets and making gun-powder. we haven't a pewter spoon left." "an' we niggers air raisin' fodder," ventured the ten-year-old york. york had his part, along with his young master, william. daily they rode together down the rappahannock, carrying letters to fielding lewis at fredericksburg. it was there, at kenmore house, that they met meriwether lewis, visiting his uncle and aunt betty, the sister of washington. "and when she puts on his _chapeau_ and great coat, she looks exactly like the general," said william. "what has become of my captured governors?" george asked of his father. "i hear that hamilton was offered a parole on condition that he would not use his liberty in any way to speak or influence any one against the colonies. he indignantly refused to promise that, and so was returned to close captivity. but i think when boone came up to the legislature he used some influence; at any rate hamilton was paroled and went with hay to england. rocheblave broke his parole and fled to new york." the five fireplaces of the old clark home roared a welcome that day up the great central chimney, and candles gleamed at evening from dormer window to basement when all the neighbours crowded in to hail "the washington of the west." "now, rose, you and nancy bake the seed cakes and have beat biscuit," said mrs. clark to the fat cook in the kitchen. "york has gone after the turkeys." "events are in desperate straits," said george at bedtime; "i must leave at daylight." but earlier yet young william was up to gallop a mile beside his brother on the road to richmond, whither the capital had been removed for greater safety. "is this the young virginian that is sending home all the western governors?" exclaimed the people. an ovation followed him all the way. "what is your plan?" asked governor jefferson, after the fiery cavalier had been received with distinction by the virginia assembly. "my plan is to ascend the wabash in early spring and strike before reinforcements can reach detroit, or escape be made over the breaking ice of the lakes. the rivers open first." george rogers clark, born within three miles of monticello, had known jefferson all his life, and save patrick henry no one better grasped his plans. in fact, jefferson had initiative and was not afraid of untried ventures. "my dear colonel, i have already written to washington that we could furnish the men, provisions, and every necessary except powder, had we the money, for the reduction of detroit. but there is no money,--not even rich men have seen a shilling in a year. washington to the north is begging aid, gates in the south is pleading for men and arms, and not a shilling is in the treasury of virginia." "but detroit must be taken," said clark with a solemn emphasis. "through my aides i have this discovery: a combination is forming to the westward,--a confederacy of british and indians,--to spread dismay to our frontier this coming spring. we cannot hesitate. the fountain head of these irruptions must be cut off, the grand focus of indian hostilities from the mohawk to the mississippi." even as he spoke, jefferson, pen in hand, was noting points in another letter to washington. "we have determined to undertake it," wrote jefferson, "and commit it to clark's direction. whether the expense of the enterprise shall be defrayed by the continent or state we leave to be decided hereafter by congress. in the meantime we only ask the loan of such necessaries as, being already at fort pitt, will save time and expense of transportation. i am, therefore, to solicit your excellency's order to the commandant at fort pitt for the articles contained in the annexed list." clark had the list in hand. "it is our only hope; there is not a moment to be lost." on fleet horses the chain of expresses bore daily news to the camp of washington, but before his answer could return, another express reined up at richmond. "benedict arnold, the traitor, has entered the capes of virginia with a force of two thousand men." it was new year's eve and richmond was in a tumult. on new year's day every legislator was moving his family to a place of safety. the very winds were blowing arnold's fleet to richmond. virginia had laid herself bare of soldiers; every man that could be spared had been sent south. and arnold? with what rage george rogers clark saw him destroy the very stores that might have taken detroit,--five brass field-pieces, arms in the capitol loft and in waggons on the road, five tons of powder, tools, quartermaster's supplies. then the very wind that had blown arnold up the river turned and blew him back, and the only blood shed was by a handful of militia under george rogers clark, who killed and wounded thirty of arnold's men. "i have an enterprise to propose," said the governor to clark on return. "i have confidence in your men from the western side of the mountains. i want to capture arnold and hang him. you pick the proper characters and engage them to seize this greatest of all traitors. i will undertake, if they are successful, that they shall receive five thousand guineas reward among them." "i cannot, arnold is gone, i must capture detroit." more determined than ever, clark and jefferson went on planning. "yes, you must capture detroit and secure lake erie. you shall have two thousand men, and ammunition and packhorses shall be at the falls of the ohio, march 15, ready for the early break of the ice." washington's consent had come, and orders for artillery. with washington and jefferson at his back, clark made indefatigable efforts to raise two thousand men to rendezvous march 15. up the blue ridge his agents went and over to the holston; he wrote to western pennsylvania; he visited redstone-old-fort, and hurried down to fort pitt. fort pitt itself was in danger. the wabash broke and ran untrammelled, but clark was not ready. cornwallis was destroying gates at camden; de kalb fell, covered with wounds; sumter was cut to pieces by tarleton. the darkest night had come in a drama that has no counterpart, save in the napoleonic wars that shook europe in the cause of human liberty. war, war, raged from the atlantic to the mississippi. the land was covered with forts and blockhouses. every hamlet had its place of refuge. mills were fortified, and private houses. every outlying settlement was stockaded. every log house had its pickets and portholes. chains of posts followed the river fords and mountain gaps from ticonderoga to the mohawk, from the susquehanna to the delaware, to the cumberland, to the tennessee. anxious sentinels peered from the watchtowers of wooden castles. guns stood on the ramparts. the people slept in barracks. moats and drawbridges, chained gates and palisades, guarded the sacred citadels of america. "and what if england wins?" said one to washington. "we can still retire to the ohio and live in freedom," for, like the last recesses of the swiss alps, it was thought no nation could conquer the alleghanies. in desperation and unaware of the virginian crisis behind him, george rogers clark embarked four hundred men, all he could get of the promised two thousand. only a line he sent to jefferson, "i have relinquished all hope," but jefferson at that hour was flying from tarleton, cornwallis was coming up into virginia, and washington with his ragged band of veteran continentals was marching down to yorktown. there was no time to glance beyond the mountains. all the northwest, in terror of clark, was watching and fearing. if a blow was struck anywhere, "clark did it." shawnees and delawares, wyandots at the north, choctaws and chickasaws and cherokees at the south, british and indians everywhere, were rising against devoted kentucky. as clark stepped on his boats at pittsburg word flew to remotest tribes,-"the long knives are coming!" the red man trembled in his wigwam, detroit redoubled its fortifications, and clark's forlorn little garrisons in the prairies of the west hung on to illinois. in those boats clark bore provisions, ammunition, artillery, quartermaster's stores, collected as if from the very earth by his undying energy,--everything but men, men! major william croghan stood with him on the wharf at pittsburg, burning, longing to go, but honour forbade,--he was out on parole from charleston. peeping, spying, gliding, indians down the ohio would have attacked but for fear of clark's cannon. the "rear guard of the continental army" little knew the young virginian, the terror of his name. for him, canada staid at home to guard detroit when she might have wrested yorktown. with shouts of thanksgiving louisville greeted clark and his four hundred; the war had come up to their very doors. never had the indians so hammered away at the border. across the entire continent the late intermittent cannon shots became a constant volley. every family had its lost ones,--"my father, my mother, my wife, my child, they slaughtered, burned, tortured,--_i will hunt the indian till i die!_" detroit, niagara, michilimackinac--the very names meant horror, for there let loose, the red bloodhounds of war, the most savage, the most awful, with glittering knives, pressed close along the ohio. the buffalo meat for the expedition rotted while clark struggled, anguished in spirit, a lion chained, "stationed here to repel a few predatory savages when i would carry war to the lakes." but troops yet behind, "almost naked for want of linen and entirely without shoes," were trying to join clark down the wild ohio. joseph brandt cut them off,--lochry and shannon and one hundred pennsylvanians,--not one escaped to tell the tale. clark never recovered, never forgot the fate of lochry. "had i tarried but one day i might have saved them!" in the night-time he seemed to hear those struggling captives dragged away to detroit,--"detroit! lost for the want of a few men!" for the first time the over-wrought hero gave way to intoxication to drown his grief,--and so had clark then died, "detroit" might have been found written on his heart. despair swept over westmoreland where lochry's men were the flower of the frontier. only fourteen or fifteen rifles remained in hannastown,--the indians swooped and destroyed it utterly. xviii _on the ramparts_ in all his anguish about detroit, with the energy of desperation clark now set to work making louisville stronger than ever. "boys, we must have defences absolutely impregnable; we know not at what moment cannon may be booming at our gates." a new stronghold was founded, and around it a moat eight feet deep and ten feet wide; surrounding the moat itself, was built a breastwork of log pens, filled with earth and picketed ten feet high on top of the breastwork. an acre was thus enclosed, and in that acre was a spring that bubbles still in the streets of louisville. within were mounted a double six-pounder captured at vincennes, four cannon, and eight swivels, and heaped around were shells, balls, and grapeshot brought for the detroit campaign. with bakehouse and blockhouse, bastion and barrack, no enemy ever dared attack fort nelson. "general clark is too hard on the militia," the soldier boys complained, but the hammering and pounding and digging went on until louisville was the strongest point beyond the alleghanies. back and back came the indians, in battles and forays, and still in this troublous time settlers were venturing by flatboat and over the wilderness road into the blue grass country. they seemed to fancy that clark had stilled the west, that here the cannon had ceased to rattle. emigrants on packhorses bound for the land of cane and turkeys saw bodies of scalped white men every day. logan and his forest rangers, like knights of old, guarded the wilderness road. kenton and his scouts patrolled the ohio, crossing and recrossing on the track of marauding savages. boone watched the licking; floyd held the bear grass. fort nelson was done,--its walls were cannon-proof. clark's gunboat lay on the water-front when a messenger passed the sentinel with a letter. in the little square room that clark called his headquarters, the envoy waited. the young commandant read and bowed his head,--was it a moment of irresolution? "who could have brought this letter?" "any indian would bring it for a pint of rum," answered a well-known voice. pulling off a mask, connolly stood before him. it was as if lord dunmore had risen from the floor,--connolly had been lord dunmore's captain commandant of all the land west of the blue ridge. what was he saying? "as much boundary of land on the west bank of the ohio as you may wish, and any title under that of a duke, if you will abandon louisville. i am sent to you by hamilton." "what!" gasped clark. "shall i become an arnold and give up my country? never! go, sir, before my people discover your identity." resolved to lock the secret in his own heart, clark spoke to no one. but that same night a similar offer was made to john floyd on the bear grass. he mentioned it to clark. "we must never tell the men," they agreed; "starving and discouraged they might grasp the offer to escape the indian tomahawk." but years after clark told his sister lucy, and floyd told his wife, jane buchanan,--and from them the tale came down to us. as if enraged at this refusal, british and indians rallied for a final onslaught. "the white men are taking the fair kain-tuck-ee, the land of deer and buffalo. if you beat clark this time you will certainly recover your hunting-grounds," said de peyster at the council fire. in unprecedented numbers the redmen crossed the ohio,--station after station was invested; then followed the frightful battle of blue licks where sixty white men fell in ten minutes. kentucky was shrouded in mourning. again clark followed swift with a thousand mounted riflemen. among the indians dividing their spoils and their captives there sounded a sharp alarm, "the long knives! the long knives!" "a mighty army on its march!" barely had the shawnees time to fly when clark's famished kentuckians entered old chillicothe. fires were yet burning, corn was on the roasting sticks, but the foe was gone. "the property destroyed was of great amount, and the quantity of provisions burned surpassed all idea we had of the indian stores," clark said in after years. this second destruction of their villages and cornfields chilled the heart of the indians. their power was broken. never again did a great army cross the ohio. but standing again on the ruins of old chillicothe, "i swear vengeance!" cried the young tecumseh. and clark, the long knife, mourned in his heart. "this might have been avoided! this might have been avoided! never shall we have peace on this frontier until detroit is taken!" xix _exit cornwallis_ "the boy cannot escape me!" lafayette was all that lay between cornwallis and the subjugation of virginia. the lithe little frenchman, only twenty-three years old, danced ever on and on before him, fatiguing the redcoats far into the heats of june. the virginia legislature adjourned to charlottesville. in vain cornwallis chased the boy and sent tarleton on his raid over the mountains, "to capture the governor." like a flash he came, the handsome, daring, dashing colonel tarleton, whose name has been execrated for a hundred years. virginia was swept as by a tornado. never a noise in the night, never a wind could whistle by, but "tarleton's troop is coming!" "tarleton's troop!" little john randolph, a boy of eight, his mother then lying in childbed, was gathered up and hurried away ninety miles up the appomattox. "tarleton's troop!" beside the dead body of her husband sat the mother of four-year-old henry clay, with her seven small children shuddering around her. standing on a rock in the south anna river, the great preacher had addressed his congregation in impassioned oratory for the last time, and now on a bier he lay lifeless, while the gay trooper raided the lands of his children. even tarleton was moved by the widow's pallor as he tossed a handful of coins on her table. she arose and swept them into the fireplace,--"never will i touch the invaders' gold." "tarleton's troop!" back at waxhaw, south carolina, a lad by the name of andrew jackson bore through life the scars of wounds inflicted by tarleton's men. at that very hour, alone on foot his mother was returning from deeds of mercy to the patriots caged in prison pens by tarleton. but the streams were cold, the forests dark; losing her way, overworn and weary, sank and died the mother of andrew jackson. "tarleton's troop!" jack jouett at the cuckoo tavern at louisa saw white uniforms faced with green, and fluttering plumes, and shining helmets riding by. the fiery huguenot blood rose in him. before daylight jack's hard-ridden steed reined up at monticello. "tarleton's troop, three hours behind me! fly!" there was panic and scramble,--some of the legislators were at monticello. there was hasty adjournment and flight to staunton, across the blue ridge. assisting his wife, the slender, graceful mrs. jefferson, into a carriage, the governor sent her and the children under the care of jupiter, the coachman, to a neighbouring farmhouse, while he gathered up his state papers. "what next, massa?" martin, the faithful body-servant, watching his master's glance and anticipating every want, followed from room to room. "the plate, martin," with a wave of the hand jefferson strode out from his beloved monticello. with cæsar's help martin pulled up the planks of the portico, and the last piece of silver went under the floor as a gleaming helmet hove in sight. dropping the plank, imprisoning poor cæsar, martin faced the intruder. "where is your master? name the spot or i'll fire!" "fire away, then," answered the slave. the trooper desisted. tarleton and his men took food and drink, but destroyed nothing. the fame of jefferson's kindness to burgoyne's captured army had reached even tarleton, for in that mansion books and music had been free to the imprisoned british officers. "an' now who be ye, an' whar are ye from?" an old woman peered from the door of a hut in a gorge of the hills, late in the afternoon. "we are members of the virginia legislature fleeing from tarleton's raid." "ride on, then, ye cowardly knaves! here my husband and sons have just gone to charlottesville to fight for ye, an' ye a runnin' awa' wi' all yer might. clar out; ye get naething here." "but, my good woman, it would never do to let the british capture the legislature." "if patterick hennery had been in albemarle, the british dragoons would naever ha' passed the rivanna." "but, my good woman, here is patrick henry." "patterick hennery? patterick hennery? well, well, if patterick hennery is here it must be all right. coom in, coom in to the best i have." but daniel boone and three or four others were captured, and carried away to cornwallis to be released soon after on parole. "tarleton's troop!" cried little meriwether lewis, seven years old. sweeping down the rivanna came the desperado to the home of colonel nicholas lewis, away in the continental army. "what a paradise!" exclaimed tarleton, raising his hands. "why, then, do you interrupt it?" inquired mrs. lewis, alone at home with her small children and slaves. the trooper slept that night in his horseman's cloak on the kitchen floor. at daylight mrs. lewis was awakened by a clatter in her henyard. ducks, chickens, turkeys, the troopers were wringing their necks. one decrepit old drake only escaped by skurrying under the barn. bowing low till his plume swept the horse's mane, tarleton galloped away. the wrath of aunt molly! "here, pompey, you just catch that drake. ride as fast as you can, and present it to colonel tarleton with my compliments." on flying steed, drake squawking and flouncing on his back, the darkey flew after the troopers. "well, pompey, did you overtake colonel tarleton?" was aunt molly's wrathful inquiry. "yes'm." "what did he say?" "he put de drake in his wallet, and say he much obleeged!" little meriwether, sitting on the gate-post, laughed at his aunt's discomfiture. the roll of a drum broke the stillness of sabbath in the blue ridge. "tarleton's troop!" by the bed of her sick husband sat a spartan mother at staunton. her sons were in the army at the north, but three young lads, thirteen, fifteen, and seventeen were there. placing their father's old firelock in their hands, "go forth, my children," she said, "repel the foot of the invader or see my face no more." but tarleton did not force the mountain pass,--the boys went on down to join lafayette. from farm and forest, children and grandsires hurried to lafayette. the proud earl retired to the sea and stopped to rest at the little peninsula of yorktown, waiting for reinforcements. down suddenly from the north came washington with his tattered continentals and rochambeau's gay frenchmen, and the french fleet sailed into the chesapeake. cornwallis was bottled up at yorktown. the boy, lafayette, had simply put the stopper in the bottle and waited. seventy cannon rolled in on yorktown. george rogers clark, all the west, was appealing to washington, but the great chief unmoved kept his eye on lord cornwallis. on the 19th of october, 1781, the aristocratic marquis, who had commenced his career as aide-de-camp to a king, surrendered to the rebels of america. "'wallis has surrendered! surrendered! surrendered!" meriwether lewis and william clark flung up their caps with other boys and shouted with the best of them, "'wallis has surrendered!" after the surrender of cornwallis, washington and lafayette and the officers of the french and american armies went to fredericksburg to pay their respects to mary, the mother of washington. the entire surrounding country was watching in gala attire, and among them the old cavalier, john clark of caroline. on his white horse washington passed the mulberry trees. quick as a flash little william turned,--"why, father, he does look like my brother george! is that why people call our george the 'washington of the west'?" a provisional treaty was signed at paris, november 30, 1782, a few days after the return of george rogers clark from that last chillicothe raid. slowly, by pack-horse and flatboat, the news reached kentucky. the last of the british army sailed away. washington made his immortal farewell, and went back to his farm, arriving on christmas eve. bonfires and rockets, speeches, thanksgiving and turkey, ended the year 1782. but with his return from the last scene at yorktown, the father of meriwether lewis lay down and died, a martyr of the revolution. xx _the old virginia home_ back over boone's trace, the wilderness road he had travelled so many times, went general george rogers clark sometime in the early spring of 1783, past the thrifty fields of fincastle and the shenandoah germans, with their fat cattle and huge red barns. every year the stout pennsylvanians were building farther and farther up. year by year the fields increased, and rosy girls stacked the hay in defiance of all virginian customs across the ridge. but the man who a thousand miles to the west held illinois by the prowess of his arm and the terror of his name, sprang not with the buoyant step of six years before when he had gone to virginia after the gunpowder. his thoughts were at kaskaskia, vincennes, louisville, where his unsustained garrisons were suffering for food and clothing. "peace, peace, peace!" he muttered. "'tis but a mockery. must kentucky lie still and be scalped?" still the savages raided the border, not in numbers, but in squads, persistent and elusive. isham floyd, the boy drummer of vincennes, had been captured by the savages and three days tortured in the woods, and burnt at the stake. "my boy-brother in the hands of those monsters?" exclaimed the great-hearted john floyd of the bear grass. a word roused the country, the savages were dispersed, but poor isham was dead. and beside him lay his last tormentor, the son of an indian chief, shot by the avenging rifle of john floyd. riding home with a heavy heart on the 12th of april, a ball struck colonel floyd, passed through his arm, and entered his breast. behind the trees they caught a glimpse of the smoking rifle of big foot, that chief whose son was slain. leaping from his own horse to that of his brother, charles floyd sustained the drooping form until they reached the bear grass. "charles," whispered the dying man, "had i been riding pompey this would not have happened. pompey pricks his ears and almost speaks if a foe is near." at the feet of jane buchanan her brave young husband was laid, his black locks already damp with the dew of death. "papa! papa!" little two-year-old george rogers clark floyd screamed with terror. ten days later the stricken wife, jane buchanan, gave birth to another son, whom they named in honour of his heroic father. with such a grief upon him, general george rogers clark wended his lonesome way through the cumberland gap to virginia. now in the night-time he heard young isham cry. not a heart in kentucky but bewailed the fate of the drummer boy. and john floyd, his loss was a public calamity. "john floyd, john floyd," murmured clark on his lonely way, "the encourager of my earliest adventures, truest heart of the west!" lochry's men haunted him while he slept. "had i not written they would not have come!" his debts, dishonoured, weighed like a pall, and deep, deep, down in his heart he knew at last how much he loved that girl in the convent at new orleans. at times an almost ungovernable yearning came over him to go down and force the gates of her voluntary prison-house. in may he was at richmond. a new governor sat in the chair of jefferson and patrick henry. to him clark addressed an appeal for the money that was his due. but virginia, bankrupt, impoverished, prostrate, answered only,--"we have given you land warrants, what more can you ask?" with heavy heart clark travelled again the road to caroline. there was joy in the old virginia home, and sorrow. once more the family were reunited. first came colonel jonathan, with his courtly and elegant army comrade major william croghan, an irish gentleman, nephew of sir william johnson, late governor of new york, and of the famous george croghan, sir william's indian deputy in the west. in fact young croghan crossed the ocean with sir william as his private secretary, on the high road to preferment in the british army. but he looked on the struggling colonists, and mused,-"their cause is just! i will raise a regiment for washington." while all his relatives fought for the king, he alone froze and starved at valley forge, and in that frightful winter of 1780 marched with jonathan clark's regiment to the relief of charleston. and charleston fell. "restore your loyalty to great britain and i will set you free," said major general prevost, another one of croghan's uncles. "i cannot," replied the young rebel. "i have linked my fate with the colonies." nevertheless general prevost released him and his colonel, jonathan clark, on parole. lieutenant edmund was held a year longer. directly to the home in caroline, colonel jonathan brought his irish major. and there he met--lucy. then, with the exchange of prisoners, edmund came, damaged it is true, but whole, and john, john from the prison ships, ruined. at sight of the emaciated face of her once handsome boy, the mother turned away and wept. five long years in the prison ship had done its work. five years, where every day at dawn the dead were brought out in cartloads. stifled in crowded holds and poisoned with loathsome food, in one prison ship alone in eighteen months eleven thousand died and were buried on the brooklyn shore. and then came the general, george rogers, and captain richard, from the garrison of kaskaskia where he had helped to hold the illinois. in tattered regimentals and worn old shirts they came,--the army of the revolution was disbanded without a dollar. "and i, worse than without a dollar," said general george rogers. "my private property has been sacrificed to pay public debts." but from what old treasure stores did those girls bring garments, homespun and new and woolly and warm, prepared against this day of reunion? the soldiers were children again around their father's hearth, with mother's socks upon their feet and sister's arms around their necks. jonathan, famous for his songs, broke forth in a favourite refrain from robin hood:- "and mony ane sings o' grass, o' grass, and mony ane sings o' corn, and mony ane sings o' robin hood kens little where he was born. "it wasna in the ha', the ha', nor in the painted bower, but it was in the gude greenwood amang the lily flower." "and you call us lily flowers?" cried fanny, the beauty and the pet. "the lilies of the field, they toil not, neither do they spin; and here have we been spinning for weeks and weeks to dress you boys again." "and what has william been doing?" "learning to follow in the footsteps of my brothers," answered the lad of thirteen. "another year and i, too, could have gone as a drummer boy." "thank god, you'll never have to," ejaculated the general solemnly. the old house rang with merriment as it had not in years. the negroes, york and old york and rose his wife, jane and julia and cupid and harry, and nancy the cook, were jubilantly preparing a feast for welcome. other guests were there,--colonel anderson, aide-de-camp of lafayette, who was to wed elizabeth, the sister next older than william; and charles mynn thruston, son of the "fighting parson," and dennis fitzhugh, daft lovers of the romping fanny. since before the revolution jonathan had been engaged to sarah hite, the daughter of joist hite, first settler of the shenandoah. thousands of acres had her father and hundreds of indentured white servants. joist hite's claim overlay that of lord fairfax; they fought each other in the courts for fifty years. should hite win, sarah would be the greatest heiress in virginia. from the sight of happy courtship george rogers turned and ever and anon talked with his parents, "solemn as the judgment," said fanny. a few blissful days and the time for scattering came. again the old broad-porticoed farmhouse was filled with farewells,--negro slaves held horses saddled. "but we shall meet in kentucky," said old john clark the cavalier. george rogers bade them good-bye, waved a last kiss back, whipped up his horse, and entered the forest. in october john died. a vast concourse gathered under the mulberry trees where the young lieutenant lay wrapped in the flag of his country, a victim of the prison ship. great was the indignation of friends as they laid him away. and now preparations were rapidly carried forward for removal to kentucky. xxi _down the ohio_ there was truce on the border. the wondering redmen heard that the great king had withdrawn across the big water and that the long knives were victors in the country. with wondering minds shawnee and delaware, wyandot and miami, discussed around their council fires the changed situation. very great had the redcoats appeared in the eyes of the savages, with their dazzling uniforms, and long, bright, flashing swords. but how terrible were the virginians of the big knives! the continental armies had been dispersed, but now from their old war-ravaged homes of the atlantic shore they looked to the new lands beyond the alleghanies. congress would pay them in these lands, and so the scarred veterans of a hundred battles launched on the emigrant trail. in the clark home there was busy preparation. out of attic and cellar old cedar chests were brought and packed with the precious linen, fruit of many a day at the loom. silver and pewter and mahogany bureaus, high-post bedsteads and carved mirrors, were carefully piled in the waggons as john clark, cavalier, turned his face from tidewater virginia. neighbours called in to bid them farewell. mrs. clark made a last prayer at the grave of her son, the victim of the prison ship. "william, have you brought the mulberry cuttings?" called the motherly lucy. "william, have you the catalpa seeds?" cried fanny. leaving the old home with jonathan to be sold, the train started out,--horses, cattle, slaves, york riding proudly at the side of his young master william, old york and rose, nancy, jane, julia, cupid and harry and their children, a patriarchal caravan like that of abraham facing an earlier west two thousand years before. before and behind were other caravans. all virginia seemed on the move, some by rockfish gap and staunton, up the great valley of virginia to the wilderness road, on packhorses; others in waggons, like the clarks, following the braddock route down to redstone-old-fort on the monongahela, where boats must be built. and here at redstone was george rogers clark, come up to meet them from the falls. in short order, under his direction, boatbuilders were busy. york and old york took a hand, and william, in a first experience that was yet to find play in the far idaho. the teasing fanny looked out from her piquant sun-bonnet. lucy, more sedate, was accompanied by her betrothed, major croghan. "my uncle, george croghan, has lately died in new york and left me his heir. i shall locate in louisville," was the major's explanation to his friend's inquiry. "and what is the news from virginia?" "your old friend patrick henry is governor again. jonathan visited him last week," was william's reply. "and jonathan's wife, sarah hite, bids fair to secure her fortune," added fanny. "you see, when old lord fairfax heard of cornwallis's surrender he gave up. 'put me to bed, jo,' he said, 'it is time for me to die,' and die he did. now his lands are in the courts." "mrs. jefferson, who was ill, died as a result of the excitement of the flight from tarleton," said lucy. "to get away from his sorrow, mr. jefferson has accepted the appointment of minister to france to succeed dr. franklin, and has taken martha and maria with him. they will go to school in paris." george rogers clark was a silent man. he spoke no word of his recent trip to philadelphia, in which dr. franklin had grasped his hand and said, "young man, you have given an empire to the republic." "general washington has just returned from a horseback journey down into this country," added major croghan. "he has lands on the ohio." "and have _you_ no word of yourself or of kentucky?" general clark handed his father a notification from the assembly of virginia. he read it aloud. "the conclusion of the war, and the distressed situation of the state with respect to its finances, call on us to adopt the most prudent economy. you will, therefore, consider yourself out of command." "and you are no longer in the army?" "no, nor even on a footing with the continentals. i was simply a soldier of the virginia militia, and, as such, have no claim even for the half pay allotted to all continental officers." "but virginia has ceded her western territories to congress with the distinct stipulation that expenses incurred in subduing any british posts therein, or in acquiring any part of the territory, shall be reimbursed by the united states." "is there any hope there? what has congress? an empty treasury. and who is to pay the bills incurred in the illinois conquest? shall i, a private individual?" "that would be impossible," commented the father. "but i am not disheartened," continued george rogers. "when the indians are quiet, my men hope to build a city on the land granted us opposite the falls. and here is something from jefferson, written before he left for europe." william stood attentive while the letter was read. "annapolis, december 4, 1783. dear sir,--i find they have subscribed a very large sum of money in england for exploring the country from the mississippi to california. they pretend it is only to promote knowledge. i am afraid they have thought of colonising into that quarter. some of us have been talking here in a feeble way of making an attempt to search that country, but i doubt whether we have enough of that kind of spirit to raise the money. how would you like to lead such a party? though i am afraid our prospect is not worth the question. your friend and humble servant, thomas jefferson." "does he want you to lead an exploring party to the pacific ocean?" inquired william with intense interest. "that is the substance of it. and i should want you to accompany me." little did either then dream that william clark would lead that party, with another. the boats were ready. surmounted by the stars and stripes of the "old thirteen" they started on their journey. suddenly the monongahela closed with ice and locked them at pittsburg, where flurries of snow set the sleigh-bells ringing. through deep drifts, under the guns of fort pitt, files of philadelphia traders were buying up skins and tallow, to carry back over the mountains in their packsaddles that had come out loaded with salt and gunpowder. squaws were exchanging peltries for the white man's tea and sugar. a great concourse of emigrants was blocked for the winter. every cabin was crowded. after great exertions george had secured quarters quite unlike the roomy old virginian home. "i must be gone to make peace with those indians who have been acting with the british, and take steps toward securing titles beyond the ohio." accompanied by two other commissioners, general clark set out for fort mcintosh. it was january before the indians gathered with pierre drouillard, interpreter now for the united states. "by the treaty of peace with england this land belongs to the thirteen fires," was the basis of argument. "you have been allies of england, and now by the law of nations the land is ours." "no! no!" fiercely cried buckongahelas. "but we will divide with you. you are to release your white captives, and give up a part of your ohio lands. the rest you can keep. detroit and michilimackinac belong to the thirteen fires." then boundaries were drawn. "no! no!" cried buckongahelas. clark heeded not. after deliberation the chiefs signed,--wyandot, ottawa, chippewa,--all but buckongahelas. "i am a friend of great britain!" roared the delaware king. then to the surprise of all, suddenly striding past the other commissioners, the swarthy chief took the hand of general clark. "i thank the great spirit for having this day brought together two such warriors as buckongahelas and the long knife." clark smiled and returned the compliment. "will the gorge break?" every frontiersman was asking when george returned to pittsburg. piled back for seventy miles the alleghany was a range of ice, heaped floe on floe. where the muddy monongahela blends with the crystal alleghany the boats lay locked with a hundred others, awaiting the deluge. suddenly the melting snows of the alleghanies burst; the ice loosened, tearing and cutting the branches of trees overhanging the river; and slowly, with the ice, moved the great fleet of flatboats. ever narrower and deeper and swifter, the ohio leaped with tremendous rush down its confined channel. the trees on the uninhabited shores, never yet cut away, held the embankment firm, and racing down on the perilous flood came the clarks to the falls of the ohio, in march of 1785. fascinated by the rush of waves, fourteen-year-old william poled like a man. could he dream what destruction lay in their course? "_l'année des grandes eaux_," 1785, is famous in the annals of the west as the year of great waters. the floods came down and drowned out old ste. genevieve and drove the inhabitants back to the higher terrace on which that village stands to-day. above, the whole american bottom was a swift running sea, kaskaskia and cahokia were submerged by the simultaneous melting of the snows, and nothing but its high bold shore of limestone rock saved st. louis itself. paddling around in his boat, auguste chouteau ate breakfast on the roofs of ste. genevieve. at louisville barely could boats be pulled in to the bear grass. below, waves foamed and whirled among the rocks, that to-day have been smoothed by the hand of man into a shallow channel. guided by skilful hands, many a trader's boat that year took the chute of the falls like an arrow; over the ledges that dammed the water back, down, down they slid out of sight into that unknown west, where william knew not that his brother had paved the way to louisiana. "have you found us a tract?" inquired the anxious mother. "land, mother? i own a dukedom, my soldiers and i, one hundred and fifty thousand acres, on the indian side of the river. we have incorporated a town there, clarksville they call it. it will be a great city,--but louisville is safer at present." that spring they lived at fort nelson, with watchmen on the ramparts. "but we saw no indians in coming down!" "true enough, the flood was a surprise so early in the year. wait a little, and you will hear more of this terrifying river-route, where in low water it takes seven weeks to run from redstone to the bear grass. then the murderous clutches of the indians have free play among the helpless emigrants. let us be thankful for what you escaped." almost while they were speaking a band of indians glided out of the woods not far away, snatched a boy from a fence, and shot his father in the field. "don't kill me, just take me prisoner," said little tommy, looking up into the warrior's face. at that instant an elder brother's rifle felled the indian, and the boy was saved to become the father of abraham lincoln. xxii _mulberry hill_ on a beautiful eminence three miles south of louisville, john clark built his pioneer kentucky home. louisville itself consisted of but a few log cabins around a fortification built by george rogers clark. this family home, so far from the centre, was stockaded by itself, a double log house, two and a half stories high, with hall through the middle. every night a negro stood sentinel, there were portholes in the pickets, and indians hid in the canebrakes. once while the young ladies were out walking an indian shot a little negro girl and they carried her back wounded, behind the pickets at mulberry hill. the floor of the long dining-room was of wood, hard as a bone, and over the seven-foot mantel stag-horns and swords of the revolution were lit by the light of the cavernous fireplace. rigid economy and untiring industry had been the rule at the old clark home in caroline, and not less was it here. there were no pianos, but until midnight the hum of the wheel made music. enchanted the young people listened to tale and song and hum of wheel, while down the great chimney top calmly smiled the pensive stars. little thought they of bare walls, low rafters, or small windows. after the boys hauled in the logs on a hand-sled, and built up a great flame, the whole world seemed illuminated. the pewter basins shone like mirrors, and while their fingers flew in the light of the fire, stories were told of kaskaskia, vincennes, st. louis. but the donna? clark never spoke of her. it was a hidden grief that made him ever lonely. when he saw the lovelight all around him and sometimes left the room, the mother wondered why sudden silence came upon the group. at mulberry hill lucy was married to major croghan, who, on a farm five miles out, built locust grove, an english mansion of the olden style, in its day the handsomest in louisville. and fanny? she was the belle of kentucky. in powdered wig and ruffles many a grave virginian tripped with her the minuet and contra dances of the revolution. more and more young william became enamoured of the indian dress, and went about gaily singing the songs of robin hood and hacking the meat with his hunting knife. out over the game-trails of kentucky, like the beaten streets of fredericksburg, the only city he ever knew, young william went with the boones, kenton, and his own famous brother, george rogers clark, in peltry cap and buckskin hunting-shirt girded with a leathern belt. led by them, with what eagerness he shot his first buffalo, deep in the woods of kentucky. not much longer could bears, deer, and buffalo retreat to the cane. with the coming of the clarks an emigration set in that was to last for a hundred years. even amusements partook of sportive adventure. now it was the hunter's horn summoning the neighbours to a bear chase in the adjoining hills. william surpassed the indian himself in imitating the bark of the wolf, the hoot of the owl, the whistle of the whippoorwill. daniel boone came often to mulberry hill in leggings and moccasins, ever hunting, hunting, hunting beaver, bear and coon, wolves and wild-cats, deer and foxes, and going back to trade their skins in maryland for frontier furniture, knives and buttons, scissors, nails, and tea. upon his shot-pouch strap boone fastened his moccasin awl with a buckhorn handle made out of an old clasp-knife, and carried along with him a roll of buckskin to mend his mocassins. while the grizzled hunter stitched deftly at his moccasins, william and york sat by, engaged in the same pastime, for wherever william went, york was his shadow. "since poor richard's uncertain fate i can never trust the boy alone," said his mother. "york, it is your business to guard your young master." and he did, to the ends of the earth. when "uncle daniel," rolled in a blanket, threw himself down on a bed of leaves and slept with his feet to the fire to prevent rheumatism, york and william lay down too, sleeping by turns and listening for indians. at daylight, loosely belting their fringed hunting shirts into wallets for carrying bread, a chunk of jerked beef, or tow for the gun, with tomahawk on the right side and scalping knife on the left, each in a leathern case, again they set off under the reddening forest. skilled in the lore of woodcraft, watchful of clouds and stars and sun, an intimate student of insect life and own brother to the wily beaver, bear, and buffalo, william clark was becoming a scientist. returning from the chase with the same sort of game that graced the saxon board before the norman conquest, he sat down to hear the talk of statesmen. for when clark's commission was revoked, kentucky, unprotected, called a convention to form a state. affairs that in european lands are left to kings and their ministers, were discussed in the firelight of every cabin. public safety demanded action. exposed on three sides to savage inroads, with their virginia capital hundreds of miles beyond forest, mountains, and rivers, no wonder kentucky pleaded for statehood. in a despotic country the people sleep. here every nerve was awake. discussion, discussion, discussion, made every fireside a school of politics; even boys in buckskin considered the nation's welfare. before he was seventeen william clark was made an ensign and proudly donned the eagle and blue ribbon of the cincinnati, a society of the soldiers of the revolution of which washington himself was president. educated in the backwoods and by the cabin firelight, young william was already developing the striking bearing and bold unwavering character of his brother. "what can have become of richard?" every day the mother heart glanced down the long avenue of catalpas that were growing in front of mulberry hill. of the whole family, the gentle affectionate richard was an especial favourite. he was coming from kaskaskia to see his mother, but never arrived. one day his horse and saddlebags were found on the banks of the wabash. was he killed by the indians, or was he drowned? no one ever knew. again george rogers clark was out making treaties with the indians to close up the revolution, but british emissaries had been whispering in their ears, "make the ohio the boundary." at last, after long delays, a few of the tribes came in to the council at the mouth of the great miami, some in friendship, some like the shawnees, rudely suggestive of treachery. "the war is over," explained general clark as chairman; "we desire to live in peace with our red brethren. if such be the will of the shawnees, let some of their wise men speak." there was silence as they whiffed at the council pipes. then a tall chief arose and glanced at the handful of whites and at his own three hundred along the walls of the council house. "we come here to offer you two pieces of wampum. you know what they mean. choose." dropping the beaded emblems upon the table the savage turned to his seat by the wall. pale, calm as a statue, but with flashing eye, clark tangled his slender cane into the belts and--flung them at the chiefs. "ugh!" every indian was up with knife unsheathed, every white stood with hand on his sword. into their very teeth the long knife had flung back the challenge, "peace, or war." like hounds in leash they strained, ready to leap, when the lordly long knife raised his arm and grinding the wampum beneath his heel thundered,-"_dogs, you may go!_" one moment they wavered, then broke and fled tumultuously from the council house. all night they debated in the woods near the fort. in the morning, "let me sign," said buckongahelas. smiling, clark guided the hand of the boastful delaware, and all the rest signed with him. xxiii _mississippi troubles_ for the first time in their stormy history, the front and rear gates of the kentucky forts lay back on their enormous wooden hinges, and all day long men and teams passed in and out with waggon loads of grain from the harvest fields. so hushed and still was the air, it seemed the old indian days were gone for ever. at night the animals came wandering in from the woods, making their customary way to the night pens. fields of corn waved undisturbed around the forts. but the truce was brief. already the cherokees were slaughtering on the wilderness road, and beyond the ohio, shawnee and delaware, wild at the sight of the white man's cabin, rekindled the fires around the stake. thousands of emigrants were coming over the mountains from carolina, and down the ohio from pittsburg social boats lashed together rode in company, bark canoes, pirogues, flatboats, keelboats, scows, barges, bateaux and brigades of bateaux, sweeping down with resistless english, scotch, irish, germans, huguenots, armed for the battle of the races. still the powerful fur traders of quebec and montreal hung on to detroit and mackinac, still de peyster opposed giving up the peninsulas of michigan. "pen the young republic east of the alleghanies," said france, spain, england, when the peace treaty was under consideration. but clark's conquest compelled them to grant the illinois. before the ink was dry on the documents, kentucky was trading down the great river of de soto. "the west must trade over the mountains," said the merchants of philadelphia and baltimore. "the west will follow its rivers," answered kentucky. "spain is mistress of the mississippi," said the spanish king to john jay, the american minister at madrid. in vain flatboatmen with wheat and corn said, "we are from kentucky." "what kaintucke?" brayed the commandant at natchez. "i know no kaintucke. spain own both side de river. i am ordered to seize all foreign vessel on de way to new orleong." without the spaniard the trip was sufficiently hazardous. indians watched the shores. pirates infested the bayous. head winds made the frail craft unmanageable,--snags leered up like monsters to pierce and swallow. but every new settler enlarged the fields, and out of the virgin soil the log granaries were bursting. "carry away our grain, bring us merchandise," was the cry of expanding kentucky. but to escape the indian was to fall into the hands of the spaniard, and the spaniard was little more than a legalised pirate. even the goods of the frenchmen were seized with the warning, "try it again and we'll send you to brazil." the frenchmen resented this infringement on their immemorial right. since the days of the daring and courageous bienville who founded new orleans, no man had said them nay. a tremendous hatred of the spaniard grew up in the hearts of the frenchmen. in the midst of these confiscations there was distress and anarchy in the illinois. the infant republic had not had time to stretch out there the strong arm of law. floods and continental money had ruined the confiding frenchmen; the garrisons were in destitution; they were writing to clark:-"our credit is become so weak among the french that one dollar's worth of provisions cannot be had without prompt payment, were it to save the whole country." "and why has our british father made no provision for us," bewailed the indians, "who at his beck and call have made such deadly enemies of the long knives? our lands have been ravaged by fire and sword, and now we are left at their mercy." "let us drive the red rascals out," cried the infuriated settlers. "no," said washington, who understood and pitied the red men. "forgive the past. dispossess them gradually by purchase as the extension of settlement demands the occupation of their lands." but five thousand impoverished indians in the ohio country kept thirty thousand settlers in hot water all the time. no lock on a barn door could save the horses, no precaution save the outlying emigrant from scalping or capture. red banditti haunted the streams and forests, dragging away their screaming victims like ogres of mediæval tragedy. clark grew sick and aged over it. "no commission, no money, no right to do anything for my suffering country!" "your brother, the general, is very ill," said old john clark, coming out of the sick chamber at mulberry hill. in days to come there were generals and generals in the clark family, but george rogers was always "the general." into ten years the youthful commander had compressed the exposure of a lifetime. mental anguish and days in the icy wabash told now on his robust frame, and inflammatory rheumatism set in from which he never recovered. "the americans are your enemies," emissaries from detroit were whispering at vincennes. "the government has forsaken you. they take your property, they pay nothing." "we have nothing to do with the united states," said the french citizens, weary of a congress that heeded them not. "we consider ourselves british subjects and shall obey no other power." even clark's old friend, the tobacco's son, had gone back to his british father, and as always with indians, dug up the red tomahawk. a committee of american citizens at vincennes sent a flying express to clark. "this place that once trembled at your victorious arms, and these savages overawed by your superior power, is now entirely anarchical and we shudder at the daily expectation of horrid murder. we beg you will write us by the earliest opportunity. knowing you to be a friend of the distressed we look to you for assistance." such a call could not be ignored. kentucky was aroused and summoned her favourite general to the head of her army. from a sick bed he arose to lead a thousand undisciplined men, and with him went his brother william. the sultry sun scorched, the waters were low, provisions did not arrive until nine days after the soldiers, and then were spoiled. fatigued, hungry, three hundred revolted and left; nevertheless, the indians had fled and vincennes was recovered. just then up the wabash came a spaniard with a boatload of valuable goods. clark promptly confiscated the cargo, and out of them paid his destitute troops. "it is not alone retaliation," said clark, "it is a warning. if spain will not let us trade down the river, she shall not trade up." kentucky applauded. they even talked of sending clark against the spaniards and of breaking away from a government that refused to aid them. "general clark seized spanish goods?" virginia was alarmed and promptly repudiated the seizure. "we are not ready to fight spain." clark's friends were disturbed. "you will be hung." clark laughed. "i will flee to the indians first." "we have as much to fear from the turbulence of our backwoodsmen," said washington, "as from the hostility of the spaniards." but at this very time, unknown to washington, the spaniards were arming the savages of the south, to exterminate these reckless ambitious frontiersmen. louisiana feared these unruly neighbours. intriguers from new orleans were whispering, "break with the atlantic states and league yourself with spain." then came the rumour, "jay proposes to shut up the mississippi for twenty-five years!" never country was in such a tumult. "we are sold! we are vassals of spain!" cried the men of the west. "what? close the mississippi for twenty-five years as a price of commercial advantage on the atlantic coast? twenty-five years when our grain is rotting? twenty-five years must we be cut off when the wilderness road is thronged with packtrains, when the ohio is black with flatboats? where do they think we are going to pen our people? where do they think we are going to ship our produce? better put twenty thousand men in the field at once and protect our own interests." the bond was brittle; how easily might it be broken! even spain laughed at the weakness of a union that could not command kentucky to give up its river. and kentucky looked to clark. "we must conquer spain or unite with her. we must have the mississippi. will you march with us on new orleans?" then, happily, virginia spoke out for the west. "we must aid them. the free navigation of the mississippi is the gift of nature to the united states." the very next day madison announced in the virginia assembly, "i shall move the election of delegates to a constitutional convention." the stability of the union seemed pivoted upon an open river to the gulf. veterans of the revolution and of the continental congress met to frame a constitution in 1787. after weeks of deliberation with closed doors, the immortal congress adjourned. the constitution was second only to the declaration of independence. without kings or princes a free people had erected a continental republic. the constitution was adopted, and all the way into kentucky wilds were heard the roaring of cannon and ringing of bells that proclaimed the father of his country the first president of the united states. "we must cement the east and the west," said washington. but that west was drifting away--with its mississippi. about this time young daniel boone said, "father, i am going west." just eighteen, one year older than william clark, in the summer of 1787, he concluded to strike out for the mississippi. "well, dannie boy, thee take the compass," said his father. it was the old guide, as large as a saucer, that lord dunmore gave boone when he sent him out to call in the surveyors from the falls of the ohio thirteen years before. mounted on his pony, with a wallet of corn and a rifle on his back, boone rode straight on westward thirty days without meeting a single human being. pausing on the river bank opposite st. louis he hallooed for an hour before any one heard him. "dat some person on de oder shore," presently said old rené kiercereaux, the chorister at the village church. a canoe was sent over and brought back boone. as if a man had dropped from the moon, french, spanish, and indian traders gathered. he spoke not a word of french, but auguste chouteau's slave petrie could talk english. "son of boone, de great hunter? come to my house!" "come to _my_ house!" the hospitable creoles strove with one another for the honour of entertaining the son of daniel boone. for twelve years he spent his summers in st. louis and his winters in western missouri, hunting and trapping. "the best beaver country on earth," he wrote to his father. "you had better come out." "eef your father, ze great colonel boone, will remove to louisiana," said señor zenon trudeau, the lieutenant-governor, "eef he will become a citizen of spain, de king will appreciate de act and reward him handsomely." xxiv _st. clair_ "kentucky! kentucky! i hear nothing else," exclaimed the fighting parson of the revolution, who had thrown aside his prayer-book and gown to follow the armies of washington. "if this western exodus continues virginia bids fair to be depopulated." even jack jouett, who had ridden to warn jefferson of tarleton's raid, had gone to become an honoured member of kentucky's first legislature. "father, let me go." charles mynn thruston, the son of the fighting parson, had long desired to follow fanny clark, but his father held him back. smiling now at the ardour of his son, he said, "you may go, my boy. i am thinking of the western country myself." preparations were immediately made, business affairs settled, and a farewell dinner brought friends to historic mount zion, the famous shenandoah seat of the fighting parson. "a strangah desiahs to know, sah, if he can get dinnah, sah," announced black sambo. "certainly, certainly." parson thruston was the soul of hospitality. "bring him at once to the table, sambo." the stranger seated himself and ate in silence. "i perceive," remarked the parson after the courses had been removed, "i perceive that you are a traveller. may i inquire whence you come?" every ear was intent. "from kentucky, sir," answered the stranger. "ah, that is fortunate. i am about to leave for that country myself," exclaimed young thruston, "and shall be glad to hear such news as you may have to communicate." the stranger smiled and pondered. "the only interesting incident that i recall before my departure from louisville, was the marriage of the kentucky belle, miss fanny clark, to dr. o'fallon." as if struck by a bolt from heaven, charles mynn thruston fell unconscious to the floor. dr. o'fallon was a young irish gentleman of talent and learning. an intimate friend of the governor of south carolina, just before the revolution he had come to visit america, but espousing the cause of the colonists, the governor promptly clapped him into prison. "imprisoned o'fallon!" the people of charleston arose, liberated him, and drove the governor to the british fleet in the harbour. dr. o'fallon enlisted as a private soldier. but surgeons were needed,--he soon proved himself one of skill unexcelled in america. general washington himself ordered him north, and made him surgeon-general in his own army. here he remained until the close of the war, and was thanked by congress for his services. and now he had visited kentucky to assist in securing the navigation of the mississippi, and met--fanny. with the charming fanny as his wife, dr. o'fallon rode many a mile in the woods, the first great doctor of louisville. other emigrants were bringing other romances, and other tragedies. "ohio! ohio! we hear nothing but ohio!" said the people of new england. one rainy april morning the "mayflower," a flatboat with a second plymouth colony, turned into the muskingum and founded a settlement. "marie, marie antoinette,--did she not use her influence in behalf of franklin's mission to secure the acknowledgment of american independence? let us name our settlement marietta." so were founded the cities of the french king and queen, louisville and marietta. a few months later, kentuckians went over and started cincinnati on the site of george rogers clark's old block-house. into the ohio, people came suddenly and in swarms, "institutional englishmen," bearing their household gods and shaping a state. "these men come wearing hats," said the indians. frenchmen wore handkerchiefs and never tarried. surveyors came. squatting around their fires, with astonishment and fear the indians watched "the white man's devil," squinting over his compass and making marks in his books. wherever the magical instrument turned all the best lands were bound with chains fast to the white man. the indians foresaw their approaching destruction and hung nightly along the river shore, in the thick brush under the sycamores, stealing horses and sinking boats. with tomahawk in hand, a leader among them was young tecumseh. "the ohio shall be the boundary. no white man shall plant corn in ohio!" cried the indian. "keep the ohio for a fur preserve," whispered detroit at his back. while wedding bells were ringing at mulberry hill, marietta was suffering. the gardens were destroyed by indian marauders, the game was driven off, and great was the privation within the walled town. that was the winter when governor st. clair came with his beautiful daughter louisa, the fleetest rider in the chase, the swiftest skater on the ice, and, like all pioneer girls, so skilled with the rifle that she could bring down the bird on the wing, the squirrel from the tree. creeping out over the crusty february snow, every family in the settlement had its kettle in the sugar orchard boiling down the maple sap. corn-meal and sap boiled down together formed for many the daily food. but with all the bravado of their hearts, men and women passed sleepless vigils while the sentinel stood all night long in the lonely watchtower of the middle blockhouse. at any moment might arise the cry, "the indians! the indians are at the gates!" and with the long roll of the drum beating alarm every gun was ready at a porthole and every white face straining through the dark. when screaming wild geese steering their northern flight gave token of returning spring, when the partridge drummed in the wood and the turkey gobbled, when the red bird made vocal the forest and the hawthorn and dogwood flung out their perfume, then too came the indian from his winter lair. "ah," sighed many a mother, "i prefer the days of gloom and tempest, for then the red man hugs his winter fire." always among the first in pursuit of marauding indians, william clark as a cadet had already crossed the ohio with general scott, "a youth of solid and promising parts and as brave as cæsar," said dr. o'fallon. joseph brant, thayendanegea, presented a memorial to congress insisting upon the ohio as the indian boundary. his son came down to marietta. "ah, yes," was the whispered rumour at marietta, "young brant, the educated son of the famous mohawk leader, aspires to the hand of louisa st. clair." but the revolutionary general spurned his daughter's dusky suitor. the next day after new year's, 1791, the indians swept down on marietta with the fiendish threat, "before the trees put forth their leaves again no white man's cabin shall smoke beyond the ohio." "capture st. clair alive," bade the irate mohawk chieftain. "shoot his horse under him but do not kill him." did he hope yet to win consent to his marriage with louisa? the next heard of st. clair was when the last shattered remnant of his prostrate army fell back on cincinnati, a defeat darker, more annihilating, more ominous than braddock's. "my god," exclaimed washington, "it's all over! st. clair's defeated--routed; the officers are nearly all killed, the men by wholesale; the rout is complete--too shocking to think of--and a surprise into the bargain." no wonder secretary lear stood appalled as the great man poured forth his wrath in the house at philadelphia. fifteen hundred went out from cincinnati,--five hundred came back. a thousand scalps had thayendanegea. the news came to mulberry hill like a thunderbolt. kentucky, even pittsburg, looked for an immediate savage inundation,--for was not all that misty west full of warriors? the old fear leaped anew. like an irresistible billow they might roll over the unprotected frontier. from his bed of sickness general clark started up. "ah, detroit! detroit! hadst thou been taken my countrymen need not have been so slaughtered." at marietta, up in the woods and on the side hills, glittered multitudes of fires, the camps of savages. hunger added its pangs to fear. the beleaguered citizens sent all the money they could raise by two young men to buy salt, meat, and flour at redstone-old-fort on the monongahela. suddenly the river closed with ice; in destitution marietta waited. "they have run off with the money," said some. "they have been killed by indians," said others. but again, as suddenly, the ice broke, and early in march the young men joyfully moored their precious kentucky ark at the upper gate of the garrison at marietta. xxv _the sword of "mad anthony" wayne_ "another defeat will ruin the reputation of the government," said washington, as he sent out "mad anthony" wayne, the uproarious quaker general, with ruffles, queue, and cocked hat, the stormer of stony point in the revolution. in vain wayne sent commissioners to treat with the indians. elated with recent victories, "the ohio shall be the boundary," was the defiant answer. an indian captured and brought to wayne said of the british: "all their speeches to us are red, red as blood. all the wampum and feathers are painted red. our war-pipes and hatchets are red. even the tobacco is red for war." "my mind and heart are upon that river," said cornplanter, an indian chief, pointing to the ohio. "may that water ever continue to be the boundary between the americans and the indians." commissioned by washington first lieutenant of the fourth sub-legion, on the first of september, 1792, william clark crossed the ohio and spent the winter at legionville where wayne was collecting and drilling his army. "i will have no six months men," said wayne. "two years will it take to organise, drill, and harden them before we think of taking the field." "we are certain to be scalped," whispered timorous ones, remembering st. clair's slaughter. hundreds deserted. the very word indian inspired terror. but horse, foot, and artillery, he drilled them, the tremblers took courage, and the government, at last awakened, stood firmly behind with money and supplies. "remember, stony point was stormed with unloaded muskets. see! you must know the use of the broadsword and of the bayonet, a weapon before which the savages cannot stand." at work went "mad anthony" teaching his men to load and fire upon the run, to leap to the charge with loud halloos, anticipating all possible conditions. "charge in open order. each man rely on himself, and expect a personal encounter with the enemy." the men caught his spirit. wayne's legion became a great military school. now he was drilling superb kentucky cavalry, as perfectly matched as the armies of europe, sorrel and bay, chestnut and gray, bush-whacking and charging, leaping ravines and broken timber, outdoing the indians themselves in their desperate riding. and with all this drill, wayne was erecting and garrisoning forts. in the fall of 1793, lieutenant clark was dispatched to vincennes. "it appears that all active and laborious commands fall on me," he wrote to his brother jonathan, in virginia. "not only labour, but i like to have starved,--was frozen up in the wabash twenty days without provisions. in this agreeable situation had once more to depend on my rifle." after several skirmishes with indians, lieutenant clark returned to fort washington (cincinnati) in may, to be immediately dispatched with twenty-one dragoons and sixty cavalry to escort seven hundred packhorses laden with provisions and clothing to greenville, a log fort eighty miles north of cincinnati. the shawnees were watching. upon this rich prize fell an ambuscade of sixty indians. eight men were killed, the train began to retreat, when clark came dashing up from the rear, put the assailants to flight, and saved the day. for this he was thanked by general wayne. washington, jefferson, the whole country impatiently watched for news of wayne on the ohio. drill, drill, drill,--keeping out a cloud of scouts that no peering indian might discover his preparations, wayne exercised daily now with rifle, sabre, and bayonet until no grizzly frontiersman surpassed his men at the target, no fox-hunter could leap more wildly, no swordsman more surely swing the sharp steel home. at the sight young tennesseeans and kentuckians, virginians of the border and pennsylvanians of lifetime battle, were eager for the fray. about midsummer, 1794, wayne moved out with his legion, twenty-six hundred strong, and halted at fort greenville for sixteen hundred kentucky cavalry. brigades of choppers were opening roads here and there to deceive. "this general that never sleeps is cutting in every direction," whispered the watchful shawnees. "he is the black snake." for a last time wayne offered peace. his messengers were wantonly murdered. the issue at fallen timbers lasted forty minutes,--the greatest indian battle in forty years of battle. two thousand indians crouching in the brush looked to see the americans dismount and tie their horses as they did in st. clair's battle,--but no, bending low on their horses with gleaming sabres and fixed bayonets, on like a whirlwind came thundering the american cavalry. "what was it that defeated us? it was the big wind, the tornado," said the indians. matchekewis was there from sheboygan with his warriors, the black partridge from illinois, and buckongahelas. the shawnees had their fill of fighting that day; tecumseh fell back at the wild onset, retreating inch by inch. william clark led to the charge a column of kentuckians and drove the enemy two miles. but why enumerate in this irresistible legion, where all were heroes on that 20th of august, 1794. wayne's victory ended the revolution. ninety days after, lord st. helens gave up ohio in his treaty with jay, and england bound herself to deliver the northwestern posts that her fur traders had hung on to so vainly. niagara, michilimackinac, detroit, keys to the lakes, _entrepôts_ to all the fur trade of the northwest, were lost to britain for ever. it was hardest to give up detroit,--it broke up their route and added many a weight to the weary packer's back when the fur trade had to take a more northern outlet along the ottawa. it was ten o'clock in the morning of july 11, 1796, when the detroiters peering through their glasses espied two vessels. "the yankees are coming!" a thrill went through the garrison, and even through the flag that fluttered above. the last act in the war of independence was at hand. the four gates of detroit opened to be closed no more, as the drawbridge fell over the moat and the americans marched into the northern stronghold. it was lernoult's old fort built so strenuously in that icy winter of 1779-80, when "clark is coming" was the watchword of the north. scarce a picket in the stockade had been changed since that trying time. blockhouse, bastion, and battery could so easily have been taken, that even at this day we cannot suppress a regret that clark had not a chance at detroit! barefooted frenchmen, dark-eyed french girls, and indians, indians everywhere, came in to witness the transfer of detroit. at noon, july 11, 1796, the english flag was lowered and the stars and stripes went up where clark would fain have hung them seventeen years before. and the old cellar of the council house! like a tomb was its revelation, for there, mouldered with the must of years, lay two thousand scalps, long tresses of women, children's golden curls, and the wiry locks of men, thrown into that official cellar in those awful days that now were ended. the merry frenchmen on their pipestem farms,--for every inhabitant owned his pathway down to the river,--the merry frenchmen went on grinding their corn by their old dutch windmills, went on pressing their cider in their gnarled old apple orchards. they could not change the situation if they would, and they would not if they could. the lazy windmills of detroit swung round and round as if it had been ever thus. still the indians slid in and out and still the british traders lingered, loath to give up the fur trade of the lakes. the next year after wayne's victory the last buffalo in ohio was killed, and in 1796 the first american cabins were built at cleveland and chillicothe. for the first time the ohio, the great highway, was safe. passenger boats no longer had bullet-proof cabins, no longer trailed cannon on their gunwales. in that year twenty thousand emigrants passed down the ohio. astonished and helpless the red men saw the tide. by 1800 there were more whites in the mississippi valley than there were indians in all north america. xxvi _the spaniard_ early in april of 1793 a company of french merchants sat at a dinner in new orleans. before them magnolias bloomed in the plaza. out in the harbour their vessels were flying the spanish flag. "spain has declared war against france. a french frigate is sailing for the gulf." like a bomb the announcement burst in their midst. the fine and handsome face of charles de pauw was lit with determination. he had come over with lafayette, and had invested a fortune in the new world. "my ships are in danger. i will haul down the spanish colours and float the american flag. long enough have the frenchmen of missouri and illinois endured the spanish yoke. long enough have our cargoes been confiscated and our trade ruined by unnecessary and tyrannical restrictions." "but america will not help us." "the kentuckians will," answered de pauw. "already they are begging george rogers clark to march on new orleans." a huzza rang round the table. "we shall be here to help him." "every settlement that borders the mississippi will join with us. spain rules to pittsburg, dictates prices, opens and closes markets. will americans endure that? from new orleans to british america, spain stretches an invisible cordon, 'thus far and no farther.' all beyond is the private park of don carlos iv." "what will congress do?" "congress?" echoed another. "what does it matter to those people beyond the alleghanies? they are very far away. europe is not so remote. our interests lie with mississippi and the sea." "but that would dismember the union." "will it dismember the union for the louisianians to break their fetter from spain and thereby give us a market clear of duty? the kentuckians, equally with us, are irritated at the spanish government. we have a right to strike spain." charles de pauw renamed his schooner the "maria" and sailed out of the gulf under the stars and stripes. on the way to new york he met the frigate returning that brought the french minister, charles genet, to charleston. acres of flatboats lay freighted on the dimpling ohio. corn, wheat, oats, rye,--the worn-out tobacco lands of virginia knew nothing like it. but the spaniard stood at the gate and locked up the river. "a king?" americans laughed at the fancy. "a king to check or hinder us in our rights? who shall refuse us? are we not americans?" "the mississippi is ours," cried kentucky. "by the law of nature, by the authority of numbers, by the right of necessity. if congress will not give it to us, we must take it ourselves." and now france-george rogers clark was profoundly moved by the french crusade for liberty. "we owe it to france to help her. was not france our friend in the time of trouble?" then he wrote to the french minister, tendering his services to france in her arduous struggle: "i would begin with st. louis, a rich, large, and populous town, and by placing two or three frigates within the mississippi's mouth (to guard against spanish succours) i would engage to subdue new orleans, and the rest of louisiana. if farther aided i would capture pensacola; and if santa fé and the rest of new mexico were objects--i know their strength and every avenue leading to them, for conquest.--all the routes as well as the defenceless situation of those places are perfectly known to me and i possess draughts of all their defences, and estimates of the greatest force which could oppose me. if france will be hearty and secret in this business my success borders on certainty.--the route from st. louis to santa fé is easy, and the places not very distant.... to save congress from a rupture with spain on our account, we must first expatriate ourselves and become french citizens. this is our intention." on its errand of good or ill the letter sped to the french minister to the united states, and lo! that minister was genet, just landed at charleston. genet had come from revolutionary france, at this moment fighting all europe, so frightfully had upblazed the tiny spark of liberty borne back by the soldiers of rochambeau. andré michaux was instructed to hasten to the falls of the ohio with this message to george rogers clark: "the french minister has filled out this blank commission from his government making you a marshal of france, major general and commander-in-chief of the french legion on the mississippi." thus had genet answered the letter. new orleans was watching. "the americans are threatening us with an army assembling on the ohio," wrote carondelet in alarm to spain. "ill-disposed and fanatical citizens in this capital," he added, "restless and turbulent men infatuated with liberty and equality, are increased with every vessel that comes from the ports of france." he begged spain to send him troops from cuba. he begged the captain general of cuba to send him troops from havana. gayoso put his fort at vicksburg in defence and carondelet sent up a division of galleys to new madrid and st. louis. but carondelet, the governor of louisiana, had his hands full. frenchmen of his own city were signing papers to strike a blow for france. he would build defences,--they opposed and complained of his measures. merchants and others whose business suffered by the uncertainties of commerce took no responsibility as the domineering little baron endeavoured to fortify new orleans with palisaded wall, towers, and a moat seven feet deep and forty feet wide. "it may happen that the enemy will try to surprise the plaza on a dark night," said the baron. all the artillery was mounted. haughty spanish cavaliers with swords and helmets paced the parapets of the grim pentagonal bastions. watchmen with spears and lanterns guarded the gates below. the city was in terror of assault. at every rise of the river carondelet looked for a filibustering army out of the north. by every ship runners were sent to spain. news of the intended raid penetrated even the ursuline convent. sister infelice paled when she heard it, gave a little gasp, and fainted. "clearly she fears, the gentle sister fears these northern barbarians," remarked the mother superior. "take her to her chamber." and st. louis,--not since 1780 had she been so alarmed. the governor constructed a square redoubt flanked by bastions, dug a shallow moat, and raised a fort on the hill. seventeen grenadiers with drawn sabres stood at the drawbridge. "immediately on the approach of the enemy, retreat to new madrid," was the order of this puissant governor. george rogers clark, who had planned and executed the conquest of illinois, burned now for the conquest of louisiana. and the west looked to him; she despised and defied the spaniard as she despised and defied the indian. they blocked the way, they must depart. clark's old veteran officers christy, logan, montgomery, sent word they would serve under his command. the french squadron at philadelphia was to set sail for the gulf. major fulton and michaux, clark's right-hand men, travelled all over the west enlisting men, provisions, and money. de pauw engaged to furnish four hundred barrels of flour and a thousand-weight of bacon, and to send brass cannon over the mountains. in december clark's men were already cutting timber to build boats on the bear grass. five thousand men were to start in the spring, provided congress did not oppose and genet could raise a million dollars. in despair carondelet wrote home, saying that if the project planned was carried into effect, he would have no other alternative but to surrender. "having no reinforcements to hope for from havana, i have no further hope than in the faults the enemy may commit and in accidents which may perhaps favour us." carondelet gave up. in march he wrote again, "the commandant at post vincennes has offered cannon for the use of the expedition." early in january clark was writing to de pauw, "have your stores at the falls by the 20th of february, as in all probability we shall descend the river at that time." montgomery reported, "arms and ammunition, five hundred bushels of corn and ten thousand pounds of pork, also twenty thousand weight of buffalo beef, eleven hundred weight of bear meat, seventy-four pair venison hams, and some beef tongues." with two hundred men montgomery lay at the mouth of the ohio ready to cross over. not ninety spaniards of regular troops were there to defend st. louis, and two hundred militia, and the governor had only too much reason to fear that st. louis would open her gates and join the invader. all that was lacking was money. hundreds of kentuckians waited the signal to take down their guns and march on new orleans. but the ministers of spain and of great britain had not been quiet. they both warned washington. could he hold the lawless west? it was a problem for statesmen. jefferson wrote to governor shelby of kentucky to restrain the expedition. "i have grave doubts," governor shelby answered, "whether there is any legal authority to restrain or to punish them. for, if it is lawful for any one citizen of the state to leave it, it is equally so for any number of them to do it. it is also lawful for them to carry any quantity of provisions, arms, and ammunition.--i shall also feel but little inclination to take an active part in punishing or retaining any of my fellow citizens for a supposed intention only, to gratify the fears of the ministers of a prince who openly withholds from us an invaluable right, and who secretly instigates against us a most savage and cruel enemy." washington promptly issued a proclamation of neutrality and requested the recall of genet. from the new minister of france clark received formal notice that the conquest of louisiana was abandoned. but spain had had her fright. she at once opened the river, and the mass of collected produce found its way unimpeded to the sea. in june congress passed a law for ever forbidding such expeditions. "i have learned that the spaniards have built a fort at chickasaw bluff, on this side of the river," said general wayne, one night in september, 1795, summoning william clark to his headquarters. "i desire you to go down to the commanding officer on the west side and inquire his intentions." why, of all that army, had wayne chosen the young lieutenant of the fourth sub-legion for this errand? was it because he bore the name of clark? very well; both knew why spain had advanced to the chickasaw bluff. as washington went forty years before to inquire of the french, "why are you building forts on the ohio?" so now william clark, on board the galiot, "la vigilante," dropped down to new madrid and asked the spaniard, "why are you building forts on the mississippi?" down came charles de hault de lassus, the commandant himself. "i assure you we have been very far from attempting to usurp the territory of a nation with whom we desire to remain in friendship," protested the courtly commandant with a wave of his sword and a flutter of his plume. "but the threats of the french republicans living in the united states,"--he paused for a reply. "calm yourself," replied lieutenant clark. "read here the pacific intentions of my country." none better than william clark understood the virtues of conciliation and persuasion. "i assure you that the united states is disposed to preserve peace with all the powers of europe, and with spain especially." with mutual expressions of esteem and cordial parting salvos, lieutenant clark left his spanish friends with a mollified feeling toward "those turbulent americans." nevertheless george rogers clark had opened the river, to be closed again at peril. among the soldiers at wayne's camp that winter was lieutenant meriwether lewis, "just from the whiskey rebellion," he said. between him and william clark, now captain clark, there sprang up the most intimate friendship. "the nature of the insurrection?" remarked lewis in his camp talks with clark. "why, the pennsylvania mountaineers about redstone-old-fort refused to pay the whiskey tax, stripped, tarred, and feathered the collectors! 'the people must be taught obedience,' said general washington, and, after all peaceable means failed, he marched fifteen thousand militia into the district. the thought that washington was coming at the head of troops made them reconsider. they sent deputations to make terms about the time of wayne's battle. we built log huts and forted for the winter on the monongahela about fifteen miles above pittsburg." "and so the spaniards have come to terms?" queried lewis as clark still remained silent. "yes, they have opened the river." "i came near being in the midst of that," continued lewis. "michaux came to charlottesville. i was eighteen, just out of school and eager for adventure. michaux was to explore the west. mr. jefferson had a plan for sending two people across the rocky mountains. i begged to go, and probably should, had not michaux been recalled when the new french minister came in." "rest assured," replied clark solemnly, "no exploration of the west can ever be made while spain holds louisiana." xxvii _the brothers_ "my claim is as just as the book we swear by." the hero of the heroic age of the middle west was discussing his debts for the conquest of illinois. "i have given the united states half the territory they possess, and for them to suffer me to remain in poverty in consequence of it will not redound to their honour. i engaged in the revolution with all the ardour that youth could possess. my zeal and ambition rose with my success, determined to save those countries which had been the seat of my toil, at the hazard of my life and fortune. "at the most gloomy period of the war when a ration could not be purchased on public credit, i risked my own credit, gave my bonds, mortgaged my lands for supplies, paid strict attention to every department, flattered the friendly and confused the hostile tribes of indians, by my emissaries baffled my internal enemies (the most dangerous of all to public interest), and carried my point. "thus at the end of the war i had the pleasure of seeing my country secure, but with the loss of my manual activity. demands of very great amount were not paid, others with depreciated paper. now suits are commenced against me, for those sums in specie. my military and other lands, earned by my services, are appropriated for the payment of these debts, and demands yet are remaining, to a considerable amount more than the remains of a shattered fortune will pay. "this is truly my situation. i see no other recourse remaining but to make application to my country for redress." brooding over his troubles, george rogers clark had built himself a little cabin at the point of rock, overlooking the falls of the ohio, and gone into a self-chosen st. helena. the waves dashed and roared below and the mist arose, as he looked out on corn island, scene of his earliest exploit. a library of handsome books was the principal ornament the house contained. reading, hunting, fishing, he passed his days, while the old negro servants attended to the kitchen and the garden. "i have come," answered his brother william, "i have retired from the army, to devote myself to you. now what can be done?" "done? look at these bills. gratiot's is paid, thank god, or he would have been a ruined man. monroe helped him through with that. and menard's? that is shelved at richmond for fifty years." general clark turned the leaves of his note-book. "and vigo? but for him i could never have surprised vincennes. he was the best friend i had, and the best still, except you, william." a singular affection bound these two brothers. it seemed almost as if william took up the life of george rogers where it was broken off, and carried it on to a glorious conclusion. "virginia acknowledges vigo's debt, certifies that it has never been paid but she has ceded those lands to the government. who then shall pay it but congress? the debt was necessary and lawful in contracting for supplies for the conquest of illinois. could i have done with less? god knows we went with parched corn only in our wallets and depended on our rifles for the rest. tell him to keep the draft, virginia will pay it, or congress, some time or other, with interest." again, at william's persuasion, the general came home to mulberry hill. an expert horseman, everybody in louisville knew captain clark, who, wrapped in his cloak, came spurring home night after night on his blooded bay, with york at his side, darkness nor swollen fords nor wildly beating storms stopping his journey as he came bearing news to his brother. "i have ridden for brother george in the course of this year upwards of three thousand miles," wrote the captain to his brother edmund, in december, 1797, "continually in the saddle, attempting to save him, and have been serviceable to him in several instances. i have but a few days returned from vincennes attending a suit for twenty-four thousand dollars against him." these long journeys included tours to st. louis, vincennes, kaskaskia, among the general's old debtors, proving that the articles for which he was sued were for his troops, powder and military stores. "the general is very ill again," said father clark, walking up and down the entry before the chamber door. the old man's severe countenance always relaxed when he spoke of "the general." of all his children, george rogers was the one least expected to fall into dissipation, but now in rheumatic distress, old before his time, george rogers sometimes drank. "cover him, shield him, let not the world witness my brother's weakness," william would say at such times, affectionately detaining him at mulberry hill. glancing into the dining-room, the white-haired cavalier noticed fanny and her children and others sitting around the table. preoccupied, the old man approached, and leaning over a chair delivered an impressive grace. "now, my children, you can eat your dinner. do not wait for me," and again he took up his walk in the entry outside the chamber door. a smile wreathed the faces of all; there was no dinner; they were simply visiting near the table. with children and grandchildren around him, the house at mulberry hill was always full. at christmas or thanksgiving, when lucy came with her boys from locust grove, "well, my children," father clark would say, "if i thought we would live, mother and i, five years longer, i would build a new house." but the day before christmas, 1798, the silky white hair of ann rogers clark was brushed back for the last time, in the home that her taste had beautified with the groves and flowers of mulberry hill. more and more frequently the old cavalier retired to his rustic arbour in the garden. "i must hunt up father, he will take cold," william would say; and there on a moonlight night, on his knees in prayer, the old man would be found, among the cedars and honeysuckles of mulberry hill. "why do you dislike old john clark," some one asked of a neighbour when the venerable man lay on his death-bed. "what? i dislike old john clark? i revere and venerate him. his piety and virtues may have been a reproach, but i reverence and honour old john clark." by will the property was divided, and the home at mulberry hill went to william. "in case jonathan comes to kentucky he may be willing to buy the place," said william. "if he does i shall take the cash to pay off these creditors of yours." "will you do that?" exclaimed george rogers clark gratefully. "i can make it good to you when these lands of mine come into value." "never mind that, brother, never mind that. the honour of the family demands it. and those poor frenchmen are ruined." "indians are at the falls!" startled, even now the citizens of louisville were ready to fly out with shotguns in memory of old animosities. nothing chills the kindlier impulses like an indian war. children age, young men frost and wrinkle, women turn into maniacs. every log hut had its bedridden invalid victim of successive frights and nervous prostration. only the stout and sturdy few survived in after days to tell of those fierce times when george rogers clark was the hope and safety of the border. to these, the indian was a serpent in the path, a panther to be hunted. "hist! go slow. 'tis the delaware chiefs come down to visit george rogers clark," said simon kenton. in these days of peace, remembering still their old terror of the long knife, a deputation of chiefs had come to visit clark. in paint and blankets, with lank locks flapping in the breeze, they strode up the catalpa avenue, sniffing the odours of mulberry hill. general clark looked from the window. buckongahelas led the train, with pierre drouillard, the interpreter. drouillard had become, for a time, a resident of kentucky. simon kenton, hearing that the preserver of his life had fallen into misfortune since the surrender of detroit, sent for him, gave him a piece of his farm, and built him a cabin. george drouillard, a son, named for george iii., was becoming a famous hunter on the mississippi. "we have come," said buckongahelas, "to touch the long knife." before clark realised what they were doing, the indians had snipped off the tail of his blue military coat with their hunting knives. "this talisman will make us great warriors," said buckongahelas, carefully depositing a fragment in his bosom. clark laughed, but from that time the delaware king and his braves were frequent visitors to the long knife, who longed to live in the past, forgetting misfortune. but george rogers clark was not alone in financial disaster. st. clair had expended a fortune in the cause of his country and at last, accompanied by his devoted daughter, retired to an old age of penury. boone, too, had his troubles. never having satisfied the requirements of law concerning his claim, he was left landless in the kentucky he had pioneered for civilisation. late one november day in 1798 he was seen wending his way through the streets of cincinnati, with rebecca and all his worldly possessions mounted on packhorses. "where are you going?" queried an old-time acquaintance. "too much crowded, too many people. i am going west where there is more elbow room." "ze celebrated colonel boone ees come to live een louisiana," said the spanish officers of st. louis. the stars and stripes and the yellow flag of spain were hung out side by side, and the garrison came down out of the stone fort on the hill to parade in honour of daniel boone. no such attentions had ever been paid to daniel boone at home. he dined with the governor at government house and was presented with a thousand arpents of land, to be located wherever he pleased, "in the district of the femme osage." beside a spring on a creek flowing into the missouri boone built his pioneer cabin, beyond the farthest border settlement. "bring a hundred more american families and we will give you ten thousand arpents of land," said the governor. back to his old kentucky stamping ground went boone, and successfully piloted out a settlement of neighbours and comrades. directly, colonel daniel boone was made commandant of the femme osage district. his word became law in the settlement, and here he held his court under a spreading elm that stands to-day, the judgment tree of daniel boone. xxviii _the maid of fincastle_ in the autumn days as the century was closing, william clark set out for virginia, as his brother had done in other years. kentucky was filled with old forts, neglected bastions, moats, and blockhouses, their origin forgotten. already the builders had passed on westward. the boone trace was lined now with settlements, a beaten bridle-path thronged with emigrant trains kicking up the dust. through the frowning portals of cumberland gap, captain clark and his man york galloped into virginia. from the southern border of virginia to the potomac passes the old highway, between the alleghanies and the blue ridge. cantering thoughtfully along under the broad-leaved locusts and laurels, a melody like the laugh of wood-nymphs rippled from the forest. "why don't he go?" cried a musical feminine voice. "oh, harriet, harriet!" with more laughter came a rustling of green leaves. parting the forest curtain to discover the source of this unusual commotion, captain clark descried two girls seated on a small pony, switching with all their slender energy. "his feet are set. he will not move, judy." leaping at once from his saddle, the captain bowed low to the maidens in distress. "can i be of any assistance?" the sudden apparition of a handsome soldier in tri-cornered hat and long silk hose quite took their breath away. "thank you, sir knight," answered the blonde with a flush of bewitching colour. "firefly, my pony, seems to object to carrying two, but we cannot walk across that ford. my cousin and i have on our satin slippers." the captain laughed, and taking the horse's bridle easily led them beyond the mountain rill that dashed across their pathway. "and will you not come to my father's house?" inquired the maiden. "it is here among the trees." clark looked,--the roof and gables of a comfortable virginian mansion shone amid the greenery. "i fear not. i must reach colonel hancock's to-night." "this is colonel hancock's," the girls replied with a smothered laugh. at a signal, york lifted the five-barred gate and all passed in to the long green avenue. "the brother of my old friend, general george rogers clark!" exclaimed colonel hancock. "glad to see you, glad to see you. many a time has he stopped on this road." the hancocks were among the founders of virginia. with john smith the first one came over "in search of forrest for his building of ships," and was "massacred by ye salvages at thorp's house, berkeley hundred." general hancock, the father of the present colonel, equipped a regiment for his son at the breaking out of the revolution. on pulaski's staff, the young colonel received the body of the illustrious pole as he fell at the siege of savannah. from his sea island plantations and the sound of war in south carolina, general hancock, old and in gout, set out for virginia. but pulaski had fallen and his son was a prisoner under cornwallis. attended only by his daughter mary and a faithful slave, the general died on the way and was buried by uncle primus on the top of king's mountain some weeks before the famous battle. released on parole and finding his fortune depleted, colonel george hancock read blackstone and the virginia laws, took out a license, married, and settled at fincastle. here his children were born, of whom judy was the youngest daughter. later, by the death of that heroic sister mary, a niece had come into the family, harriet kennerly. these were the girls that captain clark had encountered in his morning ride among the mountains of fincastle. "your brother, the general, and i journeyed together to philadelphia, when he was commissioner of indian affairs. is he well and enjoying the fruits of his valour?" continued the colonel. "my brother is disabled, the result of exposure in his campaigns. he will never recover. i am now visiting virginia in behalf of his accounts with the assembly,--they have never been adjusted. he even thought you, his old friend, might be able to lend assistance, either in virginia or in congress." "i am honoured by the request. you may depend upon me." colonel george hancock had been a member of the fourth congress in washington's administration, and with a four-horse family coach travelled to and from philadelphia attending the sessions. here the little judy's earliest recollections had been of the beautiful dolly todd who was about to wed mr. madison. jefferson was secretary of state then, and his daughters, maria and martha, came often to visit judy's older sisters, mary and caroline. judy's hair was a fluff of gold then; shading to brown, it was a fluff of gold still, that granny molly found hard to keep within bounds. harriet, her cousin, of dark and splendid beauty, a year or two older, was ever the inseparable companion of judy hancock. "just fixing up the place again," explained colonel hancock. "it has suffered from my absence at philadelphia. a tedious journey, a tedious journey from fincastle." but to the children that journey had been a liberal education. the long bell-trains of packhorses, the rumbling conestogas, the bateaux and barges, the great rivers and dense forests, the lofty mountains and wide farmlands, the towns and villages, philadelphia itself, were indelibly fixed in their memory and their fancy. several times in the course of the next few years, william clark had occasion to visit virginia in behalf of his brother, and each time more and more he noted the budding graces of the maids of fincastle. xxix _the president's secretary_ the funeral bells of washington tolled in 1800. president washington was dead. napoleon was first consul of france. the old social systems of europe were tottering. the new social system of america was building. the experiment of self-government had triumphed, and out of the storm-tossed seas still grandly rode the constitution. out of the birth of parties and political excitement, thomas jefferson came to the presidency. the stately mansion of monticello was ablaze with light. candles lit up every window. not only monticello, but all charlottesville was illuminated, with torches, bonfires, tar-barrels. friends gathered with congratulations and greeting. as washington had turned with regret from the banks of the potomac to fill the first presidency, and as patrick henry, the gifted, chafed in congressional halls, so now jefferson with equal regret left the shades of monticello. "no pageant shall give the lie to my democratic principles," he said, as in plain citizen clothes with a few of his friends he repaired to the capital and took the oath of office. and by his side, with luminous eyes and powdered hair, sat aaron burr, the vice-president. jefferson, in the simplicity of his past, had penned everything for himself. now he began to feel the need of a secretary. there were many applicants, but the president's eye turned toward the lad who nine years before had begged to go with michaux to the west. "the appointment to the presidency of the united states has rendered it necessary for me to have a private secretary," he wrote to meriwether lewis. "your knowledge of the western country, of the army and of all its interests, has rendered it desirable that you should be engaged in that office. in point of profit it has little to offer, the salary being only five hundred dollars, but it would make you know and be known to characters of influence in the affairs of our country." meriwether was down on the ohio. in two weeks his reply came back from pittsburg. "i most cordially acquiesce, and with pleasure accept the office, nor were further motives necessary to induce my compliance than that you, sir, should conceive that in the discharge of the duties, i could be serviceable to my country as well as useful to yourself." as soon as he could wind up his affairs, captain lewis, one of the handsomest men in the army, appeared in queue and cocked hat, silk stockings and knee buckles, at the president's house in wide and windy washington to take up his duties as private secretary. from his earliest recollection, meriwether lewis had known thomas jefferson, as governor in the days of tarleton's raid, and as a private farmer and neighbour at monticello. after meriwether's mother married captain marks and moved to georgia, jefferson went to france, and his uncle, colonel nicholas lewis, looked after the finances of the great estate at monticello. under the guardianship of that uncle, meriwether attended the school of parson maury, the same school where jefferson had been fitted for college. he remembered, too, that day when jefferson came back from france and all the slaves at monticello rushed out and drew the carriage up by hand, crowding around, kissing his hands and feet, blubbering, laughing, crying. how the slaves fell back to admire the young ladies that had left as mere children! martha, a stately girl of seventeen, and little maria, in her eleventh year, a dazzling vision of beauty. ahead of everybody ran the gay and sunny jack eppes to escort his little sweetheart. both daughters were married now, and with families of their own, so more than ever jefferson depended on meriwether lewis. they occupied the same chamber and lived in a degree of intimacy that perhaps has subsisted between no other president and his private secretary. with his favourite chickasaw horses, arcturus and wildair, the president rode two hours every day, meriwether often with him, directing the workmen on the new capitol, unfinished still amid stone and masonry tools. washington himself chose the site, within an amphitheatre of hills overlooking the lordly potomac where he camped as a youth on braddock's expedition. washington, jefferson, madison, riding ever to and from mount vernon, monticello, and montpelier, discussed the plans and set the architects to work. now it fell to jefferson to carry on what washington had so well begun. thomas jefferson was a social man, and loved a throng about him. the vast and vacant halls of the white house would have been dreary but for the retinue of guests. eleven servants had been brought from monticello, and half-a-dozen from paris,--petit, the butler, m. julien, the cook, a french _chef_, noel, the kitchen boy, and joseph rapin, the steward. every morning rapin went to the georgetown market, and meriwether lewis gave him his orders. "for i need you, meriwether, not only for the public, but as well for the private concerns of the household," said the president affectionately. "and i depend on you to assist in entertaining." "at the head of the table, please," said the president, handing in mrs. madison. "i shall have to request you to act as mistress of the white house." in his own youth jefferson had cherished an affection for dolly madison's mother, the beautiful mary coles, so it became not difficult to place her daughter in the seat of honour. there were old-style virginia dinners, with the art of paris, for ever after his foreign experience jefferson insisted on training his own servants in the french fashion. at four they dined, and sat and talked till night, congressmen, foreigners, and all sorts of people, with the ever-present cabinet. james madison, secretary of state, was a small man, easy, dignified, and fond of conversation, with pale student face like a young theologian just out of the cloister. dolly herself powdered his hair, tied up his queue, and fastened his stock; very likely, too, prescribed his elegant knee breeches and buckles and black silk stockings, swans' down buff vest, long coat, and lace ruffles. "a very tasty old-school gentleman," said the guests of the white house. albert gallatin, secretary of the treasury, born and bred a scholar, was younger than either madison or jefferson, well read, with a slightly genevan accent, and a prominent nose that marked him a man of affairs. but everything revolved about jefferson, in the village of washington and in the country at large. next to general washington he filled the largest space in public esteem. slim, tall, and bony, in blue coat faced with yellow, green velveteen breeches, red plush waist-coat and elaborate shirt frill, long stockings and slippers with silver buckles,--just so had he been ever since his parisian days, picturesquely brilliant in dress and speech, talking, talking, ever genially at the white house. before the "mayflower" brought the first puritans to new england the jeffersons had settled in virginia. the president's mother was a randolph of patrician blood. a hundred servants attended in isham randolph's, her father's house. peter jefferson, his father, was a democrat of democrats, a man of the people. perhaps thomas had felt the sting of randolph pride that a daughter had married a homely rawboned jefferson, but all the man in him rose up for that jefferson from whom he was sprung. thomas jefferson, the son, was just such a thin homely rawboned youth as his father had been. middle age brought him good looks, old age made him venerable, an object of adoration to a people. always up before sunrise, he routed out meriwether. there were messages to send, or letters to write, or orders for rapin before the round disk of day reddened the potomac. no woman ever brushed his gray neglected hair tied so loosely in a club behind; it was jeffersonian to have it neglected and tumbled all over his head. everybody went to the white house for instruction, entertainment; and jefferson--was jefferson. of course he had his enemies, even there. twice a month colonel burr, the vice-president, the great anti-virginian, dined at the white house. attractive in person, distinguished in manner, all looked upon colonel burr as next in the line of presidential succession. he came riding back and forth between washington and his new york residence at richmond hill, and with him the lovely theodosia, the intimate friend of dolly madison and mrs. gallatin. lewis understood some of the bitter and deadly political controversies that were smothered now under the ever genial conversation of the president, for jefferson, the great apostle of popular sovereignty, could no more conceal his principles than he could conceal his personality. everything he discussed,--science, politics, philosophy, art, music. none there were more widely read, none more travelled than the president. but he dearly loved politics. greater, perhaps, was jefferson in theory than in execution. his eye would light with genius, as he propounded his views. "science, did you say? the main object of all science is the freedom and happiness of man, and these are the sole objects of all legitimate government. why, washington himself hardly believed that so liberal a government as this could succeed, but he was resolved to give the experiment a trial. and now, our people are throwing aside the monarchical and taking up the republican form, with as much ease as would have attended their throwing off an old and putting on a new suit of clothes. i am persuaded that no constitution was ever before so well calculated as ours for extensive empire." to jefferson it had fallen to overthrow church establishment and entail and primogeniture in virginia, innovations that were followed by all the rest of the states. "at least," pleaded an opponent, "if the eldest may no longer inherit all the lands and all the slaves of his father, let him take a double share." "no," said jefferson, "not until he can eat a double allowance of food and do a double allowance of work. instead of an aristocracy of wealth, i would make an opening for an aristocracy of virtue and talent." "but see to what mr. jefferson and his levelling system has brought us," cried even john randolph of roanoke, as one after another of the estates of thousands of acres slid into the hands of the people. he prohibited the importation of slaves, and, if he could have done it, would have abolished slavery itself before it became the despair of a people. "franklin a great orator? why, no, he never spoke in congress more than five minutes at a time, and then he related some anecdote which applied to the subject before the house. i have heard all the celebrated orators of the national assembly of france, but there was not one equal to patrick henry." and then, confidentially, sometimes he told a tale of the declaration of independence. "i shall never cease to be grateful to john adams, the colossus of that debate. while the discussion was going on, fatherly old ben franklin, seventy years old, leaning on his cane, sat by my side, and comforted me with his jokes whenever the criticisms were unusually bitter. the congress held its meetings near a livery stable. the members wore short breeches and thin silk stockings, and with handkerchief in hand they were diligently employed in lashing the flies from their legs. so very vexatious was the annoyance, and to so great impatience did it arouse the sufferers, that they were only too glad to sign the declaration and fly from the scene." two visits every year jefferson made to his little principality of two hundred inhabitants at monticello, a short one early in the spring and a longer one in the latter part of summer, when he always took his daughter martha and family from edge hill with him, for it would not seem home without martha to superintend. here jefferson had organised his slaves into a great industrial school, had his own carpenters, cabinet-makers, shoe-makers, tailors, weavers, had a nail forge and made nails for his own and neighbouring estates,--his black mechanics were the best in virginia. even the family coach was made at monticello, and the painting and the masonry of the mansion were all executed by slaves on the place. on the rivanna jefferson had a mill, where his wheat was manufactured into flour and sent down to richmond on bateaux to be sold for a good price, and cotton brought home to be made into cloth on the plantation. no wonder, when the master was gone, so extensive an industrial plant ceased to be remunerative. jefferson was always sending home shrubbery and trees from washington,--he knew every green thing on every spot of his farm; and bacon, the manager, seldom failed to send the cart back laden with fruit from monticello for the white house. while the president at monticello was giving orders to goliah, the gardener, to jupiter, the hostler, to bacon and all the head men of the shops, lewis would gallop home to visit his mother at locust hill just out of charlottesville. before the revolution, meriwether's father, william lewis, had received from george iii. a patent for three thousand acres of choice ivy creek land in albemarle, commanding an uninterrupted view of the blue ridge for one hundred and fifty miles. here meriwether was born, and reuben and jane. "if captain john marks courts you i advise you to marry him," said colonel william lewis to his wife, on his death-bed after the surrender of cornwallis. in a few years she did marry captain marks, and in georgia were born meriwether's half brother and sister, john and mary marks. another spot almost as dear to meriwether lewis was the plantation of his uncle nicholas lewis, "the farm," adjoining monticello. it was here he saw hamilton borne by, a prisoner of war, on the way to williamsburg, and here it was that tarleton made his raid and stole the ducks from aunt molly's chicken yard. a strict disciplinarian, rather severe in her methods, and very industrious was aunt molly, "captain molly" they called her. "even colonel 'nick,' although he can whip the british, stands in wholesome awe of captain molly, his superior in the home guards," said the gossiping neighbours of charlottesville. as a boy on this place, meriwether visited the negro cabins, followed the overseer, or darted on inquiry bent through stables, coach-house, hen-house, smoke-house, dove cote, and milk-room, the ever-attending lesser satellites of every mansion-house of old virginia. "bless your heart, my boy," was aunt molly's habitual greeting, "to be a good boy is the surest way to be a great man." a tender heart had aunt molly, doctress of half the countryside, who came to her for remedies and advice. her home was ever open to charity. as friends she nursed and cared for burgoyne's men, the saratoga prisoners. "bury me under the tulip tree on top of the hill overlooking the rivanna," begged one of the sick british officers. true to her word, aunt molly had him laid under the tulip tree. many generations of lewises and meriwethers lie now on that hill overlooking the red rivanna, but the first grave ever made there was that of the british prisoner so kindly cared for by meriwether lewis's aunt molly. "meriwether and lewis are old and honoured names in virginia. i really believe the boy will be a credit to the family," said aunt molly when the president's secretary reined up on wildair at the gate. the captain's light hair rippled into a graceful queue tied with a ribbon, and his laughing blue eyes flashed as maria wood ran out to greet her old playfellow. aunt molly was maria's grandmother. "very grand is my cousin meriwether now," began the mischievous maria. "long past are those days when as a virginia ranger he prided himself on rifle shirts faced with fringe, wild-cat's paws for epaulettes, and leathern belts heavy as a horse's surcingle." lifting her hands in mock admiration maria smiled entrancingly, "indeed, gay as jefferson himself is our sublime dandy, in blue coat, red velvet waistcoat, buff knee breeches, and brilliant buckles!" and meriwether answered with a kiss. maria wood was, perhaps, the dearest of meriwether's friends, although rumour said he had been engaged to milly maury, the daughter of the learned parson. but how could that be when milly married while meriwether was away soldiering on the ohio? at any rate, now he rode with maria wood, danced with her, and took her out to see his mother at locust hill. the whole family relied on meriwether at locust hill. while only a boy he took charge of the farm, and of his own motion built a carriage and drove to georgia after his mother and the children upon the death of captain marks. back through the cherokee-haunted woods they came, with other travellers journeying the georgia route. one night campfires were blazing for the evening meal, when "whoop!" came the hostile message and a discharge of arms. "indians! indians!" all was confusion. paralysed mothers hugged their infants and children screamed, when a boy in the crowd threw a bucket of water on the fire extinguishing the light. in a moment all was still, as the men rushed to arms repelling the attack. that boy was meriwether lewis. "no brother like mine," said little mary marks. "every noble trait is his,--he is a father to us children, a counsellor to our mother, and more anxious about our education than even for his own!" charles de st. memin, a french artist, was in washington, engraving on copper. "may i have your portrait as a typical handsome american?" he said to the president's secretary. meriwether laughed and gave him a sitting. the same hand that had so lately limned paul revere, theodosia burr, and the last profile of washington himself, sketched the typical youth of 1801. lewis sent the drawing to his mother, the head done in fired chalk and crayon, with that curious pink background so peculiar to the st. memin pictures. xxx _the president talks with meriwether_ hours by themselves jefferson sat talking to lewis. with face sunny, lit with enthusiasm, he spoke rapidly, even brilliantly, a dreamer, a seer, a prophet, believing in the future of america. "i have never given it up, meriwether. before the peace treaty was signed, after the revolution, i was scheming for a western exploration. we discussed it at annapolis; i even went so far as to write to george rogers clark on the subject. then congress sent me to france. "in france a frequent guest at my table was john ledyard, of connecticut. he had accompanied captain cook on his voyage to the pacific ocean, and now panted for some new enterprise. he had endeavoured to engage the merchants of boston in the northwest fur trade, but the times were too unsettled. 'why, mr. jefferson,' he was wont to say, 'that northwest land belongs to us. i felt i breathed the air of home the day we touched at nootka sound. the very indians are just like ours. and furs,--that coast is rich in beaver, bear, and otter. depend upon it,' he used to say, 'untold fortunes lie untouched at the back of the united states.'" "i then proposed to him to go by land to kamtchatka, cross in some russian vessel to nootka sound, fall down into the latitude of the missouri, and penetrate to and through that to the united states. ledyard eagerly seized the idea. i obtained him a permit from the empress catherine, and he set out; went to st. petersburg, crossed the russian possessions to within two hundred miles of kamtchatka. here he was arrested by order of the empress, who by this time had changed her mind, and forbidden his proceeding. he was put in a close carriage, and conveyed day and night, without ever stopping, till they reached poland; where he was set down and left to himself. the fatigue of this journey broke down his constitution, and when he returned to me at paris his bodily strength was much impaired. his mind, however, remained firm and he set out for egypt to find the sources of the nile, but died suddenly at cairo. thus failed the first attempt to explore the western part of our northern continent. "imagine my interest, later, to learn that after reading of captain cook's voyages the boston merchants had taken up ledyard's idea and in 1787 sent two little ships, the 'columbia rediviva' and the 'lady washington' into the pacific ocean. "barely was i back and seated in washington's cabinet as secretary of state, before those boston merchants begged my intercession with the court of spain, for one don blas gonzalez, governor of juan fernandez. passing near that island, one of the ships was damaged by a storm, her rudder broken, her masts disabled, and herself separated from her companion. she put into the island to refit, and at the same time to wood and water. don blas gonzalez, after examining her, and finding she had nothing on board but provisions and charts, and that her distress was real, permitted her to stay a few days, to refit and take in fresh supplies of wood and water. for this act of common hospitality, he was immediately deprived of his government, unheard, by superior order, and placed under disgrace. nor was i ever able to obtain a hearing at the court of spain, and the reinstatement of this benevolent governor. "the little ships went on, however, and on may 11, 1792, captain robert gray, a tar of the revolution, discovered the great river of the west and named it for his gallant ship, the 'columbia.' "in that very year, 1792, not yet having news of this discovery, i proposed to the american philosophical society that we should set on foot a subscription to engage some competent person to explore that region, by ascending the missouri and crossing the stony mountains, and descending the nearest river to the pacific. the sum of five thousand dollars was raised for that purpose, and andré michaux, a french botanist, was engaged as scientist, but when about to start he was sent by the french minister on political business to kentucky." meriwether lewis laughed. "i remember. i was then at charlottesville on the recruiting service, and warmly solicited you to obtain for me the appointment to execute that adventure. but mr. andré michaux offering his services, they were accepted." both were silent for a time. michaux had gone on his journey as far as kentucky, become the confidential agent between genet and george rogers clark for the french expedition, and been recalled by request of washington. "meriwether," continued the president, "i see now some chance of accomplishing that northwest expedition. the act establishing trading posts among the indians is about to expire. my plan is to induce the indians to abandon hunting and become agriculturists. as this may deprive our traders of a source of profit, i would direct their attention to the fur trade of the missouri. in a few weeks i shall make a confidential communication to congress requesting an appropriation for the exploration of the northwest. we shall undertake it as a literary and commercial pursuit." "and, sir, may i lead that exploration?" "you certainly shall," answered the president. "how much money do you think it would take?" secretary lewis spent the next few days in making an estimate. "mathematical instruments, arms and accoutrements, camp equipage, medicine and packing, means for transportation, indian presents, provisions, pay for hunters, guides, interpreters, and contingencies,-twenty-five hundred dollars will cover it all, i think." then followed that secret message of january 18, 1803, dictated by jefferson, penned by lewis, in which the president requested an appropriation of twenty-five hundred dollars, "for the purpose of extending the external commerce of the united states." congress granted the request, and busy days of preparation followed. the cabinet were in the secret, and the ladies, particularly mrs. madison and mrs. gallatin, were most interested and sympathetic, providing everything that could possibly be needed in such a perilous journey, fearing that lewis might never return from that distant land of savages. the president's daughters, mrs. randolph and mrs. eppes, were there, handsome, accomplished, delicate women, who rode about in silk pelisses purchasing at the shops the necessaries for "housewives," pins, needles, darning yarn, and the thousand and one little items that women always give to soldier boys. dolly madison, in mulberry-coloured satin, a tulle kerchief on her neck and dainty cap on her head, stitched, stitched; and in the streets, almost impassable for mud, she and martha, the president's daughter, were often mistaken for each other as they went to and fro guided by dolly's cousin, edward coles, a youth destined to win renown himself one day, as the "anti-slavery governor" of illinois. in his green knee pants and red waistcoat, long stockings and slippers, the genial president looked in on the busy ladies at the white house, but his anxiety was on matters of far more moment than the stitchery of the cabinet ladies. alexander mackenzie's journal of his wonderful transcontinental journey in 1793 was just out, the book of the day. it thrilled lewis,--he devoured it. before starting on his tour alexander mackenzie went to london and studied mathematics and astronomy. "it is my own dream," exclaimed lewis, as the president came upon him with the volumes in hand. "but the scientific features, to take observations, to be sure of my botany, to map longitude--" "that must come by study," said jefferson. "i would have you go to philadelphia to prosecute your studies in the sciences. i think you had better go at once to dr. barton,--i will write to him to-day." and again in the letter to dr. barton, meriwether's hand penned the prosecution of his fortune. "i must ask the favour of you to prepare for him a note of those lines of botany, zoölogy, or of indian history which you think most worthy of study or observation. he will be with you in philadelphia in two or three weeks and will wait on you and receive thankfully on paper any communications you may make to him." jefferson had ever been a father to meriwether lewis, had himself watched and taught him. and lewis in his soul revered the great man's learning, as never before he regretted the wasted hours at parson maury's when often he left his books to go hunting on peter's mount. but proudly lifting his head from these meditations: "i am a born woodsman, mr. jefferson. you know that." "know it!" jefferson laughed. "does not the fame of your youthful achievements linger yet around the woods of monticello? i have not forgotten, meriwether, that when you were not more than eight years old you were accustomed to go out into the forest at night alone in the depth of winter with your dogs and gun to hunt the raccoon and opossum. nor have i forgotten when the cherokees attacked your camp in georgia." the young man flushed. "your mother has often told it. it was when you were bringing them home to albemarle. how old were you then? about eighteen? the indians whooped and you put out the fire, the only cool head among them. a boy that could do that can as a man lead a great exploration like this. "nor need you fret about your lack of science,--the very study of latin you did with parson maury fits you to prepare for me those indian vocabularies. i am fortunate to have one so trained. latin gives an insight into the structure of all languages. for years, now, i have been collecting and studying the indian tongues. fortune now permits you to become my most valued coadjutor." and so lewis noted in his book of memorandum, "vocabularies of indian languages." "you ought to have a companion, a military man like george rogers clark. i have always wished to bring him forward in indian affairs; no man better understands the savage." "but clark has a brother," quickly spoke lewis, "a brave fellow, absolutely unflinching in the face of danger. if i could have my choice, captain william clark should be my companion and the sharer of my command." two years lewis had been jefferson's private secretary, when, appointed to this work, he went to philadelphia to study natural science and make astronomical observations for the geography of the route. this youth, who had inherited a fortune and every inducement to a life of ease, now spent three months in severest toil, under the instruction of able professors, learning scientific terms and calculating latitude and longitude. early in june he was back at washington. already the president had secured letters of passport from the british, french, and spanish ministers, for this expedition through foreign territory. "the object of your mission is to explore the missouri river, and such principal streams of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the pacific ocean, whether the columbia, oregon, colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water-communication across the continent, for the purpose of commerce." far into the june night jefferson discussed his instructions, and signed the historic document. "i have no doubt you will use every possible exertion to get off, as the delay of a month now may lose a year in the end." lewis felt the pressure; he was packing his instruments, writing to military posts for men to be ready when he came down the river, and hurrying up orders at harper's ferry, when a strange and startling event occurred, beyond the vision of dreamers. book ii _into the west_ book ii _into the west_ i _the louisiana purchase_ "spain, knowing she cannot hold louisiana, has ceded it to france!" the winds of ocean bore the message to america. "napoleon? is he to control us also?" never so vast a shadow overawed the world. afar they had read of his battles, had dreaded his name. instantly colossal napoleon loomed across the prairies of the west. napoleon had fifty-four ships and fifty thousand troops, the flower of his army, sailing to re-establish slavery in hayti. but a step and he would be at the mississippi. he was sending laussat, a french prefect, to take over new orleans and wait for the army. "shall we submit? and is this to be the end of all our fought-for liberty, that napoleon should rule america?" the fear of france was now as great as had been the admiration. gaily the flatboats were floating down, laden with flour and bacon, hams and tobacco, seeking egress to cuba and atlantic seaports, when suddenly, in october, 1802, the spanish intendant at new orleans closed the mississippi. crowding back, for twenty thousand miles inland, were the products of the autumn. the western country blazed; only by strenuous effort could congress keep a backwoods army from marching on new orleans. a powerful minority at washington contended for instant seizure. pittsburg, with shore lined with shipping, roared all the way to the gulf, "no grain can be sold down the river on account of those piratical spaniards!" appeal after appeal went up to jefferson, "let us sweep them into the sea!" what hope with a foreign nation at our gates? spain might be got rid of, but france--monroe was dispatched to france to interview napoleon. "the french must not have new orleans," was the lightning thought of jefferson. "no one but ourselves must own our own front door." and jefferson penned a letter to livingstone, the american minister at paris: "there is on the globe but one single spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. it is new orleans, through which the produce of three-eighths of our territory must pass to market. france placing herself in that door assumes to us the attitude of defiance. spain might have retained it quietly for years. not so france. the impetuosity of her temper, the energy and restlessness of her character, render it impossible that france and the united states can continue friends when they meet in so irritating a position. the day that france takes possession of new orleans--from that moment we must marry ourselves to the british fleet and nation." as jefferson placed that letter in the hands of monroe he added: "in europe nothing but europe is seen. but this little event, of france's possessing herself of louisiana,--this speck which now appears an invisible point on the horizon,--is the embryo of a tornado. "i must secure the port of new orleans and the mastery of the navigation of the mississippi. "we must have peace. the use of the mississippi is indispensable. we must purchase new orleans." "you are aware of the sensibility of our western citizens," madison was writing to madrid. "to them the mississippi is everything. it is the hudson, the delaware, the potomac, and all the navigable rivers of the atlantic states, formed into one." but napoleon's soldiers were dying at san domingo, the men with whom he would have colonised louisiana. at that moment the flint and steel of france and england struck, and the spark meant--war. england stood ready to seize the mouth of the mississippi. after the solemnities of easter sunday at st. cloud, april 10, 1803, napoleon summoned two of his ministers. "i _know_ the full value of louisiana!" he began with vehement passion, walking up and down the marble parlour. "a few lines of treaty have restored it to me, and i have scarcely recovered it when i must expect to lose it. but if it escapes from me," the first consul shook his finger menacingly, "it shall one day cost dearer to those who oblige me to strip myself of it, than to those to whom i wish to deliver it. the english have successively taken from france, canada, cape breton, newfoundland, nova scotia, and the richest portions of asia. they _shall not have_ the mississippi which they covet. they have twenty ships of war in the gulf of mexico, they sail over those seas as sovereigns. the conquest of louisiana would be easy. i have not a moment to lose in putting it out of their reach. i know not whether they are not already there. i think of ceding it to the united states. they only ask one town of me in louisiana but i already consider the colony as entirely lost, and it appears to me that in the hands of this growing power it will be more useful to the policy and even to the commerce of france, than if i should attempt to keep it." he turned to barbé-marbois, who had served as secretary of the french legation at philadelphia during the whole war of the american revolution. "we should not hesitate to make a sacrifice of that which is about slipping from us," said barbé-marbois. "war with england is inevitable; shall we be able to defend louisiana? can we restore fortifications that are in ruins? if, citizen consul, you, who have by one of the first acts of your government made sufficiently apparent your intention of giving this country to france, now abandon the idea of keeping it, there is no person that will not admit that you yield to necessity." far into the night they talked, so late that the ministers slept at st. cloud. at daybreak napoleon summoned barbé-marbois. "read me the dispatches from london." "sire," returned the secretary, looking over the papers, "naval and military preparations of every kind are making with extraordinary rapidity." napoleon leaped to his feet and strode again the marble floor. "irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. i _renounce_ louisiana. it is not only new orleans that i will cede, but the whole colony without reservation. i _know_ the price of what i abandon. i renounce it with regret. to attempt to retain it would be folly. i direct you to negotiate this affair with the united states. do not even await the arrival of mr. monroe; have an interview this very day with mr. livingstone; but i require a great deal of money for this war, and i would not like to commence it with new contributions. i want fifty millions, and for less than that sum i will not treat. to-morrow you shall have your full powers." the minister waited. "mr. monroe is on the point of arriving," continued napoleon. "neither this minister, nor his colleague, is prepared for a decision which goes infinitely beyond anything they are about to ask of us. begin by making them overtures, without any subterfuge. acquaint me, hour by hour, of your progress." "what will you pay for all louisiana?" bluntly asked barbé-marbois that day of the astonished livingstone. "_all louisiana!_ new orleans is all i ask for," answered livingstone. so long had talleyrand trifled and deceived, the american found himself distrustful of these french diplomatists. "but i offer the province," said barbé-marbois. surprised, doubtful, livingstone listened. "i have not the necessary powers." the next day monroe arrived. "there must be haste or the english will be at new orleans," said barbé-marbois. "how much will you pay for the whole province?" "the english? fifteen millions," answered the americans. "incorporate louisiana as soon as possible into your union," said napoleon, "give to its inhabitants the same rights, privileges, and immunities as to other citizens of the united states. "and let them know that we separate ourselves from them with regret; let them retain for us sentiments of affection; and may their common origin, descent, language, and customs perpetuate the friendship." the papers were drawn up and signed in french and in english. "we have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our lives!" exclaimed livingstone, as he and barbé-marbois and monroe arose and shook hands across the document. "this accession of territory strengthens for ever the power of the united states," said napoleon, coming in to look at the treaty. and as he affixed that signature, "napoleon," he smiled,--"i have just given to england a maritime rival, that sooner or later will humble her pride." and on that day the mississippi was opened, to be closed by a foreign power no more for ever. but no sooner had napoleon parted with louisiana than he began to repent. "hasten," the ministers warned jefferson, "the slightest delay may lose us the country." the word reached america. "jefferson--bought new orleans? bought the mississippi? bought the entire boundless west?" men gasped, then cheered. tumultuous excitement swept the land. on july 3, 1803, an infant republic hugging the atlantic, on july 4, a world power grasping the pacific! "a bargain!" cried the republicans. "unconstitutional!" answered the federalists. "the east will become depopulated." "fifteen millions! fifteen millions for that wilderness! why, that would be tons of money! waggon loads of silver five miles long. we have not so much coin in the whole country!" ii _the knight of the white house_ and meriwether lewis was ready to start. the night before the fourth of july he wrote his mother: "the day after to-morrow i shall set out for the western country. i had calculated on the pleasure of visiting you, but circumstances have rendered it impossible. my absence will probably be equal to fifteen or eighteen months. the nature of this expedition is by no means dangerous. my route will be altogether through tribes of indians friendly to the united states, therefore i consider the chances of life just as much in my favour as i should conceive them were i to remain at home. the charge of this expedition is honourable to myself, as it is important to my country. for its fatigues i feel myself perfectly prepared, nor do i doubt my health and strength of constitution to bear me through it. i go with the most perfect pre-conviction in my own mind of returning safe, and hope therefore that you will not suffer yourself to indulge any anxiety for my safety,--i will write again on my arrival at pittsburg. adieu, and believe me your affectionate son, meriwether lewis." the jefferson girls had returned to their homes. dolly madison and mrs. gallatin supervised the needle department, having made "housewives" enough to fit out a regiment. joseph rapin, the steward, helped lewis pack his belongings, secretary gallatin contributed a map of vancouver's sketch of the columbia mouth, and madison rendered his parting benediction. out of the iron gate in the high rock wall in front of the white house meriwether went,--fit emblem of the young republic, slim and lithe, immaculate in new uniform and three-cornered _chapeau_, his sunny thick-braided queue falling over the high-collared coat,--to meet the potomac packet for harper's ferry. all around were uncut forests, save the little clearing of washington, and up the umbrageous hills stretched an endless ocean of tree-tops. the wind blew up the potomac, fluttering the president's gray locks. "if a superior force should be arrayed against your passage, return, meriwether," was the anxious parting word. "to your own discretion must be left the degree of danger you may risk." but meriwether had no fears. "should you reach the pacific ocean,--endeavour to learn if there be any port within your reach frequented by sea-vessels of any nation, and to send two of your trusted people back by sea, with a copy of your notes. should you be of opinion that the return of your party by the way they went will be dangerous, then ship the whole, and return by way of cape horn or the cape of good hope. as you will be without money, clothes or provisions, i give you this open letter of credit authorising you to draw on the executive of the united states or any of its officers in any part of the world. our consuls at batavia in java, at the isles of france and bourbon, and at the cape of good hope will be able to supply you necessities by drafts on us." for where in the world the missouri led, no man then knew! "i have sometimes thought of sending a ship around to you," said jefferson, "but the spaniards would be certain to gobble it, and we are in trouble enough with them already over this louisiana purchase." too well lewis knew the delicacy of the situation. spain was on fire over the treachery of napoleon. "france has no right to alienate louisiana!" was the cry from madrid. but what could she do? nothing but fume, delay, threaten,--napoleon was master. "under present circumstances," continued the president, "i consider futile all effort to get a ship to your succour on those shores. spain would be only too glad to strike a blow. but there must be trade, there is trade,--all through adams's administration the russians were complaining of yankee skippers on that northwest coast. "russia has aided us, i may call the emperor my personal friend." with pardonable pride the president thought of the bust of alexander over his study door at monticello. "though catherine did send poor ledyard back, alexander has proved himself true, and in case any russian ship touches those shores you are safe, or english, or american. this letter of credit will carry you through. "and above all, express my philanthropic regard for the indians. humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and the domestic arts." and after lewis was fairly started, the president sent on as a great secret, "i have received word from paris that mr. broughton, one of the companions of captain vancouver, went up columbia river one hundred miles in december, 1792. he stopped at a point he named vancouver. here the river columbia is still a quarter of a mile wide. from this point mt. hood is seen twenty leagues distant, which is probably a dependency of the stony mountains. accept my affectionate salutations." on the fourth of july the same hand that drew up the declaration of independence had drawn for meriwether lewis a letter of credit, authorising him to purchase anything he needed on the credit of the united states in any part of the world. was jefferson thinking of those days when george rogers clark gave drafts on new orleans for the conquest of illinois? this again was another venture into a dark unwritten west. the next day lewis "shot all his guns" at harper's ferry, examined extra locks, knives, tomahawks, accoutrements that had been manufactured at his special direction. the waggoner from philadelphia came jolting by with indian presents, astronomical apparatus, and tents on the way to pittsburg. pittsburg? a cloud of smoke hung even then over the embryotic city. two thousand miles inland, it already had a flourishing ship-yard. several large vessels lay on the stocks and builders were hammering day and night. "the 'louisiana,' three hundred tons, is waiting for the next rise of the river," said a strapping tar. "in may a fleet of schooners went out to the caribbees. you are too late for this summer's freshet." "come, gentlemen, gentlemen all, ginral sincleer shall remem-ber-ed be, for he lost thirteen hundred me-en all in the western tari-to-ree." captain lewis took a second look at the singer,--it was george shannon standing on the dock. "why, captain lewis! where are you going?" george was an old friend of meriwether's, and yet but a lad of seventeen. his father, one of those "ragged continentals" that marched on yorktown, had emigrated to the far ohio. jane shannon was a typical pioneer mother. she spun, wove, knit, made leggings of skins, and caps and moccasins, but through multitudinous duties found time to teach her children. "to prepare them for college," she said, "that is my dream. i'd live on hoe-cake for ever to give them a chance." every one of her six boys inherited that mother's spirit, every one attained distinction. at fourteen george was sent to his mother's relatives on the monongahela to school. here he met lewis, forted in that winter camp. the gallant virginian captured the boy's fancy,--he became his model, his ideal. "and can you go?" asked captain lewis. "go? i will accompany you to the end of the world, captain lewis," answered george shannon. "there is no time for mails,--i know i have my parent's consent. and the pay, that will take me to college!" shannon enlisted on the spot, and was lewis's greatest comfort in those trying days at pittsburg. the boat-builders were drunkards. "i spent most of my time with the workmen," wrote lewis to the president, "but neither threats nor persuasion were sufficient to procure the completion before the 31st of august." loading the boat the instant it was done, they set out at four o'clock in the morning, with john collins of maryland, and george gibson, hugh mcneal, john potts, and peter wiser, of pennsylvania, recruits that had been ordered from carlisle. peter wiser is believed to have been a descendant of that famous conrad weiser who gave his life to pacifying the indian. by this time the water was low. "on board my boat opposite marietta, sept. 13," lewis writes,--"horses or oxen--i find the most efficient sailors in the present state of navigation," dragging the bateaux over shallows of drift and sandbars. and yet that same spring, when the water was high, marietta had sent out the schooners "dorcas and sally," and the "mary avery," one hundred and thirty tons, with cheers and firing of cannon. when lewis passed, a three-mast brig of two hundred and fifty tons and a smaller one of ninety tons were on the point of being finished to launch the following spring, with produce for philadelphia. george shannon was a handsome boy, already full grown but with the beardless pink and white of youth. his cap would not fit down over his curls, but lifted like his own hopes. nothing would start the boats at daylight like his jolly, rollicking "blow, ye winds of morning, blow, blow, blow," rolling across the tints of sunrise. his cheeks glowed, his blue eyes shone to meet the wishes of his captain. past the fairy isle of blennerhassett with its stately mansion half-hid behind avenues of lombardy poplar and tasteful shrubbery, captain lewis came on down to fort washington, cincinnati, where brigs had lately taken on cargoes and sailed to the west indies. bones? of course lewis wanted to look at bones and send some to the learned president. dr. goforth of cincinnati was sinking a pit at the big bone lick for remains of the mammoth, and might not mammoths be stalking abroad in all that great land of the west? mystery, mystery,--the very air was filled with mystery. iii _recruiting for oregon_ "now that i have accepted president jefferson's proposal to be associated with captain lewis in this expedition, it will oblige me to accept brother jonathan's offer of ten thousand dollars cash for mulberry hill," william clark was saying at louisville. "that will help out brother george on his military debts, satisfy his claimants, and save him from ruin." at the time of sale the old home was occupied by general clark and william clark, and their sister fanny and her children. the departure of william for the pacific broke up and dispersed the happy family. the general went back to the point of rock, fifty feet above the dashing ohio. that water was the lowest ever known now, men could walk across on the rocks. three or four locust trees shaded the cabin, now painted white, and an orchard of peach and cherry blossomed below. negro ben and his wife venus, and carson and cupid, lived back of the house and cultivated a few acres of grain and garden. all of clark's old soldiers remained loyal and visited the point of rock, and every year an encampment of braves, indian chiefs whom he had subdued, came for advice and to partake of his hospitality. grand and lonely, prematurely aged at fifty-one when he should have been in his prime, general clark sat overlooking the falls when captain lewis pulled his bateaux into the bear grass. captain clark and nine young men of kentucky were waiting for the boat,--william bratton, a blacksmith, formerly of virginia, and john shields, gunsmith, the tubal cain of the expedition, john coalter, who had been a ranger with kenton, the famous shields brothers, reuben and james, william warner and joseph whitehouse, all experts with the rifle, charles floyd, son of that charles floyd that rode with his brother from the death-stroke of big foot, and nathaniel pryor, his cousin. twenty years had passed since that fatal april morning when john floyd was laid a corpse at the feet of jane buchanan. that posthumous child, ushered so sadly into the world, john floyd the younger, now a handsome youth, was eager to go with his cousins--but an unexpected illness held him back--to become a member of congress and governor of virginia. and york, of course york. had he not from childhood obeyed john clark's command, "look after your young master"? with highest elation york assisted in the preparation, furbished up his gun, and prepared to "slay dem buffaloes." "an interpreter is my problem now," said captain lewis, "a man familiar with indians, trustworthy, and skilled in tongues." "i think my brother will know the man,--he has had wide experience in that line," said william; and so down to the point of rock the captains betook themselves to visit george rogers clark. "dignity sat still upon his countenance and the commanding look of washington," wrote a chronicler of that day. "an interpreter?" mused general clark. then turning to his brother, "do you remember pierre drouillard, the frenchman that saved kenton? he was a man of tact and influence with the indians, and, although he wore the red coat, a man of humanity. he interpreted for me at fort mcintosh and at the great miami. he comes with buckongahelas." william clark remembered. "that old frenchman has a son, george, chip of the old block, brought up with the indians and educated at a mission. he is your man,--at st. louis, i think." "always demand of the indians what you want, william, that is the secret. never let them think you fear them. great things have been effected by a few men well conducted. who knows what fortune may do for you?" it was the self-same saying with which twenty-four years before he had started to vincennes. "here are letters to some of my old friends at st. louis and kaskaskia," added the general. all the negroes were out to weep over york, whom they feared to see no more,--old york and rose, nancy and julia, jane, cupid and harry, from the scattered home at mulberry hill. general jonathan clark and major croghan were there, the richest men in kentucky, and general jonathan's daughters who stitched their samplers now at mulberry hill; and lucy, from locust grove, the image of william, "with face almost too strong for a woman," some said. all the city knew her, a miracle of benevolence and duty, and by her side the little son, george croghan, destined to hand on the renown of his fathers. william clark's last word was for fanny, a widow with children. "it is my desire that she should stay with lucy at locust grove until my return," said the paternal brother, kissing her pale cheek. "and i want johnny with me at the point of rock," added the lonely general, who, if he loved any one, it was little john o'fallon, the son of his sister fanny. "bring on your plunder!" the kentuckians could be recognised by their call as they helped the bateaux over the rapids and launched them below. george rogers clark stood on the point of rock, waving a last farewell, watching them down the river. while captain clark went on down the ohio, and engaged a few men at fort massac, captain lewis followed the old vincennes "trace" to kaskaskia. in that very september, sergeant john ordway, in russell bissell's company, was writing home to new hampshire: "kaskaskia is a very old town of about two hundred houses and ruins of many more. we lie on the hill in sight of the town, and have built a garrison here.--if betty crosby will wait for my return i may perhaps join hands with her yet. we have a company of troops from portsmouth, new hampshire, here." captain lewis came up to the garrison. out of twenty volunteers only three possessed the requisite qualifications. but sergeant ordway was one, robert frazer of vermont, another, and thomas p. howard, of massachusetts, the third. oppressed and anxious in mind over the difficulty of finding suitable men, captain lewis was one morning riding along when into the high road there ran out a short, strong, compact, broad-chested and heavy-limbed man, lean, sprightly, and quick of motion, in the dress of a soldier. his lively eye instantly caught that of captain lewis. perceiving that the soldier was evidently bent on seeing him, lewis checked his horse and paused. with military salute the man began: "me name is patrick gass, sorr, and i want to go with you to the stony mountings, but my commander, sorr, here at the barracks, will not consint. he siz, siz he, 'you are too good a carpenter, pat, and i need you here.'" his build, his manner, and the fact that pat was a soldier and a carpenter, was enough. men must be had, and here was a droll one, the predestined wit of the expedition. "i knew you, sorr, when i saw your horse ferninst the trees. i recognised a gintleman and an officer. i saw you whin i met gineral washington at carlisle out with throops to suppriss the whiskey rebillion. i met gineral washington that day, and i sid, siz i, 'gineral, i'm a pathriot mesilf and i'll niver risist me gover'm'nt, but i love ould bourbon too well to inlist agin the whiskey byes.'" "and have you never served in the field?" roared lewis, almost impatient. "ah, yis; whin adams was prisident, i threw down me jackplane and inlisted under gineral alexander hamilton, but there was no war, so thin i inlisted under major cass." patrick glanced back and saw his captain. "hist ye! shoulder-sthraps are comin'!" lewis laughed. "go and get ready, patrick; i'll settle with your captain." and patrick, bent on a new "inlistment" and new adventures, hied him away to pack his belongings. for days in dreams he was already navigating the missouri, already he saw the blue pacific. as he told the boys afterward, "and i, siz i to mesilf, 'patrick, let us to the pecific!' me captain objicted, but i found out where captain lewis was sthopping and sthole away and inlisted annyhow." captain lewis had made no mistake. patrick gass, cheerful, ever brave, was a typical frontiersman. his had been a life of constant roving. starting from chambersburg, pennsylvania, when he was five years old, the family crossed the alleghanies on packhorses. on the first horse was the mother, with the baby and all the table furniture and cooking utensils; on another were packed the provisions, the plough-irons and farming utensils; the third was rigged with a packsaddle and two large cradles of hickory withes. in the centre of these sat little pat on one side and his sister on the other, well laced in with bed-clothes so that only their heads stuck out. along the edges of precipices they went,--if a horse stumbled he would have thrown them hundreds of feet below. on these horses they forded mountain streams, swollen with melting snows and spring rains. daily were hairbreadth escapes, the horses falling, or carried down with the current and the family barely snatched from drowning. the journey was made in april when the nights were cold and the mother could not sleep. there was so much to do for the children. as the tireless father kept guard under the glow of the campfire, little patrick's unfailing good-night was, "hist, child! the injuns will come and take you to detroit!" there were several of these moves in his childhood. here and there he caught glimpses of well-housed, well-fed hirelings of the british army watching like eagles the land of the patriot army. at last they turned up at what is now wellsburg in west virginia. while yet a boy gass was apprenticed to a carpenter and worked on a house for a man by the name of buchanan, while around him played "little jimmy," the president-to-be. "little jimmy was like his mother," said gass. in december lewis and clark dropped down before the white-washed walls and gray stone parapets of the old french town of st. louis. with fierce consequential air a spanish soldier flourished his sword indicating the place to land. "we will spend the winter at charette, the farthest point of settlement." that was the town of daniel boone. but the governor, don carlos de hault de lassus, barred the way. "by the general policy of my government i am obliged to prevent strangers from passing through spanish territory until i have received official notice of its transfer." nothing could be done but to go into winter camp opposite the mouth of the missouri, just outside of his jurisdiction, and discipline the men, making ready for an early spring start. beyond the big river was foreign land. did the spaniard still hope to stay? iv _the feud is ended_ hark! is that the boom of distant cannon? the american troops are falling into line outside the walls of new orleans on this 20th day of december, 1803. the tri-colour of france floats on the flagstaff; the sky shines irradiant, like the "suns of napoleon." it is high noon; another salute shakes the city. "ho, warder, lower the drawbridge!" with chain-pulleys rattling down goes the bridge, never to be lifted again. the fortress bell strikes its last peal under the flag of france, or spain. with thundering tread american dragoons file under the portcullis of the tchoupitoulas gate, followed by cannoneers and infantry in coonskin caps and leathern hunting shirts. curiously these sons of the forest look upon the old world forts and donjons of masonry. the moat is filled with stagnant water. the ramparts of new orleans are filled with soldiers from havre and madrid. the windows and balconies are filled with beautiful women weeping, weeping to see the barbarians. laussat was looking for napoleon's soldiers, not a sale. pale as death he hands over the keys. slowly the tri-coloured flag of france at the summit of the flagstaff in the plaza descends. slowly the star-spangled banner uplifts; half-way the two linger in one another's folds. as the flags embrace, another boom, and answering guns reply from ship and fort and battery around the crescent of new orleans. the flags are parting,--it is a thrilling moment; up, up, steadily mounts the emblem of america and bursts on the breeze. the band breaks into "hail, columbia," amid the roar of artillery and shouting of backwoodsmen. the map of france in the new world has become the map of the united states. "the flag! the flag!" veterans of the french army receive the descending tri-colour, and followed by a procession of uncovered heads bear it with funereal tread to laussat. "we have wished to give to france a last proof of the affection which we will always retain for her," with trembling lip speaks the flag-bearer. "into your hands we deposit this symbol of the tie which has again transiently connected us with her." and laussat with answering tears replies, "may the prosperity of louisiana be eternal." but of all in new orleans on this historic day, none fear, none tremble like sister infelice, in the cloister of the ursulines. she seems to hear the very sabres beat on the convent wall. when a tropic hurricane sweeps up the gulf at night she falls on the cold stone floor and covers her head, as if the very lightning might reveal that form she loved so well, the great virginia colonel. to infelice he was ever young, ever the heroic saviour of st. louis. that time could have changed him had never occurred to her,--he was a type of immortal youth. infelice never speaks of these things, not even to her father confessor; it is something too deep, too sacred, a last touch of the world hid closer even than her heart. and yet she believes he is coming,--that is the cause of all this tumult and cannonading. her hero, her warrior wants _her_, and none can stay him. and when the cession is fairly over and he comes not, the disappointment prostrates her utterly. "he cares, he cares no more! the virginians? did you say the virginians had come?" from that bed of delirium the mother superior of the ursuline house sent for the mayor. "i beg to be allowed to retire with my sisterhood to some point under the protection of his catholic majesty of spain." "going!" exclaimed monsieur le mayor of new orleans. "for why? you shall not be disturbed, you shall have full protection." "do you stand for france, revolution and infidelity?" gasped the aged mother, denouncing the mayor. the people pled, the mayor went down on his knees. "do not abandon our schools and our children!" but the mother superior was firm. twenty-two years had the donna de leyba been a nun. the old official records are lost, but out of twenty-five nuns in the establishment we know the sixteen of spain went away. all new orleans gathered to see them depart. when the gun sounded on whitsunday eve, sixteen women in black came forth, heavily veiled. the convent gardens were thronged with pupils, slaves knelt by the wayside, the mayor and populace followed until they embarked on the ship and sailed to havana. the old ursuline convent of new orleans is now the archbishop's palace. sister infelice is gone, but near some old cloister of cuba we know her ashes must now be reposing. henceforth the gates were open. the wall decayed, the moat was filled, and over it to-day winds the handsomest boulevard in america. the flatboatmen came home with romantic tales of the land of the palmetto and orange, luxuries unknown in the rigorous north. the tide of emigration so long held in check burst its bounds and deluged louisiana. among other americans that settled at new orleans was the fighting parson. his son charles mynn thruston had married fanny. v _the cession of st. louis_ "glass we must have, and quicksilver. wife, let me have the mirror." the madame threw up her hands. "the precious pier glass my dead mother brought over from france? what shall we have left?" "but rosalie, this is an emergency for the government. the men must have thermometers, and barometers, and i have no glass." "the president will pay for the glass, madame; he would consider it the highest use to which it could be put," said captain lewis. "and you shall have a better one by the next ship that sails around from france." so as usual to everything the doctor wished, the good woman consented. none had more unbounded faith in dr. saugrain's gift of miracles than his own wife. the huge glass, that had reflected parisian scenes for a generation before coming to the wilds of america, was now lifted from its gilt frame and every particle of quicksilver carefully scraped from the back. then the pier plate was shattered and the fragments gathered, bit by bit, into the doctor's mysterious crucible, making the country people watch and wonder. so long had meriwether lewis been with jefferson, that he had imbibed the same eager desire to know, to understand. when he met with doctor saugrain it was like a union of kindred spirits. saugrain, the pupil, friend, and disciple of the great franklin, was often with the american scientist when he experimented with his kites, and drew down lightning to charge his leyden jars. three times dr. saugrain came to america, twice as guest of dr. franklin, before he settled down as physician to the spanish garrison at st. louis in 1800. with him he brought all his scientific lore, the latest of the most advanced city in the world. when all the world depended on flint and steel, paris and dr. saugrain made matches. he made matches for lewis and clark that were struck on the columbia a generation before boston or london made use of the secret. bitterly the cheerful, sprightly little royalist in curls lamented the french revolution. "oh, the guillotine! the guillotine! my own uncle, dr. guillotine, invented that instrument to save pain, not to waste life. but when he saw his own friends led up to the knife, distressed at its abuse he died in despair!" sufficient reason had dr. saugrain to be loyal to louis xvi. for more than two hundred years his people had been librarians, book-binders, and printers for the king. litterateurs and authors were the saugrains for six continuous generations, and out of their scientific and historical publications came the bent of dr. antoine françois saugrain of st. louis. but when the bastile was stormed, saugrain left france for ever. an _emigré_, a royalist, with others of the king's friends he came to the land that honoured louis xvi. between the rue de l'église and the rue des granges, at the extreme southwestern limit of the old village of st. louis, stood dr. saugrain's modest residence of cement with a six-foot stone wall around it and extensive gardens. in his "arboretum" dr. saugrain was making a collection of the most attractive native trees he found around st. louis, and some there, imported from paris, cast their green shadows on the swans of his swimming pond, an old french fancy for his park. in this happy home with its great library, captain lewis became a welcome guest in that winter of 1803-4 while waiting for the cession. under the doctor he pursued his scientific studies, medicine, surgery, electricity, for not even dr. barton in philadelphia could surpass the bright little frenchman so strangely transplanted here in this uttermost border. the doctor's taper fingers were always stained with acids and sulphur; busy ever with blowpipe and crucible, he fashioned tubes, filled in quicksilver, graduated cases, and handed out barometers and thermometers that amazed the frontier. "great medicine!" cried the indians when he gave them a shock of electricity. how dr. saugrain loved to turn his battery and electrify the door-knobs when those bothersome indians tried to enter! or, "here, white hair, is a shilling. you can have it if you will take it out." the osage chieftain plunges his arm into a crock of electrified water to dash off howling with affright. with intense interest captain lewis stood by while the chemist-physician dipped sulphur-tipped splints of wood into phosphorus, and lo! his little matches glowed like lucifer's own. "you can make the sticks yourself," he said. "i will seal the phosphorus in these small tin boxes for safety." "and have you any kine-pox? you must surely carry kine-pox, for i hear those omahas have died like cattle in a plague." "president jefferson particularly directed me to carry some kine-pox virus," replied captain lewis, "but really, what he gave me seems to have lost its virtue. i wrote him so from cincinnati, but fear it will be too late to supply the deficiency." out of his medicine chest in the corner, the little doctor brought the tiny vials. "sent me from paris. carry it, explain it to the indians, use it whenever you can,--it will save the life of hundreds." and other medicines, simple remedies, the good savant prescribed, making up a chest that became invaluable in after days. other friends were gratiot and the chouteaus, auguste and pierre. it was auguste that had planned the fortifications of st. louis, towers and bastions, palisades, demilunes, scarps, counter-scarps, and sally ports, only finished in part when the city was handed over. long since had carondelet offered rewards to the traders of st. louis to penetrate to the pacific. already the chouteau boats had reached the mandan towns, but freely they gave every information to the american captain. "i send you herewith enclosed," wrote lewis to the president, "some slips of the osage plum and apple. mr. charles gratiot, a gentleman of this place, has promised that he would with pleasure attend to the orders of yourself, or any of my acquaintances who may think proper to write him on the subject. i obtained the cuttings now sent you from the gardens of mr. peter chouteau, who resided the greater portion of his time for many years with the osage nation. "the osage might with a little attention be made to form an ornamental and useful hedge. the fruit is a large oval plum, of a pale yellow colour and exquisite flavour. an opinion prevails among the osages that the fruit is poisonous, though they acknowledge they have never tasted it." the leaders of all the french colonies on the mississippi were gentlemen of education and talent. they saw what the cession meant, and hailed it with welcome. but the masses, peaceable, illiterate, with little property and less enterprise, contented, unambitious, saw not the future of that great valley where their fathers had camped in the days of la salle. frank, open, joyous, unsuspecting, wrapped in the pleasures of the passing hour, they cared little for wealth and less for government provided they were not worried with its cares. their children, their fruits and flowers, the dance--happy always were the creole habitants provided only they heard the fiddle string. retaining all the suavity of his race, the roughest hunter could grace a ballroom with the carriage and manners of a gentleman. meanwhile captain clark was drilling the men at camp after the fashion of wayne. other soldiers had been engaged at fort massac and elsewhere,--silas goodrich, richard windsor, hugh hall, alexander willard, and john b. thompson, a surveyor of vincennes. never had st. louis such days! hurry, hurry and bustle in the staid and quiet town that had never before known any greater excitement than a church festival or a wedding,--never, that is, since those days of war when george rogers clark saved and when he threatened. but now lewis and clark made a deep impression on the villagers of the power and dignity of the united states government. out of their purchases every merchant hoped to make a fortune; the eager frenchmen displayed their wares,--coffee, gunpowder, and blankets, tea at prices fabulous in deerskin currency and sugar two dollars a pound. but lewis already had made up his outfit,--richly laced coats, medals and flags from jefferson himself, knives, tomahawks, and ornaments for chiefs, barrels of beads, paints and looking-glasses, bright-coloured three-point mackinaw blankets, a vision to dazzle a child or an indian, who is also a child. george drouillard was found, the skilled hunter. there was a trace of indian in drouillard; his french fathers and grandfathers had trapped along the streams of ohio and canada since before the days of pontiac, in fact, with cadillac they had helped to build detroit. every part of america was represented in that first exploring expedition,--lewis, the kinsman of washington, and clark from the tidewater cavaliers of old virginia, foremost of the fighting stock that won kentucky and illinois, puritan yankees from new england, quaker pennsylvanians from carlisle, descendants of landholders in the days of penn, french interpreters and adventurers whose barkentines had flashed along our inland lakes and streams for a hundred years, and finally, york, the negro, forerunner of his people. cruzatte and labiche, canoemen, were of old kaskaskia. pierre cruzatte was near-sighted and one-eyed, but what of that? a trusted trader of the chouteaus, he had camped with the omahas, and knew their tongue and their country. could such a prize be foregone for any defect of eyesight? accustomed to roving with their long rifles and well-filled bullet pouches, nowhere in the world could more suitable heroes have been found for this homeric journey. news of the sale had reached st. louis while captain lewis was struggling with those builders at pittsburg. "_sacre! diable!_" exclaimed the french. some loved france, some clung to spain, some shook their heads. "de country? we never discuss its affaires. dat ees de business of de commandante." the winter of 1803-4 was very severe. in november the ice began running and no one could cross until february. then captain amos stoddard, at kaskaskia with his troops, sent a letter to don carlos de hault de lassus by a sergeant going on business to captain lewis. on top of the hill a double stockade of logs set vertically, the space between filled with dirt, a two-story log building with small windows and a round stone tower with a pointed cap of stone,--that was the fort where the spanish soldiers waited. down below, inhabitants in blue blanket capotes and blue kerchiefs on their heads, now and then in red toque or a red scarf to tie up their trousers, wandered in the three narrow lanes that were the streets of st. louis, waiting. before them flowed the yellow-stained, eddy-spotted mississippi, behind waved a sea of prairie grass uninterrupted by farm or village to the rockies. spring blossomed. thickets of wild plum, cherry, wild crab-apples, covered the prairie. vanilla-scented locust blooms were shaking honey-dew on the wide verandas of the old st. louis houses, when early in the morning of may 9, american troops crossed the river from cahokia, and clark's men from the camp formed in line with fife and drum, and colours flying. at their head major amos stoddard of boston and captain meriwether lewis of virginia led up to the government house. black hawk was there to see his spanish father. he looked out. "here comes your american father," said the commandant de lassus. "i do not want _two_ fathers!" responded black hawk. dubiously shaking his head as the americans approached, black hawk and his retinue flapped their blankets out of one door as stoddard and captain lewis entered the other. away to his boats black hawk sped, pulling for dear life up stream to his village at rock island. and with him went singing bird, the bride of black hawk. "strange people have taken st. louis," said the hawk to his sacs. "we shall never see our spanish father again." a flotilla of frenchmen came up from kaskaskia,--menard, edgar, francis vigo, and their friends. villagers left their work in the fields; all st. louis flocked to la place d'armes in front of the government house to see the transfer. in splendid, showy uniforms, every officer of the spanish garrison stood at arms, intently watching the parade winding up the limestone footway from the boats below. with its public archives and the property of a vast demesne, don carlos de hault de lassus handed over to major stoddard the keys of the government house in behalf of france. a salvo of cannonry shook st. louis. "people of upper louisiana," began de lassus in a choked and broken voice, "_by order of the king_, i am now about to surrender this post and its dependencies. the flag which has protected you during nearly thirty-six years will no longer be seen. the oath you took now ceases to bind. your faithfulness and courage in upholding it will be remembered for ever. from the bottom of my heart i wish you all prosperity." de lassus, stoddard, lewis, clark, and the soldiers filed up the yellow path, past the log church, to the fort on the hill. the spanish flag was lowered; de lassus wept as he took the fallen banner in his hand, but as the lilies of france flashed in the sun the creoles burst into tumultuous cheers. not for forty years had they seen that flag, the emblem of their native land. cannon roared, swords waved, and shouts were heard, but not in combat. the gates were thrown open; out came the spanish troops with knapsacks on their backs, ready to sail away to new orleans. the old brass cannon and munitions of war were transported down the hill, while the american soldiers in sombre uniforms filed into the dingy old fort of spain. major stoddard sent for the french flag to be taken down at sunset. "no, no, let it fly! let it fly all night!" begged the creoles, and a guard of honour went up to watch the flickering emblem of their country's brief possession. all night long that french flag kissed the sky, all night the guard of honour watched, and the little log church of st. louis was filled with worshippers. all the romance of brittany and normandy rose to memory. rené kiercereau the singer led in ballads of la belle france, and the glories of fields where their fathers fought were rehearsed with swelling hearts. not the real france but an ideal was in their hearts, the tradition of louis xiv. that was the last day of france in north america. as the beloved banner sank the drums gave a long funeral roll, but when, instead, the red, white, and blue burst on the breeze, the fifes struck into lively music and the drums rained a cataract. "three cheers for the american flag!" cried charles gratiot in the spirit of the swiss republic, but there were no cheers. the creoles were weeping. sobs, lamentations arose, but the grief was mostly from old frenchmen and their wives who so long had prayed that the fleur de lis might wave above san loui'. their sons and daughters, truly, as lucien bonaparte had warned napoleon, "went to bed good frenchmen, to awake and find themselves americans." the huge iron cock in the belfry of the old log church spun round and round, as if it knew not which way the wind was blowing. in three days three flags over st. louis! no wonder the iron cock lost its head and spun and spun like any fickle weather vane. in the same square with the government house stood one of the chouteau mansions. auguste chouteau had been there from the beginning, when as a fearless youth with laclede he had penetrated to the site of the future san loui' in 1764. he was a diplomat who met indians and made alliances. he had seen the territory pass under spain's flag, and in spite of that had made it more and more a place of gallic refuge for his scattered countrymen. he had welcomed saugrain, cerré, gratiot, in fact,--he and his brother pierre remembered the day when there was no san loui'. a band of osage chiefs had come in to see their great spanish father. with wondering eyes they watched the cession, and were handed over to captain lewis to deal with in behalf of the united states. a french messenger was sent ahead with a letter to the tribe. "the americans taken san loui'?" manuel lisa, the spaniard, was disgusted,--it broke up his monopoly of the osage trade. "we will not haf the americans!" the osages burnt the letter. vi _sergeant ordway writes a letter_ the winter of 1802-3 had been uncommonly severe. unknown to george shannon, that winter his father hunting in the dense woods of ohio lost his way in a snow-storm and was frozen to death. unaware of the tragedy at home, unaware also of his own inherited facility for getting lost, the boy set out up the winding staircase of the wild missouri. an older brother, john, nineteen years of age, became the stay of that widowed mother with her seven small children, the least a baby, wilson shannon, twice the future governor of ohio and once the governor of kansas. with a pad on his knee every soldier boy wrote home from the camp on river dubois opposite the mouth of the missouri. down through the years sergeant ordway's letter has come to us. "camp river dubois, april the 8th, 1804. "honoured parents,--i now embrace this opportunity of writeing to you once more to let you know where i am and where i am going. i am well thank god and in high spirits. i am now on an expedition to the westward, with capt. lewis and capt. clark, who are appointed by the president of the united states to go on an expedition through the interior parts of north america. we are to ascend the missouri river with a boat as far as it is navigable and then to go by land to the western ocean, if nothing prevents. this party consists of twenty-five picked men of the armey and country likewise and i am so happy as to be one of them picked from the armey and i and all the party are if we live to return to receive our discharge whenever we return again to the united states if we choose it. this place is on the mississippi river opposite to the mouth of the missouri river and we are to start in ten days up the missouri river, this has been our winterquarters. we expect to be gone 18 months or two years, we are to receive a great reward for this expedition when we return. i am to receive 15 dollars a month and at least 400 ackers of first rate land and if we make great discoveries as we expect the united states has promised to make us great rewards, more than we are promised, for fear of accidents i wish to inform you that [personal matters]. i have received no letters since betseys yet but will write next winter if i have a chance. "yours, etc., "john ordway, _segt._ "to stephen ordway, dumbarton, n.h." vii _into the land of anarchy_ the boats were ready, the red pirogue and the white, from st. louis, fresh painted, trim and slim upon the water, and the big bateau, fifty-five feet from stem to stern, with setting poles, sweeps, a square sail to catch the breeze, and twenty-two oars at the rowlocks. down under the decks and in the cabins, had been packed the precious freightage, government arms, rifles made at harper's ferry under lewis's own superintendence, tents, ammunition, bales and boxes of indian presents, provisions, tools. into the securest lockers went lewis's astronomical instruments for ascertaining the geography of the country, and the surgical instruments that did good service in the hands of clark. nothing was forgotten, even small conveniences, candles, ink, mosquito bars. it took half a million to send stanley to africa. for twenty-five hundred dollars lewis and clark made as great a journey. to assist in carrying stores and repelling indian attacks, corporal warfington and six soldiers had been engaged at st. louis and nine french boys of cahokia, inured to the paddle and the camp. feather-decked and beaded they came, singing the songs of old cahokia to start the little squadron. the americans had knives in their belts, pistols in their holsters, knapsacks on their backs, powder horns and pouches of ammunition, ink horns and quills, ready to face the wilderness and report. lewis encouraged every one to keep a journal. "i niver wint to school but nineteen days in me boyhood and that was whin i was a man," said patrick gass. but what pat lacked in books he made up in observation and shrewd reasoning; hence it fell out that patrick gass's journal was the first published account of the lewis and clark expedition. all honour to patrick gass. of such are our heroes. the cession was on wednesday, may 9, 1804, and all the men were there but a few who guarded camp. at three o'clock the following monday, may 14, captain clark announced, "all aboard!" the heavy-laden bateau and two pirogues swung out, to the voyageurs' _chanson_, thrilling like a brass band as their bright new paddles cut the water: "a frigate went a-sailing, _mon joli coeur de rose_, far o'er the seas away, _joli coeur d'un rosier, joli coeur d'un rosier_." and hill and hollow echoed, "_mon joli coeur de rose_" "san chawle!" cried cruzatte the bowsman at two o'clock, wednesday, when the first creole village hove in sight. at a gun, the signal of traders, all st. charles rushed to see the first americans that had ever come up the missouri. and straggling behind the frenchmen came their friends, the kickapoos of kaskaskia, now on a hunt in the missouri. "meet us up the river with a good fat deer," said captain clark. the delighted kickapoos scattered for the hunt. five days the boats lay at st. charles, waiting for captain lewis who was detained fixing off the osage chiefs at st. louis. patrick gass wrote in his journal, "it rained." sergeant floyd adds, "verry much rain." captain clark chronicles, "rain, thunder, and lightning for several days." but never on account of a flurry of rain did the sociable french of st. charles fail in polite attentions to their guests on the river bank. on sunday, boats were descried toiling up from st. louis with a dozen gentlemen, who had come to escort captain lewis and bid "god speed!" to the expedition. captain stoddard was there, and auguste chouteau, availing himself of every opportunity to forward the enterprise. monsieur labbadie had advice and gratiot and dr. saugrain, little and learned, with the medicine chest. with throbbing hearts the captains stole a moment for a last home letter to be sent by the returning guests. "my route is uncertain," wrote clark to major croghan at locust grove. "i think it more than probable that captain lewis or myself will return by sea." "_bon voyage! bon voyage, mes voyageurs!_" cried all the french habitants of st. charles, waving caps and kerchiefs to answering cheers from the crew and the guns. "_bonsoir et bon voyage_--tak' care for you--_prenez garde pour les sauvages_." with a laugh the voyageurs struck up a boat song. the boats slid away into the west, that west where france had stretched her shadowy hand, and spain, and england. the reign of france fell with montcalm on the heights of abraham, flickering up again only in that last act when napoleon gave us louisiana. "the kickapoos! the kickapoos!" through bush and brier above st. charles, the bedraggled indians came tugging down to the shore four fine fat deer. bacon fare and hardtack were relegated to the hold. from that hour lewis and clark threaded the gameland of the world. "joost wait onteel dey get ento de boofalo!" commented those wise young voyageurs, cruzatte and drouillard, nodding at one another as the cooks served out the savoury meat on the grass, and every man drew forth his long hunting-knife and little sack of salt. "where is my old friend, daniel boone?" inquired captain clark, three days later at charette, the last settlement on the missouri border. this, but for spanish interference, would have been their camping station the previous winter. colonel boone, six miles from the missouri, was holding court beneath his judgment tree. the june rise of the missouri was at hand. days of rain and melting snows had set the mad streams whirling. the muddy missouri, frothing, foaming, tore at its ragged banks that, yawning, heavily undermined, leaped suddenly into the water. safety lay alone in mid-stream, where the swift current, bank-full and running like a millrace, bore down toward the mississippi. to stem it was terrific. in spite of oars and sails and busy poling, the bateau would turn, raked ever and anon with drifts of fallen trees. and free a moment, some new danger arose. down out of sight, water-soaked logs scraped the keel with vicious grating. and above, formidable battering-rams of snags sawed their black heads up and down defiantly, as if nature herself had blockaded the way with a _chevaux de frise_. poles broke, oars splintered, masts went headlong, the boat itself careened almost into the depths. it was a desperate undertaking to stem the mad missouri in the midst of her wild june rise. but that very rise, so difficult to oppose upstream, was a sliding incline the other way. may 27, two canoes loaded with furs came plunging full tilt out of the north. "where from? what news?" "two months from the omaha nation, seven hundred miles up the river," sang out the swiftly passing frenchmen bound for st. louis. behind them a huge raft,-"from the pawnees on the platte!" and yet behind three other rafts, piled, heaped, and laden to the water's edge,-"from the grand osage!" such alone was greeting and farewell, as the barks, unable to be checked, went spinning down the water. what a gala for the winter-bound trapper! home again! home again! flying down the wild missouri in the mad june rise! they stopped not to camp or to hunt, but skimming the wave, fairly flew to st. louis. they came, those swift-gliding boats, like visions of another world, the world lewis and clark were about to enter. june 5, two more canoes flashed by with beaver,-"from eighty leagues up the kansas river!" june 8, boats with beaver and otter slid by, and rafts of furs and buffalo tallow,-"from the sioux nation!" dorion, an old frenchman on a sioux raft, engaged to go back with lewis and clark to interpret for them the language of his wife's relations. a thousand miles against the current! now and then a southwest wind would fill out the big square-cut sail and send the heavy barge ploughing steadily up. again, contrary winds kept them on the walking boards all day long, with heads bent low over the setting-pole. warm and warmer grew the days. some of the men were sunstruck. the glitter of sun on the water inflamed their eyes. some broke out with painful boils, and mosquitoes made night a torture. now and then they struck a sand-bar, and leaping into the water the voyageurs ran along shore with the _cordelle_ on their shoulders, literally dragging the great boat into safety. "_mon cher_ captinne! de win' she blow lak' hurricane!" cried the voyageurs. down came the prairie gale, almost a tornado, snapping the timber on the river-banks, and lashing the water to waves that surged up, over, and into the boats. the sky bent black above them, the fierce wind howled, and the almost exhausted men strained every nerve to hold the rocking craft. "i strong lak' moose, not 'fraid no t'ing," remarked cruzatte, clambering back into the boat wet as a drowned kitten. hot and tired, june 26 they tied up at the mouth of kansas river. "eat somet'ing, tak' leetle drink also," said the voyageurs. on the present site of kansas city they pitched their tents, and stretched their limbs from the weariness of canoe cramp. "the most signs of game i iver saw," said patrick gass, wandering out with his gun to find a bear. "imince hurds of deer," bears in the bottoms, beaver, turkeys, geese, and a "grat nomber of goslins," say the journals, but not an indian. "alas!" sighed the old voyageurs with friendly pity. "de kansas were plaintee brave people, but de sac and de sioux, dey drive 'em up de kansas river." cæsar conquered gaul, but the mercatores were there before him. lewis and clark ascended the missouri, but everywhere the adventurous frenchmen had gone before them, peddlers of the prairie, out with indian goods buying skins. but now americans had come. the whippoorwill sang them to sleep, the wolf howled them awake. the owl inquired, "who? who? who?" in the dark treetops at the mouth of the kansas river. on, on crept the boats, past grand old groves of oak and hickory, of walnut, ash, and buckeye, that had stood undisturbed for ages. swift fawn flitted by, and strange and splendid birds that the great audubon should come one day to study. on, on past the river-which-cries, the weeping water, the home of the elk. tall cottonwoods arose like corinthian columns wreathed with ivy, and festoons of wild grape dipped over and into the wave. the river-which-cries marked the boundary of two nations, the otoes and omahas. almost annually its waters were reddened with slaughter. then came the old men and women and children from the otoe villages on the south and from the omahas on the north and wept and wept there, until it came to be known as nehawka, the weeping water. july came and the waters were falling. with a fair wind, on the 21st they sailed past the mouth of the great river platte. in the summer evening lewis and clark in their pirogue paddled up the platte. "here i spen' two winter wit' de otoe," said drouillard the hunter. "de otoe were great nation, but de sioux an' de 'maha drove dem back on de pawnee." "and the pawnees?" "dey built villages an' plant corn an' wage war wid de osage." ten days later preparations were made to meet the otoes at council bluffs. on a cottonwood pole the flag was flying. a great feast was ready, when afar off, drouillard and cruzatte were seen approaching with their friends. "boom," went the blunderbuss, and the council smoke arose under an awning made of the mainsail of the bateau. every man of the expedition, forty-five in all, paraded in his best uniform. lewis talked. clark talked. all the six chiefs expressed satisfaction in the change of government. they begged to be remembered to their great father, the president, and asked for mediation between them and the omahas. "what is the cause of your war?" "we have no horses," answered the childlike otoes. "we borrow their horses. then they scalp us. we fear the pawnees also. we very hungry, come to their village when they are hunting, take a little corn!" the captains could scarce repress a smile, nor yet a tear. thefts, reprisals, midnight burnings and slaughter, this was the reign immemorial in this land of anarchy. in vain the tribes might plant,--never could they reap. "we poor indian," was the universal lament. severely solemn, lewis and clark hung medals on the neck of each chief, and gave him a paper with greetings from thomas jefferson with the seals of lewis and clark impressed with red wax and attached with a blue ribbon. "when you look at these, remember your great father. you are his children. he bids you stop war and make peace with one another." in 1860, the otoe indians exhibited at nebraska city those identical papers, borne for more than half a century in all their homeless wanderings, between flat pieces of bark and tied with buckskin thongs. then gifts were distributed and chiefs' dresses. with more handshakings and booming of cannon, the flotilla sailed away that sultry afternoon one hundred years ago. the chiefs stood still on the shore and wonderingly gazed at one another. "these are the peacemakers!" a week later lewis and clark entered the omaha country and raised a flag on the grave of blackbird. encamping on a sandbar opposite the village, sergeant ordway and cruzatte were dispatched to summon the chiefs. here cruzatte had traded two winters. up from the river he found the old trails overgrown. breaking through sunflowers, grass, and thistles high above their heads, they came upon the spot where once had stood a village. naught remained but graves. the omahas had been a military people, feared even by the sioux, the kansas, and the far-away crows. strange mystery clung to blackbird. never had one so powerful ruled the missouri. at his word his enemy perished. stricken by sudden illness, whoever crossed the will of blackbird died, immediately, mysteriously. then came the smallpox in 1800. blackbird himself died and half his people. in frenzy the agonised omahas burnt their village, slew their wives and children, and fled the fatal spot,--but not until they had buried blackbird. in accord with his last wish, they took the corpse of the omaha king to the top of the highest hill and there entombed him, sitting upright on his horse that he might watch the traders come and go. and one of those traders bore in his guilty heart the secret of blackbird's power. he had given to him a package of arsenic. blackbird and big elk's father went to st. louis in the days of the french and made a treaty. a portrait of the chief was then painted that is said to hang now in the louvre at paris. a delegation of otoes had been persuaded to come up and smoke the peace-pipe with the omahas. but not an omaha appeared. and the otoes, released from overwhelming fear, big horse and little thief, big ox and iron eyes, smoked and danced on the old council ground of their enemies, whose scalps they had vowed to hang at their saddle bow. sergeant floyd danced with the rest that hot august night, and became overheated. he went on guard duty immediately afterward, and lay down on a sandbar to cool. in a few moments he was seized with frightful pains. nathaniel pryor awakened the captains. "my cousin is very ill." all night lewis and clark used every endeavour to relieve the suffering soldier. at sunrise the boats set sail, bearing poor floyd, pale and scarce breathing. there was a movement of the sick boy's lips,-"i am going away. i want you to write me a letter." and there, on the borders of iowa, he dispatched his last message to the old kentucky home. when they landed for dinner floyd died. with streaming tears patrick gass, the warm-hearted, made a strong coffin of oak slabs. a detail of brother soldiers bore the body to the top of the bluff and laid it there with the honours of war, the first united states soldier to be buried beyond the mississippi, and on a cedar post they carved his name. with measured tread and slow the soldiers came down and camped on floyd's river below, in the light of the setting sun. years passed. around that lovely height, floyd's bluff, sioux city grew. travellers passed that way and said, "yonder lies charles floyd on the bluff." relic hunters chipped away the cedar post. finally, the missouri undermined the height, and the oakwood coffin came near falling into the river, but it was rescued and buried farther back in 1857. recently a magnificent monument was dedicated there, to commemorate his name and his mission for ever,--the first light-bearer to perish in the west. a few days later a vote was cast for a new sergeant in the place of floyd, and patrick gass received the honour. every day floyd had written in his journal, and now it was given into the hand of captain clark to be forwarded, on the first opportunity, to his people. viii _"the sioux! the sioux!"_ "what river is this, dorion?" captain lewis had thrown open his infantry uniform to catch the cooling gust down a silver rift in the shore. "_petite rivière des sioux._ go to des moines country. pass tro te lake of te spirit, full of islands. lead to dog plain, prairie du chien, four days from te omaha country. des sioux--" dorion drew his forefinger across his throat and lapsed into silence. they were his people, he would not traduce them. but his listeners understood,--the sioux were "cut-throats," this was their name among the tribes. the voyageurs trembled, "_bon dieu! le sioux sauvage_, he keel de voyageur an' steal deir hair!" the sioux, the terrible sioux, were dog indians, ever on the move, raiding back and forth, restless and unsleeping. almost to athabasca their _travoises_ kicked up the summer dust, their dog trains dragged across the plains of manitoba. on the saskatchewan they pitched their leather tents and chased the buffalo; around lake winnipeg they scalped the chippeways. at the falls of st. anthony they spread their fishing nets, and at niagara falls the old french jesuits found them. now they were stealing horses. for horses, down the mississippi they murdered the illinois. for horses, the mandan on the upper missouri heard and trembled. "the sioux! the sioux!" the ponca paled in his mud hut on the niobrara, the omaha retreated up the platte, the cheyenne hid in the cedar-curtained recesses of the black hills. more puissant than the six nations of the iroquois, the sioux confederacy dominated from the red river of the north to the red river of texas. wilder than the comanches they rode, more cunning in theft than the crows, more bloodthirsty than the blackfeet. on the red man's triple plea for war,--horses, scalps, and wives,--the sioux were pirates of the streams and despots of the prairie. mettlesome with the bow, fiery in battle, strong, brave, wild, kings of the hills and monarchs of the trails, they ruled the earth in splendid savagery. the buffalo was theirs, the beaver and the deer, and woe betide the rival that poached on their preserves. did the poor shoshone venture beyond the rockies, he was flayed and burned alive. no lake, no stream, no river between the mississippi and the rockies remained unstained by their red hatchet. and what a chapter when the traders came! unwritten yet are those days of fierce and constant battle. even dorion himself dreaded the daring freebooters into whose tribe he had married. his own offspring partook of the wild fierce spirit of their people. like eaglets or young panthers, they clutched at him with claws and talons,--with difficulty the little frenchman held them back as the lion-tamer holds the whelps. of dorion's possessions the sioux took what they pleased. for the privilege of trading he smiled and gave them all, then in generosity he was heaped with skins. dorion knew the sioux, knew their best and worst. somewhere in this sioux country his faithful spouse was waiting; he was looking for her now,--a model squaw, a tireless slave who dug his roots and made his garments, brought his wood and water, and, neglected, bore his children. "pilicans! pilicans!" it was the voice of patrick gass, beyond the little sioux. a low sand island was covered with huge, white, web-footed beauties fishing in the chocolate missouri. when the scrimmage was over two handsome birds lay in the bateau, one, the queen of the flock, brought down by lewis himself. she was a splendid specimen, six feet from tip to tip, pure white with a tinge of rose, and an enormous pouch full of fish under her bill. "out with the fish. let us measure that pouch." lewis's enthusiasm was contagious. all hands gathered while he poured in water, five gallons. "the average capacity is but two," said captain clark. "we must preserve this trophy." to-day that beautiful bird, of strong maternal instincts, is the emblem of the state of louisiana. again lewis put the question, "what stream, dorion?" "te great sioux! two hundret mile to te sioux fall, an' beyont--almost to st. peters." a smile relaxed old dorion's leathern face,-"below te fall, a creek from te cliffs of red rock. all indian get te peace-pipe. no battle dere, no war." of the famous red pipestone quarry old dorion spoke, the beautiful variegated rock out of which resplendent dakota cities should be built in the future. "te rock ees soft, cut it wit te knife, then hard and shining." all tribes, even those at war, could claim asylum at the red pipestone. the sioux came, and the pawnee, to camp on its banks and fashion their calumets. the soft clay pipes, hardened into things of beauty, were traded from tribe to tribe, emblems and signals of peace. captain lewis himself had one, bought in st. louis, brought down from that quarry by some enterprising french trader. "buffalo! buffalo! buffalo!" a grand shout arose at sight of the surging herds. "plaintee boofalo now," said the voyageurs. upon the led horses along shore, clark and joseph fields dashed away for a first shot. again rejoicing cooks went hunting up the kettles, and the whole expedition paused a day for a grand hunt. "te yankton sioux!" joyfully announced old dorion, as they neared the familiar chalk bluffs of "des rivière jaques, tat go almost to te red rivière of te winnipeg." all over these streams old dorion had trapped the beaver. with sergeant pryor and another, dorion set out for the indian camp. the yankton sioux saw the white men approaching and ran with robes to carry them in state to camp. "no," answered the sergeant, "we are not the commanders. they are at the boats." dorion led the way to his wigwam. his polite old squaw immediately spread a bearskin for them to sit on. another woman killed a dog, cut it up, and boiled it and gave it to them to eat, a token of friendship. forty clean and well-kept lodges were in this yankton village, of dressed buffalo and elk skin, painted red and white and very handsome. and each lodge had a cooking apartment attached. under the calumet bluffs the flag was flying when the yankton sioux came down in state and crossed the river to the council. the yankton sioux were reputed to be the best of their nation, and brave as any, with their necklaces of bear's claws, paints, and feathers. they were kingly savages, dignified and solemn, with heads shaved to the eagle plume, and arrayed in robes wrought with porcupine quills. with dorion as interpreter captain lewis delivered the usual speech, and presented flags, medals, and a chief's dress, a richly laced coat, cocked hat, and red feather. the ceremonious indians withdrew to consider a suitable answer. the next morning again the chiefs assembled, solemnly seated in a row with enormous peace-pipes of red stone and stems a yard long, all pointing toward the seats intended for lewis and clark. but the great indian diplomats did not hasten. "ha!" even the stoic sioux could not refrain from an ejaculation of admiration as they half rose, pipe in hand, to gaze in awe and wonder as the white chiefs entered the council. no such traders ever came up the missouri, no such splendid apparitions as the red head chief and his brother, pink and white as the roses on the river jaques. captain lewis habitually wore his sunny hair in a queue; to-day it was loosened into a waving cataract, and clark, slipping off his eelskin bag, let his red locks fall, a strange and wondrous symbol. no such red and gold had ever been seen in the indian country. with pale berries they stained their porcupine quills, with ochre painted the buffalo lodges, with vermilion rouged their faces, but none like these growing on the heads of men! seating themselves with all due dignity, lewis and clark scarce lifted their eyes from the ground as the grand chief, weucha, extended his decorated pipe in silence. a full hour elapsed before weucha, slipping his robe to give full play to his arm, arose before them. "i see before me my great father's two sons. we very poor. we no powder, ball, knives. our women and children at the village no clothes. i wish my brothers would give something to those poor people. "i went to the english, they gave me a medal and clothes. i went to the spanish, they gave me a medal. now you give me a medal and clothes. still we are poor. i wish you would give something for our squaws." then other chiefs spoke. "very poor. have pity on us. send us traders. we want powder and ball." deadly as were the sioux arrows,--one twang of their bowstring could pierce a buffalo,--yet a better weapon had crossed their vision. firearms, powder, ball, fabulous prices, these problems changed indian history. congratulating themselves on this favourable encounter with the dreaded sioux, and promising everything, lewis and clark went forward with renewed courage. more and more buffaloes dotted the hills, and herds of antelope, strange and new to science. "i must have an antelope," said lewis. at that moment he saw seven on a hilltop. creeping carefully near, they scented him on the wind. the wild beauties were gone, and a similar flock of seven appeared on a neighbouring height. "can they have spanned the ravine in this brief time?" he looked, and lo! on a third height and then a fourth they skimmed the hills like cloud shadows, or winged griffins of the fabled time, half quadruped and half bird. "a cur'ous lill animal here, captain," said one of the hunters, handing him a limp little body. its head was like a squirrel's. lewis stroked the long fine hair. "what is it?" cruzatte, the bowman, paddle in hand, leaned over, peering with his one near-sighted but intelligent eye. "ha! ha! ha! _le petit chien!_" he laughed. "live in te hole een te prairie. leetle dog. bark, yelp, yelp, yelp, like te squirrel. all over te countree, whole towns," spreading his brown hands expressively. after this lucid explanation the captains, lewis and clark, set out for a prairie-dog town. a few yelps, heels in air, the town was deserted save for the tiny mounds that told where each had hidden. "let us drown one out." forthwith, every man came puffing up with big brass kettles full of water. "five barrels," says clark in his journal, "were poured into the holes but not a dog came out," and patrick gass adds, "though they worked at the business until night they only caught one of them." more and more the hills were thronged with buffalo. even york, captain clark's black servant, went out and killed two at one ride. on the top of a high bluff the men had found the skeleton of a huge fish, forty-five feet long and petrified. "blow, ye winds of morning, blow, blow, blow--" george shannon, the boy of the expedition, had enlivened many a sunrise with his jolly, rollicking irish songs. but shannon was lost! on the 28th of august he had gone out to look for the strayed horses. it was now september. captain lewis was wild, for at his request george had joined the expedition and at his order he had gone after the horses. hunters had sought in every direction, guns had been fired and the blunderbuss, and smokes had been kindled from point to point. "shannon!" a great shout went up as the forlorn boy, emaciated and weary, came dragging into camp on the 11th of september. it was a short story, soon told. he found the horses and followed by mistake the trail of recent indians, which he mistook for footprints of the party. for days he followed the trail, exhausted his bullets, and lived on wild grapes and a rabbit he killed with a stick. but he heard no guns, saw no smoke. in despair at last he came down to the river, to discover that all this time he had been travelling ahead of the boats! the fatted buffalo-calf was killed and great was the rejoicing, and at daylight next morning, shannon's "blow, ye winds of morning, blow, blow, blow," rang again joyously over the missouri. "danger! quick! the bank is caving!" at one o'clock in the night the guard gave the startled cry. barely was there time to loosen the boats and push into midstream before the whole escarpment dropped like an avalanche over the recent anchorage. thus in one instant might have been blotted out the entire expedition, to remain for all time a mystery and conjecture. on the evening of september 24 the cooks and a guard went ashore to get supper at the mouth of the river teton, the present site of pierre, south dakota. five indians, who had followed for some time, slept with the guard on shore. early next morning sixty indians came down from a sioux camp and the captains prepared for a council. under the flag and an awning, at twelve o'clock the company paraded under arms. dorion had remained behind at the yankton village, so with difficulty, by the aid of drouillard and much sign language, a brief speech was delivered. black buffalo, head chief, was decorated with a medal, flag, laced coat, cocked hat, and red feather, nor were the rest forgotten with smaller gifts, medals, and tobacco. the captains would have gone on, but, "no! no!" insisted black buffalo, seizing the cable of clark's departing pirogue. finally clark and several of the men rowed them ashore. but no sooner had they landed than one seized the cable and held the boat fast. another flung his arms around the mast and stood immovable. "release me," demanded clark, reddening at evidence of so much treachery. black buffalo advanced to seize clark. the captain drew his sword. at this motion captain lewis, watching from the bateau, instantly prepared for action. the indians had drawn their arrows and were bending their great bows, when the black mouth of the blunderbuss wheeled toward them. at this black buffalo ordered his men to desist, and they sullenly fell away, but never was forgotten that time when the teton sioux attempted to carry off captain clark. "we wished to see the boat more," said the indians, by way of excuse. "we wished to show it to our wives and children." to conciliate and to depart without irritation, captain clark offered his hand. the chiefs refused to take it. turning, clark stepped into the boat and shoved off. immediately three warriors waded in after him, and he brought them on board. that night the whole expedition slept under arms, with the indians as guests. at daylight crowds of indian men, women, and children waited on shore in the most friendly manner. ten well-dressed young men took lewis and clark up on a highly decorated robe and carried them up to the council tent. dressed like dandies, seventy indians sat in this roomy council hall, the tail feathers of the golden eagle scarce quivering in their topknots. impressively in the centre on two forked sticks lay the long peace-pipe above a bed of swan's down. outside, the redmen were roasting a barbecue. all day they sat and smoked, and ate of buffalo beef and pemmican. after sunset a huge council fire illuminated the interior of the great lodge, and the dance began. wild indian girls came shuffling with the reeking scalps of omahas, from a recent raid. outside twenty-five omaha women prisoners and their children moaned in the chill of an icy autumn night. it was their trail that shannon had followed for sixteen days. about midnight, fatigued by the constant strain of watchful anxiety, the captains returned to the boats. but not yet were they safely away. "to oars! to oars! the cable's parted!" the indians heard the call. "the omahas! the omahas!" rang the cry up from the teton camp, that on every wind anticipated the whoop of retaliating omahas in search of their stolen wives and children. then followed pandemonium of rushing indians and frightened calls. all night, with strained eyes, every man held his rifle ready as they lay unanchored on the water. at daylight the wily indians held the ropes and still detained the boats. resort to force seemed inevitable. flinging a carat of tobacco, "black buffalo," said lewis, "you say you are a great chief. prove it by handing me that rope." flattered, black buffalo gave the rope, and thankfully the boats pulled out with no more desire to cultivate the sioux. ix _the romance of the mandans_ "what will they find?" asked the people of the united states, discussing the journey of lewis and clark. "numerous powerful and warlike nations of savages, of gigantic stature, fierce, treacherous, and cruel, and particularly hostile to white men." "the mammoth of prehistoric time feeding from the loftiest forests, shaking the earth with its tread of thunder." "they will find a mountain of solid salt glistening in the sun with streams of brine issuing from its caverns." "they will find blue-eyed indians, white-haired, fairer than other tribes, planting gardens, making pottery, and dwelling in houses." "oh, yes," said the federalists, "jefferson has invented these stories to aggrandise the merit of his purchase. they never can cross the mountains. human enterprise and exertion will attempt them in vain." "it was folly! folly to send those men to perish miserably in the wilderness! it was a bold and wicked scheme of jefferson. they will never return alive to this country." had not jefferson himself in his anxiety directed lewis and clark to have recourse to our consuls in java, the isles of france and bourbon, and the cape of good hope? heaven alone knew whither the missouri--columbia might lead them! but the white indians-in the history of wales there is a story that on account of wars in wales a welsh prince in 1170 "prepared certain shipps, with men and munition, and sought adventures by seas, sailing west, and leaving the coast of ireland so farre north, that he came to land unknowne, where he saw many strange things.... this madoc arriving in the countrey, in the which he came in the year 1170, left most of his people there, and returning back for more of his nation, went thither again with ten sails," and was never again heard of. six hundred years later welshmen in america imagined that they could talk with some tribes, who said "they came from white people but were now indians," and the legend was related that white people had once lived on the atlantic coast, but had so many wars they crossed the mountains and made boats and went down the ohio and up the missouri, "where to this day live the fair-haired, blue-eyed mandans." our grandfathers believed this story, believed these whites might have been cut off at the falls of the ohio and some escaped. this is the excuse that cornstalk gave to lord dunmore for the attack at point pleasant: "long ago our fathers destroyed the whites in a great battle at the falls of the ohio. we thought it might be done again." as if in proof of this statement, george rogers clark and other first explorers at the falls found sand island at low water a mass of hacked and mutilated human bones, whether of indians or whites, no man could tell. and here now were lewis and clark, in the autumn of 1804, among the fabled mandans, and here before them was a mr. hugh mccracken, an irishman, and rené jussaume, a frenchman, independent traders, who for a dozen winters had drawn their goods on dog sleds over from the british fort on the assiniboine to trade with the mandans for buffalo robes and horses. thirty dogs they owned between them, great huskies of the eskimo breed. jussaume was immediately engaged as interpreter, and the first sunday was spent in conversation with black cat, head chief of the mandans. all day the hospitable blue-eyed, brown-haired mandan women, fairer than other indians, kept coming in with gifts of corn, boiled hominy, and garden stuffs, raised by their own rude implements. girls of ten years old with silver-gray hair hanging down to their knees stood around and listened. yes, they had earthen pots and gardens, even extensive fields of corn, beans, squashes, and sunflowers, and houses--mud huts. they lived in little forted towns that had been moved successively up, up, up the missouri. "i believe what you have told us," said one of the chiefs in the great council on monday. "we shall now have peace with the ricaras. my people will be glad. then our women may lie down at night without their moccasins on. they can work in the fields without looking every moment for the enemy." "we have killed the ricaras like birds," said another, "until we are tired of killing them. now we will send a chief and some warriors to smoke with them." thus was the first effort for peace in the mandan country. the high chill wind almost blew down the awning over the great council. the men paraded up from the boats, the blunderbuss was fired from the bow of the big bateau, the long reed-stemmed stone-bowled pipes were smoked in amity. "here are suits of clothes for your chiefs," said lewis, handing out of a wooden chest the handsome laced uniforms, cocked hats, and feathers. "to your women i present this iron corn-mill to grind their hominy." the solemn, sad-faced chiefs took the clothes and put them on. the women flew at the corn-mill. all day long they ground and ground and wondered at "the great medicine" that could make meal with so little trouble. mortars and pestles were thrown behind the lodges, discarded. the next day mr. mccracken set out on his return to fort assiniboine, one hundred and fifty miles away, with a friendly letter to the chief factor, chaboillez, enclosing the passport of lewis and clark from the british minister at washington. yes, a passport,--so uncertain was that boundary--never yet defined. where lay that line? to the sources of the mississippi? but those sources were as hidden as the fountain of the nile. no white man yet had seen itasca. since before the revolution the chaboillez family had traded at michilimackinac. they were there in the days when wabasha descended on st. louis, and had a hand in all the border story. while lewis was negotiating with the indians, captain clark set out with black cat to select a point where timber was plenty to build a winter camp. "hey, there! are ye going to run aff and leave me all to mesilf?" exclaimed patrick gass, head carpenter, busy selecting his tools and equipments. "niver moind, i can outwalk the bist o' thim." strong, compact, broad-chested, heavy-limbed, but lean, sprightly, and quick of motion, pat was soon at the side of his captain. "i can show ye a pint or two about cabins, i'm thinkin'." clark smiled. he knew something about cabins himself. the day was fine and crowds of indians came to watch proceedings as clark's men began to cut the tall cottonwoods and roll up the cabins. every day the indians came in crowds to watch the wonderful building of the white men's fort, the deer-skin windows and mud-plastered chimneys. turning loose their horses, all day long the red men lay on the grass watching the details of this curious architecture. at night, gathering an armful of cottonwood boughs stripped from the fort timber, each fed his horse and meandered thoughtfully homeward in the red sunset. one day two squaws came, a leathery old dame and a captive indian girl from the rocky mountains,--the handsome young sacajawea, the bird-woman. "she my slave," said charboneau, a frenchman in blanket capote and kerchief around his head. "i buy her from de rock mountain. i make her my wife." charboneau lived with the minnetarees, friends and neighbours of the mandans. shahaka, the big white head chief, came, too, with his squaw packing on her back "one hundred pounds of very fine meat." whenever shahaka crossed the river his squaw picked up the buffalo-skin canoe and carried it off on her back. those canoes were made exactly like a welsh coracle. the days grew colder, the frost harder. ice began to run in the river and the last boats in from the hunt brought thirty-two deer, eleven elk, and buffalo that were jerked and hung in the winter smoke-house. by november 20 the triangular fort was ready,--two rows of cabins of four rooms each, with lofts above where, snug and warm under the roof next to the chimneys, the men slept through the long cold winter nights on beds of grass, rolled up in their blankets and fuzzy robes of buffalo. in the frosty weather there came over the prairies from fort assiniboine seven northwest traders, led by françois antoine larocque and charles mackenzie, with stores of merchandise to trade among the mandans. they immediately waited upon lewis and clark. "we are not traders," said the americans, "but explorers on our way to the pacific." through larocque's mind flashed the journey of sir alexander mackenzie and its outcome. that might mean more than a rival trader. "he is distributing flags and medals among the mandans," came the rumour. "in the name of the united states i forbid you from giving flags and medals to the indians, as our government looks upon those things as sacred emblems of the attachment of the indians to our country," said captain lewis to monsieur larocque when next he called at fort mandan. "as i have neither flags nor medals, i run no risk of disobeying those orders, i assure you," answered the easy frenchman. "you and all persons are at liberty to come into our territories to trade or for any other purpose, and will never be molested unless your behaviour is such as would subject an american citizen himself to punishment," continued lewis. "and will the americans not trade?" "we may and shall probably have a public store well assorted of all kinds of indian goods. no liquors are to be sold." "a very grand plan they have schemed," muttered larocque, as he went away, "but its being realised is more than i can tell." while talking with the captains, larocque had an eye on a hudson's bay trader who had appeared on the scene. "beg pardon. i must be off," said larocque, slipping out with charboneau to outwit if possible the hudson's bay man and reach the indians first. but before he got off a letter arrived from chaboillez that altered all plans. unknown to lewis and clark, though they gradually came to discover it, hot war was waging in the north. for the sake of furs, rival traders cut and carved and shot and imprisoned each other. for the sake of furs those same traders had held detroit thirteen years beyond the revolution. furs came near changing the balance of power in north america. the old established hudson's bay company claimed british america. the ambitious, energetic northwesters of montreal disputed the right. and now that sir alexander mackenzie, a canadian _bourgeois_, had become a famous explorer, knighted by the king, jealousies broke out in the northwest company itself. simon mctavish, lord of the northwesters, who had done all he could to hold the lakes for britain, would rule or ruin. but the northwesters swore by mackenzie. so the two factions fought each other, and both fought the hudson's bay company. "the northwesters are no better than they ought to be," said the men of hudson's bay. "they sent an embassy to congress in 1776." in fact a little change in the balance might have thrown the northwesters over to the american side and altered the history of a continent. "the quarrelling traders of the north are almost as bad as the indians," said lewis,--"they demoralise and inflame the indians." "trade with me," said hudson's bay. "the northwesters will cheat you." "trade with me," said the northwester. "hudson's bay are bad men." with troubled eyes the indians listened, then scalped them both. some bloody tales that north could tell, around the plains of lovely winnipeg, out on the lone saskatchewan, and over to athabasca. but now the americans,--this was a new force in the west. december 1, the americans began to cut and carry pickets to complete the high stockade and gate across the front of fort mandan. december 6 it was too cold to work, and that night the river froze over in front of the fort with solid ice an inch and a half thick. at nine o'clock next morning chief shahaka, big white, came puffing in with news. "de boofalo! de boofalo!" interpreted jussaume, listening intently to the long harangue of the chief who was making all sorts of sign language and excitedly pointing up the river. "de boofalo, on de prairie, comin' eento de bottom." in short order lewis, clark, and fifteen men were out with the indians mounted on horseback. then came the din and chase of battle, a sight to fire the blood and thrill the calmest heart. riding among the herd, each indian chose his victim, then, drawing his arrow to the last notch of the bowstring, let it fly. another and another whizzed from the same string until the quiver was exhausted. the wounded beast, blinded by its mane, sometimes charged the hunter. but the swift steed, trained for the contest, wheeled and was gone. the buffalo staggered for a little, then, struck in a mortal part, fell headlong, pawing up the dust and snow in frantic efforts to rise and fly. into the midst came the captains and their men, and every man brought down his buffalo. at twelve degrees below zero and in a northwest wind, lewis and his men started out again the next morning to chase the herds that darkened the prairie. the air was filled with frosty flakes, the snow was deep and clinging, but all day and until after dark the exciting hunt held them to the saddle, and only when they came to the fire did the participants realise that their hands and feet were frostbitten. cold and colder grew the days. two suns shone in the sky, prognosticator of still deeper frost. brilliant northern lights glowed along the arctic, but still they chased the buffalo until the morning of december 13, when dr. saugrain's thermometer stood twenty degrees below zero at sunrise. in fur caps, coats, mittens, and double moccasins they brought home horseload after horseload of juicy beef to hang in the winter storehouse. and fortunately, too, for one day they awoke to find the buffalo gone. some winters there was great suffering for food among the mandans, but this was destined to be a year of plenty. out of their abundance the chiefs, also, came to the fort with their dog sleds loaded with meat for their friends at the garrison. x _the first dakota christmas_ on christmas eve the stockade was finished and the gate was shut. with forty-five men and a blunderbuss fort mandan stood impregnable to any force the northern savages could bring against it. but there was no hostility,--far from it. from curiosity or for trade the indians came in throngs, until on christmas eve captain lewis sent out the announcement: "let no one visit us to-morrow. it is our great medicine day." before daylight the wondering redmen were aroused from their buffalo couches by three volleys fired from the fort. awe-struck they sat up and whispered: "white men making medicine." at sunrise a flag was floating above the palisade, but no indian ventured to approach the mysterious newly closed walls of fort mandan. for his christmas stocking every man received an allowance of flour, dried apples, and pepper, which together with corn, beans, squash, and unlimited buffalo meat and marrow bones made out a christmas feast. at one o'clock the gun was fired for dinner. at two came the signal for the dance. "play up ole fashion reel. everybody he mus' dance," said cruzatte, tuning his fiddle. "we'll do our possible." cruzatte and gibson played, gass and shannon led, clark called the changes; and with crackling fires, and a stamping like horses, away up there under the northern stars the first american christmas was celebrated on the upper missouri. three wide-eyed spectators sat ranged around the walls. these were the squaws of the interpreters, madame rené jussaume, and the two wives of charboneau, madame the old dame, and sacajawea, the beautiful indian captive stolen beyond the rockies. the indians, in their cheerless winter villages, found much to attract them at the fort of the white men. soon after christmas, william bratton and john shields set up their forge as blacksmiths, gunsmiths, and armourers. day after day, with the thermometer forty degrees below zero, a constant procession of indians came wending in on the well-beaten snow-track, with axes to grind and kettles to mend. it seemed as if all the broken old kettles that had ever drifted into the country, from hudson's bay or fort william or up from st. louis, were carried to fort mandan filled with corn to pay for mending. especially the indians wanted battle-axes, with long thin blades like the halberds of ancient warfare. some wanted pikes and spears fixed on the pointed ends of their long dog-poles. a burnt-out old sheet-iron cooking stove became worth its weight in gold. for every scrap of it, four inches square, the indians would give seven or eight gallons of corn, and were delighted with the exchange. these bits of square sheet iron were invaluable for scrapers for hides, and every shred of cutting that fell to the ground was eagerly bought up to fashion into arrow tips. metal, metal, metal,--the _sine qua non_ of civilisation had come at last to the mandans. while bratton was busy over his forge, and shields at the guns, some of the men were out hunting, some were cutting wood to keep the great fires roaring, and some were making charcoal for the smithy. so the days went on. new year's, 1805, was ushered in with the blunderbuss. by way of recreation the captains permitted the men to visit the indian villages where crowds gathered to see the white men dance, "heeling it and toeing it" to the music of the fiddles. the white men in turn were equally diverted by the grotesque figures of the indians leaping in the buffalo dances. captain clark noted an old man in one of the mandan villages and gave him a knife. "how old are you?" "more than one hundred winters," was the answer. "give me something for the pain in my back." but a grandson rebuked the old man. "it isn't worth while. you have lived long enough. it is time for you to go to your relations who can take better care of you than we can." the old man settled back in his robes by the fire and said no more. "what accident has happened to your hand?" inquired lewis of a chief's son. "grief for my relatives," answered the boy. it was a mandan custom to mutilate the body, as a mark of sorrow for the dead, until some had lost not only all their fingers, but their ears and hair. sacred ceremonies of flagellations, knife thrusts into the flesh, piercing with thorns and barbaric crucifixions,--thirty years later george catlin found these still among the mandans, and ascribed them to an effort to perpetuate some christian ceremonial of a remote ancestry. could it have been a corrupted tradition of the crucifixion of christ? who can tell? the welsh of 1170 were catholic christians who believed in self-inflicted penance to save the soul. degraded, misguided, interblent with indian superstition through generations, it might have come to this. but everywhere, at feast or council, one walked as conqueror,--clark's negro servant, york. of fine physical presence and remarkable stature, very black and very woolly, york was viewed as superhuman. "where you come from?" whispered the awe-struck savages. grinning until every ivory tooth glistened, and rolling up the whites of his eyes, he would answer, "i was running wild in the wood, and was caught and tamed by my mastah." then assuming an air of ferocity, york would exhibit feats of strength that to the indians seemed really terrible. "if you kill white men we make you chief," the arikaras whispered in his ear. york withstood great temptation,--he fought more battles than clark. "delay! delay! delay!" was the indian plea at every village. "let our wives see you. let our children see, especially the black man." from council bluffs to clatsop, children followed york constantly. if he chanced to turn, with piercing shrieks they ran in terror. "mighty warrior. born black. great medicine!" sagely commented the wise old men, watching him narrowly and shaking their heads at the unheard-of phenomenon. even his jerks, contortions, and grimaces seemed a natural part of such a monstrosity. york was a perpetual exhibit, a menagerie in himself. in these holiday visits to the mandan towns a glimpse was caught of domestic life. wasteful profusion when the buffalo came, when the buffalo left, days of famine. then they opened their cellar-holes of corn and vegetables, hidden away as a last resource in protracted siege when the sioux drove off the game and shut them up in their picketed villages. so often were the horses of the mandans stolen, that it had become a habitual custom every night to take them into the family lodge where they were fed on boughs and bark of the cottonwood. all day long in the iciest weather, the wrinkled, prematurely aged squaws were busy in the hollows, cutting the horse-feed with their dull and almost useless knives. on new year's day black cat came down with a load of meat on his wife's back. a happy woman was she to receive a sharp new knife to cut her meat and cottonwood. it was easy to buy a mandan wife. a horse, a gun, powder and ball for a year, five or six pounds of beads, a handful of awls, the trade was made, and the new spouse was set to digging laboriously with the shoulder-blade of an elk or buffalo, preparing to plant her corn. the indian woman followed up the hunt, skinned and dressed the buffalo, and carried home the meat. indian women built the lodges and took them down again, dragging the poles whenever there were not horses enough for a summer ramble. when not at the hunt or the council, the warrior sat cross-legged at his door, carving a bow, pointing an arrow, or smoking, waited upon by his squaw, who never ate until the braves were done, and then came in at the last with the children and the dogs. wrinkled and old at thirty, such was the fate of the indian girl. sunday, january 13, charboneau came back from a visit to the minnetarees at turtle mountain with his face frozen. it was fortunate he returned with his life. many a frenchman was slain on that road, many an imprecation went up against the assiniboine sioux,--"_les gens des grands diables du nord_," said charboneau. touissant charboneau, one of the old canadian french charboneaus, with his brothers had tramped with alexander henry far to the north under sub-arctic forests, wintered on the assiniboine, and paddled to winnipeg. seven years now he had lived among the minnetarees, an independent trader like mccracken and jussaume, and interpreter for other traders. moreover, charboneau was a polygamist with several wives to cook his food and carry his wood and water. but he had been kind to the captive indian girl, and her heart clung to the easy-going frenchman as her best friend. the worst white man was better than an indian husband. captured in battle as a child five years before, sacajawea had been brought to the land of the dakotas and sold to charboneau. now barely sixteen, in that february at the mandan fort she became a mother. most of the men were away on a great hunting trip; when they came back a lusty little red-faced pappoose was screaming beside the kitchen fire. the men had walked thirty miles that day on the ice and in snow to their knees, but utterly fatigued as they were, the sight of that little indian baby cuddled in a deerskin robe brought back memories of home. clark came in with frosty beard, and moccasins all worn out. "sacajawea has a fine boy," said lewis. no wonder the captains watched her recovery with interest. all winter they had sought an interpreter for those far-away tongues beyond the mountains, and no one could be found but sacajawea, the wife of charboneau. clark directed york to wait on her, stew her fruit, and serve her tea, to the great jealousy of jussaume's wife, who packed up her pappooses in high dudgeon and left the fort. sacajawea was only a slave. she, madame jussaume, was the daughter of a chief! poor little sacajawea! she was really very ill. if she died who would unlock the gates of the mountains? charboneau was a cook. he set himself to preparing the daintiest soups and steaks, and soon the "bird woman" was herself again, packing and planning for the journey. busy every day now were lewis and clark making up their reports and drawing a map of the country. shahaka, big white, came and helped them. kagohami of the minnetarees came, and with a coal on a robe made a sketch of the missouri that clark re-drew. but in the midst of the map-making all the indian talk was of "war, war, war." "i am going to war against the snakes in the spring," said kagohami. "no," said lewis, "that will displease the president. he wants you to live at peace." "suffer me to go to war against the sioux," begged another chief. "no," answered lewis. "these wars are the cause of all your troubles. if you do not stop it the great father will withdraw his protection from you. he will come over here and make you stop it." "look on the many nations whom war has destroyed," continued lewis. "think of your poverty and misfortunes. if you wish to be happy, cultivate peace and friendship. then you will have horses. then you will grow strong." "have you spoken thus to all the tribes?" inquired kagohami. "we have." "and did they open their ears?" "they did." "i have horses enough," reflected kagohami, "i will not go to war. i will advise my nation to remain at home until we see whether the snake indians desire peace." one night the hunters came in with the report, "a troop of whooping sioux have captured our horses and taken our knives." it was midnight, but lewis immediately routed up the men and set out with twenty volunteers on the track of the marauding sioux. in vain. the boasting freebooters had escaped with the horses beyond recovery. "we are sorry we did not kill the white men," was the word sent back by an arikara. "they are bad medicine. we shall scalp the whole camp in the spring." xi _the british fur traders_ the movements of lewis and clark were watched by the northwest company, who already had planned a house at the mandans. jefferson was not an hour too soon. "yes," said larocque, "i will pass the winter there and watch those americans." in the midst of the frightful cold, twenty-two degrees below zero, on december 16, 1804, larocque and mackenzie came over again from fort assiniboine and with them came alexander henry. "strangers are among us," said the indians, "big knives from below. had they been kind they would have loaded their great boat with goods. as it is they prefer throwing away their ammunition to sparing a shot to the poor mandans. there are only two sensible men among them, the worker of iron and the mender of guns." "amazing long pickets," remarked larocque, as they came in sight of the new stockade of fort mandan. the triangular fort, two sides formed of houses and the front of pickets, presented a formidable appearance in the wild. "cannon-ball proof," remarked larocque, taking a good squint at the high round bastion in the corner between the houses, defending two sides of the fort. on the top was a sentry all night, and below a sentry walked all day within the fort. "well guarded against surprise," remarked alexander henry, as he tapped at the gate with the ramrod of his gun. as the party knocked at the gates of fort mandan, in their winter coats of leather lined with flannel, edged with fur, and double-breasted, the lively eye of patrick gass peeped out. "some more av thim britishers to ascertain our motives fur visitin' this countery, and to gain infurmation with rispict to th' change o' gov'm't," was the shrewd guess of pat. the hospitable captains were more than glad to entertain visitors. they were there to cultivate international amity. in their hearts lewis and clark never dreamed what a commotion that friendly letter to chaboillez had stirred up. it had gone far and awakened many. immediately upon its receipt chaboillez sent out a runner. "lewis and clark with one hundred and eighty soldiers have arrived at the mandan village," so the story flew. "on their arrival they hoisted the american flag and informed the natives that their object was not to trade, but merely to explore the country; and that as soon as navigation shall open they design to continue their route across the rocky mountains to the pacific. they have made the natives a few small presents and repaired their guns and axes free. they have behaved honourably toward my people, who are there to trade with the natives." such a message as this was enough to bring alexander henry down to investigate. the cottonwood fires at fort mandan roared up the chimneys with unwonted splendour that winter night. the thermometer suddenly fell to forty-five degrees below zero; but warm and comfortable beside the blaze they talked, american and british, in this border of the nations. charles mackenzie had been a clerk of the northwest company for a year. of the same rank as himself was larocque, and both were popular with the redmen. in fact, mackenzie, a scot from the highlands, was already married to an indian girl, and larocque was a frenchman. that was enough. no nation fraternized with the redmen as the frenchmen did. alexander henry, fur trader among the american indians and one of the famous northwesters, bore a great name in the north. there were two alexander henrys; the younger was a nephew of the other, and he it was that had now come to visit lewis and clark. he knew more of the country than, perhaps, any other man in the northwest. in fact, his uncle, the elder henry, was at michilimackinac in the days of pontiac, and had penetrated to the saskatchewan before ever there was a northwest company. henry, jr., wintered on the red river the very year that alexander mackenzie crossed the continent,--1793. as a _bourgeois_ of the northwesters, with a fleet of canoes and twenty-one men he had led the red river brigade of 1800 up into the winnipeg country. the scarlet belts, breeches of smoked buckskin, and blue cloth leggings of alexander henry's old _coureur des bois_ were known for hundreds of miles. yes, he knew the sioux. their pillaging bands sometimes plundered his traders. "they are not to be trusted," he declared in positive tone. "a very sensible, intelligent man," said lewis and clark to themselves as the great northwester talked of the country and the tribes. but time seemed pressing. questions of cold or of comfort weighed not with these dauntless northwesters when the interests of their company were at stake. they had come on horseback. to return that way was out of the question; and so sleds were fitted up with jussaume's eskimo dogs, the "huskies" of the fur traders. "they seem happy to see us," remarked mackenzie from under his muffler, as they rode away. "they treat us with civility and kindness, but captain lewis cannot make himself agreeable. he speaks fluently, even learnedly, but to me his inveterate prejudice against the british stains all his eloquence." "captain clark is more cordial," rejoined larocque. "he seems to dislike giving offence unnecessarily. do you recall his thoughtfulness in sending for our horses when we feared they might be stolen? he let his men guard them with his own." with the thermometer thirty-two degrees below zero, the dogsleds flew swift across the snow, bearing news not alone to assiniboine, but to fort william on the northern shore of lake superior where the northwesters had built their trading centre. fort william, built in 1803 and named in honour of william mcgillivray, was the great distributing point, where "the lords of the lakes and the forests" came to hold their rendezvous. in front rolled superior, the great canadian sea. schooners, laden with merchandise, peltries, and provisions, plied between fort william and sault ste. marie. one of the honoured names of the northwest company was philip de rocheblave. captured by george rogers clark at kaskaskia, sent to virginia and there let out on parole, he broke faith and fled to new york, to turn up at montreal in the winter of 1783-4 along with mctavish, mcgillivray, the frobishers and frasers, founders of the northwest fur company. pierre de rocheblave had now succeeded to his uncle's honours. would he be apt to let the united states get ahead of him? and by means of a _clark_ at that? "i must go down to the american fort to get my compass put in order," said larocque again, in january. "the glass is broken and the needle does not point due north." he found captain clark sketching charts of the country, lewis making vocabularies; jussaume and charboneau, the frenchmen, interpreting and disputing on the meaning of words. "they write down our words," whispered the suspicious indians. "what wicked design have they on our country?" captain lewis spent a whole day fixing larocque's compass. "i hardly get a skin when the hudson's bay trader is with me," said larocque. "he is known by all the indians, and understands and talks their language. i must get charboneau." and the two went away together. "of what use are beaver?" inquired the indians. "do you make gunpowder of them? do they preserve you from sickness? do they serve you beyond the grave?" alexander henry went to fort william. "a new rival has arisen," said the northwest traders at their hurried conference. "we must anticipate these united states explorers and traders. they may advance northward and establish a claim to ownership by prior right of discovery or occupation. we must build a chain of posts and hold the country." "but whom can we send on such a monumental enterprise?" there seemed but one man,--simon fraser. simon fraser was the son of a scottish tory who had been captured by the americans at burgoyne's surrender and had died in prison. his wife, with simon a babe in arms, removed to canada, to rear her son beneath the banner of her king. at sixteen, young fraser became a clerk of the northwest company and a _bourgeois_. but the frasers were great-brained people; young simon was soon promoted; and now at the age of twenty-nine he was put in charge of the greatest enterprise since the incomparable feat of alexander mackenzie. "you, simon fraser, are to establish trading-posts in the unknown territory, and in this way take possession for great britain." over at sault ste. marie a young doctor by the name of john mcloughlin would gladly have accompanied his uncle simon on that perilous undertaking. but his day was to come later. both of their names are now linked with the old oregon. young men of the two most progressive modern nations were to be pitted in this race for empire,--lewis and clark, and simon fraser. xii _farewell to fort mandan_ on the first day of march preparations began on the building of new boats. the old ones were pried out of the ice, and the whole party was busy making elk-skin ropes and pirogues, in burning coal, and in making battle-axes to trade for corn. ducks began to pass up the river; swans and wild geese were flying north. old chief le borgne of the minnetarees, a giant in stature, a brute at heart, had held aloof all winter in his tepee. "foolish people! stay at home!" he cried. but strange rumours crept within the walls of the sulky cyclops. overcome at last by curiosity le borgne came down to the fort. "some foolish young men of my nation tell me there is a man among you who is black. is that true?" "it is," answered clark. "york, come here." with his one fierce eye, le borgne examined york closely. he wet his finger and rubbed the skin to see if the black would come off. not until the negro uncovered his head and showed his woolly hair could the chief be persuaded that york was not a painted white man. convinced against his will, and amazed, le borgne arose with a snort, his black hair flying over his brawny shoulders, and stalked out. as he passed along, the indians shrank back. over the hill came the wail of a demented mother. many a fair indian girl had left her scalp at the door of this indian blue-beard because she preferred some other lover. the ice was already honeycombed. larocque came over for a farewell. "mctavish is dead," he said. lewis and clark scarcely comprehended the full import of that announcement. at the foot of the mountain in montreal the great northwester was building a palace, fit abode for "the lord of the lakes and the forest," when the summons came in 1804. up the rivers and lakes the word was carried into the uttermost wilds,--"mctavish is dead." thus it came to lewis and clark, this last news from the outer world. the meeting at fort william had been held without him,--mctavish was dead. he was the head and front of the northwest company. under the king, simon mctavish ruled canada, ruled half of british america, making hudson's bay tremble on her northern sea. the quick wit of the american born of irish parents belonged to patrick gass. while others were struggling toward an idea, pat had already seized it. brave, observant, of good sense, and hating the british, he kept an eye on larocque. "do not trust that frinchman." larocque had a stock of goods to trade. he lingered around fort mandan, and offered to go over the mountains with lewis and clark, but they politely declined. already larocque knew of the order at fort william. his own brother-in-law, quesnel, was to be the companion of fraser's voyage, and was to leave, like fraser, his name on the rivers of british columbia. then there was trouble with charboneau. he became independent and impudent and demanded higher wages. somebody was tampering with charboneau. suddenly flaming with new raiment, gay vests, and yards of blue and scarlet cloth, he announced: "i weel not work. i weel not stand guard. i eenterpreteur,--do as i pleese, return wheen i pleese." "we can dispense with your services," coolly answered the captains. charboneau stepped back, surprised. ignoring his presence, preparations were hurried on. the boats, the troublesome, cracking, warping cottonwood boats, were hauled to the fort and pitched and calked and tinned, until at last they were ready to try the water. no one spoke to the frenchman, no one noticed him as he lingered expectantly by. all the indian goods were brought out and hung in the open air. even at the busiest moments, with every man on the jump, no one asked charboneau to help. finding he was about to lose his position, the frenchman came to captain lewis, apologised, and was restored to service. in a trice charboneau was back at the skillets, dishing up the dinner. the occupants of fort mandan had been snow-bound five months when ice began running in the river. all day long now the busy indians were catching buffalo floating by on the high water. the foolish animals, trying to cross the thin ice, broke through. others floated away on big cakes that were certain, sooner or later, to launch them into eternity. the patient, devoted women, too, were in evidence. slipping out of their leather smocks, they plunged naked into the icy current to secure the floating driftwood for fuel. across the snow long lines of squaws came dragging home the drift. the hammers of shields and bratton rang merrily at the anvils. boxes were made and hooped and ironed, to go down in the big bateau that was too unwieldy to carry further. in those stout boxes were horns of the mountain ram, unknown as yet to science, horns of elk and deer, rare skins, robes and indian dresses; bow, arrows, and a shield for the president, on which old black cat had spent months of patient carving; samples of the red arikara corn; sixty-seven specimens of earths, salts, and minerals, and sixty specimens of plants, all carefully labelled; seeds, insects, the skeleton of the big fish from the hilltop, stuffed antelopes and lewis's pelican, a live prairie dog in a wicker cage, a live prairie hen and four magpies. a new geography was there, a map of the missouri extending out to the mystic mountains, drawn from indian description, to be presented by jefferson to congress. in these boxes, too, went letters. there was one of several thousand words from lewis to his mother. captain clark's first and best letter was to his brother at the point of rock; with it he enclosed a map and sketches of indians. another was to major croghan at locust grove, with seeds of several kinds of grapes for his sister lucy. with the bateau went also the famous mandan report of lewis to jefferson, and clark's letter to his soldier friend, william henry harrison, then governor of the indian territory at vincennes. other missives went to ohio, vermont, new hampshire, massachusetts, pennsylvania,--wherever a man had a mother at the hearthstone waiting to hear of her distant boy. saddest of all was the news to mill creek, the home of sergeant floyd. part of clark's journal was transmitted by letter to the president and part was enclosed in a separate tin box, "to multiply the chances of saving something." the mandan treasures, with dispatches and presents from the indians, went down by water to the gulf and thence by sea to washington. "i have little doubt but they will be fired on by the sioux," says lewis in his letter, "but they have pledged themselves to us that they will not yield while there is one of them living." at five o'clock on sunday afternoon, april 7, 1805, the barge left fort mandan for st. louis with ten men. with it went also brave raven of the arikaras, to visit his great father, the president. at the same moment that the barge left the fort, six small canoes and the two pirogues shot up river, carrying thirty-one men and sacajawea with her child. "this little fleet, although not quite so respectable as those of columbus or captain cook, is still viewed by us with as much pleasure as those famed adventurers ever beheld theirs," said lewis, "and i dare say with quite as much anxiety for their safety and preservation. we are now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilised man has never trodden. "entertaining as i do the most confident hope of succeeding in a voyage which has formed a darling project of mine for ten years, i can but esteem this moment of our departure as among the happiest of my life." xiii _toward the sunset_ the spring days were squally and chill. the air was sharp, and the water froze on the oars as the little party rowed along. now and then a flurry of snow whitened the april green. sometimes the sails were spread, and the boats scurried before the wind. often, however, the sails proved too large, and over the boats lurched, wetting the baggage and powder. most of the powder had been sealed in leaden canisters. when the powder was emptied the canister itself was melted into bullets. that was a nightly task,--the moulding of bullets. "hio! hio!" the hunters ahead picked a camping spot, beside a spring or by a clump of trees. in short order brass kettles were swung across the gipsy poles. twisting a bunch of buffalo grass into a nest, in a moment dr. saugrain's magical matches had kindled a roaring flame. swinging axes made music where axes had never swung before. baby touissant rolled his big eyes and kicked and crowed in his mother's lap, while charboneau, head cook, stuffed his trapper's sausage with strips of tenderloin and hung it in links around the blaze. stacks of buffalo meat lay near by, where they had been piled by the industrious hunters. odours of boiling meat issued from the kettles. juicy brown ribs snapped and crackled over the flames. captain lewis, accustomed to the _cuisine_ of jefferson at the white house, laughed. "how did you dress this sausage so quick, charboneau? two bobs and a flirt in the dirty missouri?" sometimes lewis himself turned cook, and made a suet dumpling for every man. more frequently he was off to the hills with clark, taking a look at the country. nor was sacajawea idle. with her baby on her back, she opened the nests of prairie mice, and brought home artichokes. sometimes she brought sprouts of wild onion for the broth, or the _pomme blanche_,--the peppery indian turnip. york, too, at his master's direction often gathered cresses and greens for the dinner. but york was becoming a hunter. as well as the best, he "slew dem buffaloes." lewis had bought charboneau's big family tent. under its leather shelter slept the captains, with drouillard and charboneau and his little family. around the twilight fires the men wrote their journals,--lewis, clark, pryor, ordway, gass, fraser, all busy with their stub quill pens and inkhorns, recording the day's adventure. they were not scholars, any of them, but men of action, pioneers and explorers, heralds of the nation. in their strenuous boyhood they had defended the frontier. men at sixteen, they took up a man's employment. lewis, more favoured, prolonged his schooldays until the age of eighteen, then broke away to march with armies. at last these first civilised sounds that ever broke the silence primeval were hushed. rolled up like cocoons in their mackinaw blankets, the men were soon snoring in rows with feet to the fires, while a solitary sergeant peered into the lonely night. the high dakota wind roared among the cottonwoods. mother nature, too, kept guard, lighting her distant beacons in the blue above the soldier boys. in a land of wolves, no wolves molested, though they yelped and barked in the prairie grass. on all sides lay deserted camps of assiniboine sioux. once the expedition crossed the trail of a war party only twenty-four hours old. a dog left behind came to the camp of the explorers and became the pet of captain lewis. "kip so quiet lak' one leetle mouse," whispered cruzatte, cautioning silence. no one cared to meet the assiniboine sioux, the "_gens des grands diables_." once the smoke of their campfires clouded the north; but the boats sped on undiscovered. "the river reminds me of the ohio at this time of year," said clark. "the drumming of that sharp-tailed grouse is like that of the pheasants of old virginia," responded lewis. "and the croaking of the frogs exactly resimbles that of frogs in th' yaunited states," added patrick gass. for days they noted veins of coal burning along the river banks, kindled perhaps by indian fires. alkali dust began to rise, blown into clouds, and sifting into their tight double-cased watches until the wheels refused to move more than a few minutes at a time. toward the last of april lewis went ahead to the mouth of the rochejaune, the yellow rock, or yellowstone river, passing through herds of elk, antelope, and buffalo, so tame they would scarce move out of his way. beautiful dun deer snorted and pawed the leaves, then half trusting, half timorous, slipped into the thicket. no one but sacajawea had ever before been over this road. in may they reached the land where even the beaver were gentle, for they had never been hunted. no white man, so far as they knew, had ever trodden these wilds. they had not heard of the gallant sieur verendrye, two of whose intrepid sons reached the "shining mountains" on new year's day, 1743. washington was a boy then; george rogers clark was not born. but the snakes and the sioux were at war, fierce battles were raging, and they were forced to turn back. the noble verendrye spent all his fortune, and forty thousand livres besides, in trying to find the river of the west. then jonathan carver of connecticut set out about the time boone went to kentucky. at the falls of st. anthony, he, too, heard of the shining mountains. "the four most capital rivers of north america take their rise about the centre of this continent," said carver. "the river bourbon, which empties into hudson's bay; the waters of st. lawrence; the mississippi; and the river oregon, or the river of the west, that falls into the pacific ocean at the straits of anian." what little bird whispered "oregon" in carver's ear? no such word is known in any indian tongue. had some spanish sailor told of a shore "like his own green arragon"? and now lewis and clark are on the sunset path. will _they_ find the shining mountains and the river of the west? at the first large branch beyond the yellowstone, captain lewis went on shore with drouillard the hunter. out of a copse suddenly appeared two grizzlies. lewis remembered well the awe and absolute terror with which the mandans had described this king of western beasts. never did they go out to meet him without war-paint and all the solemn rites of battle. as with the cave bear of ancient song and saga, no weapon of theirs was adequate to meet this dreaded monster. in parties of six or eight they went, with bows and arrows, or, in recent years, the bad guns of the trader. with these things in mind, lewis and the hunter faced the bears. each fired, and each wounded his beast. one of the bears ran away; the other turned and pursued captain lewis, but a lucky third shot from drouillard laid him low. and what a brute was he! only a cub and yet larger than any bear of the atlantic states, the grizzly, known now to be identical with the awful cave bear of prehistoric time. no wonder the indian that slew him was a brave and in the line of chieftainship! no wonder the claws became a badge of honour! no man, no foe so fierce to meet as one enraged and famished grizzly. his skin was a king's robe, his tusk an emblem of unflinching valour. a wind from the east now filled the sails and blew them west! west! more and more tame grew the elk and buffalo, until the men were obliged to drive them out of their way with sticks and stones. before them unrolled the great wild garden of eden. abounding everywhere were meadows,--beaver meadows and clover meadows, wild rice and rye and timothy, and buffalo grazing on a thousand hills. prairie fowl scurried in the under-brush, beautiful white geese gazed calmly at them, ducks quacked around ponds and streams alive with trout. wild gardens were radiant with roses and honeysuckles, morning-glories and wild hops. whole fields of lilies perfumed the sunrise, strawberries carpeted the uplands, and tangles of blackberries and raspberries interwove a verdant wall along the buffalo trails, the highways of the wilderness. mountain sheep sported on the cliffs, the wild cat purred in her forest lair. the yellow cougar, the mountain lion, growled and slunk away. the coyote, the indian dog, snapped and snarled. but man, man was not there. for four months no indian appeared through all the great lone land of the tay-a-be-shock-up, the country of the mountains. william bratton, who had been walking along the shore, presently came running to the boats with cries of terror. "take me on board, quick!" it was some moments before bratton could speak. "a bear! a bear!" he gasped at last. a mile and a half back bratton had wounded a grizzly that turned and chased him. captain lewis and seven men immediately started. for a mile they tracked the trail of blood to a hole where the enraged animal was frantically tearing up the earth with teeth and claws. two shots through the skull finished the grizzly, whose fleece and skin made a load which two men could scarcely carry back to camp. "more bear-butter to fry me sassage," remarked unsentimental charboneau. but now had begun in earnest the days of wild adventure. one evening after another grizzly battle, the men came triumphantly into camp to find disaster there. charboneau had been steersman that night, and cruzatte was at the bow. a sudden squall struck the foremost pirogue, charboneau let go the tiller, the wind bellied the sail, and over they turned. "de rudder! de rudder!" shouted cruzatte. charboneau, the most timid waterman in the party, clinging to the gunwales, heard only his own voice in the wind, crying aloud to heaven, "_mon dieu! mon dieu!_" "de rudder!" roared cruzatte. "seize de rudder instanter and do de duty, or i _shoot_ you!" fear of cruzatte's gun overcame fear of drowning. charboneau, pallid and trembling, reached for the flying rope. half a minute the boat lay on the wave, then turned up full of water. at last, holding the brace of the square sail, charboneau pulled the boat round, while all hands fell to bailing out the water. but all the papers, medicine, and instruments were wet. cruzatte alone was calm, and sacajawea, who, with her baby and herself to save, still managed to catch and preserve most of the light articles that were floating overboard. captain lewis, watching the disaster from afar, had almost leaped into the water to save his precious papers, but was restrained by the reflection that by such rashness he might forfeit his life. two days were lost in unpacking and drying the stores. at midnight a buffalo ran into the sleeping camp. "hey! hey! hey!" shouted the guard, firing on the run and waving his arms. but the distracted beast, plunging close to the heads of the sleeping men, headed directly toward the leather tent. suddenly up before his nose danced the little indian dog, and the buffalo was turned back into the night just as the whole camp jumped to arms in expectation of an attack of the sioux. "fire! fire!" was the next alarm. in the high wind of the night one of the fires had communicated itself to a dead cottonwood overhanging the camp. fanned by the gale the flames shot up the trunk, and burning limbs and twigs flew in a shower upon the leather tent. "fire! fire! fire!" again came the quick, sharp cry. every man rolled out of his mackinaw. the occupants of the lodge were soon aroused. strong hands had scarcely removed the lodge and quenched the burning leather before the tree itself fell directly over the spot where a moment before the captains were sleeping soundly. and so that stream was named the burnt lodge creek. xiv _the shining mountains_ ascending the highest summit of the hills on the north side of the river, on sunday, the 26th of may, captain lewis first caught a distant view of "the rock mountains--the object of all our hopes, and the reward of all our ambition." "when i viewed--i felt a secret pleasure,--but when i reflected on the difficulties which this snowy barrier would most probably throw in my way to the pacific, and the sufferings and hardships of myself and party in them, it in some measure counterbalanced the joy." bold and bolder grew the river shores. the current now became too rapid for oars, too deep for poles. nothing but the tow-line could draw the boats against the swift flow of the mountain torrent. struggling along shore with the rope on their shoulders, the men lost their moccasins in the clinging clay and went barefoot. sometimes knee-deep, they waded, sometimes waist-deep, shoulders-deep, in the icy water, or rising on higher benches walked on flinty rocks that cut their naked feet. leaping out of the mountains, came down a laughing sparkling river, the clearest they had yet seen. its valley seemed a paradise of ash and willow, honeysuckles and wild roses. standing on its bank clark mused, "i know but one other spot so beautiful. i will name this river for my little mountain maid of fincastle, the judith." could he then foresee that judith would become his wife, or that the verdant judith basin would be the last retreat of the buffalo? big horned mountain sheep were sporting on the cliffs, beaver built their dams along its shores, and up the judith gap the buffalo had his mountain home. the indian, too, had left there the scattered embers of a hundred fires. lewis picked up a moccasin. "here, sacajawea, does this belong to your people?" the bird woman shook her head. "no shoshone." she pointed to the north where the terrible blackfeet came swooping down to shoot and scalp. it was time to hasten on. valley succeeded valley for miles on miles, and between valleys arose hills of sandstone, worn by suns and storms into temples of desolated magnificence; ruins of columns and towers, pedestals and capitals, parapets of statuary, sculptured alcoves and mysterious galleries. sheer up from the river's side they lifted their heads like old venetian palaces abandoned to the bats. june 3 the river forked. "which is the true missouri?" "de nort'ern branch. see it boil and roll?" said cruzatte. "see de colour? dat de true meessouri. de ot'er ees but one leetle stream from de mountain." but the captains remembered the advice of the minnetarees. "the ah-mateah-za becomes clear, and has a navigable current into the mountains." parties were sent up both branches to reconnoitre. lewis and clark ascended the high ground in the fork and looked toward the sunset. innumerable herds of buffalo, elk, and antelope were browsing as far as the eye could reach, until the rivers were lost in the plain. back came the canoes undecided. then the captains set out. clark took the crystal pebbly southern route. lewis went up the turbid northern branch fifty-nine miles. "this leads too far north, almost to the saskatchewan," he concluded, and turned back. in the summer sunshine robins sang, turtle doves, linnets, the brown thrush, the goldfinch, and the wren, filled the air with melody. "i will call it maria's river, for my beautiful and amiable cousin, maria wood of charlottesville," thought lewis, with a memory of other junes in old virginia. when lewis drew up at camp, clark was already there, anxious for his safety. the main party, occupied in dressing skins and resting their lame and swollen feet, looked eagerly for the decision. to their surprise both captains agreed on the southern route. "but cruzatte," exclaimed the men, "he thinks the north stream is the true river, and cruzatte is an experienced waterman. we may be lost in the mountains far from the columbia." "true. everything depends on a right decision. captain clark, if you will stay here and direct the deposit of whatever we can spare, i will go ahead until i know absolutely." at dawn lewis set out with drouillard, gibson, goodrich, and joe fields. under captain clark's direction, bratton, the blacksmith, set up his forge at the mouth of maria's river and shields mended all the broken guns. the rest dug a _cache_, a kettle-shaped cellar, on a dry spot safe from water. the floor was covered with dry sticks and a robe. then in went the blacksmith's heavy tools, canisters of powder, bags of flour and baggage,--whatever could be spared. on top was thrown another robe, and then the earth packed in tight and the sod refitted so that no eye could detect the spot. the red pirogue was drawn up into the middle of a small island at the mouth of maria's river and secured in a copse. "boys, i am very ill," said captain lewis, when they camped for dinner on the first day out. attacked with violent pains and a high fever, unable to proceed, he lay under some willow boughs. no medicine had been brought. drouillard was much concerned. "i well remember," he said, "when a flux was epidemic at chillicothe among de white settlers, my fader, pierre drouillard, administer on de sick wit' great success." "what did he use?" "a tea of de choke-cherry." "prepare me some," said the rapidly sinking captain. with deft fingers drouillard stripped off the leaves of a choke-cherry bough, and cut up the twigs. black and bitter, the tea was brought to lewis at sunset. he drank a pint, and another pint an hour afterward. by ten o'clock the pain was gone, a gentle perspiration ensued, the fever abated, and by morning he was able to proceed. the next day, june 12, the mountains loomed as never before, rising range on range until the distant peaks commingled with the clouds. twenty-four hours later lewis heard the roaring of a cataract, seven miles away, and saw its spray, a column of cloud lifted by the southwest wind. like hiawatha he had- "journeyed westward, westward, left the fleetest deer behind him, left the antelope and bison, passed the mountains of the prairie, passed the land of crows and foxes, passed the dwellings of the blackfeet, came unto the rocky mountains, to the kingdom of the west-wind." hastening on with impatient step he came upon the stupendous waterfall, one of the glories of our continent, that hidden here in the wilderness had for ages leaped adown the rocky way. overwhelmed with the spectacle lewis sat down "to gaze and wonder and adore." "oh, for the pencil of salvator rosa or the pen of thompson, that i might give to the world some idea of this magnificent object, which from the commencement of time has been concealed from the view of civilised man." joe fields was immediately dispatched to notify clark of the discovery of the falls. lewis and the other men went on up ten miles, gazing at cataract after cataract where the mighty missouri bent and paused, and gathering its full volume leaped from rock to rock, sometimes wild and irregularly sublime, again smooth and elegant as a painter's dream. lewis, impatient to see and know, hurried on past the rest until night overtook him alone near the head of the series of cataracts. on the high plain along the bank a thousand buffalo were feeding on the short curly grass. lewis shot one for supper, and leaning upon his unloaded rifle watched to see it fall. a slight rustle attracted his attention. he turned. a bear was stealing upon him, not twenty steps away. there was no time for reloading, flight alone remained. not a bush, not a tree, not a rock was near, nothing but the water. with a wild bound lewis cleared the intervening space and leaped into the river. turning, he presented his _espontoon_. the bear, already at the bank, was about to spring, but that defiant _espontoon_ in his face filled him with terror. he turned and ran, looking back now and then as if fearing pursuit, and disappeared. clambering out of the water, lewis started for camp, when, sixty paces in front of him, a strange animal crouched as if to spring. lewis fired and a mountain lion fled. within three hundred yards of the spot, three enraged buffalo bulls left the herd, and shaking their shaggy manes, ran pawing and bellowing, full speed upon him. eluding the bulls, lewis hurried to camp. worn out, he fell asleep, only to awaken and find a huge rattlesnake coiled around the tree above his head! such was earth primeval! the great falls of the missouri was the rendezvous for all wild life in the country. thousands of impatient buffaloes pushed each other along the steep rocky paths to the water. hundreds went over the cataract to feed the bears and wolves below. captain clark soon arrived with the main body and went into camp at a sulphur spring, a favourite resort of buffaloes. "this is precisely like bowyer's sulphur spring of virginia,--it will be good for sacajawea," said lewis, bringing her a cup of the transparent water that tumbled in a cascade into the missouri. sacajawea was sick, very sick, delirious at times as she lay on her couch of skins. the journey had been difficult. the hungry little baby was a great burden, and sacajawea was only sixteen, younger even than shannon, the boy of the party. clark directed his negro servant, york, to be her constant attendant. charboneau was cautioned on no account to leave her. several other semi-invalids guarded the tent to keep the buffaloes away. every day, and twice a day, the captains came to see her and prescribe as best they could. now came the tedious days of portaging the boats and baggage around the falls. a cottonwood tree, nearly two feet in diameter, was sawed into wheels. the white pirogue was hidden in a copse and its mast was taken for an axletree. opposite the spot where the waggons were made was an island full of bears of enormous size. their growling and stealthy movements went on day and night. all night the watchful little dog kept up incessant barking. the men, disturbed in their slumbers, lay half-awake with their arms in hand, while the guard patrolled with an eye on the island. bolder and bolder grew the bears. one night they came to the very edge of the camp and ran off with the meat hung out for breakfast. at last the rude waggons were done. the canoes were mounted and filled with baggage. slowly they creaked away, tugged and pushed and pulled up hills that were rocky and rough with hummocks where the buffaloes trod. prickly-pears, like little scythes, cut and lacerated, even through double-soled moccasins. at every halt, over-wearied and worn out by night watching, the toilers dropped to the ground and fell asleep instantly. a whole month was spent in making the carriages and transporting the baggage the eighteen miles around the falls. in another _cache_ at the sulphur spring, they buried lewis's writing desk, specimens of plants and minerals, provisions, the grindstone brought from harper's ferry, books and a map of the missouri river. the blunderbuss was hid under rocks at the foot of the falls. sacajawea, recovered from her illness, began to look for familiar landmarks. one day clark took her, together with charboneau and york, to look at the falls. he had surveyed and measured the black eagle, crooked rainbow, and great falls. "come," he said, "charboneau, bring sacajawea. let us go up and look at the black eagle." high above the cataract the bird had built its nest in the top of a cottonwood tree. a dark cloud was rising. under a shelving rock they took refuge in a ravine, captain clark still figuring at his notes. a few drops of rain fell,--in an instant a torrent, a cloud-burst, rolled down the ravine. clark saw it coming. snatching his gun and shot-pouch, he pushed sacajawea and the baby up the cliff, while charboneau above was pulling her by the hand. up to clark's waist the water came. fifteen feet it rose behind him as he climbed to safety. compass and umbrella were lost in the scramble. charboneau had left his gun, tomahawk, and shot-pouch. sacajawea had just snatched her baby before its cradle went into the flood. after the storm they came down into the plain, to find york in affright lest they had been swept into the river. on account of the great heat, the men at the waggons had laid aside their leather hunting shirts, when down upon their bare backs came a shower of huge hailstones. bruised, battered, and bleeding as from a battle, they straggled into camp. kind-hearted lewis set to work with linens and medicine, bandaging up their wounds. the next morning captain clark sent two men to look for the articles lost at the falls. they found the ravine filled with rock, but happily, half-hid in mud and sand, the precious compass was recovered. within view of the camp that day clark estimated not less than ten thousand buffalo. and beyond, rimmed on the far horizon, ran the white line of the mountain crest that is to-day the western boundary of montana. the 4th of july dawned, the second since they had left the states. in the hills they heard strange booming, as of a distant cannonade. it almost seemed as if the rocky mountains were reverberating back the joyous guns of baltimore and boston. the men listened in amaze. "what can it be?" "een de mountain," answered cruzatte. "de vein of silver burst. de pawnee and de rickara hear eet een de black hill." "ah, yes, the minnetarees talked of a noise in the mountains. we thought it was superstition." again through long silence came the great cannonade. unconsciously lewis and clark trod on closed treasure houses, future mines of unwashed tons of gold and silver. had they brought back gold then what might have been the effect upon the restless, heaving east? but, no, the land must wait and grow. other wars must be fought with the englishman and the indian, armies of trappers must decimate the bears and wolves, and easier methods of transportation must aid in opening up the great montana-land. xv _a woman pilot_ monday, july 15, 1805, the boats were launched above the great falls of the missouri. clark followed by land along an old indian trail, worn deep by the lodge-poles of ages. little did he realise that nuggets lay scattered all over that land, where yet the gold hunters should dot the hills with shafts and mounds; that near here a beautiful city, named for helen of troy, should arise to become a golden capital. "my people! my people!" sacajawea excitedly pointed to deserted wickiups and traces of fires. she read their story at a glance. "it was winter. they were hungry. there were no buffalo. see!" she pointed to the pines stripped of bark and the tender inner wood, the last resort of famishing shoshones. with flags hoisted to notify the indians that they were friends, the canoes passed within the gates of the mountains, where the mighty missouri breaks through the belt range of western montana. nothing in alleghany lands compares with this tremendous water-gap. through the dark cavern the river ran narrow and rapid and clear. down through tributary canyons on either side came rifts of light, odours of pine, and the roar of waterfalls. with unmoved countenance sacajawea looked upon the weird overhanging grayish granite walls through which she had been hurried in terror by her minnetaree captors, five years ago. "we are coming to a country where the river has three forks," said sacajawea. exhilaration seized the men, as they sent the boats up the heavy current that rolled well-deep below. that night they camped in a canyon that is to-day a pleasure resort for the people of helena. again following the indian trail, on the 25th of july clark arrived at the three forks of the missouri, near the present site of gallatin. from the forks of the far eastern rivers where pittsburg rises, they had come to the forks of the great river of the west. for days the swift current had required the utmost exertion. the men complained of fatigue and excessive heat. "you push a tolerable good pole," said the kentuckians, when lewis took a hand. captain clark was worn out. with the thermometer at ninety, for days he had pushed ahead, determined to find the shoshones. "let us rest a day or two," said captain lewis. "here, boys, build a bower for captain clark. i'll take a tramp myself in a few days to find these yellow gentlemen if possible." camping at the three forks, every man became a leather dresser and tailor, fixing up his buckskin clothes. leggings and moccasins had been sliced to pieces by the prickly pear. "what a spot for a trading post!" the captains agreed. "look," said lewis, "see the rushes in the bottom, high as a man's breast and thick as wheat. this will be much in favour of an establishment here,--the cane is one of the best winter pastures for cows and horses." from the heights at the three forks, lewis and clark looked out upon valleys of perennial green. birds of beautiful plumage and thrilling song appeared on every hand. beaver, otter, muskrat, sported in this trapper's paradise. buffalo-clover, sunflowers and wild rye, buffalo-peas and buffalo-beans blossomed everywhere. all the indian trails in the country seemed to converge at this point. here passed the deadly blackfoot on his raids against the shoshones, the bannocks, and the crows. here stole back and forth the timid shoshone to his annual hunt on the yellowstone and the snake river plains. hither from time immemorial had the flatheads and nez percés resorted for their supplies of robes and meat. even from the far saskatchewan came the piegans and gros ventres to this favoured and disputed spot. the blackfeet claimed the three forks of the missouri, no tribe dwelt there permanently. the roads were deep, like trenches, worn by the trailing lodgepoles of many tribes upon this common hunting ground. the naming of the rivers,--that was an epic by itself. the gay cabinet ladies who had fitted him out at washington flitted through the mind of meriwether lewis,--maria jefferson, companion of his earliest recollection, dolly madison, whose interest never failed in his adventures, mrs. gallatin, the queenly dark-haired wife of the scholarly secretary of the treasury. with what pleasure had they gathered at the white house to fashion "housewives," full of pins and needles and skeins of thread, for these wanderers of the west. not a man in the party but bore some souvenir of their thoughtful handiwork. clark's earliest memory was of jefferson, the friend of his father, of his older brothers, and then of himself. "jimmy" madison and george rogers clark had been schoolmates in the "old field school" of donald robertson. so then and there the captains agreed that three great statesmen and their wives should be commemorated here by the madison, the jefferson, and the gallatin forks of the missouri. "on this very spot my people camped five years ago. here were their tents," said sacajawea, pointing out the embers of blackened fires. "the minnetarees peered over the hills. we ran up this fork and hid in the thick woods." the boats were reloaded and the party began to ascend the jefferson on july 30, to its head in the bitter root mountains. at noon they camped for dinner. "and here was i captured!" cried sacajawea. "i was made a prisoner. we were too few to fight the minnetarees. they pursued us. our men mounted their horses and fled to the mountains. the women and children hid. i ran. i was crossing this river. they caught me and carried me away." what a realistic glimpse of daily terror! fighting, hunting, wandering, famishing, in the land of anarchy. formerly the shoshones were indians of the plains. now they had been driven by their enemies into almost inaccessible fastnesses. "the beaver head! the beaver head!" sacajawea pointed to a steep, rocky cliff shaped like a beaver's head, one hundred and fifty feet above the water, an indian landmark from time immemorial. "this is not far from the summer retreat of my countrymen. we shall meet them soon, on a river beyond the mountains running to the west." "we must meet those indians," said lewis, "it is our only hope for horses to cross the mountains." lewis and clark camped august 7, 1805, at beaverhead rock. there, fifty-seven years later, chased by bears, robbed by indians, unsheltered, unshod, and almost starving, the gold hunter stumbled upon the auriferous bed of an ancient river that made montana. gold was discovered at alder gulch in 1863, ten miles south of beaverhead rock, and the next year mining began in the streets of the present city of helena. the pick and the shovel in the miner's hand became the lamp and the ring in the grasp of aladdin. the next morning after passing beaverhead rock, captain lewis and three of the men slung their knapsacks over their shoulders and set out for the mountains, determined not to return until they met some nation of indians. two days later, august 11, lewis with his spyglass espied a lone horseman on the hills. the wild-eyed shoshone, accustomed to scan the horizon, saw him also. "he is of a different nation from any we have met," remarked lewis, watching intently through his glass. "he has a bow and a quiver of arrows, and an elegant horse without a saddle." like a lookout on the hills, the indian stood and waited. "he is undoubtedly a shoshone. much of our success depends on the friendly offices of that nation." slowly lewis advanced. slowly the indian came forward, until, within a mile of each other the indian suddenly stopped. captain lewis also stopped, and drawing a three-point blanket from his knapsack held it by the corners above his head, and unfolding brought it to the ground as in the act of spreading. three times he repeated the indian signal of hospitality--"come and sit on the robe with me." still the indian kept his position, viewing with an air of suspicion the hunters with lewis. "_tabba bone, tabba bone_," said lewis, stripping up the sleeve of his shirt to show the colour of his skin,--"white man, white man," a term learned of sacajawea. paralysed the indian looked, then fled like a frightened deer. no calls could bring him back. he said to his people, "i have seen men with faces pale as ashes, who are makers of thunder and lightning." "he is a dreamer!" exclaimed the incredulous shoshones. "he makes up tales. he must show us these white men or be put to death," and trembling he started back with a body of warriors. lewis, disappointed at the flight of the shoshone, pressed on. narrower and narrower grew the river. "thank god, i have lived to bestride the missouri!" exclaimed hugh mcneil, planting a foot on either side of the mountain rivulet. two miles farther up they drank from the ice-cold spring at the river's source, and stood on the summit of the great divide. a little creek flowed down the ridge toward the west. stooping, they drank,--of the waters of the columbia, and slept that night in idaho. the next morning, following a well-worn indian trail, lewis came upon two women and a child. one fled, the other, an old dame encumbered by the child, sat down and bowed her head as if expecting instant death. captain lewis advanced, lifted her, loaded her with gifts. "_tabba bone, tabba bone._" stripping up his sleeve he showed to the amazed woman the first white skin she had ever seen. "call your companion," motioned lewis toward the fleeing woman. the old dame raised her voice. as fast as she ran away the young woman came running back, almost out of breath. she, too, was loaded with trinkets, and the cheeks of all were painted with vermilion, the shoshone emblem of peace. without fear now she led him toward sixty mounted warriors, who were advancing at a gallop as to battle. "_tabba bone! tabba bone!_" explained the women, introducing the stranger and exhibiting their gifts. "_ah hi e! ah hi e!_"--"i am much pleased! i am much pleased!" exclaimed the warriors, leaping from their horses and embracing lewis with great cordiality. lewis drew forth his imposing calumet of red pipestone and lighted it. this was a sign language of all tribes. putting off their moccasins as if to say, "may i walk the forest barefoot forever if i break this pledge of friendship," they sat down and smoked. the chief, too, brought out a pipe, of the dense transparent green stone of the bannock mountains, highly polished. another led him to a lodge and presented a piece of salmon,--then lewis no longer doubted that he was on waters flowing to the pacific. slowly, clark, ill with chills and fever, had been coming forward, urging the canoes up the difficult and narrowing stream. sacajawea, the little bird-woman, could not wait. in her anxiety she begged to walk ahead along shore, and with her husband went dancing up the rivulet of her childhood. she flew ahead. she turned, pirouetting lightly on her beaded moccasins, waving her arms and kissing her fingers. her long hair flew in the wind and her beaded necklace sparkled. yes, there were the indians, and lewis among them, dressed like an indian too. the white men had given everything they had to the indians, even their cocked hats and red feathers, and taken indian clothes in exchange, robes of the mountain sheep and goat. an indian girl leaned to look at sacajawea. they flew into each other's arms. they had been children together, had been captured in the same battle, had shared the same captivity. one had escaped to her own people; the other had been sold as a slave in the land of the dakotahs. as girls will, with arms around each other they wandered off and talked and talked of the wonderful fortune that had come to sacajawea, the wife of a white man. a council was immediately called. the shoshones spread white robes and hung wampum shells of pearl in the hair of the white men. "sacajawea. bring her hither," called lewis. tripping lightly into the willow lodge, sacajawea was beginning to interpret, when lifting her eyes to the chief, she recognised her own brother, cameahwait. she ran to his side, threw her blanket over his head, and wept upon his bosom. sacajawea, too, was a princess, come home now to her mountain kingdom. xvi _idaho_ "we are going through your country to the far ocean," said captain lewis. "we are making a trail for the traders who will bring you guns." "this delights me," answered cameahwait, with his fierce eyes, and his lank jaws grown meagre for want of food. "we are driven into the mountains, when if we had guns we could meet our enemies in the plains." all the shoshone talk was of war, war, war. their great terror was the roving indians of the saskatchewan, who, with guns from the british traders, came down like wolves on the fold. only flight and wonderful skill with the bow and arrow saved the shoshones from destruction. horses were their wealth. "most of them would make a figure on the south side of james river," said lewis, "in the land of fine horses. i saw several with spanish brands upon them." brother to the comanche, the shoshone rode his horse over rocks and ravines, up declivitous ways and almost impossible passes. every warrior had one or two tied to a stake near his willow hut, night and day, ready for action. "my horse is my friend. he knows my voice. he hears me speak. he warns me of the enemy." little children played with them, squaws fed them, braves painted them and decorated their manes and tails with eagle-plumes, insignia of the rocky mountain indian. such horses were a boon to lewis and clark, for they were tractable, sure-footed, inured to the saddle and the pack. a shoshone found a tomahawk that lewis had lost in the grass, and returned it,--now a tomahawk was worth a hundred dollars to a shoshone. they had no knives or hatchets,--all their wood was split with a wedge of elkhorn and a mallet of stone. they started their fires by twirling two dry sticks together. through all the valleys the shoshones sent for their best horses, to trade for knives and tomahawks. delighted they watched the fall of deer before the guns of white men. the age of stone had met the age of steel. how to get over the mountains was the daily consultation. cameahwait pointed out an old man that knew the rivers. clark engaged him for a guide: "you shall be called toby. be ready to-morrow morning." proud of his new name, old toby packed up his moccasins. the indians drew maps: "seven days over sheer mountains. no game, no fish, nothing but roots." captain clark set out to reconnoitre the salmon river route. "a river of high rocks," said cameahwait, "all a river of foam. no man or horse can cross. no man can walk along the shore. we never travel that way." nevertheless clark went on. for seventy miles, "through mountains almost inaccessible, and subsisting on berries the greater part of the route," as clark afterward told his brother, they pushed their way, then--"troubles just begun," remarked old toby. checking their horses on the edge of a precipice, clark and his companions looked down on the foaming snake, roaring and fretting and lashing the walls of its inky canyon a hundred feet below, savage, tremendous, frightful. as cameahwait had said, the way was utterly impracticable. "i name this great branch of the columbia for my comrade, captain lewis," said clark. back from the snake river, clark found lewis buying horses. the shoshone women were mending the men's moccasins. the explorers were making pack-saddles of rawhide. for boards they broke up boxes and used the handles of their oars. "i have ever held this expedition in equal estimation with my own existence," said lewis, urging on the preparations. "if indians can pass these mountains, we can." haunched around the fires, the forlorn indians looked and listened and shook their unkempt heads. "me know better route," said the friendly old shoshone guide. "to the north, another great water to the columbia." "no! no! no!" shouted all the shoshones. "no trail that way." but clark believed the faithful old toby. evidently the shoshones wished to detain them all winter. unseen by the indians, at night a _cache_ was dug at the head of the jefferson, for the last of the heavy luggage, leaving out only indian gifts and absolute necessities to carry on the pack-horses. the canoes were filled with rocks and sunk to the bottom of the river. august 30, the expedition was ready. before setting out the violins were brought and the men danced, to the great diversion of the indians. then, when they turned their faces to the bitter root, with the old guide and his four sons, the shoshones set out east for their annual hunt on the missouri. from may to september the shoshones lived on salmon that came up the mountain streams. now that the salmon were gone, necessity compelled them forth. with swift dashes down the missouri they were wont to kill and dry what buffalo they could, and retreat to consume it in their mountain fastnesses. the whites had surprised them in their very citadel--led by sacajawea. along the difficult bitter root mountains lewis and clark journeyed, meeting now and then indian women digging yamp and pounding sunflower seeds into meal. food grew scarce and scarcer, now and then a deer, a grouse, or a belated salmon stranded in some mountain pool. sometimes they had but a bit of parched corn in their wallets, like the immortals that marched to the conquest of illinois. but those snowy peaks that from a distance seemed so vast,--that like the alps defied approach to any but a hannibal or a napoleon--now, as if to meet their conquerors, bent low in many a grassy glade. in a pocket of the mountains now called ross hole, they came upon a camp of flatheads, with five hundred horses, on their way to the missouri for the fall hunt of buffalo. unknown to them the flatheads had been watching from the timber and had reported: "strangers. two chiefs riding ahead, looking at the country. one warrior painted black. the rest leading packhorses. keep quiet. wait. they are coming." york's feet had become lame and he was riding with the captains. when the white men came in view the flatheads looked on their faces. they were shocked at the whiteness. compassion was in every indian heart. "these men have no blankets. they have been robbed. see how cold their cheeks are. they are chilled. bring robes. build fires." all the indians ran for their beautiful white robes, and wrapped them around the shoulders of the white men. before the blazing fires the white men's cheeks grew red. perspiration burst from every pore. the robes slipped off, but the solicitous red men kept putting them back and stirring up the fire. then the captains, touched to the heart, spoke to the kind-hearted flatheads of a great people toward the rising sun, strong and brave and rich. "have they wigwams and much buffalo?" inquired the flatheads. "yes. we have been sent by the great father, the president, to bring these presents to his children the flatheads." the childlike flatheads were much impressed. never did they forget the visit of those first white men. traditions enough to fill a book have been handed down, and to this day they boast, "the flathead never killed a white man." the whites listened in amaze to the low guttural clucking of the flatheads, resembling that of a chicken or parrot. voice there was none, only a soft crooning to their gentle chatter, interpreted by sacajawea and the old shoshone guide. the women crowded around sacajawea and untied her baby from its elkskin cradle. they fed it and gave it little garments. that baby was an open sesame touching the hearts of all. sacajawea, riding on her horse to the columbia, found friends with every tribe. others might pay; she, never. the indian mother-heart opened to sacajawea. her very presence was an assurance of pacific intention. the women brought food, roots, and berries. to a late hour the white men continued smoking and conversing with the chiefs, when more robes were brought, and the weary ones slept with their feet to the fire. "those hongry injin dorgs ate up me moccasins lasht noight," complained pat in the morning. "but they're the whoitest injins i iver saw." more horses were brought and the lame ones exchanged, so now with forty horses and three colts the captains and their devoted followers struggled on, "over the warst road i iver saw," said pat. "faith! 'tis warse nor the alleghanies where i rid whin a bye." one horse loaded with a desk and small trunk rolled down a steep declivity until it was stopped by a tree. the desk was broken. that night they camped at the snow line and more snow began to fall. wet, cold, hungry, they killed a colt for supper and slept under the stars. the horses were failing. some had to be abandoned. one rolled down a mountain into a creek at the bottom. some strayed or lost their packs, and the worn-out men, ever on the jump, came toiling through the brush, bearing on their own backs the unwieldy pack-saddles. up here in the bitter root mountains, the last of dr. saugrain's thermometers was broken, which accounts for the fact that from this point on they kept no record of temperature. september 9 the expedition journeyed down the main bitter root valley, named clark's river, and crossing it came to a large creek and camped a day to rest their horses. "traveller's rist, is it?" said pat. "me fa-a-ther's inn at wellsburg was the fir-r-st 'traveller's rist' in all wistern varginny," and traveller's rest it remained until some later explorer renamed it the lolo fork of the bitter root river. here the boys mended their garments torn and tattered in the mountains, and the hunters went out for game. they returned with three flatheads. "ay! ay!" clucked the gentle flatheads, "the river goes to the great lake. our relations were there and bought handkerchiefs like these of an old white man that lives by himself." lame and weary, straight across idaho they struggled, over seams and streaks of precious metal that they saw not, the gold of ophir concealed in the rocky chambers of the idaho alps,--struggled into the lolo trail used by the indians for ages before any whites ever came into the country. over the lolo trail went the nez percés to battle and to hunt buffalo in the montana country. down over this trail once came a war party and captured wat-ku-ese, a nez percé girl, and carried her away to the distant land of white men,--_so-yap-po_, "the crowned ones," she called them, because they wore hats. still ever wat-ku-ese dreamed of her nez percé home and one day escaped with her infant on her back. along the way white traders were kind to her. on and on, footsore and weary she journeyed alone. in the flathead country her baby died and was buried there. one day some nez percés came down over the lolo trail bringing home wat-ku-ese, weak, sick, dying. she was with her people at their camas ground, weippe, when lewis and clark came down over the lolo trail. "let us kill them," whispered the frightened nez percés. wat-ku-ese lay dying in her tent when she heard it. "white men, did you say? no, no, do not harm them. they are the crowned ones who were so good to me. do not be afraid of them. go near to them." cautiously the nez percés approached. the explorers shook their hands. this was to the indians a new form of greeting. everywhere indian women were digging the camas root, round like an onion, and little heaps lay piled here and there. they paused in their work to watch the strangers. some screamed and ran and hid. little girls hid their baby brothers in the brush. others brought food. so starved and famished were the men that they ate inordinately of the sweet camas and the kouse, the biscuit root. the sudden change to a warmer climate and laxative roots resulted in sickness, when the expedition might have been easily attacked but for those words of wat-ku-ese, who now lay dead in her tent. to this day the nez percés rehearse the story of wat-ku-ese. it was the beginning of a lifelong friendship with the whites, broken only when chief joseph fled over the lolo trail. but even chief joseph found he must give up the vast areas over which he was wont to roam, and come under the laws of civilised life. as fast as their weakness permitted councils were held, when the captains told the nez percés of the great father at washington, who had sent them to visit his children. twisted hair, the nez percé tewat, a great medicine man, dreamer and wizard and wise one, drew on a white elkskin a chart of the rivers. admiring redmen put their hands over their mouths in amazement. no one but twisted hair could do such things. he was a learned indian, knew all the trails, even to the falls of the columbia. "white men," said he, "live at the tim-tim [falls]." thus into idaho had penetrated the story of ko-na-pe, the wrecked spaniard, who with his son soto had set out up the great river to find white people and tarried there until he died. seven years later astor's people met soto, an old man dark as his indian mother, but still the indians called him white. twenty years later soto's daughter was still living on the columbia in the days of the hudson's bay company. to save time and trouble, canoes were burnt out of logs. leaving their horses with the nez percés, on october 4 the explorers were glad to get into their boats with their baggage and float down the clear kooskooske, into the yellow-green snake, and on into the blue columbia. at the confluence of the rivers medals were given and councils held on the present site of lewiston. day by day through wild, romantic scenes where white man's foot had never trod, the exultant young men were gliding to the sea. ahead of the boats on horseback galloped we-ark-koompt, an indian express. word flew. the tribes were watching. at the dinner camp, october 16, five indians came up the river on foot in great haste, took a look and started back, running as fast as they could. that night lewis and clark were met at the columbia by a procession of two hundred indians with drums, singing, "ke-hai, ke-hai," the redmen's signal of friendship. xvii _down the columbia_ the arrival at the columbia was followed by days of councils, with gifts and speeches and smoking. two nez percé chiefs, twisted hair the tewat and tetoh, introduced the explorers from tribe to tribe, bearing on and on the good words of wat-ku-ese: "they are crowned ones. do not be afraid. go near to them." all the indian world seemed camped on the columbia. everywhere and everywhere were "inconceivable multitudes of salmon." they could be seen twenty feet deep in the water, they lay on the surface, and floated ashore. hundreds of indians were splitting and spreading them on scaffolds to dry. the inhabitants ate salmon, slept on salmon, burnt dried salmon to cook salmon. with a coal a yakima chief drew on a robe a map of the river so valuable that clark afterwards transferred it to paper. that map on the robe was carried home to jefferson and hung up by him in monticello. every trail was marked by moccasin tracks, every village by a cluster of teepees. in the "high countrey" of the walla walla they caught sight of "the mt. hood of vancouver," and were eager to reach it. "tarry with us," begged yellept, the walla walla chief. "when we return," replied the eager men. then clark climbed a cliff two hundred feet above the water and spied st. helens. very well clark remembered lord st. helens from whom this peak was named. the very name to him was linked with those old days when "detroit must be taken," for lord st. helens and john jay drew up the treaty that evacuated detroit. captain clark and a few of the men still continued in advance walking along the shore. near the beautiful umatilla a white crane rose over the columbia. clark fired. a village of indians heard the report and marvelled at the sudden descent of the bird. as with outspread, fluttering wings it touched the ground the white men came into view. one moment of transfixed horror, and the indians fled. captain clark promptly followed, opened the mat doors of their huts and entered. with bowed heads, weeping and wringing their hands, a crowd of men, women, and children awaited the blow of death. lifting their chins, clark smiled upon them and offered gifts. evidently they had not met the indian express. "all tribes know the peace-pipe," he remarked, and drawing forth his pipestone calumet lit it, as was his wont, with a sunglass. as the fire kindled from the rays through the open roof, again the people shrieked. in vain drouillard tried to pacify them. not one would touch the pipe lit by the sun. clark went out and sat on a rock and smoked until the boats arrived. "do not be afraid. go to them," began the nez percé chiefs. "they are not men," hurriedly whispered the frightened indians. "we saw them fall from heaven with great thunder. they bring fire from the sky." not until sacajawea landed with her baby was tranquillity restored. "no squaw travels with a war party," that must be admitted, and soon they were smoking with great unanimity. "tim-m-m-m;--tim-m-m-m!" hummed the indians at the falls, at celilo, poetically imitating the sound of falling waters. there was salmon at the falls of the columbia, stacks of salmon dried, pounded, packed in baskets, salmon heaped in bales, stored in huts and cached in cellars in the sand. making a portage around the falls, the boats slid down. "de rapide! de rapide! before we spik some prayer we come on de beeg rock!" screamed cruzatte, the bowman. apparently a black wall stretched across the river, but as they neared, a rift appeared where the mighty channel of the columbia narrows to forty-five yards at the dalles. crowds of indians gathered as clark and cruzatte stopped to examine the pass. "by good steering!" said cruzatte. shaping up his canoe, it darted through the hissing and curling waters like a racehorse. close behind, the other boats shot the boiling caldron, to the great astonishment of indian villagers watching from above. at the warm springs reservation there are indians yet who remember the old dip-net fishing days and the stories of "billy chinook," who then saw york, the black man. "i was a boy of twelve. when the black man turned and looked at us, we children fled behind the rocks." here at the dalles were wooden houses, the first that lewis and clark had seen since leaving the illinois country, with roofs, doors, and gables like frontier cabins,--and still more stacks of salmon. "ten thousand pounds," said clark, "dried, baled, and bound for traffic down the river." the ancient indian village of wishram stands on that spot still, with the same strong smell of salmon. the houses are much the same, and among their treasures may be found a coin of 1801, bartered, no doubt, by lewis and clark for a bale of salmon. on sped the boats, through mighty mountains, past ancient burial places of the savage dead, to the wild-rushing cascades. past these cascades, five miles of continuous rapids, white with sheets of foam. "we mak' portage," said cruzatte, his bow grating on the narrow shelf of shore. on either side, rocky palisades, "green-mossed and dripping," reached the skies. tiny waterfalls, leaping from the clouds, fell in rainbow mist a thousand feet below. "mt. hood stood white and vast." below the cascades great numbers of hair-seals slept on the rocks. swarms of swans, geese, ducks, cranes, storks, white gulls, cormorants, plover swept screaming by. the hills were green, the soft west wind was warm with rain. "what a wild delight of space! of room! what a sense of seas!" they had come into a new world,--the valley of the lower columbia, the home of the chinook wind. at hood river alarmed indians, dressed in skins of the mountain goat, the oregon mazama, peered after the passing white men. at every house, and among mouldering remains of ancient tombs, lay scattered innumerable images of wood and stone or of burnt clay, household gods of the columbian indian. flat and flatter grew the heads. up in the bitter root, women alone wore this badge of distinction. here, every infant lay strapped like a mummy with a padded board across its forehead. a new sort of boats now glided alongside the flotilla, great sea canoes manned with chinook paddles. they were long and light, tapering at the ends, wide in the middle and lifting stern and prow into beaks like a roman galley. and every canoe was laden with salmon, going down river to trade for beads and wapato. traces of white men began to appear,--blue and scarlet blankets, brass tea-kettles, and beads. one indian, with a round hat and a sailor-jacket, wore his hair in a queue in imitation of the "bostons." "i trade with mr. haley," said one in good english, showing the bow of iron and other goods that mr. haley had given him. "and this is his squaw in the canoe." more and more fertile and delightful grew the country, shaded by thick groves of tall timber and watered by streams, fair as lay unpeopled kentucky thirty years before. scarce could clark repress the recollection of the tales his brother brought home of that first trip to boonsboro in 1775. nothing surprised them more than the tropic luxuriance of vegetation. the moist japan wind nurtured the trees to mammoths, six, eight, and ten feet through. shrubbery like the hazel grew to be trees. the maple spread its leaves like palm fans; dogwood of magnolian beauty, wild cherry, crab-apple, interlaced with oregon grape, blackberries, wild roses, vines of every sort and description, and ferns, ferns, ferns filled the canyons like the jungles of orinoco. on november 4, nearly opposite the present vancouver, they landed at a village on the left side of the river where a fleet of over fifty canoes was drawn up on shore, gathering wapato. "wapato? wapato?" an indian treated them to the queen root of the columbia, round and white, about the size of a small irish potato. this, baked, was the bread of the chinook indian. "in two days," said indians in sailor jackets and trousers, shirts, and hats, "in two days, two ships, white people in them." "village there," said an indian in a magnificent canoe, pointing beyond some islands at the mouth of the willamette. he was finely dressed and wore a round hat. yes, it might be, villages, villages everywhere, but ships--ships below! they had no time for villages now. long into the darkness of night the boats sped on, on, past dim forests bending to the wave, past shadowy heights receding into sunset, past campfires on the hills where naked indians walked between them and the light. at a late hour they camped. november rains were setting in, the night was noisy with wild fowl coming up the columbia to escape the storms of ocean. trumpeter swans blew their shrill clarions, and whistling swans, geese, and other birds in flights of hundreds swept past in noisy serenade, dropping from their wings the spray of the sea. none slept. toward morning the rain began. in a wet morning and a rushing wind they bent to the oar, past st. helens, past mt. coffin, past cathlamet where queen sally in scant garments watched from a rock and told the tale in after years. "we had been watching for days," she said. "news had come by indian post of the strangers from the east. they came in the afternoon and were met by our canoes and brought to the village." "there," clark says in his journals, "we dined on november 26." but lewis and clark were tired of indians by this time, and moreover, ships were waiting below! it was a moment of intense excitement. even at cathlamet they heard the surge of ocean rolling on the rocks forty miles away. before night the fog lifted and they beheld "the ocean!--that ocean, the object of all our labours, the reward of all our anxieties. ocean in view! o! the joy." struggling with their unwieldy canoes the landsmen grew seasick in the rising swells of the up-river tide. for miles they could not find a place to camp, so wild and rocky were the shores. at last, exhausted, they threw their mats on the beautiful pebbly beach and slept in the rain. everything was wet, soaked through, bedding, stores, clothing. and all the salt was spoiled. there was nothing to eat but raw dried salmon, wet with sea water, and many of the men began to be ill from exposure and improper food. "'t is the divil's own weather," said pat, coming in from a reconnoitre with his wet hunting shirt glued fast to his skin. pat could see the "waves loike small mountains rolling out in the ocean," but just now he, like all the rest, preferred a dry corner by a chimney fire. "une grande piqnique!" exclaimed cruzatte. "lak' tonder de ocean roar! blow lak' not'ing i never see, blow lak' le diable makin' grande tour! hear de win' on de beeg pine tree!" and all were hungry. even clark, who claimed to be indifferent as to what he ate, caught himself pondering on bread and buns. with the peculiar half laugh of the squaw, sacajawea brought a morsel that she had saved for the child all the way from the mandan towns, but now it was wet and beginning to sour. clark took it and remarked in his journal, "this bread i ate with great satisfaction, it being the only mouthful i had tasted for several months." chinook indians pilfered around the camp. "if any one of your nation steals anything from us, i will have you shot," said captain clark,--"which they understand very well," he remarked to the camp as the troublers slunk away. a sentinel stood on constant watch. captain lewis and eleven of the men went around the bay and found where white people had been camped all summer, but naught remained save the cold white beach and the indians camping there. the ships had sailed. down there near the chinook town, facing the ocean, captain lewis branded a tree with his name and the date, and a few days later captain clark says, "i marked my name on a large pine tree immediately on the isthmus, at clatsop." it was two hundred years since captain john smith sailed up the chickahominy in virginia in search of the south sea. at last, far beyond the chickahominy, lewis and clark sailed up the missouri and down the columbia in search of the same south sea. and here at the mouth of the oregon they found it, stretching away to china. balboa, magellan, cortez, mackenzie,--lewis and clark had joined the immortals. xviii _fort clatsop by the sea_ december had now arrived, and southwest storms broke upon the coast with tremendous force. off cape disappointment, the surges dashed to the height of the masthead of a ship, with most terrific roaring. a winter encampment could no longer be delayed. "deer, elk, good skin, good meat," said the chinook indians, in pantomime, pointing across the bay to the south. accordingly, thither the eggshell boats were guided, across the tempestuous columbia, to the little river netul, now the lewis and clark, ten miles from the ocean. beside a spring branch, in a thick grove of lofty firs about two hundred yards from the water, the leather tent was set up and big fires built, while all hands fell to clearing a space for the winter cabins. in four days the logs were rolled up, boonsboro fashion, into shelters for the winter. "the foinest puncheons i iver saw," said patrick gass, head carpenter, as he set to splitting boards out of the surrounding firs. by christmas seven cabins were covered and the floors laid. the chinks were filled with clay, and fir-log fires were set roaring in the capacious chimneys that filled an entire end of each cabin. on christmas day they moved in, wet blankets and all, with rounds of firearms and christmas salutes. the leather tent, soaked for days, fell to pieces. the heavy canisters of powder, every one of which had been under the water in many a recent capsize, were consigned in safety to the powder-house. on new year's eve the palisades were done, and the gates were closed at sunset. the first winter-home of civilised people on the columbia has an abiding charm, not unlike that of plymouth or jamestown. back through the mists of one hundred years we see gangs of elk, chased by hunters through cranberry bogs, "that shook for the space of half an acre." their soundless footfalls were lost in beds of brown pine needles and cushions of moss. the firing of guns reverberated through the dim gloom like a piece of ordnance. it was from such a trip as this that the hunters returned on the 16th of december, reporting elk. all hands set to work carrying up the meat from the loaded boats, skinning and cutting and hanging it up in small pieces in the meathouse, to be smoked by a slow bark fire. but in spite of every precaution, the meat began to spoil. "we must have salt," said captain lewis. in a few days, five men were dispatched with five kettles to build a cairn for the manufacture of salt from seawater. already clark had examined the coast with this in view, and the salt-makers' camp was established near tillamook head, about fifteen miles southwest of the fort where the old cairn stands to this day. here the men built "a neat, close camp, convenient to wood, salt water and the fresh waters of the clatsop river, within a hundred paces of the ocean," and kept the kettles boiling day and night. on that trip to the coast, while the cabins were building, captain clark visited the clatsops, and purchased some rude household furniture, cranberries, mats, and the skin of a panther, seven feet from tip to tip, to cover their puncheon floor. other utensils were easily fashioned. seated on puncheon stools, before the log-fire of the winter night, the men carved cedar cups, spoons, plates, and dreamed of homes across the continent. in just such a little log cabin as this, shannon saw his mother in ohio woods; patrick gass pictured his father, with his pipe, at wellsburg, west virginia; sergeant ordway crossed again the familiar threshold at hebron, new hampshire. clark recalled mulberry hill, and lewis,--his mind was fixed on charlottesville, or the walls expanded into monticello and the white house. "mak' some pleasurement now," begged the frenchmen, "w'en bonhomme cruzatte tune up hees fidelle for de dance." tales were told and plans were made. toward midnight these sinbads of the forest fell asleep, on their beds of fir boughs, lulled by the brook, the whispering of the pines, and the falling of the winter rain. this was not like winter rain in eastern climates, but soft and warm as april. the grass grew green, spring flowers opened in december. the moist japan wind gives oregon the temperature of england. "i most sincerely regret the loss of my thermometer," said lewis. "i am confident this climate is much milder than the same latitude on the atlantic. i never experienced so warm a winter." but about the last of january there came a snow at clatsop, four inches thick, and icicles hung from the houses during the day. "a real touch of winter," said lewis. "the breath is perceptible in our room by the fire." like all oregon snow it disappeared in a week--and then it was spring. in the centre of the officer's cabin, a fir stump, sawed off smooth and flat for a table, was covered with maps and papers. books were written in that winter of 1805-6, voluminous records of oregon plants and trees, birds, beasts, and fishes. they had named rivers and measured mountains, and after wandering more than homer's heroes, the explorers were ready now to carry a new geography to the states. and here, as everywhere, lewis was busy with his vocabularies, learning the chinook jargon. as never before, all the men became scientists. even captain clark's black man took an interest and reported some fabulous finds. the houses were dry and comfortable, and within, they had a plentiful supply of elk and salt, "excellent, white, and fine, but not so strong as the rock salt, or that made in kentucky." meal time was always interesting. very often the captains caught themselves asking: "charboneau, when will dinner be ready?" all day the firelight flickered on sacajawea's hair, as she sat making moccasins, crooning a song in her soft indian monotone. this was, perhaps, the happiest winter sacajawea ever knew, with baby touissant toddling around her on the puncheon floor, pulling her shawl around his chubby face, or tumbling over his own cradle. the modest shoshone princess never dreamed how the presence of her child and herself gave a touch of domesticity to that oregon winter. now and then indian women came to see sacajawea, sitting all day without a word, watching her every motion. sometimes sacajawea helped charboneau, with his spits, turning slowly before the fire, or with his elk's tongues or sausage or beaver's tails. sometimes she made trapper's butter, boiling up the marrow of the shank bones with a sprinkle of salt. in the short days darkness came on at four o'clock, and the last of the candles were soon exhausted. then the moulds were brought and candles were made of elk tallow, until a heap, shining and white, were ready for the winter evenings. "we have had trouble enough with those thieving chinooks," said captain lewis. "without a special permit, they are to be excluded from the fort." the indians heard it. did a knock resound at the gate, "no chinook!" was the quick accompaniment. "who, then?" demanded the sentinel, gun in hand. "clatsop," answered coboway's people entering with roots and cranberries. or, "cathlamets," answered an up-river tribe with rush bags of wapato on their backs. roots of the edible thistle--white and crisp as a carrot, sweet as sugar, the roasted root of the fern, resembling the dough of wheat, and roots of licorice, varied the monotonous fare. these supplies were very welcome, but the purchase money, that was the problem. president jefferson had given to captain lewis an unlimited letter of credit on the united states, but such a letter would not buy from these indians even a bushel of wapato. the cathlamets would trade for fishhooks. the clatsops preferred beads, knives, or an old file. no wonder they valued an old file: the finest work of their beautiful canoes was often done with a chisel fashioned from an old file. lewis and clark had frequent occasion to admire their skill in managing these little boats, often out-riding the waves in the most tumultuous seas. ashore, these canoe-indians waddled and rolled like tipsy sailors. afloat, straight and trim as horse-indians of the prairie, each deft chinook glided to his seat along the unrocking boats, and striking up the paddlers' "ho-ha-ho-ha-ho-ha-" went rowing all their lives, until their arms grew long and strong, their legs shrunk short and crooked, and their heads became abnormally intelligent. nor were these coast indians lacking in courage,--they sometimes ventured into the sea in their wonderful canoes, and harpooned the great whale and towed him in. when it came to prices for their beautiful skins of sea-otter, almost nothing would do. clark offered a watch, a handkerchief, an american dollar, and a bunch of red beads for a single skin. "no! no!" in stentorian tone--"_tyee ka-mo-suck,--chief beads_,"--the most common sort of large blue glass beads, the precious money of that country. chiefs hung them on their bosoms, squaws bound them on their ankles, pretty maidens hung them in their hair. but lewis and clark had only a few and must reserve them for most pressing necessity. since that may morning when captain robert gray discovered the columbia river, fourteen years before, the chinook indians had learned the value of furs. once they handed over their skins, and took without a murmur what the boston skippers chose to give. now, a hundred ships upon that shore had taught them craft. one of old king comcomly's people had a robe of sea-otter, "the fur of which was the most beautiful we had ever seen." in vain lewis offered everything he had, nothing would purchase the treasured cloak but the belt of blue beads worn by sacajawea. on every hand among these coast tribes were blankets, sailor-clothes, guns,--old revolutionary muskets mended for this trade,--powder and ball, the powder in little japanned tin flasks in which the traders sold it. in what clark calls "a guggling kind of language spoken mostly through the throat," with much pantomime and some english, conversation was carried on. "who are these traders?" asked captain lewis. old comcomly, king of the chinooks, on the north side, and tyee coboway, chief of the clatsops, on the south bank of the columbia, tried to remember, and counted on their fingers,-"haley, three masts, stays some time," "tallamon not a trader," "callalamet has a wooden leg," "davidson, no trader, hunts elk," "skelley, long time ago, only one eye." and then there were "youens, swipton, mackey, washington, mesship, jackson, balch," all traders with three-masted ships whose names are not identified by any atlantic list. the one translated washington by lewis and clark may have been ockington of the _belle savage_, 1801, or tawnington, both of whom are known to have been on the coast in those years. in fact, no complete record was ever kept of the ships that swarmed around the horn and up the pacific, in those infant years of our republic, 1787 to 1820. while europe clustered around the theatre of napoleonic wars, every harbour of new england had its fur ships and whalers out, flying the stars and stripes around the world. "what do they say?" inquired lewis, still pressing investigation. proud of their acquirements, every chinook and clatsop in the nation could recall some word or phrase. "musket, powder, shot, knife, file, heave the lead, damned rascal!" no wonder lewis and clark laughed, these mother words on the savage tongue were like voices out of the very deep, calling from the ships. "one hyas tyee ship--great chief ship--moore, four masts, three cows on board." "which way did he go?" the indians pantomimed along the northwest coast. "from which," says lewis, "i infer there must be settlements in that direction." the great desire, almost necessity, now, seemed to be to wait until some ship appeared upon the shore from which to replenish their almost exhausted stores. whenever the boats went in and out of meriwether bay they passed the memeloose illahee, the dead country of the clatsops. before 1800, as near as lewis and clark could ascertain, several hundred of the clatsops died suddenly of a disease that appeared to be smallpox, the same undoubtedly that cut down black bird and his omahas, rolling on west and north where the hudson's bay traders traced it to the borders of the arctic. in haley's bay one hundred canoes in one place bespoke the decimation of the chinooks, all slumbering now in that almost priceless carved coffin, the chinook canoe, with gifts around them and feet to the sunset, ready to drift on an unknown voyage. there was a time when indian campfires stretched from walla walla to the sea, when fortifications were erected, and when indian flint factories supplied the weapons of countless warriors. but they are gone. the first settlers found sloughs and bayous lined with burial canoes, until the dead were more than the living. no indians knew whose bones they were, "those old, old, old people." red children and white tumbled them out of the cedar coffins and carried away the dead men's treasures. "there was mourning along the rivers. a quietness came over the land." stone hammers, flint chips, and arrows lie under the forests, and embers of fires two centuries old. the native tribes were disappearing before the white man came, and the destruction of property with the dead kept the survivors always impoverished. xix _a whale ashore_ "a whale! a whale ashore!" when chief coboway brought word there was great excitement at fort clatsop. everybody wanted to see the whale, but few could go. captain clark appointed twelve men to be ready at daylight. sacajawea, in the privacy of her own room that sunday evening, spoke to charboneau. now charboneau wanted her to stay and attend to the "l'apalois"--roasting meats on a stick,--and knowing that the child would have to be looked after, slipped over to the captains, discussing by the fire. "sacajawea t'ink she want to see de whale. she ought not go." "very well," answered the captains, scarce heeding. "she better stay at the fort. it would be a hard jaunt for a woman to go over tillamook head." charboneau went back. "de captinne say you cannot go!" this was a staggering blow to sacajawea, but her woman's determination had become aroused and she took the rostrum, so to speak. leaving the baby touissant with his father, she in turn slipped over to the captains. sacajawea was a born linguist. "captinne, you remember w'en we reach de rivers and you knew not which to follow? i show de country an' point de stream. again w'en my husband could not spik, i spik for you. "now, captinne, i travel great way to see de beeg water. i climb de mountain an' help de boat on de rapide. an' now dis monstous fish haf come"--sacajawea could scarce restrain her tears. sacajawea was only a woman, and a brave little woman at that. captain lewis was moved. "sacajawea, you are one of those who are born not to die. of course you can go. go and be getting ready, and," he added, "if charboneau wants to go too, he will have to carry the baby!" they breakfasted by candle-light. everybody was ready next morning, but sacajawea was ahead of them all. charboneau looked at her out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing. more than once the captains had reminded him of his duty. the sun rose clear and cloudless on a land of springtime, and yet it was only january. robins sang around the stockade, bluebirds whizzed by, silver in the sunlight. two canoes proceeded down the netul into meriwether bay, on the way to the clatsop town. after a day's adventure, they camped near a herd of elk in the beautiful moonlight. at noon, next day, they reached the salt-makers. here jo fields, bratton, and gibson had their brass kettles under a rock arch, boiling and boiling seawater into a gallon of salt a day. hiring twiltch, a young indian, for guide, they climbed tillamook head, about thirty miles south of cape disappointment. upon this promontory, clark's point of view, they paused before the boisterous pacific, breaking with fury and flinging its waves above the rock of tillamook. on one side the blue columbia widened into bays studded with chinook and clatsop villages; on the other stretched rich prairies, enlivened by beautiful streams and lakes at the foot of the hills. behind, in serried rank, the douglas spruce--"the tree of turner's dreams," the king of conifers,--stood monarch of the hills. two hundred, three hundred feet in air they towered, a hundred feet without a limb, so dense that not a ray of sun could reach the ground beneath. sacajawea, save pocahontas the most travelled indian princess in our history, spoke not a word, but looked with calm and shining eye upon the fruition of her hopes. now she could go back to the mandan towns and speak of things that madame jussaume had never seen, and of the big water beyond the shining mountains. down the steep and ragged rocks that overhung the sea, they clambered to a tillamook village, where lay the great whale, stranded on the shore. nothing was left but a skeleton, for from every indian village within travelling distance, men and women were working like bees upon the huge carcass. then home they went, trailing over the mountains, every squaw with a load of whale blubber on her back, to be for many a month the dainty of an indian lodge. these indian lodges or houses were a source of great interest to lewis and clark. sunk four feet into the ground and rising well above, like an out-door cellar, they were covered with ridgepoles and low sloping roofs. the sides were boarded with puncheons of cedar, laboriously split with elkhorn wedges and stone hammers. a door in the gable admitted to this half-underground home by means of a ladder. around the inner walls, beds of mats were raised on scaffolds two or three feet high, and under the beds were deposited winter stores of dried berries, roots, nuts, and fish. in the centre of each house a fireplace, six or eight feet long, was sunk in the floor, and surrounded by a cedar fender and mats for the family to sit on. the walls, lined with mats and cedar bark, formed a very effective shelter. did some poor stranded mariner teach the savage this semi-civilised architecture, or was it evolved by his own genius? however this may be, these houses were found from yaquina bay to yakutat. in such a house as this captain clark visited coboway, chief of the clatsops, in his village on the sunny side of a hill. as soon as he entered, clean mats were spread. coboway's wife, tse-salks, a tillamook princess, brought berries and roots and fish on neat platters of rushes. syrup of sallal berries was served in bowls of horn and meat in wooden trenchers. naturally, sacajawea was interested in domestic utensils, wooden bowls, spoons of horn, skewers and spits for roasting meat, and beautifully woven water-tight baskets. every squaw habitually carried a knife, fastened to the thumb by a loop of twine, to be hid under the robe when visitors came. these knives, bought of the traders, were invaluable to the indian mother. with it she dug roots, cut wood, meat, or fish, split rushes for her flag mats and baskets, and fashioned skins for dresses and moccasins. ever busy they were, the most patient, devoted women in the world. sacajawea, with her beautiful dress and a husband who sometimes carried the baby, was a new sort of mortal on this pacific coast. while they were conversing, a flock of ducks lit on the water. clark took his rifle and shot the head off one. the astonished indians brought the bird and marvelled. their own poor flintlocks, loaded with bits of gravel when shot failed, often would not go off in cold weather, but here was "very great medicine." they examined the duck, the musket, and the small bullets, a hundred to the pound. "kloshe musquet! wake! kum-tux musquet! a very good musquet! no! do not understand this kind of musquet!" thus early is it a historical fact that the chinook jargon was already established on the pacific coast. this jargon, a polyglot of traders' tongues, like the old lingua franca of the mediterranean, is used by the coast indians to this day from the columbia river to point barrow on the arctic. and for its birth we may thank the boston traders. chinooks, clatsops, tillamooks faced that stormy beach and lived on winter stores of roots, berries, fish, and dried meat. their beautiful elastic bows of white cedar were seldom adequate to kill the great elk, so when the rush bags under the beds were empty, they watched for fish thrown up by the waves. "sturgeon is very good," said a clatsop in english, peering and prying along the hollows of the beach. but the great whale, ecola, that was a godsend to the poor people. upon it now they might live until the salmon came, flooding the country with plenty. old chief coboway of the clatsops watched those shores for sixty years. he did not tell this story to lewis and clark, but he told it to his children, and so it belongs here. "an old woman came crying to the clatsop village: 'something on the shore! behold, it is no whale! two spruce trees stand upright on it. ropes are tied to those spruce trees. behold bears came out of it!' then all the people ran. behold the bears had built a fire of driftwood on the shore. they were popping corn. they held copper kettles in their hands. they had lids. the bears pointed inland and asked for water. then two people took the kettles and ran inland. they hid. some climbed up into the thing. they went down into the ship. it was full of boxes. they found brass buttons in a string half a fathom long. they went out. they set fire. the ship burned. it burned like fat. then the clatsops gathered the iron, the copper, and the brass. then were the clatsops rich." one of these men was ko-na-pe. he and his companion were held as slaves. ko-na-pe was a worker in iron and could fashion knives and hatchets. from that time the clatsops had knives. he was too great to be held as a slave, so the clatsops gave him and his friend their liberty. they built a cabin at a place now known as new astoria, but the indians called it "ko-na-pe," and it was known by that name long after the country was settled by the whites. february had now arrived. for weeks every man not a hunter stood over the kettles with his deer-skin sleeves rolled up, working away at elkskins, rubbing, dipping, and wringing. then again they went back into the suds for another rubbing and working, and then the beautiful skin, hung up to smoke and dry, came out soft and pliable. shields, the skilful, cut out the garments with a butcher knife, and all set to work with awls for needles and deer sinews for thread. for weeks this leather-dressing and sewing had been going on, some using the handy little "housewives" given by dolly madison and the ladies of the white house, until captain lewis records, "the men are better fitted with clothing and moccasins than they have been since starting on this voyage." captain lewis and captain clark had each a large coat finished of the skin of the "tiger cat," of which it "took seven robes to make a coat." with beads and old razors, captain lewis bought high-crowned chinook hats, of white cedar-bark and bear-grass, woven european fashion by the nimble fingers of the clatsop girls, fine as leghorn and water-tight. patrick gass counted up the moccasins and found three hundred and fifty-eight pairs, besides a good stock of dressed elkskins for tents and bedding. "and i compute 131 elk and 20 deer shot in this neighbourhood during the winter," he added. but now the elk were going to the mountains, game was practically unobtainable. now and then drouillard snared a fine fat beaver or an otter in his traps; sometimes the indians came over with sturgeon, fresh anchovies, or a bag of wapato, but even this supply was precarious and uncertain. february 11, captain clark completed a map of the country, including rivers and mountains from fort mandan to clatsop, dotting in cross-cuts for the home journey, the feat of a born geographer. february 21 the saltmakers returned, with twelve gallons of salt sealed up to last to the _cache_ on the jefferson. while shields refitted the guns, others opened and examined the precious powder. thirty-five canisters remained, and yet, banged as they had been over many a mountain pass, and sunk in many a stream, all but five were found intact as when they were sealed at pittsburg. three were bruised and cracked, one had been pierced by a nail, one had not been properly sealed, but by care the men could dry them out and save the whole. the greatest necessity now was a boat. a long, slim chinook canoe made out of a single tree of fir or cedar was beyond price. preliminary dickers were tried with chinooks and clatsops. finally drouillard went up to cathlamet. of all the trinkets that drouillard could muster, nothing short of captain lewis's laced uniform coat could induce queen sally's people to part with a treasured canoe. and here it was. misfortune had become a joke. "well, now, the united states owes me a coat," laughed lewis, as he found his last civilised garment gone to the savages. "six blue robes, one of scarlet, five made out of the old united states' flag that had floated over many a council, a few old clothes, clark's uniform coat and hat and a few little trinkets that might be tied in a couple of handkerchiefs," this was the reserve fund to carry them two thousand miles to st. louis. but each stout-hearted explorer had his gun and plenty of powder--that was wealth. "now, in case we never reach the united states," said lewis, "what then?" "we must leave a memorial," answered clark. and so the captains prepared this document: _"the object of this list is, that through the medium of some civilised person, who may see the same, it may be made known to the world, that the party consisting of the persons whose names are hereunto annexed, and who were sent out by the government of the united states to explore the interior of the continent of north america, did penetrate the same by the way of the missouri and columbia rivers, to the discharge of the latter into the pacific ocean, where they arrived on the 14th day of november, 1805, and departed the 23d day of march, 1806, on their return to the united states by the same route by which they had come out."_ to this document every man signed his name, and copies were given to the various chiefs. one was posted at fort clatsop to be given to any trader that might arrive in the river, and thus, in case of their death, some account of their exploration might be saved to the world. on the back of some of the papers clark sketched the route. at last only one day's food remained. necessity compelled removal. in vain their eyes were strained toward the sea. never were lewis and clark destined to see a summer day on the columbia, when sails of ships flapped listlessly against the masts, and vessels heaved reluctantly on the sluggish waters, rolling in long swells on clatsop beach. on sunday, march 23, 1806, the boats were loaded and all was ready. chief coboway came over at noon to bid them good bye. in gratitude for many favours during the past winter, lewis and clark presented their houses and furniture to the kind-hearted old chief. chief coboway made fort clatsop his winter home during the remainder of his life. years passed. the stockade fell down, young trees grew up through the cabins, but the spring is there still, gushing forth its waters, cool as in the adventurous days of one hundred years ago. xx _a race for empire_ in this very december of 1805 while lewis and clark were struggling with the storms of ocean at the mouth of the columbia, a thousand miles to the north of them the indefatigable and indomitable simon fraser was also building a fort, among the lochs and bens of new caledonia, the british columbia of to-day. on the very day that lewis and clark left fort mandan, simon fraser and his men had faced toward the rockies. while lewis and clark were exploring the missouri, fraser and his voyageurs were pulling for dear life up the saskatchewan and over to athabasca. on the very day that lewis and clark moved into fort clatsop, simon fraser, at the rocky mountain portage, had men busily gathering stones "to get a chimney built for his bedroom." the icy northern winter came down, but in january mortar was made to plaster his trading fort, the rocky mountain portage at the peace river pass. all that arctic winter he traded with the natives, killed deer and moose, and made pemmican for an expedition still farther to the west. all through the stormy, icy april, building his boats and pounding his pemmican, fraser stamped and stormed and swore because the snows refused to melt--because the rivers yet were blocked with ice. the boats were at the door, the bales of goods were tied, when the ice began to break in may. the moment the river was clear all hands were roused at daybreak. simon fraser turned the rocky mountain portage over to mcgillivray, who had arrived on snow shoes, and pressed on west, discovering mcleod lake and building fort mcleod upon its shores. then he portaged over to the fraser, which he believed to be the columbia, and going up the stuart branch built fort st. james on stuart lake. during the winter and summer, after lewis and clark reached home, he built fort fraser on fraser lake, and fort george upon the fraser river, still thinking it was the columbia. "now will i reach the mouth of this columbia," said fraser in the spring of 1808, launching his boat, the _perseverance_, upon the wildest water of the north. "you cannot pass," said the indians, and they waved and whirled their arms to indicate the mad tumultuous swirling of the waters. "whatever the obstacle," said simon fraser, "i shall follow this river to the end," and down he went for days and days through turbulent gulfs and whirlpools, past rocks and rapids and eddies, under frowning, overhanging precipices in the high water of may. the indians spoke of white people. "it must be lewis and clark," groaned fraser, redoubling his effort to win another empire for his king. daily, hourly, risking their lives, at every step in the mountains the indians said, "you can go no further." but the sturdy scotchmen gripped their oars and set their teeth, turning, doubling, twisting, shooting past rocky points that menaced death, portaging, lifting canoes by sheer grit and resolution up almost impassable rockways, over cliffs almost without a foothold and down into the wave again. so ran the northwesters down the wild river to the sea, and camped near the present site of new westminster. and lo! it was _not_ the columbia. back came simon fraser to fort william on lake superior to report what he had done, and they crowned his brow with the name of his own great river, the fraser. travellers look down the frowning fraser gorge to-day, and little realise why simon fraser made that daring journey. xxi _"a ship! a ship!"_ while lewis and clark were making preparations to leave fort clatsop, all unknown to them a ship was trying to cross the bar into the columbia river. and what a tale had she to tell,--of hunger, misery, despair, and death at sitka. since 1787 the boston ships had been trading along these shores. in that year 1792, when captain robert gray discovered the columbia river, there were already twenty-one american ships in the pacific northwest. in may, 1799, the boston brig _caroline_, captain cleveland, was buying furs in sitka sound, when coasting along over from the north came the greatest of all the russians, alexander von baranof, with two ships and a fleet of bidarkas. "what now will you have?" demanded the sitka chief, as the expedition entered the basin of sitka sound. "a place to build a fort and establish a settlement for trade," answered baranof. "a boston ship is anchored below and buying many skins," answered the chief. but presents were distributed, a trade was made, and russian axes began felling the virgin forest on the sides of verstova. the next day captain cleveland visited baranof at his fort building. "savages!" echoed captain cleveland to baranof's comment on the natives. "i should say so. i have but ten men before the mast, but on account of the fierce character of these indians i have placed a screen of hides around the ship, that they may not see the deck nor know how few men i have. two pieces of cannon are in position and a pair of blunderbusses on the taffrail." but the land was rich in furs. it was this that brought baranof over from kadiak. in three years sitka was a strong fort, but in june, 1802, in the absence of baranof, it was attacked one day by a thousand indians armed with muskets bought of the boston traders. in a few hours the fort, a new ship in the harbour, warehouses, cattle sheds, and a bathhouse were burnt to ashes. the poor dumb cattle were stuck full of lances. a terrible massacre accompanied the burning. to escape suffocation the russians leaped from the flaming windows only to be caught on the uplifted lances of the savage sitkas. some escaped to the woods, when an english vessel providentially appeared and carried the few remaining survivors to kadiak. that autumn two new ships arrived from russia with hunters, labourers, provisions, and news of baranof's promotion by the czar. tears coursed down the great man's weather-beaten cheeks. "i am a nobleman; but sitka is lost! i do not care to live; i will go and either die or restore the possessions of my august benefactor." then back came baranof to sitka on his errand of vengeance, with three hundred bidarkas and six small russian ships, to be almost wrecked in sitka sound. here he was joined by the _neva_ just out from kronstadt, the first to carry the russian flag around the world. upon the hill where sitka stands to-day, the indians had built a fort of logs piled around with tangled brush. on this the russians opened fire. but no reply came. with one hundred and fifty men and several guns, baranof landed in the dense woods to take the fort by storm. then burst the sheeted flame. ten russians were killed and twenty-six wounded. but for the fleet, baranof's career would have ended on that day. but in time ships with cannon were more than a match for savages armed with boston muskets. far into the night a savage chant was wafted into the air--the alaskans had surrendered. at daylight all was still. no sound came from the shore, and when the russians visited the indian hill, the fort was filled with slaughtered bodies of infant children, slain by their own parents who felt themselves unable to carry them and escape. the indian fort was immediately burned to the ground and on its site arose the russian stronghold of sitka castle. that new fort at sitka was just finished and mounted with cannon the summer that lewis and clark came down the columbia. kitchen gardens were under cultivation and live stock thriving. at sitka that same autumn the _elizaveta_ arrived, with the russian imperial inspector of alaska on board, the baron von rezanof, "chamberlain of the russian court and commander of all america," he called himself. "what is this i hear of those bostonians?" inquired the great baron, unrolling long portraits of the imperial family to be hung in sitka castle. "those bostonians, are they undermining our trade in furs with china?" "ah, yes," answered count baranof, "the american republic is greatly in need of chinese goods, chinese teas and silks, which formerly had to be purchased in coin. but since these shores have been discovered with their abundance of furs, they are no longer obliged to take coin with them, but load their vessels with products of their own country." "all too numerous have become these boston skippers on this northwest coast," continued von rezanof in a decisive tone. "frequent complaints have been made to the american president that his people are selling firearms to our indians, but all to no purpose. it is an outrage. we are justified in using force. i recommend an armed brig to patrol these waters." food supplies were low at sitka that winter. no ship came. the _elizaveta_ dispatched to kadiak for supplies returned no more. no flour, no fish, not even seal blubber for the garrisons, could be caught or purchased. they were eating crows and eagles and devil-fish. just then, when a hundred cannon were loaded to sweep the yankee skippers from the sea, a little rhode island ship came sailing into sitka harbour. "shall we expel these american traders from the north pacific?" demanded von rezanof. "for the love of god, no!" cried baranof. "that little ship is our saviour!" into the starving garrison the yankee captain de wolf brought bread and beef, and raised the famine siege of sitka castle. baranof bought the little ship, the _juno_, with all her cargo, for eight thousand dollars in furs and drafts on st. petersburg. in addition rezanof gave de wolf a sloop, the _ermak_, to carry his men and furs to the hawaiian islands. "god grant that they may not have paid dear for their rashness in trusting their lives to such a craft!" exclaimed von rezanof, as the gallant yankee captain spread sail and disappeared from sitka harbour. the _juno_, a staunch, copper-bottomed fast vessel of two hundred six tons, built at bristol, rhode island, in 1799, was now fitted out for the russian trade and dispatched to kadiak. the storms that lewis and clark heard booming on the oregon coast that winter, devastated alaskan shores as well. when the breakers came thundering up the rocks and the winds shook sitka castle, count baranof in his stronghold could not sleep for thinking, "oh, the ships!--the ships out on this stormy deep, laden with what i need so much!" the little _juno_ returned from kadiak with dried fish and oil, and news of disaster: "the _elizaveta_ has been wrecked in a heavy gale. six large bidarkas laden with furs on the way to you went down. two hundred hunters have perished at sea. our settlement at yakutat has been destroyed by an indian massacre." "my god! my god!" baranof cried, "how can we repair all these disasters!" but ever and ever the gray sea boomed upon the shore where the wretched inmates of sitka castle were dying. the relief from the _juno_ was only temporary. by february not a pound of bread a day dared they distribute to the men. long since rezanof had declared they must have an agricultural settlement. now he fixed his eye on the columbia river. sitting there in the dreary castle he was writing to the czar, little dreaming that in a hundred years his very inmost thought would be read in america. starvation at sitka was imminent,--it was impossible to delay longer. into the stormy sea rezanof himself set the _juno's_ sail on his way to the columbia. while lewis and clark were writing out the muster roll to nail to the wall at fort clatsop for any passing ship, rezanof was striving to cross the columbia bar. none could see beyond the mists. contrary winds blew, it rained, it hailed. rezanof sighted the columbia march 14, 1806, but the current drove him back. again on the 20th he tried to enter, and on the 21st, but the stormy river, like a thing of life, beat him back and beat him back, until the russian gave it up, and four days later ran into the harbour of san francisco. in june he returned with wheat, oats, pease, beans, flour, tallow, and salt to the famished traders at sitka. but notwithstanding all these troubles, in 1805-6 baranof dispatched to st. petersburg furs valued at more than five hundred thousand roubles. more and more the boston traders came back to alaskan waters. baranof often found it easier to buy supplies from boston than from okhotsk. "furnish me with aleutian hunters and bidarkas and i will hunt on shares for you," proposed a boston captain. "agreed," said baranof, and for years fleets of bidarkas under boston captains hunted and trapped and traded for sea otter southward along pacific shores. "these boston smugglers and robbers!" muttered the spaniards of california. "where do they hide themselves all winter? we know they are on our shores but never a glimpse can we get of their fleet." meanwhile the boston traders on the coasts of california raked in the skins and furs, and sailing around by hawaii reached sitka in time for spring sealing in the north. some hints of this reached the russian directory at st. petersburg, but no one dared to interfere with baranof. shipload after shipload of furs he sent home that sold for fabulous sums in the markets of russia. the czar himself took shares and the imperial navy guarded the russias of north america. all honour to baranof, viking of sitka, and builder of ships! for forty years he ruled the northwest, the greatest man in the north pacific. his name was known on the coast of mexico, even to brazil and havana. the boston merchants consulted him in making up their cargoes. in 1810 he went into partnership with john jacob astor to exchange supplies for furs. above all disaster he rose, though ship after ship was lost. but it must be admitted the russians were not such seamen as the gallant boston skippers. never again will this land see more hardy sailors than the american tars that travelled the seas at the close of our revolution. our little yankee brigs were creeping down and down the coast and around the horn, until every village had its skippers in the far pacific. some went for furs and some for whales, and all for bold adventure. in july, 1806, the _lydia_, having just rescued two american sailors from the savages at vancouver island, came into the columbia river for a load of spars, the beginning of a mighty commerce. here they heard of lewis and clark, and ten miles up, faithful old chief coboway gave captain hill the muster roll left at fort clatsop. this, sent by way of china, reached the united states in 1807, to find the great explorers safe at home. with the death of baranof in 1819 ended the vast plan of russia to make the northern half of the pacific its own. baranof was small and wrinkled and bald, but his eye had life. he would have made a czar like peter the great. to him and him alone was due the russia of america, that for seven million dollars was sold to us in 1870, an empire in itself. xxii _back to civilisation_ the canoes were loaded, and at one o'clock in the afternoon of sunday, the 23d day of march, 1806, lewis and clark took final leave of fort clatsop. back past cathlamet they came, where queen sally still watched by her totem posts; past oak point on fanny's island, named by clark, where two springs later a boston ship made the first white settlement in oregon. slowly the little flotilla paddled up, past coffin rock, immemorial deposit of indian dead, past snowy st. helens, a landmark at sea for the ship that would enter the harbour. flowers were everywhere, the hillsides aglow with red flowering currants that made march as gay as the roses of june. the grass was high, and the robins were singing. at sunset, march 30, they camped on a beautiful prairie, the future site of historic vancouver. before them the columbia was a shimmer of silver. behind, rose the dim, dark oregon forest. the sharp cry of the sea-gull rang over the waters, and the dusky pelican and the splendid brown albatross were sailing back to the sea. herds of elk and deer roamed on the uplands and in woody green islands below, where flocks of ducks, geese, and swans were digging up the lily-like wapato with their bills. with laboured breath, still bending to the oar, on the first of april they encountered a throng of indians crowding down from above, gaunt, hollow-eyed, almost starved, greedily tarrying to pick up the bones and refuse meat thrown from the camp of the whites. "_katah mesika chaco?_" inquired captain lewis. "_halo muck-a-muck_," answered the forlorn indians. "dried fish all gone. no deer. no elk. no antelope to the nez percé country." hundreds were coming down for food at wapato. "_elip salmon chaco._" "until the salmon come!" that had been the cry of the clatsops. the chinooks were practising incantations to bring the longed-for salmon. the cathlamets were spreading their nets. the wahkiakums kept their boats afloat. even the multnomahs were wistfully waiting. and now here came plunging down all the upper country for wapato,--"until the salmon come." "and pray, when will that be?" "not until the next full moon,"--at least the second of may, and in may the americans had hoped to cross the mountains. all the camp deliberated,--and still the cascade indians came flocking down into the lower valley. "we must remain here until we can collect meat enough to last us to the nez percé nation," said the captains, and so, running the gauntlet of starvation, it happened that lewis and clark camped for ten days near the base of mt. hood at the river sandy. in order to collect as much meat as possible a dozen hunters were sent out; the rest were employed in cutting and hanging the meat to dry. two young indians came into the camp at the sandy. "_kah mesika illahee?_--where is your country?" was asked them, in the chinook jargon caught at clatsop. "at the falls of a great river that flows into the columbia from the south." "from the south? we saw no such river." with a coal on a mat one of the indians drew it. the captains looked. "ah! behind those islands!" it was where the multnomah chieftain in his war canoe had said, "village there!" on their downward journey to the sea. clark gave one of the men a burning glass to conduct him to the spot, and set out with seven men in a canoe. along the south side of the columbia, back they paddled to the mysterious inlet hidden behind that emerald curtain. and along with them paddled canoe-loads of men, women, and children in search of food. clark now perceived that what they had called "imagecanoe island" consisted of three islands, the one in the middle concealing the opening between the other two. here great numbers of canoes were drawn up. lifting their long, slim boats to their backs, the indian women crossed inland to the sloughs and ponds, where, frightening up the ducks, they plunged to the breast into the icy cold water. there they stood for hours, loosening wapato with their feet. the bulbs, rising to the surface, were picked up and tossed into the boats to feed the hungry children. clark entered an indian house to buy wapato. "not, not!" with sullen look they shook their heads. no gift of his could buy the precious wapato. deliberately then the captain took out one of dr. saugrain's phosphorus matches and tossed it in the fire. instantly it spit and flamed. "_me-sah-chie! me-sah-chie!_"--the indians shrieked, and piled the cherished wapato at his feet. the screaming children fled behind the beds and hid behind the men. an old man began to speak with great vehemence, imploring his god for protection. the match burned out and quiet was restored. clark paid for the wapato, smoked, and went on, behind the islands. as if lifting a veil the boat swept around the willows and the indian waved his hand. "multnomah!" before them, vast and deep, a river rolled its smooth volume into the columbia. at the same moment five snow peaks burst into view,--rainier, hood, st. helens, adams, and to the southeast another snowy cone which clark at once saluted, "mount jefferson!" for the first recorded time a white man gazed on the river willamette. this sudden vision of emerald hills, blue waters, and snowy peaks forced the involuntary exclamation, "the only spot west of the rocky mountains suitable for a settlement!" the very air of domestic occupation gleamed on the meadows flecked with deer and waterfall. amid the scattered groves of oak and dogwood, bursting now into magnolian bloom, clark half expected to see some stately mansion rise, as in the park of some old english nobleman. the ever-prevailing flowering currant lit the landscape with a hue of roses. a dozen miles or more clark pressed on, up the great inland river, and slept one night near the site of the present portland. he examined the soil, looked at the timber, and measured a fallen fir three hundred and eighteen feet as it lay. watching the current rolling its uniform flow from some unknown distant source, the captain began taking soundings. "this river appears to possess water enough for the largest ship. nor is it rash to believe that it may water the country as far as california." for at least two-thirds of the width he could find no bottom with his five-fathom line. along that wide deep estuary, the grainships of the world to-day ride up to the wharves of portland. the same snow peaks are there, the same emerald hills, and the bounteous smile of nature blushing in a thousand orchards. all along the shores were deserted solitary houses of broad boards roofed with cedar bark, with household furniture, stone mortars, pestles, canoes, mats, bladders of train oil, baskets, bowls, trenchers--all left. the fireplaces were filled with dead embers, the bunk-line tiers of beds were empty. all had just gone or were going to the fisheries. "and where?" "to clackamas nation. _hyas tyee tumwater._ great falls. salmon." had clark but passed a few miles further up, he would have found hundreds of indians at the fishing rendezvous, clackamas rapids and willamette falls. "how many of the clackamas nation?" "eleven villages, to the snow peak." "and beyond?" "forty villages, the callapooias." with outstretched hand the indian closed his eyes and shook his head,--evidently he had never been so far to the south. back around warrior's point clark came, whence the multnomahs were wont to issue to battle in their huge war canoes. an old indian trail led up into the interior, where for ages the lordly multnomahs had held their councils. many houses had fallen entirely to ruin. clark inquired the cause of decay. an aged indian pointed to a woman deeply pitted with the smallpox. "all died of that. _ahn-cutty!_ long time ago!" the multnomahs lived on wapato island. a dozen nations gave fealty to multnomah. all had symbolic totems, carved and painted on door and bedstead, and at every bedhead hung a war club and a moorish scimitar of iron, thin and sharp, rude relic of ko-na-pe's workshop. having now dried sufficient meat to last to the nez percés, lewis and clark set out for the dalles, that tragical valley, racked and battered, where the devils held their tourneys when the world was shaped by flood and flame. through the sheeny brown basaltic rock, three rifts let through the river, where, in fishing time, salmon leaped in prodigious numbers, filling the indians' baskets, tons and tons a day. but the salmon had not yet come. at this season the upper tribes came down to the dalles to traffic robes and silk grass for sea-shells and wapato. fish was money. after the traders came, beads, beads, became the indian's one ambition. for beads he would sacrifice his only garment and his last morsel of food. in this annual traffic of east and west, the dalles indians had become traders, robbers, pirates. no canoe passed that way without toll. dressed in deerskin, elk, bighorn, wolf, and buffalo, these savages lay now in wait for lewis and clark, portaging up the long narrows. tugging, sweating, paddling, poling, pulling by cords, it was difficult work hauling canoes up the narrow way. crowds of indians pressed in. "six tomahawks and a knife are gone!" "another tomahawk gone!" "out of the road," commanded lewis. "whoever steals shall be shot instantly." the crowds fell back. every man toiled on with gun in hand. but from village to village, dishes, blankets, and whatever the indians could get their hands on, disappeared. soon there would be no baggage. it seemed impossible to detect a thief. "nothing but numbers protects us," said the white men. worse even than the pirates of the sioux, it came almost to pitched battle. again and again lewis harangued the chiefs for the restoration of stolen property. once he struck an indian. finally he set out to burn a village, but the missing property came to light, hidden in an indian hut. so long did it take to make these portages that food supplies failed. in the heart of a thickly populated and savage country the expedition was bankrupt. with what gratitude, then, they met yellept, chief of the walla wallas, waiting upon his hills. "come to my village. you shall have food. you shall have horses." gladly they accompanied him to his village at the mouth of the walla walla river. immediately he called in not only his own but the neighbouring nations, urging them to hospitality. then chief yellept, the most notable man in all that country, himself brought an armful of wood for their fires and a platter of roasted mullets. at once all the walla wallas followed with armloads of fuel; the campfires blazed and crackled. footsore, weary, half-starved, lewis and clark and their men supped and then slept. fortunately there was among the walla wallas a captive shoshone boy who spoke the tongue of sacajawea. in council the captains explained themselves and the object of their journey. "opposite our village a shorter route leads to the kooskooskee," said yellept. "a road of grass and water, with deer and antelope." clark computed that this cut-off would save eighty miles. in vain the captains desired to press on. "wait," begged yellept. "wait." already he had sent invitations to the eyakimas, his friends the black bears, and to the cayuses. possibly sacajawea had hinted something; at any rate with a cry of "very great medicine," the lame, the halt, the blind pressed around the camp. the number of unfortunates, products of indian battle, neglect, and exposure, was prodigious. opening the medicine chest, while lewis bought horses, clark turned physician, distributing eye-water, splinting broken bones, dealing out pills and sulphur. one indian with a contracted knee came limping in. "my own father, walla walla chief," says old se-cho-wa, an aged indian woman on the umatilla to-day. "lots of children, lots of horses. i, very little girl, follow them." with volatile liniments and rubbing the chief was relieved. in gratitude yellept presented clark with a beautiful white horse; clark in turn gave all he had--his sword. bidding the chief adieu, the captains recorded: "we may, indeed, justly affirm, that of all the indians whom we have met since leaving the united states the walla wallas were the most hospitable and sincere." poor old yellept! one hundred years later his medal was found in the sand at the mouth of the walla walla. all his sons were slain in battle or died of disease. when the last one lay stretched in the grave, the old chief stepped in upon the corpse and commanded his people to bury them in one grave together. "on account of his great sorrow," says old se-cho-wa. and so he was buried. xxiii _camp chopunnish_ as lewis and clark with twenty-three horses set out over the camas meadows that april morning a hundred years ago, the world seemed brighter for the kindness of the walla wallas. at the dalles the forest had ended. now they were on the great columbian plains that stretch to the rockies, the northwest granary of to-day. the dry exhilarating air billowed the verdure like a sea. meadow larks sang and flitted. dove-coloured sage hens, the cock of the plains, two-thirds the size of a turkey, cackled like domestic fowl before the advancing cavalcade. spotted black-and-white pheasants pecked in the grass like the little topknot "dominicks" the men had known around their boyhood homes. and everywhere were horses. "more hor-r-ses between th' gr-reat falls av th' columby and th' nez percés than i iver saw in th' same space uv countery in me loife before," said patrick gass. "they are not th' lar-r-gest soize but very good an' active." "of an excellent race, lofty, elegantly formed, and durable," those cayuse horses are described by lewis and clark. "many of them appear like fine english coursers, and resemble in fleetness and bottom, as well as in form and colour, the best blooded horses of virginia." a hundred years ago, the cayuse of the columbian plains was a recent importation from the bluest blooded arabian stock of spain. white-starred, white-footed, he was of noble pedigree. traded or stolen from tribe to tribe, these spanish horses found a home on the columbia. all winter these wild horses fattened on the plain; madly their indian owners rode them; and when they grew old, stiff, and blind, they went, so the indians said, to horse heaven on the des chutes to die. following the old nez percés trail, that became a stage road in the days of gold, and then a railroad, lewis and clark came to the land of the nez percés,--chopunnish. thirty-one years later the missionary spalding planted an apple-tree where lewis and clark reached the snake at the mouth of alpowa creek, may 4, 1806. we-ark-koompt, the indian express, came out to meet them. over the camp of black eagle the american flag was flying. chiefs vied with one another to do them honour. tunnachemootoolt, black eagle, spread his leather tent and laid a parcel of wood at the door. "make this your lodge while you remain with me." hohastilpilp, red wolf, came riding over the hills with fifty people. the captains had a fire lighted, and all night in the leather tent on the banks of the kooskooske the chiefs smoked and pondered on the journey of the white men. lewis and clark drew maps and pointed out the far-away land of the president. sacajawea and the shoshone boy interpreted until worn out, and then fell asleep. and ever within black eagle's village was heard the dull "thud, thud, thud," of nez percé women pounding the camas and the kouse, "with noise like a nail-factory," said lewis. all night long their outdoor ovens were baking the bread of kouse, and the kettles of camas mush, flavoured with yamp, simmered and sweetened over the dull red indian fires. the hungry men were not disposed to criticise the cuisine of the savage, not even when they were offered the dainty flesh of dried rattlesnake! labiche killed a bear. in amazement the redmen gathered round. "these bears are tremendous animals to the indians,--kill all you can," said captain lewis. elated, every hunter went bear-hunting. "wonderful men that live on bears!" exclaimed the indians. again the council was renewed, and they talked of wars. bloody chief, fond of war, showed wounds received in battle with the snakes. "it is not good," said clark. "it is better to be at peace. here is a white flag. when you hold it up it means peace. we have given such flags to your enemies, the shoshones. they will not fight you now." fifty years later, that chief, tottering to his grave, said, "i held that flag. i held it up high. we met and talked, but never fought again." "we have confided in the white men. we shall follow their advice," black eagle went proclaiming through the village. all the kettles of soup were boiling. from kettle to kettle black eagle sprinkled in the flour of kouse. "we have confided in the white men. those who are to ratify this council, come and eat. all others stay away." the mush was done, the feast was served; a new dawn had arisen on the nez percés. finding it impossible to cross the mountains, a camp was established at kamiah creek, on a part of the present nez percé reservation in idaho county, idaho, where for a month they studied this amiable and gentle people. games were played and races run, coalter outspeeding all. frazer, who had been a fencing master in rutland, back in vermont, taught tricks, and the music of the fiddles delighted them. stout, portly, good-looking men were the nez percés, and better dressed than most savages, in their whitened tunics and leggings of deerskin and buffalo, moccasins and robes and breastplates of otter, and bandeaus of fox-skins like a turban on the brow. the women were small, of good features and generally handsome, in neatly woven tight-fitting grass caps and long buckskin skirts whitened with clay. upon the missouri the eagle was domesticated. here, too, the nez percé had his wicker coop of young eaglets to raise for their tail feathers. any rocky mountain indian would give a good horse for the black-and-white tail feather of a golden eagle. they fluttered from the calumet and hung in cascades from head to foot on the sacred war bonnet. a may snowstorm whitened the camas meadows and melted again. thick black loam invited the plough, but thirty springs should pass before spalding established his mission and gave ploughs to the redmen. twisted hair saw the advent of civilisation. red wolf planted an orchard. black eagle went to see clark at st. louis and died there. captain lewis held councils, instructing, educating, enlightening the kamiahs, so that to this day they are among the most advanced of indian tribes. captain clark, with simple remedies and some knowledge of medicine, became a mighty "tomanowos" among the ailing. with basilicons of pitch and oil, wax and resins, a sovereign remedy for skin eruptions, with horse-mint teas and doses of sulphur and cream-of-tartar, with eye-water, laudanum, and liniment, he treated all sorts of ills. fifty patients a day crowded to the tent of the red head. women suffering from rheumatism, the result of toil and exposure in the damp camas fields, came dejected and hysterical. they went back shouting, "the red head chief has made me well." the wife of a chief had an abscess. clark lanced it, and she slept for the first time in days. the grateful chief brought him a horse that was immediately slaughtered for supper. a father gave a horse in exchange for remedies for his little crippled daughter. with exposure to winds, alkali sand, and the smoke of chimneyless fires, few indians survived to old age without blindness. "eye-water! eye-water!" they reached for it as for a gift from the gods. clark understood such eyes, for the smoke of the pioneer cabin had made affections of the eye a curse of the frontier. but affairs were now at their lowest. even the medicines were exhausted, and the last awl, needle, and skein of thread had gone. off their shabby old united states uniforms the soldiers cut the last buttons to trade for bread. but instead of trinkets the sensible nez percés desired knives, buttons, awls for making moccasins, blankets, kettles. shields the gunsmith ingeniously hammered links of drouillard's trap into awls to exchange for bread. the tireless hunters scoured the country. farther and farther had scattered the game. even the bears had departed. thirty-three people ate a deer and an elk, or four deer a day. there was no commissariat for this little army but its own rifles. and yet, supplies must be laid in for crossing the mountains. every day captain lewis looked at the rising river and the melting snows of the idaho alps. "that icy barrier, which separates me from my friends and my country, from all which makes life estimable--patience--patience--" "the snow is yet deep on the mountains. you will not be able to pass them until the next full moon, or about the first of june," said the indians. "unwelcome intelligence to men confined to a diet of horse meat and roots!" exclaimed captain lewis. finally even horse-flesh failed. suspecting the situation, chief red wolf came and said, "the horses on these hills are ours. take what you need." he wore a tippet of human scalps, but, says lewis, "we have, indeed, on more than one occasion, had to admire the generosity of this indian, whose conduct presents a model of what is due to strangers in distress." gradually the snows melted, and the high water subsided. "the doves are cooing. the salmon will come," said the indians. blue flowers of the blooming camas covered the prairies like a lake of silver. with sixty-five horses and all the dried horse meat they could carry, on june 16, 1806, lewis and clark started back over the bitter root range on the lolo trail by which they had entered. xxiv _over the bitter root range_ dog-tooth violets, roses, and strawberry blossoms covered the plain of weippe without end, but the lolo trail was deep with snow. deep and deeper grew the drifts, twelve and fifteen feet. the air was keen and cold with winter rigours. to go on in those grassless valleys meant certain death to all their horses, and so, for the first time, they fell back to wait yet other days for the snows to melt upon the mountains. "we must have experienced guides." drouillard and shannon were dispatched once more to the old camp, and lo! the salmon had come, in schools and shoals, reddening the kooskooskee with their flickering fins. again they faced the snowy barrier with guides who traversed the trackless region with instinctive sureness. "they never hesitate," said lewis. "they are never embarrassed. so undeviating is their step that whenever the snow has disappeared, even for a hundred paces, we find the summer road." up in the bitter root peaks, like the chamois of the alps, the oregon mazama, the mountain goat, frolicked amid inaccessible rocks. and there, in the snows of the mountain pass, most significant of all, were found the tracks of barefooted indians, supposed to have been flatheads, fleeing in distress from pursuing blackfeet. such was the battle of primitive man. the indians regarded the journey of the white men into the country of their hereditary foes as a venture to certain death. "danger!" whispered the guides, significantly rapping on their heads, drawing their knives across their throats, and pointing far ahead. every year the nez percés followed the lolo trail, stony and steep and ridgy with rocks and crossed with fallen trees, into the buffalo illahee, the buffalo country of the missouri. and for this the blackfeet fought them. the blackfeet, too, had been from time immemorial the deadly foe of the flatheads, their bone of contention for ever the buffalo. the blackfeet claimed as their own all the country lying east of the main range, and looked upon the flatheads who went there to hunt as intruders. the flathead country was west and at the base of the main rockies, along the missoula and clark's fork and northward to the fraser. with their sole weapon, the arrow, and their own undaunted audacity, twice a year occurred the buffalo chase, once in summer and once in winter. but "the ungodly blackfeet," scourge of the mountains, lay in wait to trap and destroy the flatheads as they would a herd of buffalo. and so it had been war, bitter war, for ages. but a new force had given to the blackfeet at the west and the sioux at the east supremacy over the rest of the tribes,--that was the white man's gun from the british forts on the saskatchewan. for spoils and scalps the blackfeet, arabs of the north, raided from the saskatchewan to mexico. they besieged fort edmonton at the north, and left their tomahawk mark on the digger indian's grave at the south. the shoshone-snakes, too, were immemorial and implacable enemies of both the blackfeet and the columbia tribes. they fought to the dalles and walla walla and up through the nez percés to spokane. their mad raiders threw up the dust of the utah desert, and chased the lone aztec to his last refuge in arizona cliffs. the blackfeet fought the shoshones, the crows, by superior cunning, fought the blackfeet, the assiniboines fought the crows, and the sioux, the lordly sioux, fought all. it was time for the white man's hand to stay the diabolical dance of death. xxv _beware the blackfeet!_ on the third of july, at the mouth of lolo creek, the expedition separated, lewis to cross to the falls of the missouri and explore marias river, clark to come to the three forks and cross to the yellowstone. with nine men and five indians captain lewis crossed the missoula on a raft, and following the nez percé trail along the river-of-the-road -to-buffalo, the big blackfoot of to-day, came out july 7, the first of white men, on the opening through the main range of the rockies now known as the lewis and clark pass. a blackfoot road led down to the churning waters of the great falls. pawing, fighting, ten thousand buffaloes were bellowing in one continuous roar that terrified the horses. the plain was black with a vast and angry army, bearing away to the southwest, flinging the dust like a simoom, through which deep-mouthed clangor rolled like thunder far away. and at their immediate feet, drouillard noted fresh tracks of indians dotting the soil; grizzly bears, grim guardians of the cataract, emitted hollow growls, and great gray wolves hung in packs and droves along the skirts of the buffalo herds, glancing now and then toward the little group of horsemen. in very defiance of danger, again lewis pitched his camp beside the falls, green and foamy as niagara. again buffalo meat, marrow bones, ribs, steaks, juicy and rich, sizzled around the blaze, and the hungry men ate, ate, ate. they had found the two extremes--want on one side of the mountains and abundance on the other. while lewis tried to write in his journal, huge brown mosquitoes, savage as the bears, bit and buzzed. lewis's dog howled with the torture, the same little assiniboine dog that had followed all their footsteps, had guarded and hunted as well as the best, had slept by the fire at clatsop and been stolen at the dalles. hurrying to their _cache_ at the bear islands, it was discovered that high water had flooded their skins and the precious specimens of plants were soaked and ruined. a bottle of laudanum had spoiled a chestful of medicine. but the charts of the missouri remained uninjured, and trunks, boxes, carriage wheels, and blunderbuss were all right. "transport the baggage around the falls and wait for me at the mouth of maria's river to the first of september," said captain lewis, setting out with drouillard and the fields boys. "if by that time i am not there, go on and join captain clark and return home. but if my life and health are spared, i shall meet you on the 5th of august." it was not without misgivings that sergeant gass and his comrades saw the gallant captain depart into the hostile blackfoot country. with only three men at his back it was a daring venture. already the five nez percés, fearful of their foes, had dropped off to seek their friends the flatheads. in vain lewis had promised to intercede and make peace between the tribes. their terror of the blackfeet surpassed their confidence in white men. "look!" on the second day out drouillard suddenly pointed, and leaning far over on his horse, examined a trail that would have escaped an eye less keen than his. "blackfeet!" the vicious and profligate rovers that of all it was most desirable not to meet! hastily crossing the teton into a thick wood, the party camped that night unmolested. on the eighth day captain lewis suddenly spied several indians on a hilltop intently watching drouillard in the valley. thirty horses, some led, some saddled, stood like silhouettes against the sky. kneeling they scanned the movements of the unconscious hunter below. "escape is impossible. we must make the most of our situation. if they attempt to rob us, we will resist to the last extremity. i would rather die than lose my papers and instruments." boldly advancing with a flag in his hand, followed by the two fields brothers, lewis drew quite near before the indians perceived these other white men. terrified, they ran about in confusion. evidently with them a stranger meant a foe. captain lewis dismounted, and held out his hand. slowly the chief blackfoot approached, then wheeled in flight. at last, with extreme caution, the two parties met and shook hands. lewis gave to one a flag, to another a medal, to a third a handkerchief. the tumultuous beating of the indians' hearts could almost be heard. there proved to be but eight of them, armed with two guns, bows, arrows, and eye-daggs, a sort of war-hatchet. "i am glad to see you," said lewis. "i have much to say. let us camp together." the indians assented and set up their semi-circular tent by the willows of the river. here drouillard, the hunter, skilled in the sign language of redmen, drew out their story. yes, they knew white men. they traded on the saskatchewan six days' march away. yes, there were more of them, two large bands, on the forks of this river, a day above. what did they trade at the saskatchewan? skins, wolves, and beaver, for guns and ammunition. then lewis talked. he came from the rising sun. he had been to the great lake at the west. he had seen many nations at war and had made peace. he had stopped to make peace between the blackfeet and the flatheads. "we are anxious for peace with the flatheads. but those people have lately killed a number of our relatives and we are in mourning." yes, they would come down and trade with lewis if he built a fort at maria's river. until a late hour they smoked, then slept. lewis and drouillard lay down and slept with the indians, while the two fields boys kept guard by the fire at the door of the tent. "let go my gun." it was the voice of drouillard in the half-light of the tent at sunrise struggling with a blackfoot. with a start lewis awoke and reached for his gun. it was gone. the deft thieves had all but disarmed the entire party. chase followed. in the scuffle for his gun, reuben fields stabbed a blackfoot to the heart. no sooner were the guns recovered than the horses were gone. "leave the horses or i will shoot," shouted lewis, chasing out of breath to a steep notch in the river bluffs. madly the indians were tearing away with the horses. lewis fired and killed a blackfoot. bareheaded, the captain felt a returning bullet whistle through his hair, but the indians dropped the horses, and away went swimming across the marias. delay meant death. quickly saddling their horses, lewis and his men made for the missouri as fast as possible, hearing at every step in imagination the pursuing "hoo-oh! whoop-ah-hooh!" that was destined to make marias river the scene of many a bloody massacre by the vengeful blackfeet. expecting interception at the mouth of marias river, the white men rode with desperation to form a junction with their friends. all day, all night they galloped, until, exhausted, they halted at two o'clock in the morning to rest their flagging horses. that forenoon, having ridden one hundred and twenty miles since the skirmish, they reached the mouth of marias river, just in time to see sergeant gass, the fleet of canoes, and all, descending from above. leaping from their horses, they took to the boats, and soon left the spot, seventy, eighty, a hundred miles a day, down the swift missouri. xxvi _down the yellowstone_ as lewis turned north toward marias river, clark with the rest of the party and fifty horses set his face along the bitter root valley toward the south. every step he trod became historic ground in the romance of settlement, wars, and gold. into this bitter root valley were to come the first white settlers of montana, and upon them, through the hell gate pass of the rockies, above the present missoula, were to sweep again and again the bloodthirsty blackfeet. "it is as safe to enter the gates of hell as to enter that pass," said the old trappers and traders. more and more beautiful became the valley, pink as a rose with the delicate bloom of the bitter-root, the mayflower of montana. here for ages the patient flatheads had dug and dried their favourite root until the whole valley was a garden. as clark's cavalcade wound through this vale, deer flitted before the riders, multitudinous mountain streams leaped across their way, herds of bighorns played around the snowbanks on the heights. across an intervening ridge the train descended into ross hole, where first they met the flatheads. there were signs of recent occupation; a fire was still burning; but the flatheads were gone. out of ross hole sacajawea pointed the way by clark's pass, over the continental divide, to the big hole river where the trail disappeared or scattered. but sacajawea knew the spot. "here my people gather the kouse and the camas; here we take the beaver; and yonder, see, a door in the mountains." on her little pony, with her baby on her back, the placid indian girl led the way into the labyrinthine rockies. clark followed, descending into the beautiful big hole prairie, where in 1877 a great battle was to be fought with chief joseph, exactly one hundred years after the 1777 troubles, when george rogers clark laid before patrick henry his plan for the capture of illinois. out of the big hole, chief joseph was to escape with his women, his children, and his dead, to be chased a thousand miles over the very summit of the rockies! standing there on the field of future battle, "onward!" still urged sacajawea, "the gap there leads to your canoes!" the bird woman knew these highlands,--they were her native hills. as sacajawea fell back, the men turned their horses at a gallop. almost could they count the milestones now, down willard creek, where first paying gold was discovered in montana, past shoshone cove, over the future site of bannock to the jefferson. scarcely taking the saddles from their steeds, the eager men ran to open the _cache_ hid from the shoshones. to those who so long had practised self-denial it meant food, clothing, merchandise--an indian ship in the wild. everything was safe, goods, canoes, tobacco. in a trice the long-unused pipes were smoking with the weed of old virginia. "better than any injun red-willer k'nick-er-k'nick!" said coalter, the hunter. leaving sergeant pryor with six men to bring on the horses, captain clark and the rest embarked in the canoes, and were soon gliding down the emerald jefferson, along whose banks for sixty years no change should come. impetuous mountain streams, calmed to the placid pool of the beaver dam, widened into lakes and marshes. beaver, otter, musk-rats innumerable basked along the shore. around the boats all night the disturbed denizens flapped the water with their tails,--angry at the invasion of their solitude. at the three forks, clark's pony train remounted for the yellowstone, prancing and curveting along the beaver-populated dells of the gallatin. before them arose, bewildering, peak on peak, but again the bird woman, sacajawea, pointed out the yellowstone gap, the bozeman pass of to-day, on the great shoshone highway. many a summer had sacajawea, child of elfin locks, ridden on the trailing travoises through this familiar gateway into the buffalo haunts of yellowstone park. slowly clark and his expectant cavalcade mounted the pass, where for ages the buffalo and the indian alone had trod. as they reached the summit, the glorious yellowstone alps burst on their view. at their feet a rivulet, born on the mountain top, leaped away, bright and clear, over its gravelly bed to the yellowstone in the plains below. it was the brother of george rogers clark that stood there, one to the manner born of riding great rivers or breaking through mountain chains. but thirty years had elapsed since that elder brother and daniel boone had threaded the cumberland gap of the alleghanies. the highways of the buffalo became the highways of the nation. "it is no more than eighteen miles," said clark, glancing back from the high snowy gap, half piercing, half surmounting the dividing ridge between the missouri and the yellowstone, so nearly do their headwaters interlock. in coming up this pass, clark's party went through the present city limits of bozeman, the county seat of gallatin, and over the route of future indians, trappers, miners, road builders, and last and greatest of all, armies of permanent occupation that are marching still to the valleys of fertile montana. up the shining yellowstone, over the belt range, through the tunnel to bozeman, the iron horse flits to-day, on, westerly one hundred miles to helena, almost in the exact footsteps trodden by the heroic youth of one hundred years ago. among the cottonwood groves of the yellowstone, clark's men quickly fashioned a pair of dugouts, lashed together with rawhide; and in these frail barks, twenty-eight feet long, the captain and party embarked, leaving sergeant pryor, shannon, windsor, and hall to bring on the horses. all manner of trouble pryor had with those horses. lame from continual travel, he made moccasins for their feet. they were buffalo runners, trained for the hunt. at sight of the yellowstone herds away they flew, to chase in the old wild indian fashion of their red masters. no sooner had pryor rounded them up and brought them back than they disappeared utterly,--stolen by the crows. not one of the entire fifty horses was ever recovered. here was a serious predicament. down the impetuous yellowstone clark's boats had already gone. alone in the heart of the buffalo country these four men were left, thousands of miles from the haunts of civilised man. "we must join captain clark at all hazards. we must improvise boats," said shannon. sergeant pryor recalled the welsh coracles of the mandans. "can we make one?" long slim saplings were bent to form a hoop for the rim, another hoop held by cross-sticks served for the bottom. over this rude basket green buffalo hides were tightly drawn, and in these frail craft they took to the water, close in the wake of their unconscious captain. and meanwhile clark was gliding down the yellowstone. on either bank buffaloes dotted the landscape, under the shade of trees and standing in the water like cattle, or browsing on a thousand hills. gangs of stately elk, light troops of sprightly antelopes, fleet and graceful as the gazelle of oriental song, deer of slim elastic beauty, and even bighorns that could be shot from the boat. sometimes were heard the booming subterranean geysers hidden in the hollows of the mountains, but none in the party yet conceived of the wonders of yellowstone park that coalter came back to discover that same autumn. one day clark landed to examine a remarkable rock. its sides were carved with indian figures, and a cairn was heaped upon the summit. stirred by he knew not what impulse, clark named it pompey's pillar, and carved his name upon the yielding sandstone, where his bold lettering is visible yet to-day. more and more distant each day grew the rockies, etched fainter each night on the dim horizon of the west. more and more numerous grew the buffaloes, delaying the boats with their countless herds stampeding across the yellowstone. for an hour one day the boats waited, the wide river blackened by their backs, and before night two other herds, as numerous as the first, came beating across the yellow-brown tide. but more than buffaloes held sway on the magic yellowstone. wrapped in their worn-out blankets the men could not sleep for the scourge of mosquitoes; they could not sight their rifles for the clouds of moving, whizzing, buzzing, biting insects. even the buffalo were stifled by them in their nostrils. nine hundred miles now had they come down the yellowstone, to its junction with the missouri half a mile east of the montana border, but no sign yet had they found of lewis. clark wrote on the sand, "w. c. a few miles further down on the right hand side." august 8, sergeant pryor and his companions appeared in their little skin tubs. four days later, there was a shout and waving of caps,--the boats of captain lewis came in sight at noon. but a moment later every cheek blanched with alarm. "where is captain lewis?" demanded clark, running forward. there in the bottom of a canoe, lewis lay as one dead, pale but smiling. he had been shot. with the gentleness of a brother clark lifted him up, and they carried him to camp. "a mistake,--an accident,--'tis nothing," he whispered. and then the story leaked out. cruzatte, one-eyed, near-sighted, mistaking lewis in his dress of brown leather for an elk, had shot him through the thigh. with the assistance of patrick gass, lewis had dressed the wound himself. on account of great pain and high fever he slept that night in the boat. and now the party were happily reunited. xxvii _the home stretch_ in the distance there was a gleam of coloured blankets where the beehive huts of the mandan village lay. a firing of guns and the blunderbuss brought black cat to the boats. "come and eat." and with the dignity of an old roman, the chief extended his hand. "come and eat," was the watchword of every chieftain on the missouri. even the sioux said, "come and eat!" hospitable as arabs, they spread the buffalo robe and brought the pipe. while the officers talked with the master of the lodge, the silent painstaking squaws put the kettles on the fire, and slaughtered the fatted dog for the honoured guests. "how many chiefs will accompany us to washington?" that was the first inquiry of the business-pushing white men. through jussaume the indians answered. "i would go," said the black cat, "but de sioux--" "de sioux will certainly kill us," said le borgne of the minnetarees. "dey are waiting now to intercept you on de river. dey will cut you off." "we stay at home. we listen to your counsel," piped up little cherry. "but dey haf stolen our horses. dey haf scalp our people." "we must fight to protect ourselves," added the black cat. "we live in peace wit' all nation--'cept de sioux!" in vain captain clark endeavoured to quiet their apprehensions. "we shall not suffer the sioux to injure one of our red children." "i pledge my government that a company of armed men shall guard you on your return," added lewis. at this point jussaume reported that shahaka, or big white, in his wish to see the president, had overcome his fears. he would go to washington. six feet tall, of magnificent presence, with hair white and coarse as a horse's mane, shahaka, of all the chiefs, was the one to carry to the states the tradition of a white admixture in the mandan blood. "the handsomest injun i iver saw," said patrick gass. arrangements for departure were now made as rapidly as possible. presents of corn, beans, and squashes, more than all the boats could carry, were piled around the white men's camp. the blacksmith's tools were intrusted to charboneau for the use of the mandans. the blunderbuss, given to the minnetarees, was rolled away to their village with great exultation. "now let the sioux come!" it was a challenge and a refuge. the iron corn mill was nowhere to be seen. for scarcely had lewis and clark turned their backs for the upper missouri before it had been broken into bits to barb the indian arrows. sacajawea looked wistfully. she, too, would like to visit the white man's country. "we will take you and your wife down if you choose to go," said captain clark to charboneau. "i haf no acquaintance, no prospect to mak' a leeving dere," answered the interpreter. "i mus' leeve as i haf done." "i will take your son and have him educated as a white child should be," continued the captain. charboneau and sacajawea looked at one another and at their beautiful boy now nineteen months old, prattling in their midst. "we would be weeling eef de child were weaned," slowly spake charboneau. "een wan year, he be ole enough to leaf he moder. i den tak' eem to you eef you be so friendly to raise eem as you t'ink proper." "bring him to me in one year. i will take the child," said captain clark. captain lewis paid charboneau five hundred dollars, loaded sacajawea with what gifts he could, and left them in the mandan country. all was now ready for the descent to st. louis. the boats, lashed together in pairs, were at the shore. big white was surrounded by his friends, seated in a circle, solemnly smoking. the women wept aloud; the little children trembled and hid behind their mothers. more courageous than any, shahaka immediately sent his wife and son with their baggage on board. the interpreter, jussaume, with his wife and two children, accompanied them. yes, madame jussaume was going to washington! sacajawea, modest princess of the shoshones, heroine of the great expedition, stood with her babe in arms and smiled upon them from the shore. so had she stood in the rocky mountains pointing out the gates. so had she followed the great rivers, navigating the continent. sacajawea's hair was neatly braided, her nose was fine and straight, and her skin pure copper like the statue in some old florentine gallery. madonna of her race, she had led the way to a new time. to the hands of this girl, not yet eighteen, had been intrusted the key that unlocked the road to asia. some day upon the bozeman pass, sacajawea's statue will stand beside that of clark. some day, where the rivers part, her laurels will vie with those of lewis. across north america a shoshone indian princess touched hands with jefferson, opening her country. all the chiefs had gathered to see the boats start. "stay but one moment," they said. clark stepped back. black cat handed him a pipe, as if for benediction. the solemn smoke-wreaths soon rolled upward. "tell our great fader de young men will remain at home and not mak' war on any people, except in self-defence." "tell de rickara to come and visit. we mean no harm." "tak' good care dis chief. he will bring word from de great fader." it was a promise and a prayer. strong chiefs turned away with misgiving and trepidation as they saw shahaka depart with the white men. dropping below their old winter quarters at fort mandan, lewis and clark saw but a row of pickets left. the houses lay in ashes, destroyed by an accidental fire. all were there for the homeward pull but coalter. he had gone back with hancock and dickson, two adventurers from boone's settlement, to discover the yellowstone park. on the fourth day out three frenchmen were met approaching the mandan nation with the message,-"seven hundert sioux haf pass de rickara to mak' war on de mandan an' minnetaree." fortunately, shahaka did not understand, and no one told him. the arikara village greeted the passing boats. lewis, still lame, requested clark to go up to the village. like children confessing their misdeeds the arikaras began: "we cannot keep the peace! our young men follow the sioux!" the wild cheyennes, with their dogs and horses and handsome leathern lodges, were here on a trading visit, to exchange with the arikaras meat and robes for corn and beans. they were a noble race, of straight limbs and roman noses, unaccustomed to the whites, shy and cautious. "we war against none but the sioux, with whom we have battled for ever," they said. everywhere there was weeping and mourning. "my son, my son, he has been slain by the sioux!" between the lands of the warring nations surged seas of buffalo, where to-day are the waving bonanza wheat fields of north dakota. from an eminence clark looked over the prairies. "more buffalo than ever i have seen before at one time,"--and he had seen many. "if it be not impossible to calculate the moving multitude that darkens the plains, twenty thousand would be no exaggerated estimate." they were now well into the country of the great sioux indian confederacy. arms and ammunition were inspected. the sharp air thrilled and filled them with new vigour. no wonder the sioux were never still. the ozone of the arctic was in their veins, the sweeping winds drove them, the balsamic prairie was their bed, the sky their canopy. they never shut themselves up in stuffy mud huts, as did the mandans; they lived in tents. unrestrained, unregenerate, there was in them the fire of the six nations, of king philip and of pontiac. tall, handsome, finely formed, agile, revengeful, intelligent, capable,--they loved their country and they hated strangers. so did the greeks. an effeminate nation would have fallen before them as did the roman before the goth, but in the anglo-saxon they met their master. "whoop-ah-ho-o-oh!" as anticipated, black buffalo and his pirate band were on the hills. whether that fierce cry meant defiance or greeting no man could tell. "whoop-ah-ho-o-oh!" the whole band rushed down to the shore, and even out into the water, shouting invitations to land, and waving from the sand-banks. but too fresh in memory was the attempt to carry off captain clark. jubilant, hopeful, and full of the fire of battle as the white men were, yet no one wished to test the prowess of the sioux. unwilling to venture an interview, the boats continued on their way. black buffalo shook his war bonnet defiantly, and returning to the hill smote the earth three times with the butt of his rifle, the registration of a mighty oath against the whites. leaving behind them a wild brandishing of bows, arrows, and tomahawks, and an atmosphere filled with taunts, insults, and imprecations, the boats passed out of sight. wafted on the wind followed that direful "whoop-ah-ho-o-oh!" ending with the piercing shrill indian yell that for sixty years froze the earliest life blood of minnesota and dakota. here in the land of the teton sioux was to be planted the future fort rice, where exactly sixty years after lewis and clark, there crossed the missouri one of the most powerful, costly, and best equipped expeditions ever sent out against hostile indians,--four thousand cavalry, eight hundred mounted infantry, twelve pieces of artillery, three hundred government teams, three hundred beef steers, and fifteen steamboats to carry supplies,--to be joined here on the fourth of july, 1864, by an emigrant train of one hundred and sixty teams and two hundred and fifty people,--the van guard of montana settlement. the sioux were defeated in the bad lands, and the emigrants were carried safely through to helena, where they and their descendants live to-day. already sweeping up the missouri, lewis and clark met advancing empire. near vermilion river, james aird was camping with a license to trade among the sioux. "what is the news from st. louis?" there on the borders of a future great state, lewis and clark first heard that burr and hamilton had fought a duel and hamilton was killed; that three hundred american troops were cantoned at bellefontaine, a new log fort on the missouri; that spain had taken a united states frigate on the mediterranean; that two british ships of war had fired on an american ship in the port of new york, killing the captain's brother. great was the indignation in the united states against jefferson and the impressment of american seamen. "the money spent for louisiana would have been much better used in building fighting ships." "the president had much better be protecting our rights than cutting up animals and stuffing the skins of dead raccoons." "where is our national honour? gone, abandoned on the mississippi." and these _coureurs_ on the mississippi heard that the conflict foreseen by napoleon, when he gave us louisiana, was raging now in all its fury, interdicting the commerce of the world. to their excited ears the river rushed and rocked, the earth rumbled, with the roar of cannon. to themselves lewis and clark seemed a very small part of the forces that make and unmake nations,--and yet that expedition meant more to the world than the field of waterloo! the next noon, on ascending the hill of floyd's bluff they found the indians had opened the grave of their comrade. reverently it was filled again. home from the buffalo hunt in the plains of the nebraska, the omahas were firing guns to signal their return to gather in their harvest of corn, beans, and pumpkins. keel boats, barges, and bateaux came glistening into view,--auguste chouteau with merchandise to trade with the yanktons, another chouteau to the platte, a trader with two men to the pawnee loupes, and joseph la croix with seven men bound for the omahas. through the lessening distance clark recognised on one of the barges his old comrade, robert mcclellan, the wonderful scout of wayne's army, who had ridden on many an errand of death. since wayne's victory mcclellan had been a ranger still, but now the indians were quieting down,--all except tecumseh. "the country has long since given you up," he told the captain. "we have word from jefferson to seek for news of lewis and clark. the general opinion in the united states is that you are lost in the unfathomable depths of the continent. but president jefferson has hopes. the last heard of you was at the mandan villages." with a laugh they listened to their own obituaries. on the same barge with mcclellan was gravelines with orders from jefferson to instruct the arikaras in agriculture, and dorion to help make way through the sioux. "brave raven, the arikara chief, died in washington," said gravelines. "i am on my way to them with a speech from the president and the presents which have been made to the chief." how home now tugged at their heart strings! eager to be on the way, they bade farewell to mcclellan. down, down they shot along, wind, current, and paddle in their favour, past shores where the freebooting kansas indians robbed the traders, past increasing forests of walnut, elm, oak, hickory. the men were now reduced to a biscuit apiece. wild turkeys gobbled on shore, but the party paused not a moment to hunt. on the twentieth a mighty shout went up. they heard the clank of cow bells, and saw tame cattle feeding on the hills of charette, the home of daniel boone. with cheers and firing of guns they landed at the village. "we are indeet astonished," exclaimed the joyful habitants, grasping their hands. "you haf been given up for det long tam since." the men were scattered among the families for the night, honoured guests of charette. "plaintee tam we wish ourself back on ole san loui'," said cruzatte to his admiring countrymen. to their surprise lewis and clark found new settlements all the way down from charette. september 21, firing a tremendous salute from the old stone tower behind the huts, all st. charles paid tribute to the homeric heroes who had wandered farther than ulysses and slain more monsters than hercules. just above the junction of the missouri and mississippi rivers loomed the fresh mud chimneys of the new log fort bellefontaine, colonel thomas hunt in command, and dr. saugrain, surgeon, appointed by jefferson. the colonel's pretty little daughter, abby hunt, looked up in admiration at lewis and clark, and followed all day these "indian white men" from the north. forty years after she told the story of that arrival. "they wore dresses of deerskin, fringed and worked with porcupine quills, something between a military undress frock coat and an indian shirt, with leggings and moccasins, three-cornered cocked hats and long beards." standing between the centuries in that log fort on the missouri, pretty little abby hunt herself was destined to become historic, as the wife of colonel snelling and the mother of the first white child born in minnesota. after an early breakfast with colonel hunt, the expedition set out for the last stretch homeward. they rounded out of the missouri into the mississippi, and pulled up to st. louis at noon, tuesday, september 23, 1806, after an absence of nearly two years and a half. xxviii _the old stone forts of st. louis_ it was noon when lewis and clark sighted the old stone forts of the spanish time. never had that frontier site appeared so noble, rising on a vast terrace from the rock-bound river. as the white walls burst on their view, with simultaneous movement every man levelled his rifle. the captains smiled and gave the signal,--the roar of thirty rifles awoke the echoes from the rocks. running down the stony path to the river came the whole of st. louis,--eager, meagre, little frenchmen, tanned and sallow and quick of gait, smaller than the americans, but graceful and gay, with a heartfelt welcome; black-eyed french women in camasaks and kerchiefs, dropping their trowels in their neat little gardens where they had been delving among the hollyhocks; gay little french children in red petticoats; and here and there a kentuckian, lank and lean, eager,--all tripping and skipping down to the water's edge. elbowing his way among them came monsieur auguste chouteau, the most noted man in st. louis. pierre, his brother, courtly, well-dressed, eminently social, came also; and even madame, their mother, did not disdain to come down to welcome her friends, _les américains_. it was like the return of a fur brigade, with shouts of laughter and genuine rejoicing. "_mon dieu! mon dieu!_ eet ees leewes an' clark whom ve haf mournt as det in dose rock mountain. what good word mought dey bring from te fur countree." with characteristic abandon the emotional little frenchmen flung their arms around the stately forms of lewis and clark, and more than one pretty girl that day printed a kiss on their bearded lips. "major christy,--well, i declare!" an old wayne's army comrade grasped captain clark by the hand. what memories that grasp aroused! william christy, one of his brother officers, ready not more than a dozen years ago to aid in capturing this same san luis de ilinoa! "i have moved to this town. i have a tavern. send your baggage right up!" and forthwith a creaking charette came lumbering down the rocky way. "take a room at my house." pierre chouteau grasped the hands of both captains at once. and to chouteau's they went. "but first we must send word of our safe arrival to the president," said lewis, feeling unconsciously for certain papers that had slept next his heart for many a day. "te post haf departed from san loui'," remarked a bystander. "departed? it must be delayed. here, drouillard, hurry with this note to mr. hay at cahokia and bid him hold the mail until to-morrow noon." drouillard, with his old friend pascal cerré, the son of gabriel, set off at once across the mississippi. the wharf was lined with flatboats loaded with salt for 'kasky and furs for new orleans. once a month a one-horse mail arrived at cahokia. formerly st. louis went over there for mail,--st. louis was only a village near cahokia then; but already _les américains_ were turning things upside down. "we haf a post office now. san loui' haf grown." every one said that. to eyes that had seen nothing more stately than fort mandan or clatsop, st. louis had taken on metropolitan airs. in the old fort where lately lounged the spanish governor, peering anxiously across the dividing waters, and whence had lately marched the spanish garrison, american courts of justice were in session. out of the old spanish martello tower on the hill, a few indian prisoners looked down on the animated street below. with the post office and the court house had come the american school, and already vivacious french children were claiming as their own, patrick henry, thomas jefferson, and george washington. just opposite the chouteau mansion was the old spanish government house, the house where george rogers clark had met and loved the dazzling donna. aaron burr had lately been there, feted by the people, plotting treason with wilkinson in the government house itself; and now his disorganised followers, young men of birth and education from atlantic cities, stranded in st. louis, were to become the pioneer schoolmasters of upper louisiana. new houses were rising on every hand. in the good old french days, goods at fabulous prices were kept in boxes. did madame or mademoiselle wish anything, it must be unpacked as from a trunk. once a year goods arrived. sugar, gunpowder, blankets, spices, knives, hatchets, and kitchen-ware, pell-mell, all together, were coming out now onto shelves erected by the thrifty americans. already new stores stood side by side with the old french mansions. "alas! te good old quiet times are gone," sighed the french habitants, wiping a tear with the blue bandana. and while they looked askance at the tall americans, elephantine horses, and conestoga waggons, that kept crossing the river, the prices of the little two-acre farms of the frenchmen went up, until in a few years the old french settlers were the nabobs of the land. already two ferry lines were transporting a never-ending line through this new gateway to the wider west. land-mad settlers were flocking into "jefferson's purchase," grubbing out hazel roots, splitting rails, making fences, building barns and bridges. men whose sole wealth consisted in an auger, a handsaw, and a gun, were pushing into the prairies and the forests. long-bearded, dressed in buckskin, with a knife at his belt and a rifle at his back, the forest-ranging backwoodsman was over-running louisiana. "why do you live so isolated?" the stranger would ask. "i never wish to hear the bark of a neighbour's dog. when you hear the sound of a neighbour's gun it is time to move away." thus, solitary and apart, the american frontiersman took up missouri. strolling along the rue royale, followed by admiring crowds, lewis and clark found themselves already at the pierre chouteau mansion, rising like an old-world chateau amid the lesser st. louis. up the stone steps, within the demi-fortress, there were glimpses of fur warehouses, stables, slaves' quarters, occupying a block,--practically a fort within the city. other guests were there before them,--charles gratiot, who had visited the clarks in virginia, and john p. cabanné, who was to wed gratiot's daughter, julia. on one of those flatboats crowding the wharf that morning came happy pierre menard, the most illustrious citizen of kaskaskia, with his bride of a day, angelique saucier. pierre menard's nephew, michel menard, was shortly to leave for texas, to become an indian trader and founder of the city of galveston. at the board, too, sat pierre chouteau, the younger, just returned from a trip up the mississippi with julien dubuque, where he had helped to start dubuque and open the lead mines. out of the wild summer grape the old inhabitants of st. louis had long fabricated their choicest burgundy. but of late the chouteaus had begun to import their wine from france, along with ebony chairs, claw-footed tables, and other luxuries, the first in this mississippi wild. for never had the fur-trade been so prosperous. there was laughter and clinking of glasses, and questions of lands beyond the yellowstone. out of that hour arose schemes for a trapper's conquest along the trail on which ten future states were strung. "the mouth of the yellowstone commands the rich fur-trade of the rocky mountains," said captain clark. captain lewis dwelt on the three forks as a strategic point for a fort. no one there listened with more breathless intent than the dark-haired boy, the young chouteau, who was destined to become the greatest financier of the west, a king of the fur trade, first rival and then partner of john jacob astor. no wonder the home-coming of lewis and clark was the signal for enterprises such as this country had never yet seen. they had penetrated a realm whose monarch was the grizzly bear, whose queen was the beaver, whose armies were indian tribes and the buffalo. gallic love of gaiety and amusement found in this return ample opportunity for the indulgence of hospitable dancing and feasting. every door was open. every house, from chouteau's down, had its guest out of the gallant thirty-one. hero-worship was at its height. hero-worship is characteristic of youthful, progressive peoples. whole nations strive to emulate ideals. the moment that ceases, ossification begins. here the ideals were lewis and clark. they had been west; their men had been west. they, who had traced the missouri to its cradle in the mountains, who had smoked the calumet with remotest tribes, who had carried the flag to the distant pacific, became the lions of st. louis. such spontaneous welcome made a delightful impression upon the hearts of the young captains, and they felt a strong inclination to make the city their permanent home. the galleries of the little inns of st. louis were filled with frenchmen, smoking and telling stories all day long. nothing hurried, nothing worried them; the rise of the river, the return of a brigade, alone broke the long summer day of content. but here was something new. even york, addicted to romance, told munchausen tales of thrilling incidents that never failed of an appreciative audience. trappers, flat-boatmen, frontiersmen, and frenchmen loved to spin long yarns at the green tree inn, but york could outdo them all. he had been to the ocean, had seen the great whale and sturgeon that put all inland fish stories far into the shade. petrie, auguste chouteau's old negro, who came with him as a boy and grew old and thought he owned auguste chouteau,--petrie, who always said, "me and the colonel," met in york for the first time one greater than himself. immediately upon their return lewis and clark had repaired to the barber and tailor, and soon bore little resemblance to the tawny frontiersmen in fringed hunting-shirts and beards that had so lately issued from the wilderness. in the upper story of the chouteau mansion, the captains regarded with awe the high four-poster with its cushiony, billowy feather-bed. "this is too luxurious! york, bring my robe and bear-skin." lewis and clark could not sleep in beds that night. they heard the watch call and saw the glimmer of campfires in their dreams. the grandeur of the mountains was upon them, cold and white and crowned with stars, the vastness of the prairie and the dashing of ocean, the roar of waterfalls, the hum of insects, and the bellowing of buffalo. they knew now the missouri like the face of a friend; they had stemmed its muddy mouth, had evaded its shifting sandbanks, had watched its impetuous falls that should one day whirl a thousand wheels. up windings green as paradise they had drunk of its crystal sources in the mountains. they had seen it when the mountains cast their shadows around the campfires, and in the blaze of noon when the quick tempest beat it into ink. they had seen it white in mandan winter, the icy trail of brave and buffalo; and they had seen it crimson, when far-off peaks were tipped with amethystine gold. in the vast and populous solitude of nature they had followed the same missouri spreading away into the beaver-meadows of the madison, the jefferson, and the gallatin, and had written their journals on hillsides where the windflower and the larkspur grew wild on montana hills. an instinct, a relic, an inheritance of long ago was upon them, when their ancestors roved the earth untrammelled by cities and civilisation, when the rock was man's pillow and the cave his home, when the arrow in his strong hand brought the fruits of the chase, when garments of skin clad his limbs, and god spoke to the white savage under the old phoenician stars. in their dreams they felt the rain and wind beat on their leather tent. sacajawea's baby cried, spring nodded with the rosy clarkia, screamed with clark's crow, and tapped with lewis's woodpecker. "rat-tat-tat!" was that the woodpecker? no, some one was knocking at the door of their bed chamber. and no one else than pierre chouteau himself. "drouillard is back from cahokia ready to carry your post. the rider waits." this was the world again. it was morning. throwing off robes and bear-skins, and rising from the hardwood floor where they had voluntarily camped that night, both captains looked at the tables strewn with letters, where until past midnight they had sat the night before. there lay clark's letter to his brother, george rogers, and there, also, was the first rough draft of lewis's letter to the president, in a hand as fine and even as copperplate, but interlined, and blotted with erasures. in the soft, warm st. louis morning, with mississippi breezes rustling the curtain, after a hurried breakfast both set to work to complete the letters. for a time nothing was heard but the scratching of quill pens, as each made clean copies of their letters for transmission to the far-off centuries. but no centuries troubled then; to-day,--_to-day_, was uppermost. york stuck in his head, hat in hand. "massah clahk, drewyer say he hab jus' time, sah." "well, sir, tell drouillard the whole united states mail service can wait on us to-day. we are writing to the president." before ten o'clock drouillard was off to cahokia with messages that gave to the nation at large its first intimation that the pacific expedition was a consummated fact. xxix _to washington_ there were hurried days at st. louis, a village that knew not haste before. the skins were sunned and stored in the rooms of cadet chouteau. boxes of specimens were packed for the government. captain lewis opened his trunk and found his papers all wet. the hermetically sealed tin cases that held the precious journals alone had saved these from destruction. the captains had their hands full. the restless men must be paid and discharged. nine of the adventurers within a week after the return to st. louis sold their prospective land claims for a pittance. seven of these claims were bought by their fellow soldiers; sergeant john ordway took several of the men and settled on the site of the present city of new madrid. robert frazer received two hundred and fifty dollars for his claim, and prepared to publish his travels,--a volume that never saw the light. in addition to land grants, the men received double pay amounting altogether to eleven thousand dollars. a grand dinner, given by st. louis, a ball and farewell, and the captains were on the way with their mandan chief, big white, and his indians, and gass, shannon, ordway, pryor, and bratton. "the route by which i propose travelling to washington is by way of cahokia, vincennes, louisville, the crab orchard, fincastle, staunton, and charlottesville," captain lewis had written in that letter to jefferson. "any letters directed to me at louisville will most probably meet me at that place." with well-filled saddle-bags, the returning heroes crossed to cahokia and set out across illinois in the indian summer of 1806. governor harrison was at vincennes, and vigo, and a hundred others to welcome. "hurrah for old kentucky!" cried clark, as he caught sight of its limestone shores. on many a smiling hilltop, the log cabin had expanded into a baronial country seat, with waxed floors and pianos. already the stables were full of horses, the halls were full of music. clark, lewis, and big white climbed the cliff to the point of rock. who but chiefs should visit there? with newspapers around him, sat george rogers clark, following the career of napoleon. that calm and splendid eye kindled at sight of his brother. his locks had grown longer, his eye a deeper black under the shaggy brows, but the revolutionary hero shone in every lineament as he took the hands of the two explorers. with the dashing waters at their feet, upon the lonely point of rock, above the falls of the ohio, william clark stopped first to greet his brother from the great expedition. painters may find a theme here, and future romancers a page in drama. without delay, taking his rusty three-cornered _chapeau_ from its peg, and donning his faded uniform, the conqueror of illinois accompanied the explorers to locust grove, ablaze that night with welcome. lucy, fanny, edmund were there; and jonathan from mulberry hill; major croghan, the courtly host of old; and the lad, george croghan, now in his fifteenth year. all too quickly fled the hours; the hickory flamed and the brass andirons shone not brighter than the happy faces. spread around for exhibition were mandan robes, fleeces of the mountain goat, clatsop hats, buffalo horns, and indian baskets, captain clark's "tiger-cat coat," indian curios, and skins of grizzly bears,--each article suggestive of adventure surpassing marco polo or the arabian nights. another huge box, filled with bones for the president, had been left with george rogers clark at the point of rock. louisville received the explorers with bonfires and cannonry. a grand ball was given in their honour, in which the indians, especially, shone in medals and plumage. the next day there was a sad visit to mill creek, where lamenting parents received the last token and listened to the final word concerning their beloved son, sergeant charles floyd. a cold wind and a light fall of snow warned them no time must be lost in crossing the kentucky mountains; but encumbered with the indian retinue they made slow progress along that atrocious road, on which the followers of boone had "sometimes paused to pray and sometimes stopped to swear." a few days beyond cumberland gap, clark's heart beat a tattoo; they had come to fincastle! among its overhanging vines and trees, the hancock mansion was in holiday attire,--harriet kennerly had just been married to dr. radford of fincastle. colonel hancock had been proud to entertain george rogers clark, still more was he now delighted with the visit of the famous explorers. "la!" exclaimed black granny at the announcement of captain clark. "miss judy?" black granny had nursed miss judy from the cradle. sedately miss judy came down the long staircase,--not the child that clark remembered, but a woman, petite, serious. the chestnut brown curls with a glint of gold were caught with a high back comb, and a sweeping gown had replaced the short petticoats that lately tripped over the foothills of the blue ridge. "my pretty cousin going to marry that ugly man?" exclaimed harriet, when she heard of the early engagement. there was nothing effeminate about clark, nor artificial. his features were rugged almost to plainness; his head was high from the ear to the top, a large brain chamber. "absolutely beautiful," said judy to herself, associating those bronzed features with endless winds that blew on far-off mountains. behind the respectable old hancock silver, judy's mother turned the tea and talked. turning up his laced sleeves to carve the mutton, colonel hancock asked a thousand questions regarding that wonderful journey. "we passed the winter on the pacific, then crossed the mountains, and my division came down the yellowstone," clark was saying. "by the way, judy, i have named a river for you,--the judith." a peal of laughter rang through the dining-room. "judith! judith, did you say? why, captain clark, my name is julia." clark was confounded. he almost feared judy was making fun of him. "is it, really, now? i always supposed judy stood for judith." again rang out the infectious peal, in which clark himself joined; but to this day rolls the river judith in montana, named for clark's mountain maid of fincastle. "that i should live to see you back from the pacific!" was aunt molly's greeting at "the farm," at charlottesville. "i reckoned the cannibal savages would eat you. we looked for nothing less than the fate of captain cook." but maria, whose eyes had haunted lewis in many a long montana day, seemed strangely shy and silent. in fact, she had another lover, perhaps a dearer one. uncle nicholas was sick. he was growing old, but still directed the negroes of a plantation that extended from charlottesville to the fluvanna. it was sunset when captain lewis reached the home at locust hill, and was folded to his mother's bosom. with daily prayer had lucy meriwether followed her boy across the rocky mountains. meriwether's little pet sister, mary marks, had blossomed into a bewitching rose. "here is a letter from the president." captain lewis read his first message from jefferson in more than two years and a half. turning to big white, the chief, who at every step had gazed with amazement at the white man's country,-"the president says 'tell my friend of mandan that i have already opened my arms to receive him." "ugh! ugh!" commented big white, with visions of barbaric splendour in his untutored brain. that afternoon the entire party rode over to monticello to show the chief the president's indian hall, where all their gifts and tokens had been arranged for display. the next day, by richmond, fredericksburg, and alexandria, the party set out for the national capital. every step of the way was a triumphal progress. xxx _the plaudits of a nation_ it was well into january before both captains reached washington. workmen were still building at the capitol, rearing a home for congress. tools of carpentry and masonry covered the windy lawn where jefferson rode daily, superintending as on his own virginia plantation. never had captain lewis seen his old friend, the president, so moved as when black ben, the valet, with stentorian call announced, "captains mehwether lewis and william clahk!" in silk stockings and pumps they stood in the blue room. at sight of that well-known figure in blue coat faced with yellow, red plush waistcoat, and green velveteen breeches, meriwether lewis bounded as a boy toward his old friend. the gray-haired president visibly trembled as he strained the two sons of his country to his heart. tears gushed from his eyes, "the suspense has been awful." then pausing, with difficulty he controlled his emotion. "but the hopes, the dreams, the ambitions of twenty years are now vindicated, and you are safe, boys, you are safe. i felt that if you were lost the country would hold me responsible." if others had asked questions about the route, jefferson now overwhelmed them with an avalanche, put with the keenness of a scholar and the penetration of a scientist. for with the possible exception of franklin, thomas jefferson was the most learned man of his time. into the president's hands lewis placed the precious journals, obtained at such a cost in toil and travel. each pocket volume, morocco-bound, had as soon as filled been cemented in a separate tin case to prevent injury by wetting. but now lewis had slipped the cases off and displayed them neat and fresh as on the day of writing. on rocking boats, on saddle pommels, and after dark by the flickering campfire, had the writing been done. t's were not always crossed, nor i's dotted, as hurriedly each event was jotted down to be read and criticised after a hundred years. written under such circumstances, and in such haste, it is not remarkable that words are misspelled and some omitted. a considerable collection of later letters gives ample evidence that both the captains were graceful correspondents. and the vocabularies, the precious vocabularies gathered from council bluffs to clatsop, were taken by jefferson and carefully laid away for future study. big white and his indians were entertained by jefferson and the cabinet. dolly madison, mrs. gallatin, and other ladies of the white house, manifested the liveliest interest as the tall shahaka, six feet and ten inches, stood up before them in his best necklace of bear's claws, admiring the pretty squaws that talked to them. "and was your father a chief, and your father's father?" mrs. madison inquired of shahaka. she was always interested in families and lineage. "and what makes your hair so white?" but shahaka had never heard of prince madoc. never had the village-capital been so gay. dinners and balls followed in rapid succession, eulogies and poems were recited in honour of the explorers. there was even talk of changing the name of the columbia to lewis river. in those days everybody went to the capitol to hear the debates. the report of lewis and clark created a lively sensation. complaints of the louisiana purchase ceased. from the mississippi to the sea, the united states had virtually taken possession of the continent. members of congress looked at one another with dilated eyes. with lifted brow and prophetic vision the young republic pierced the future. the mississippi, once her utmost border, was now but an inland river. beyond it, the great west hove in sight, with peaks of snow and the blue south sea. the problem of the ages had been solved; lewis and clark had found the road to asia. the news fell upon europe and america as not less than a revelation. congress immediately gave sixteen hundred acres of land each to the captains, and double pay in gold and three hundred and twenty acres to each of their men, to be laid out on the west side of the mississippi. on the third day of march, 1807, captain lewis was appointed governor of louisiana; and on march 12, captain clark was made brigadier general, and indian agent for louisiana. tall, slender, but twenty-nine, henry clay was in the senate, advocating roads,--roads and canals to the west. he was planning, pleading, persuading for a canal around the falls of the ohio, he was appealing for the improvement of the wilderness road through which boone had broken a bridle trace. his prolific imagination grasped the chesapeake and ohio canal and an interior connection with the lakes. henry clay--"harry clay" as kentucky fondly called him--had a faculty for remembering names, faces, places. as yesterday, he recalled william clark at lexington. and clark remembered clay, standing in an ox-waggon, with flashing eyes, hair wildly waving, and features aglow, addressing an entranced throng. the same look flashed over him now as he stepped toward the heroes of the pacific. "congratulations, governor." "congratulations, general." the young men smiled at their new titles. another was there, not to be forgotten, strong featured, cordial, cheerful, of manly beauty and large dark eyes, endeavouring to interest congress in his inventions,--robert fulton of the steamboat. wherever they went, a certain halo seemed to hang around these men of adventure. they were soldiers and hunters, and more. through heat and cold, and mount and plain, four thousand miles by canoe, on foot and horseback, through forests of gigantic pines and along the banks of unknown rivers, among unheard-of tribes who had never seen a white man, they had carried the message of the president and brought back a report on the new land that is authority to this day. "what did you find?" eager inquirers crowded on every side to hear the traveller's tale. at louisville, men drove in from distant plantations; at fincastle their steps were thronged along the village walks; in washington they were never alone. "what did we find? gigantic sycamores for canoes, the maple for sugar, the wild cherry and walnut for joiner's work, red and white elm for cartwrights, the osage orange for hedges impenetrable, white and black oak for ship and carpenter work, pine for countless uses, and durable cedar. "what did we find? all sorts of plants and herbs for foods, dyes, and medicines, and pasturage unending. boone's settlers on the missouri frontier have farms of wheat, maize, potatoes, and little cotton fields, two acres sufficient for a family. hemp is indigenous to the soil. even in the mandan land, the indians, with implements that barely scratch the earth, have immense gardens of corn, beans, pumpkins, and squashes. "what did we find? oceans of beaver and seas of buffalo, clay fit for bricks and white clay for pottery, salt springs, saltpetre, and plaster, pipestone, and quarries of marble red and white, mines of iron, lead and coal, horses to be bought for a song, cedar, and fir trees six and eight feet in diameter, enormous salmon that block the streams." no wonder the land was excited at the report of lewis and clark. all at once the unknown mysterious west stood revealed as the home of natural resources. their travels became the robinson crusoe of many a boy who lived to see for himself the marvels of that trans-mississippi. * * * * * sergeant gass received his pay in gold and went home to wellsburg, west virginia, to find his old father smoking still beside the fire. with the help of a scotch schoolmaster patrick published his book the next year, immortalising the name of the gallant irish sergeant. then he "inlisted" again, and fought the creeks, and in 1812 lost an eye at lundy's lane. presently he married the daughter of a judge, and lived to become a great student in his old age, and an authority on indians and early times. john ordway went home to new hampshire and married, and returned to live on his farm near new madrid. william bratton tarried for a time in kentucky, served in the war of 1812 under harrison, and was at tippecanoe and the thames. he married and lived at terre haute, indiana, and is buried at waynetown. george gibson settled at st. louis, and lived and died there. nathaniel pryor and william werner became indian agents under william clark; pryor died in 1831 among the osages. george drouillard went into the fur trade and was killed by the blackfeet at the three forks of the missouri. john coalter, after adventures that will be related, settled at the town of daniel boone, married a squaw and died there. john potts was killed by the blackfeet on the river jefferson. sacajawea and charboneau lived for many years among the mandans, and their descendants are found in dakota to this day. of the voyageurs who went as far as the mandan town, lajaunnesse accompanied fremont across the mountains; and two others, francis rivet and philip degie, were the earliest settlers of oregon, where they lived to a great old age, proud of the fact that they had "belonged to lewis and clark." book iii _the red head chief_ book iii _the red head chief_ i _the shadow of napoleon_ "thank god for the safety of our country!" ejaculated jefferson, in one of his long talks with lewis regarding the upheaval across the sea. in 1802 napoleon had been declared consul for life; may 18, 1804, four days after lewis and clark started, he had been saluted emperor of france. then came jena. when lewis and clark reached the mandan towns, napoleon was entering berlin with the prussian monarchy at his feet. while they camped at clatsop in those december days of 1805, and while baranof prayed for ships in his lonely sitkan outpost, across seas "the sun of austerlitz" had risen. against russian and austrian, napoleon had closed a war with a clap of thunder. every breeze bore news that overawed the world. "napoleon has taken italy." "napoleon has conquered austria." "napoleon has defeated russia." "napoleon has ruined prussia." "napoleon has taken spain." while lewis and clark were at washington came the battles of eylau and dantzic. in december napoleon annexed portugal, and the court of lisbon fled to brazil, to escape his arms and to rear anew the house of braganza. how much more remained to conquer? how soon might the theatre of action come over the sea? still there was england. for a time the napoleonic wars had thrown the carrying trade of the ocean into american hands. american farmers could not reach the coast fast enough with their fleets of grain, the food for armies. cotton went up to a fabulous price. enterprise fired the young republic. ships were building two thousand miles inland to carry her products to the ocean. she grew, she throve, and an ever-increasing inland fleet carried to and fro the red life of a growing nation. on the other hand, the torch of liberty, lit in america and burning there still with calm and splendid lustre, carried by french soldiers to france had kindled a continent, sweeping like a firebrand through a conflagration of abuses. all tradition was overturning. america alone was quiet, the refuge of the world. every ship that touched our shores brought fugitives fleeing from battle-scarred fields where europe groaned in sobs and blood. napoleon was now master of almost the entire coast of europe. did he cast regretful eyes this way? america feared it. nothing but fear of england ever made napoleon give us louisiana. in may, 1806, england blockaded the french coast. napoleon retaliated by the berlin decrees, shutting up all england, interdicting the commerce of the world. and so, when lewis and clark returned, the giants were locked in struggle, like titans of old, tearing up kingdoms, palatinates, and whole empires to hurl at each other. and we had louisiana. when captain lewis went to washington he was the bearer of a mass of papers on land claims sent by auguste chouteau. "i have had some disturbing news from louisiana," said jefferson. "in the first place, monsieur auguste chouteau writes requesting self-government, and that louisiana remain for ever undivided. now the day may come when we shall desire to cut louisiana up into sovereign states,--not now, i grant, but in time, in time. "then the french people of new orleans protest against american rule. such is the dissatisfaction, it is said, that the people of louisiana are only waiting for bonaparte's victory in his war with the allies to return to their allegiance with france. "st. louis asks for a governor 'who must reside in the territory,' hence i propose to put you there." so it came about that meriwether lewis wrote back in february, "i shall probably come on to st. louis for the purpose of residing among you." there was trouble with spain. in july, 1806, everybody thought there would be a war with her. but napoleon was spain's protector. it would never do to declare war against napoleon. napoleon!--the very word meant subjugation. "why are we safe from bonaparte?" exclaimed jefferson. "only because he has not the british fleet at his command." even while congress was at its busiest, devising a government for new orleans, not at all was jefferson sure of the loyalty of the french of louisiana. "if they are not making overtures to napoleon, they are implicated in the treason of aaron burr." all washington was aflame over aaron burr. only two years before captain lewis had left him in the seat of honour at washington. the greatest lawyers in the country now were prosecuting his trial at richmond, randolph of roanoke foreman of the jury and john marshall presiding. borne with the throng, lewis went over to richmond. washington irving was there, winfield scott, and andrew jackson, "stamping up and down, damning jefferson and extolling burr." burr's friends, outcrying against jefferson, caught sight of meriwether lewis; his popularity in a degree counteracted their vituperation. william wirt of maryland came down after making his great speech, to present a gold watch to his friend meriwether lewis. with saddened heart captain lewis left richmond. the beautiful theodosia had come to stay with her father at the penitentiary. lewis always liked aaron burr. what was he trying to do? the mississippi was ours and louisiana. but even the ursuline nuns welcomed burr to new orleans, and the creoles quite lost their heads over his winning address. all seemed to confirm the suspicions of jefferson, who nightly tossed on his couch of worry. it was necessary for captain, now governor, lewis, to go to philadelphia, to place his zoölogical and botanical collections in the hands of dr. barton. scarce had the now famous explorer reached the city before he was beset by artists. charles willson peale, who had painted the portraits of the most prominent officers of the revolution, who had followed washington and painted him as a virginia colonel, as commander-in-chief, and as president, who had sat with him at valley forge and limned his features, cocked hat and all, on a piece of bed-ticking,--peale now wanted to paint lewis and clark. of course such a flattering invitation was not to be resisted, and so, while peale's assistants were mounting lewis's antelopes, the first known to naturalists, and preparing for jefferson the head and horns of a rocky mountain ram, governor lewis was sitting daily for his portrait. this detained him in philadelphia, when suddenly, on the 27th of june, the great upheaval of europe cast breakers on our shores that made the country rock. it seemed as if in spite of herself the united states would be drawn into the napoleonic wars. england needed sailors, she must have sailors, she claimed and demanded them from american ships on the high seas. "you _shall not search_ my ship," said the captain of the american frigate _chesapeake_ off the virginian capes. instantly and unexpectedly, the british frigate _leopard_ rounded to and poured broadsides into the unprepared _chesapeake_. "never," said jefferson, "has this country been in such a state of excitement since lexington." "fired on our ship!" the land was aflame. by such white heat are nations welded. it was a bold thing for england to disavow. but no apologies could now conceal the fact, that not napoleon, but england, was destined to be our foe, england, who claimed the commerce of the world. meriwether lewis came home to hear virginia ringing for war; not yet had she forgotten yorktown. the mountains of albemarle were clothed in all the brilliancy of summer beauty when lewis kissed his mother good-bye, and set out to assume the governorship of louisiana. ii _american rule in st. louis_ immediately after his appointment in charge of indian affairs, clark left washington, with pryor and shannon, big white and jussaume and their indian families. the ohio, swollen to the highest notch, bore them racing into the mississippi. "manuel lisa haf gone up de meessouri," was the news at st. louis. all winter manuel lisa had been flying around st. louis with pierre menard and george drouillard, preparing for an early ascent into the fur country. so also had been the chouteaus, intending to escort big white back to the mandans. at any time an indian trader was a great man in st. louis. he could command fabulous prices for his skill, and still more now could drouillard, fresh from the unexploited land beyond the mandans. all his money drouillard put into the business, and with the earliest opening of 1807, lisa, menard and drouillard set out for the upper missouri with an outfit of sixteen thousand dollars. "wait for the mandan chief," said frederick bates, the new territorial secretary. manuel lisa was not a man to wait. "while others consider whether they will start, i am on my way," he answered. dark, secret, unfathomable, restless, enterprising, a very spaniard for pride, distrusted and trusted, a judge of men, manuel lisa had in him the spirit of de soto and coronado. for twenty years lisa had traded with indians. of late the spanish government had given him exclusive rights on the osage, a privilege once held by the chouteaus, but alas for lisa! a right now tumbled by the cession. for the united states gave no exclusive privileges. he reached the ear of drouillard; they went away together. no one better than lisa saw the meaning of that great exploration. coincidently with the arrival of clark and big white out of the ohio, came down a deputation of yankton sioux with old dorion from the missouri. with that encampment of indians, around, behind, before the government house, began the reign of the red head chief over the nations of the west that was to last for thirty years. st. louis became the red head's town, and the red head's signature came to be known to the utmost border of louisiana. "we want arms and traders," said the yankton sioux. both were granted, and laden with presents, before the close of may they were dispatched again to their own country. and with them went big white in charge of ensign pryor, sergeant george shannon, and pierre chouteau, with thirty-two men for the mandan trade. even the kansas knew that big white had gone down the river, and were waiting to see him go by. "the whites are as the grasses of the prairie," said big white. in july the new governor, meriwether lewis, arrived and assumed the government. with difficulty the officers had endeavoured to harmonise the old and the new. all was in feud, faction, disorder. st. louis was a foreign village before the cession. nor was this changed in a day. "deed not de great napoleon guarantee our leebertee?" said the french. "we want self-government." but lewis and clark, these two had met the french ideal of chivalry in facing the shining mountains and the ocean. pretty girls sat in the verandas to see them pass. fur magnates set out their choicest viands. the conquest of st. louis was largely social. with less tact and less winning personalities we might have had discord. whatever lewis wanted, clark seconded as a sort of lieutenant governor. it seemed as if the two might go on forever as they had done in the great expedition. ever busy, carving districts that became future states, laying out roads, dispensing justice and treating with indians, all went well until the 16th of october, when a wave of sensation swept over st. louis. "big white, the mandan chief, is back. the american flag at the bow of his boat has been fired on and he is compelled to fall back on st. louis." all summer the vengeful arikaras had been watching. "they killed our chief, the brave raven." the teton sioux plotted. "they will give the mandans arms and make our enemies stronger than we are." so in great bands, sioux and arikaras had camped along the river to intercept the returning brave. "these are the machinations of the british," said americans in st. louis. "this is a trick of manuel lisa," said the fur traders. "his boats passed in safety, why not ours?" in fact, there had been a battle. not with impunity should trade be carried into the land of anarchy. three men were killed and several wounded, including shannon and rené jussaume. and they in turn had killed black buffalo, the teton chief that led the onslaught. all the way down the missouri george shannon had writhed with his wounded knee. blood poisoning set in. they left him at bellefontaine. "dees leg must come off," said dr. saugrain, the army surgeon. he sent for dr. farrar, a young american physician who had lately located in st. louis. together, without anesthetics, they performed the first operation in thigh amputation ever known in that region. "woonderful! woonderful!" exclaimed the creoles. "dees dogtors can cut une man all up." great already was the reputation of dr. saugrain; to young farrar it gave a prestige that made him the father of st. louis surgery. shannon lay at the point of death for eighteen months, but youth rallied, and he regained sufficient strength to journey to lexington, where he took up the study of law. he lived to become an eminent jurist and judge, and the honoured progenitor of many distinguished bearers of his name. iii _farewell to fincastle_ general clark had had a busy summer, travelling up and down the river, assisting the governor at st. louis in reducing his tumultuous domain to order, treating with indians, conferring with governor harrison in his brick palace at old vincennes, consulting with his brothers, general jonathan and general george rogers clark at the point of rock. now, in mid-autumn, he was again on his way to fincastle. never through the tropic summer had julia been absent from his thoughts. a little house in st. louis had been selected that should shelter his bride; and now, as fast as hoof and horse could speed him, he was hastening back to fix the day for his wedding. october shed glory on the burnished forests. here and there along the way shone primitive farmhouses, the homes of people. the explorer's heart beat high. he had come to that time in his life when he, too, should have a home. those old virginia farmhouses, steep of roof and sloping at the eaves, four rooms below and two in the attic, with great chimneys smoking at either end, seemed to speak of other fond and happy hearts. the valley of virginia extends from the potomac to the carolina line. the blue ridge bounds it on one side, the kittatinnys on the other, and in the trough-like valley between flows the historic shenandoah. from the north, by winchester, scene of many a border fray and destined for action more heroic yet, clark sped on his way to fincastle. some changes had taken place since that eventful morning when governor spotswood looked over the blue ridge. a dozen miles from winchester stood lord fairfax's greenway court, overshadowed by ancient locusts, slowly mouldering to its fall. here george washington came in his boyhood, surveying for the gaunt, raw-boned, near-sighted old nobleman who led him hard chases at the fox hunt. from the head spring of the rappahannock to the head spring of the potomac, twenty-one counties of old virginia once belonged to the fairfax manor, now broken and subdivided into a thousand homes. hither had come tides of quakers, and scotch-presbyterians, penetrating farther and farther its green recesses, cutting up the fruitful acres into colonial plantations. "the shenandoah, it is the very centre of the united states," said the emigrants. the valley was said to be greener than any other, its waters were more transparent, its soil more fruitful. at any rate german-pennsylvanians pushed up here, rearing barns as big as fortresses, flanked round with haystacks and granaries. now and then clark met them, in loose leather galligaskins and pointed hats, sunning in wide porches, smoking pipes three feet long, while their stout little children tumbled among the white clover. here and there negroes were whistling with notes as clear as a fife, and huge conestoga waggons loaded with produce rumbled along to philadelphia, baltimore, richmond. every year thousands of waggons went to market, camping at night and making the morning ring with robin hood songs and jingling bells. yonder lived patrick henry in his last years, at picturesque red hill on the staunton. here in his old age he might have been seen under the trees in his lawn, buried in revery, or on the floor, with grandchildren clambering over him or dancing to his violin. but clark was not thinking of patrick henry, or fairfax,--in fact he scarcely remembered their existence, so intent was his thought on his maid of the mountains, julia hancock. the leaves were falling from elm and maple, strewing the path with gold and crimson. the pines grew taller in the twilight, until he could scarcely see the bypaths chipped and blazed by settlers' tomahawks. sunset was gilding the peaks of otter as clark drew rein at the little tavern near fincastle. "i was rented to the king of england by my prince of hesse cassel," the hessian proprietor was saying. "i was rented out to cut the throats of people who had never done me any harm. four pence three farthings a day i got, and one penny farthing went to his royal highness, the prince. i fought you, then i fell in love with you, and when the war was over i stayed in america." clark listened. it was a voice out of the revolution. after a hurried luncheon the tireless traveller was again in his saddle; and late that night in the moonlight he opened the gate at colonel hancock's. york had followed silently through all the journey,--york, no longer a slave, for in consideration of his services on the expedition the general had given him his freedom. but as a voluntary body-guard he would not be parted from his master. "for sho'! who cud tek cah o' mars clahk so well as old yawk?" "what if love-lorn swains from a dozen plantations have tried to woo and win my pretty cousin! the bronzed face of lochinvar is bleaching," said the teasing harriet when she heard that the wedding date was really set. "one day, who knows, his skin may be white as yours." sudden as a flood in the roanoke came julia's tears. relenting, the lively, light-hearted harriet covered her cousin's curls with kisses. "the carriage and horses are at your service. hunt, fish, lounge as you please," said colonel hancock, "for i must be at the courthouse to try an important case." with thousands of acres and hundreds of negroes, it was the dream of colonel hancock to one day drop these official cares and retire altogether into the privacy of his plantation. already, forty miles away, at the very head spring of the roanoke river, he was building a country seat to be called "fotheringay," after fotheringay castle. back and forth in the gorgeous october weather rode clark and julia, watching the workmen at fotheringay. now and then the carriage stopped at an orchard. passers were always at liberty to help themselves to the fruit. peaches so abundant that they fed the hogs with them, apples rosy and mellow, grapes for the vintage, were in the first flush of abundance. what a contrast to that autumn in the bitter root mountains! then late in november to fincastle came governor lewis and his brother reuben, on their way to the west. he, too, had been to washington on business concerning st. louis. "the great success of york among the mandans has decided reuben to take tom along," laughed lewis, as reuben's black driver dismounted from the carriage--the same family chariot in which meriwether had brought his mother from georgia, now on the way to become the state coach of louisiana. black tom beamed, expansively happy, on york who had been "tuh th' injun country" where black men were "great medicine." "ha, your excellency," laughed the teasing harriet, "the beauty of fincastle dines with us to-night,--miss letitia breckenridge." "wait and the governor will court you," some one whispered to the charming letitia. "i have contemplated accompanying my father to richmond for some time," replied letitia. "if i stay now it will look like a challenge, therefore i determine to go." governor lewis underwent not a little chafing when two days after his arrival the lovely letitia was gone,--to become the wife of the secretary of war in john quincy adams's cabinet. "miss breckenridge is a very sweet-looking girl," wrote reuben to his sister, "and i should like to have her for a sister. general clark's intended is a charming woman. when i tell you that she is much like my sweetheart you will believe i think so." "what are you doing?" clark asked of julia, as she sat industriously stitching beside the hickory fire in the great parlour at fincastle. "working a little screen to keep the fire from burning my face," answered the maiden, rosy as the glow itself. much more beautiful than the little sacajawea, stitching moccasins beside the fire at clatsop, she seemed to clark; and yet the feminine intuition was the same, to sew, to stitch, to be an artist with the needle. "the mistletoe hung in fincastle hall, the holly branch shone on the old oak wall, and the planter's retainers were blithe and gay, a-keeping their christmas holiday." there was sleighing at fincastle when the wedding day came, just after new year's, 1808. the guests came in sleighs from as far away as greenway court, for all the country-side knew and loved judy hancock. weeping, soft-hearted black granny tied again the sunny curls and looped the satin ribbons of her beloved "miss judy." the slaves vied with one another, strewing the snow with winter greens that no foot might touch the chill. the wainscoted and panelled walls glowed with greenery. holly hung over the carved oaken chimneys, and around the fowling pieces and antlers of the chase that betokened the hunting habits of colonel hancock. silver tankards marked with the family arms sparkled on the damask table cloth, and silver candlesticks and snuffers and silver plate. myrtleberry wax candles gave out an incense that mingled with the odour of hickory snapping in the fireplace. "exactly as her mother looked," whispered the grandmother when judy came down,--grandmother, a brisk little white-capped old lady in quilted satin, who remembered very well the mother of washington. the stars hung blazing on the rim of the blue ridge and the snow glistened, when out of the great house came the sound of music and dancing. there were wedding gifts after the old virginia fashion, and when all had been inspected clark handed his bride a small jewel case marked with her name. the cover flew open, revealing a set of topaz and pearls, "a gift from the president." out into the snow went these wedding guests of a hundred years ago, to scatter and be forgotten. iv _the boat horn_ all the romance of the old boating time was in clark's wedding trip down the ohio. it was on a may morning when, stepping on board a flatboat at louisville, he contrasted the daintiness of julia with that of any other travelling companion he had ever known. the river, foaming over its rocky bed, the boatmen blowing their long conical bugles from shore to shore, the keelboats, flat-bottoms, and arks loaded with emigrants all intent on "picking guineas from gooseberry bushes," spoke of youth, life, action. again the boatman blew his bugle, echoes of other trumpets answered, "farewell, farewell, fare--we-ll." soon they were into the full sweep of the pellucid ohio, mirroring skies and shores dressed in the livery of robin hood. frowning precipices and green islets arose, and projecting headlands indenting the ohio with promontories like a chain of shining lakes. hills clothed in ancient timber, hoary whitened sycamores draped in green clusters of mistletoe, and magnificent groves of the dark green sugar tree reflected from the water below. shut in to the water's edge, a woody wilderness still, the river glided between its umbrageous shores. now and then the crowing of cocks announced a clearing where the axe of the settler had made headway, or some old indian mound blossomed with a peach orchard. flocks of screaming paroquets alighted in the treetops, humming birds whizzed into the honeysuckle vines and flashed away with dewdrops on their jewelled throats. on the water with them, now near, now far, were other boats,--ferry flats and alleghany skiffs, pirogues hollowed from prodigious sycamores, dug-outs and canoes, stately barges with masts and sails and lifted decks like schooners, keel boats, slim and trim for low waters, kentucky arks, broadhorns, roomy and comfortable, filled up with chairs, beds, stoves, tables, bound for the sangamon, cape girardeau, arkansas. floating caravans of men, women, children, servants, cattle, hogs, horses, sheep, and fowl were travelling down the great river. some boats fitted up for stores dropped off at the settlements, blowing the bugle, calling the inhabitants down to trade. here a tinner with his tinshop, with tools and iron, a floating factory, there a blacksmith shop with bellows and anvil, dry-goods boats with shelves for cutlery and cottons, produce boats with kentucky flour and hemp, ohio apples, cider, maple sugar, nuts, cheese, and fruit, and farther down, tennessee cotton, illinois corn, and cattle, missouri lead and furs, all bound for new orleans, a panorama of endless interest to julia. here white-winged schooners were laden entirely with turkeys, tobacco, hogs, horses, potatoes, or lumber. nature pouring forth perennial produce from a hundred tributary streams. a bateau could descend from the mouth of the ohio to new orleans in three weeks; three months of toil could barely bring it back. how could boats be made to go against the current? everywhere and everywhere inventive minds were puzzling over motors, paddles--duck-foot, goose-foot, and elliptical,--wings and sails, side-wheels, stern-wheels, and screws,--and steam was in the air. as the sun went down in lengthening shadows a purple haze suffused the waters. adown la belle rivière, "the loveliest stream that ever glistened to the moon," arose the evening cadence of the boatmen,- "some row up, but we row down, all the way to shawnee town, pull away! pull away! pull away to shawnee town." the crescent moon shone brightly on crag and stream and floating forest, the air was mild and moist, the boat glided as in a dream, and the mocking bird enchanted the listening silence. to clark no spring had ever seemed so beautiful. sitting on deck with julia he could not forget that turbulent time when as a boy he first plunged down these waters. symbolic of his whole life it seemed, until now the storm and stress of youth had calmed into the placid current of to-day. the past,--the rough toil-hardened past of william clark,--fell away, and as under a lifted silken curtain he floated into repose. the rough old life of camps and forts was gone forever. and to julia, everything was new and strange,--la belle rivière itself whispered of louisiana. like an alpine horn the bugle echoed the dreamlife of the waters. the fiddles scraping, boatmen dancing, the smooth stream rolling calmly through the forest, the girls who gathered on shore to see the pageant pass, the river itself, momentarily lost to view, then leaping again in hogarth's line of beauty,--all murmured perpetual music. then slumber fell upon the dancers, but still clark and julia sat watching. from clouds of owls arose voices of the night, cries of wolves reverberated on shore, the plaintive whippoorwill in the foliage lamented to the moon, meteors rose from the horizon to sweep majestically aloft and burst in a showering spray of gems below. the very heavens were unfamiliar. awed, impressed, by the mysteries around them, they slept. before sun-up the mocking-bird called from the highest treetop and continued singing until after breakfast, imitating the jay, the cardinal, and the lapwing, then sailing away into a strain of his own wild music. at the mouth of the wabash arks were turning in to old vincennes. below, broader grew the ohio, unbroken forests still and twinkling stars. here and there arose the graceful catalpa in full flower, and groves of cottonwoods so tall that at a distance one could fancy some planter's mansion hidden in their depths. amid these eden scenes appeared here and there the deserted cabin of some murdered woodman whose secret only the shawnee knew. wild deer, crossing the ohio, heard the bugle call, and throwing their long branching antlers on their shoulders sank out of sight, swimming under the water until the shore opened into the sheltering forest. at times the heavens were darkened with the flights of pigeons; there was a song of the thrush and the echoing bellow of the big horned owl. wild turkeys crossed their path and wild geese screamed on their journey to the lakes. one day the boats stopped, and before her julia beheld the mississippi sweeping with irresistible pomp and wrath, tearing at the shores, bearing upon its tawny bosom the huge drift of mount and meadow, whole herds of drowned buffalo, trunks of forest trees and caved-in banks of silt, leaping, sweeping seaward in the sun. without a pause the bridegroom river reached forth his brawny arm, and gathered in the starry-eyed ohio. over his herculean shoulders waved her silver tresses, deep into his bosom passed her gentle transparency as the twain made one swept to the honeymoon. all night clark's bateau lay in a bend while york and the men kept off the drift that seemed to set toward them in their little cove as toward a magnet. on the 26th of may governor lewis received a letter from clark asking for help up the river. without delay the governor engaged a barge to take their things to bellefontaine and another barge to accommodate the general, his family and baggage. dispatching a courier over the bellefontaine road, governor lewis sent to colonel hunt a message, asking him to send ensign pryor to meet the party. with what delight clark and his bride saw the barges with ensign pryor in charge, coming down from st. louis. then came the struggle up the turbulent river. clark was used to such things, but never before had he looked on them with a bride at his side. with sails and oars and cordelles all at once, skilled hands paddled and poled and stemmed the torrent, up, up to the rock of the new levee. thus the great explorer brought home his bride to st. louis in that never-to-be-forgotten may-time one hundred years ago. v _a bride in st. louis_ "an _américaine_ bride, general clark haf brought! she haf beeutiful eyes! she haf golden hair!" the creole ladies were in a flutter. "_merci!_ she haf a carriage!" they cried, peeping from their lattices. governor lewis himself had met the party at the shore, and now in the first state coach st. louis had ever seen, was driving along the rue de l'église to auguste chouteau's. "_merci!_ she haf maids enough!" whispered the gazers, as rachel, rhody, chloe, sarah, brought up the rear with their mistress's belongings. then followed york, looking neither to the right nor the left. he knew st. louis was watching, and he delighted in the stir. the fame of the beauty of general clark's american bride spread like wild-fire. for months wherever she rode or walked admiring crowds followed, eager to catch a glimpse of her face. thickly swathed in veils, julia concealed her features from the public gaze, but that only increased the interest. "she shall haf a party, une grande réception," said pierre chouteau, and the demi-fortress was opened to a greater banquet than even at the return of lewis and clark. social st. louis abandoned itself to gaiety. dancing slippers were at a premium, and all the gay silks that ever came up from new orleans were refurbished with lace and jewels. "they are beautiful women," said julia that night. "i thought you told me there were only indians here." clark laughed. "wait until you walk in the streets." and sure enough, with the arrival of the beautiful julia came also certain sacs and iowas who had been scalping settlers within their borders. with bolted handcuffs and leg shackles they were shut up in the old spanish martello tower. from the chouteau house julia could see their cell windows covered with iron gratings and the guard pacing to and fro. at the trial in the old spanish garrison house on the hill the streets swarmed with red warriors. "how far away st. louis is from civilisation," remarked julia. "we seem in the very heart of the indian country." "the governor has organised the militia, and our good friend auguste chouteau is their colonel," answered her husband, reassuringly. "why these fortifications, these bastions and stone towers?" inquired julia, as they walked along the rue. "they were built a long time ago for defences against the indians. in fact my brother defended st. louis once against an indian raid." "tell me the story," cried julia. and walking along the narrow streets under the honey-scented locusts, clark told julia of the fight and fright of 1780. "and was that when the spanish lady was here?" "yes." "and what became of her finally?" "she fled with the nuns to cuba at the cession of new orleans." trilliums red and white, anemones holding up their shell-pink cups, and in damp spots adder's tongues and delicate dutchman's breeches, were thick around them as they walked down by the old chouteau pond. primeval forests surrounded it, white-armed sycamores and thickets of crab-apple. "this is the mill that makes bread for st. louis. everybody comes down to chouteau's mill for flour. it is so small i am not surprised that they call st. louis 'pain court'--'short of bread.' to-morrow the washerwomen will be at the pond, boiling clothes in iron pots and drying them on the hazel bushes." as they came back in the flush of evening all st. louis had moved out of doors. the wide galleries were filled with settees and tables and chairs, and the neighbourly creoles were visiting one another, and greeting the passers-by. sometimes the walk led over the hill to the grand prairie west of town. the greensward waved in the breezes like a wheatfield in may. cabanné's wind-mill could be seen in the distance across the prairie near the timber with its great wings fifty and sixty feet long flying in the air like things of life. cabanné the swiss had married gratiot's daughter. st. louis weddings generally took place at easter, so other brides and grooms were walking there in those may days a hundred years ago. night and morning, as in acadia, the rural population still went to and from the fields with their cattle and carts and old-style wheel ploughs. in november clark and his bride moved into the rené kiersereau cottage on the rue royale. the old french house of rené kiersereau dated back to the beginning of st. louis. built of heavy timbers and plastered with rubble and mortar, it bade fair still to withstand the wear and tear of generations. with a long low porch in front and rear, and a fence of cedar pickets like a miniature stockade, it differed in no respect from the other modest cottages of st. louis. back of the house rushed the river; before it, locusts and lightning bugs flitted in the summer garden. beside the kiersereau house clark had his indian office in the small stone store of alexis marie. into this little house almost daily came meriwether lewis, and every moment that could be spared from pressing duties was engrossed in work on the journals of the expedition. sometimes julia brought her harp and sang. but into this home quiet were coming constant echoes of the indian world. "settlers are encroaching on the osage lands. we shall have trouble," said governor lewis. under an escort of a troop of cavalry clark rode out into the indian country to make a treaty with the osages. the shawnees and delawares had been invited to settle near st. louis to act as a shield against the barbarous osages. the shawnees and delawares were opening little farms and gardens near cape girardeau, building houses and trying to become civilised. but settlers had gone on around them into the osage wilderness. "i will establish a fort to regulate these difficulties," said the general, and on his return fort osage was built. "settlers are encroaching on our lands," came the cry from sacs, foxes, and iowas. governor lewis himself held a council with the discontented tribes and established fort madison, the first united states post up the mississippi. but there were still big white and his people not yet returned to the mandan country, and this was the most perplexing problem of all. vi _the first fort in montana_ manuel lisa had enemies and ambition. these always go together. scarcely had clark and his bride settled at st. louis before down from the north came manuel lisa's boats, piled, heaped, and laden to the gunwale edge with furs out of the yellowstone. his triumphant guns saluted charette, st. charles, st. louis. he had run the gauntlet of sioux, arikara, and assiniboine. he had penetrated the yellowstone and established fort lisa at the mouth of the bighorn in the very heart of the crow-land,--the first building in what is now montana. "dey say you cause de attack on big white," buzzed a frenchman in his ear. angry at such an imputation, the spaniard hastened to governor lewis. "i disclaim all responsibility for that disaster. the arikaras fired across my bow. i stopped. but i had my men-at-arms, my swivels ready. i understood presents. i smoked the pipe of peace, with a musket in my hand. of course i passed. even the mandans fired on me, and the assiniboines. should that dismay a trader?" manuel lisa, the successful, was now monarch of the fur trade. even his enemies capitulated. "if he is stern in discipline, the service demands it. he has gone farther, dared more, accomplished more, and brought home more, than any other. what a future for st. louis! we must unite our forces." and so the city on the border reached out toward her destiny. pierre and auguste chouteau, william clark and reuben lewis, locked fortunes with the daring, indomitable manuel lisa. pierre menard, andrew henry, and others, a dozen altogether, put in forty thousand dollars, incorporating the missouri fur company. into the very heart of the rocky mountains it was resolved to push, into those primeval beaver meadows whither lewis and clark had led the way. "abandon the timid methods of former trade,--plunge at once deep into the wilderness," said lisa; "ascend the missouri to its utmost navigable waters, and by establishing posts monopolise the trade of the entire region." already had lisa dreamed of the santa fé,--now he looked toward the pacific. and now, too, was the time to send big white back to the mandans. under the convoy of two hundred and fifty people,--enlisted soldiers and _engagés_, american hunters, creoles, and canadian voyageurs,--the fur flotilla set sail with tons of traps and merchandise. as the flotilla pulled out, a tall gaunt frontiersman with two white men and an indian came pulling into st. louis. clark turned a second time,--"why, daniel boone!" "first rate! first rate!" furrowed as a sage and tanned as a hunter, with a firm hand-grasp, the old man stepped ashore. two summers now had daniel boone and his two sons brought down to st. louis a cargo of salt, manufactured by themselves at boone's lick, a discovery of the old pioneer. "any settlers comin'? we air prepared to tote 'em up." ever a welcome guest to the home of general clark, daniel boone strode along to the cottage on the rue. at sight of julia he closed his eyes, dazzled. "'pears to me she looks like rebecca." never, since that day when young boone went hunting deer in the yadkin forest and found rebecca bryan, a ruddy, flax-haired girl, had he ceased to be her lover. and though years had passed and rebecca had faded, to him she was ever the gold-haired girl of the yadkin. poor rebecca! hers had been a hard life in camp and cabin, with pigs and chickens in the front yard and rain dripping through the roof. "daniel!" she sometimes said, severely. "wa-al, now rebecca, thee knows i didn't have time to mend that air leak in the ruff last summer; i war gone too long at the beaver. but thee shall have a new house." and again the faithful rebecca stuffed a rag in the ceiling with her mop-handle and meekly went on baking hoe-cake before the blazing forelog. daniel had long promised a new house, but now, at last, he was really going to build. for this he was studying st. louis. a day looking at houses and disposing of his salt and beaver-skins, and back he went, with a boatload of emigrants and a cargo of school-books. mere trappers came and went,--boone brought settlers. pathfinder, judge, statesman, physician to the border, he now carried equipments for the first school up the missouri. vii _a mystery_ furs were piled everywhere, the furs that had been wont to go to europe,--otter, beaver, deer, and bear and buffalo. american ships, that had sped like eagles on every sea, were threatened now by england if they sailed to france, by france if they sailed to england. "if our ships, our sailors, our goods are to be seized, it is better to keep them at home," said jefferson. "war itself would be better than that," pled gallatin. the whole world was taking sides in the cataclysm over the sea. napoleon recognised no neutrals. england recognised none. denmark tried it, and the british fleet burned copenhagen. ominously the conflagration glimmered,--such might be the fate of any american seaport. "if we must fight let us go with france," said some. "napoleon will guarantee us the cession of canada and nova scotia." but jefferson, carrying all before him, on tuesday, december 22, 1807, signed an embargo act, shutting up our ships in our own harbours. in six months commercial life-blood ceased to flow. ships rotted at the wharfs. grass grew in the streets of baltimore and boston. st. louis traders tried to go over to canada, but were stopped at detroit--"by that evil embargo." st. louis withered. "de meeseppi ees closed. tees worse dan de spaniard!" this unpopularity of jefferson cast governor lewis into deepest gloom. the benevolent president's system of peaceable coercion was bringing the country to the verge of rebellion. england cared not nor france, and america was stifling with wheat, corn, and cattle, without a market. fur, fur,--the currency and standard of value in st. louis was valueless. taxes even could no longer be paid in shaved deerskins. peltry bonds, once worth their weight in gold, had dropped to nothing. moths and mildew crept into the chouteau warehouses. a few weeks more and the fruits of lisa's adventure would perish. into the clark home there had come an infant boy, "named meriwether lewis," said the general, when the governor came to look at the child. every day now he came to the cradle, for, weary with cares, the quiet domestic atmosphere rested him. he moved his books and clothes, and the modest little home on the rue became the home of the governor. beside the fire julia stitched, stitched at dainty garments while the general and the governor worked on their journals. now and then their eyes strayed toward the sleeping infant. "this child is fairer than sacajawea's at clatsop," remarked lewis. "but it cries the same, and is liable to the same ills." "and did you name a river for sacajawea, too?" laughed julia. "certainly, certainly, but the governor's favourite river was named maria," slyly interposed clark. a quick flush passed over the governor's cheek. he had lately purchased a three-and-a-half arpent piece of land north of st. louis for a home for his mother,--or was it for maria? however, in june clark took julia and the baby with him on a trip to louisville, and the same month maria was married to somebody else. but on the ohio the joyous activity had ceased. no longer the boatman's horn rang over cliff and scar. jefferson's embargo had stagnated the waters. when general clark returned to st. louis in july he found his friend still more embarrassed and depressed. "my bills are protested," said the governor. "here is one for eighteen dollars rejected by the secretary of the treasury. this has given me infinite concern, as the fate of others drawn for similar purposes cannot be in doubt. their rejection cannot fail to impress the public mind unfavourably with respect to me." "and what are these bills for?" inquired clark. "expenses incurred in governing the territory," answered lewis. general clark did not have to look back many years to recall the wreck of his brother on this same snag of protested bills, and exactly as with george rogers clark the proud and sensitive heart of meriwether lewis was cut to the core. "more painful than the rejection, is the displeasure which must arise in the mind of the executive from my having drawn for public moneys without authority. a third and not less embarrassing circumstance is that my private funds are entirely incompetent to meet these bills if protested." with the generosity of his nature clark gave lewis one hundred dollars, and lewis arranged as soon as possible to go to washington with his vouchers to see the president. with the courage of upright convictions, governor lewis contended with the difficulties of his office, and in due course received the rest of his protested bills. if he raged at heart he said little. if he spent sleepless nights tossing, and communing with himself, he spoke no word to those around him. though the dagger pierced he made no sign. borrowing money of his friends as george rogers clark had done, he met his bills as best he might. but his haggard face and evident illness alarmed his friends. "you had better take a trip to the east," they urged. "you have malarial fever." he decided to act on this suggestion, and with the journals of the western expedition and his vouchers the governor bade his friends farewell and dropped down the river, intending to take a coasting vessel to new orleans and pass around to washington by sea. but at the chickasaw bluffs, now memphis, lewis was ill. moreover, rumours of war were in the air. "these precious manuscripts that i have carried now for so many miles, must not be lost," thought lewis, "nor the vouchers of my public accounts on which my honour rests. i will go by land through the chickasaw country." the united states agent with the chickasaw indians, major neely, arriving there two days later, found lewis still detained by illness. "i must accompany and watch over him," he said, when he found that the governor was resolved to press on at all hazards. "he is very ill." one hundred years ago the natchez trace was a new military road that had been cut through the wilderness of tennessee to the spanish country. over this road the pony express galloped day and night and pioneer caravans paused at nightfall at lonely wayside inns. brigands infested the forest, hard on the trail of the trader returning from new orleans with a pouch of spanish silver in his saddlebags. over that road aaron burr had travelled on his visit to andrew jackson at nashville, and on it tecumseh was even now journeying to the tribes of the south. "two of the horses have strayed," was the servant's report at the end of one day's journey. but even that could not delay the governor. "i will wait for you at the house of the first white inhabitant on the road," said lewis, as neely turned back for the lost roadsters. it was evening when the governor arrived at grinder's stand, the last cabin on the borders of the chickasaw country. "may i stay for the night?" he inquired of the woman at the door. "come you alone?" she asked. "my servants are behind. bring me some wine." alighting and bringing in his saddle, the governor touched the wine and turned away. pulling off his loose white blue-striped travelling gown, he waited for his servants. the woman scanned her guest,--of elegant manners and courtly bearing, he was evidently a gentleman. but a troubled look on his face, an impatient walk to and fro, denoted something wrong. she listened,--he was talking to himself. his sudden wheels and turns and strides startled her. "where is my powder? i am sure there was some powder in my canister," he said to the servants at the door. after a mouthful of supper, he suddenly started up, speaking in a violent manner, flushed and excited. then, lighting his pipe, he sat down by the cabin door. "madame, this is a very pleasant evening." mrs. grinder noted the kindly tone, the handsome, haggard face, the air of abstraction. quietly he smoked for a time, then again he flushed, arose excitedly, and stepped into the yard. there he began pacing angrily to and fro. but again he sat down to his pipe, and again seemed composed. he cast his eyes toward the west, that west, the scene of his toils and triumphs. "what a sweet evening it is!" he had seen that same sun silvering the northern rivers, gilding the peaks of the rockies, and sinking into the pacific. it all came over him now, like a soothing dream, calming the fevered soul and stilling its tumult. the woman was preparing the usual feather-bed for her guest. "i beg you, madame, do not trouble yourself. pernia, bring my bearskins and buffalo robe." the skins and robe were spread on the floor and the woman went away to her kitchen. the house was a double log cabin with a covered way between. such houses abound still in the cumberland mountains. "i am afraid of that man," said the woman in the kitchen, putting her children in their beds. "something is wrong. i cannot sleep." the servants slept in the barn. neely had not come. night came down with its mysterious veil upon the frontier cabin. but still that heavy pace was heard in the other cabin. now and then a voice spoke rapidly and incoherently. "he must be a lawyer," said the woman in the kitchen. suddenly she heard the report of a pistol, and something dropped heavily to the floor. there was a voice,--"o lord!" excited, peering into the night, the trembling woman listened. another pistol, and then a voice at her door,--"oh, madame, give me some water and heal my wounds!" peering into the moonlight between the open unplastered logs, she saw her guest stagger and fall. presently he crawled back into the room. then again he came to the kitchen door, but did not speak. an empty pail stood there with a gourd,--he was searching for water. cowering, terrified, there in the kitchen with her children the woman waited for the light. at the first break of day she sent two of the children to the barn to arouse the servants. and there, on his bearskins on the cabin floor, they found the shattered frame of meriwether lewis, a bullet in his side, a shot under his chin, and a ghastly wound in his forehead. "take my rifle and kill me!" he begged. "i will give you all the money in my trunk. i am no coward, but i am so strong,--so hard to die! do not be afraid of me, pernia, i will not hurt you." and as the sun rose over the tennessee trees, meriwether lewis was dead, on the 11th of october, 1809. viii _a lonely grave in tennessee_ a hero of his country was dead, the governor of its largest territory,--dead, on his way to washington, where fresh honours awaited him,--dead, far from friends and kindred in a wild and boundless forest. did he commit suicide in a moment of aberration, or was he foully murdered by an unknown hand on that 11th of october, 1809? president jefferson, who had observed signs of melancholy in him in early life, favoured the idea of suicide, but in the immediate neighbourhood the theory of murder took instant shape. where was joshua grinder? where were those servants? where was neely himself? "i never for a moment entertained the thought of suicide," said his mother, when she heard the news. "his last letter was full of hope. i was to live with him in st. louis." of all men in the world why should meriwether lewis commit suicide? the question has been argued for a hundred years and is to-day no nearer solution than ever. "old grinder killed him and got his money," said the neighbours. "he saw he was well dressed and evidently a person of distinction and wealth." grinder was arrested and tried but no proof could be secured. "alarmed by his groans the robbers hid his pouch of gold coins in the earth, with the intention of securing it later," said others. "they never ventured to return,--it lies there, buried, to this day." and the superstitions of the neighbourhood have invested the spot with the weird fascination of captain kidd's treasure, or the buried box of gold on neacarney. "he was killed by his french servant," said the lewis family. later, when pernia visited charlottesville and sent word to locust hill, meriwether's mother refused to see him. john marks, half-brother of meriwether lewis, went immediately to the scene of tragedy, but nothing more could be done or learned. proceeding to st. louis, the estate was settled. when at last the trunks arrived at washington they were found to contain the journals, papers on the protested bills, and the well-known spy-glass used by lewis on the expedition. but there were no valuables or money. years after, meriwether's sister and her husband unexpectedly met pernia on the streets of mobile, and mary recognised in his possession the william wirt watch and the gun of her brother. on demand they were promptly surrendered. in the lonely heart of lewis county, tennessee, stands to-day a crumbling gray stone monument with a broken shaft of limestone erected by the state on the spot where, in the thirty-fifth year of his age, meriwether lewis met his death. in solitude and desolation, moss overlies his tomb, but his name lives on, brightening with the years. ix _trade follows the flag_ "_bon jour_, ms'ieu, you want to know where dat captinne?" the polite creole lifted his cap. "'pears now, maybe i heerd he wuz guv'ner," said the keen-eyed trapper thoughtfully. "guff'ner lewees ees det,--kilt heeself. generale clark leeves on de rue royale, next de injun office." in unkempt beard, hair shaggy as a horse's mane, and clothing all of leather, the stranger climbed the rocky path, using the stock of his gun for a staff. it did not take long to find the indian office. with a dozen lounging braves outside and a council within, sat william clark, the red head chief. general clark noted the shadow in the door that bright may morning. not in vain had these men faced the west together. "bless me, it's coalter! where have you been? how did you come?" from the mountains, three thousand miles in thirty days, in a small canoe, coalter had come flying down the melting head-snows of the rockies. he was haggard with hunger and loss of sleep. leading his old companion to the cottage, clark soon had him surrounded with the comforts of a civilised meal. refreshed, gradually the trapper unfolded his tale. when john coalter left lewis and clark at the mandan towns and went back with hancock and dickson, in that summer of 1806, they, the first of white men, entered the yellowstone park of to-day. in the spring, separating from his companions, coalter set out for st. louis in a solitary canoe. at the mouth of the platte he met manuel lisa and drouillard coming up. and with them, john potts, another of the lewis and clark soldiers. on the spot coalter re-enlisted and returned a third time to the wilderness. such a man was invaluable to that first venture in the north. after lisa had stockaded his fort at the mouth of the bighorn, he sent coalter to bring the indians. alone he set out with gun and knapsack, travelled five hundred miles, and brought in his friends the crows. that laid the foundation of lisa's fortune. when lisa came down with his furs in the spring, coalter and potts with traps on their backs set out for the beaver-meadows of the three forks, the madison, the jefferson, and the gallatin. "we knew those blackfoot sarpints would spare no chance to skelp us," said coalter, "so we sot our traps by night an' tuk 'em afore daylight. goin' up a creek six miles from the jefferson, examinin' our traps one mornin', on a suddent we heerd a great noise. but the banks wuz high an' we cudn't see. "'blackfeet, potts. let's retreat,' sez i. "'blackfut nuthin'. ye must be a coward. thet's buffaloes,' sez potts. an' we kep' on. "in a few minutes five or six hunderd injuns appeared on both sides uv the creek, beckonin' us ashore. i saw 't warnt no use an' turned the canoe head in. "ez we touched, an injun seized potts' rifle. i jumped an' grabbed an' handed it back to potts in the canoe. he tuk it an' pushed off. "an' injun let fly an arrer. jest ez i heard it whizz, potts cried, 'coalter, i'm wounded.' "'don't try to get off, potts, come ashore,' i urged. but no, he levelled his rifle and shot a blackfoot dead on the spot. instanter they riddled potts,--dead, he floated down stream. "then they seized and stripped me. i seed 'em consultin'. "'set 'im up fer a target,' said some. i knew ther lingo, lernt it 'mongst the crows, raound lisa's fort, at the bighorn. but the chief asked me, 'can ye run fast?' "'no, very bad runner,' i answered." clark smiled. well he remembered coalter as the winner in many a racing bout. "the chief led me aout on the prairie, 'save yerself ef ye can.' "et thet instant i heerd, 'whoop-ahahahahah-hooh!' like ten thousand divils, an' i _flew_. "it wuz six miles to the jefferson; the graound wuz stuck like a pinquishen with prickly-pear an' sand burrs, cuttin' my bare feet, but i wuz half acrosst before i ventured to look over the shoulder. the sarpints ware pantin' an' fallin' behind an' scatterin'. but one with a spear not more'n a hunderd yeards behind was gainin'. "i made another bound,--blood gushed from my nostrils. nearer, nearer i heerd his breath and steps, expectin' every minute to feel thet spear in my back. "agin i looked. not twenty yeards behind he ran. on a suddint i stopped, turned, and spread my arms. the blackfoot, astonished at the blood all over my front, perhaps, tried to stop but stumbled an' fell and broke his spear. i ran back, snatched the point, and pinned him to the earth. "the rest set up a hidjus yell. while they stopped beside ther fallen comrade, almost faintin' i ran inter the cottonwoods on the borders uv the shore an' plunged ento the river. "diving under a raft of drift-timber agin the upper point of a little island, i held my head up in a little opening amongst the trunks of trees covered with limbs and brushwood. "screechin', yellin' like so many divils, they come onto the island. thro' the chinks i seed 'em huntin', huntin', huntin', all day long. i only feared they might set the raft on fire. "but at night they gave it up; the voices grew faint and fer away; i swam cautiously daown an' acrost, an' landin' travelled all night. "but i wuz naked. the broilin' sun scorched my skin, my feet were filled with prickly-pears, an' i wuz hungry. game, game plenty on the hills, but i hed no gun. it was seven days to lisa's fort on the bighorn. "i remembered the injun turnip that sacajawea found in there, an' lived on it an' sheep sorrel until i reached lisa's fort, blistered from head to heel." as in a vision the general saw it all. judy's eyes were filled with tears. through the gallatin, the indian valley of flowers, where bozeman stands to-day, the lonely trapper had toiled in the july sun and over the bozeman pass, whither clark's cavalcade had ridden two summers before. six years now had coalter been gone from civilisation, but he had discovered the yellowstone park. no one in st. louis would believe his stories of hot water spouting in fountains, "coalter's hell," but william clark traced his route on the map that he sent for publication. john coalter now received his delayed reward for the expedition,--double pay and three hundred acres of land,--and went up to find boone at charette. "what! pierre menard!" another boat had come out of the north. general clark grasped the horny hand of the fur trader. "what luck?" "bad, bad," gloomily answered the trader with a shake of his flowing mane. "drouillard is dead, and the rest are likely soon to be." "what do you mean?" "blackfeet!" clark guessed all, even before he heard the full details behind locked doors of the missouri fur company at the warehouse of pierre chouteau. "as you knew," began menard, "we spent last winter at fort lisa on the bighorn. when lisa started down here in march we packed our traps on horses, crossed to the three forks, and built a double stockade of logs at the confluence of the rivers. every night the men came in with beaver, beaver, beaver. we confidently expected to bring down not less than three hundred packs this fall but that hope is shattered. on the 12th of april our men were ambuscaded by blackfeet. five were killed. all their furs, traps, horses, guns, and equipments are without doubt by this time at fort edmonton on the saskatchewan." "but you expected to visit the snakes and flatheads," suggested one to rouse the despondent trader from his revery. "i did. and the object was to obtain a blackfoot prisoner if possible in order to open communication with his tribe. they are the most unapproachable indians we have known. they refuse all overtures. "just outside the fort drouillard was killed. a high wind was blowing at the time, so he was not heard, but the scene of the conflict indicated a desperate defence. "despair seized our hunters. they refused to go out. indeed, it was impossible to go except in numbers, so henry and i concluded it was best to report. i set out by night, and here i am, with these men and thirty packs of beaver. god pity poor henry at the three forks!" thus at one blow were shattered the high hopes of the missouri fur company. all thought of andrew henry, tall, slender, blue-eyed, dark-haired, a man that spoke seldom, but of great deeds. would he survive a winter among the blackfeet? but there was another cause of disquiet to the missouri fur company. "have you heard of john jacob astor?" "what?" "he has gone with wilson price hunt to montreal to engage men for an expedition to the columbia." "what, hunt who kept an indian shop here on the rue?" they all knew him. he had come to st. louis in 1804 and become an adept in outfitting. two or three times astor had offered to buy stock in the missouri fur company but had been refused. jefferson himself had recommended him to lewis. now he was carrying trade into the fur country over their heads. already he had a great trade on the lakes, and to the headwaters of the mississippi. he had profited by the surrender of detroit and mackinaw. another stride took him to the falls of st. anthony; and now, along the trail of lewis and clark he planned to be first on the pacific. with ships by sea and caravans by land, he could at last accomplish the wished-for trade to china. "but i, too, planned the pacific trade," said manuel lisa, coming down in the autumn. there was some jealousy that a new york man should be first to follow the trail to the sea. the winter was one of anxiety, for astor's men had arrived in st. louis and had gone up the missouri to camp until spring. anxiety, too, for andrew henry, out there alone in the blackfoot country. could they have been gifted with sufficient sight, the partners in st. louis might even then have seen the brave andrew henry fighting for his life on that little tongue of land between the madison and the jefferson. no trapping could be done. it was dangerous to go any distance from the fort except in large parties. fearing the entire destruction of his little band, henry moved across the mountains into the oregon country, and wintered on what is now henry's fork of the river snake, the first american stronghold on the columbia. "we must exterminate hunt's party," said manuel lisa. "no," said pierre chouteau. "next year he will send again and again, and in time will exterminate us. your duty will be to protect his men on the water, and may god almighty have mercy on them in the mountains, for they will never reach their destination." from his new home at charette john coalter saw astor's people going by, bound for the columbia. to his surprise they inquired for him. "general clark told us you were the best informed man in the country." coalter told them of the hostility of the blackfeet and the story of his escape. he longed to return with them to the mountains, but he had just married a squaw and he decided to stay. moreover, a twinge in his limbs warned him that that plunge in the jefferson had given him rheumatism for life. daniel boone, standing on the bank at charette when hunt went by, came down and examined their outfit. "jist returned from my traps on the creek," he said, pointing to sixty beaver skins. tame beavers and otters, caught on an island opposite charette creek, were playing around his cabin. and his neighbours had elk and deer and buffalo, broken to the yoke. several seasons had boone with his old friend calloway trapped on the kansas; now he longed for the mountains. "another year and i, too, will go to the yellowstone," said daniel boone. "andrew henry must be rescued. his situation is desperate. he may be dead," said general clark, president of the missouri fur company at st. louis. three weeks behind hunt, lisa set out in a swift barge propelled by twenty oars, with a swivel on the bow and two blunderbusses in the cabin. lisa had been a sea-captain,--he rigged his boat with a good mast, mainsail and topsail, and led his men with a ringing boat-song. then followed a keelboat race of a thousand miles up the missouri. june 2 lisa caught up with hunt near the present bismarck, and met andrew henry coming down with forty packs of beaver. to avoid the hostile blackfeet, hunt bought horses and crossed through the yellowstone-crow country to the abandoned fort of henry on the snake, and on to the columbia. aboard that barge with lisa went sacajawea. true to her word, she had brought the little touissant down to st. louis, where clark placed him with the catholic sisters to be trained for an interpreter. sacajawea was dressed as a white woman; she had quickly adopted their manners and language; but, in the words of a chronicler who saw her there, "she had become sickly, and longed to revisit her native country. her husband also had become wearied of civilised life." so back they went to the minnetarees, bearing pipes from clark to the chiefs. five hundred dollars a year charboneau now received as indian agent for the united states. for more than thirty years he held his post, and to this day his name may be traced in the land of dakota. we can see sacajawea now, startled and expectant, her heart beating like a trip-hammer under her bodice, looking at julia! no dreams of her mountains had ever shown such sunny hair, such fluffs of curls, like moonrise on the water. and that diaphanous cloud,--was it a dress? no shoshone girl ever saw such buckskin, finer than blossom of the bitter-root. "i am come," said sacajawea. a whole year she had tarried among the whites, quickly accommodating herself to their ways. but in the level st. louis she dreamed of her northland, and now she was going home! x _tecumseh_ "it is madness to contend against the whites," said black hoof, chief of the shawnees. "the more we fight the more they come." he had led raids against boonsboro, watched the ohio, and sold scalps at detroit. three times his town was burnt behind him, twice by clark and once by wayne. then he gave up, signed the treaty at greenville, and for ever after kept the peace. now he was living with a band of shawnees at cape girardeau, and made frequent visits to his old friend, daniel boone. indian phillips was with those who besieged boonsboro. phillips was a white man stolen as a child who had always lived with the shawnees. to him daniel boone was the closest of friends. they hunted together and slept together. boone took phillips' bearskins and sold them with his own in st. louis. "if i should die while i am out with you, phillips, you must mark my grave and tell the folks so they can carry me home." long after those indians in the west had welcomed boone's sons, an old squaw said, "i was an adopted sister during his captivity with the ohio indians." sometimes boone went over to cape girardeau, and sat with his friends talking over old times. "do you remember, dan," phillips would say, "when we had you prisoner at detroit? you remember the british traders gave you a horse and saddle and black fish adopted you, and you and he made an agreement you would lead him to boonsboro and make them surrender and bury the tomahawk, and live like brothers and sisters?" "yes, i remember," said boone, smiling at the recollection of those arts of subterfuge. "do you remember one warm day when black fish said, 'dan, the corn is in good roasting ears. i would like to have your horse and mine in good condition before we start to boonsboro. we need a trough to feed them in. i will show you a big log that you can dig out.' black fish led you to a big walnut log. you worked a while and then lay down. black fish came and said, 'well, dan, you haven't done much.' "'no,' you answered, 'you and your squaw call me your son, but you don't love me much. when i am at home i don't work this way,--i have negroes to work for me.' "'well,' said black fish, 'come to camp and stay with your brothers.'" quietly the two old men chuckled together. boone always called black fish, father, and when he went hunting brought the choicest bit to the chief. but now boone's visits to girardeau were made with a purpose. "what is tecumseh doing?" "tecumseh? he says no tribe can sell our lands. he refuses to move out of ohio." old black hoof had pulled away from tecumseh. the shooting star refused to attend wayne's treaty at greenville. in 1805 he styled himself a chief, and organised the young blood of the shawnees into a personal band. about this time tecumseh met rebecca galloway, whose father, james galloway, had moved over from kentucky to settle near old chillicothe. at the galloway hearth tecumseh was ever a welcome guest. "teach me to read the white man's book," said tecumseh to the fair rebecca. with wonderful speed the young chief picked up the english alphabet. hungry for knowledge, he read and read and rebecca read to him. thereafter in his wonderful war and peace orations, tecumseh used the language of his beloved rebecca. for, human-like, the young chief lost his heart to the white girl. days went by, dangerous days, while rebecca was correcting tecumseh's speech, enlarging his english vocabulary, and reading to him from the bible. "promise me, tecumseh, never, never will you permit the massacre of helpless women and children after capture." tecumseh promised. "and be kind to the poor surrendered prisoner." "i will be kind," said tecumseh. but time was fleeting,--game was disappearing,--tecumseh was an indian. his lands were slipping from under his feet. it was useless to speak to the fair rebecca. terrified at the fire she had kindled, she saw him no more. enraged, wrathful, he returned to his band. tecumseh never loved any indian woman. a wife or two he tried, then bade them "begone!" when lewis and clark returned from the west, tecumseh and his brother, the prophet, were already planning a vast confederation to wipe out the whites. jefferson heard of these things. "he is visionary," said the president, and let him go on unmolested. "the seventeen fires are cheating us!" exclaimed tecumseh. "the delawares, miamis, and pottawattamies have sold their lands! the great spirit gave the land to all the indians. no tribe can sell without the consent of all. the whites have driven us from the sea-coast,--they will shortly push us into the lakes." the governor-general of canada encouraged him. then came rumours of indian activity. like the hermit of old, tecumseh went out to rouse the redmen in a crusade against the whites. still jefferson paid no heed. about the time that clark and his bride came down the ohio, the distracted indians were swarming on tippecanoe creek, a hundred miles from fort dearborn, the future chicago. all summer, whisperings came into st. louis, "tecumseh is persuading the sacs, foxes, and osages to war." "i will meet the sacs and foxes," said lewis. clark went out and quieted the osages. boone's son and auguste chouteau went with him. "the great spirit bids you destroy vincennes and sweep the ohio to the mouth," was the prophet's reported advice to the chippewas. "give up our land and buy no more, and i will ally with the united states," said tecumseh to general harrison at vincennes, in august of 1809. "it cannot be," said harrison. "then i will make war and ally with england," retorted the defiant chieftain. the frontier had much to fear from an indian war. more and more vagrant red men hovered around st. louis,--sacs, foxes, osages, who had seen tecumseh. the illinois country opposite swarmed with them, making raids on the farmers, killing stock, stealing horses. massacres and depredations began. "'tis time to fortify," said daniel boone to his sons and neighbours. in a little while nine forts had been erected in st. charles county alone, and every cabin was stockaded. the five stockades at boone's lick met frequent assaults. black hawk was there, the trusted lieutenant of tecumseh. the whole frontier became alarmed. then manuel lisa came down the river. "the british are sending wampum to the sioux. all the missouri nations are urged to join the confederacy." in fact, the prophet with his mystery fire was visiting all the northwest tribes, even the blackfeet. ten thousand indians promised to follow him back. dressed in white buckskin, with eagle feathers in his hair, tecumseh, on a spirited black pony, came to gomo and black partridge on peoria lake in the summer of 1810. "i cannot join you," said black partridge, the pottawattamie, holding up a silver medal. "this token was given to me at greenville by the great chief [wayne]. on it you see the face of our father at washington. as long as this hangs on my neck i can never raise my tomahawk against the whites." gomo refused. "long ago the big knife [george rogers clark] came to kaskaskia and sent for the chiefs of this river. we went. he desired us to remain still in our own villages, saying that the americans were able, of themselves, to fight the british." "will anything short of the complete conquest of the canadas enable us to prevent their influence on our indians?" asked governor edwards of illinois. edwards and clark planned together for the protection of the frontier. in july, 1811, tecumseh went to vincennes and held a last stormy interview with harrison without avail. immediately he turned south to the creeks, choctaws, chickasaws, and seminoles. they watched him with kindling eyes. "brothers, you do not mean to fight!" thundered tecumseh to the hesitating creeks. "you do not believe the great spirit has sent me. you shall know. from here i go straight to detroit. when i arrive there i shall stamp on the ground, and shake down every house in this village." as tecumseh strode into the forest the terrified creeks watched. they counted the days. then came the awful quaking and shaking of the new madrid earthquake. "tecumseh has reached detroit! tecumseh has reached detroit!" cried the frantic creeks, as their wigwams tumbled about them. tecumseh was coming leisurely up among the tribes of missouri, haranguing black hoof at cape girardeau, osages, and kickapoos, and iowas at des moines. but tippecanoe had been fought and lost. "there is to be an attack," said george rogers clark floyd, tapping at the door of harrison's tent at three o'clock in the morning of november 7, 1811. harrison sprang to his horse and with him george croghan and john o'fallon. it was a battle for possession. every indian trained by tecumseh knew his country depended upon it. every white knew he must win or the log cabin must go. in the darkness and rain the combatants locked in the death struggle of savagery against civilisation. tecumseh reached the wabash to find the wreck of tippecanoe. "wretch!" he cried to his brother, "you have ruined all!" seizing the prophet by the hair, tecumseh shook him and beat him and cuffed him and almost killed him, then dashed away to canada and offered his tomahawk to great britain. "the danger is not over," said clark after harrison's battle. to save as many indians as possible from the machinations of tecumseh, immediately after tippecanoe clark summoned the neighbouring tribes to a council at st. louis. over the winter snows the runners sped, calling them in for a trip to washington. it was may of 1812 when clark got together his chiefs of the great and little osages, sacs, foxes, shawnees, and delawares. "ahaha! great medicine!" whispered the indians, when general clark discovered their wily plans. nothing could be hid from the red head chief. feared and beloved, none other could better have handled the inflammable tribes at that moment. old chiefs among them remembered his brother of the long knives, and looked upon this clark as his natural successor. and the general took care not to dispel this fancy, but on every occasion strengthened and deepened it. never before in st. louis had indians been watched so strenuously. moody, taciturn, repelling familiarity, they bore the faces of men who knew secrets. tecumseh had whispered in their ear. "shall we listen to tecumseh?" they were wavering. cold, impassively stoic, they heeded no question when citizens impelled by curiosity or friendly feeling endeavoured to draw them into conversation. if pressed too closely, the straight forms lifted still more loftily, and wrapping their blankets closer about them the council chiefs strode contemptuously away. but if clark spoke, every eye was attention. "before we go," said clark, "i advise you to make peace with one another and bury the hatchet." they did, and for the most part kept it for ever. it was may 5 when clark started with his embassy of ninety chiefs to see their "great god, the president," as they called madison, following the old trail to vincennes, louisville, and pittsburg. along with them went a body-guard of soldiers, and also mrs. clark, her maids, and the two little boys, on the way to fincastle. mrs. clark's especial escort was john o'fallon, nineteen years of age, aide to harrison at tippecanoe, who had come to his uncle at st. louis immediately after the battle. in their best necklaces of bears' claws the chiefs arrived at washington. war had been declared against great britain. there was a consultation with the president. "we, too, have declared war," announced the redmen, as they strode with clark from the white house. but black hawk of the rock river sacs was not there. he had followed tecumseh. about the same time, on the eastern bank of the detroit river tecumseh was met by anxious ohio chiefs who remembered wayne. "let us remain neutral," they pleaded. "this is the white man's war." tecumseh shook his tomahawk above the detroit. "my bones shall bleach on this shore before i will join in any council of neutrality." "the great father over the big water will never bury his war-club until he quiets these troublers of the earth," said general brock to tecumseh's redmen. then came larger gifts than ever from "their british father." "war is declared! go," said tecumseh, "cut off fort dearborn before they hear the news!" two emissaries from tecumseh came flying into the illinois. that night the indians started for chicago on her lonely lake. black partridge mounted his pony and tried to dissuade them. he could not. then spurring he reached fort dearborn first. with tears he threw down his medal before the astonished commander. "my young men have gone on the warpath. here is your medal. i will not wear an emblem of friendship when i am compelled to act as an enemy." before the sun went down the shores of lake michigan were red with the blood of men, women, and children. like the rhine of old france, the lakes were still the fighting border. president madison felt grateful to clark for the step he had taken with the indians. "will you command the army at detroit?" "i can do more for my country by attending to the indians," was the general's modest reply. the country waited to hear that hull had taken upper canada. instead the shocked nation heard, "_hull has surrendered_!" "hull has surrendered!" runners flew among the indians to the remotest border,--the creeks heard it before their white neighbours. little crow and his sioux snatched up the war hatchet. detroit had fallen with tecumseh and brock at the head of the anglo-indian army. "we shall drive these americans back across the ohio," said general brock. at this, the old and popular wish of the lake indians, large numbers threw aside their scruples and joined in the war that followed. in december general clark was appointed governor of the newly organised territory of missouri. meanwhile in the buff and blue stage coach, a huge box mounted on springs, julia and her children were swinging toward fotheringay. the air was hot and dusty, the leather curtains were rolled up to catch the slightest breeze, and the happy though weary occupants looked out on the valley of virginia. forty miles a day the coach horses travelled, leaving them each evening a little nearer their destination. the small wayside inns lacked comforts, but such as they were our travellers accepted thankfully. now and then the post-rider blew his horn and dashed by them, or in the heat of the day rode leisurely in the shade of poplars along the road, furtively reading the letters of his pack as he paced in the dust. and still over the mountains were pouring white-topped conestoga waggons, careening down like boats at sea, laden with cargoes of colonial ware, pewter, and mahogany. the golden age of coaching times had come, and magnificent horses, dappled grays and bays in scarlet-fringed housings and jingling bells, seemed bearing away the world on wheels. to the new home julia was coming, at fotheringay. before the coach stopped julia perceived through enshrining trees black granny standing in the wide hallway. throwing up her apron over her woolly head to hide the tears of joy,-"laws a-honey! miss judy done come hum!" "fotheringay!" sang out the dusty driver with an unusual flourish of whip-lash and echo-waking blast of the postillion's horn. in a trice the steps were down, and surrounded by babies and bandboxes, brass nail-studded hair trunks and portmanteaus of pigskin, "miss judy" was greeted by the entire sable population of fotheringay. light-footed as a girl she ran forward to greet her father, colonel hancock. the colonel hastened to his daughter,-"hull has surrendered," he said. xi _clark guards the frontier_ the indian hunt was over; they were done making their sugar; the women were planting corn. the warriors hid in the thick foliage of the river borders, preparing for war. "madison has declared war against england!" the news was hailed with delight. now would end this frightful suspense. in illinois alone, fifteen hundred savages under foreign machinations held in terror forty thousand white people,--officers and soldiers of george rogers clark and others who had settled on the undefended prairies. "detroit has fallen!" "mackinac is gone!" "the savages have massacred the garrison at fort dearborn!" "they are planning to attack the settlements on the mississippi. if the sioux join the confederacy--" cheeks paled at the possibility. the greatest body of indians in america resided on the mississippi. who could say at what hour the waters would resound with their whoops? thousands of them could reach st. louis or cahokia from their homes in five or six days. immense quantities of british gifts were coming from the lakes to the indians at peoria, rock island, des moines. "yes, we shall attack when the corn is ripe," said the indians at fort madison. "unless i hear shortly of more assistance than a few rangers i shall bury my papers in the ground, send my family off, and fight as long as possible," said edwards, the governor of illinois. in missouri, surrounded by pottawattamies, champion horsethieves of the frontier, and warlike foxes, iowas, and kickapoos, the settlers ploughed their fields with sentinels on guard. horns hung at their belts to blow as a signal of danger. in the quiet hour by the fireside, an indian would steal into the postern gate and shoot the father at the hearth, the mother at her evening task. presently the settlers withdrew into the forts, unable to raise crops. with corn in the cabin loft, the bear hunt in the fall, the turkey hunt at christmas, and venison hams kept over from last year, still there was plenty. daniel boone, the patriarch of about forty families, ever on the lookout with his long thin eagle face, ruled by advice and example. the once light flaxen hair was gray, but even yet boone's step was springy as the indian's, as gun in hand he watched around the forts. maine, montana, each has known it all, the same running fights of kentucky and oregon. woe to the little children playing outside the forted village,--woe to the lad driving home the cows,--woe to the maid at milking time. the alarm was swelled by quas-qua-ma, a chief of the sacs, a very pacific indian and friend of the whites, who came by night to bring warning and consult clark. in his search quas-qua-ma tip-toed from porch to porch. frightened habitants peered through the shutters. "what ees wanted?" "the red head chief." but clark had not arrived. "we must take this matter into our own hands," said the people. "british and indians came once from mackinac. they may again." "mackinac? they are at fort madison now, murdering our regulars and rangers. how long since they burned our boats and cargoes at fort bellevue? any day they may drop down on st. louis." "we must fortify." "the old bastions may be made available for service." "the old spanish garrison tower must be refitted for the women and children." such were the universal conclusions. men went up the river to the islands to bring down logs. another party set to work to dig a wide, deep ditch for a regular stockade. when clark arrived to begin his duties as territorial governor he found st. louis bordering on a state of panic. there was the cloud-shadow of the north. below, one thousand indians, cherokees, chickasaws, choctaws, creeks, and catawbas on a branch of the arkansas within three days' journey of saint genevieve were crossing the river at chickasaw bluffs. tecumseh's belts of wampum were flying everywhere. in their best necklaces of bears' claws clark's ninety chiefs came home, laden with tokens of esteem. civilised military dress had succeeded the blanket; the wild fierce air was gone. "we have declared war against kinchotch [king george]," said the proud chiefs, taking boat to keep their tribes quiet along the west. a sense of security returned to st. louis. would they not act as a barrier to tribes more remote? the plan for local fortification was abandoned, but a cordon of family blockhouses was built from bellefontaine to kaskaskia, a line seventy-five miles in length, along which the rangers rode daily, watching the red marauders of illinois. the mississippi was picketed with gunboats. "whoever holds prairie du chien holds the upper mississippi," said governor clark. "i will go there and break up that rendezvous of british and indians." who better than clark knew the border and the indian? he could ply the oar, or level the rifle, or sleep at night on gravel stones. "it requires time and a little smoking with indians if you wish to have peace with them." as soon as possible a gunboat, the _governor clark_, and several smaller boats, manned with one hundred and fifty volunteers and sixty regular troops, went up into the hostile country. fierce sacs glared from rock island, foxes paused in their lead digging at dubuque's mines,--lead for british cannon. although on missouri territory, prairie du chien was still occupied by indians and traders to the exclusion of americans. six hundred, seven hundred miles above st. louis, a little red bird whispered up the mississippi, "long knives coming!" the traders retired. "whoever enjoys the trade of the indians will have control of their affections and power," said clark. "too long have we left this point unfortified." a great impression had been made on the savages by the liberality of the british traders. their brilliant red coats--"eenah! eenah! eenamah!" exclaimed the sioux. but now the long knives! wabasha, son of wabasha of the revolution, remembered the long knives. when clark arrived at prairie du chien wabasha refused to fight him. red wing came down to the council. upon his bosom rising moose proudly exhibited a medal given him by captain pike in 1805. the indians nicknamed him "tammaha, the pike." twenty-five leagues above tammaha's village lived wabasha, and twenty-five above wabasha, the red wing, all great chiefs of the sioux, all very friendly now to the long knife who had come up in his gunboat. since time immemorial wabasha had been a friend of the british, twice had he, the son of wabasha i., been to quebec and received flags and medals. but now he remembered captain pike who visited their northern waters while lewis and clark were away at the west. grasping the hand of clark,-"we have the greatest friendship for the united states," said the chiefs,--all except little crow. he was leading a war party to the lakes. leaving troops to erect a fort and maintain a garrison at the old french prairie du chien, governor clark returned to his necessary duties at st. louis. behind on the river remained the gunboat to guard the builders. "a fort at the prairie?" cried the british traders at mackinac. "that cuts off our dakota trade." and forthwith an expedition was raised to capture the garrison. barely was the rude fortification completed before a force of british and chippewas were marching upon it. "i will not fight the big knives any more," said red wing. "why?" asked the traders. "the lion and the eagle fight. then the lion will go home and leave us to the eagle." red wing was famed for foretelling events at prairie du chien. in june manuel lisa came down the missouri. "de arrapahoe, arikara, gros ventre, and crow are at war wit' de american. de british nort'west traders embroil our people wit' de sauvages to cut dem off!" "we must extend the posts of st. louis to the british border," cautioned clark to lisa. "and if necessary arm the yanktons and omahas against the sacs and iowas. i herewith commission you, lisa, my especial sub-agent among the nations of the missouri to keep them at peace." very well clark knew whom he was trusting. now that war had crippled the missouri fur company, lisa alone represented them in the field. familiar with the fashions of indians, the size and colour of the favourite blanket, the shape and length of tomahawks, no trader was more a favourite than manuel lisa. besides, he still maintained the company's posts,--council bluffs with the omahas, six hundred miles up the missouri, and another at the sioux, six hundred miles further still, with two hundred hunters in his employ. here was a force not to be despised. ten months in the year lisa was buried in the wilderness, hid in the forest and the prairie, far from his wife in st. louis. wily, winning, and strategic, no trader knew indians better. "and," continued the governor, "i offer you five hundred dollars for sub-agent's salary." "a poor five hundred tollar!" laughed lisa. "eet will not buy te tobacco which i give annually to dose who call me fader. but lisa will go. his interests and dose of de government are one." then after a moment's frowning reflection,--"i haf suffered enough," almost wailed lisa, "i haf suffered enough in person and in property under a different government, to know how to appreciate de one under w'ich i now live." even while they were consulting, "here is your friend, de rising moose!" announced old antoine le claire. "rising moose?" governor clark started to his feet as one of the prairie du chien chiefs came striding through the door. "the fort is taken, but i will not fight the long knife. tammaha is an american." all the way down on the gunboat riddled with bullets, tammaha had come with the fleeing soldiers to offer his tomahawk to governor clark. the guns were not yet in when the enemy swept down on the fort at prairie du chien. "prairie du chien lost? it shall be recovered. wait until spring." and the british, too, said, "wait until spring and we will take st. louis." but they feared the gunboats. governor clark accepted tammaha's service, commissioning him a chief of the red wing band of sioux. "wait and go up with lisa. tell your people the long knife counsels them to remain quiet." when lisa set out for the north as agent of both the fur business and that of the government, he carried with him mementoes and friendly reminders to all the principal chiefs of the northern tribes. big elk of the omahas, black cat and big white of the mandans, le borgne of the minnetarees, even the chiefs of the dreaded teton sioux were not forgotten. the red head had been there, had visited their country. he was the son of their great father,--they would listen to the red head chief. at this particular juncture of our national history, clark the red head and manuel lisa the trader formed a fortunate combination for the interests of the united states. their words to the northern chiefs were weighty. their gifts were continued pledges of sacred friendship. while the eyes of the nation were rivetted on the conflict in the east and on the ocean, clark held the trans-mississippi with even a stronger grip than his illustrious brother had held the trans-alleghany thirty years before. along with lisa up the missouri to the dakotas went tammaha, the rising moose, and crossed to prairie du chien. "where do you come from and what business have you here?" cried the british commander, rudely jerking tammaha's bundle from his back and examining it for letters. "i come from st. louis," answered the moose. "i promised the long knife i would come to prairie du chien and here i am." "lock him in the guard house. he ought to be shot!" roared the officer. "i am ready for death if you choose to kill me," answered rising moose. at last in the depth of winter they sent him away. determined now, the old chief set out in the snows to turn all his energy against the british. "the old priest," said some of the indians, "tammaha talks too much!" all along the missouri, from st. louis to the mandans, lisa held councils with the indians with wonderful success. but the mississippi tribes, nearer to canada, were for the most part won over to great britain. in other directions governor clark sent out for reports from the tribes. the answer was appalling. as if all were at war, a cordon of foes stretched from the st. lawrence to the arkansas and alabama. even black partridge,--at the fort dearborn massacre he had snatched mrs. helm from the tomahawk and held her in the lake to save her life. late that night at an indian camp a friendly squaw-mother dressed her wounds. black partridge loved that girl. "lieutenant helm is a prisoner among the indians," said agent forsythe at peoria. "here are presents, black partridge. go ransom him. here is a written order on general clark for one hundred dollars when you bring him to the red head chief." black partridge rode to the kankakee village and spread out his presents. "and you shall have one huntret tollars when you bring him to te red head chief." "not enough! not enough!" cried the indians. "here, then, take my pony, my rifle, my ring," said the partridge, unhooking the hoop of gold from his nose. the bargain was made. the man was ransomed, and mounted on ponies all started for st. louis. lieutenant helm was saved. late at night, tired and hungry, the rain falling in torrents, without pony or gun, black partridge arrived at his village on peoria lake. his village? it was gone. black embers smouldered there. wrapped in his blanket, black partridge sat on the ground to await the revelation of dawn. wolves howled a mournful wail in his superstitious ear. day dawned. there lay the carnage of slaughter,--his daughter, his grandchild, his neighbours, dead. the rangers had burnt his town. breathing vengeance, "i will go on the war path," said black partridge, the pottawattamie. two hundred warriors went from the wigwams of illinois under black partridge, shequenebec sent a hundred from his stronghold at the head of peoria lake, mittitass led a hundred from his village at the portage on the rivière des plaines. painted black they came, inveterate since tippecanoe. "look out for squalls," wrote john o'fallon from st. louis to his mother at louisville. "an express arrived from fort madison yesterday informing that the sentinels had been obliged to fire upon the indians almost every night to keep them at their distance. indians are discovered some nights within several feet of the pickets." black hawk was there. very angry was black hawk at the building of fort madison at the foot of des moines rapids. while lewis and clark were gone in 1804, william henry harrison, directed by jefferson, made a treaty with the sacs and foxes by which they gave up fifty millions of acres. gratiot, vigo, the chouteaus, and officers of the state and army, quasquama and four other chiefs, attached their names to that treaty in the presence of major stoddard. "i deny its validity!" cried black hawk. "i never gave up my land." now black hawk was plotting and planning and attacking fort madison, until early in september a panting express arrived at st. louis. "fort madison is burned, your excellency." "how did it happen?" inquired the governor. "besieged until the garrison was reduced to potatoes alone, we decided to evacuate. digging a tunnel from the southeast blockhouse to the river, boats were made ready. slipping out at night, crowding through the tunnel on hands and knees, our last man set fire to fort madison. like tinder the stockade blazed, kissing the heavens. indians leaped and yelled with tomahawks, expecting our exit. at their backs, under cover of darkness, we escaped down the mississippi." xii _the story of a sword_ "show me what kind of country we have to march through," said the british general to tecumseh, after detroit had fallen. taking a roll of elm-bark tecumseh drew his scalping knife and etched upon it the rivers, hills, and woods he knew so well. and the march began,--to be checked at fort stephenson by a boy of twenty-one. it was the dream and hope of the british fur companies to extend their territory as far within the american border as possible. the whole war of 1812 was a traders' war. commerce, commerce, for which the world is battling still, was the motive power on land and sea. at the lakes now, the british fur traders waved their flags again above the ramparts of detroit. "we must hold this post,--its loss too seriously deranges our plans." smouldering, the old revolutionary fires had burst anew. did george iii. still hope to conquer america? "hull surrendered?" america groaned at the stain, the stigma, the national disgrace! in a day regiments leaped to fill the breach. "detroit must be re-taken!" along the lakes battle succeeded battle in swift succession. at louisville two mothers, lucy and fanny, were anxious for their boys. both george croghan and john o'fallon had been with harrison at tippecanoe. both had been promoted. then came the call for swords. "get me a sword in philadelphia," wrote o'fallon to his mother. "send me a sword to cincinnati," begged croghan. sitting under the trees at locust grove the sisters were discussing the fall of detroit. fanny had john o'fallon's letter announcing the burning of fort madison. lucy was devouring the last impatient scrawl from her fiery, ambitious son, george croghan, now caged in an obscure fort on sandusky river near lake erie. "the general little knows me," wrote croghan. "to assist his cause, to promote in any way his welfare, i would bravely sacrifice my best and fondest hopes. i am resolved on quitting the army as soon as i am relieved of the command of this post." scarcely had the two mothers finished reading when a shout rang through the streets of louisville. "hurrah for croghan! croghan! croghan!" "why, what is the matter?" pale with anxiety lucy ran to the gate. the whole street was filled with people coming that way. in a few hurried words she heard the story from several lips at once. "why, you see, madam, general harrison was afraid tecumseh would make a flank attack on fort stephenson, in charge of george croghan, and so ordered him to abandon and burn it. but no,--he sent the general word, 'we are determined to hold this place, and by heaven we will!' "that night george hastily cut a ditch and raised a stockade. then along came proctor and tecumseh with a thousand british and indians, and summoned him to surrender. "the boy had only one hundred and sixty inexperienced men and a single six-pounder, but he sent back answer: 'the fort will be defended to the last extremity. no force, however great, can induce us to surrender. we are resolved to hold this post or bury ourselves in its ruins.'" tears ran down lucy's cheeks as she listened,--she caught at the gate to keep from falling. before her arose the picture of that son with red hair flying, and fine thin face like a blooded warhorse,--she knew that look. "again proctor sent his flag demanding surrender to avoid a terrible massacre. "'when this fort is taken there will be none to massacre,' answered the boy, 'for it will not be given up while a man is left to resist!' "the enemy advanced, and when close at hand, croghan unmasked his solitary cannon and swept them down. again proctor advanced, and again the rifle of every man and the masked cannon met them. falling back, proctor and tecumseh retreated, abandoning a boatload of military stores on the bank." "hurrah for croghan! croghan! croghan!" again rang down the streets of louisville. the bells rang out a peal as the stars and stripes ran up the flag-staff. "the little game cock, he shall have my sword," said george rogers clark, living again his own great days. and with that sword there was a story. when tippecanoe was won and the world was ringing with "harrison!" men recalled another hero who "with no provisions, no munitions, no cannon, no shoes, almost without an army," had held these same redmen at bay. "and does he yet live?" "he lives, an exile and a hermit on a point of rock on the indiana shore above the falls of the ohio." "has he no recognition?" men whispered the story of the sword. when john rogers went back from victorious vincennes with hamilton a prisoner-of-war, the grateful virginian assembly voted george rogers clark a sword. "and you, captain rogers, may present it." the sword was ready, time passed, difficulties multiplied. clark presented his bill to the virginia legislature. to his amazement and mortification the house of delegates refused to allow his claim. clark went home, sold his bounty lands, and ruined himself to pay for the bread and meat of his army. and then it was rumoured, "to-day a sword will be presented to george rogers clark." all the countryside gathered, pioneers and veterans, with the civic and military display of that rude age to see their hero honoured. the commissioner for virginia appeared, and in formal and complimentary address delivered the sword. the general received it; then drawing the long blade from its scabbard, plunged it into the earth and broke it off at the hilt. turning to the commissioner, he said, "captain rogers, return to your state and tell her for me first to be just before she is generous." for years those old veterans had related to their children and grandchildren the story of that tragic day when clark, the hero, broke the sword virginia gave him. but a new time had come and new appreciation. while the smoke of tippecanoe was rolling away a member of the virginia legislature related anew the story of that earlier vincennes and of the sword that clark, "with haughty sense of wounded pride and feeling had broken and cast away." with unanimous voice virginia voted a new sword and the half-pay of a colonel for the remainder of his life. the commissioners found the old hero partially paralysed. lucy had gone to him at the point of rock. "brother, you are failing, you need care, i will look after you," and tenderly she bore him to her home at locust grove, where now, all day long, in his invalid chair, george rogers clark studied the long reach of the blue ohio or followed napoleon and the boys of 1812. nothing had touched him like this deed of his nephew,--"yes, yes, he shall have my sword!" the next morning after the battle general harrison wrote to the secretary of war: "i am sorry i cannot submit to you major croghan's official report. he was to have sent it to me this morning, but i have just heard that he was so much exhausted by thirty-six hours of constant exertion as to be unable to make it. it will not be among the least of general proctor's mortifications to find that he has been baffled by a youth who has just passed his twenty-first year. he is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant uncle, general george rogers clark." the cannon, "old betsy," stands yet in fort stephenson at fremont, ohio, where every passing year they celebrate the victory of that second day of august, 1813,--the first check to the british advance in the war of 1812. a few days later, perry's victory on lake erie opened the road to canada and detroit was re-taken. "britannia, columbia, both had set their heels upon detroit, and young columbia threw britannia back across the lakes," says the chronicler. then followed the battle of the thames and the death of tecumseh. a canadian historian says, "but for tecumseh, it is probable we should not now have a canada." what if he had won rebecca? would canada now be a peaceful sister of the states? tecumseh fought with the fur traders,--their interests were his,--to keep the land a wild, a game preserve for wild beasts and wilder men. civilisation had no part or place in tecumseh's plan. with the medal of george iii. upon his breast, tecumseh fell, on canadian soil, battle-axe in hand, hero and patriot of his race, the last of the great shawnees. tecumseh's belt and shot pouch were sent to jefferson and hung on the walls of monticello. tecumseh's son passed with his people beyond the mississippi. from his invalid chair at locust grove george rogers clark was writing to his brother: "your embarkation from st. louis on your late hazardous expedition [to prairie du chien] was a considerable source of anxiety to your friends and relatives. they were pleased to hear of your safe return.... "as to napoleon ... the news of his having abdicated the throne--" "napoleon abdicated?" governor clark scarce finished the letter. having crushed him, what armies might not england hurl hitherward! new danger menaced america. "napoleon abdicated!" new orleans wept. then followed the word, "england is sailing into the gulf,--sir edward pakenham, brother-in-law of the duke of wellington, with a part of wellington's victorious army, fifty ships, a thousand guns and twenty thousand men!" never had great britain lost sight of the mississippi. this was a part of the fleet that burned washington and had driven dolly madison and the president into ignominious flight. terrified, new orleans, the beautiful creole maiden, beset in her orange bower, flung out her arms appealing to the west! and that west answered, "never, while the mississippi rolls to the gulf, will we leave you unprotected." and out of that west came andrew jackson and tall tennesseeans, kentuckians, mississippians, in coonskin caps and leathern hunting shirts, to seal for ever our right to louisiana. the hottest part of the battle was fought at chalmette, above the grave of the fighting parson. immortal eighth of january, 1815! discontented creoles of 1806 proved loyal americans, vindicating their right to honour. napoleon laughed when he heard it at elba,--"i told them i had given england a rival that one day would humble her pride." even the ursuline nuns greeted their deliverers with joy, and the dim old cloistered halls were thrown open for a hospital. "i expect at this moment," said lord castlereagh in europe, "that most of the large seaport towns of america are laid in ashes, that we are in possession of new orleans, and have command of all the rivers of the mississippi valley and the lakes." but he counted without our ships at sea. the war of 1812 was fought upon the ocean, "the golden age of naval fighting." bone of her bone, flesh of her flesh, under the "gridiron flag," tars of the american revolution, sailor boys who under impressment had fought at trafalgar, led in a splendid spectacular drama, the like of which england or the world had never seen. she had trained up her own child. a thousand sail had britain--america a dozen sloops and frigates altogether,--but the little tubs had learned from their mother. "the territory between the lakes and the ohio shall be for ever set apart as an indian territory," said england at the opening of the peace negotiations. "the united states shall remove her armed vessels from the lakes and give england the right of navigating the mississippi." clay, gallatin, adams packed up their grips preparatory to starting home, when england bethought herself and came to better terms. the next year america passed a law excluding foreigners from our trade, and the british fur traders reluctantly crossed the border. but they held oregon by "joint occupation." "all posts captured by either power shall be restored," said the treaty. "there shall be joint occupancy of the oregon country for ten years." "a great mistake! a great mistake!" cried out thomas hart benton, a young lawyer who had settled in st. louis. "in ten years that little nest egg of 'joint occupation' will hatch out a lively fighting chicken." benton was a western man to the core,--he felt a responsibility for all that sunset country. and why should he not? missouri and oregon touched borders on the summit of the rockies. were they not next-door neighbours, hobnobbing over the fence as it were? every day at governor clark's at st. louis, he and benton discussed that oregon "joint occupancy" clause. "as if two nations ever peacefully occupied the same territory! i tell you it is a physical impossibility," exclaimed benton, jamming down his wine-glass with a crash. the war of 1812,--how astor hated it! "but for that war," he used to say, "i should have been the richest man that ever lived." as it was, the british fur companies came in and gained a foothold from which they were not ousted until american ox-teams crossed the plains and american frontiersmen took the country. a million a year england trapped from oregon waters. xiii _portage des sioux_ "come and make treaties of friendship." as his brother had done at the close of the revolution, so now william clark sent to the tribes to make peace after the war of 1812. "no person ought to be lazy to be de bearer of such good news," said old antoine le claire, the interpreter. up the rivers and toward the lakes, runners carried the word of the red head chief, "come, come to st. louis!" to the clay huts of the sable pawnees of the platte, to the reed wigwams of the giant osages, to the painted lodges of the omahas, and to the bark tents of the chippewas, went "peace talks" and gifts and invitations. "de iowas are haughty an' insolent!" st. vrain, first back, laid their answer on the table. "de kickapoo are glad of de peace, but de sauk an' winnebago insist on war! de sauk haf murdered deir messenger!" that was black hawk. with a war party from prairie du chien he was met by the news of peace. "peace?" black hawk wept when he heard it. he had been at the battle of the thames. "de messenger to de sioux are held at rock river!" one by one came runners into the council hall, and, cap in hand, stood waiting. outside, their horses pawed on the rue, their boats were tied at the river. "some one must pass rock river, to the sioux, chippewas, and menomonees," said clark. not an interpreter stirred. "we dare not go into dose hostile countrie," said antoine le claire, spokesman for the rest. "what? with an armed boat?" the silence was painful as the governor looked over the council room. "i will go." every eye was turned toward the speaker, james kennerly, the governor's private secretary, the cousin of julia and brother of harriet of fincastle. the same spirit was there that led a whole generation of his people to perish in the revolution. his father had been dragged from the field of cowpens wrapped in the flag he had rescued. at the risk of his life, when no one else would venture, the faithful secretary went up the mississippi to bring in the absent tribes. black-eyed elise, the daughter of dr. saugrain, wept all night to think of it. governor clark himself had introduced elise to his secretary. how she counted the days! "the chippewas would have murdered me but for the timely arrival of the sioux," said kennerly, on his safe return with the band of rising moose. "the red coats are gone!" said rising moose. "i rush in. i put out the fire. i save the fort." without waiting for troops from st. louis, forty-eight hours after the news of peace the british had evacuated prairie du chien. a day or two later they returned, took the cannon, and set fire to the fort with the american flag flying. into the burning fort went rising moose, secured the flag and an american medal, and brought them down to st. louis. while interpreters were speeding by horse and boat over half a hundred trails, manuel lisa, sleepless warden of the plains, arrived with forty-three chiefs and head men of the missouri sioux. wild indians who never before had tasted bread, brought down in barges camped on the margin of the mississippi, the great council chiefs of their tribes, moody, unjoyous, from the stony mountains. for weeks other deputations followed, to the number of two thousand, to make treaties and settle troubles arising out of the war of 1812. whether even yet a council could be held was a query in governor clark's mind. across the neighbouring mississippi, sacs, foxes, iowas were raiding still, capturing horses and attacking people. that was black hawk. the eyes of the missouri sioux flashed. "let us go and fight those sacs and iowas. they shall trouble us no more." with difficulty were they held to the council. there was a steady and unalterable gloom of countenance, a melancholy, sullen musing among the gathered tribes, as they camped on the council ground at portage des sioux on the neck of land between the two rivers at st. charles. over this neck crossed sioux war parties in times past, avoiding a long detour, bringing home their scalps. resplendent with oriental colour were the bluffs and the prairies. chiefs and warriors had brought their squaws and children,--sioux from the lakes and the high points of the mississippi in canoes of white birch, light and bounding as cork upon the water; sioux of the missouri in clumsy pirogues; mandans in skin coracles, barges, dug-outs, and cinnamon-brown fleets of last year's bark. the panorama of forest and prairie was there,--sioux of the leaf, sioux of the broad leaf, and sioux who shoot in the pine tops, in hoods of feathers, chinese featured sioux, of smooth skins and roman noses, the ideal indian stalking to and fro with forehead banded in green and scarlet and eagle plumes. for wabasha, little crow, and red wing had come, great sachems of the sioux nation. the british officers at drummond's island in lake huron had sent for little crow and wabasha. "i would thank you in the name of george iii. for your services in the war." "my father," said wabasha, "what is this i see on the floor before me? a few knives and blankets! is this all you promised at the beginning of the war? where are those promises you made? you told us you would never let fall the hatchet until the americans were driven beyond the mountains. will these presents pay for the men we lost? i have always been able to make a living and can do so still." "after we have fought for you," cried little crow, "endured many hardships, lost some of our people, and awakened the vengeance of our powerful neighbours, you make a peace and leave us to obtain such terms as we can! you no longer need us and offer these goods for having deserted us. we will not take them." kicking the presents contemptuously with his foot, little crow turned away. "arise, let us go down to the red head parshasha!" in handsome bark canoes propelled by sails alone, the sioux came down to st. louis. walking among their elliptical tents, lounging on panther skins at their wigwam doors, waited the redmen, watching, lynx-eyed, losing nothing of the scene before them. beaded buckskin glittered in the sun, tiny bells tinkled from elbow to ankle, and sashes outrivalled louisiana sunsets. half-naked osages with helmet-crests and eagle-quills, full-dressed in breech-clouts and leggings fringed with scalp-locks, the tallest men in north america, from their warm south hills, mingled with pottawattamies of the illinois, makers of fire, shawnees with vermilion around their eyes, sacs, of the red badge, and foxes, adroitest of thieves, all drumming on their tambourines. winnebagoes, fish eaters, had left their nets on the northern lakes, omahas their gardens on the platte, and ojibway arrow makers sat chipping, chipping as the curious crowds walked by. for all the neighbouring country had gathered to view the indian camp of 1815. oblivious, contemptuous perhaps, of staring crowds, the industrious women skinned and roasted dogs on sticks, the warriors gambled with one another, staking their tents, skins, rifles, dogs, and squaws. here and there sachems were mending rifles, princesses carrying water, children playing ball. about the first of july, governor clark of missouri, governor ninian edwards of illinois, and auguste chouteau of st. louis, opened the council,--one of the greatest ever held in the mississippi valley. auguste chouteau, prime vizier of all the old spanish commandants, now naturally slipped into the same office with clark, and governor edwards of illinois, who as a father had guarded the frontier against the wiles of tecumseh, and had risked his entire fortune to arm the militia,--all in queues, high collared coats, and ruffled shirts, faced each other and the chiefs. in front of their neatly arranged tents sat the tawny warriors in imposing array, with dignified attention to the interpretation of each sentence. "the long and bloody war is over. the british have gone back over the big water," said governor clark, "and now we have sent for you, my brothers, to conclude a treaty of peace." "heigh!" cried all the indians in deep-toned resonance that rolled like a greek chorus to the bluffs beyond. the sky smiled down as on the old areopagus, the leaves of the forest rustled, the river swept laughing by. "every injury or act of hostility by one or either of us against the other, shall be mutually forgiven and forgot." "heigh! heigh! heig-h!" "there shall be perpetual peace and friendship between us." "heigh!" "you will acknowledge yourselves under the protection of the united states, and of no other nation, power, or sovereign whatsoever." "heigh!" a teton sioux who had come down with lisa struggled to his feet, approached, shook hands with the commissioners, then retreated and fixed his keen eye on the governor. his voice rang clear over the assembled thousands,-"we have come down expressly to notify you, our father, that we will assist in chastising those nations hostile to our government." the two factions faced each other. scowls of lightning hate flashed over the council. but the wisdom and tact of clark were equal to regiments. "the fighting has ended," he said. "the peace has come." "heigh!" shouted all the indians. "heig-h!" partisan was there, the teton chief, who with black buffalo had made an attempt to capture clark on the way to the pacific. and now partisan was bristling to fight for clark. wabasha arose, like a figure out of one of catlin's pictures, in a chief's costume, with bullock horns and eagle feathers. there was a stir. with a profile like the great condé, followed by his pipe bearers with much ceremony, the hereditary chief from the falls of st. anthony walked up to governor clark. "i shake hands," he said. every neck was craned. when before had wabasha stood? in their northern councils he spoke sitting. "i am called upon to stand only in the presence of my great father at washington or governor clark at st. louis. but i am not a warrior," said wabasha. "my people can prosper only at peace with one another and the whites. against my advice some of my young men went into the war." the fiery eyes of little crow flashed, the aquiline curve of his nose lifted, like the beak of an eagle. he had come down from his bark-covered cabin near st. paul. "i am a _war chief_!" said little crow. "but i am willing to conclude a peace." "i alone was an american," said rising moose, "when all my people fought with the british." all the rest of his life tammaha, rising moose, wore a tall silk hat and carried governor clark's commission in his bosom. big elk, the omaha, successor of blackbird, spoke with action energetic and graceful. "last winter when you sent your word by captain manuel lisa, in the night one of the whites wanted my young men to rise. he told them if they wanted good presents, to cross to the british. this man was baptiste dorion. when i was at the pawnees i wanted to bring some of them down, but the whites who live among them told them not to go, that no good came from the americans, that good only came from the british. i have told captain manuel to keep those men away from us. take care of the sioux. take care. they will fly from under your wing." sacs who had been hostile engaged in the debate. noble looking chiefs, with blanket thrown around the body in graceful folds, the right arm, muscular and brawny, bare to the shoulder, spoke as cato might have spoken to the roman senate. "my father, it is the request of my people to keep the british traders among us." as he went on eloquently enumerating their advantages in pleading tone and voice and glance and gesture,--hah! the wild rhetoric of the savage! how it thrilled the assembled concourse of indians and americans! clark shook his head. "it cannot be. we can administer law, order, and justice ourselves. come to us for goods,--the british traders belong beyond the border." the indians gave a grunt of anger. "it has been promised already," cried another chief. "the americans have double tongues!" "heigh!" ran among the indians. many a one touched his tongue and held up two fingers, "you lie!" with stern and awful look clark immediately dismissed the council. the astonished chiefs covered their mouths with their hands as they saw the commissioners turn their backs to go out. that afternoon a detachment of united states artillery arrived and camped in full view of the indians. they had been ordered to the sac country. colonel dodge's regiment of dragoons, each company of a solid colour, blacks and bays, whites, sorrels, grays and creams, went through the manoeuvres of battle, charge and repulse, in splendid precision. it was enough. the sac chiefs, cowed, requested the renewal of the council. "my father," observed the offending chief of the day before, "you misunderstood me. i only meant to say we have always understood from our fathers that the americans used two languages, the french and the english!" clark smiled and the council proceeded. but by night, july 11, the sacs, foxes, and kickapoos secretly left the council. at the same time came reports of great commotion at prairie du chien where the northern tribes were divided by the british traders. head bent, linked arm in arm with paul louise, his little interpreter, the giant osage chief, white hair, gave strict attention. white hair had been in st. clair's defeat, and in seeking to scalp a victim had grasped--his wig! this he ever after wore upon his own head, a crown of white hair. he said, "i felt a fire within me,--it drove me to the fight of st. clair. his army scattered. i returned to my own people. but the fire still burned, and i went over the mountains toward the western sea." every morning the osages set up their matutinal wail, dolefully lamenting, weeping as if their hearts would break. "what is the matter?" inquired governor clark, riding out in concern. "we are mourning for our ancestors," answered the chief, shedding copious tears and sobbing anew, for ages the custom of his people. "they are dead long ago,--let them rest!" said the governor. brightening up, white hair slipped on his wig and followed him to the council. houseless now and impoverished black partridge and his people clung to colonel george davenport as to a father. poor helpless pottawattamies! "come with me," said davenport, "i will take you to st. louis." so down in a flotilla of canoes had come davenport with thirteen chiefs, all wreathed in turkey feathers, emblems of the pottawattamies. no more they narrated their heroic exploits in fighting with tecumseh. grave, morose, brooding over his wrongs, black partridge was seventy now, his long coarse unkempt hair in matted clusters on his shoulders, but figure still erect and firm. "i would be a friend to the whites," he said. "i was compelled to go with my tribe." the silver medallion of george washington was gone from his breast. many and sad had been the vicissitudes since that day, when, in a flood of tears, he had thrown it down at the feet of the commander at fort dearborn. tall, slim, with a high forehead, large nose and piercing black eyes, with hoops of gold in his ears, black partridge was a typical savage,--asking for civilisation. but it rolled over him. here and there a missionary tarried to talk, but commerce, commerce, the great civiliser, arose like a flood, drowning the redmen. "the settlements are crowding our border," black partridge spoke for his people on their fairy lake, peoria. "and whom shall we call father, the british at malden or the americans at st. louis? who shall relieve our distresses?" "put it in your mind," said auguste chouteau, the shrewd old french founder of st. louis, "put it in your mind, that when de british made peace with us, dey left you in de middle of de prairie without a shade against sun or rain. left you in de middle of de prairie, a sight to pity. we americans have a large umbrella; keeps off de sun and rain. you come under our umbrella." and they did. the indian has a fine sense of justice. the situation was evident. abandoned by the british who had led him into the war, he stood ready at last to return to the friends on whom he was most dependent. one by one the chiefs came forward and put their mark to the treaty of peace and friendship. clark brought the peace pipes,--every neck was craned to scan them. sioux pipes sometimes cost as much as forty horses,--finely wrought pipes of variegated red and white from the minnesota quarries, shoshone pipes of green, and pipes of purple from queen charlottes, were sold for skins and slaves,--but these, clark's pipes of silver bowls and decorated stems, these were worth a hundred horses! puffing its fragrant aroma, the fierce wild eye of the savage softened. twenty thousand dollars' worth of goods was distributed in presents, flags, blankets, and rifles, ornaments and clothing. "ah, ha! great medicine!" whispered the indians as the beautiful gifts came one by one into their hands. "we need traders," said red wing, sliding his hand along the soft nap of the blankets. "that made us go into the war. without traders we have to clothe ourselves in grass and eat the earth." "you shall have traders," answered clark. "i shall not let you travel five or six hundred miles to a british post." every september thereafter he sent them up a few presents to begin their fall hunting, and counselled his agents to listen to their complaints and render them justice. "we must depend on policy rather than arms," said the governor. "for they are our children, the wards of the nation." the indians were dined in st. louis and entertained with music and dancing. by their dignity, moderation, and untiring forbearance, the commissioners of portage des sioux exemplified the paternal benevolence of the government. at the end of the council lisa started back with his chiefs, on a three months' voyage to their northern home, and on the last day of september clark dismissed the rest. thus making history, the summer had stolen away. all next summer and the next were spent in making treaties, until at last there was peace along the border. "did you sign?" finally asked some one of black hawk of the british band. "i touched the goose quill," answered the haughty chief. so ended the war of 1812. xiv _"for our children, our children!"_ as soon as the indian scare was silenced, all the world seemed rushing to missouri. ferries ran by day and night. patriarchal planters of virginia, the carolinas, and georgia passed ever west in long, unending caravans of flocks, servants, herds, into the new land of the louisianas. new englanders and pennsylvanians, six, eight, and ten horses to a waggon, and cattle with their hundred bells, tinkled through the streets of st. louis. "where are you going, now?" inquired the citizens. "to boone's lick, to be sure." "go no further," said clark, ever enthusiastic about st. louis. "buy here. this will be the city." "but ah!" exclaimed the emigrant. "if land is so good here what must boone's lick be!" perennial childhood of the human heart, ever looking for canaan just beyond! the frenchmen shrugged their shoulders at the strange energy of these progressive "bostonnais." it annoyed them to have their land titles looked into. "a process! a lawsuit!" they clasped their hands in despair. but ever the people of st. louis put up their lands to a better figure, and watched out of their little square lattices for the coming of _les américains_. all the talk was of land, land, land! the very wealth of ancient estates lay unclaimed for the first heir to enter, the gift of god. in waggons, on foot and horseback, with packhorses, handcarts, and wheelbarrows, with blankets on their backs and children by the hand, the oppressed of the old world fled across the new. "why do you go into the wilderness?" "for my children, my children," answered the pioneer. more and more came people in a mighty flood, peasants, artisans, sons of the old crusaders, children of feudal knights of chivalry and romance, descendants of the hardy norsemen who captured europe five hundred years before, scions of europe's most titled names, thronging to our west. frosts and crop failures in the atlantic states and a financial panic uprooted old revolutionary centres. "a better country, a better country!" was the watchword of the mobile nation. "let's go over to the territory," said the soldiers of 1812. "let us go to arkansas, where corn can be had for sixpence a bushel and pork for a penny a pound. two days' work in texas is equal to the labour of a week in the north." and on they pressed into no man's land, a land of undeveloped orchards, maple syrup and honey, fields of cotton and wool and corn. conestoga waggons crowded on the alleghanies, teams fell down precipices and perished, but the tide pushed madly on. colonies of hundreds were pouring into michigan, wisconsin, illinois. new towns were named for their founders, new counties, lakes, rivers, streams, and hills,--the settlers wrote their names upon the geography of the nation. in the midst of the war daniel boone had come down to clark at st. louis. "i have spoken to henry clay about your claim," said the governor. "he says congress will do something for you." "now rebecca, thee shall hev a house!" that house, the joint product of nathan, the colonel, and his slaves, was a work of years. not far from the old cabin by the spring it stood, convenient to the judgment tree. for boone still held his court beneath the spreading elm. the stones were quarried and chiselled, two feet thick, and laid so solidly that to-day the walls of the old boone mansion are as good as new. the plaster was mixed and buried in the ground over winter to ripen. roomy and comfortable, two stories and an attic it was built, with double verandas and chimneys at either end, the finest mansion on the border. but in march rebecca died. boone buried her where he could watch the mound. the house was finished. the colonel bought a coffin and put it under the bed to be ready. sometimes he tried his coffin, to see how it would seem when he slept beside rebecca. in december came the land, a thousand arpents in his spanish grant. "if i only cud hev told rebecca," sobbed daniel, kneeling at her grave. "she war a good woman, and the faithful companion of all my wanderings." in the spring boone sold his land, and set out for kentucky. "daniel boone has come! daniel boone has come!" old hunters, revolutionary heroes, came for miles to see their leader who had opened kentucky. there was a reception at maysville. parties were given in his honour wherever he went. once more he embraced his old friend, simon kenton. "how much do i owe ye?" he said to one and another. whatever amount they named, that he paid, and departed. one day the dusty old hunter re-entered his son's house on the femme osage with fifty cents in his pocket. "now i am ready and willing to die. i have paid all my debts and nobody can say, 'boone was a dishonest man.'" then came the climax of his life. "nate, i am goin' to the yellowstone." while clark was holding his peace treaties, daniel boone, eighty-two years old, with a dozen others set out in boats for the upper missouri. autumn came. somewhere in the present montana, they threw up a winter camp and were besieged by indians. a heavy snow-storm drove the indians off. in early spring, coming down the missouri on the return, again they were attacked by indians and landed in a thicket of the opposite shore. under cover of a storm in the night boone ordered them into the boat, and silently in the pelting rain they escaped. boone himself brought the furs to st. louis, and went back with a bag full of money and a boat full of emigrants. farther and farther into his district emigrants began setting up their four-post sassafras bedsteads and scouring their pewter platters. women walked thirty miles to hear the first piano that came into the boone settlement. in the last year of the war boone's favourite grandson was killed at charette. "the history of the settlement of the western country is my history," said the old colonel in his grief. "two darling sons, a grandson, and a brother have i lost by savage hands, besides valuable horses and abundance of cattle. many sleepless nights have i spent, separated from the society of men, an instrument ordained of god to settle the wilderness." "you must paint daniel boone," said governor clark to chester harding, a young american artist fresh from paris in the summer of 1819. the governor was harding's first sitter. he invited the indians into his studio. "ugh! ugh! ugh!" grunted the osage chiefs, putting their noses close and rubbing their fingers across the governor's portrait. in june harding set out up the missouri to paint boone. in an old blockhouse of the war of 1812, he found him lying on a bunk, roasting a strip of venison wound around his ramrod, turning it before the fire. "what? paint my pictur'?" "yes, on canvas. make a portrait, you know." the old man consented. with amazement the frontiersman saw the picture grow,--still more amazed, his grandchildren watched the likeness of "granddad" growing on the canvas. ruddy and fair, with silvered locks, always humming a tune, he sat in his buckskin hunting-shirt trimmed with otter's fur, and the knife in his belt he had carried on his first expedition to kentucky. every day now, in his leisure hours, the old pioneer was busily scraping with a piece of glass. "making a powder-horn," he said. "goin' to hunt on the fork in the fall." a hundred miles up the kansas he had often set his traps, but boone's legs were getting shaky, his eyes were growing dim. every day now he tried his coffin,--it was shining and polished and fair, of the wood he loved best, the cherry. people came for miles to look at boone's coffin. xv _too good to the indians_ manuel lisa had out-distanced all his competitors in the fur trade. but the voice of envy whispered, "manuel must cheat the government, and manuel must cheat the indians, otherwise manuel could not bring down every summer so many boats loaded with rich furs." "good!" exclaimed lisa to governor clark, when the fleets were tying up at st. louis in 1817. "my accounts with the government will show whether i receive anything out of which to cheat it." "i have not blamed you, manuel," explained the governor. "on the contrary i have conveyed to the government my high appreciation of your very great services in quieting the indians of the missouri. it is not necessary to worry yourself with the talk of babblers who do not understand." "cheat the indians!" the spaniard stamped the floor. "the respect and friendship which they have for me, the security of my possessions in the heart of their country, respond to this charge, and declare with voices louder than the tongues of men that it cannot be true. "'but manuel gets so much rich fur.'" lisa ground out the words with scorn. "well, i will explain how i get it. first i put into my operations great activity,--i go a great distance, while some are considering whether they will start to-day or to-morrow. i impose upon myself great privations,--ten months in a year i am buried in the forest, at a vast distance from my own house. i appear as the benefactor, and not as the pillager, of the indians. i carried among them the seed of the large pumpkin, from which i have seen in their possession the fruit weighing one hundred and sixty pounds. also the large bean, the potato, the turnip, and these vegetables now make a great part of their subsistence. this year i have promised to carry the plough. besides, my blacksmiths work incessantly for them, charging nothing. i lend them traps, only demanding preference in their trade. my establishments are the refuge of the weak and of the old men no longer able to follow their lodges; and by these means i have acquired the confidence and friendship of these nations, and the consequent choice of their trade. these things i have done, and i propose to do more." in short, manuel lisa laid down his commission as sub-agent to embark yet more deeply in the fur trade. "what is that noise at the river?" ten thousand shrieking eagles and puffs of smoke arose from the yellow-brown mississippi below. the entire population of st. louis was flocking to the river brink to greet the _general pike_, the first steamboat that ever came up to st. louis. people rushed to the landing but the indians drew back in terror lest the monster should climb the bank and pursue them inland. pell-mell into clark's council house they tumbled imploring protection. never had st. louis appeared so beautiful as when julia and the children came into their new home in 1819. clark, the governor, had built a mansion, one of the finest in st. louis. wide verandas gave a view of the river, gardens of fruit and flowers bloomed. but julia was ill. "take her back to the virginia mountains," said dr. farrar, the family physician. "st. louis heats are too much for her." in dress suit, silk hat, and sword cane, farrar was a notable figure in old st. louis, riding night and day as far out as boone's lick, establishing a reputation that remains proverbial yet. he had married anne thruston, the daughter of fanny. "let her try a trip on the new steamboat," said the doctor. so after her picture was painted by chester harding in that spring of 1819, clark and julia and the little boys, meriwether lewis, william preston, and george rogers hancock, set out for new orleans in the "new-fangled steamboat." it was a long and dangerous trip; the river was encumbered with snags; every night they tied up to a tree. "travel by night? couldn't think of it! we'd be aground before morning!" said the captain. around by sea the governor and his wife sailed by ship to washington. "i will join you at the sweet springs," said president monroe to the governor and his wife in washington. "the sweet springs cure all my ills," said dolly madison at montpelier. "she will recover at the sweet springs," said jefferson at monticello. but at the sweet springs julia grew so ill they had to carry her on a bed to fotheringay. "miss judy done come home sick!" the servants wept. something of a physician himself, clark began the use of fumes of tar through a tube, and to the surprise of all "miss judy" rallied again. "as soon as i can leave her in safety i shall return to st. louis," wrote the governor to friends at the missouri capital. "if i should die," said julia sweetly one day, "and you ever think of marrying again, consider my cousin harriet." "ah, but you will be well, my darling, when spring comes." and she was better in the spring, thinking of the new house at st. louis. julia was a very neat and careful housekeeper. everything was kept under lock and key, she directed the servants herself, and was the light of a houseful of company. for the governor's house was the centre of hospitality,--never a noted man came that way, but, "i must pay my respects to the governor." savants from over the sea came to look at his indian museum. general clark had made the greatest collection in the world, and had become an authority on indian archæology. governor clark, too, was worried about affairs in st. louis. missouri was just coming in as a state, and a new executive must be elected under the constitution. "go," said julia, "i shall be recovered soon now." indeed, deceptive roses were blooming in her cheeks. with many regrets and promises of a speedy return, clark hastened back to his official duties. he found missouri in the midst of a heated campaign, coming in as a state and electing a governor. for seven years he had held the territorial office with honour. but a new candidate was before the people. "governor clark is too good to the indians!" that was the chief argument of the opposing faction. "he looks after their interests to the disadvantage of the whites." "to the disadvantage of the whites? how can that be?" inquired his friends. "did he not in the late war deal severely with the hostile tribes? and what do you say of the osage lands? when hostilities began president madison ordered the settlers out of the boone's lick country as invaders of indian lands. what did the governor do? he remonstrated, he delayed the execution of those orders until they were rescinded, and the settlers were allowed to remain." "how could he do that?" "how? why, he simply told the indians those lands were included in the osage treaty of 1808. he made that treaty, and he knew. no indian objected. they trusted clark; his explanation was sufficient. and his maps proved it." "too good to the indians! too good to the indians!" what governor before ever lost his head on such a charge? at that moment, flying down the ohio, came a swift messenger,--"mrs. clark is dead at fotheringay." with the shock upon him, general clark sent a card to the papers, notifying his fellow citizens of his loss, and of his necessary absence until the election was over. and with mingled dignity and sorrow he went back to fotheringay to bury the beloved dead. granny molly, "black granny," who had laced "miss judy's" shoes and tied up her curls with a ribbon in the old philadelphia days, never left her beloved mistress. a few days before "miss judy" went away, little meriwether lewis, then eleven years of age, came to her bedside with his curly hair dishevelled and his broad shirt collar tumbled. "aunt molly," said the mother, "watch my boy and keep him neat. he is so beautiful, granny!" after her body was placed on two of the parlour chairs, granny molly noticed a little dust on the waxed floor. "miss judy would be 'stressed if she could see it." away she ran, brought a mop, and had it all right by the time the coffin came. down on her knees scrubbing, scrubbing for the last time the floor for "miss judy," tears trickled down the ebony cheeks. "po', po' miss judy. you's done gwine wid de angels." they laid her in the family tomb, overlooking the green valley of the roanoke. two weeks after her death, colonel hancock himself also succumbed. to a double funeral the governor came back. high on the hillside they laid them, in a mausoleum excavated out of the solid rock. "de cunnel, he done watch us out ob dat iron window up dah," said the darkies. "he sits up dah in a stone chair so he can look down de valley and see his slaves at deir work." to this day the superstitious darkies will not pass his tomb. on his way to washington, governor clark stopped again at monticello. "ah, the joyous activity of my grandfather!" exclaimed thomas jefferson randolph. "he mounts his horse early in the morning, canters down the mountain and across country to the site of the university. all day long he assists at the work. he has planned it, engaged workmen, selected timber, bought bricks. he has sent to italy for carvers of stone." out of those students flocking to consult jefferson had grown the university of virginia. books and professors were brought from england, and the institution opened in 1825. martha jefferson's husband, thomas mann randolph, was governor of virginia now, but the sage of monticello paid little attention. all his talk was of schools,--schools and colleges for virginia. "slavery in missouri?" clark broached the discussion that was raging at the west. instantly the sage of monticello was attentive. "this momentous question, like a firebell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. it is the knell of the union. since bunker hill we have never had so ominous a question." he who had said, "pensacola and florida will come in good time," and, "i have ever looked on cuba as the most interesting addition which could be made to our system of states," had corresponded with the spanish minister concerning a canal through the isthmus, and sent lewis and clark to open up a road to asia,--jefferson, more than any other, had the vision of to-day. governor clark went on to washington. ramsay crooks and russell farnham of the astor expedition were quartered at the same hotel with floyd of virginia and benton of missouri. beside their whale-oil lamps they talked of oregon. benton was writing for oregon,--he made a noise in all the papers. john floyd framed a bill, the first for oregon occupancy. missouri was just coming in as a state. the moment benton, her first senator, was seated, he flew to floyd's support. "we must occupy the columbia," said benton. "mere adventurers may enter upon it as æneas entered upon the tiber, and as our forefathers came upon the potomac, the delaware, and the hudson, and renew the phenomenon of individuals laying the foundation of future empire. upon the people of eastern asia the establishment of a civilised power upon the opposite coast of america cannot fail to produce great and wonderful results. science, liberal principles, government, and the true religion, may cast their lights across the intervening sea. the valley of the columbia may become the granary of china and japan, and an outlet for their imprisoned and exuberant population." staid senators smiled and called benton a dreamer, but he and floyd were the prophets of to-day. for thirty years after astor had been driven out, england and her fur companies enriched themselves in oregon waters. for thirty years benton stood in his place and fought to save us oregon. from the bedside of the dying jefferson, and from the lips of the living clark, he took up the great enterprise of an overland highway to india. when governor clark came sorrowing back to st. louis with the little boys, missouri was a state and a new governor sat in the chair, but though governors came and governors went, the officer that had held the position through all the territorial days was always called "governor" clark. as united states superintendent of indian affairs for the west, governor clark now became practically autocrat of the redmen for life. "if you ever think of marrying again, consider my cousin harriet." more than a year governor clark "considered," and then the most noted citizen of st. louis married the handsome widow radford. "from philadelphia she haf a wedding trousseau," said the vivacious creole girls, drinking tea in their wide verandas. "she haf de majesty look, like one queen." from the home of her brother, james kennerly, the fun-loving harriet of other years went to become the grave and dignified hostess in the home of the ex-governor. xvi _the red head chief_ "hasten, ruskosky, rebraid my queue. kings and half kings are in there as plenty as blackberries in the woods, and i must see what is the matter." hurriedly the polish valet, who dressed clark in his later years, knelt to button the knees of his small clothes and fasten on a big silk bow in place of a buckle. directly the tall figure wrapped in a cloak entered the council chamber connected with his study. the walls of the council chamber were covered with portraits of distinguished chiefs, and with indian arms and dresses, the handsomest the west afforded. nothing pleased the redmen better than to be honoured by the acceptance of some treasure for this museum. against this wall the indians sat, and the little gray-haired interpreter, antony le claire, lit the tomahawk pipe. as the fumes rolled upward the red head chief took his seat at the table before him. the indians lifted their heads. justice would now be done. it was a sultry day and the council doors were open. but sultrier still was the debate within. "our father," said the great and little osages, "we have come to meet our enemies, the delawares and shawnees and kickapoos and peorias, in your council hall. we ourselves can effect a peace." and so the red head listened. "make your peace." six days they argued, paul louise interpreter. hot and hotter grew the debate, and mutual recriminations. "white hair's warriors shot at one of my young men." "but you, delawares, robbed our relations," cried the osage chiefs. "you stole our otter-skins," retorted the delawares. "and you hunted on our lands." "last summer when we were absent, you bad-hearted osages destroyed our fields of corn and cut up our gardens," cried the angry shawnees, who always sided with the delawares. "you speak with double tongues--" clark stepped in and hushed the controversy. "who gave you leave to hunt on osage lands?" "white hair and his principal braves," answered the delawares. "when did they shoot at your man?" "at the big bend of the arkansas." "who owned the peltries the osages took?" "all of us." "very well then, restitution must be made." soothing as a summer breeze was his gentle voice, "my children, i cannot have you injured. the delawares are my children, and the osages, the shawnees, the kickapoos, and the peorias. i cannot permit any one to injure my children. whoever does that is no longer child of mine. you must bury the sharp hatchet underground." he calmed the heated tribes and effected peace. like little children they gave each other strings of beads, pipes, and tobacco, and departed reconciled. "bring all your difficulties to me or to paul louise and we will judge for you," said the red head chief, as one by one they filed in plumed array down the steps of the council house. scarce had the reconciled tribes departed before officers of the law brought in seven chiefs, hostages of the iowas,--"accused by the sacs, your honour, of killing cattle; accused by the whites of killing settlers." "my father." the mournful appealing tone of the indian speaker always affected clark. he was singularly fitted to be their judge and friend. "my son." there was an air of sympathy and paternal kindness as the red head chief listened. his heart was stirred by their wrongs, and his face would redden with indignation as he listened to the pitiful tales of his children. with bodies uncovered to the waist, with blanket on the left arm and the right arm and breast bare, a chief stepped forth to be examined concerning a border fray with the backwoodsmen. drawing himself to his full height, and extending his arm toward clark, the iowa began: "red head, if i had done that of which my white brother accuses me, i would not stand here now. the words of my red head father have passed through both my ears and i have remembered them. i am accused. i am not guilty. "i thought i would come down to see my red head father to hold a talk with him. "i come across the line. i see the cattle of my white brother dead. i see the sauk kill them in great numbers. i said there would be trouble. i thought to go to my village. i find i have no provisions. i say, 'let us go down to our white brother and trade for a little.' i do not turn on my track to my village." then turning to the sacs and pointing,-"the sauk who tells lies of me goes to my white brother and says, 'the ioway has killed your cattle.' "when the lie has talked thus to my white brother, he comes up to my village. we hear our white brother coming. we are glad and leave our cabins to tell him he is welcome. while i shake hands with my white brother, my white brother shoots my best chief through the head,--shoots three my young men, a squaw, and her children. "my young men hear, they rush out, they fire,--four of my white brothers fall. my people fly to the woods, and die of cold and hunger." dropping his head and his arm, in tragic attitude he stands, the picture of despair. the lip of the savage quivers. he lifts his eyes,-"while i shake hands my white brother shoots my chief, my son, my only son." only by consummate tact can clark handle these distressing conflicts of the border. who is right and who is wrong? the settlers hate the indians, the indians dread and fear the settlers. "governor clark," said the shawnees and delawares, "since three or four years we are crowded by the whites who steal our horses. we moved. you recommended us to raise stock and cultivate our ground. that advice we have followed, but again white men have come." the cherokees complained, "white people settle without our consent. they destroy our game and produce discord and confusion." clark could see the heaving of their naked breasts and their lithe bodies, the tigers of their kind, shaken by irrepressible emotion. and again in the autumn,-"what is it?" inquired the stranger as pennons came glittering down the missouri. "oh, nothing, only another lot of indians coming down to see their red-headed daddy," was the irreverent response, as the solemn, calm-featured braves glided into view, gazing as only savages can gaze at the wonders of civilisation. "what! going to war?" cried clark, in a tone of thunder, as they made known their errand at the council house. "your great father, the president, forbids it. he counsels his children to live in peace. if you insist on listening to bad men i shall come out there and make you desist." the stormy excitement subsided. they shrank from his reproofs, and felt and feared his power. "go home. take these gifts to my children, and tell them they were sent by the red head chief." viewed with admiration, the presents were carefully wrapped in skins to be laid away and treasured on many a weary march and through many a sad vicissitude. a few days in st. louis, then away go the willowy copper-skin paddlers to dissuade their braves from incurring the awful displeasure of the red head chief. the west of that day was sown with his medals that disappeared only with the tribes. in time they came to know clark's signature, and preserved it as a sacred talisman. could the influence of one man have availed against armies of westward pressing trappers, traders, and pioneers, the tribes would have been civilised. "shall we accept the missionaries? shall we hearken to their teaching?" "yes," he said to the osages. "yes," to the pawnees, to the shawnees, and "yes," to a delegation that came from the far-off nez percés beyond the rocky mountains. in days of friction and excitement clark did more than regiments to preserve peace on the frontier. he was a buffer, a perpetual break-water between the conflicting races. as united states superintendent of indian affairs the red head chief grew venerable. the stately old officer lived in style in st. louis, and as in the colonial time sir william johnson ruled from the atlantic to the mississippi, so now clark's word was indian law from the mississippi to the pacific. his voice was raised in continual advantage to the indian. while civilisation was pushing west and west, and crowding them out of their old domains, he was softening as much as possible the rigour of their contact with whites. "our position with regard to the indians has entirely changed," he used to say. "before wayne's campaigns in 1794 and events of 1818, the tribes nearest our settlements were a formidable and terrible enemy. since then their power has been broken, their warlike spirit subdued, and themselves sunk into objects of pity and commiseration. while strong and hostile, it has been our obvious duty to weaken them; now that they are weak and harmless, and most of their lands fallen into our hands, justice and humanity require us to cherish and befriend them. to teach them to live in houses, to raise grain and stock, to plant orchards, to set up landmarks, to divide their possessions, to establish laws for their government, to get the rudiments of common learning, such as reading, writing, and ciphering, are the first steps toward improving their condition." this was the policy of jefferson, reaffirmed by clark. it was the key to all clark's endeavours. at washington city he discussed the question with president monroe. "but to take these steps with effect the indians should be removed west of the mississippi and north of the missouri." "let them move singly or in families as they please," said clark. "place agents where the indians cross the mississippi, to supply them with provisions and ammunition. a constant tide is now going on from ohio, indiana, illinois. they cross at st. louis and st. genevieve, and my accounts show the aid which is given them. many leading chiefs are zealous in this work, and are labouring hard to collect their dispersed and broken tribes at their new and permanent homes." "and the land?" inquired the president. "it is well watered with numerous streams and some large rivers, abounds with grass, contains prairies, land for farms, and affords a temporary supply of game. "it is in vain for us to talk about learning and religion; these indians want food. the sioux, the osages, are powerful tribes,--they are near our border, and my official station enables me to know the exact truth. they are distressed by famine; many die for want of food; the living child is buried with the dead mother because no one can spare it food through its helpless infancy. "grain, stock, fences are the first things. property alone can keep up the pride of the indian and make him ashamed of drunkenness, lying, and stealing. "the period of danger with an indian is when he ceases to be a hunter and before he gets the means of living from flocks and agriculture. in the transit from a hunter to a farmer, he degenerates from a proud and independent savage to a beggar, drunkard, thief. to counteract the danger, property in horses, hogs, and cattle is indispensable. they should be assisted in making fences and planting orchards, and be instructed in raising cotton and making cloth. small mills should be erected to save the women the labour of pounding corn, and mechanics should be employed to teach the young indians how to make ploughs, carts, wheels, hoes, and axes." benton and other great men argued in the senate. "in contact with the white race the indians degenerate. they are a dangerous neighbour within our borders. they prevent the expansion of the white race, and the states will not be satisfied until all their soil is open to settlement." and so, to remove the indians to a home of their own became the great work of clark's life. "a home where the whites shall never come!" the indians were delighted. "we will look at these lands." "i recommend that the government send special agents to collect the scattered bands and families and pay their expenses to the lands assigned them," said clark, estimating the cost at one hundred thousand dollars. but not all of the tribes would listen. in november, 1826, clark drove from st. louis in his carriage to the choctaw nation in alabama, to persuade them to move west of the mississippi. "after many years spent in reflection," said the commissioners, "your great father, the president, has determined upon a plan for your happiness. the united states has a large unsettled country on the west side of the great river mississippi into which they do not intend their white settlements shall enter. this is the country in which our great father intends to settle his red children. "many of the tribes are now preparing to remove and are making application for land. the cherokees and muscogees have procured lands, and your people can have five times as much land in that fine country as they are now living on in this." never before in the conquest of nations had the weaker race been offered such advantageous terms. two days passed while the indians considered and argued among themselves. "what shall we give to you?" asked the commissioners. "these lands and titles to them, provisions and clothing, a cow and corn and farming implements to each family, and blacksmiths and ploughmakers and annuities." "friends and brothers of the choctaw nation," said clark in the council, "i have spent half the period of an accustomed life among you. thirty-six years ago i passed through your country and saw your distressed condition. now i see part of your nation much improved in prosperity and civilisation. this affords me much happiness. but i am informed that a very large majority of the choctaw nation are seeking food among the swamps by picking cotton for white planters. "cannot provision be made to better their condition? "let me recommend that the poorer and less enlightened be moved without delay to their lands west of the mississippi. there will i take pleasure in advancing their interests. in my declining years it would be a great consolation to me to see them prosper in agriculture. "come to my country where i can have it in my power to act as your father and your friend. you shall be protected and peaceful and happy." the choctaws were touched, but they answered,-"we cannot part with our country. it is the land of our birth,--the hills and streams of our youth." xvii _the great council at prairie du chien_ st. louis was a cold place in those prairie years; a great deal of snow fell, and sleighbells rang beside the great river. no indians came during the cold weather, but with the springing grass and blossoming trees, each year the indians camped around the twin lakes at maracasta, clark's farm west of st. louis. there were wigwams all over maracasta. james kennerly, clark's indian deputy, busy ever with the ruddy aborigines, dealing out annuities, arranging for treaties and instructing the tribes, kept open house for the chiefs at _côte plaquemine_, the persimmon hill. clark's boys shot bows and arrows with the little indians, kennerly's little girls made them presents of "kinnikinick," dried leaves of the sumac and red osier dogwood, to smoke in their long pipes. every delegation came down laden with gifts for the red head,--costly furs, buffalo robes, bows, arrows, pipes, moccasins. tragedies of the plains came daily to the ears of general clark, far, far beyond the reach of government in the wild battle-ground of the west. in 1822 the sioux and cheyennes combined against the crows and fell upon their villages. in the slaughter of that day five thousand defenceless men, women, and children were butchered on the prairie. all their lodges and herds of horses and hundreds of captive girls were carried away. as a people the crows never recovered. drunk with victory the triumphant sioux rolled back on the chippewas, sacs, foxes, and iowas. "if continued, these wars will embroil all the tribes of the west," said clark. "we must do something more to promote peace. they must become civilised." president monroe was working up a new indian policy, with clark as a chief adviser. "go, paul louise, take this talk to my osages. i am coming up to their country. tell them to meet me on the first of june." in his canoe, with his squaw and his babies, the wizened little frenchman set out. he could not read, he could not write, he could only make his mark, but the indians loved and trusted paul louise. "and you, baronet vasquez, take this to the kansas nation." vasquez belonged to the old spanish _régime_. as a youth he had gone out with the spanish garrison at the cession of st. louis, to return a fur trader. then came lafayette from the memories of monticello. escorted by a troop of horse, he had ascended that historic mountain. the alert lithe figure of the little marquis leaped from the carriage; at the same moment the door opened, revealing the tall, bent, wasted figure of jefferson in the pillared portico. the music ceased, and every head uncovered. slowly the aged jefferson descended the steps, slowly the little marquis approached his friend, then crying, with outstretched arms, "ah, jefferson!" "ah, lafayette!" each fell upon the other's bosom. the gentlemen of the cavalcade turned away with tears, and the two were left to solitude and recollection. long and often had jefferson and lafayette laboured together in anxious and critical periods of the past. it was in chasing "the boy" lafayette that the british came to charlottesville. when jefferson was minister in paris, the young and popular nobleman assisted the unaccustomed american at the court of france. together they had seen the opening of the french revolution. what memories came back as they sat in the parlour at monticello, discussing the momentous events of two continents in which they had been actors! "what would i have done with the queen?" asked the aged jefferson. "i should have shut her up in a convent, putting harm out of her power. i have ever believed if there had been no queen there would have been no french revolution." lafayette went to montpelier to see madison, and then to yorktown, over the same road which he himself had opened in 1781 in the retreat before cornwallis. one long ovation followed his route. even old ladies who had seen him in their youth pressed forward with the plea, "let me see the young marquis again!" forgetful of the flight of years. echoes of his triumphal tour had reached the border. st. louis, a city and a state not dreamed of in revolutionary days, begged the honour of entertaining lafayette. far down the river they saw the smoke of his steamer, coming up from new orleans. "welcome!" the hills echoed. "_vive_ lafayette!" the marquis lifted his eyes,--white stone houses gay with gardens and clusters of verdure arose before him in a town of five thousand inhabitants. below stood the massive stone forts of the spanish time, and on the brow of the bluff frowned the old round tower, the last fading relic of feudalism in north america. every eye was fixed upon the honoured guest. a few were there who could recall the pride of lafayette in his american troops, with their helmets and flowing crests and the sabres he himself had brought from france. the banquet, the toasts, the ball, all these have passed into tradition. the marquis visited clark's cabinet of indian curios. "i present you this historic cloak of an indian chief," said the general, offering a robe like a russian great coat. in turn, lafayette presented his mess chest, carried through the revolution, and placed on the governor's finger a ring of his hair. later clark sent him the live cub of a grizzly bear, that grew to be a wonder in the jardin des plantes of paris. "and your great brother, george rogers clark?" inquired the marquis. "he died seven years ago at louisville," answered the governor. "in securing the liberties of this country i esteem him second only to washington," said lafayette. "those thieving osages have taken six more of my horses," complained chouteau the next morning at the office of governor clark. "and four blankets and three axes of me," added baptiste dardenne. "worse yet, they have stolen my great-coat and razor case," said manuel roderique. two thousand dollars' worth of claims were paid in that summer of 1825. "we must get them out of the way," persisted the exasperated whites. "acts and acts of congress regulating trade and intercourse with the tribes are of no avail. they must be removed, and as far as possible. they are banditti, robbers!" said benton. in spite of all proclamations clothes disappeared from the line, silk stockings and bed-quilts and ladies' hats mysteriously went into the wigwams of the vagrants. "this state of affairs is intolerable!" exclaimed benton. "governor clark, if you will conclude a treaty removing those tribes to the west i will stake my honour on putting a ratification through congress. i'll present the case!" again the great senator ground out the words between his teeth, "_i'll present the case_. it will be a kindness to both parties. the poor indians have lost all,--we must reimburse them, we must take care of them, they must have a home,--but far away, _far away_!" shaking his fingers and closing his eyes with the significant shrug so well known to the friends of colonel benton. "not so bad as eet once was," urged the kind-hearted creoles. "not so bad by far. in de old spanish days dey once left st. genevieve wit'out a horse to turn a mill. dey came in to de village in de night and carried away everyt'ing dey could find. nobody ever pursue dem. but _les américains_, dey chase dem. but den," commented the tolerant creoles, "de osage do not _kill_, like de kickapoo and de cherokee. dey take de goods, steal de furs, beat with ramrods, drive him off,--but dey don't _kill_!" so in may, after the departure of lafayette, governor clark steamed up the missouri, met the kansas and osage indians, and made treaties for the cession of all their lands within the present boundary of missouri. "you shall have lands, hogs, fowls, cattle, carts, and farming tools to settle farther west." this was wealth to the poor osages, whose hunting fields had become exhausted. "go to the earth and till it, it will give you bread and meat and clothes and comfort and happiness. you may talk about your poverty always, and it will never make you better off. you must be industrious," said clark. "and your old friend, boone, shall be your farmer." for almost forty years now they had known daniel m. boone, the son of the great pioneer,--since, indeed, those days when as a boy of eighteen he trapped on the kansas. two springs later the removal was made, and boone, as "farmer for the kansas indians," took up his residence in the kaw valley where his chimney stacks may yet be seen near the present lecompton. the next year was born napoleon boone, the first white child in kansas. all this time the northern clans were gathering at prairie du chien, a work of months. june 30 governor clark's barge started north from st. louis, laden with presents, provisions, interpreters. "we are afraid to come," said the omahas. "we are afraid to cross the hostile territory." william preston clark, in looks and dress the blonde double of the poet byron, said, "let me bring them, father." so young clark, intimate with indians, went after the omahas and brought them safely in. but big elk left his medal with his son, "i never expect to reach home alive," he said. "we cross the country of the sacs!" the yanktons refused. "shall we be butchered by the sacs?" but later they came to st. louis, smoked with the sacs and shook hands. even the sioux feared the sacs, the warriors of the central valley. mahaska, head chief of the iowas, with his braves went up with clark, and rant-che-wai-me, the flying pigeon. rant-che-wai-me had been to washington. a year ago, when her husband left her alone at the wigwam on the des moines, she set out for st. louis. the steamer was at the shore, the chief was about to embark, when he felt a blow upon his back. shaking his plumes in wrath, mahaska turned,--to behold the flying pigeon, with uplifted tomahawk in her hand. "am i your wife?" she cried. "you are my wife," answered the surprised chief. "are you my husband?" "i am your husband." "then will i, too, go with you to shake the great father by the hand." mahaska smiled,--"you are my pretty wife, flying pigeon; you shall go to washington." clark, too, smiled,--"yes, she can go." the pretty rant-che-wai-me was feted at the white house, and had her picture painted by a great artist as a typical iowa princess. and now she was going to prairie du chien. not for ten years had clark visited his northern territory. few changes had come on the mississippi. twice a year colonel george davenport brought a hundred thousand dollars' worth of goods to his trading post at rock island. beyond, julien dubuque lay in perpetual state on his hills, wrapped only in a winding sheet in his tomb, exposed to the view of every traveller that cared to climb the grassy height to gaze through the grated windows of his lonely mausoleum. "the great chief, the red head is coming," whispered all the indians, as clark's barges hove in sight. prairie du chien was alive with excitement. governor cass of michigan was already there. not only the village, but the entire banks of the river for miles above and below were covered with high-pointed buffalo tents. horses browsed upon the bluffs in arabian abandon. below, tall and warlike, chippewas and winnebagoes from superior and the valley of st. croix jostled menomonees, pottawattamies, and ottawas from lake michigan and green bay. "whoop-oh-hoo-oh!" major taliferro from the falls of st. anthony made the grand entry with his sioux and chippewas, four hundred strong, drums beating, flags flying. taliferro was very popular with the sioux,--even the squaws said he was "_weechashtah washtay_,"--a handsome man. over from sault ste. marie the learned agent schoolcraft had brought one hundred and fifty chippewas, brothers of hiawatha. keokuk, the watchful fox, with his sacs and iowas, was the last to arrive. leagued against the sioux, they had camped on an island below to paint and dress, and came up the mississippi attired in full war costume singing their battle-song. it was a thrilling sight when they came upon the scene with spears, battle-lances, and crested locks like roman helmets, casting bitter glances at their ancient foe, the sioux. nearly nude, with feather war-flags flying, and beating tambourines, the sacs landed in compact ranks, breathing defiance. from his earliest youth keokuk had fought the sioux. "bold, martial, flushed with success, keokuk landed, majestic and frowning," said schoolcraft, "and as another coriolanus spoke in the council and shook his war lance at the sioux." at the signal of a gun, every day at ten o'clock, the chiefs assembled. "children," said governor clark to the assembled savages, "your great father has not sent us here to ask anything from you--we want nothing--not the smallest piece of your land. we have come a great way to meet for your own good. your great father the president has been informed that war is carried on among his red children,--the sacs, foxes, and chippewas on one side and the sioux on the other,--and that the wars of some of you began before any of you were born." "heigh! heigh!" broke forth the silent smokers. "heigh! heigh!" exclaimed the warriors. "heigh! heigh!" echoed the vast and impatient concourse around the council. "your father thinks there is no cause for continuation of war between you. there is land enough for you to live and hunt on and animals enough. why, instead of peaceably following the game and providing for your families, do you send out war parties to destroy each other? the great spirit made you all of one colour and placed you upon the land. you ought to live in peace as brothers of one great family. your great father has heard of your war songs and war parties,--they do not please him. he desires that his red children should bury the tomahawk." "heigh! heigh!" "children! look around you. see the result of wars between nations who were once powerful and are now reduced to a few wandering families. you have examples enough before you. "children, your wars have resulted from your having no definite boundaries. you do not know what belongs to you, and your people follow the game into lands claimed by other tribes." "heigh! heigh!" "children, you have all assembled under your father's flag. you are under his protection. blood must not be spilt here. whoever injures one of you injures us, and we will punish him as we would punish one of our own people." "heigh! heigh! heigh!" cried all the indians. "children," said general cass, "your great father does not want your land. he wants to establish boundaries and peace among you. your great father has strong limbs and a piercing eye, and an arm that extends from the sea to red river. "children, you are hungry. we will adjourn for two hours." "heigh! heigh! heigh-h!" rolled the chorus across the prairie. as to an army, rations were distributed, beef, bread, corn, salt, sugar, tobacco. each ate, ate, ate,--till not a scrap was left to feed a humming-bird. revered of his people, wabasha and his pipe-bearers were the observed of all. "i never yet was present at so great a council as this," said wabasha. three thousand were at prairie du chien. the sioux? far from the northwest they said their fathers came,--the tartar cheek was theirs. wabasha and his chiefs alone had the caucasian countenance. three mighty brothers ruled the sioux in the days of pontiac,--wabasha, red wing, and little crow. their sons, wabasha, red wing, and little crow ruled still. "boundaries?" they knew not the meaning of the word. restless, anxious, sharp-featured little crow fixed his piercing hazel eye upon the red head,-"_taku-wakan!_--that is incomprehensible!" "heigh! what does this mean?" exclaimed the chippewas. "we are all one people," sagely observed mahaska, the iowa. "my father, i claim no lands in particular." "i never yet heard that any one had any exclusive right to the soil," said chambler, the ottawa. "i have a tract of country. it is where i was born and now live," said red bird, the winnebago. "but the foxes claim it and the sacs, the menomonees, and omahas. we use it in common." red bird was a handsome indian, dressed yankton fashion in white unsoiled deerskin and scarlet, and glove-fitting moccasins,--the dandy of his tribe. the debate grew animated. "our tract is so small," cried the menomonees, "that we cannot turn around without touching our neighbours." then every indian began to describe his boundaries, crossing and recrossing each other. "these are the causes of all your troubles," said clark. "it is better for each of you to give up some disputed claim than to be fighting for ever about it." that night the parties two by two discussed their lines, the first step towards civilisation. they drew maps on the ground,--"my hunting ground," and "mine," and "mine." after days of study the boundary rivers were acknowledged, the belt of wampum was passed, and the pipe of peace. wabasha, acknowledged by every chief to be first of the seven fires of the sioux, was treated by all with marked distinction and deference. and yet wabasha, dignified and of superior understanding, when asked, "wabasha? what arrangement did you make with the foxes about boundaries?" replied, "i never made any arrangement about the line. the only arrangement i made was about peace!" "when i heard the voice of my great father," said mongazid, the loon's foot, from fond du lac, "when i heard the voice of my father coming up the mississippi, calling to this treaty, it seemed as a murmuring wind. i got up from my mat where i sat musing, and hastened to obey. my pathway has been clear and bright. truly it is a pleasant sky above our heads this day. there is not a cloud to darken it. i hear nothing but pleasant words. the raven is not waiting for his prey. i hear no eagle cry, 'come, let us go,--the feast is ready,--the indian has killed his brother.'" shingaba wassin of sault ste. marie, head chief of the chippewas, had fought with britain in the war of 1812 and lost a brother at the battle of the thames. he and a hundred other chiefs with their pipe bearers signed the treaty. everybody signed. and all sang, even the girls, the witcheannas of the sioux. "we have buried our bad thoughts in the ashes of the pipe," said little crow. "i always had good counsel from governor clark," observed red wing. "you put this medal on my neck in 1812," said decorah, the winnebago, "and when i returned i gave good advice to the young men of our village." after a fierce controversy and the rankling of a hundred wrongs, the warring tribes laid down their lances and buried the tomahawk. sacs and sioux shook hands; the dividing lines were fixed; all the chiefs signed, and the tribes were at peace for the first time in a thousand years. "pray god it may last," said clark, as his boat went away homeward along with the sacs down the mississippi. the great council at prairie du chien was over. xviii _the lords of the rivers_ for thirty years after the cession, st. louis was a great military centre. sixty thousand dollars a year went into the village from bellefontaine, and still more after the opening of jefferson barracks in 1826. nor can it be denied that the expenditure of large sums of money in indian annuities through the office of governor clark did much for the prosperity of the frontier city. and ever the centre of hospitality was the home of governor clark. both the governor and his wife enjoyed life, took things leisurely, both had the magnetic faculty of winning people, and they set a splendid table. "i like to see my house full," said the governor. there were no modern hotels in those days, and his house became a stopping place for all noted visitors to st. louis. their old-fashioned coach, with the footman up behind in a tall silk hat, met at the levee many a distinguished stranger,--travellers, generals, dukes, and lords from europe who came with letters to the indian autocrat of the west. all had to get a pass from clark, and all agents and sub-agents were under and answerable to him. but unspoiled in the midst of it passed the plain, unaristocratic red head chief and friend of the oppressed. for years he corresponded with lafayette, and yet clark was not a scholar. he was a man of affairs, of which this country has abounded in rich examples. prince paul of wurtemberg came, the duke of saxe-weimar, and maximilian, prince of wied, all seeking passports for the indian country, all coming back with curios for their palaces and castles. very politely mrs. clark listened to their broken english and patiently conversed with them when the governor was away. one of the first pianos came to the clark parlours, and on special occasions the indian council room was cleared and decorated for grand balls. many a young "milletoer," as the creoles called them, dashed up from jefferson barracks to win a bride among the girls of st. louis. for the preservation of peace and the facilitation of indian removals, fort des moines was built among the iowas, fort atkinson near the present omaha, fort snelling at the falls of st. anthony, and fort leavenworth on the borders of kansas. half the area of the united states lay out there, with no law, no courts, but those of battle. as quietly as possible, step by step, the savage land was taken into custody. and the pretty girls of st. louis did their share to reconcile the "milletoers" to life at the frontier posts. "ho for santa fé!" one may morning in 1824 a caravan of waggons passed through the streets of st. louis. penned in the far-off mexican mountains a little colony of white people were shut from the world. twice before a few adventurous pack-trains had penetrated their mountain solitudes, as phoenicians of old went over to egypt, india, arabia. "_los americanos! los americanos!_" shouted the eager mountain dwellers, rushing out to embrace the traders and welcome them to their lonely settlement. silks, cottons, velvets, hardware, were bought up in a trice, and the fortunate traders returned to st. louis with horseload after horseload of gold and silver bullion. "those people want us. but the spanish authorities are angry and tax us as they used to tax the traders at new orleans. the people beg us to disregard their tyrannous rulers,--they must have goods." in 1817 young auguste chouteau tried it, and was cast into prison and his goods confiscated. "what wish you?" demanded the spanish governor, in answer to repeated solicitations from the captive. "_mi libertad gobernador._" wrathfully they locked him closer than ever in the old donjon of santa fé. "my neighbour's son imprisoned there without cause!" exclaimed governor clark. all the old spanish animosity roiled in his veins. he appealed to congress. there was a rattling among the dry bones, and chouteau and his friends were released. and now, on the 15th of may, 1824, eighty men set out in the first waggon train, with twenty thousand dollars' worth of merchandise for the isolated mexican capital. in september the caravan returned with their capital increased a hundred-fold in sacks of gold and silver and ten thousand dollars' worth of furs. the santa fé trade was established never to be shaken, though indian battles, like conflicts with arab sheiks of the desert, grew wilder than any crusader's tale. young men of the mississippi dreamed of that "farther west" of santa fé and los angeles. "we must have a safe road," said the traders. "we may wander off into the desert and perish." in the same year senator benton secured an appropriation of ten thousand dollars for staking the plains to santa fé. "we must have protection," said the traders to governor clark at the council house. at council grove, a buffalo haunt in a thickly wooded bottom at the headwaters of the neosho in the present kansas, clark's agents met the osage indians and secured permission for the caravans to pass through their country. but the dreaded pawnees and comanches were as yet unapproachable. in spite of the inhumanity of spaniards, in spite of murderous pawnees, in spite of desert dust and red-brown grass and cacti, year by year the caravans grew, the people became more friendly and solicitous of each other's trade, until one day new mexico was ready to step over into the ranks of the states. and one day kit carson, whose mother was a boone, only sixteen and small of his age, ran away from a hard task-master to join the santa fé caravan and grow up on the plains. daniel boone was dead, at eighty-six, just as missouri came in as a state. jesse, the youngest of the boone boys to come out from kentucky, was in the constitutional convention that adjourned in his honour, and jesse's son, albert gallatin boone, in 1825, joined as private secretary that wonderful ashley expedition that keel-boated up the platte, crossed from its head-waters over to green river, kept on west, discovered the great south pass of the rockies, the overland route of future emigration, and set up its tents on the borders of utah lake. overwhelmed with debt ashley set out,--he came back a millionaire with the greatest collection of furs ever known up to that time. everything was ashley then, "ashley boats" and "ashley beaver,"--he was the greatest man in st. louis, and was sent to congress. sixty years ago the lords of the rivers ruled st. louis. the rocky mountain fur company went out and camped on the site of a dozen future capitals. from the green river valley under the wind river mountains of wyoming, from the tetons of colorado, the uintahs of utah, and the bitter roots of idaho, from the shining absarokas and the bighorn alps, they came home with mink and otter, beaver, bear, and buffalo. the american fur company came to st. louis, and the chouteaus, at first the rivals, became the partners of john jacob astor. born in the atmosphere of furs, for forty years pierre chouteau the younger had no rival in the valley except clark. the two stood side by side, one representing commerce, the other the government. pierre chouteau, the largest fur trader west of the alleghanies, sent his boats to itasca, the headwaters of the mississippi, the missouri, the yellowstone, the osage, the kansas, and the platte, employing a thousand men and paying skilled pilots five thousand dollars for a single expedition. with chouteau's convoys came down clark's chiefs, going back in the same vessels. to their untutored minds the trader's capital and the red head town were synonymous. if there was a necessary conflict between the policy of the government and that of the fur trade, no one could have softened it more than the red head diplomat. with infinite tact and unfailing good sense, he harmonised, reconciled, and pushed for the best interest of the indian. "give up the chase and settle into agricultural life," said clark's agents to the indians. "go to the chase," said the trader. clark sent up hoes to supersede the shoulder-blade of the buffalo. the trader sent up fusils and ammunition. the two combined in the evolution of the savage. the squaw took the hoe, the brave the gun. winter expresses came down to st. louis from the far-off powder and the wind river mountains. "send us merchandise." with the first breaking ice of spring the boats were launched, the caravans ready. deck-piled, swan-like upon the water the missouri steamboat started. pierre chouteau was there to see her off, governor clark was there to bid farewell to his chiefs. _engagés_ of the company, fiercely picturesque, with leg knives in their garters, jumped to store away the cargo. up as far as st. charles clark and the chouteaus sometimes went with the ladies of their families to escort the up-bound steamer, and with a last departing, "_bon voyage! bon voyage, mes voyageurs!_" disembarked to return to st. louis. on, on steamed the messenger of commerce and civilisation, touching later at fort pierre chouteau in the centre of the great sioux country, the capital of south dakota to-day, at fort union at the yellowstone, where mckenzie lived in state like the hudson's bay magnates at the north, at fort benton at the foot of the great falls of the missouri. traders from st. louis laid the foundations of kansas city and topeka, built the first forts at council bluffs and omaha, pre-empted the future sites of yankton and bismarck. "a boat! a boat!" for a hundred miles indian runners brought word. barely had the steamer touched the wharf before the solitude became populous with colour and with sound. night and day went on the loading and unloading of furs and merchandise. a touch of the hand, a farewell,--before the june rise falls, back a hundred miles a day she snorts to st. louis with tens of thousands of buffalo robes, buffalo tongues, and buffalo hides, and carefully wrapped bales of the choicest furs. the cargoes opened, weighed, recounted, repacked, down the river the smokestacks go in endless procession on the way to new york. overland on horseback rode pierre chouteau to philadelphia or new york, to arrange shipments to france and england, and to confer with john jacob astor. back up from new orleans came boatloads of furniture to beautify the homes of st. louis, bales on bales of copper and sheet-iron kettles, axes and beaver traps, finger rings, beads, blankets, bracelets, steel wire and ribbons, the indispensables of the frontier fur trade. sometimes fierce battles were fought up the river, and troops were dispatched,--for commerce, the civiliser, stops not. the sight of troops paraded in uniforms, the glare of skyrockets at night, the explosion of shells and the colours of bunting and banners, the blare of brass bands and the thunder of artillery, won many a bloodless victory along the prairies of the west. but blood flowed, fast and faster, when trapping gave way to days of gold and the pressure of advancing settlement. the trapper saw no gold. otter, beaver, mink, and fox filled his horizon. into every lonely glen where the beaver built his house, the trapper came. a million dollars a year was the annual st. louis trade. rival fur companies kept bubbling a tempest in a teapot. they fought each other, fought the hudson's bay company. west and west passed the fighting border,--st. lawrence, detroit, mackinaw, mandan, montana, oregon. astor, driven out by the war of 1812, had been superseded on the columbia by dr. john mcloughlin, a hudson's bay magnate who combined in himself the functions of a chouteau and a clark. but the story of mcloughlin is a story by itself. xix _four indian ambassadors_ as the years went by clark's plant of the indian department extended. in his back row were found the office and council house, rooms for visiting indians, an armory for repairs of indian guns and blacksmiths' shops for indian work, extending from main street to the river. daily he sat in his office reading reports from his agents of indian occurrences. four muskrats or two raccoon skins the indians paid for a quart of whiskey. "whiskey!" clark stamped his foot. "a drunken indian is more to be dreaded than a tiger in the jungle! an indian cannot be found among a thousand who would not, after a first drink, sell his horse, his gun, or his last blanket for another drink, or even commit a murder to gratify his passion for spirits. there should be total prohibition." and the government made that the law. "i hear that you have sent liquor into the indian country," he said to the officers of the american fur company. "can you refute the charge?" and the great company, with chouteau and astor at its head, hastened to explain and extenuate. there was trouble with indian agents who insisted on leaving their posts and coming to st. louis, troubles with indians who wanted to see the president, enough of them to have kept the president for ever busy with indian affairs. the sacs and the sioux were fighting again. "why not let us fight?" said black hawk. "white men fight,--they are fighting now." twice in the month of may, 1830, sacs and foxes came down to tell of their war with the sioux. "we might sell our illinois lands and move west," hinted the sacs and foxes. instantly clark approved and wrote to washington. "i shall have to go up there and quiet those tribes," said clark. in july, 1830, again he set out for prairie du chien. indian runners went ahead announcing, "the red head chief! the red head chief!" seventy-eight sacs and foxes crowded into his boats and went up. this time in earnest, clark began buying lands, giving thousands of dollars in annuities, provisions, clothing, lands, stock, agricultural implements. many of these indians came on with him down to st. louis to get their presents and pay. there came a wailing from the indians of illinois. "the game is gone. naked and hungry, we need help." "poor, misguided, and unreflecting savages!" exclaimed the governor. "the selfish policy of the traders would keep them in the hunter's state. the government would have them settled and self-supporting." funds ran out, but clark on his own credit again and again went ahead with his work of humanity, moving families, tribes, nations. assistance in provisions and stock was constantly called for. the great western migration of tribes from ohio, indiana, illinois, was sweeping on, the movement of a race. the peorias were crossing, the weas, piankeshaws, and others forgotten to-day. "those miserable bands of illinois rovers, those wretched nations in want of clothes and blankets!" clark wrote to washington, begging the department for help. their annuities, a thousand dollars a year for twelve years, had expired. "exchange your lands for those in the west," he urged the indians. to the government he recommended an additional annuity to be used in breaking up, fencing, and preparing those lands for cultivation. horses were stolen from the settlers by tens and twenties and fifties, and cattle killed. the farmers were exasperated. "banditti, robbers, thieves, they must get out! the indians hunt on our lands, and kill our tame stock. they are a great annoyance." for two years governor edwards had been asking for help. "the general government has been applied to long enough to have freed us from so serious a grievance. if it declines acting with effect, it will soon learn that these indians _will_ be removed, and that very promptly." clark himself was personally using every exertion to prevail on the indians to move as the best means of preserving tranquillity, and did all he could without actual coercion. the indians continued to promise to go, but they still remained. "more time," said the indians. "another year." the combustible train was laid,--only a spark was needed, only a move of hostility, to fire the country. will black hawk apply that spark? "we cannot go," said the pottawattamies. "the sale of our lands was made by a few young men without our consent." five hundred indians determined to hold all the northern part of illinois for ever. sacs, foxes, pottawattamies, sent daily letters and complaints. "our father! our father! our father!"--it was a plea and a prayer, and trouble, trouble, trouble. black partridge's letters make one weep. "some of my people will be dead before spring." meanwhile agents were ahead surveying lands in that magic west. the indians were becoming as interested in migration as the whites had been; the same causes were pushing them on. clark was busily making contracts for saw-mills and corn-mills on the platte and kansas, arranging for means of transportation, for provisions for use on the way and after they settled, for oxen and carts and stock,--when one day four strange indians, worn and bewildered, arrived at st. louis, out of that west. some kind hand guided them to the indian office. that tunic, that bandeau of fox skins,--clark recalled it as the tribal dress of a nation beyond the rocky mountains. with an expression of exquisite joy, old tunnachemootoolt, for it was he, the black eagle, recognised the red head of a quarter of a century before. clark could scarcely believe that those indians had travelled on foot nearly two thousand miles to see him at st. louis. as but yesterday came back the memory of camp chopunnish among the nez percés of oregon. over tunnachemootoolt's camp the american flag was flying when they arrived from the walla walla. it did not take long to discover their story. some winters before an american trapper (in oregon tradition reputed to have been jedediah smith), watched the nez percés dance around the sun-pole on the present site of walla walla. "it is not good," said the trapper, "such worship is not acceptable to the great spirit. you should get the white man's book of heaven." voyageurs and iroquois trappers from the jesuit schools of canada said the same. then ellice, a chief's son, came back from the red river country whither the hudson's bay company had sent him to be educated. from several sources at once they learned that the white men had a book that taught of god. "if this be true it is certainly high time that we had the book." the chiefs called a national council. "if our mode of worship is wrong we must lay it aside. we must know about this. it cannot be put off." "if we could only find the trail of lewis and clark they would tell us the truth." "yes, lewis and clark always pointed upward. they must have been trying to tell us." so, benighted, bewildered, the nez percés talked around their council fires. over in the buffalo country black eagle's band met the white traders. "they come from the land of lewis and clark," said the eagle. "let us follow them." and so, four chiefs were deputed for that wonderful journey, two old men who had known lewis and clark,--black eagle and the man-of-the-morning, whose mother was a flathead,--and two young men,--rabbit-skin-leggings of the white bird band on salmon river, black eagle's brother's son, and no-horns-on-his-head, a young brave of twenty, who was a doubter of the old beliefs. "they went out by the lolo trail into the buffalo country of montana," say their descendants still living in idaho. one day they reached st. louis and inquired for the red head chief. very well governor clark remembered his nez percé-flathead friends. his silver locks were shaken by roars of laughter at their reminders of his youth, the bear hunts, the sale of buttons for camas and for kouse. the hospitality of those chiefs who said, "the horses on these hills are ours, take what you need," should now be rewarded. with gratitude and with the winsomeness for which he was noted, he invited them into his own house and to his own table. mrs. clark devoted herself to their entertainment. black eagle insisted on an early council. "we have heard of the book. we have come for the book." "what you have heard is true," answered clark, puzzled and sensible of his responsibility. then in simple language, that they might understand, he related the bible stories of the creation, of the commandments, of the advent of christ and his crucifixion. "yes," answered clark to their interrogatories, "a teacher shall be sent with the book." just as change of diet and climate had prostrated lewis and clark with sickness among the nez percés twenty-five years before, so now the nez percés fell sick in st. louis. the summer was hotter than any they had known in their cool northland. dr. farrar was called. mrs. clark herself brought them water and medicine as they lay burning with fever in the council house. they were very grateful for her attentions,--"the beautiful squaw of the red head chief." but neither medicine nor nursing could save the aged black eagle. "the most mournful procession i ever saw," said a young woman of that day, "was when those three indians followed their dead companion to the grave." his name is recorded at the st. louis cathedral as "keepeelele, buried october 31, 1831," a "ne percé de la tribu des choponeek, nation appellée tête plate." "keepeelele," the nez percés of to-day say "was the old man, the black eagle." sometimes they called him the "speaking eagle," as the orator on occasions. still the other indians remained ill. "i have been sent by my nation to examine lands for removal to the west," said william walker, chief of the wyandots. william walker was the son of a white man, stolen as a child from kentucky and brought up by the indians. his mother was also the descendant of a stolen white girl. young william, educated at the upper sandusky mission, became a chief. the semi-christian wyandots desired to follow their friends to the west. sitting there in the office, transacting business, governor clark spoke of the flathead nez percés. "i have never seen a flathead, but have often heard of them," answered william walker. curiosity prompted him to step into the next room. small in size, delicately formed, and of exact symmetry except the flattened head, they lay there parched with fever. "their diet at home consists chiefly of vegetables and fish," said the governor. "as a nation they have the fewest vices of any tribe on the continent of america." november 10, ten days after the burial of black eagle, colonel audrain of st. charles, a member of the legislature, died also at governor clark's house. his body was conveyed to st. charles in the first hearse ever seen there. on december 25, christmas day, 1831, mrs. clark herself died after a brief illness. there was sickness all over st. louis. was it a beginning of that strange new malady that by the next spring had grown into a devouring plague,--the dreaded asiatic cholera? at the bedside of his dead wife, governor clark sat, holding her waxen hand, with their little six-year-old son, jefferson, in his lap. "my child, you have no mother now," said the father with streaming tears. after the funeral, nothing was recorded in clark's letter-books for some days, and when he began again, the handwriting was that of an aged man. none mourned this sad event more than the tender-hearted nez percés, who remained until spring. when the new steamer _yellowstone_ of the american fur company, set out for its first great trip up the missouri, governor clark made arrangements to send the chiefs home to their country. a day later, the other old indian, the-man-of-the-morning, died and was buried near st. charles. among other passengers on that steamer were pierre chouteau the younger and george catlin, the indian artist, who was setting out to visit the mandans. "you will find the mandans a strange people and half white," said governor clark to his friend the artist, as he gave him his passport into the indian country. on the way up the river catlin noticed the two young nez percés, and painted their pictures. as if pursued by a strange fatality, at the mouth of the yellowstone no-horns-on-his-head died,--rabbit-skin-leggings alone was left to carry the word from st. louis. earlier than ever that year the nez percés had crossed the snowy trails of the bitter root to the buffalo country in the yellowstone and judith basin. "for are not our messengers coming?" and there, camped with their horses and their lodges, watching, rabbit-skin-leggings met them and shouted afar off,--"a man shall be sent with the book." back over the hills and the mountains the message flew,--"a man shall be sent with the book." every year after that the nez percés went over to the east, looking for the man with the book. nearly a year elapsed before william walker got back from his explorations and wrote a public letter giving an account of the nez percés in their search for the book. his account of meeting them in general clark's office, and of the object of their errand, created a tremendous sensation. religious committees called upon general clark, letters were written, and to one and all he said, "that was the sole object of their journey,--to obtain the white man's book of heaven." the call rang like a trumpet summons through the churches. the next year, 1834, the methodists sent jason lee and three others to oregon. two years later followed whitman and spalding and their brides, the first white women to cross the rocky mountains. "a famine threatens the upper missouri," was the news brought back by that steamer _yellowstone_ in 1832. "the buffaloes have disappeared!" the herds, chased so relentlessly on the missouri, were struggling through the bitter root mountains, to appear in vast throngs on the plains of idaho. even europe read and commented on that wonderful first journey of a steamer up the missouri, as later the world hailed the ascent of the nile and the yukon. it was a great journey. amazed indians everywhere had watched the monster, puffing and snorting, with steam and whistles, and a continued roar of cannon for half an hour at every fur fort and every indian village. "the thunder canoe!" redmen fell on the ground and cried to the great spirit. some shot their dogs and horses as sacrifices. at last, even the blackfeet were reached. the british tried to woo them back to the saskatchewan at fort edmonton, but eventually they tumbled over one another to trade with the fire boat that annually climbed the missouri staircase. xx _black hawk_ the roman faces of black hawk and keokuk were often seen in st. louis, where the chiefs came to consult clark in regard to their country. "keokuk signed away my lands," said black hawk. he had never been satisfied with that earliest treaty made while lewis and clark were absent beyond the mountains. for thirty years black hawk had paid friendly visits to chouteau and sold him furs. more often he was at malden consulting his "british father." schooled by tecumseh, the disloyal black hawk was wholly british. fort armstrong had been built at rock island for the protection of the border. those whitewashed walls and that tower perched on a high cliff over the mississippi reminded the traveller up the father of waters seventy years ago of some romantic castle on the rhine. and it was erected for the same reason that were the castles of the rhine. not safe were the traders who went up and down the great river, not safe were the emigrants seeking entrance to rock river,--for black hawk watched the land. the white settlements had already come up to the edge of black hawk's field. "no power is vested in me to stop the progress of settlements on ceded lands, and i have no means of inducing the indians to move but persuasion, which has little weight with those chiefs who have always been under british influence," said clark in 1829. again and again clark wrote to the secretary of war on this subject. the policy of moving the tribes westward stirred the wrath of black hawk. "the sacs never sold their country!" but the leader of the "british band" had lost his voice in the council. "who is black hawk?" asked general gaines at rock island. "is he a chief? by what right does he speak?" "my father, you ask who is black hawk. i will tell you who i am. i am a sac. my father was a sac. i am a warrior. so was my father. ask those young men who have followed me to battle and they will tell you who black hawk is. provoke our people to war and you will learn who black hawk is." haughtily gathering up his robes, the chief and his followers stalked over to canada for advice. in his absence keokuk made the final cession to the united states and prepared to move beyond the mississippi. back like a whirlwind came the hawk,-"sold the sac village, sold your country!" "keokuk," he whispered fiercely in his ear, "give mines, give everything, but keep our cornfields and our dead." "cross the mississippi," begged keokuk. "i will stay by the graves of my fathers," reiterated the stubborn and romantic black hawk. the indians left the silver rivers of illinois, their sugar groves, and bee trees with regret. no wonder the chief's heart clung to his native village, among dim old woods of oak and walnut, and orchards of plum and crab. for generations there had they tilled their indian gardens. from his watchtower on rock river the old chief scanned the country. early in the spring of 1832 he discovered a scattering train of whites moving into the beloved retreat. "quick, let us plant once more our cornfields." in a body black hawk and his british band with their women and children came pulling up rock river in their canoes. the whites were terrified. "black hawk has invaded illinois," was the word sent by governor reynolds to clark at st. louis. troops moved out from jefferson barracks. "go," said governor clark to felix st. vrain, his sac interpreter. "warn black hawk to withdraw across the mississippi." st. vrain sped away,--to be shot delivering his message. then followed the war, the flight and chase and battle of bad axe, and the capture of black hawk. wabasha's sioux fell upon the last fleeing remnant, so that few of black hawk's band were left to tell the tale. "farewell, my nation!" the old chief cried. "black hawk tried to save you and avenge your wrongs. he drank the blood of some of the whites. he has been taken prisoner and his plans are stopped. he can do no more. he is near his end. his sun is setting and he will rise no more. farewell to black hawk." in chains black hawk and his prophet, wabokeskiek, were brought by jefferson davis to st. louis. as his steamboat passed rock island, his old home, black hawk wept like a child. "it was our garden," he said, "such as the white people have near their villages. i spent many happy days on this island. a good spirit dwelt in a cave of rocks where your fort now stands. the noise of the guns has driven him away." it hurt clark to see his old friend dragging a ball and chain at jefferson barracks. he seldom went there. but the little kennerly children carried him presents and kinnikinick for his pipe. there were guests at the house of clark,--maximilian, prince of wied, and his artist,--when early in april of 1833 a deputation of sacs and foxes headed by keokuk came down in long double canoes to intercede for black hawk, and with them, haggard and worn from long wanderings, came singing bird, the wife of black hawk. with scientific interest maximilian looked at them, dressed in red, white, and green blankets, with shaven heads except a tuft behind, long and straight and black with a braided deer's tail at the end. they were typical savages with prominent noses and eagle plumes, wampum shells like tassels in their ears, and lances of sword-blades fastened to poles in their hands. "this is a great chief from over the big water, come to see you," said clark introducing the prince. "hah!" said the indians, giving the prince the right hand of friendship and scanning him steadily. bodmer, the artist, brought out his palette. keokuk in green blanket, with a medal on his heart and a long calumet ornamented with eagle feathers in his hand, was ready to pose. "hah!" laughed the indians as stroke by stroke they saw their chief stand forth on canvas, even to the brass necklace and bracelets on throat and wrists. "great medicine!" "i have chartered the _warrior_ to go down to jefferson barracks," said clark. striking their hands to their mouths, the indians gave the war whoop, and stepped on board the "big fire canoe." intent, each animated, fiery, dark-brown eye watched the engine hissing and roaring down to the barracks. "if you will keep a watchful eye on black hawk i will intercede for him," said clark. "i will watch him," promised keokuk. clark left them for a moment, and then led in a little old man of seventy years, with gray hair, light yellow face, and a curved roman nose. it was an affecting sight when keokuk stepped forward to embrace black hawk. keokuk, subtle, dignified, in splendid array of deer-skin and bear-claws, grasped the hand of his fallen rival. poor dethroned old black hawk! in a plain suit of buckskin and a string of wampum in his ears, he stood alone, fanning himself with the tail of a black hawk. keokuk tried to get him released. often had he visited clark on that errand, but no,--black hawk was summoned to washington and went. antoine le claire, son of old antoine, was his interpreter. released, presently, he made a triumphal tour home, applauded by thousands along the route, even as lafayette had been a few years before. not so the roman conquerors treated their captives! but black hawk came home to keokuk to die. the defeat of black hawk opened iowa to settlement, and a day later prairie schooners overran the black hawk purchase. on the staff of general atkinson when he marched out of jefferson barracks for the black hawk war, was meriwether lewis clark, now a graduate of west point, and his cousin robert anderson, grandson of clark's sister eliza. in the hurry and the heat of the march one day, lieutenant clark, riding from the rear back to the general, became enclosed by the troops of cavalry and had to ride slowly. by his side on a small horse he noticed a long-legged, dark-skinned soldier, with black hair hanging in clusters around his neck, a volunteer private. admiringly the private gazed at clark's fine new uniform and splendidly accoutred horse, a noble animal provided by his father at st. louis. young clark spoke to the soldier of awkward and unprepossessing appearance, whose witticisms and gift for stories kept his comrades in a state of merriment. he proved very inquisitive. "the son of governor clark of the lewis and clark expedition, did you say?" "yes." "and related to all those great people?" "yes," with a laugh. they chatted until the ranks began to thin. "i must ride on," but feeling an interest in the lank, long-haired soldier, lieutenant clark turned again,-"where are you from and to what troop do you belong?" "i am an illinois volunteer." "well, now, tell me your name, and i will bid you good bye." "my name is abraham lincoln, and i have not a relation in the world." the next time they met, meriwether lewis clark was marching through the streets of washington city with other prisoners in lee's surrendered army. and the president on the white house steps was abraham lincoln. the cousin of meriwether lewis clark, robert anderson, hero of fort sumter, stood by lincoln's side, with tears in his eyes. weeks before, when the land was ringing with his valour, the president had congratulated him and asked, "do you remember me?" "no, i never met you before." "yes," answered the president, "you are the officer that swore me in as a volunteer private in the black hawk war." the next day the assassin's bullet laid low the martyred lincoln; none mourned him more than meriwether lewis clark, for in that president he had known a friend. xxi _a great life ends_ "ruskosky, man, you tie my queue so tight i cannot shut my eyes!" with both hands up to his head governor clark rallied his polish attendant, who of all things was particular about his friend's appearance. for ruskosky never considered himself a servant, nor did clark. ruskosky was an old soldier of pulaski, a great swordsman, a gentleman, of courtly address and well educated, the constant companion of governor clark after the death of york. "come, let us walk, ruskosky." a narrow black ribbon was tied to the queue, the long black cloth cloak was brushed and the high broad-brim hat adjusted, the sword cane with buckhorn handle and rapier blade was grasped, and out they started. children stared at the ancient queue and small clothes. the oldest american in st. louis, governor clark had come to be regarded as a "gentleman of the old school." a sort of halo hung around his adventures. beloved, honoured, trusted, revered, his prominent nose and firm-set lips, his thin complexion in which the colour came and went, seemed somehow to belong to the revolution. he was locally regarded as a great literary man, for had not the journals of his expedition been given to the world? and now, too, delvers in historic lore began to realise what george rogers clark had done. eighteen different authors desired to write his life, among them madison, chief justice marshall, and washington irving. but the facts could not be found. irving sent his nephew to inquire of governor clark at st. louis. but the papers were scattered, to be collected only by the industry of historical students later. "governor clark is a fine soldier-like looking man, tall and thin," irving's nephew reported to his uncle. "his hair is white, but he seems to be as hardy and vigorous as ever, and speaks of his exposures and hardships with a zest that shows that the spirit of the old explorer is not quenched." children danced on an old carriage in the orchard. "uncle clark, when did you first have this carriage? when was it new?" the chivalrous and romantic friendship of his youth came back to the governor, and his eyes filled with tears. "children, that carriage belonged to meriwether lewis. in the settlement of his estate, i bought it. many a time have we ridden in it together. that is the carriage that met judy hancock when she landed at st. louis, the first american bride, a quarter of a century ago. many a vicissitude has it encountered since, in journeyings through woods and prairies. it is old now, but it has a history." in his later years governor clark travelled, made a tour of the lakes, and visited new york, boston, buffalo, cleveland, sandusky, and detroit. "hull?" said clark at detroit. "he was not a coward, but afraid for the people's sake of the cruelty of the indians." one day governor clark came ashore from a steamer on the ohio and stood at the mouth of the hockhocking where dunmore had his camp in 1774. the battle of point pleasant? that was ancient history. most of the residents in that region had never heard of it, and looked upon the old gentleman in a queue as a relic of the mound-builders. with wide-eyed wonder they listened again to the story of that day when civilisation set its first milestone beyond the alleghanies. when the thundering cannon in 1837 announced the return of a fur convoy from the yellowstone, governor clark expected a messenger. "they haf put the sand over him," explained a frenchman. "yes, he is dead and buried." "and my mandan?" "there are no more mandans." clark looked at the trader in surprise. "small-pox." the cheek of the red head paled. small-pox! in 1800 it swept from omaha to clatsop leaving a trail of bones. thirty years later ten thousand pawnees, otoes, and missouris perished. and now, despite all precautions, it had broken out on the upper missouri. in six weeks the wigwams of the mandans were desolate. out of sixteen hundred souls but thirty-one remained. arikara, minnetaree, ponca, assiniboine, sank before the contagion. the sioux survived only because they lived not in fixed villages and were roaming uncontaminated. blackfeet along the marias left their lodges standing with the dead in them, and never returned. the crows abandoned their stricken ones, and fled to the mountains. across the border beseeching indians carried the havoc to hudson's bay, to athabasca, and the yukon. over half a continent terrified tribes burnt their towns, slaughtered their families, pierced their own hearts or flung themselves from precipices. redmen yet unstricken poured into st. louis imploring the white man's magic. clark engaged physicians. day after day vaccinating, vaccinating, they sat in their offices, saving the life of hundreds. he sent out agents with vaccine to visit the tribes, but the superstitious savages gathered up their baggage and scattered,---"white men have come with small-pox in a bottle." with this last great shock, the decimation of the tribes, upon him, clark visibly declined. "my children," he said to his sons, "i want to sleep in sight and sound of the mississippi." when the summons came, september 1, 1838, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, meriwether lewis clark and his wife were with him, the deputy, james kennerly and his wife, elise, and old ruskosky, inconsolable. with great pomp and solemnity his funeral was celebrated, as had been that of his brother at louisville twenty years before. both were buried as soldiers, with minute guns and honours of war. in sight of the ohio, george rogers clark sleeps, and below the grave of william clark sweeps the mississippi, roaring, swirling, bearing the life-blood of the land they were the first to explore. the sacs, with keokuk at their head, marched in the long funeral train of their red head father and wept genuine tears of desolation. no more, dressed in their best, did the indians sing and dance through the streets of st. louis, receiving gifts from door to door. the friend of the redmen was dead. st. louis ceased to be the mecca of their pilgrimages; no more their gala costumes enlivened the market; they disappeared. for more than forty years william clark had been identified with st. louis,--had become a part of its history and of the west. october 3, 1838, a few days after clark, black hawk, too, breathed his last in his lodge, and was buried like the sac chieftains of old, sitting upright, in the uniform given him by president jackson, with his hand resting on the cane presented by henry clay. he, too, said, "i like to look upon the mississippi. i have looked upon it from a child. i love that beautiful river. my home has always been upon its banks." and there they buried him. every day at sunset travellers along that road heard the weird heart-broken wail of singing bird, the widow of black hawk. xxii _the new west_ four years after the death of governor clark began the rush to oregon. dr. lewis f. linn, senator from missouri, and grandson of william linn, the trusted lieutenant of george rogers clark, introduced a bill in congress offering six hundred and forty acres of land to every family that would emigrate to oregon. the linns came to missouri with daniel boone, and with the boones they looked ever west! west! "six hundred and forty acres of land! a solid square mile of god's earth, clear down to the centre!" men exclaimed in amaze. while ohio was still new, and the mississippi valley billowed her carpets of untrodden bloom, an eagle's flight beyond, civilisation leaped to oregon. from ferries where kansas city and omaha now stand they started, crossing the platte by fords, by waggon-beds lashed together, and on rafts, darkening the stream for days. before their buffalo hunters, innumerable herds made the earth tremble where kansas-nebraska cities are to-day. in 1843 marcus whitman piloted the first waggon train through to the columbia. "a thousand people? starving did you say? lord! lord! they must have help to-night," exclaimed dr. mcloughlin, the old white-haired hudson's bay trader at fort vancouver. "man the boats! people are starving at the dalles!" and the noble-hearted representative of a rival government sent out his provision-laden bateaux to rescue the perishing americans, who in spite of storms and tempests were gliding down the great columbia as sixty years before their fathers floated down the indian-haunted ohio. and indians were here, with tomahawks ready. "let us kill these bostons!" mcloughlin heard the word, and shook the speaker as a terrier shakes a rat. "dogs, you shall be punished!" in his anxiety lest harm should come to the approaching americans, all night long, his white hair wet in the rain, dr. mcloughlin stood watching the boats coming down the columbia, and building great bonfires where lewis and clark had camped in 1806. women and little children and new-born babes slept in the british fur-trader's fort. anglo-saxon greeted anglo-saxon in the conquest of the world, to march henceforward hand in hand for ever. among the emigrants on the plains in 1846, was alphonso boone, the son of jesse, the son of daniel. several grown-up boone boys were there, and the beautiful chloe and her younger sisters. chloe boone rode a thorough-bred mare, a descendant of the choicest boone stock, from the old kentucky blue-grass region. mounted upon her high-stepping mare, chloe and her sisters and other young people of the train rode on ahead of the slow-going line of waggons and oxen. gay was the laughter, and merry the songs, that rang out on the bright morning air. francis parkman, the great historian, then a young man just out of college, was on the plains that year, collecting material for his books. now and then they met parties of soldiers going to the mexican war, and many a boy in blue turned to catch a glimpse of the sweet girl faces in chloe's train. happily they rode in the spring on the plains; more slowly when the heats of summer came and the sides of the rocky mountains grew steep and rough; and slower still in the parched lands beyond, when the woodwork of the waggons began to shrink, and the worn-out animals to faint and fall. "so long a journey!" said chloe. six months it took. clothes wore out, babes were born, and people died. they came into oregon by the southern route, guided by daniel boone's old compass, the one given him by dunmore to bring in the surveyors from the falls of the ohio seventy-two years before. the fall rains had set in. the umpqua river was swollen,--eighteen times from bank to bank chloe forded, in getting down umpqua canyon. "we shall have to leave the waggons and heavy baggage with a guard," said colonel boone, "and hurry on to the settlements." they reached the willamette valley, pitched their tents where corvallis now stands, and that winter, in a little log cabin, chloe boone taught the first school ever conducted by a woman outside of the missions in oregon. leaving the girls, colonel boone went back after the waggons. alas! the guard was killed, the camp was looted, and daniel boone's old compass was gone for ever. its work was done. alphonso boone built a mansion near the present capital city of salem and here chloe married the governor, george l. curry, and for years beside the old boone fireside the governor's wife extended the hospitalities of the rising state. albert gallatin boone camped on the site of denver twenty years before denver was, and negotiated the sale of colorado from the indians to the united states. john c. boone, son of nathan boone, explored a new cut-off and became a pioneer of california. james madison boone drove stakes in texas. what years had passed since the expedition of lewis and clark! it seemed like a bygone event, but one who had shared its fortunes still lived on and on,--our old friend, patrick gass. in the war of 1812, above the roaring falls of niagara, sergeant gass spiked the enemy's cannon at the battle of lundy's lane. years went on. a plain unpretentious citizen, patrick worked at his trade in wellsburg and raised his family. in 1856 patrick gass headed a delegation of gray-haired veterans of the war of 1812 to washington, and was everywhere lionised as the last of the men of lewis and clark. on july 4, 1861, the land was aflame over the firing on fort sumter. all wellsburg with her newly enlisted regiments for the war was gathered at apple pie ridge to celebrate the day. "where is patrick gass?" a grand carriage was sent for him, and on the shoulders of the boys in blue he was brought in triumph to the platform. "speech! speech!" and the speech of his life patrick gass made that day, for his country and the union. the simple, honest old hero brought tears to every eye, with a glimpse of the splendid drama of lewis and clark. again they saw those early soldier-boys bearing the flag across the rockies, suffering starvation and danger and almost death, to carry their country to the sea. "but me byes, it's not a picnic ye're goin' to,--oh, far from it! no! no! 't will be hard fur ye when ye come marchin' back lavin' yer comrades lyin' far from home and friends, but there is one to look to, who has made and kept our country." it seemed the applause would never cease, with cheering and firing of cannon. "stay! stay!" cried the people. "sit up on the table and let us have our banquet around you with the big flag floating over your head." in an instant pat was down. "far enough is far enough!" he cried, "and be the divil, will yez try to make sport of mesilf?" excitedly the modest old soldier slipped away. the war ended. a railroad crossed the plains. oregon and california were states. alaska was bought. still pat lived on, until 1870, when he fell asleep, at the age of ninety-nine, the last of the heroic band of lewis and clark. william walker, who gave to the world the story of the nez percés, led his wyandots into kansas, and, with the first white settlers, organising a provisional government after the plan of oregon, became himself the first governor of kansas-nebraska. oh, little crow! little crow! what crimes were committed in thy name! in the midst of the war, 1862, little crow the third arose against the white settlers of minnesota in one of the most frightful massacres recorded in history. then came sibley's expedition sweeping on west, opening the dakotas and montana. the indian? he fought and was vanquished. how we are beginning to love our indians, now that we fear them no longer! no wild man ever so captured the imagination of the world. with inherent nobility, courage to the border of destruction, patriotism to the death, absolutely refusing to be enslaved, he stands out the most perfect picture of primeval man. we might have tamed him but we had not time. the movement was too swift, the pressure behind made the white men drivers as the indians had driven before. civilisation demands repose, safety. and until repose and safety came we could do no effective work for the indian. we of to-day have lived the longest lives, for we have seen a continent transformed. we have forgotten that a hundred years ago briton and spaniard and frenchman were hammering at our gates; forgotten that the indian beleaguered our wooden castles; forgotten that wolves drummed with their paws on our cabin doors, snapping their teeth like steel traps, while the mother hushed the wheel within and children crouched beneath the floor. o mothers of a mighty past, thy sons are with us yet, fighting new battles, planning new conquests, for law, order, and justice. where rolls the columbia and where the snow-peaks of hood, adams, jefferson, rainier, and st. helens look down, a metropolis has arisen in the very multnomah where clark took his last soundings. northward, seattle sits on her puget sea, southward san francisco smiles from her golden gate, spanish no more. over the route where lewis and clark toiled slowly a hundred years ago, lo! in three days the traveller sits beside the sunset. five transcontinental lines bear the rushing armies westward, ever westward into the sea. bewildered a moment they pause, then turn--to the conquest of the poles and the tropics. the frontiersman? he is building nome city under the arctic: he is hewing the forests of the philippines. * * * * * transcriber's note: inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. obvious typographical errors have been corrected. ------------------------------------------------------- | * transcriber's note: every effort has been made | | to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, | | including obsolete and variant spellings and other | | inconsistencies. where the text has been changed | | to correct an obvious error by the publisher, the | | word has been marked with an asterisk. | -------------------------------------------------------[illustration: a map of lewis and clark's track, across the western portion of north america, from the mississippi to the pacific ocean; by order of the executive of the united states, in 1804, 5&6. copied by samuel lewis from the original drawing by wm. clark.] history of the expedition under the command of _captains lewis and clark,_ to the sources of the missouri, thence across the rocky mountains and down the river columbia to the pacific ocean. performed during the years 1804-5-6. by order of the government of the united states. prepared for the press by paul allen, esquire. in two volumes. vol. i. _philadelphia_ published by bradford and inskeep; and abm. h. inskeep, new york. j. maxwell, printer 1814. district of pennsylvania, to wit: be it remembered, that on the twenty-second day of january, in the thirty-eighth year of the independence of the united states of america, a.d. 1814, bradford and inskeep, of the said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit: "history of the expedition under the command of captains lewis and clark, to the sources of the missouri, thence across the rocky mountains, and down the river columbia to the pacific ocean. performed during the years 1804-5-6, by order of the government of the united states. prepared for the press by paul allen, esquire." in conformity to the act of congress of the united states, entitled "an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned." and also to the act, entitled, "an act supplementary to an act, entitled, "an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned," and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." david caldwell, clerk of the district of pennsylvania. preface. in presenting these volumes to the public, the editor owes equally to himself and to others, to state the circumstances which have preceded the publication, and to explain his own share in compiling them. it was the original design of captain lewis to have been himself the editor of his own travels, and he was on his way towards philadelphia for that purpose when his sudden death frustrated these intentions. after a considerable and unavoidable delay, the papers connected with the expedition were deposited with another gentleman, who, in order to render the lapse of time as little injurious as possible, proceeded immediately to collect and investigate all the materials within his reach. of the incidents of each day during the expedition, a minute journal was kept by captain lewis or captain clark, and sometimes by both, which was afterwards revised and enlarged at the different periods of leisure which occurred on the route. these were carefully perused in conjunction with captain clark himself, who was able from his own recollection of the journey, as well as from a constant residence in louisiana since his return, to supply a great mass of explanations, and much additional information with regard to part of the route which has been more recently explored. besides these, recourse was had to the manuscript journals kept by two of the serjeants, one of which, the least minute and valuable, has already been published. that nothing might be wanting to the accuracy of these details, a very intelligent and active member of the party, mr. george shannon, was sent to contribute whatever his memory might add to this accumulated fund of information. from these copious materials the narrative was sketched nearly in its present form, when other pursuits diverted the attention of the writer, and compelled him to transfer his manuscript, in its unfinished state, with all the documents connected with it, to the present editor, to prepare them for the press and superintend the publication. that he may not seem to arrogate any thing from the exertions of others, he should therefore state that, although the whole work was thus submitted to his entire discretion, he found but little to change, and that his labour has been principally confined to revising the manuscript, comparing it with the original papers, and inserting such additional matter as appears to have been intentionally deferred by the writer till the period of a more mature revisal. these circumstances, which would otherwise be indifferent to the public, are mentioned merely to account for imperfections, which are in some degree inseparable from any book of travels not written by the traveller. in a work of pure description indeed, like the present, where the incidents themselves are the sole objects of attraction, the part of an editor is necessarily subordinate, nor can his humble pretensions aspire beyond the merit of rigid adherence to facts as they are stated to him. this has been very diligently attempted, and for this, in its full extent, the editor deems himself responsible. the present volumes, it will be perceived, comprise only the narrative of the journey. those parts of the work which relate to the various objects of natural history, observed or collected during the journey, as well as the alphabets of the indian languages, are in the hands of professor bartou, and will, it is understood, shortly appear. to give still further interest to the work, the editor addressed a letter to mr. jefferson, requesting some authentic memoirs of captain lewis. for the very curious and valuable information contained in his answer, the public, as well as the editor himself, owe great obligations to the politeness and knowledge of that distinguished gentleman. paul allen. philadelphia, january 1, 1814. life of captain lewis. _monticello, august 18, 1813._ sir, in compliance with the request conveyed in your letter of may 25, i have endeavoured to obtain, from the relations and friends of the late governor lewis, information of such incidents of his life as might be not unacceptable to those who may read the narrative of his western discoveries. the ordinary occurrences of a private life, and those also while acting in a subordinate sphere in the army, in a time of peace, are not deemed sufficiently interesting to occupy the public attention; but a general account of his parentage, with such smaller incidents as marked his early character are briefly noted; and to these are added, as being peculiarly within my own knowledge, whatever related to the public mission, of which an account is now to be published. the result of my inquiries and recollections shall now be offered, to be enlarged or abridged as you may think best; or otherwise to be used with the materials you may have collected from other sources. meriwether lewis, late governor of louisiana, was born on the eighteenth of august, 1774, near the town of charlottesville, in the county of albemarle, in virginia, of one of the distinguished families of that state. john lewis, one of his father's uncles was a member of the king's council, before the revolution. another of them, fielding lewis, married a sister of general washington. his father, william lewis, was the youngest of five sons of colonel robert lewis, of albemarle, the fourth of whom, charles, was one of the early patriots who stepped forward in the commencement of the revolution and commanded one of the regiments first raised in virginia, and placed on continental establishment. happily situated at home, with a wife and young family, and a fortune placing him at ease, he left all to aid in the liberation of his country from foreign usurpations, then first unmasking their ultimate end and aim. his good sense, integrity, bravery, enterprise, and remarkable bodily powers, marked him as an officer of great promise; but he unfortunately died early in the revolution. nicholas lewis, the second of his father's brothers, commanded a regiment of militia in the successful expedition of 1776, against the cherokee indians; who, seduced by the agents of the british government to take up the hatchet against us, had committed great havoc on our southern frontier, by murdering and scalping helpless women and children, according to their cruel and cowardly principles of warfare. the chastisement they then received closed the history of their wars, and prepared them for receiving the elements of civilization, which, zealously inculcated by the present government of the united states, have rendered them an industrious, peaceable, and happy people. this member of the family of lewises, whose bravery was so usefully proved on this occasion, was endeared to all who knew him by his inflexible probity, courteous disposition, benevolent heart, and engaging modesty and manners. he was the umpire of all the private differences of his county--selected always by both parties. he was also the guardian of meriwether lewis, of whom we are now to speak, and who had lost his father at an early age. he continued some years under the fostering care of a tender mother, of the respectable family of meriwethers, of the same county; and was remarkable even in infancy for enterprise, boldness, and discretion. when only eight years of age he habitually went out, in the dead of night, alone with his dogs, into the forest to hunt the raccoon and opossum, which, seeking their food in the night, can then only be taken. in this exercise, no season or circumstance could obstruct his purpose--plunging through the winter's snows and frozen streams in pursuit of his object. at thirteen he was put to the latin school, and continued at that until eighteen, when he returned to his mother, and entered on the cares of his farm; having, as well as a younger brother, been left by his father with a competency for all the correct and comfortable purposes of temperate life. his talent for observation, which had led him to an accurate knowledge of the plants and animals of his own country, would have distinguished him as a farmer; but at the age of twenty, yielding to the ardour of youth, and a passion for more dazzling pursuits, he engaged as a volunteer in the body of militia which were called out by general washington, on occasion of the discontents produced by the excise taxes in the western parts of the united states; and from that situation he was removed to the regular service as a lieutenant in the line. at twenty-three he was promoted to a captaincy; and, always attracting the first attention where punctuality and fidelity were requisite, he was appointed paymaster to his regiment. about this time a circumstance occurred which, leading to the transaction which is the subject of this book, will justify a recurrence to its original idea. while i resided in paris, john ledyard, of connecticut, arrived there, well known in the united states for energy of body and mind. he had accompanied captain cook on his voyage to the pacific ocean; and distinguished himself on that voyage by his intrepidity. being of a roaming disposition, he was now panting for some new enterprise. his immediate object at paris was to engage a mercantile company in the fur-trade of the western coast of america, in which, however, he failed. i then proposed to him to go by land to kamschatka, cross in some of the russian vessels to nootka sound, fall down into the latitude of the missouri, and penetrate to, and through, that to the united states. he eagerly seized the idea, and only asked to be assured of the permission of the russian government. i interested, in obtaining that, m. de simoulin, minister plenipotentiary of the empress at paris, but more especially the baron de grimm, minister plenipotentiary of saxe-gotha, her more special agent and correspondent there in matters not immediately diplomatic. her permission was obtained, and an assurance of protection while the course of the voyage should be through her territories. ledyard set out from paris, and arrived at st. petersburgh after the empress had left that place to pass the winter, i think, at moscow. his finances not permitting him to make unnecessary stay at st. petersburgh, he left it with a passport from one of the ministers; and at two hundred miles from kamschatka, was obliged to take up his winter quarters. he was preparing, in the spring, to resume his journey, when he was arrested by an officer of the empress, who by this time had changed her mind, and forbidden his proceeding. he was put into a close carriage, and conveyed day and night, without ever stopping, till they reached poland; where he was set down and left to himself. the fatigue of this journey broke down his constitution; and when he returned to paris his bodily strength was much impaired. his mind, however, remained firm, and he after this undertook the journey to egypt. i received a letter from him, full of sanguine hopes, dated at cairo, the fifteenth of november, 1788, the day before he was to set out for the head of the nile; on which day, however, he ended his career and life: and thus failed the first attempt to explore the western part of our northern continent. in 1792, i proposed to the american philosophical society that we should set on foot a subscription to engage some competent person to explore that region in the opposite direction; that is, by ascending the missouri, crossing the stony mountains, and descending the nearest river to the pacific. captain lewis being then stationed at charlottesville, on the recruiting service, warmly solicited me to obtain for him the execution of that object. i told him it was proposed that the person engaged should be attended by a single companion only, to avoid exciting alarm among the indians. this did not deter him; but mr. andre michaux, a professed botanist, author of the flora boreali-americana, and of the histoire des chesnes d'amerique, offering his services, they were accepted. he received his instructions, and when he had reached kentucky in the prosecution of his journey, he was overtaken by an order from the minister of france, then at philadelphia, to relinquish the expedition, and to pursue elsewhere the botanical inquiries on which he was employed by that government: and thus failed the second attempt for exploring that region. in 1803, the act for establishing trading houses with the indian tribes being about to expire, some modifications of it were recommended to congress by a confidential message of january 18th, and an extension of its views to the indians on the missouri. in order to prepare the way, the message proposed the sending an exploring party to trace the missouri to its source, to cross the highlands, and follow the best water-communication which offered itself from thence to the pacific ocean. congress approved the proposition, and voted a sum of money for carrying it into execution. captain lewis, who had then been near two years with me as private secretary, immediately renewed his solicitations to have the direction of the party. i had now had opportunities of knowing him intimately. of courage undaunted; possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its direction; careful as a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order and discipline; intimate with the indian character, customs, and principles; habituated to the hunting life; guarded, by exact observation of the vegetables and animals of his own country, against losing time in the description of objects already possessed; honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding, and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous, that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves; with all these qualifications, as if selected and implanted by nature in one body for this express purpose, i could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him. to fill up the measure desired, he wanted nothing but a greater familiarity with the technical language of the natural sciences, and readiness in the astronomical observations necessary for the geography of his route. to acquire these he repaired immediately to philadelphia, and placed himself under the tutorage of the distinguished professors of that place, who with a zeal and emulation, enkindled by an ardent devotion to science, communicated to him freely the information requisite for the purposes of the journey. while attending too, at lancaster, the fabrication of the arms with which he chose that his men should be provided, he had the benefit of daily communication with mr. andrew ellicot, whose experience in astronomical observation, and practice of it in the woods, enabled him to apprise captain lewis of the wants and difficulties he would encounter, and of the substitutes and resources offered by a woodland and uninhabited country. deeming it necessary he should have some person with him of known competence to the direction of the enterprise, in the event of accident to himself, he proposed william clarke, brother of general george rogers clarke, who was approved, and, with that view, received a commission of captain. in april, 1803, a draught of his instructions was sent to captain lewis, and on the twentieth of june they were signed in the following form: "to meriwether lewis, esquire, captain of the first regiment of infantry of the united states of america: "your situation as secretary of the president of the united states, has made you acquainted with the objects of my confidential message of january 18, 1803, to the legislature; you have seen the act they passed, which, though expressed in general terms, was meant to sanction those objects, and you are appointed to carry them into execution. "instruments for ascertaining, by celestial observations, the geography of the country through which you will pass, have been already provided. light articles for barter and presents among the indians, arms for your attendants, say for from ten to twelve men, boats, tents, and other travelling apparatus, with ammunition, medicine, surgical instruments, and provisions, you will have prepared, with such aids as the secretary at war can yield in his department; and from him also you will receive authority to engage among our troops, by voluntary agreement, the number of attendants abovementioned; over whom you, as their commanding officer, are invested with all the powers the laws give in such a case. "as your movements, while within the limits of the united states, will be better directed by occasional communications, adapted to circumstances as they arise, they will not be noticed here. what follows will respect your proceedings after your departure from the united states. "your mission has been communicated to the ministers here from france, spain, and great britain, and through them to their governments; and such assurances given them as to its objects, as we trust will satisfy them. the country of louisiana having been ceded by spain to france, the passport you have from the minister of france, the representative of the present sovereign of the country, will be a protection with all its subjects; and that from the minister of england will entitle you to the friendly aid of any traders of that allegiance with whom you may happen to meet. "the object of your mission is to explore the missouri river, and such principal streams of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the pacific ocean, whether the columbia, oregan, colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water-communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce. "beginning at the mouth of the missouri, you will take observations of latitude and longitude, at all remarkable points on the river, and especially at the mouths of rivers, at rapids, at islands, and other places and objects distinguished by such natural marks and characters, of a durable kind, as that they may with certainty be recognised hereafter. the courses of the river between these points of observation may be supplied by the compass, the log-line, and by time, corrected by the observations themselves. the variations of the needle, too, in different places, should be noticed. "the interesting points of the portage between the heads of the missouri, and of the water offering the best communication with the pacific ocean, should also be fixed by observation; and the course of that water to the ocean, in the same manner as that of the missouri. "your observations are to be taken with great pains and accuracy; to be entered distinctly and intelligibly for others as well as yourself; to comprehend all the elements necessary, with the aid of the usual tables, to fix the latitude and longitude of the places at which they were taken; and are to be rendered to the war-office, for the purpose of having the calculations made concurrently by proper persons within the united states. several copies of these, as well as of your other notes, should be made at leisure times, and put into the care of the most trust-worthy of your attendants to guard, by multiplying them against the accidental losses to which they will be exposed. a further guard would be, that one of these copies be on the cuticular membranes of the paper-birch, as less liable to injury from damp than common paper. "the commerce which may be carried on with the people inhabiting the line you will pursue, renders a knowledge of those people important. you will therefore endeavour to make yourself acquainted, as far as a diligent pursuit of your journey shall admit, with the names of the nations and their numbers; "the extent and limits of their possessions; "their relations with other tribes or nations; "their language, traditions, monuments; "their ordinary occupations in agriculture, fishing, hunting, war, arts, and the implements for these; "their food, clothing, and domestic accommodations; "the diseases prevalent among them, and the remedies they use; "moral and physical circumstances which distinguish them from the tribes we know; "peculiarities in their laws, customs, and dispositions; "and articles of commerce they may need or furnish, and to what extent. "and, considering the interest which every nation has in extending and strengthening the authority of reason and justice among the people around them, it will be useful to acquire what knowledge you can of the state of morality, religion, and information among them; as it may better enable those who may endeavour to civilize and instruct them, to adapt their measures to the existing notions and practices of those on whom they are to operate. "other objects worthy of notice will be- "the soil and face of the country, its growth and vegetable productions, especially those not of the united states; "the animals of the country generally, and especially those not known in the united states; "the remains and accounts of any which may be deemed rare or extinct; "the mineral productions of every kind, but more particularly metals, lime-stone, pit-coal, and saltpetre; salines and mineral waters, noting the temperature of the last, and such circumstances as may indicate their character; "volcanic appearances; "climate, as characterized by the thermometer, by the proportion of rainy, cloudy, and clear days; by lightning, hail, snow, ice; by the access and recess of frost; by the winds prevailing at different seasons; the dates at which particular plants put forth, or lose their flower or leaf; times of appearance of particular birds, reptiles or insects. "although your route will be along the channel of the missouri, yet you will endeavour to inform yourself, by inquiry, of the character and extent of the country watered by its branches, and especially on its southern side. the north river, or rio bravo, which runs into the gulf of mexico, and the north river, or rio colorado, which runs into the gulf of california, are understood to be the principal streams heading opposite to the waters of the missouri, and running southwardly. whether the dividing grounds between the missouri and them are mountains or flat lands, what are their distance from the missouri, the character of the intermediate country, and the people inhabiting it, are worthy of particular inquiry. the northern waters of the missouri are less to be inquired after, because they have been ascertained to a considerable degree, and are still in a course of ascertainment by english traders and travellers; but if you can learn any thing certain of the most northern source of the missisipi, and of its position relatively to the lake of the woods, it will be interesting to us. some account too of the path of the canadian traders from the missisipi, at the mouth of the onisconsing to where it strikes the missouri, and of the soil and rivers in its course, is desirable. "in all your intercourse with the natives, treat them in the most friendly and conciliatory manner which their own conduct will admit; allay all jealousies as to the object of your journey; satisfy them of its innocence; make them acquainted with the position, extent, character, peaceable and commercial dispositions of the united states; of our wish to be neighbourly, friendly, and useful to them, and of our dispositions to a commercial intercourse with them; confer with them on the points most convenient as mutual emporiums, and the articles of most desirable interchange for them and us. if a few of their influential chiefs, within practicable distance, wish to visit us, arrange such a visit with them, and furnish them with authority to call on our officers on their entering the united states, to have them conveyed to this place at the public expense. if any of them should wish to have some of their young people brought up with us, and taught such arts as may be useful to them, we will receive, instruct, and take care of them. such a mission, whether of influential chiefs, or of young people, would give some security to your own party. carry with you some matter of the kine-pox; inform those of them with whom you may be of its efficacy as a preservative from the small-pox, and instruct and encourage them in the use of it. this may be especially done wherever you winter. "as it is impossible for us to foresee in what manner you will be received by those people, whether with hospitality or hostility, so is it impossible to prescribe the exact degree of perseverance with which you are to pursue your journey. we value too much the lives of citizens to offer them to probable destruction. your numbers will be sufficient to secure you against the unauthorized opposition of individuals, or of small parties; but if a superior force, authorized, or not authorized, by a nation, should be arrayed against your further passage, and inflexibly determined to arrest it, you must decline its further pursuit and return. in the loss of yourselves we should lose also the information you will have acquired. by returning safely with that, you may enable us to renew the essay with better calculated means. to your own discretion, therefore, must be left the degree of danger you may risk, and the point at which you should decline, only saying, we wish you to err on the side of your safety, and to bring back your party safe, even if it be with less information. "as far up the missouri as the white settlements extend, an intercourse will probably be found to exist between them and the spanish posts of st. louis opposite cahokia, or st. genevieve opposite kaskaskia. from still further up the river the traders may furnish a conveyance for letters. beyond that you may perhaps be able to engage indians to bring letters for the government to cahokia, or kaskaskia, on promising that they shall there receive such special compensation as you shall have stipulated with them. avail yourself of these means to communicate to us, at seasonable intervals, a copy of your journal, notes and observations of every kind, putting into cypher whatever might do injury if betrayed. "should you reach the pacific ocean, inform yourself of the circumstances which may decide whether the furs of those parts may not be collected as advantageously at the head of the missouri (convenient as is supposed to the waters of the colorado and oregan or columbia) as at nootka sound, or any other point of that coast; and that trade be consequently conducted through the missouri and united states more beneficially than by the circumnavigation now practised. "on your arrival on that coast, endeavour to learn if there be any port within your reach frequented by the sea vessels of any nation, and to send two of your trusty people back by sea, in such way as shall appear practicable, with a copy of your notes; and should you be of opinion that the return of your party by the way they went will be imminently dangerous, then ship the whole, and return by sea, by the way either of cape horn, or the cape of good hope, as you shall be able. as you will be without money, clothes, or provisions, you must endeavour to use the credit of the united states to obtain them; for which purpose open letters of credit shall be furnished you, authorizing you to draw on the executive of the united states, or any of its officers, in any part of the world, on which draughts can be disposed of, and to apply with our recommendations to the consuls, agents, merchants, or citizens of any nation with which we have intercourse, assuring them, in our name, that any aids they may furnish you shall be honourably repaid, and on demand. our consuls, thomas hewes, at batavia, in java, william buchanan, in the isles of france and bourbon, and john elmslie, at the cape of good hope, will be able to supply your necessities, by draughts on us. "should you find it safe to return by the way you go, after sending two of your party round by sea, or with your whole party, if no conveyance by sea can be found, do so; making such observations on your return as may serve to supply, correct, or confirm those made on your outward journey. "on reentering the united states and reaching a place of safety, discharge any of your attendants who may desire and deserve it, procuring for them immediate payment of all arrears of pay and clothing which may have incurred since their departure, and assure them that they shall be recommended to the liberality of the legislature for the grant of a soldier's portion of land each, as proposed in my message to congress, and repair yourself, with your papers, to the seat of government. "to provide, on the accident of your death, against anarchy, dispersion, and the consequent danger to your party, and total failure of the enterprise, you are hereby authorized, by any instrument signed and written in your own hand, to name the person among them who shall succeed to the command on your decease, and by like instruments to change the nomination, from time to time, as further experience of the characters accompanying you shall point out superior fitness; and all the powers and authorities given to yourself are, in the event of your death, transferred to, and vested in the successor so named, with further power to him and his successors, in like manner to name each his successor, who, on the death of his predecessor, shall be invested with all the powers and authorities given to yourself. given under my hand at the city of washington, this twentieth day of june, 1803. "thomas jefferson, "_president of the united states of america_." while these things were going on here, the country of louisiana, lately ceded by spain to france, had been the subject of negotiation at paris between us and this last power; and had actually been transferred to us by treaties executed at paris on the thirtieth of april. this information, received about the first day of july, increased infinitely the interest we felt in the expedition, and lessened the apprehensions of interruption from other powers. every thing in this quarter being now prepared, captain lewis left washington on the fifth of july, 1803, and proceeded to pittsburg, where other articles had been ordered to be provided for him. the men too were to be selected from the military stations on the ohio. delays of preparation, difficulties of navigation down the ohio, and other untoward obstructions, retarded his arrival at cahokia until the season was so far advanced as to render it prudent to suspend his entering the missouri before the ice should break up in the succeeding spring. from this time his journal, now published, will give the history of his journey to and from the pacific ocean, until his return to st. louis on the twenty-third of september, 1806. never did a similar event excite more joy through the united states. the humblest of its citizens had taken a lively interest in the issue of this journey, and looked forward with impatience for the information it would furnish. their anxieties too for the safety of the corps had been kept in a state of excitement by lugubrious rumours, circulated from time to time on uncertain authorities, and uncontradicted by letters, or other direct information, from the time they had left the mandan towns, on their ascent up the river in april of the preceding year, 1805, until their actual return to st. louis. it was the middle of february, 1807, before captain lewis, with his companion captain clarke, reached the city of washington, where congress was then in session. that body granted to the two chiefs and their followers the donation of lands which they had been encouraged to expect in reward of their toil and dangers. captain lewis was soon after appointed governor of louisiana, and captain clarke a general of its militia, and agent of the united states for indian affairs in that department. a considerable time intervened before the governor's arrival at st. louis. he found the territory distracted by feuds and contentions among the officers of the government, and the people themselves divided by these into factions and parties. he determined at once to take no side with either; but to use every endeavour to conciliate and harmonize them. the even-handed justice he administered to all soon established a respect for his person and authority; and perseverance and time wore down animosities, and reunited the citizens again into one family. governor lewis had, from early life, been subject to hypochondriac affections. it was a constitutional disposition in all the nearer branches of the family of his name, and was more immediately inherited by him from his father. they had not, however, been so strong as to give uneasiness to his family. while he lived with me in washington i observed at times sensible depressions of mind: but knowing their constitutional source, i estimated their course by what i had seen in the family. during his western expedition, the constant exertion which that required of all the faculties of body and mind, suspended these distressing affections; but after his establishment at st. louis in sedentary occupations, they returned upon him with redoubled vigour, and began seriously to alarm his friends. he was in a paroxysm of one of these, when his affairs rendered it necessary for him to go to washington. he proceeded to the chickasaw bluffs, where he arrived on the sixteenth of september, 1809, with a view of continuing his journey thence by water. mr. neely, agent of the united states with the chickasaw indians, arriving there two days after, found him extremely indisposed, and betraying at times some symptoms of a derangement of mind. the rumours of a war with england, and apprehensions that he might lose the papers he was bringing on, among which were the vouchers of his public accounts, and the journals and papers of his western expedition, induced him here to change his mind, and to take his course by land through the chickasaw country. although he appeared somewhat relieved, mr. neely kindly determined to accompany and watch over him. unfortunately, at their encampment, after having passed the tennessee one day's journey, they lost two horses, which obliging mr. neely to halt for their recovery, the governor proceeded, under a promise to wait for him at the house of the first white inhabitant on his road. he stopped at the house of a mr. grinder, who not being at home, his wife, alarmed at the symptoms of derangement she discovered, gave him up the house and retired to rest herself in an out-house, the governor's and neely's servants lodging in another. about three o'clock in the night he did the deed which plunged his friends into affliction, and deprived his country of one of her most valued citizens, whose valour and intelligence would have been now employed in avenging the wrongs of his country, and in emulating by land the splendid deeds which have honoured her arms on the ocean. it lost too to the nation the benefit of receiving from his own hand the narrative now offered them of his sufferings and successes, in endeavouring to extend for them the boundaries of science, and to present to their knowledge that vast and fertile country, which their sons are destined to fill with arts, with science, with freedom and happiness. to this melancholy close of the life of one, whom posterity will declare not to have lived in vain, i have only to add, that all the facts i have stated are either known to myself, or communicated by his family or others, for whose truth i have no hesitation to make myself responsible; and i conclude with tendering you the assurances of my respect and consideration. th. jefferson. mr. paul allen, philadelphia. contents. vol. i. chapter i. the party set out on the expedition and pass wood river. description of the town of st. charles. osage woman river. gasconade and osage rivers described. character of the osage indians; curious traditionary account of their origin. the party proceed and pass the mine river. the two charitons. the kanzas, nodawa, newahaw, neeshuabatona, little nemahar, each of which are particularly described. they encamp at the mouth of the river platte. a particular description of the surrounding country. the various creeks, bays, islands, prairies, &c. given in the course of the route. 1 chapter ii. some account of the pawnee indians. council held with the otto and missouri indians. council held with another party of the ottoes. death of sergeant floyd. the party encamp near the mouth of whitestone river. the character of the missouri, with the rivers that enter it. the surrounding country. the various islands, bays, creeks, &c. given in the course of the expedition. 32 chapter iii. whimsical instance of superstition of the sioux indians. council held with the sioux. character of that tribe, their manners, &c. a ridiculous instance of their heroism. ancient fortifications. quieurre river described. vast herds of buffaloe. account of the petit chien or little dog. narrow escape of george shannon. description of white river. surprising fleetness of the antelope. pass the river of the sioux. description of the grand le tour, or great bend. encamp on the teton river. 52 chapter iv. council held with the tetons. their manners, dances, &c. cheyenne river described. council held with the ricara indians. their manners and habits. strange instance of ricara idolatry. another instance. cannonball river. arrival among the mandans. character of the surrounding country, and of the creeks, islands, &c. 82 chapter v. council held with the mandans. a prairie on fire, and a singular instance of preservation. peace established between the mandans and ricaras. the party encamp for the winter. indian mode of catching goats. beautiful appearance of northern lights. friendly character of the indians. some account of the mandans. the anahaways and the minnetarees. the party acquire the confidence of the mandans by taking part in their controversy with the sioux. religion of the mandans, and their singular conception of the term medicine. their tradition. the sufferings of the party from the severity of the season. indian game of billiards described. character of the missouri, of the surrounding country, and of the rivers, creeks, islands, &c. 118 chapter vi. the party increase in the favour of the mandans. description of a buffaloe dance. medicine dance. the fortitude with which the indians bear the severity of the season. distress of the party for want of provisions. the great importance of the blacksmith in procuring it. depredations of the sioux. the homage paid to the medicine stone. summary act of justice among the minnetarees. the process by which the mandans and ricaras make beads. character of the missouri, of the surrounding country, and of the rivers, creeks, islands, &c. 148 chapter vii. indian method of attacking the buffaloe on the ice. an enumeration of the presents sent to the president of the united states. the party are visited by a ricara chief. they leave their encampment, and proceed on their journey. description of the little missouri. some account of the assiniboins. their mode of burying the dead. whiteearth river described. great quantity of salt discovered on its banks. yellowstone river described. a particular account of the country at the confluence of the yellowstone and missouri. description of the missouri, the surrounding country, and of the rivers, creeks, islands, &c. 174 chapter viii. unusual appearance of salt. the formidable character of the white bear. porcupine river described. beautiful appearance of the surrounding country. immense quantities of game. milk river described. extraordinary character of bigdry river. an instance of uncommon tenacity of life in a white bear. narrow escape of one of the party from that animal. a still more remarkable instance. muscleshell river described. 199 chapter ix. the party continue their route. description of judith river. indian mode of taking the buffaloe. slaughter river described. phenomena of nature. of walls on the banks of the missouri. the party encamp on the banks of the river to ascertain which of the streams constitute the missouri. captain lewis leaves the party to explore the northern fork, and captain clarke explores the southern. the surrounding country described in the route of captain lewis. narrow escape of one of his party. 225 chapter x. return of captain lewis. account of captain clarke's researches with his exploring party. perilous situation of one of his party. tansy river described. the party still believing the southern fork the missouri, captain lewis is resolves to ascend it. mode of making a place to deposit provisions, called cache. captain lewis explores the southern fork. falls of the missouri discovered, which ascertains the question. romantic scenery of the surrounding country. narrow escape of captain lewis. the main body under captain clarke approach within five miles of the falls, and prepare for making a portage over the rapids. 251 chapter xi. description and romantic appearance of the missouri at the junction of the medicine river. the difficulty of transporting the baggage at the falls. the party employed in the construction of a boat of skins. the embarrassments they had to encounter for the want of proper materials. during the work the party much troubled by white bears. violent hail-storm, and providential escape of captain clarke and his party. description of a remarkable fountain. singular explosion heard from the black mountains. the boat found to be insufficient, and the serious disappointment of the party. captain clarke undertakes to repair the damage by building canoes, and accomplishes the task. 275 chapter xii. the party embark on board the canoes. description of smith's river. character of the country, &c. dearborne's river described. captain clarke precedes the party for the purpose of discovering the indians of the rocky mountains. magnificent rocky appearances on the borders of the river denominated the gates of the rocky mountains. captain clarke arrives at the three forks of the missouri without overtaking the indians. the party arrive at the three forks, of which a peculiar and interesting description is given. 301 chapter xiii. the name of the missouri changed, as the river now divides itself into three forks, one of which is called after jefferson, the other madison, and the other after gallatin. their general character. the party ascend the jefferson branch. description of the river philosophy which enters into the jefferson. captain lewis and a small party go in advance in search of the shoshonees. description of the country, &c. bordering on the river. captain lewis still preceding the main party in quest of the shoshonees. a singular accident which prevented captain clarke from following captain lewis's advice, and ascending the middle fork of the river. description of philanthropy river, another stream running into the jefferson. captain lewis and a small party having been unsuccessful in their first attempt, set off a second time in quest of the shoshonees. 328 chapter xiv. captain lewis proceeds before the main body in search of the shoshonees; his ill success on the first interview. the party with captain lewis at length discover the source of the missouri. captain clarke with the main body still employed in ascending the missouri or jefferson river. captain lewis's second interview with the shoshonees attended with success. the interesting ceremonies of his first introduction to the natives, detailed at large. their hospitality. their mode of hunting the antelope. the difficulties encountered by captain clarke and the main body in ascending the river. the suspicions entertained of captain lewis by the shoshonees, and his mode of allaying them. the ravenous appetites of the savages illustrated by singular adventure. the indians still jealous, and the great pains taken by captain lewis to preserve their confidence. captain clarke arrives with the main body exhausted by the difficulties they underwent. 354 chapter xv. affecting interview between the wife of chaboneau and the chief of the shoshonees. council held with that nation, and favourable result. the extreme navigable point of the missouri mentioned. general character of the river and of the country through which it passes. captain clarke in exploring the source of the columbia falls in company with another party of shoshonees. the geographical information acquired from one of that party. their manner of catching fish. the party reach lewis river. the difficulties which captain clarke had to encounter in his route. friendship and hospitality of the shoshonees. the party with captain lewis employed in making saddles, and preparing for the journey. 381 chapter xvi. contest between drewyer and a shoshonee. the fidelity and honour of that tribe. the party set out on their journey. the conduct of cameahwait reproved, and himself reconciled. the easy parturition of the shoshonee women. history of this nation. their terror of the pawkees. their government and family economy in their treatment of their women. their complaints of spanish treachery. description of their weapons of warfare. their curious mode of making a shield. the caparison of their horses. the dress of the men and of the women particularly described. their mode of acquiring new names. 407 chapter xvii. the party, after procuring horses from the shoshonees, proceed on their journey through the mountains. the difficulties and dangers of the route. a council held with another band of the shoshonees, of whom some account is given. they are reduced to the necessity of killing their horses for food. captain clarke with a small party precedes the main body in quest of food, and is hospitably received by the pierced-nose indians. arrival of the main body amongst this tribe, with whom a council is held. they resolve to perform the remainder of their journey in canoes. sickness of the party. they descend the kooskooskee to its junction with lewis river, after passing several dangerous rapids. short description of the manners and dress of the pierced-nose indians. 435 lewis and clarke's expedition up the missouri. chap. i. the party set out on the expedition and pass wood river--description of the town of st. charles--osage woman river--gasconade and osage rivers described--character of the osage indians--curious traditionary account of their origin--the party proceed and pass the mine river--the two charitons--the kanzas, nodawa, newahaw, neeshnabatona, little nemahar, each of which are particularly described--they encamp at the mouth of the river platte--a particular description of the surrounding country--the various creeks, bays, islands, prairies, &c., given in the course of the route. on the acquisition of louisiana, in the year 1803, the attention of the government of the united states, was early directed towards exploring and improving the new territory. accordingly in the summer of the same year, an expedition was planned by the president for the purpose of discovering the courses and sources of the missouri, and the most convenient water communication thence to the pacific ocean. his private secretary captain meriwether lewis, and captain william clarke, both officers of the army of the united states, were associated in the command of this enterprize. after receiving the requisite instructions, captain lewis left the seat of government, and being joined by captain clarke at louisville, in kentucky, proceeded to st. louis, where they arrived in the month of december. their original* intention was to pass the winter at la charrette, the highest settlement on the missouri. but the spanish commandant of the province, not having received an official account of its transfer to the united states, was obliged by the general policy of his government, to prevent strangers from passing through the spanish territory. they therefore encamped at the mouth of wood river, on the eastern side of the mississippi, out of his jurisdiction, where they passed the winter in disciplining the men, and making the necessary preparations for setting out early in the spring, before which the cession was officially announced. the party consisted of nine young men from kentucky, fourteen soldiers of the united states army who volunteered their services, two french watermen--an interpreter and hunter--and a black servant belonging to captain clarke--all these, except the last, were enlisted to serve as privates during the expedition, and three sergeants appointed from amongst them by the captains. in addition to these were engaged a corporal and six soldiers, and nine watermen to accompany the expedition as far as the mandan nation, in order to assist in carrying the stores, or repelling an attack which was most to be apprehended between wood river and that tribe. the necessary stores were subdivided into seven bales, and one box, containing a small portion of each article in case of accident. they consisted of a great variety of clothing, working utensils, locks, flints, powder, ball, and articles of the greatest use. to these were added fourteen bales and one box of indian presents, distributed in the same manner, and composed of richly laced coats and other articles of dress, medals, flags, knives, and tomahawks for the chiefs--ornaments of different kinds, particularly beads, lookingglasses, handkerchiefs, paints, and generally such articles as were deemed best calculated for the taste of the indians. the party was to embark on board of three boats: the first was a keel boat fifty-five feet long, drawing three feet water, carrying one large squaresail and twenty-two oars, a deck of ten feet in the bow, and stern formed a forecastle and cabin, while the middle was covered by lockers, which might be raised so as to form a breast-work in case of attack. this was accompanied by two perioques or open boats, one of six and the other of seven oars. two horses were at the same time to be led along the banks of the river for the purpose of bringing home game, or hunting in case of scarcity. of the proceedings of this expedition, the following is a succinct and circumstantial narrative. all the preparations being completed, we left our encampment on monday, may 14th, 1804. this spot is at the mouth of wood river, a small stream which empties itself into the mississippi, opposite to the entrance of the missouri. it is situated in latitude 38â° 55' 19-6/10" north, and longitude from greenwich, 89â° 57' 45". on both sides of the mississippi the land for two or three miles is rich and level, but gradually swells into a high pleasant country, with less timber on the western than on the eastern side, but all susceptible of cultivation. the point which separates the two rivers on the north, extends for fifteen or twenty miles, the greater part of which is an open level plain, in which the people of the neighbourhood cultivate what little grain they raise. not being able to set sail before four o'clock p.m., we did not make more than four miles, and encamped on the first island opposite a small creek called cold water. may 15. the rain, which had continued yesterday and last night, ceased this morning. we then proceeded, and after passing two small islands about ten miles further, stopped for the night at piper's landing, opposite another island. the water is here very rapid and the banks falling in. we found that our boat was too heavily laden in the stern, in consequence of which she ran on logs three times to-day. it became necessary to throw the greatest weight on the bow of the boat, a precaution very necessary in ascending both the missouri and mississippi rivers, in the beds of which, there lie great quantities of concealed timber. the next morning we set sail at five o'clock. at the distance of a few miles, we passed a remarkable large coal hill on the north side, called by the french la charbonniere, and arrived at the town of st. charles. here we remained a few days. st. charles is a small town on the north bank of the missouri, about twenty-one miles from its confluence with the mississippi. it is situated in a narrow plain, sufficiently high to protect it from the annual risings of the river in the month of june, and at the foot of a range of small hills, which have occasioned its being called petite cote, a name by which it is more known to the french than by that of st. charles. one principal street, about a mile in length and running parallel with the river, divides the town, which is composed of nearly one hundred small wooden houses, besides a chapel. the inhabitants, about four hundred and fifty in number, are chiefly descendants from the french of canada; and, in their manners, they unite all the careless gayety, and the amiable hospitality of the best times of france: yet, like most of their countrymen in america, they are but ill qualified for the rude life of a frontier; not that they are without talent, for they possess much natural genius and vivacity; nor that they are destitute of enterprize, for their hunting excursions are long, laborious, and hazardous: but their exertions are all desultory; their industry is without system, and without perseverance. the surrounding country, therefore, though rich, is not, in general, well cultivated; the inhabitants chiefly subsisting by hunting and trade with the indians, and confine their culture to gardening, in which they excel. being joined by captain lewis, who had been detained by business at st. louis, we again set sail on monday, may 21st, in the afternoon, but were prevented by wind and rain from going more than about three miles, when we encamped on the upper point of an island, nearly opposite a creek which falls in on the south side. on the 22d we made about eighteen miles, passing several small farms on the bank of the river, a number of islands, and a large creek on the south side, called bonhomme, or goodman's river. a small number of emigrants from the united states have settled on the sides of this creek, which are very fertile. we also passed some high lands, and encamped, on the north side, near a small creek. here we met with a camp of kickapoo indians who had left us at st. charles, with a promise of procuring us some provisions by the time we overtook them. they now made us a present of four deer, and we gave them in return two quarts of whiskey. this tribe reside on the heads of the kaskaskia and illinois river, on the other side of the mississippi, but occasionally hunt on the missouri. may 23. two miles from our camp of last night, we reached a river emptying itself on the north side, called osage woman river. it is about thirty yards wide, and has now a settlement of thirty or forty families from the united states. about a mile and a half beyond this is a large cave, on the south side at the foot of cliffs nearby three hundred feet high, overhanging the water, which becomes very swift at this place. the cave is one hundred and twenty feet wide, forty feet deep, and twenty high, it is known by the name of the tavern, among the traders who have written their names on the rock, and painted some images which command the homage of the indians and french. about a little further we passed a small creek called tavern creek, and encamped on the south side of the river, having gone nine miles. early the next morning we ascended a very difficult rapid, called the devil's race ground, where the current sets for half a mile against some projecting rocks on the south side. we were less fortunate in attempting a second place of equal difficulty. passing near the southern shore, the bank fell in so fast as to oblige us to cross the river instantly, between the northern side and a sandbar which is constantly moving and banking with the violence of the current. the boat struck on it, and would have upset immediately, if the men had not jumped into the water and held her, till the sand washed from under her. we encamped on the south side, having ascended ten miles, and the next day, may 25, passed on the south side the mouth of wood river, on the north, two small creeks and several islands, and stopped for the night at the entrance of a creek on the north side, called by the french la charrette, ten miles from our last encampment, and a little above a small village of the same name. it consists of seven small houses, and as many poor families who have fixed themselves here for the convenience of trade, and form the last establishment of whites on the missouri. it rained last night, yet we found this morning that the river had fallen several inches. may 26. the wind being favourable we made eighteen miles to-day. we passed in the morning several islands, the largest of which is buffaloe island, separated from the southern side by a small channel which receives the waters of buffaloe creek. on the same side is shepherd's creek, a little beyond which we encamped on the northern side. the next day we sailed along a large island called otter island, on the northern side, extending nearly ten miles in length, narrow but high in its situation, and one of the most fertile in the whole river. between it and the northern shore, three small creeks, one of which has the same name with the island, empty themselves. on the southern shore is a creek twenty yards wide, called ash creek. in the course of the day we met two canoes loaded with furs, which had been two months on their route, from the mahar nation, residing more than seven hundred miles up the river--one large raft from the pawnees on the river platte, and three others from the grand osage river. at the distance of fifteen miles we encamped on a willow island, at the entrance of the river gasconade. this river falls into the missouri from the south, one hundred miles from the mississippi. its length is about one hundred and fifty miles in a course generally northeast through a hilly country. on its banks are a number of saltpetre caves, and it is believed some mines of lead in the vicinity. its width at the mouth is one hundred and fifty-seven yards, and its depth nineteen feet. here we halted for the purpose of hunting and drying our provisions, and making the necessary celestial observations. this being completed, we set sail on the 29th at four o'clock, and at four miles distance encamped on the south-side, above a small creek, called deer creek. the next day, 30th, we set out early, and at two miles distant reached a large cave, on the north, called montbrun's tavern, after a french trader of that name, just above a creek called after the same person. beyond this is a large island, and at the distance of four miles, rush creek coming in from the south, at eleven, big-muddy river on the north, about fifty yards wide; three miles further, is little-muddy river on the same side, opposite to which we encamped at the mouth of grindstone creek. the rain which began last night continued through the day, accompanied with high wind and some hail. the river has been rising fast for two days, and the country around appears full of water. along the sides of the river to day we observe much timber, the cotton wood, the sycamore, hickory, white walnut, some grapevines, and rushes--the high west wind and rain compelled us to remain all the next day, may 31. in the afternoon a boat came down from the grand osage river, bringing a letter from a person sent to the osage nation on the arkansaw river, which mentioned that the letter announcing the cession of louisiana was committed to the flames--that the indians would not believe that the americans were owners of that country, and disregarded st. louis and its supplies. the party was occupied in hunting, in the course of which, they caught in the woods several very large rats. we set sail early the next morning, june 1st, and at six miles distant passed bear creek, a stream of about twenty-five yards width; but the wind being ahead and the current rapid, we were unable to make more than thirteen miles to the mouth of the osage river; where we encamped and remained the following day, for the purpose of making celestial observations. the osage river empties itself into the missouri, at one hundred and thirty-three miles distance from the mouth of the latter river. its general course is west and west southwest through a rich and level country. at the junction the missouri is about eight hundred and seventy-five yards wide, and the osage three hundred and ninety-seven. the low point of junction is in latitude 38â° 31' 16", and at a short distance from it is a high commanding position, whence we enjoyed a delightful prospect of the country. the osage river gives or owes its name to a nation inhabiting its banks at a considerable distance from this place. their present name however, seems to have originated from the french traders, for both among themselves and their neighbours they are called the wasbashas. they number between twelve and thirteen hundred warriors, and consist of three tribes: the great osages of about five hundred warriors, living in a village on the south bank of the river--the little osages, of nearly half that number, residing at the distance of six miles from them--and the arkansaw band, a colony of osages, of six hundred warriors, who left them some years ago, under the command of a chief called the bigfoot, and settled on the vermillion river, a branch of the arkansaw. in person the osages are among the largest and best formed indians, and are said to possess fine military capacities; but residing as they do in villages, and having made considerable advance in agriculture, they seem less addicted to war, than their northern neighbours, to whom the use of rifles gives a great superiority. among the peculiarities of this people, there is nothing more remarkable than the tradition relative to their origin. according to universal belief, the founder of the nation was a snail passing a quiet existence along the banks of the osage, till a high flood swept him down to the missouri, and left him exposed on the shore. the heat of the sun at length ripened him into a man, but with the change of his nature, he had not forgotten his native seats on the osage, towards which, he immediately bent his way. he was however soon overtaken by hunger, and fatigue, when happily the great spirit appeared, and giving him a bow and arrow, showed him how to kill and cook deer, and cover himself with the skin. he then proceeded to his original residence, but as he approached the river, he was met by a beaver, who inquired haughtily who he was, and by what authority he came to disturb his possession. the osage answered that the river was his own, for he had once lived on its borders. as they stood disputing, the daughter of the beaver came, and having by her entreaties reconciled her father to this young stranger, it was proposed that the osage should marry the young beaver, and share with her family the enjoyment of the river. the osage readily consented, and from this happy union there soon came the village and the nation of the wasbasha, or osages, who have ever since preserved a pious reverence for their ancestors, abstaining from the chace of the beaver, because in killing that animal, they killed a brother of the osage. of late years, however, since the trade with the whites has rendered beaver skins more valuable, the sanctity of these maternal relatives has visibly reduced, and the poor animals have nearly lost all the privileges of kindred. on the afternoon of june 3, we proceeded, and at three miles distant, reached a creek called cupboard creek, from a rock of that appearance near its entrance. two miles further we encamped at moreau creek, a stream of twenty yards width, on the southern side. the next morning, we passed at an early hour, cedar island on the north, so called from the abundance of the tree of that name; near which is a small creek, named nightingale creek, from a bird of that species, who sang for us during the night. beyond cedar island, are some others of a smaller extent, and at seven miles distance a creek fifteen or twenty yards wide, entering from the north, and known by the name of cedar creek. at seven and a half miles further, we passed on the south side another creek, which we called mast creek, from the circumstance of our mast being broken by running under a concealed tree; a little above is another creek on the left, one mile beyond which we encamped on the southern shore under high projecting cliffs. the french had reported that lead ore was to be found in this place, but on examining the hills, we could discern no appearance of that mineral. along the river on the south, is a low land covered with rushes, and high nettles, and near the mouths of the creeks, supplied with oak, ash, and walnut timber. on the north the land is rich and well situated. we made seventeen and a half miles this day. the river is falling slowly. we continued our route the next morning early: a small creek called lead creek, on the south; another on the north, known to the french by the name of little good woman's creek, and again big rock creek on the south were the only streams we passed this morning. at eleven o'clock we met a raft made of two canoes joined together, in which two french traders were descending, from eighty leagues up the river kanzas, where they had wintered, and caught great quantities of beaver, but had lost much of their game by fires from the prairies. they told us that the kanzas nation is now hunting buffaloe in the plains, having passed the last winter in this river. two miles further, we reached on the south little manitou creek, which takes its name from a strange figure resembling the bust of a man, with the horns of a stag, painted on a projecting rock, which may represent some spirit or deity. near this is a sandbar extending several miles, which renders the navigation difficult, and a small creek called sand creek on the south, where we stopped for dinner, and gathered wild cresses and tongue grass from the sandbar. the rapidity of the currents added to our having broken our mast, prevented our going more than twelve and a half miles. the scouts and hunters whom we always kept out, report that they have seen fresh tracks of indians. the next morning we left our camp, which was on the south side, opposite to a large island in the middle of the river, and at five miles reached a creek on the north side, of about twenty yards wide, called split rock creek, from a fissure in the point of a neighbouring rock. three miles beyond this, on the south is saline river, it is about thirty yards wide, and has its name from the number of salt licks, and springs, which render its water brackish; the river is very rapid and the banks falling in. after leaving saline creek, we passed one large island and several smaller ones, having made fourteen miles. the water rose a foot during the last night. the next day, june 7, we passed at four and a half miles big manitou creek, near which is a limestone rock inlaid with flint of various colours, and embellished, or at least covered with uncouth paintings of animals and inscriptions. we landed to examine it, but found the place occupied by a nest of rattlesnakes, of which we killed three. we also examined some licks and springs of salt water, two or three miles up this creek. we then proceeded by some small willow islands, and encamped at the mouth of good woman river on the north. it is about thirty-five yards wide, and said to be navigable for boats several leagues. the hunters, who had hitherto given us only deer, brought in this evening three bears, and had seen some indication of buffaloe. we had come fourteen miles. june 8, we saw several small willow islands, and a creek on the south, near which are a number of deerlicks; at nine miles distance we came to mine river. this river, which falls into the missouri from the south, is said to be navigable for boats eighty or ninety miles, and is about seventy yards wide at its mouth. it forks about five or six leagues from the missouri, and at the point of junction are some very rich salt springs; the west branch in particular, is so much impregnated, that, for twenty miles, the water is not palatable: several branches of the manitou and good woman are equally tinctured. the french report also, that lead ore has been found on different parts of the river. we made several excursions near the river through the low rich country on its banks, and after dinner went on to the island of mills, where we encamped. we met with a party of three hunters from the sioux river; they had been out for twelve months, and collected about nine hundred dollars worth of peltries and furs. we ascended this river twelve miles. on the 9th, we set out early, and reached a cliff of rocks, called the arrow rock, near to which is a prairie called the prairies of arrows, and arrow creek, a small stream about eight yards wide, whose source is in the adjoining prairies on the south. at this cliff the missouri is confined within a bed of two hundred yards; and about four miles to the south east is a large lick and salt spring of great strength. about three miles further is blackbird creek on the north side, opposite to which, is an island and a prairie inclosing a small lake. five miles beyond this we encamped on the south side, after making, in the course of the day, thirteen miles. the land on the north is a high rich plain. on the south it is also even, of a good quality, and rising from fifty to one hundred feet. the next morning, 10th, we passed deer creek, and at the distance of five miles, the two rivers called by the french the two charatons, a corruption of thieraton, the first of which is thirty, the second seventy yards wide, and enter the missouri together. they are both navigable for boats: the country through which they pass is broken, rich, and thickly covered with timber. the ayauway nation, consisting of three hundred men, have a village near its head-waters on the river de moines. farther on we passed a large island called _chicot_ or stump island, and encamped on the south, after making ten miles. a head wind forced us to remain there all the next day, during which we dried the meat we had killed, and examined the surrounding country, which consists of good land, well watered, and supplied with timber: the prairies also differ from those eastward of the mississippi, inasmuch as the latter are generally without any covering except grass, whilst the former abound with hazel, grapes and other fruits, among which is the osage plum of a superior size and quality. on the morning of the 12th, we passed through difficult places in the river, and reached plum creek on the south side. at one o'clock, we met two rafts loaded, the one with furs, the other with the tallow of buffaloe; they were from the sioux nation, and on their way to st. louis; but we were fortunate enough to engage one of them, a mr. durion, who had lived with that nation more than twenty years, and was high in their confidence, to accompany us thither. we made nine miles. on the 13th, we passed at between four and five miles, a bend of the river, and two creeks on the north, called the round bend creeks. between these two creeks is the prairie, in which once stood the ancient village of the missouris. of this village there remains no vestige, nor is there any thing to recall this great and numerous nation, except a feeble remnant of about thirty families. they were driven from their original seats by the invasions of the sauks and other indians from the mississippi, who destroyed at this village two hundred of them in one contest, and sought refuge near the little osage, on the other side of the river. the encroachment of the same enemies forced, about thirty years since, both these nations from the banks of the missouri. a few retired with the osage, and the remainder found an asylum on the river platte, among the ottoes, who are themselves declining. opposite the plain there was an island and a french fort, but there is now no appearance of either, the successive inundations having probably washed them away, as the willow island which is in the situation described by du pratz, is small and of recent formation. five miles from this place is the mouth of grand river, where we encamped. this river follows a course nearly south, or south east, and is between eighty and a hundred yards wide where it enters the missouri, near a delightful and rich plain. a racoon, a bear, and some deer were obtained to day. we proceeded at six o'clock the next morning. the current was so rapid and the banks on the north falling in so constantly, that we were obliged to approach the sandbars on the south. these were moving continually, and formed the worst passage we had seen, and which we surmounted with much difficulty. we met a trading raft from the pawnee nation on the river platte, and attempted unsuccessfully to engage one of their party to return with us. at the distance of eight miles, we came to some high cliffs, called the snake bluffs, from the number of that animal in the neighbourhood, and immediately above these bluffs, snake creek, about eighteen yards wide, on which we encamped. one of our hunters, a half indian, brought us an account of his having to day passed a small lake, near which a number of deer were feeding, and in the pond he heard a snake making a guttural noise like a turkey. he fired his gun, but the noise became louder. he adds, that he has heard the indians mention this species of snake, and this story is confirmed by a frenchman of our party. all the next day, the river being very high, the sandbars were so rolling and numerous, and the current so strong, that we were unable to stem it even with oars added to our sails; this obliged us to go nearer the banks, which were falling in, so that we could not make, though the boat was occasionally towed, more than fourteen miles. we passed several islands and one creek on the south side, and encamped on the north opposite a beautiful plain, which extends as far back as the osage river, and some miles up the missouri. in front of our encampment are the remains of an old village of the little osage, situated at some distance from the river, and at the foot of a small hill. about three miles above them, in view of our camp is the situation of the old village of the missouris after they fled from the sauks. the inroads of the same tribe compelled the little osage to retire from the missouri a few years ago, and establish themselves near the great osages. the river, which is here about one mile wide, had risen in the morning, but fell towards evening. early this morning, june 16th, we joined the camp of our hunters, who had provided two deer and two bear, and then passing an island and a prairie on the north covered with a species of timothy, made our way through bad sandbars and a swift current, to an encampment for the evening, on the north side, at ten miles distance. the timber which we examined to day was not sufficiently strong for oars; the musquitoes and ticks are exceedingly troublesome. on the 17th, we set out early and having come to a convenient place at one mile distance, for procuring timber and making oars, we occupied ourselves in that way on this and the following day. the country on the north of the river is rich and covered with timber; among which we procured the ash for oars. at two miles it changes into extensive prairies, and at seven or eight miles distance becomes higher and waving. the prairie and high lands on the south commence more immediately on the river; the whole is well watered and provided with game, such as deer, elk, and bear. the hunters brought in a fat horse which was probably lost by some war party--this being the crossing place for the sauks, ayauways, and sioux, in their excursions against the osage. june 19, the oars being finished, we proceeded under a gentle breeze by two large and some smaller islands. the sandbars are numerous and so bad, that at one place we were forced to clear away the driftwood in order to pass: the water too was so rapid that we were under the necessity of towing the boat for half a mile round a point of rocks on the south side. we passed two creeks, one called tiger creek on the north, twenty-five yards wide at the extremity of a large island called panther island; the other tabo creek on the south, fifteen yards wide. along the shores are gooseberries and raspberries in great abundance. at the distance of seventeen and a half miles we encamped on the south, near a lake about two miles from the river and several in circumference; and much frequented by deer and all kinds of fowls. on the north the land is higher and better calculated for farms than that on the south, which ascends more gradually, but is still rich and pleasant. the musquitoes and other animals are so troublesome that musquitoe biers or nets were distributed to the party. the next morning we passed a large island, opposite to which on the north is a large and beautiful prairie, called sauk prairie, the land being fine and well timbered on both sides the river. pelicans were seen to day. we made six and three quarter miles, and encamped at the lower point of a small island, along the north side of which we proceeded the next day, june 21st, but not without danger in consequence of the sands and the rapidity of the water which rose three inches last night. behind another island come in from the south two creeks, called eau, beau, or clear water creeks; on the north is a very remarkable bend, where the high lands approach the river, and form an acute angle at the head of a large island produced by a narrow channel through the point of the bend. we passed several other islands, and encamped at seven and a half miles on the south. 22d. the river rose during the night four inches. the water is very rapid and crowded with concealed timber. we passed two large islands and an extensive prairie on the south, beginning with a rich low land, and rising to the distance of seventy or eighty feet of rolling clear country. the thermometer at three o'clock p.m. was at 87â°. after coming ten and a half miles we encamped on the south, opposite a large creek called fire prairie river. 23d. the wind was against us this morning, and became so violent that we made only three and a half miles, and were obliged to lie to during the day at a small island. this is separated from the northern side by a narrow channel which cannot be passed by boats, being choaked by trees and drifted wood. directly opposite on the south, is a high commanding position, more than seventy feet above high water mark, and overlooking the river which is here of but little width; this spot has many advantages for a fort, and trading house with the indians.[a] the river fell eight inches last night. [footnote a: the united states built in september, 1808, a factory and fort at this spot, which is very convenient for trading with the osages, ayauways and kanzas.] the next day, 24th, we passed at eight miles distance, hay cabin creek coming in from the south, about twenty yards wide, and so called from camps of straw built on it; to the north are some rocks projecting into the river, and a little beyond them a creek on the same side, called charaton scarty; that is, charaton like the otter. we halted, after making eleven and a half miles, the country on both sides being fine and interspersed with prairies, in which we now see numerous herds of deer, pasturing in the plains or feeding on the young willows of the river. 25th. a thick fog detained us till eight o'clock, when we set sail, and at three miles reached a bank of stone coal on the north, which appeared to be very abundant: just below it is a creek called after the bank la charbonniere. four miles further, and on the southern side, comes in a small creek, called la benite. the prairies here approach the river and contain many fruits, such as plums, raspberries, wild apples, and nearer the river vast quantities of mulberries. our encampment was at thirteen miles distance on an island to the north, opposite some hills higher than usual, and almost one hundred and sixty or one hundred and eighty feet. 26th. at one mile we passed at the end of a small island, blue water creek, which is about thirty yards wide at its entrance from the south.[a] here the missouri is confined within a narrow bed, and the current still more so by counter currents or whirls on one side and a high bank on the other. we passed a small island and a sandbar, where our tow rope broke twice, and we rowed round with great exertions. we saw a number of parroquets, and killed some deer; after nine and three quarter miles we encamped at the upper point of the mouth of the river kanzas: here we remained two days, during which we made the necessary observations, recruited the party, and repaired the boat. the river kanzas takes its rise in the plains between the arkansaw and platte rivers, and pursues a course generally east till its junction with the missouri which is in latitude 38â° 31' 13"; here it is three hundred and forty and a quarter yards wide, though it is wider a short distance above the mouth. the missouri itself is about five hundred yards in width; the point of union is low and subject to inundations for two hundred and fifty yards, it then rises a little above high water mark, and continues so as far back as the hills. on the south of the kanzas the hills or highlands come within one mile and a half of the river; on the north of the missouri they do not approach nearer than several miles; but on all sides the country is fine. the comparative specific gravities of the two rivers is, for the missouri seventy-eight, the kanzas seventy-two degrees; the waters of the latter have a very disagreeable taste, the former has risen during yesterday and to day about two feet. on the banks of the kanzas reside the indians of the same name, consisting of two villages, one at about twenty, the other forty leagues from its mouth, and amounting to about three hundred men. they once lived twenty-four leagues higher than the kanzas, on the south bank of the missouri, and were then more numerous, but they have been reduced and banished by the sauks and ayauways, who being better supplied with arms have an advantage over the kanzas, though the latter are not less fierce or warlike than themselves. this nation is now hunting in the plains for the buffaloe which our hunters have seen for the first time. [footnote a: a few miles up the blue water creek are quarries of plaster of paris, since worked and brought down to st. louis.] on the 29th, we set out late in the afternoon, and having passed a sandbar, near which the boat was almost lost, and a large island on the north, we encamped at seven and a quarter miles on the same side in the low lands, where the rushes are so thick that it is troublesome to walk through them. early the next morning, 30th, we reached, at five miles distance, the mouth of a river coming in from the north, and called by the french, petite riviere platte, or little shallow river; it is about sixty yards wide at its mouth. a few of the party who ascended informed us, that the lands on both sides are good, and that there are several falls well calculated for mills; the wind was from the south west, and the weather oppressively warm, the thermometer standing at 96â° above at three o'clock p.m. one mile beyond this is a small creek on the south, at five miles from which we encamped on the same side, opposite the lower point of an island called diamond island. the land on the north between the little shallow river, and the missouri is not good and subject to overflow--on the south it is higher and better timbered. july 1st. we proceeded along the north side of diamond island, where a small creek called biscuit creek empties itself. one and a half miles above the island is a large sandbar in the middle of the river, beyond which we stopped to refresh the men, who suffered very much from the heat. here we observed great quantities of grapes and raspberries. between one and two miles farther are three islands a creek on the south known by the french name of remore. the main current which is now on the south side of the largest of the three islands, ran three years, as we were told on the north, and there was then no appearance of the two smaller islands. at the distance of four and a half miles we reached the lower point of a cluster of small islands, two large and two small, called isles des pares or field islands. paccaun trees were this day seen, and large quantities of deer and turkies on the banks. we had advanced twelve miles. july 2d. we left our encampment, opposite to which is a high and beautiful prairie on the southern side, and passed up the south of the islands, which are high meadows, and a creek on the north called pare creek. here for half an hour the river became covered with drift wood, which rendered the navigation dangerous, and was probably caused by the giving way of some sandbar, which had detained the wood. after making five miles we passed a stream on the south called turky creek, near a sandbar, where we could scarcely stem the current with twenty oars, and all the poles we had. on the north at about two miles further is a large island called by the indians, wau-car-da-war-card-da, or the bear medicine island. here we landed and replaced our mast, which had been broken three days ago, by running against a tree, overhanging the river. thence we proceeded, and after night stopped on the north side, above the island, having come eleven and a half miles. opposite our camp is a valley, in which was situated an old village of the kanzas, between two high points of land, and on the bank of the river. about a mile in the rear of the village was a small fort, built by the french on an elevation. there are now no traces of the village, but the situation of the fort may be recognized by some remains of chimnies, and the general outline of the fortification, as well as by the fine spring which supplied it with water. the party, who were stationed here, were probably cut off by the indians, as there are no accounts of them. july 3d. a gentle breeze from the south carried us eleven and a quarter miles this day, past two islands, one a small willow island, the other large, and called by the french isle des vaches, or cow island. at the head of this island, on the northern shore, is a large pond containing beaver, and fowls of different kinds. after passing a bad sandbar, we stopped on the south side at an old trading house, which is now deserted, and half a mile beyond it encamped on the south. the land is fine along the rivers, and some distance back. we observed the black walnut and oak, among the timber; and the honey-suckle and the buck's-eye, with the nuts on them. the morning of the 4th july was announced by the discharge of our gun. at one mile we reached the mouth of a bayeau or creek, coming from a large lake on the north side, which appears as if it had once been the bed of the river, to which it runs parallel for several miles. the water of it is clear and supplied by a small creek and several springs, and the number of goslins which we saw on it, induced us to call it the gosling lake. it is about three quarters of a mile wide, and seven or eight miles long. one of our men was bitten by a snake, but a poultice of bark and gunpowder was sufficient to cure the wound. at ten and a quarter miles we reached a creek on the south about twelve yards wide and coming from an extensive prairie, which approached the borders of the river. to this creek which had no name, we gave that of fourth of july creek; above it is a high mound, where three indian paths centre, and from which is a very extensive prospect. after fifteen miles sail we came to on the north a little above a creek on the southern side, about thirty yards wide, which we called independence creek, in honour of the day, which we could celebrate only by an evening gun, and an additional gill of whiskey to the men. the next day, 5th, we crossed over to the south and came along the bank of an extensive and beautiful prairie, interspersed with copses of timber, and watered by independence creek. on this bank formerly stood the second village of the kanzas; from the remains it must have been once a large town. we passed several bad sandbars, and a small creek to the south, which we called yellow ochre creek, from a bank of that mineral a little above it. the river continues to fall. on the shores are great quantities of summer and fall grapes, berries and wild roses. deer is not so abundant as usual, but there are numerous tracks of elk around us. we encamped at ten miles distance on the south side under a high bank, opposite to which was a low land covered with tall rushes, and some timber. july 6. we set sail, and at one mile passed a sandbar, three miles further an island, a prairie to the north, at the distance of four miles called reevey's prairie, after a man who was killed there; at which place the river is confined to a very narrow channel, and by a sandbar from the south. four miles beyond is another sandbar terminated by a small willow island, and forming a very considerable bend in the river towards the north. the sand of the bar is light, intermixed with small pebbles and some pit coal. the river falls slowly, and, owing either to the muddiness of its water, or the extreme heat of the weather, the men perspire profusely. we encamped on the south having made twelve miles. the bird called whip-poor-will sat on the boat for some time. in the morning, july 7th, the rapidity of the water obliged us to draw the boat along with ropes. at six and three quarter miles, we came to a sandbar, at a point opposite a fine rich prairie on the north, called st. michael's. the prairies of this neighbourhood have the appearance of distinct farms, divided by narrow strips of woodland, which follow the borders of the small runs leading to the river. above this, about a mile, is a cliff of yellow clay on the north. at four o'clock we passed a narrow part of the channel, where the water is confined within a bed of two hundred yards wide, the current running directly against the southern bank with no sand on the north to confine it or break its force. we made fourteen miles, and halted on the north, after which we had a violent gust about seven o'clock. one of the hunters saw in a pond to the north which we passed yesterday a number of young swans. we saw a large rat, and killed a wolf. another of our men had a stroke of the sun; he was bled, and took a preparation of nitre which relieved him considerably. july 8. we set out early, and soon passed a small creek on the north, which we called ordway's creek, from our sergeant of that name who had been sent on shore with the horses, and went up it. on the same side are three small islands, one of which is the little nodawa, and a large island called the great nodawa* extending more than five miles, and containing seven or eight thousand acres of high good land, rarely overflowed, and one of the largest islands of the missouri. it is separated from the northern shore by a small channel of from forty-five to eighty yards wide, up which we passed, and found near the western extremity of the island the mouth of the river nodawa. this river persues nearly a southern course, is navigable for boats to some distance, and about seventy yards wide above the mouth, though not so wide immediately there, as the mud from the missouri contracts its channel. at twelve and a quarter miles, we encamped on the north side, near the head of nodawa island, and opposite a smaller one in the middle of the river. five of the men were this day sick with violent headache. the river continues to fall. july 9th. we passed the island opposite to which we last night encamped, and saw near the head of it a creek falling in from a pond on the north, to which we gave the name of pike pond, from the numbers of that animal which some of our party saw from the shore. the wind changed at eight from n.e. to s.w. and brought rain. at six miles we passed the mouth of monter's creek on the south, and two miles above a few cabins, where one of our party had encamped with some frenchmen about two years ago. further on we passed an island on the north, opposite some cliffs on the south side, near which loup or wolf river falls into the missouri. this river is about sixty yards wide, it heads near the same sources as the kanzas, and is navigable for boats, at some distance up. at fourteen miles we encamped on the south side. tuesday 10th. we proceeded on by a prairie on the upper side of wolf river, and at four miles passed a creek fifteen yards wide on the south, called pape's creek after a spaniard of that name, who killed himself there. at six miles we dined on an island called by the french isle de salomon, or solomon's island, opposite to which on the south is a beautiful plain covered with grass, intermixed with wild rye and a kind of wild potatoe. after making ten miles we stopped for the night on the northern side, opposite a cliff of yellow clay. the river has neither risen nor fallen to day. on the north the low land is very extensive, and covered with vines; on the south, the hills approach nearer the river, and back of them commence the plains. there are a great many goslins along the banks. wednesday 11th. after three miles sailing we came to a willow island on the north side, behind which enters a creek called by the indians tarkio. above this creek on the north the low lands are subject to overflow, and further back the undergrowth of vines particularly, is so abundant that they can scarcely be passed. three miles from the tarkio we encamped on a large sand island on the north, immediately opposite the river nemahaw. thursday 12th. we remained here to day for the purpose of refreshing the party, and making lunar observations. the nemahaw empties itself into the missouri from the south, and is eighty yards wide at the confluence, which is in lat. 39â° 55' 56". capt. clarke ascended it in the perioque about two miles to the mouth of a small creek on the lower side. on going ashore he found in the level plain several artificial mounds or graves, and on the adjoining hills others of a larger size. this appearance indicates sufficiently the former population of this country; the mounds being certainly intended as tombs; the indians of the missouri still preserving the custom of interring the dead on high ground. from the top of the highest mound a delightful prospect presented itself--the level and extensive meadows watered by the nemahaw, and enlivened by the few trees and shrubs skirting the borders of the river and its tributary streams--the lowland of the missouri covered with undulating grass, nearly five feet high, gradually rising into a second plain, where rich weeds and flowers are interspersed with copses of the osage plum; further back are seen small groves of trees; an abundance of grapes; the wild cherry of the missouri, resembling our own, but larger, and growing on a small bush; and the chokecherry, which we observed for the first time. some of the grapes gathered to-day are nearly ripe. on the south of the nemahaw, and about a quarter of a mile from its mouth, is a cliff of freestone, in which are various inscriptions and marks made by the indians. the sand island where we are encamped, is covered with the two species of willow, broad and narrow leaf. july 13th. we proceeded at sunrise with a fair wind from the south, and at two miles, passed the mouth of a small river on the north, called big tarkio. a channel from the bed of the missouri once ran into this river, and formed an island called st. joseph's, but the channel is now filled up, and the island is added to the northern shore. further on to the south, is situated an extensive plain, covered with a grass resembling timothy in its general appearance, except the seed which is like flaxseed, and also a number of grapevines. at twelve miles, we passed an island on the north, above which is a large sandbar covered with willows: and at twenty and a half miles, stopped on a large sandbar, in the middle of the river opposite a high handsome prairie, which extends to the hills four or five miles distant, though near the bank the land is low, and subject to be overflowed. this day was exceedingly fine and pleasant, a storm of wind and rain from north-northeast, last night, having cooled the air. july 14. we had some hard showers of rain before seven o'clock, when we set out. we had just reached the end of the sand island, and seen the opposite banks falling in, and so lined with timber that we could not approach it without danger, when a sudden squall, from the northeast, struck the boat on the starboard quarter, and would have certainly dashed her to pieces on the sand island, if the party had not leaped into the river, and with the aid of the anchor and cable kept her off: the waves dashing over her for the space of forty minutes; after which, the river became almost instantaneously calm and smooth. the two periogues were ahead, in a situation nearly similar, but fortunately no damage was done to the boats or the loading. the wind having shifted to the southeast, we came at the distance of two miles, to an inland on the north, where we dined. one mile above, on the same side of the river, is a small factory, where a merchant of st. louis traded with the ottoes and pawnees two years ago. near this is an extensive lowland, part of which is overflowed occasionally, the rest is rich and well timbered. the wind again changed to northwest by north. at seven and a half miles, we reached lower point of a large island, on the north side. a small distance above this point, is a river, called by the maha indians, nishnahbatona. this is a considerable creek, nearly as large as the mine river, and runs parallel to the missouri the greater part of its course, being fifty yards wide at the mouth. in the prairies or glades, we saw wild-timothy, lambsquarter, cuckleberries, and on the edges of the river, summer-grapes, plums, and gooseberries. we also saw to-day, for the first time, some elk, at which some of the party shot, but at too great a distance. we encamped on the north side of the island, a little above nishnahbatona, having made nine miles. the river fell a little. july 15. a thick fog prevented our leaving the encampment before seven. at about four miles, we reached the extremity of the large island, and crossing to the south, at the distance of seven miles, arrived at the little nemaha, a small river from the south, forty yards wide a little above its mouth, but contracting, as do almost all the waters emptying into the missouri, at its confluence. at nine and three quarter miles, we encamped on a woody point, on the south. along the southern bank, is a rich lowland covered with peavine, and rich weeds, and watered by small streams rising in the adjoining prairies. they too, are rich, and though with abundance of grass, have no timber except what grows near the water; interspersed through both are grapevines, plums of two kinds, two species of wild-cherries, hazlenuts, and gooseberries. on the south there is one unbroken plain; on the north the river is skirted with some timber, behind which the plain extends four or five miles to the hills, which seem to have little wood. july 16. we continued our route between a large island opposite to our last night's encampment, and an extensive prairie on the south. about six miles, we came to another large island, called fairsun island, on the same side; above which is a spot, where about twenty acres of the hill have fallen into the river. near this, is a cliff of sandstone for two miles, which is much frequented by birds. at this place the river is about one mile wide, but not deep; as the timber, or sawyers, may be seen, scattered across the whole of its bottom. at twenty miles distance, we saw on the south, an island called by the french, l'isle chance, or bald island, opposite to a large prairie, which we called baldpated prairie, from a ridge of naked hills which bound it, running parallel with the river as far as we could see, and from three to six miles distance. to the south the hills touch the river. we encamped a quarter of a mile beyond this, in a point of woods on the north side. the river continues to fall. tuesday, july 17. we remained here this day, in order to make observations and correct the chronometer, which ran down on sunday. the latitude we found to be 40â° 27' 5"4/10. the observation of the time proved our chronometer too slow, by 6' 51"6/10. the highlands bear from our camp, north 25â° west, up the river. captain lewis rode up the country, and saw the nishnahbatona, about ten or twelve miles from its mouth, at a place not more than three hundred yards from the missouri, and a little above our camp. it then passes near the foot of the baldhills, and is at least six feet below the level of the missouri. on its banks are the oak, walnut, and mulberry. the common current of the missouri, taken with the log, is 50 fathoms in 40", at some places, and even 20". wednesday, july 18. the morning was fair, and a gentle wind from southeast by south, carried us along between the prairie on the north, and bald island to the south: opposite the middle of which, the nishnahbatona approaches the nearest to the missouri. the current here ran fifty fathoms in 41". at thirteen and a half miles, we reached an island on the north, near to which the banks overflow; while on the south, the hills project over the river and form high cliffs. at one point a part of the cliff, nearly three quarters of a mile in length, and about two hundred feet in height, has fallen into the river. it is composed chiefly of sandstone intermixed with an iron ore of bad quality; near the bottom is a soft slatestone with pebbles. we passed several bad sandbars in the course of the day, and made eighteen miles, and encamped on the south, opposite to the lower point of the oven islands. the country around is generally divided into prairies, with little timber, except on low points, islands, and near creeks, and that consisting of cottonwood, mulberry, elm, and sycamore. the river falls fast. an indian dog came to the bank; he appeared to have been lost and was nearly starved: we gave him some food, but he would not follow us. thursday, july 19. the oven islands are small, and two in number; one near the south shore, the other in the middle of the river. opposite to them is the prairie, called terrien's oven, from a trader of that name. at four and a half miles, we reached some high cliffs of a yellow earth, on the south, near which are two beautiful runs of water, rising in the adjacent prairies, and one of them with a deerlick, about two hundred yards from its mouth. in this neighbourhood we observed some iron ore in the bank. at two and a half miles above the runs, a large portion of the hill, for nearly three quarters of a mile, has fallen into the river. we encamped on the western extremity of an island, in the middle of the river, having made ten and three quarter miles. the river falls a little. the sandbars which we passed to-day, are more numerous, and the rolling sands more frequent and dangerous, than any we have seen; these obstacles increasing as we approach the river platte. the missouri here is wider also than below, where the timber on the banks resists the current; while here the prairies which approach, are more easily washed and undermined. the hunters have brought for the last few days, no quadruped, but deer: great quantities of young geese are seen to-day: one of them brought calamus, which he had gathered opposite our encampment, and a large quantity of sweet-flag. friday, july 20. there was a heavy dew last night, and this morning was foggy and cool. we passed at about three miles distance, a small willow island to the north, and a creek on the south, about twenty-five yards wide, called by the french, l'eau qui pleure, or the weeping water, and emptying itself just above a cliff of brown clay. thence we made two and a half miles to another island; three miles further to a third: six miles beyond which is a fourth island; at the head of which we encamped on the southern shore; in all eighteen miles. the party, who walked on the shore to-day, found the plains to the south, rich, but much parched with frequent fires, and with no timber, except the scattering trees about the sources of the runs, which are numerous and fine. on the north, is a similar prairie country. the river continues to fall. a large yellow wolf was this day killed. for a month past the party have been troubled with biles, and occasionally with the dysentery. these biles were large tumours which broke out under the arms, on the legs, and, generally, in the parts most exposed to action, which sometimes became too painful to permit the men to work. after remaining some days, they disappeared without any assistance, except a poultice of the bark of the elm, or of indian meal. this disorder, which we ascribe to the muddiness of the river water, has not affected the general health of the party, which is quite as good, if not better, than that of the same number of men in any other situation. saturday, july 21. we had a breeze from the southeast, by the aid of which we passed, at about ten miles, a willow island on the south, near high lands covered with timber, at the bank, and formed of limestone with cemented shells: on the opposite side is a bad sandbar, and the land near it is cut through at high water, by small channels forming a number of islands. the wind lulled at seven o'clock, and we reached, in the rain, the mouth of the great river platte, at the distance of fourteen miles. the highlands which had accompanied us on the south, for the last eight or ten miles, stopped at about three quarters of a mile from the entrance of the platte. captains lewis and clarke ascended the river in a periogue, for about one mile, and found the current very rapid; rolling over sands, and divided into a number of channels; none of which are deeper than five or six feet. one of our frenchmen, who spent two winters on it, says that it spreads much more at some distance from the mouth; that its depth is generally not more than five or six feet; that there are many small islands scattered through it, and that from its rapidity and the quantity of its sand, it cannot be navigated by boats or periogues, though the indians pass it in small flat canoes made of hides. that the saline or salt river, which in some seasons is too brackish to be drank, falls into it from the south about thirty miles up, and a little above it elkhorn river from the north, running nearly parallel with the missouri. the river is, in fact, much more rapid than the missouri, the bed of which it fills with moving sands, and drives the current on the northern shore, on which it is constantly encroaching. at its junction the platte is about six hundred yards wide, and the same number of miles from the mississippi. with much difficulty we worked round the sandbars near the mouth, and came to above the point, having made fifteen miles. a number of wolves were seen and heard around us in the evening. july 22. the next morning we set sail, and having found at the distance of ten miles from the platte, a high and shaded situation on the north, we encamped there, intending to make the requisite observations, and to send for the neighbouring tribes, for the purpose of making known the recent change in the government, and the wish of the united states to cultivate their friendship. chap. ii. some account of the pawnee indians--council held with the otto and missouri indians--council held with another party of the ottoes--death of sergeant floyd--the party encamp near the mouth of whitestone river--the character of the missouri, with the rivers that enter it--the surrounding country--the various islands, bays, creeks, &c. given in the course of the expedition. our camp is by observation in latitude 41â° 3' 11". immediately behind it is a plain about five miles wide, one half covered with wood, the other dry and elevated. the low grounds on the south near the junction of the two rivers, are rich, but subject to be overflowed. farther up, the banks are higher, and opposite our camp the first hills approach the river, and are covered with timber, such as oak, walnut, and elm. the intermediate country is watered by the papillon, or butterfly creek, of about eighteen yards wide, and three miles from the platte; on the north are high open plains and prairies, and at nine miles from the platte, the musquitoe creek, and two or three small willow islands. we stayed here several days, during which we dried our provisions, made new oars, and prepared our despatches and maps of the country we had passed, for the president of the united states, to whom we intend to send them by a periogue from this place. the hunters have found game scarce in this neighbourhood; they have seen deer, turkies, and grouse; we have also an abundance of ripe grapes; and one of our men caught a white catfish, the eyes of which were small, and its tail resembling that of a dolphin. the present season is that in which the indians go out into the prairies to hunt the buffaloe; but as we discovered some hunter's tracks, and observed the plains on fire in the direction of their villages, we hoped that they might have returned to gather the green indian corn, and therefore despatched two men to the ottoes or pawnee villages with a present of tobacco, and an invitation to the chiefs to visit us. they returned after two days absence. their first course was through an open prairie to the south, in which they crossed butterfly creek. they then reached a small beautiful river, called come de cerf, or elkhorn river, about one hundred yards wide, with clear water and a gravelly channel. it empties a little below the ottoe village into the platte, which they crossed, and arrived at the town about forty-five miles from our camp. they found no indians there, though they saw some fresh tracks of a small party. the ottoes were once a powerful nation, and lived about twenty miles above the platte, on the southern bank of the missouri. being reduced, they migrated to the neighborhood of the pawnees, under whose protection they now live. their village is on the south side of the platte, about thirty miles from its mouth; and their number is two hundred men, including about thirty families of missouri indians, who are incorporated with them. five leagues above them, on the same side of the river, resides the nation of pawnees. this people were among the most numerous of the missouri indians, but have gradually been dispersed and broken, and even since the year 1797, have undergone some sensible changes. they now consist of four bands; the first is the one just mentioned, of about five hundred men, to whom of late years have been added the second band, who are called republican pawnees, from their having lived on the republican branch of the river kanzas, whence they emigrated to join the principal band of pawnees: the republican pawnees amount to nearly two hundred and fifty men. the third, are the pawnees loups, or wolf pawnees, who reside on the wolf fork of the platte, about ninety miles from the principal pawnees, and number two hundred and eighty men. the fourth band originally resided on the kanzas and arkansaw, but in their wars with the osages, they were so often defeated, that they at last retired to their present position on the red river, where they form a tribe of four hundred men. all these tribes live in villages, and raise corn; but during the intervals of culture rove in the plains in quest of buffaloe. beyond them on the river, and westward of the black mountains, are the kaninaviesch, consisting of about four hundred men. they are supposed to have emigrated originally from the pawnees nation; but they have degenerated from the improvements of the parent tribe, and no longer live in villages, but rove through the plains. still further to the westward, are several tribes, who wander and hunt on the sources of the river platte, and thence to rock mountain. these tribes, of which little more is known than the names and the population, are first, the staitan, or kite indians, a small tribe of one hundred men. they have acquired the name of kites, from their flying; that is, their being always on horseback; and the smallness of their numbers is to be attributed to their extreme ferocity; they are the most warlike of all the western indians; they never yield in battle; they never spare their enemies; and the retaliation of this barbarity has almost extinguished the nation. then come the wetapahato, and kiawa tribes, associated together, and amounting to two hundred men; the castahana, of three hundred men, to which are to be added the cataka of seventy-five men, and the dotami. these wandering tribes, are conjectured to be the remnants of the great padouca nation, who occupied the country between the upper parts of the river platte, and the river kanzas. they were visited by bourgemont, in 1724, and then lived on the kanzas river. the seats, which he describes as their residence, are now occupied by the kanzas nation; and of the padoucas, there does not now exist even the name. july 27. having completed the object of our stay, we set sail, with a pleasant breeze from the n.w. the two horses swam over to the southern shore, along which we went, passing by an island, at three and a half miles, formed by a pond, fed by springs: three miles further is a large sand island, in the middle of the river; the land on the south being high, and covered with timber; that on the north, a high prairie. at ten and a half miles from our encampment, we saw and examined a curious collection of graves or mounds, on the south side of the river. not far from a low piece of land and a pond, is a tract of about two hundred acres in circumference, which is covered with mounds of different heights, shapes, and sizes: some of sand, and some of both earth and sand; the largest being nearest the river. these mounds indicate the position of the ancient village of the ottoes, before they retired to the protection of the pawnees. after making fifteen miles, we encamped on the south, on the bank of a high handsome prairie, with lofty cottonwood in groves, near the river. july 28. at one mile, this morning we reached a bluff, on the north, being the first highlands, which approach the river on that side, since we left the nadawa. above this, is an island and a creek, about fifteen yards wide, which, as it has no name, we called indian knob creek, from a number of round knobs bare of timber, on the highlands, to the north. a little below the bluff, on the north, is the spot where the ayauway indians formerly lived. they were a branch of the ottoes, and emigrated from this place to the river desmoines. at ten and three quarter miles, we encamped on the north, opposite an island, in the middle of the river. the land, generally, on the north, consists of high prairie and hills, with timber: on the south, low and covered with cottonwood. our hunter brought to us in the evening, a missouri indian, whom he had found, with two others, dressing an elk; they were perfectly friendly, gave him some of the meat, and one of them agreed to accompany him to the boat. he is one of the few remaining missouris, who live with the ottoes: he belongs to a small party, whose camp is four miles from the river; and he says, that the body of the nation is now hunting buffaloe in the plains: he appeared quite sprightly, and his language resembled that of the osage, particularly in his calling a chief, inca. we sent him back with one of our party next morning, sunday, july 29, with an invitation to the indians, to meet us above on the river, and then proceeded. we soon came to a northern bend in the river, which runs within twenty yards of indian knob creek, the water of which is five feet higher than that of the missouri. in less than two miles, we passed boyer's creek on the north, of twenty-five yards width. we stopped to dine under a shade, near the highland on the south, and caught several large catfish, one of them nearly white, and all very fat. above this highland, we observed the traces of a great hurricane, which passed the river obliquely from n.w. to s.e. and tore up large trees, some of which perfectly sound, and four feet in diameter, were snapped off near the ground. we made ten miles to a wood on the north, where we encamped. the missouri is much more crooked, since we passed the river platte, though generally speaking, not so rapid; more of prairie, with less timber, and cottonwood in the low grounds, and oak, black walnut, hickory, and elm. july 30. we went early in the morning, three and a quarter miles, and encamped on the south, in order to wait for the ottoes. the land here consists of a plain, above the highwater level, the soil of which is fertile, and covered with a grass from five to eight feet high, interspersed with copses of large plums, and a currant, like those of the united states. it also furnishes two species of honeysuckle; one growing to a kind of shrub, common about harrodsburgh (kentucky), the other is not so high: the flowers grow in clusters, are short, and of a light pink colour; the leaves too, are distinct, and do not surround the stalk, as do those of the common honeysuckle of the united states. back of this plain, is a woody ridge about seventy feet above it, at the end of which we formed our camp. this ridge separates the lower from a higher prairie, of a good quality, with grass, of ten or twelve inches in height, and extending back about a mile, to another elevation of eighty or ninety feet, beyond which is one continued plain. near our camp, we enjoy from the bluffs a most beautiful view of the river, and the adjoining country. at a distance, varying from four to ten miles, and of a height between seventy and three hundred feet, two parallel ranges of highland affords a passage to the missouri, which enriches the low grounds between them. in its winding course, it nourishes the willow islands, the scattered cottonwood, elm, sycamore, lynn, and ash, and the groves are interspersed with hickory, walnut, coffeenut, and oak. july 31. the meridian altitude of this day made the latitude of our camp 41â° 18' 1-4/10". the hunters supplied us with deer, turkies, geese, and beaver; one of the last was caught alive, and in a very short time was perfectly tamed. catfish are very abundant in the river, and we have also seen a buffaloefish. one our men brought in yesterday an animal called, by the pawnees, chocartoosh, and, by the french, blaireau, or badger. the evening is cool, yet the musquitoes are still very troublesome. we waited with much anxiety the return of our messenger to the ottoes. the men whom we despatched to our last encampment, returned without having seen any appearance of its having been visited. our horses too had strayed; but we were so fortunate as to recover them at the distance of twelve miles. our apprehensions were at length relieved by the arrival of a party of about fourteen ottoe and missouri indians, who came at sunset, on the second of august, accompanied by a frenchman, who resided among them, and interpreted for us. captains lewis and clarke went out to meet them, and told them that we would hold a council in the morning. in the mean time we sent them some roasted meat, pork, flour, and meal; in return for which they made us a present of watermelons. we learnt that our man liberte had set out from their camp a day before them: we were in hopes that he had fatigued his horse, or lost himself in the woods, and would soon return; but we never saw him again. august 8. the next morning the indians, with their six chiefs, were all assembled under an awning, formed with the mainsail, in presence of all our party, paraded for the occasion. a speech was then made, announcing to them the change in the government, our promises of protection, and advice as to their future conduct. all the six chiefs replied to our speech, each in his turn, according to rank: they expressed their joy at the change in the government; their hopes that we would recommend them to their great father (the president), that they might obtain trade and necessaries; they wanted arms as well for hunting as for defence, and asked our mediation between them and the mahas, with whom they are now at war. we promised to do so, and wished some of them to accompany us to that nation, which they declined, for fear of being killed by them. we then proceeded to distribute our presents. the grand chief of the nation not being of the party, we sent him a flag, a medal, and some ornaments for clothing. to the six chiefs who were present, we gave a medal of the second grade to one ottoe chief, and one missouri chief; a medal of the third grade to two inferior chiefs of each nation: the customary mode of recognizing a chief, being to place a medal round his neck, which is considered among his tribe as a proof of his consideration abroad. each of these medals was accompanied by a present of paint, garters, and cloth ornaments of dress; and to this we added a cannister of powder, a bottle of whiskey, and a few presents to the whole, which appeared to make them perfectly satisfied. the airgun too was fired, and astonished them greatly. the absent grand chief was an ottoe named weahrushhah, which, in english, degenerates into little thief. the two principal chieftains present were, shongotongo, or big horse; and wethea, or hospitality; also shosgusean, or white horse, an ottoe; the first an ottoe, the second a missouri. the incidents just related, induced us to give to this place the name of the council-bluff; the situation of it is exceedingly favourable for a fort and trading factory, as the soil is well calculated for bricks, and there is an abundance of wood in the neighbourhood, and the air being pure and healthy. it is also central to the chief resorts of the indians: one day's journey to the ottoes; one and a half to the great pawnees; two days from the mahas; two and a quarter from the pawnees loups village; convenient to the hunting grounds of the sioux; and twenty-five days journey to santa fee. the ceremonies of the council being concluded, we set sail in the afternoon, and encamped at the distance of five miles, on the south side, where we found the musquitoes very troublesome. august 4. a violent wind, accompanied by rain, purified and cooled the atmosphere last night; we proceeded early, and reached a very narrow part of the river, where the channel is confined within a space of two hundred yards, by a sand point on the north, and a bend on the south; the banks in the neighbourhood washing away, the trees falling in, and the channel filled with buried logs. above this is a trading house, on the south, where one of our party passed two years, trading with the mahas. at nearly four miles, is a creek on the south, emptying opposite a large island of sand; between this creek and our last night's encampment, the river has changed its bed, and encroached on the southern shore. about two miles further, is another creek on the south, which, like the former, is the outlet of three ponds, communicating with each other, and forming a small lake, which is fed by streams from the highlands. at fifteen miles, we encamped on the south. the hills on both sides of the river are nearly twelve or fifteen miles from each other; those of the north containing some timber, while the hills of south are without any covering, except some scattering wood in the ravines, and near where the creeks pass into the hills; rich plains and prairies occupying the intermediate space, and partially covered, near the water, with cottonwood. there has been a great deal of pumice stone on shore to-day. august 5th. we set out early, and, by means of our oars, made twenty and a half miles, though the river was crowded with sandbars. on both sides the prairies extend along the river; the banks being covered with great quantities of grapes, of which three different species are now ripe; one large and resembling the purple grape. we had some rain this morning, attended by high wind; but generally speaking, have remarked that thunder storms are less frequent than in the atlantic states, at this season. snakes too are less frequent, though we killed one to-day of the shape and size of the rattlesnake, but of a lighter colour. we fixed our camp on the north side. in the evening, captain clarke, in pursuing some game, in an eastern direction, found himself at the distance of three hundred and seventy yards from the camp, at a point of the river whence we had come twelve miles. when the water is high, this peninsula is overflowed, and judging from the customary and notorious changes in the river, a few years will be sufficient to force the main current of the river across, and leave the great bend dry. the whole lowland between the parallel range of hills seems formed of mud or ooze of the river, at some former period, mixed with sand and clay. the sand of the neighbouring banks accumulates with the aid of that brought down the stream, and forms sandbars, projecting into the river; these drive the channel to the opposite banks, the loose texture of which it undermines, and at length deserts its ancient bed for a new and shorter passage; it is thus that the banks of the missouri are constantly falling, and the river changing its bed. august 6. in the morning, after a violent storm of wind and rain from n.w. we passed a large island to the north. in the channel separating it from the shore, a creek called soldier's river enters; the island kept it from our view, but one of our men who had seen it, represents it as about forty yards wide at its mouth. at five miles, we came to a bend of the river towards the north, a sandbar, running in from the south, had turned its course so as to leave the old channel quite dry. we again saw the same appearance at our encampment, twenty and a half miles distant on the north side. here the channel of the river had encroached south, and the old bed was without water, except a few ponds. the sandbars are still very numerous. august 7. we had another storm from the n.w. in the course of the last evening; in the morning we proceeded, having the wind from the north, and encamped on the northern shore, having rowed seventeen miles. the river is here encumbered with sandbars, but no islands, except two small ones, called detachment islands, and formed on the south side by a small stream. we despatched four men back to the ottoes village in quest of our man, liberte, and to apprehend one of the soldiers, who left us on the 4th, under pretence of recovering a knife which he had dropped a short distance behind, and who we fear has deserted. we also sent small presents to the ottoes and missouris, and requested that they would join us at the maha village, where a peace might be concluded between them. august 8. at two miles distance, this morning we came to a part of the river, where there was concealed timber difficult to pass. the wind was from the n.w. and we proceeded in safety. at six miles, a river empties on the northern side, called by the sioux indians, eaneahwadepon, or stone river; and by the french, petite riviere des sioux, or little sioux river. at its confluence it is eighty yards wide. our interpreter, mr. durion, who has been to the sources of it, and knows the adjoining country, says that it rises within about nine miles of the river desmoines; that within fifteen leagues of that river it passes through a large lake nearly sixty miles in circumference, and divided into two parts by rocks which approach each other very closely: its width is various: it contains many islands, and is known by the name of the lac d'esprit: it is near the dogplains, and within four days march of the mahas. the country watered by it, is open and undulating, and may be visited in boats up the river for some distance. the desmoines, he adds, is about eighty yards wide where the little sioux river approaches it: it is shoaly, and one of its principal branches is called cat river. two miles beyond this river is a long island which we called pelican island, from the numbers of that animal which were feeding on it: one of these being killed, we poured into his bag five gallons of water. an elk, too, was shot, and we had again to remark that snakes are rare in this part of the missouri. a meridian altitude near the little sioux river made the latitude 41â° 42' 34". we encamped on the north, having come sixteen miles. august 9. a thick fog detained us until past seven o'clock, after which we proceeded with a gentle breeze from the southeast. after passing two sandbars we reached, at seven and a half miles, a point of highland on the left, near which the river has forced itself a channel across a peninsula, leaving on the right a circuit of twelve or eighteen miles, which is now recognised by the ponds and islands it contains. at seventeen and a half miles, we reached a point on the north, where we encamped. the hills are at a great distance from the river for the last several days; the land, on both sides low, and covered with cottonwood and abundance of grape vines. an elk was seen to-day, a turkey also shot, and near our camp is a beaver den: the musquitoes have been more troublesome than ever for the two last days. august 10. at two and a half miles, we came to a place, called coupee a jacques, where the river has found a new bed, and abridged a circuit of several miles: at twelve and a half miles, a cliff of yellow stone on the left. this is the first highland near the river above the council-bluff. after passing a number of sandbars we reached a willow island at the distance of twenty-two and a half miles, which we were enabled to do with our oars and a wind from the s.w. and encamped on the north side. august 11. after a violent wind from the n.w. attended with rain, we sailed along the right of the island. at nearly five miles, we halted on the south side for the purpose of examining a spot where one of the great chiefs of the mahas named blackbird, who died about four years ago of the smallpox, was buried. a hill of yellow soft sandstone rises from the river in bluffs of various heights, till it ends in a knoll about three hundred feet above the water; on the top of this a mound, of twelve feet diameter at the base and six feet high, is raised over the body of the deceased king; a pole of about eight feet high is fixed in the centre; on which we placed a white flag, bordered with red, blue, and white. the blackbird seems to have been a personage of great consideration; for ever since his death he is supplied with provisions, from time to time, by the superstitious regard of the mahas. we descended to the river and passed a small creek on the south, called, by the mahas, waucandipeeche, (great spirit is bad.) near this creek and the adjoining hills the mahas had a village, and lost four hundred of their nation by the dreadful malady which destroyed the blackbird. the meridian altitude made the latitude 42â° 1' 3-8/10" north. we encamped, at seventeen miles distance, on the north side in a bend of the river. during our day's course it has been crooked; we observed a number of places in it where the old channel is filled up, or gradually becoming covered with willow and cottonwood; great numbers of herons are observed to-day, and the mosquitoes annoy us very much. august 12. a gentle breeze from the south, carried us along about ten miles, when we stopped to take meridian altitude, and sent a man across to our place of observation: yesterday he stepped nine hundred and seventy-four yards, and the distance we had come round, was eighteen miles and three quarters. the river is wider and shallower than usual. four miles beyond this bend a bluff begins, and continues several miles; on the south it rises from the water at different heights, from twenty to one hundred and fifty feet, and higher as it recedes on the river: it consists of yellow and brown clay, with soft sandstone imbeded in it, and is covered with timber, among which may be observed some red cedar: the lands on the opposite side are low and subject to inundation, but contain willows, cottonwood, and many grapes. a prairie-wolf came near the bank and barked at us; we attempted unsuccessfully to take him. this part of the river abounds in beaver. we encamped on a sand-island in a bend to the north, having made twenty miles and a quarter. august 13. set out at daylight with a breeze from the southeast, and passed several sandbars. between ten and eleven miles, we came to a spot on the south, where a mr. mackay had a trading establishment in the year 1795 and 1796, which he called fort charles. at fourteen miles, we reached a creek on the south, on which the mahas reside, and at seventeen miles and a quarter, formed a camp on a sandbar, to the south side of the river, opposite the lower point of a large island. from this place sergeant ordway and four men were detached to the maha village with a flag and a present, in order to induce them to come and hold a council with us. they returned at twelve o'clock the next day, august 14. after crossing a prairie covered with high grass, they reached the maha creek, along which they proceeded to its three forks, which join near the village: they crossed the north branch and went along the south; the walk was very fatiguing, as they were forced to break their way through grass, sunflowers and thistles, all above ten feet high, and interspersed with wild pea. five miles from our camp they reached the position of the ancient maha village: it had once consisted of three hundred cabins, but was burnt about four years ago, soon after the smallpox had destroyed four hundred men, and a proportion of women and children. on a hill, in the rear of the village, are the graves of the nation; to the south of which runs the fork of the maha creek: this they crossed where it was about ten yards wide, and followed its course to the missouri, passing along a ridge of hill for one and a half mile, and a long pond between that and the missouri: they then recrossed the maha creek, and arrived at the camp, having seen no tracks of indians nor any sign of recent cultivation. in the morning 15th, some men were sent to examine the cause of a large smoke from the northeast, and which seemed to indicate that some indians were near; but they found that a small party, who had lately passed that way, had left some trees burning, and that the wind from that quarter blew the smoke directly towards us. our camp lies about three miles northeast from the old maha village, and is in latitude 42â° 15' 41". the accounts we have had of the effects of the smallpox on that nation are most distressing; it is not known in what way it was first communicated to them, though probably by some war party. they had been a military and powerful people; but when these warriors saw their strength wasting before a malady which they could not resist, their phrenzy was extreme; they burnt their village, and many of them put to death their wives and children, to save them from so cruel an affliction, and that all might go together to some better country. on the 16th, we still waited for the indians: a party had gone out yesterday to the maha creek, which was damned up by the beaver between the camp and the village: a second went to-day. they made a kind of drag with small willows and bark, and swept the creek: the first company brought three hundred and eighteen, the second upwards of eight hundred, consisting of pike, bass, fish resembling salmon, trout, redhorse, buffaloe, one rockfish, one flatback, perch, catfish, a small species of perch called, on the ohio, silverfish, a shrimp of the same size, shape and flavour of those about neworleans, and the lower part of the mississippi. we also found very fat muscles; and on the river as well as the creek, are different kinds of ducks and plover. the wind, which in the morning had been from the northwest, shifted round in the evening to the southeast, and as usual we had a breeze, which cooled the air and relieve us from the musquitoes, who generally give us great trouble. friday 17. the wind continued from the southeast, and the morning was fair. we observe about us a grass resembling wheat, except that the grain is like rye, also some similar to both rye and barley, and a kind of timothy, the seed of which branches from the main stock, and is more like a flaxseed than a timothy. in the evening, one of the party sent to the ottoes, returned with the information that the rest were coming on with the deserter: they had also caught liberte, but, by a trick, he made his escape: they were bringing three of the chiefs in order to engage our assistance in making peace with the mahas. this nation having left their village, that desirable purpose cannot be effected; but in order to bring in any neighbouring tribes, we set the surrounding prairies on fire. this is the customary signal made by traders to apprize the indians of their arrival: it is also used between different nations as an indication of any event which they have previously agreed to announce in that way; and as soon as it is seen collects the neighbouring tribes, unless they apprehend that it is made by their enemies. august 18. in the afternoon the party arrived with the indians, consisting of the little thief and the big horse, whom we had seen on the third, together with six other chiefs, and a french interpreter. we met them under a shade, and after they had finished a repast with which we supplied them, we inquired into the origin of the war between them and the mahas, which they related with great frankness. it seems that two of the missouris went to the mahas to steal horses, but were detected and killed; the ottoes and missouris thought themselves bound to avenge their companions, and the whole nations were at last obliged to share in the dispute; they are also in fear of a war from the pawnees, whose village they entered this summer, while the inhabitants were hunting, and stole their corn. this ingenuous confession did not make us the less desirous of negotiating a peace for them; but no indians have as yet been attracted by our fire. the evening was closed by a dance; and the next day, august 19, the chiefs and warriors being assembled at ten o'clock, we explained the speech we had already sent from the council-bluffs, and renewed our advice. they all replied in turn, and the presents were then distributed: we exchanged the small medal we had formerly given to the big horse for one of the same size with that of little thief: we also gave a small medal to a third chief, and a kind of certificate or letter of acknowledgment to five of the warriors expressive of our favour and their good intentions: one of them dissatisfied, returned us the certificate; but the chief, fearful of our being offended, begged that it might be restored to him; this we declined, and rebuked them severely for having in view mere traffic instead of peace with their neighbours. this displeased them at first; but they at length all petitioned that it should be given to the warrior, who then came forward and made an apology to us; we then delivered it to the chief to be given to the most worthy, and he bestowed it on the same warrior, whose name was great blue eyes. after a more substantial present of small articles and tobacco, the council was ended with a dram to the indians. in the evening we exhibited different objects of curiosity, and particularly the airgun, which gave them great surprise. those people are almost naked, having no covering, except a sort of breechcloth round the middle, with a loose blanket or buffaloe robe painted, thrown over them. the names of these warriors, besides those already mentioned were karkapaha, (or crow's head) and nenasawa (or black cat) missouris; and sananona (or iron eyes) neswaunja (or big ox) stageaunja (or big blue eyes) and wasashaco (or brave man) all ottoes. these two tribes speak very nearly the same language: they all begged us to give them whiskey. the next morning, august 20, the indians mounted their horses and left us, having received a canister of whiskey at parting. we then set sail, and after passing two islands on the north, came to on that side under some bluffs; the first near the river since we left the ayauwa village. here we had the misfortune to lose one of our sergeants, charles floyd. he was yesterday seized with a bilious cholic, and all our care and attention were ineffectual to relieve him: a little before his death, he said to captain clark, "i am going to leave you," his strength failed him as he added "i want you to write me a letter," but he died with a composure which justified the high opinion we had formed of his firmness and good conduct. he was buried on the top of the bluff with the honours due to a brave soldier; and the place of his interment marked by a cedar post, on which his name and the day of his death were inscribed. about a mile beyond this place, to which we gave his name, is a small river about thirty yards wide, on the north, which we called floyd's river, where we encamped. we had a breeze from the southeast, and made thirteen miles. august 21. the same breeze from the southeast carried us by a small willow creek on the north, about one mile and a half above floyd's river. here began a range of bluffs which continued till near the mouth of the great sioux river, three miles beyond floyd's. this river comes in from the north, and is about one hundred and ten yards wide. mr. durion, our sioux interpreter, who is well acquainted with it, says that it is navigable upwards of two hundred miles to the falls, and even beyond them; that its sources are near those of the st. peters. he also says, that below the falls a creek falls in from the eastward, after passing through cliffs of red rock: of this the indians make their pipes; and the necessity of procuring that article, has introduced a sort of law of nations, by which the banks of the creek are sacred, and even tribes at war meet without hostility at these quarries, which possess a right of asylum. thus we find even among savages certain principles deemed sacred, by which the rigours of their merciless system of warfare are mitigated. a sense of common danger, where stronger ties are wanting, gives all the binding force of more solemn obligations. the importance of preserving the known and settled rules of warfare among civilized nations, in all their integrity, becomes strikingly evident; since even savages, with their few precarious wants, cannot exist in a state of peace or war where this faith is once violated. the wind became southerly, and blew with such violence that we took a reef in our sail: it also blew the sand from the bars in such quantities, that we could not see the channel at any distance ahead. at four and a quarter miles, we came to two willow islands, beyond which are several sandbars; and at twelve miles, a spot where the mahas once had a village, now no longer existing. we again passed a number of sandbars, and encamped on the south; having come twenty-four and three quarter miles. the country through which we passed has the same uniform appearance ever since we left the river platte: rich low-grounds near the river, succeeded by undulating prairies, with timber near the waters. some wolves were seen to-day on the sandbeaches to the south; we also procured an excellent fruit, resembling a red currant, growing on a shrub like the privy, and about the height of a wild plum. august 22. about three miles distance, we joined the men who had been sent from the maha village with our horses, and who brought us two deer. the bluffs or hills which reach the river at this place, on the south, contain allum, copperas, cobalt which had the appearance of soft isinglass, pyrites, and sandstone, the two first very pure. above this bluff comes in a small creek on the south, which we call rologe creek. seven miles above is another cliff, on the same side, of allum rock, of a dark brown colour, containing in its crevices great quantities of cobalt, cemented shells, and red earth. from this the river bends to the eastward, and approaches the sioux river within three or four miles. we sailed the greater part of the day, and made nineteen miles to our camp on the north side. the sandbars are as usual numerous: there are also considerable traces of elk; but none are yet seen. captain lewis in proving the quality of some of the substances in the first cliff, was considerably injured by the fumes and taste of the cobalt, and took some strong medicine to relieve him from its effects. the appearance of these mineral substances enable us to account for disorders of the stomach, with which the party had been affected since they left the river sioux. we had been in the habit of dipping up the water of the river inadvertently and making use of it, till, on examination, the sickness was thought to proceed from a scum covering the surface of the water along the southern shore, and which, as we now discovered, proceeded from these bluffs. the men had been ordered, before we reached the bluffs, to agitate the water, so as to disperse the scum, and take the water, not at the surface, but at some depth. the consequence was, that these disorders ceased: the biles too which had afflicted the men, were not observed beyond the sioux river. in order to supply the place of sergeant floyd, we permitted the men to name three persons, and patrick gass having the greatest number of votes was made a sergeant. august 23. we set out early, and at four miles came to a small run between cliffs of yellow and blue earth: the wind, however, soon changed, and blew so hard from the west, that we proceeded very slowly; the fine sand from the bar being driven in such clouds, that we could scarcely see. three and a quarter miles beyond this run, we came to a willow island, and a sand island opposite, and encamped on the south side, at ten and a quarter miles. on the north side is an extensive and delightful prairie, which we called buffaloe prairie, from our having here killed the first buffaloe. two elk swam the river to-day and were fired at, but escaped: a deer was killed from the boat; one beaver was killed; and several prairie wolves were seen. august 24. it began to rain last night, and continued this morning: we proceeded, however, two and a quarter miles, to the commencement of a bluff of blue clay, about one hundred and eighty, or one hundred and ninety feet on the south side: it seems to have been lately on fire; and even now the ground is so warm that we cannot keep our hands in it at any depth: there are strong appearances of coal, and also great quantities of cobalt, or a crystalized substance resembling it. there is a fruit now ripe which looks like a currant, except that it is double the size, and grows on a bush like a privy, the size of a damson, and of a delicious flavour; its indian name means rabbit-berries. we then passed, at the distance of about seven miles, the mouth of a creek on the north side, called by an indian name, meaning whitestone river. the beautiful prairie of yesterday, has changed into one of greater height, and very smooth and extensive. we encamped on the south side, at ten and a quarter miles, and found ourselves much annoyed by the musquitoes. chap. iii. whimsical instance of superstition of the sioux indians--council held with the sioux--character of that tribe, their manners, &c.--a ridiculous instance of their heroism--ancient fortifications--quieurre river described--vast herds of buffaloe--account of the petit chien or little dog--narrow escape of george shannon--description of whiteriver--surprising fleetness of the antelope--pass the river of the sioux--description of the grand le tour, or great bend--encamp on the teton river. august 25. captains lewis and clarke, with ten men, went to see an object deemed very extraordinary among all the neighbouring indians. they dropped down to the mouth of whitestone river, about thirty yards wide, where they left the boat, and at the distance of two hundred yards, ascended a rising ground, from which a plain extended itself as far as the eye could discern. after walking four miles, they crossed the creek where it is twenty-three yards wide, and waters an extensive valley. the heat was so oppressive that we were obliged to send back our dog to the creek, as he was unable to bear the fatigue; and it was not till after four hours march that we reached the object of our visit. this was a large mound in the midst of the plain about n. 20â° w. from the month of whitestone river, from which it is nine miles distant. the base of the mound is a regular parallelogram, the longest side being about three hundred yards, the shorter sixty or seventy: from the longest side it rises with a steep ascent from the north and south to the height of sixty-five or seventy feet, leaving on the top a level plain of twelve feet in breadth and ninety in length. the north and south extremities are connected by two oval borders which serve as new bases, and divide the whole side into three steep but regular gradations from the plain. the only thing characteristic in this hill is its extreme symmetry, and this, together with its being totally detached from the other hills which are at the distance of eight or nine miles, would induce a belief that it was artificial; but, as the earth and the loose pebbles which compose it, are arranged exactly like the steep grounds on the borders of the creek, we concluded from this similarity of texture that it might be natural. but the indians have made it a great article of their superstition: it is called the mountain of little people, or little spirits, and they believe that it is the abode of little devils, in the human form, of about eighteen inches high and with remarkably large heads; they are armed with sharp arrows, with which they are very skilful, and are always on the watch to kill those who should have the hardihood to approach their residence. the tradition is, that many have suffered from these little evil spirits, and among others, three maha indians fell a sacrifice to them a few years since. this has inspired all the neighbouring nations, sioux, mahas, and ottoes, with such terror, that no consideration could tempt them to visit the hill. we saw none of these wicked little spirits; nor any place for them, except some small holes scattered over the top: we were happy enough to escape their vengeance, though we remained some time on the mound to enjoy the delightful prospect of the plain, which spreads itself out till the eye rests upon the n.w. hills at a great distance, and those of n.e. still farther off, enlivened by large herds of buffaloe feeding at a distance. the soil of these plains is exceedingly fine; there is, however, no timber except on the missouri: all the wood of the whitestone river not being sufficient to cover thickly one hundred acres. the plain country which surrounds this mound has contributed not a little to its bad reputation: the wind driving from every direction over the level ground obliges the insects to seek shelter on its leeward side, or be driven against us by the wind. the small birds, whose food they are, resort of course in great numbers in quest of subsistence; and the indians always seem to discover an unusual assemblage of birds as produced by some supernatural cause: among them we observed the brown martin employed in looking for insects, and so gentle that they did not fly until we got within a few feet of them. we have also distinguished among numerous birds of the plain, the blackbird, the wren or prairie bird, and a species of lark about the size of a partridge, with a short tail. the excessive heat and thirst forced us from the hill, about one o'clock, to the nearest water, which we found in the creek, at three miles distance, and remained an hour and a half. we then went down the creek, through a lowland about one mile in width, and crossed it three times, to the spot where we first reached it in the morning. here we gathered some delicious plums, grapes and blue currants, and afterwards arrived at the mouth of the river about sunset. to this place the course from the mound is s. twenty miles, e. nine miles; we there resumed our periogue, and on reaching our encampment of last night set the prairies on fire, to warn the sioux of our approach. in the mean time, the boat under serjeant pryor had proceeded in the afternoon one mile, to a bluff of blue clay on the south, and after passing a sandbar and two sand islands fixed their camp at the distance of six miles on the south. in the evening some rain fell. we had killed a duck and several birds: in the boat, they had caught some large catfish. sunday, august 26. we rejoined the boat at nine o'clock before she set out, and then passing by an island, and under a cliff on the south, nearly two miles in extent and composed of white and blue earth, encamped at nine miles distance, on a sandbar towards the north. opposite to this, on the south, is a small creek called petit arc or little bow, and a short distance above it, an old village of the same name. this village, of which nothing remains but the mound of earth about four feet high surrounding it, was built by a maha chief named little bow, who being displeased with blackbird, the late king, seceded with two hundred followers and settled at this spot, which is now abandoned, as the two villages have reunited since the death of blackbird. we have great quantities of grapes, and plums of three kinds; two of a yellow colour, and distinguished by one of the species being longer than the other; and a third round and red: all have an excellent flavour, particularly those of the yellow kind. august 27. the morning star appeared much larger than usual. a gentle breeze from the southeast carried us by some large sandbars, on both sides and in the middle of the river, to a bluff, on the south side, at seven and a half miles distant; this bluff is of white clay or chalk, under which is much stone, like lime, incrusted with a clear substance, supposed to be cobalt, and some dark ore. above this bluff we set the prairie on fire, to invite the sioux. after twelve and a half miles, we had passed several other sandbars, and now reached the mouth of a river called by the french jacques (james river) or yankton, from the tribe which inhabits its banks. it is about ninety yards wide at the confluence: the country which it waters is rich prairie, with little timber: it becomes deeper and wider above its mouth, and may be navigated a great distance; as its sources rise near those of st. peter's, of the mississippi, and the red river of lake winnipeg. as we came to the mouth of the river, an indian swam to the boat; and, on our landing, we were met by two others, who informed us that a large body of sioux were encamped near us: they accompanied three of our men, with an invitation to meet us at a spot above the river: the third indian remained with us: he is a maha boy, and says that his nation have gone to the pawnees to make peace with them. at fourteen miles, we encamped on a sandbar to the north. the air was cool, the evening pleasant, the wind from the southeast, and light. the river has fallen gradually, and is now low. tuesday, 28th. we passed, with a stiff breeze from the south, several sandbars. on the south is a prairie which rises gradually from the water to the height of a bluff, which is, at four miles distance, of a whitish colour, and about seventy or eighty feet high. further on is another bluff, of a brownish colour, on the north side; and at the distance of eight and a half miles is the beginning of calumet bluff, on the south side, under which we formed our camp, in a beautiful plain, to wait the arrival of the sioux. at the first bluff the young indian left us and joined their camp. before reaching calumet bluff one of the periogues ran upon a log in the river, and was rendered unfit for service; so that all our loading was put into the second periogue. on both sides of the river are fine prairies, with cotton wood; and near the bluff there is more timber in the points and valleys than we have been accustomed to see. wednesday, 29th. we had a violent storm of wind and rain last evening; and were engaged during the day in repairing the periogue, and other necessary occupations; when, at four o'clock in the afternoon, sergeant pryor and his party arrived on the opposite side, attended by five chiefs, and about seventy men and boys. we sent a boat for them, and they joined us, as did also mr. durion, the son of our interpreter, who happened to be trading with the sioux at this time. he returned with sergeant pryor to the indians, with a present of tobacco, corn, and a few kettles; and told them that we would speak to their chiefs in the morning. sergeant pryor reported, that on reaching their village, which is at twelve miles distance from our camp, he was met by a party with a buffaloe robe, on which they desired to carry their visitors: an honour which they declined, informing the indians that they were not the commanders of the boats: as a great mark of respect, they were then presented with a fat dog, already cooked, of which they partook heartily, and found it well flavoured. the camps of the sioux are of a conical form, covered with buffaloe robes, painted with various figures and colours, with an aperture in the top for the smoke to pass through. the lodges contain from ten to fifteen persons, and the interior arrangement is compact and handsome, each lodge having a place for cooking detached from it. august 30th. thursday. the fog was so thick that we could not see the indian camp on the opposite side, but it cleared off about eight o'clock. we prepared a speech, and some presents, and then sent for the chiefs and warriors, whom we received, at twelve o'clock, under a large oak tree, near to which the flag of the united states was flying. captain lewis delivered a speech, with the usual advice and counsel for their future conduct. we then acknowledged their chiefs, by giving to the grand chief a flag, a medal, a certificate, with a string of wampum; to which we added a chief's coat; that is, a richly laced uniform of the united states artillery corps, and a cocked hat and red feather. one second chief and three inferior ones were made or recognised by medals, and a suitable present of tobacco, and articles of clothing. we then smoked the pipe of peace, and the chiefs retired to a bower, formed of bushes, by their young men, where they divided among each other the presents, and smoked and eat, and held a council on the answer which they were to make us to-morrow. the young people exercised their bows and arrows in shooting at marks for beads, which we distributed to the best marksmen; and in the evening the whole party danced until a late hour, and in the course of their amusement we threw among them some knives, tobacco, bells, tape, and binding, with which they were much pleased. their musical instruments were the drum, and a sort of little bag made of buffaloe hide, dressed white, with small shot or pebbles in it, and a bunch of hair tied to it. this produces a sort of rattling music, with which the party was annoyed by four musicians during the council this morning. august 31. in the morning, after breakfast, the chiefs met, and sat down in a row, with pipes of peace, highly ornamented, and all pointed towards the seats intended for captains lewis and clarke. when they arrived and were seated, the grand chief, whose indian name, weucha, is, in english shake hand, and, in french, is called le liberateur (the deliverer) rose, and spoke at some length, approving what we had said, and promising to follow our advice: "i see before me," said he, "my great father's two sons. you see me, and the rest of our chiefs and warriors. we are very poor; we have neither powder nor ball, nor knives; and our women and children at the village have no clothes. i wish that as my brothers have given me a flag and a medal, they would give something to those poor people, or let them stop and trade with the first boat which comes up the river. i will bring chiefs of the pawnees and mahas together, and make peace between them; but it is better that i should do it than my great father's sons, for they will listen to me more readily. i will also take some chiefs to your country in the spring; but before that time i cannot leave home. i went formerly to the english, and they gave me a medal and some clothes: when i went to the spanish they gave me a medal, but nothing to keep it from my skin; but now you give me a medal and clothes. but still we are poor; and i wish, brothers, you would give us something for our squaws." "when he sat down, mahtoree, or white crane, rose: "i have listened," said he, "to what our father's words were yesterday; and i am, to-day, glad to see how you have dressed our old chief. i am a young man, and do not wish to take much: my fathers have made me a chief: i had much sense before, but now i think i have more than ever. what the old chief has declared i will confirm, and do whatever he and you please: but i wish that you would take pity on us, for we are very poor." another chief, called pawnawneahpahbe, then said; "i am a young man, and know but little: i cannot speak well; but i have listened to what you have told the old chief, and will do whatever you agree." the same sentiments were then repeated by aweawechache. we were surprised at finding that the first of these titles means "struck by the pawnee," and was occasioned by some blow which the chief had received in battle, from one of the pawnee tribe. the second is, in english, "half man," which seems a singular name for a warrior, till it was explained to have its origin, probably, in the modesty of the chief; who, on being told of his exploits, would say, "i am no warrior: i am only half a man." the other chiefs spoke very little; but after they had finished, one of the warriors delivered a speech, in which he declared he would support them. they promised to make peace with the ottoes and missouris, the only nations with whom they are at war. all these harangues concluded by describing the distress of the nation: they begged us to have pity on them: to send them traders: that they wanted powder and ball; and seemed anxious that we should supply them with some of their great father's milk, the name by which they distinguish ardent spirits. we then gave some tobacco to each of the chiefs, and a certificate to two of the warriors who attended the chief. we prevailed on mr. durion to remain here, and accompany as many of the sioux chiefs as he could collect, down to the seat of government. we also gave his son a flag, some clothes, and provisions, with directions to bring about a peace between the surrounding tribe, and to convey some of their chiefs to see the president. in the evening they left us, and encamped on the opposite bank, accompanied by the two durions. during the evening and night we had much rain, and observed that the river rises a little. the indians, who have just left us, are the yanktons, a tribe of the great nation of sioux. these yanktons are about two hundred men in number; and inhabit the jacques, desmoines, and sioux rivers. in person they are stout, well proportioned, and have a certain air of dignity and boldness. in their dress they differ nothing from the other bands of the nation whom we saw, and will describe afterwards: they are fond of decorations, and use paint, and porcupine quills, and feathers. some of them wore a kind of necklace of white bear's claws, three inches long, and closely strung together round their necks. they have only a few fowling pieces, being generally armed with bows and arrows, in which, however, they do not appear as expert as the more northern indians. what struck us most was an institution, peculiar to them, and to the kite indians, further to the westward, from whom it is said to have been copied. it is an association of the most active and brave young men, who are bound to each other by attachment, secured by a vow, never to retreat before any danger, or give way to their enemies. in war they go forward without sheltering themselves behind trees, or aiding their natural valour by any artifice. this punctilious determination, not to be turned from their course, became heroic, or ridiculous, a short time since, when the yanktons were crossing the missouri on the ice. a hole lay immediately in their course, which might easily have been avoided, by going round. this the foremost of the band disdained to do; but went straight forward, and was lost. the others would have followed his example, but were forcibly prevented by the rest of the tribe. these young men sit, and encamp, and dance together, distinct from the rest of the nation: they are generally about thirty or thirty-five years old; and such is the deference paid to courage, that their seats in council are superior to those of the chiefs, and their persons more respected. but, as may be supposed, such indiscreet bravery will soon diminish the numbers of those who practise it; so that the band is now reduced to four warriors, who were among our visitors. these were the remains of twenty-two, who composed the society not long ago; but, in a battle with the kite indians, of the black mountains, eighteen of them were killed, and these four were dragged from the field by their companions. whilst these indians remained with us we made very minute inquiries relative to their situation and numbers, and trade, and manners. this we did very satisfactorily, by means of two different interpreters; and from their accounts, joined to our interviews with other bands of the same nation, and much intelligence acquired since, we were enabled to understand, with some accuracy, the condition of the sioux hitherto so little known. the sioux, or dacorta indians, originally settled on the mississippi, and called by carver, madowesians, are now subdivided into tribes, as follow: first, the yanktons: this tribe inhabits the sioux, desmoines, and jacques rivers, and number about two hundred warriors. second, the tetons of the burnt woods. this tribe numbers about three hundred men, who rove on both sides of the missouri, the white, and teton rivers. third. the tetons okandandas, a tribe consisting of about one hundred and fifty men, who inhabit both sides of the missouri below the chayenne river. fourth, tetons minnakenozzo, a nation inhabiting both sides of the missouri, above the chayenne river, and containing about two hundred and fifty men. fifth, tetons saone; these inhabit both sides of the missouri below the warreconne river, and consist of about three hundred men. sixth, yanktons of the plains, or big devils; who rove on the heads of the sioux, jacques, and red river; the most numerous of all the tribes, and number about five hundred men. seventh, wahpatone; a nation residing on the st. peter's, just above the mouth of that river, and numbering two hundred men. eighth, mindawarcarton, or proper dacorta or sioux indians. these possess the original seat of the sioux, and are properly so denominated. they rove on both sides of the mississippi, about the falls of st. anthony, and consist of three hundred men. ninth, the wahpatoota, or leaf beds. this nation inhabits both sides of the river st. peter's, below yellow-wood river, amounting to about one hundred and fifty men. tenth, sistasoone: this nation numbers two hundred men, and reside at the head of the st. peter's. of these several tribes, more particular notice will be taken hereafter. saturday, september 1, 1804. we proceeded this morning under a light southern breeze, and passed the calumet bluffs; these are composed of a yellowish red, and brownish clay as hard as chalk, which it much resembles, and are one hundred and seventy, or one hundred and eighty feet high. at this place the hills on each side come to the verge of the river, those on the south being higher than on the north. opposite the bluffs is a large island covered with timber; above which the highlands form a cliff over the river on the north side, called white bear cliff; an animal of that kind being killed in one of the holes in it, which are numerous and apparently deep. at six miles we came to a large sand island covered with cottonwood; the wind was high, and the weather rainy and cloudy during the day. we made fifteen miles to a place on the north side, at the lower point of a large island called bonhomme, or goodman's island. the country on both sides has the same character of prairies, with no timber; with occasional lowlands covered with cottonwood, elm and oak: our hunters had killed an elk and a beaver: the catfish too are in great abundance. september 2. it rained last night, and this morning we had a high wind from the n.w. we went three miles to the lower part of an ancient fortification on the south side, and passed the head of bonhomme island, which is large and well timbered: after this the wind became so violent, attended by a cold rain, that we were compelled to land at four miles on the northern side, under a high bluff of yellow clay, about one hundred and ten feet in height. our hunters supplied us with four elk; and we had grapes and plums on the banks: we also saw the beargrass and rue, on the side of the bluffs. at this place there are highlands on both sides of the river which become more level at some distance back, and contain but few streams of water. on the southern bank, during this day, the grounds have not been so elevated. captain clarke crossed the river to examine the remains of the fortification we had just passed. [illustration: fortification] this interesting object is on the south side of the missouri, opposite the upper extremity of bonhomme island, and in a low level plain, the hills being three miles from the river. it begins by a wall composed of earth, rising immediately from the bank of the river and running in a direct course s. 76â°, w. ninety six yards; the base of this wall or mound is seventy-five feet, and its height about eight. it then diverges in a course s. 84â° w. and continues at the same height and depth to the distance of fifty-three yards, the angle being formed by a sloping descent; at the junction of these two is an appearance of a hornwork of the same height with the first angle: the same wall then pursues a course n. 69â° w. for three hundred yards: near its western extremity is an opening or gateway at right angles to the wall, and projecting inwards; this gateway is defended by two nearly semicircular walls placed before it, lower than the large walls; and from the gateway there seems to have been a covered way communicating with the interval between these two walls: westward of the gate, the wall becomes much larger, being about one hundred and five feet at its base, and twelve feet high: at the end of this high ground the wall extends for fifty-six yards on a course n. 32â° w; it then turns n. 23â° w. for seventy-three yards: these two walls seems to have had a double or covered way; they are from ten to fifteen feet eight inches in height, and from seventy-five to one hundred and five feet in width at the base; the descent inwards being steep, whilst outwards it forms a sort of glacis. at the distance of seventy-three yards, the wall ends abruptly at a large hollow place much lower than the general level of the plain, and from which is some indication of a covered way to the water. the space between them is occupied by several mounds scattered promiscuously through the gorge, in the centre of which is a deep round hole. from the extremity of the last wall, in a course n. 32â° w. is a distance of ninety-six yards over the low ground, where the wall recommences and crosses the plain in a course n. 81â° w. for eighteen hundred and thirty yards to the bank of the missouri. in this course its height is about eight feet, till it enters, at the distance of five hundred and thirty-three yards, a deep circular pond of seventy-three yards diameter; after which it is gradually lower, towards the river: it touches the river at a muddy bar, which bears every mark of being an encroachment of the water, for a considerable distance; and a little above the junction, is a small circular redoubt. along the bank of the river, and at eleven hundred yards distance, in a straight line from this wall, is a second, about six feet high, and of considerable width: it rises abruptly from the bank of the missouri, at a point where the river bends, and goes straight forward, forming an acute angle with the last wall, till it enters the river again, not far from the mounds just described, towards which it is obviously tending. at the bend the missouri is five hundred yards wide; the ground on the opposite side highlands, or low hills on the bank; and where the river passes between this fort and bonhomme island, all the distance from the bend, it is constantly washing the banks into the stream, a large sandbank being already taken from the shore near the wall. during the whole course of this wall, or glacis, it is covered with trees, among which are many large cotton trees, two or three feet in diameter. immediately opposite the citadel, or the part most strongly fortified, on bonhomme island, is a small work in a circular form, with a wall surrounding it, about six feet in height. the young willows along the water, joined to the general appearance of the two shores, induce a belief that the bank of the island is encroaching, and the missouri indemnifies itself by washing away the base of the fortification. the citadel contains about twenty acres, but the parts between the long walls must embrace nearly five hundred acres. these are the first remains of the kind which we have had an opportunity of examining; but our french interpreters assure us, that there are great numbers of them on the platte, the kanzas, the jacques, &c. and some of our party say, that they observed two of those fortresses on the upper side of the petit arc creek, not far from its mouth; that the wall was about six feet high, and the sides of the angles one hundred yards in length. september 3. the morning was cold, and the wind from the northwest. we passed at sunrise, three large sandbars, and at the distance of ten miles reached a small creek, about twelve yards wide, coming in from the north, above a white bluff: this creek has obtained the name of plum creek, from the number of that fruit which are in the neighbourhood, and of a delightful quality. five miles further, we encamped on the south near the edge of a plain; the river is wide, and covered with sandbars to-day: the banks are high and of a whitish colour; the timber scarce, but an abundance of grapes. beaver houses too have been observed in great numbers on the river, but none of the animals themselves. september 4. we set out early, with a very cold wind from s.s.e. and at one mile and a half, reached a small creek, called whitelime creek, on the south side. just above this is a cliff, covered with cedar trees, and at three miles a creek, called whitepaint creek, of about thirty yards wide: on the same side, and at four and a half miles distance from the whitepaint creek, is the rapid river, or, as it is called by the french, la riverequi court; this river empties into the missouri, in a course s.w. by w. and is one hundred and fifty-two yards wide, and four feet deep at the confluence. it rises in the black mountains, and passes through a hilly country, with a poor soil. captain clark ascended three miles to a beautiful plain, on the upper side, where the pawnees once had a village: he found that the river widened above its mouth, and much divided by sands and islands, which, joined to the great rapidity of the current, makes the navigation very difficult, even for small boats. like the platte its waters are of a light colour; like that river too it throws out into the missouri, great quantities of sand, coarser even than that of the platte, which form sandbars and shoals near its mouth. we encamped just above it, on the south, having made only eight miles, as the wind shifted to the south, and blew so hard that in the course of the day we broke our mast: we saw some deer, a number of geese, and shot a turkey and a duck: the place in which we halted is a fine low-ground, with much timber, such as red cedar, honeylocust, oak, arrowwood, elm and coffeenut. september 5, wednesday. the wind was again high from the south. at five miles, we came to a large island, called pawnee island, in the middle of the river; and stopped to breakfast at a small creek on the north, which has the name of goat creek, at eight and a half miles. near the mouth of this creek the beaver had made a dam across so as to form a large pond, in which they built their houses. above this island the river poncara falls into the missouri from the south, and is thirty yards wide at the entrance. two men whom we despatched to the village of the same name, returned with information that they had found it on the lower side of the creek; but as this is the hunting season, the town was so completely deserted that they had killed a buffaloe in the village itself. this tribe of poncaras, who are said to have once numbered four hundred men, are now reduced to about fifty, and have associated for mutual protection with the mahas, who are about two hundred in number. these two nations are allied by a similarity of misfortune; they were once both numerous, both resided in villages, and cultivated indian corn; their common enemies, the sioux and small-pox, drove them from their towns, which they visit only occasionally for the purposes of trade; and they now wander over the plains on the sources of the wolf and quieurre rivers. between the pawnee island and goat creek on the north, is a cliff of blue earth, under which are several mineral springs, impregnated with salts: near this we observed a number of goats, from which the creek derives its name. at three and a half miles from the creek, we came to a large island on the south, along which we passed to the head of it, and encamped about four o'clock. here we replaced the mast we had lost, with a new one of cedar: some bucks and an elk were procured to-day, and a black tailed deer was seen near the poncara's village. thursday, september 6. there was a storm this morning from the n.w. and though it moderated, the wind was still high, and the weather very cold; the number of sandbars too, added to the rapidity of the current, obliged us to have recourse to the towline: with all our exertions we did not make more than eight and a half miles, and encamped on the north, after passing high cliffs of soft, blue, and red coloured stone, on the southern shore. we saw some goats, and great numbers of buffaloe, in addition to which the hunters furnished us with elk, deer, turkies, geese, and one beaver: a large catfish too was caught in the evening. the ground near the camp, was a low prarie, without timber, though just below is a grove of cottonwood. friday, september 7. the morning was very cold and the wind southeast. at five and a half miles, we reached and encamped at the foot of a round mountain, on the south, having passed two small islands. this mountain, which is about three hundred feet at the base, forms a cone at the top, resembling a dome at a distance, and seventy feet or more above the surrounding highlands. as we descended from this dome, we arrived at a spot, on the gradual descent of the hill, nearly four acres in extent, and covered with small holes: these are the residence of a little animal, called by the french, petit chien (little dog) who sit erect near the mouth, and make a whistling noise, but when alarmed take refuge in their holes. in order to bring them out, we poured into one of the holes five barrels of water without filling it, but we dislodged and caught the owner. after digging down another of the holes for six feet, we found, on running a pole into it, that we had not yet dug half way to the bottom: we discovered, however, two frogs in the hole, and near it we killed a dark rattlesnake, which had swallowed a small prairie dog: we were also informed, though we never witnessed the fact, that a sort of lizard, and a snake, live habitually with these animals. the petit chien are justly named, as they resemble a small dog in some particulars, though they have also some points of similarity to the squirrel. the head resembles the squirrel in every respect, except that the ear is shorter, the tail like that of the ground-squirrel, the toe-nails are long, the fur is fine, and the long hair is gray. saturday, september 8. the wind still continued from the southeast, but moderately. at seven miles we reached a house on the north side, called the pawnee house, where a trader, named trudeau, wintered in the year 1796-7: behind this, hills, much higher than usual, appear to the north, about eight miles off. before reaching this house, we came by three small islands, on the north side, and a small creek on the south; and after leaving it, reached another, at the end of seventeen miles, on which we encamped, and called it boat island: we here saw herds of buffaloe, and some elk, deer, turkies, beaver, a squirrel, and a prairie dog. the party on the north represent the country through which they passed, as poor, rugged, and hilly, with the appearance of having been lately burnt by the indians; the broken hills, indeed, approach the river on both sides, though each is bordered by a strip of woodland near the water. sunday, september 9. we coasted along the island on which we had encamped, and then passed three sand and willow islands, and a number of smaller sandbars. the river is shallow, and joined by two small creeks from the north, and one from the south. in the plains, to the south, are great numbers of buffaloe, in herds of nearly five hundred; all the copses of timber appear to contain elk or deer. we encamped on a sandbar, on the southern shore, at the distance of fourteen and a quarter miles. september 10, monday. the next day we made twenty miles. the morning was cloudy and dark, but a light breeze from the southeast carried us past two small islands on the south, and one on the north; till, at the distance of ten and a half miles, we reached an island, extending for two miles in the middle of the river, covered with red cedar, from which it derives its name of cedar island. just below this island, on a hill, to the south, is the backbone of a fish, forty-five feet long, tapering towards the tail, and in a perfect state of petrifaction, fragments of which were collected and sent to washington. on both sides of the river are high dark-coloured bluffs. about a mile and a half from the island, on the southern shore, the party on that side discovered a large and very strong impregnated spring of water; and another, not so strongly impregnated, half a mile up the hill. three miles beyond cedar island is a large island on the north, and a number of sandbars. after which is another, about a mile in length, lying in the middle of the river, and separated by a small channel, at its extremity, from another above it, on which we encamped. these two islands are called mud islands. the river is shallow during this day's course, and is falling a little. the elk and buffaloe are in great abundance, but the deer have become scarce. september 11, tuesday. at six and a half miles we passed the upper extremity of an island on the south; four miles beyond which is another on the same side of the river; and about a quarter of a mile distant we visited a large village of the barking-squirrel. it was situated on a gentle declivity, and covered a space of nine hundred and seventy yards long, and eight hundred yards wide; we killed four of them. we then resumed our course, and during five and a half miles passed two islands on the north, and then encamped at the distance of sixteen miles, on the south side of the river, and just above a small run. the morning had been cloudy, but in the afternoon it began raining, with a high northwest wind, which continued during the greater part of the night. the country seen to-day consists of narrow strips of lowland, rising into uneven grounds, which are succeeded, at the distance of three miles, by rich and level plains, but without any timber. the river itself is wide, and crowded with sandbars. elk, deer, squirrels, a pelican, and a very large porcupine, were our game this day; some foxes too were seen, but not caught. in the morning we observed a man riding on horseback down towards the boat, and we were much pleased to find that it was george shannon, one of our party, for whose safety we had been very uneasy. our two horses having strayed from us on the 26th of august, he was sent to search for them. after he had found them he attempted to rejoin us, but seeing some other tracks, which must have been those of indians, and which he mistook for our own, he concluded that we were ahead, and had been for sixteen days following the bank of the river above us. during the first four days he exhausted his bullets, and was then nearly starved, being obliged to subsist, for twelve days, on a few grapes, and a rabbit which he killed by making use of a hard piece of stick for a ball. one of his horses gave out, and was left behind; the other he kept as a last resource for food. despairing of overtaking us, he was returning down the river, in hopes of meeting some other boat; and was on the point of killing his horse, when he was so fortunate as to join us. wednesday, september 12. the day was dark and cloudy; the wind from the northwest. at a short distance we reached an island in the middle of the river, which is covered with timber, a rare object now. we with great difficulty were enabled to struggle through the sandbars, the water being very rapid and shallow, so that we were several hours in making a mile. several times the boat wheeled on the bar, and the men were obliged to jump out and prevent her from upsetting; at others, after making a way up one channel, the shoalness of the water forced us back to seek the deep channel. we advanced only four miles in the whole day and encamped on the south. along both sides of the river are high grounds; on the southern side particularly, they form dark bluffs, in which may be observed slate and coal intermixed. we saw also several villages of barking-squirrels; great numbers of growse, and three foxes. september 13, thursday. we made twelve miles to-day through a number of sandbars, which make it difficult to find the proper channel. the hills on each side are high, and separated from the river by a narrow plain on its borders. on the north, these lowlands are covered in part with timber, and great quantities of grapes, which are now ripe: on the south we found plenty of plums, but they are not yet ripe; and near the dark bluffs, a run tainted with allum and copperas; the southern side being more strongly impregnated with minerals than the northern. last night four beaver were caught in the traps; a porcupine was shot as it was upon a cottontree, feeding on its leaves and branches. we encamped on the north side, opposite to a small willow island. at night the musquitoes were very troublesome, though the weather was cold and rainy and the wind from the northwest. friday, september 14. at two miles we reached a round island on the northern side; at about five, a run on the south; two and a half miles further, a small creek; and at nine miles encamped near the month of a creek, on the same side. the sandbars are very numerous, and render the river wide and shallow, and obliged the crew to get into the water and drag the boat over the bars several times. during the whole day we searched along the southern shore, and at some distance into the interior, to find an ancient volcano which we heard at st. charles was somewhere in this neighbourhood; but we could not discern the slightest appearance of any thing volcanic. in the course of their search the party shot a buck-goat and a hare. the hills, particularly on the south, continue high, but the timber is confined to the islands and banks of the river. we had occasion here to observe the rapid undermining of these hills by the missouri: the first attacks seem to be on the hills which overhang the river; as soon as the violence of the current destroys the grass at the foot of them, the whole texture appears loosened, and the ground dissolves and mixes with the water: the muddy mixture is then forced over the low-grounds, which it covers sometimes to the depth of three inches, and gradually destroys the herbage; after which it can offer no resistance to the water, and becomes at last covered with sand. saturday, september 15. we passed, at an early hour, the creek near our last night's encampment; and at two miles distance reached the mouth of white river, coming in from the south. we ascended a short distance, and sent a sergeant and another man to examine it higher up. this river has a bed of about three hundred yards, though the water is confined to one hundred and fifty: in the mouth is a sand island, and several sandbars. the current is regular and swift, with sandbars projecting from the points. it differs very much from the platte, and quieurre, in throwing out, comparatively, little sand, but its general character is like that of the missouri. this resemblance was confirmed by the sergeant, who ascended about twelve miles; at which distance it was about the same width as near the mouth, and the course, which was generally west, had been interrupted by islands and sandbars. the timber consisted chiefly of elm; they saw pine burrs, and sticks of birch were seen floating down the river; they had also met with goats, such as we have heretofore seen; great quantities of buffaloe, near to which were wolves, some deer, and villages of barking squirrels. at the confluence of white river with the missouri is an excellent position for a town; the land rising by three gradual ascents, and the neighbourhood furnishing more timber than is usual in this country. after passing high dark bluffs on both sides, we reached the lower point of an island towards the south, at the distance of six miles. the island bears an abundance of grapes, and is covered with red cedar: it also contains a number of rabbits. at the end of this island, which is small, a narrow channel separates it from a large sand island, which we passed, and encamped, eight miles on the north, under a high point of land opposite a large creek to the south, on which we observe an unusual quantity of timber. the wind was from the northwest this afternoon, and high, the weather cold, and its dreariness increased by the howlings of a number of wolves around us. september 16, sunday. early this morning, having reached a convenient spot on the south side, and at one mile and a quarter distance, we encamped just above a small creek, which we called corvus, having killed an animal of that genus near it. finding that we could not proceed over the sandbars, as fast as we desired, while the boat was so heavily loaded, we concluded not to send back, as we originally intended, our third periogue, but to detain the soldiers until spring, and in the mean time lighten the boat by loading the periogue: this operation, added to that of drying all our wet articles, detained us during the day. our camp is in a beautiful plain, with timber thinly scattered for three quarters of a mile, and consisting chiefly of elm, cottonwood, some ash of an indifferent quality, and a considerable quantity of a small species of white oak: this tree seldom rises higher than thirty feet, and branches very much; the bark is rough, thick and of a light colour; the leaves small, deeply indented, and of a pale green; the cup which contains the acorn is fringed on the edges, and embraces it about one half: the acorn itself, which grows in great profusion, is of an excellent flavour, and has none of the roughness which most other acorns possess; they are now falling, and have probably attracted the number of deer which we saw on this place, as all the animals we have seen are fond of that food. the ground having been recently burnt by the indians, is covered with young green grass, and in the neighbourhood are great quantities of fine plums. we killed a few deer for the sake of their skins, which we wanted to cover the periogues, the meat being too poor for food: the cold season coming on, a flannel shirt was given to each man, and fresh powder to those who had exhausted their supply. monday, september 16. whilst some of the party were engaged in the same way as yesterday, others were employed in examining the surrounding country. about a quarter of a mile behind our camp, and at an elevation of twenty feet above it, a plain extends nearly three miles parallel to the river, and about a mile back to the hills, towards which it gradually ascends. here we saw a grove of plum-trees loaded with fruit, now ripe, and differing in nothing from those of the atlantic states, except that the tree is smaller and more thickly set. the ground of the plain is occupied by the burrows of multitudes of barking squirrels, who entice hither the wolves of a small kind, hawks, and polecats, all of which animals we saw, and presumed that they fed on the squirrel. this plain is intersected nearly in its whole extent by deep ravines and steep irregular rising grounds from one to two hundred feet. on ascending the range of hills which border the plain, we saw a second high level plain stretching to the south as far as the eye could reach. to the westward, a high range of hills about twenty miles distant runs nearly north and south, but not to any great extent, as their rise and termination is embraced by one view, and they seemed covered with a verdure similar to that of the plains. the same view extended over the irregular hills which border the northern side of the missouri; all around the country had been recently burnt, and a young green grass about four inches high covered the ground, which was enlivened by herds of antelopes and buffaloe; the last of which were in such multitudes, that we cannot exaggerate in saying that at a single glance we saw three thousand of them before us. of all the animals we had seen the antelope seems to possess the most wonderful fleetness: shy and timorous they generally repose only on the ridges, which command a view of all the approaches of an enemy: the acuteness of their sight distinguishes the most distant danger, the delicate sensibility of their smell defeats the precautions of concealment, and when alarmed their rapid career seems more like the flight of birds than the movements of an earthly being. after many unsuccessful attempts, captain lewis at last, by winding around the ridges, approached a party of seven, which were on an eminence, towards which the wind was unfortunately blowing. the only male of the party frequently encircled the summit of the hill, as if to announce any danger to the females, who formed a group at the top. although they did not see captain lewis, the smell alarmed them, and they fled when he was at the distance of two hundred yards: he immediately ran to the spot where they had been, a ravine concealed them from him, but the next moment they appeared on a second ridge at the distance of three miles. he doubted whether it could be the same, but their number and the extreme rapidity with which they continued their course, convinced him that they must have gone with a speed equal to that of the most distinguished racehorse. among our acquisitions to-day was a mule-deer, a magpie, the common deer, and buffaloe: captain lewis also saw a hare, and killed a rattlesnake near the burrows of the barking squirrels. tuesday, september 18. having everything in readiness we proceeded, with the boat much lightened, but the wind being from the n.w. we made but little way. at one mile we reached an island in the middle of the river, nearly a mile in length, and covered with red cedar; at its extremity a small creek comes in from the north; we then met some sandbars, and the wind being very high and ahead, we encamped on the south, having made only seven miles. in addition to the common deer, which were in great abundance, we saw goats, elk, buffaloe, the black tailed deer; the large wolves too are very numerous, and have long hair with coarse fur, and are of a light colour. a small species of wolf about the size of a gray fox was also killed, and proved to be the animal which we had hitherto mistaken for a fox: there are also many porcupines, rabbits, and barking squirrels in the neighbourhood. september 19. we this day enjoyed a cool clear morning, and a wind from the southeast. we reached at three miles a bluff on the south, and four miles farther, the lower point of prospect island, about two and a half miles in length; opposite to this are high bluffs, about eighty feet above the water, beyond which are beautiful plains gradually rising as they recede from the river: these are watered by three streams which empty near each other; the first is about thirty-five yards wide, the ground on its sides high and rich, with some timber; the second about twelve yards wide, but with less timber; the third is nearly of the same size, and contains more water, but it scatters its waters over the large timbered plain, and empties itself into the river at three places. these rivers are called by the french les trois rivieres des sioux, the three sioux rivers; and as the sioux generally cross the missouri at this place, it is called the sioux pass of the three rivers. these streams have the same right of asylum, though in a less degree than pipestone creek already mentioned. two miles from the island we passed a creek fifteen yards wide; eight miles further, another twenty yards wide; three miles beyond which, is a third of eighteen yards width, all on the south side: the second which passes through a high plain we called elm creek; to the third we gave the name of night creek, having reached it late at night. about a mile beyond this is a small island on the north side of the river, and is called lower island, as it is situated at the commencement of what is known by the name of the grand detour, or great bend of the missouri. opposite is a creek on the south about ten yards wide, which waters a plain where there are great numbers of the prickley pear, which name we gave to the creek. we encamped on the south, opposite the upper extremity of the island, having made an excellent day's sail of twenty six and a quarter miles. our game this day consisted chiefly of deer, of these four were black tails, one a buck with two main prongs of horns on each side and forked equally. large herds of buffaloe, elk and goats, were also seen. thursday, september 20. finding we had reached the big bend, we despatched two men with our only horse across the neck, to hunt there and wait our arrival at the first creek beyond it. we then set out with fair weather and the wind from s.e. to make the circuit of the bend. near the lower island the sandbars are numerous, and the river shallow. at nine and a half miles is a sand island, on the southern side. about ten miles beyond it is a small island on the south, opposite to a small creek on the north. this island, which is near the n.w. extremity of the bend, is called solitary island. at about eleven miles further, we encamped on a sandbar, having made twenty-seven and a half miles. captain clarke, who early this morning had crossed the neck of the bend, joined us in the evening. at the narrowest part, the gorge is composed of high and irregular hills of about one hundred and eighty or one hundred and ninety feet in elevation; from this descends an unbroken plain over the whole of the bend, and the country is separated from it by this ridge. great numbers of buffaloe, elk, and goats are wandering over these plains, accompanied by grouse and larks. captain clarke saw a hare also, on the great bend. of the goats killed to-day, one is a female differing from the male in being smaller in size; its horns too are smaller and straighter, having one short prong, and no black about the neck: none of these goats have any beard, but are delicately formed, and very beautiful. friday, september 21. between one and two o'clock the serjeant on guard alarmed us, by crying that the sandbar on which we lay was sinking; we jumped up, and found that both above and below our camp the sand was undermined and falling in very fast: we had scarcely got into the boats and pushed off, when the bank under which they had been lying, fell in, and would certainly have sunk the two periogues if they had remained there. by the time we reached the opposite shore the ground of our encampment sunk also. we formed a second camp for the rest of the night; and at daylight proceeded on to the gorge or throat of the great bend, where we breakfasted. a man, whom we had despatched to step off the distance across the bend, made it two thousand yards: the circuit is thirty miles. during the whole course, the land of the bend is low, with occasional bluffs; that on the opposite side, high prairie ground, and long ridges of dark bluffs. after breakfast, we passed through a high prairie on the north side, and a rich cedar lowland and cedar bluff on the south, till we reached a willow island below the mouth of a small creek. this creek, called tyler's river, is about thirty-five yards wide, comes in on the south, and is at the distance of six miles from the neck of the great bend. here we found a deer, and the skin of a white wolf, left us by our hunters ahead: large quantities of different kinds of plover and brants are in this neighbourhood, and seen collecting and moving towards the south; the catfish are small, and not in such plenty as we had found them below this place. we passed several sandbars, which make the river very shallow and about a mile in width, and encamped on the south, at the distance of eleven and a half miles. on each side the shore is lined with hard rough gulleystones, rolled from the hills and small brooks. the most common timber is the cedar, though, in the prairies, there are great quantities of the prickly pear. from this place we passed several sandbars, which make the river shallow, and about a mile in width. at the distance of eleven and a half miles, we encamped on the north at the lower point of an ancient island, which has since been connected with the main land by the filling up of the northern channel, and is now covered with cottonwood. we here saw some tracks of indians, but they appeared three or four weeks old. this day was warm. september 22. a thick fog detained us until seven o'clock; our course was through inclined prairies on each side of the river, crowded with buffaloe. we halted at a point on the north side, near a high bluff on the south, and took a meridian altitude, which gave us the latitude of 44â° 11' 33-3/10". on renewing our course, we reached first a small island on the south, at the distance of four and a half miles, immediately above which is another island opposite to a creek fifteen yards wide. this creek, and the two islands, one of which is half a mile long, and the second three miles, are called the three sisters: a beautiful plain extending on both sides of the river. this is followed by an island on the north, called cedar island, about one mile and a half in length and the same distance in breadth, and deriving its name from the quality of the timber. on the south side of this island, is a fort and a large trading house, built by a mr. loisel, who wintered here during the last year, in order to trade with the sioux, the remains of whose camps are in great numbers about this place. the establishment is sixty or seventy feet square, built with red cedar and picketted in with the same materials. the hunters who had been sent ahead joined us here. they mention that the hills are washed in gullies, in passing over which, some mineral substances had rotted and destroyed their moccasins; they had killed two deer and a beaver. at sixteen miles distance we came to on the north side at the mouth of a small creek. the large stones which we saw yesterday on the shores are now some distance in the river, and render the navigation dangerous. the musquitoes are still numerous in the low grounds. sunday, september 23. we passed, with a light breeze from the southeast, a small island on the north, called goat island; above which is a small creek, called by the party smoke creek, as we observed a great smoke to the southwest on approaching it. at ten miles we came to the lower point of a large island, having passed two small willow islands with sandbars projecting from them. this island, which we called elk island, is about two and a half miles long, and three quarters of a mile wide, situated near the south, and covered with cottonwood, the red currant, and grapes. the river is here almost straight for a considerable distance, wide and shallow, with many sandbars. a small creek on the north, about sixteen yards wide, we called reuben's creek; as reuben fields, one of our men, was the first of the party who reached it. at a short distance above this we encamped for the night, having made twenty miles. the country, generally, consists of low, rich, timbered ground on the north, and high barren lands on the south: on both sides great numbers of buffaloe are feeding. in the evening three boys of the sioux nation swam across the river, and informed us that two parties of sioux were encamped on the next river, one consisting of eighty, and the second of sixty lodges, at some distance above. after treating them kindly we sent them back with a present of two carrots of tobacco to their chiefs, whom we invited to a conference in the morning. monday, september 24. the wind was from the east, and the day fair; we soon passed a handsome prairie on the north side, covered with ripe plums, and the mouth of a creek on the south, called highwater creek, a little above our encampment. at about five miles we reached an island two and a half miles in length, and situated near the south. here we were joined by one of our hunters, who procured four elk, but whilst he was in pursuit of the game the indians had stolen his horse. we left the island, and soon overtook five indians on the shore: we anchored and told them from the boat we were friends and wished to continue so, but were not afraid of any indians; that some of their young men had stolen the horse which their great father had sent for their great chief, and that we could not treat with them until he was restored. they said that they knew nothing of the horse, but if he had been taken he should be given up. we went on, and at eleven and a half miles, passed an island on the north, which we called good-humoured island; it is about one and a half miles long, and abounds in elk. at thirteen and a half miles, we anchored one hundred yards off the mouth of a river on the south side, where we were joined by both the periogues and encamped; two thirds of the party remained on board, and the rest went as a guard on shore with the cooks and one periogue; we have seen along the sides of the hills on the north a great deal of stone; besides the elk, we also observed a hare; the five indians whom we had seen followed us, and slept with the guard on shore. finding one of them was a chief we smoked with him, and made him a present of tobacco. this river is about seventy yards wide, and has a considerable current. as the tribe of the sioux which inhabit it are called teton, we gave it the name of teton river. chap. iv. council held with the tetons--their manners, dances, &c.--chayenne river--council held with the ricara indians--their manners and habits--strange instance of ricara idolatry--another instance--cannonball river--arrival among the mandans--character of the surrounding country, and of the creeks, islands, &c. september 25. the morning was fine, and the wind continued from the southeast. we raised a flagstaff and an awning, under which we assembled at twelve o'clock, with all the party parading under arms. the chiefs and warriors from the camp two miles up the river, met us, about fifty or sixty in number, and after smoking delivered them a speech; but as our sioux interpreter, mr. durion, had been left with the yanktons, we were obliged to make use of a frenchman who could not speak fluently, and therefore we curtailed our harangue. after this we went through the ceremony of acknowledging the chiefs, by giving to the grand chief a medal, a flag of the united states, a laced uniform coat, a cocked hat and feather: to the two other chiefs a medal and some small presents; and to two warriors of consideration certificates. the name of the great chief is untongasabaw, or black buffaloe; the second tortohonga, or the partisan; the third tartongawaka, or buffaloe medicine: the name of one of the warriors was wawzinggo; that of the second matocoquepa, or second bear. we then invited the chiefs on board, and showed them the boat, the airgun, and such curiosities as we thought might amuse them: in this we succeeded too well; for after giving them a quarter of a glass of whiskey, which they seemed to like very much, and sucked the bottle, it was with much difficulty that we could get rid of them. they at last accompanied captain clarke on shore in a periogue with five men; but it seems they had formed a design to stop us; for no sooner had the party landed than three of the indians seized the cable of the periogue, and one of the soldiers of the chief put his arms round the mast: the second chief who affected intoxication, then said, that we should not go on, that they had not received presents enough from us; captain clarke told him that he would not be prevented from going on; that we were not squaws, but warriors; that we were sent by our great father, who could in a moment exterminate them: the chief replied, that he too had warriors, and was proceeding to offer personal violence to captain clarke, who immediately drew his sword, and made a signal to the boat to prepare for action. the indians who surrounded him, drew their arrows from their quivers and were bending their bows, when the swivel in the boat was instantly pointed towards them, and twelve of our most determined men jumped into the periogue and joined captain clarke. this movement made an impression on them, for the grand chief ordered the young men away from the periogue, and they withdrew and held a short council with the warriors. being unwilling to irritate them, captain clarke then went forward and offered his hand to the first and second chiefs, who refused to take it. he then turned from them and got into the periogue, but had not gone more than ten paces when both the chiefs and two of the warriors waded in after him, and he brought them on board. we then proceeded on for a mile and anchored off a willow island, which from the circumstances which had just occurred, we called badhumoured island. wednesday, september 26. our conduct yesterday seemed to have inspired the indians with fear of us, and as we were desirous of cultivating their acquaintance, we complied with their wish that we should give them an opportunity of treating us well, and also suffer their squaws and children to see us and our boat, which would be perfectly new to them. accordingly, after passing at one and a half mile a small willow island and several sandbars, we came to on the south side, where a crowd of men, women and children were waiting to receive us. captain lewis went on shore and remained several hours, and observing that their disposition was friendly we resolved to remain during the night to a dance, which they were preparing for us. captains lewis and clarke, who went on shore one after the other, were met on landing by ten well dressed young men, who took them up in a robe highly decorated and carried them to a large council house, where they were placed on a dressed buffaloe skin by the side of the grand chief. the hall or council-room was in the shape of three quarters of a circle, covered at the top and sides with skins well dressed and sewed together. under this shelter sat about seventy men, forming a circle round the chief, before whom were placed a spanish flag and the one we had given them yesterday. this left a vacant circle of about six feet diameter, in which the pipe of peace was raised on two forked sticks, about six or eight inches from the ground, and under it the down of the swan was scattered: a large fire, in which they were cooking provisions, stood near, and in the centre about four hundred pounds of excellent buffaloe meat as a present for us. as soon as we were seated, an old man got up, and after approving what we had done, begged us to take pity on their unfortunate situation. to this we replied with assurances of protection. after he had ceased, the great chief rose and delivered an harangue to the same effect: then with great solemnity he took some of the most delicate parts of the dog, which was cooked for the festival, and held it to the flag by way of sacrifice: this done, he held up the pipe of peace, and first pointed it towards the heavens, then to the four quarters of the globe, and then to the earth, made a short speech, lighted the pipe, and presented it to us. we smoked, and he again harangued his people, after which the repast was served up to us. it consisted of the dog which they had just been cooking, this being a great dish among the sioux and used on all festivals; to this were added, pemitigon, a dish made of buffaloe meat, dried or jerked, and then pounded and mixed raw with grease and a kind of ground potatoe, dressed like the preparation of indian corn called hominy, to which it is little inferior. of all these luxuries which were placed before us in platters with horn spoons, we took the pemitigon and the potatoe, which we found good, but we could as yet partake but sparingly of the dog. we eat and smoked for an hour, when it became dark: every thing was then cleared away for the dance, a large fire being made in the centre of the house, giving at once light and warmth to the ballroom. the orchestra was composed of about ten men, who played on a sort of tambourin, formed of skin stretched across a hoop; and made a jingling noise with a long stick to which the hoofs of deer and goats were hung; the third instrument was a small skin bag with pebbles in it: these, with five or six young men for the vocal part, made up the band. the women then came forward highly decorated; some with poles in their hands, on which were hung the scalps of their enemies; others with guns, spears or different trophies, taken in war by their husbands, brothers, or connexions. having arranged themselves in two columns, one on each side of the fire, as soon as the music began they danced towards each other till they met in the centre, when the rattles were shaken, and they all shouted and returned back to their places. they have no step, but shuffle along the ground; nor does the music appear to be any thing more than a confusion of noises, distinguished only by hard or gentle blows upon the buffaloe skin: the song is perfectly extemporaneous. in the pauses of the dance, any man of the company comes forward and recites, in a sort of low guttural tone, some little story or incident, which is either martial or ludicrous; or, as was the case this evening, voluptuous and indecent; this is taken up by the orchestra and the dancers, who repeat it in a higher strain and dance to it. sometimes they alternate; the orchestra first performing, and when it ceases, the women raise their voices and make a music more agreeable, that is, less intolerable than that of the musicians. the dances of the men, which are always separate from those of the women, are conducted very nearly in the same way, except that the men jump up and down instead of shuffling; and in the war dances the recitations are all of a military cast. the harmony of the entertainment had nearly been disturbed by one of the musicians, who thinking he had not received a due share of the tobacco we had distributed during the evening, put himself into a passion, broke one of the drums, threw two of them into the fire, and left the band. they were taken out of the fire: a buffaloe robe held in one hand and beaten with the other, by several of the company, supplied the place of the lost drum or tambourin, and no notice was taken of the offensive conduct of the man. we staid till twelve o'clock at night, when we informed the chiefs that they must be fatigued with all these attempts to amuse us, and retired accompanied by four chiefs, two of whom spent the night with us on board. while on shore we saw twenty-five squaws, and about the same number of children, who had been taken prisoners two weeks ago, in a battle with their countrymen the mahas. in this engagement the sioux destroyed forty lodges, killed seventy-five men, of which we saw many of the scalps, and took these prisoners; their appearance is wretched and dejected; the women too seem low in stature, coarse and ugly; though their present condition may diminish their beauty. we gave them a variety of small articles, such as awls and needles, and interceded for them with the chiefs, to whom we recommended to follow the advice of their great father, to restore the prisoners and live in peace with the mahas, which they promised to do. the tribe which we this day saw, are a part of the great sioux nation, and are known by the name of the teton okandandas: they are about two hundred men in number, and their chief residence is on both sides of the missouri, between the chayenne and teton rivers. in their persons they are rather ugly and ill made, their legs and arms being too small, their cheekbones high, and their eyes projecting. the females, with the same character of form, are more handsome; and both sexes appear cheerful and sprightly; but in our intercourse with them we discovered that they were cunning and vicious. the men shave the hair off their heads, except a small tuft on the top, which they suffer to grow and wear in plaits over the shoulders; to this they seem much attached, as the loss of it is the usual sacrifice at the death of near relations. in full dress, the men of consideration wear a hawk's feather, or calumet feather worked with porcupine quills, and fastened to the top of the head, from which it falls back. the face and body are generally painted with a mixture of grease and coal. over the shoulders is a loose robe or mantle of buffaloe skin dressed white, adorned with porcupine quills loosely fixed so as to make a gingling noise when in motion, and painted with various uncouth figures unintelligible to us, but to them emblematic of military exploits, or any other incident; the hair of the robe is worn next the skin in fair weather, but when it rains the hair is put outside, and the robe is either thrown over the arm, or wrapped round the body, all of which it may cover. under this in the winter season they wear a kind of shirt resembling ours, and made either of skin or cloth, and covering the arms and body. round the middle is fixed a girdle of cloth or procured dressed elk-skin, about an inch in width and closely tied to the body, to this is attached a piece of cloth or blanket or skin about a foot wide, which passes between the legs and is tucked under the girdle both before and behind; from the hip to the ancle he is covered by leggings of dressed antelope skins, with seams at the sides two inches in width, and ornamented by little tufts of hair the produce of the scalps they have made in war, which are scattered down the leg. the winter moccasins are of dressed buffaloe-skin, the hair being worn inwards, and soaled with thick elk-skin parchment: those for summer are of deer or elk-skin, dressed without the hair, and with soals of elk-skin. on great occasions, or wherever they are in full dress, the young men drag after them the entire skin of a polecat fixed to the heel of the moccasin. another skin of the same animal is either tucked into the girdle or carried in the hand, and serves as a pouch for their tobacco, or what the french traders call the bois roule: this is the inner bark of a species of red willow, which being dried in the sun or over the fire, is rubbed between the hands and broken into small pieces, and is used alone or mixed with tobacco. the pipe is generally of red earth, the stem made of ash, about three or four feet long, and highly decorated with feathers, hair and porcupine quills. the hair of the women is suffered to grow long, and is parted from the forehead across the head, at the back of which it is either collected into a kind of bag, or hangs down over the shoulders. their moccasins are like those of the men, as are also the leggings, which do not however reach beyond the knee, where it is met by a long loose shift of skin which reaches nearly to the ancles: this is fastened over the shoulders by a string and has no sleeves, but a few pieces of the skin hang a short distance down the arm. sometimes a girdle fastens this skin round the waist, and over all is thrown a robe like that worn by the men. they seem fond of dress. their lodges are very neatly constructed, in the same form as those of the yanktons; they consist of about one hundred cabins, made of white buffaloe hide dressed, with a larger one in the centre for holding councils and dances. they are built round with poles about fifteen or twenty feet high, covered with white skins; these lodges may be taken to pieces, packed up, and carried with the nation wherever they go, by dogs which bear great burdens. the women are chiefly employed in dressing buffaloe skins: they seem perfectly well disposed, but are addicted to stealing any thing which they can take without being observed. this nation, although it makes so many ravages among its neighbours, is badly supplied with guns. the water which they carry with them is contained chiefly in the paunches of deer and other animals, and they make use of wooden bowls. some had their heads shaved, which we found was a species of mourning for relations. another usage, on these occasions, is to run arrows through the flesh both above and below the elbow. while on shore to-day we witnessed a quarrel between two squaws, which appeared to be growing every moment more boisterous, when a man came forward, at whose approach every one seemed terrified and ran. he took the squaws, and without any ceremony whipped them severely; on inquiring into the nature of such summary justice, we learnt that this man was an officer well known to this and many other tribes. his duty is to keep the peace, and the whole interior police of the village is confided to two or three of these officers, who are named by the chief and remain in power some days, at least till the chief appoints a successor; they seem to be a sort of constable or sentinel, since they are always on the watch to keep tranquillity during the day, and guarding the camp in the night. the short duration of their office is compensated by its authority: his power is supreme, and in the suppression of any riot or disturbance no resistance to him is suffered: his person is sacred, and if in the execution of his duty he strikes even a chief of the second class, he cannot be punished for this salutary insolence. in general they accompany the person of the chief, and when ordered to any duty, however dangerous, it is a point of honour rather to die than to refuse obedience. thus, when they attempted to stop us yesterday, the chief ordered one of these men to take possession of the boat: he immediately put his arms round the mast, and, as we understood, no force except the command of the chief would have induced him to release his hold. like the other men their bodies are blackened, but their distinguishing mark is a collection of two or three raven skins fixed to the girdle behind the back in such a way, that the tails stick out horizontally from the body. on his head too is a raven skin split into two parts, and tied so as to let the beak project from the forehead. thursday september 27. we rose early, and the two chiefs took off, as a matter of course and according to their custom, the blanket on which they had slept. to this we added a peck of corn as a present to each. captain lewis and the chiefs went on shore to see a part of the nation that was expected, but did not come. he returned at two o'clock, with four of the chiefs and a warrior of distinction, called wadrapa, (or on his guard); they examined the boat and admired whatever was strange, during half an hour, when they left it with great reluctance. captain clarke accompanied them to the lodge of the grand chief, who invited them to a dance, where, being joined by captain lewis, they remained till a late hour. the dance was very similar to that of yesterday. about twelve we left them, taking the second chief and one principal warrior on board: as we came near the boat the man who steered the periogue, by mistake, brought her broadside against the boat's cable, and broke it. we called up all hands to their oars; but our noise alarmed the two indians: they called out to their companions, and immediately the whole camp crowded to the shore; but after half an hour they returned, leaving about sixty men near us. the alarm given by the chiefs was said to be that the mahas had attacked us, and that they were desirous of assisting us to repel it; but we suspected that they were afraid we meant to set sail, and intended to prevent us from doing so; for in the night the maha prisoners had told one of our men, who understood the language, that we were to be stopped. we therefore, without giving any indication of our suspicion, prepared every thing for an attack, as the loss of our anchor obliged to come to near a falling bank, very unfavourable for defence. we were not mistaken in these opinions; for when in the morning, friday, september 28, after dragging unsuccessfully for the anchor, we wished to set sail, it was with great difficulty that we could make the chiefs leave the boat. at length we got rid of all except the great chief; when just as we were setting out, several of the chief's soldiers sat on the rope which held the boat to the shore. irritated at this we got every thing ready to fire on them if they persisted, but the great chief said that these were his soldiers and only wanted some tobacco. we had already refused a flag and some tobacco to the second chief, who had demanded it with great importunity; but willing to leave them without going to extremities, we threw him a carrot of tobacco, saying to him, "you have told us that you were a great man, and have influence; now show your influence, by taking the rope from those men, and we will then go without any further trouble." this appeal to his pride had the desired effect; he went out of the boat, gave the soldiers the tobacco, and pulling the rope out of their hands delivered it on board, and we then set sail under a breeze from the s.e. after sailing about two miles we observed the third chief beckoning to us: we took him on board, and he informed us that the rope had been held by the order of the second chief, who was a double-faced man. a little farther on we were joined by the son of the chief, who came on board to see his father. on his return we sent a speech to the nation, explaining what we had done, and advising them to peace; but if they persisted in their attempts to stop us, we were willing and able to defend ourselves. after making six miles, during which we passed a willow island on the south and one sandbar, we encamped on another in the middle of the river. the country on the south-side was a low prairie, that on the north highland. september 29. we set out early, but were again impeded by sandbars, which made the river shallow; the weather was however fair; the land on the north side low and covered with timber contrasted with the bluffs to the south. at nine o'clock we saw the second chief and two women and three men on shore, who wished us to take two women offered by the second chief to make friends, which was refused; he then requested us to take them to the other band of their nation, who were on the river not far from us: this we declined; but in spite of our wishes they followed us along shore. the chief asked us to give them some tobacco; this we did, and gave more as a present for that part of the nation which we did not see. at seven and a half miles we came to a small creek on the southern side, where we saw great numbers of elk, and which we called notimber creek from its bare appearance. above the mouth of this stream, a ricara band of pawnees had a village five years ago: but there are no remains of it except the mound which encircled the town. here the second chief went on shore. we then proceeded, and at the distance of eleven miles encamped on the lower part of a willow island, in the middle of the river, being obliged to substitute large stones in the place of the anchor which we lost. september 30. the wind was this morning very high from the southeast, so that we were obliged to proceed under a double-reefed mainsail, through the rain. the country presented a large low prairie covered with timber on the north side; on the south, we first had high barren hills, but after some miles it became of the same character as that on the opposite side. we had not gone far when an indian ran after us, and begged to be carried on board as far as the ricaras, which we refused: soon after, we discovered on the hills at a distance, a great number of indians, who came towards the river and encamped ahead of us. we stopped at a sandbar, at about eleven miles, and after breakfasting proceeded on a short distance to their camp, which consisted of about four hundred souls. we anchored one hundred yards from the shore, and discovering that they were tetons belonging to the band which we had just left: we told them that we took them by the hand, and would make each chief a present of tobacco; that we had been badly treated by some of their band, and that having waited for them two days below, we could not stop here, but referred them to mr. durion for our talk and an explanation of our views: they then apologized for what had past, assured us that they were friendly, and very desirous that we should land and eat with them: this we refused, but sent the periogue on shore with the tobacco, which was delivered to one of the soldiers of the chief, whom we had on board. several of them now ran along the shore after us, but the chief threw them a twist of tobacco, and told them to go back and open their ears to our counsels; on which they immediately returned to their lodges. we then proceeded past a continuation of the low prairie on the north, where we had large quantities of grapes, and on the south saw a small creek and an island. six miles above this, two indians came to the bank, looked at us about half an hour, and then went without speaking over the hills to the southwest. after some time, the wind rose still higher, and the boat struck a log, turned, and was very near taking in water. the chief became so much terrified at the danger, that he hid himself in the boat, and as soon as we landed got his gun and told us that he wanted to return, that we would now see no more tetons, and that we might proceed unmolested: we repeated the advice we had already given, presented him with a blanket, a knife, some tobacco, and after smoking with him he set out. we then continued to a sandbar on the north side, where we encamped, having come twenty and a half miles. in the course of the day we saw a number of sandbars which impede the navigation. the only animal which we observed was the white gull, then in great abundance. october 1st, 1804. the weather was very cold and the wind high from the southeast during the night, and continued so this morning. at three miles distance, we had passed a large island in the middle of the river, opposite to the lower end of which the ricaras once had a village on the south side of the river: there are, however, no remnants of it now, except a circular wall three or four feet in height, which encompassed the town. two miles beyond this island is a river coming in from the southwest, about four hundred yards wide; the current gentle, and discharging not much water, and very little sand: it takes its rise in the second range of the cote noire or black mountains, and its general course is nearly east; this river has been occasionally called dog river, under a mistaken opinion that its french name was chien, but its true appellation is chayenne, and it derives this title from the chayenne indians: their history is the short and melancholy relation of the calamities of almost all the indians. they were a numerous people and lived on the chayenne, a branch of the red river of lake winnipeg. the invasion of the sioux drove them westward; in their progress they halted on the southern side of the missouri below the warreconne, where their ancient fortifications still exist; but the same impulse again drove them to the heads of the chayenne, where they now rove, and occasionally visit the ricaras. they are now reduced, but still number three hundred men. although the river did not seem to throw out much sand, yet near and above its mouth we find a great many sandbars difficult to pass. on both sides of the missouri, near the chayenne, are rich thinly timbered lowlands, behind which are bare hills. as we proceeded, we found that the sandbars made the river so shallow, and the wind was so high, that we could scarcely find the channel, and at one place were forced to drag the boat over a sandbar, the missouri being very wide and falling a little. at seven and a half miles we came to at a point, and remained three hours, during which time the wind abated: we then passed within four miles two creeks on the south, one of which we called centinel creek, and the other lookout creek. this part of the river has but little timber; the hills are not so high as we have hitherto seen, and the number of sandbars extends the river to more than a mile in breadth. we continued about four and a half miles further, to a sandbar in the middle of the river, where we spent the night, our progress being sixteen miles. on the opposite shore, we saw a house among the willows and a boy to whom we called, and brought him on board. he proved to be a young frenchman in the employ of a mr. valle a trader, who is now here pursuing his commerce with the sioux. tuesday, october 2. there had been a violent wind from s.e. during the night, which having moderated we set sail with mr. valle, who visited us this morning and accompanied us for two miles. he is one of three french traders who have halted here, expecting the sioux who are coming down from the ricaras, where they now are, for the purposes of traffic. mr. valle tells us that he passed the last winter three hundred leagues up the chayenne under the black mountains. that river he represents as very rapid, liable to sudden swells, the bed and shores formed of course gravel, and difficult of ascent even for canoes. one hundred leagues from its mouth it divides into two branches, one coming from the south, the other at forty leagues from the junction enters the black mountains. the land which it waters from the missouri to the black mountains, resembles the country on the missouri, except that the former has even less timber, and of that the greater proportion is cedar. the chayennes reside chiefly on the heads of the river, and steal horses from the spanish settlement, a plundering excursion which they perform in a month's time. the black mountains he observes are very high, covered with great quantities of pine, and in some parts the snow remains during the summer. there are also great quantities of goats, white bear, prairie cocks, and a species of animal which from his description must resemble a small elk, with large circular horns. at two and a half miles we had passed a willow island on the south, on the north side of the river were dark bluffs, and on the south low rich prairies. we took a meridian altitude on our arrival at the upper end of the isthmus of the bend, which we called the lookout bend, and found the latitude to be 44â° 19' 36". this bend is nearly twenty miles round, and not more than two miles across. in the afternoon we heard a shot fired, and not long after observed some indians on a hill: one of them came to the shore and wished us to land, as there were twenty lodges of yanktons or boisbrule there; we declined doing so, telling him that we had already seen his chiefs, and that they might learn from mr. durion the nature of the talk we had delivered to them. at nine miles we came to the lower point of a long island on the north, the banks of the south side of the river being high, those of the north forming a low rich prairie. we coasted along this island, which we called caution island, and after passing a small creek on the south encamped on a sandbar in the middle of the river, having made twelve miles. the wind changed to the northwest, and became very high and cold. the current of the river is less rapid, and the water though of the same colour contains less sediment than below the chayenne, but its width continues the same. we were not able to hunt to-day; for as there are so many indians in the neighbourhood, we were in constant expectation of being attacked, and were therefore forced to keep the party together and be on our guard. wednesday, october 3. the wind continued so high from the northwest, that we could not set out till after seven: we then proceeded till twelve o'clock, and landed on a bar towards the south, where we examined the periogues, and the forecastle of the boat, and found that the mice had cut several bags of corn, and spoiled some of our clothes: about one o'clock an indian came running to the shore with a turkey on his back: several others soon joined him, but we had no intercourse with them. we then went on for three miles, but the ascent soon became so obstructed by sandbars and shoal water, that after attempting in vain several channels, we determined to rest for the night under some high bluffs on the south, and send out to examine the best channel. we had made eight miles along high bluffs on each side. the birds we saw were the white gulls and the brant which were flying to the southward in large flocks. thursday, 4th. on examination we found that there was no outlet practicable for us in this channel, and that we must retread our steps. we therefore returned three miles, and attempted another channel in which we were more fortunate. the indians were in small numbers on the shore, and seemed willing had they been more numerous to molest us. they called to desire that we would land, and one of them gave three yells and fired a ball ahead of the boat: we however took no notice of it, but landed on the south to breakfast. one of these indians swam across and begged for some powder, we gave him a piece of tobacco only. at eight and a half miles we had passed an island in the middle of the river, which we called goodhope island. at one and a half mile we reached a creek on the south side about twelve yards wide, to which we gave the name of teal creek. a little above this is an island on the north side of the current, about one and a half mile in length and three quarters of a mile in breadth. in the centre of this island is an old village of the ricaras, called lahoocat; it was surrounded by a circular wall, containing seventeen lodges. the ricaras are known to have lived therein 1797, and the village seems to have been deserted about five years since; it does not contain much timber. we encamped on a sandbar making out from the upper end of this island; our journey to-day being twelve miles. friday, october 5. the weather was very cold: yesterday evening and this morning there was a white frost. we sailed along the highlands on the north side, passing a small creek on the south, between three and four miles. at seven o'clock we heard some yells and saw three indians of the teton band, who asked us to come on shore and begged for some tobacco, to all which we gave the same answer as hitherto. at eight miles we reached a small creek on the north. at fourteen we passed an island on the south, covered with wild rye, and at the head a large creek comes in from the south, which we named whitebrant creek, from seeing several white brants among flocks of dark-coloured ones. at the distance of twenty miles we came to on a sandbar towards the north side of the river, with a willow island opposite; the hills or bluffs come to the banks of the river on both sides, but are not so high as they are below: the river itself however continues of the same width, and the sandbars are quite as numerous. the soil of the banks is dark coloured, and many of the bluffs have the appearance of being on fire. our game this day was a deer, a prairie wolf, and some goats out of a flock that was swimming across the river. saturday, october 6. the morning was still cold, the wind being from the north. at eight miles we came to a willow island on the north, opposite a point of timber, where there are many large stones near the middle of the river, which seem to have been washed from the hills and high plains on both sides, or driven from a distance down the stream. at twelve miles we halted for dinner at a village which we suppose to have belonged to the ricaras; it is situated in a low plain on the river, and consists of about eighty lodges, of an octagon form, neatly covered with earth, placed as close to each other as possible, and picketed round. the skin canoes, mats, buckets, and articles of furniture found in the lodges, induce us to suppose that it had been left in the spring. we found three different sorts of squashes growing in the village; we also killed an elk near it, and saw two wolves. on leaving the village the river became shallow, and after searching a long time for the main channel, which was concealed among sandbars, we at last dragged the boat over one of them rather than go back three miles for the deepest channel. at fourteen and a half miles we stopped for the night on a sandbar, opposite a creek on the north, called otter creek, twenty-two yards in width, and containing more water than is common for creeks of that size. the sides of the river during the day are variegated with high bluffs and low timbered grounds on the banks: the river is very much obstructed by sandbars. we saw geese, swan, brants and ducks of different kinds on the sandbars, and on shore numbers of the prairie hen; the magpie too is very common, but the gulls and plover, which we saw in such numbers below, are now quite rare. sunday, october 7. there was frost again last evening, and this morning was cloudy and attended with rain. at two miles we came to the mouth of a river; called by the ricaras, sawawkawna, or pork river; the party who examined it for about three miles up, say that its current is gentle, and that it does not seem to throw out much sand. its sources are in the first range of the black mountains, and though it has now only water of twenty yards width, yet when full it occupies ninety. just below the mouth is another village or wintering camp of the ricaras, composed of about sixty lodges, built in the same form as those passed yesterday, with willow and straw mats, baskets and buffaloe-skin canoes remaining entire in the camp. we proceeded under a gentle breeze from the southwest: at ten o'clock we saw two indians on the north side, who told us they were a part of the lodge of tartongawaka, or buffaloe medicine, the teton chief whom we had seen on the twenty-fifth, that they were on the way to the ricaras, and begged us for something to eat, which we of course gave them. at seven and a half miles is a willow island on the north, and another on the same side five miles beyond it, in the middle of the river between highlands on both sides. at eighteen and a half miles is an island called grouse island, on which are the walls of an old village; the island has no timber, but is covered with grass and wild rye, and owes its name to the number of grouse that frequent it. we then went on till our journey for the day was twenty-two miles: the country presented the same appearance as usual. in the low timbered ground near the mouth of the sawawkawna, we saw the tracks of large white bear, and on grouse island killed a female blaireau, and a deer of the black-tailed species, the largest we have ever seen. monday, october 8. we proceeded early with a cool northwest wind, and at two and a half miles above grouse island, reached the mouth of a creek on the south, then a small willow island, which divides the current equally; and at four and a half miles came to a river on the southern side where we halted. this river, which our meridian altitude fixes at 45â° 39' 5" north latitude, is called by the ricaras wetawhoo; it rises in the black mountains, and its bed which flows at the mouth over a low soft slate stone, is one hundred and twenty yards wide, but the water is now confined within twenty yards, and is not very rapid, discharging mud with a small proportion of sand: here as in every bend of the river, we again observe the red berries resembling currants, which we mentioned before. two miles above the wetawhoo, and on the same side, is a small river called maropa by the indians; it is twenty yards in width, but so dammed up by mud that the stream creeps through a channel of not more than an inch in diameter, and discharges no sand. one mile further we reached an island close to the southern shore, from which it is separated by a deep channel of sixty yards. about half way a number of ricara indians came out to see us. we stopped and took a frenchman on board, who accompanied us past the island to our camp on the north side of the river, which is at the distance of twelve miles from that of yesterday. captain lewis then returned with four of the party to see the village; it is situated in the centre of the island, near the southern shore, under the foot of some high, bald, uneven hills, and contains about sixty lodges. the island itself is three miles long, and covered with fields in which the indians raise corn, beans, and potatoes. several frenchmen living among these indians as interpreters, or traders, came back with captain lewis, and particularly a mr. gravelines, a man who has acquired the language. on setting out we had a low prairie covered with timber on the north, and on the south highlands, but at the mouth of the wetawhoo the southern country changes, and a low timbered plain extends along the south, while the north has a ridge of barren hills during the rest of the day's course. tuesday, 9th. the wind was so cold and high last night and during all the day, that we could not assemble the indians in council; but some of the party went to the village. we received the visits of the three principal chiefs with many others, to whom we gave some tobacco, and told them that we would speak to them to-morrow. the names of these chiefs were first, kakawissassa or lighting crow; second chief pocasse or hay; third chief piaheto or eagle's feather. notwithstanding the high waves, two or three squaws rowed to us in little canoes made of a single buffaloe skin, stretched over a frame of boughs interwoven like a basket, and with the most perfect composure. the object which appeared to astonish the indians most, was captain clark's servant york, a remarkable stout strong negro. they had never seen a being of that colour, and therefore flocked round him to examine the extraordinary monster. by way of amusement he told them that he had once been a wild animal, and caught and tamed by his master, and to convince them, showed them feats of strength which added to his looks made him more terrible than we wished him to be. opposite our camp is a small creek on the south, which we distinguished by the name of the chief kakawissassa. wednesday, 10th. the weather was this day fine, and as we were desirous of assembling the whole nation at once, we despatched mr. gravelines, who with mr. tabeau another french trader had breakfeasted with us, to invite the chiefs of the two upper villages to a conference. they all assembled at one o'clock, and after the usual ceremonies we addressed them in the same way in which we had already spoken to the ottoes and sioux: we then made or acknowledged three chiefs, one for each of the three villages; giving to each a flag, a medal, a red coat, a cocked hat and feather, also some goods, paint and tobacco, which they divided among themselves: after this the airgun was exhibited, very much to their astonishment, nor were they less surprised at the colour and manner of york. on our side we were equally gratified at discovering that these ricaras made use of no spirituous liquors of any kind, the example of the traders who bring it to them so far from tempting having in fact disgusted them. supposing that it was as agreeable to them as to the other indians, we had at first offered them whiskey; but they refused it with this sensible remark, that they were surprised that their father should present to them a liquor which would make them fools. on another occasion they observed to mr. tabeau, that no man could be their friend who tried to lead them into such follies. the council being over they retired to consult on their answer, and the next morning, thursday, 11th, at eleven o'clock we again met in council at our camp. the grand chief made a short speech of thanks for the advice we had given, and promised to follow it; adding that the door was now open and no one dare shut it, and that we might depart whenever we pleased, alluding to the treatment we had received from the sioux: they also brought us some corn, beans, and dried squashes, and in return we gave them a steel mill with which they were much pleased. at one o'clock we left our camp with the grand chief and his nephew on board, and at about two miles anchored below a creek on the south, separating the second and third village of the ricaras, which are about half a mile distant from each other. we visited both the villages, and sat conversing with the chiefs for some time, during which they presented us with a bread made of corn and beans, also corn and beans boiled, and a large rich bean which they take from the mice of the prairie, who discover and collect it. these two villages are placed near each other in a high smooth prairie; a fine situation, except that having no wood the inhabitants are obliged to go for it across the river to a timbered lowland opposite to them. we told them that we would speak to them in the morning at their villages separately. thursday, 12th. accordingly after breakfast we went on shore to the house of the chief of the second village named lassel, where we found his chiefs and warriors. they made us a present of about seven bushels of corn, a pair of leggings, a twist of their tobacco, and the seeds of two different species of tobacco. the chief then delivered a speech expressive of his gratitude for the presents and the good counsels which we had given him; his intention of visiting his great father but for fear of the sioux; and requested us to take one of the ricara chiefs up to the mandans and negociate a peace between the two nations. to this we replied in a suitable way, and then repaired to the third village. here we were addressed by the chief in nearly the same terms as before, and entertained with a present of ten bushels of corn, some beans, dried pumpkins, and squashes. after we had answered and explained the magnitude and power of the united states, the three chiefs came with us to the boat. we gave them some sugar, a little salt, and a sunglass. two of them then left us, and the chief of the third, by name ahketahnasha or chief of the town, accompanied us to the mandans. at two o'clock we left the indians, who crowded to the shore to take leave of us, and after making seven and a half miles landed on the north side, and had a clear, cool, pleasant evening. the three villages which we have just left, are the residence of a nation called the ricaras. they were originally colonies of pawnees, who established themselves on the missouri, below the chayenne, where the traders still remember that twenty years ago they occupied a number of villages. from that situation a part of the ricaras emigrated to the neighbourhood of the mandans, with whom they were then in alliance. the rest of the nation continued near the chayenne till the year 1797, in the course of which, distressed by their wars with the sioux, they joined their countrymen near the mandans. soon after a new war arose between the ricaras and the mandans, in consequence of which the former came down the river to their present position. in this migration those who had first gone to the mandans kept together, and now live in the two lower villages, which may thence be considered as the ricaras proper. the third village was composed of such remnants of the villages as had survived the wars, and as these were nine in number a difference of pronunciation and some difference of language may be observed between them and the ricaras proper, who do not understand all the words of these wanderers. the villages are within the distance of four miles of each other, the two lower ones consisting of between one hundred and fifty and two hundred men each, the third of three hundred. the ricaras are tall and well proportioned, the women handsome and lively, and as among other savages to them falls all the drudgery of the field and the labours of procuring subsistence, except that of hunting: both sexes are poor, but kind and generous, and although they receive with thankfulness what is given to them, do not beg as the sioux did, though this praise should be qualified by mentioning that an axe was stolen last night from our cooks. the dress of the men is a simple pair of moccasins, legings, and a cloth round the middle, over which a buffaloe robe is occasionally thrown, with their hair, arms and ears decorated with different ornaments. the women wear moccasins, legings, a long shirt made of goats' skins, generally white and fringed, which is tied round the waist; to those they add, like the men, a buffaloe robe without the hair, in summer. these women are handsomer than the sioux; both of them are however, disposed to be amorous, and our men found no difficulty in procuring companions for the night by means of the interpreters. these interviews were chiefly clandestine, and were of course to be kept a secret from the husband or relations. the point of honour indeed, is completely reversed among the ricaras; that the wife or the sister should submit to a stranger's embraces without the consent of her husband or brother, is a cause of great disgrace and offence, especially as for many purposes of civility or gratitude the husband and brother will themselves present to a stranger these females, and be gratified by attentions to them. the sioux had offered us squaws, but while we remained there having declined, they followed us with offers of females for two days. the ricaras had been equally accommodating; we had equally withstood their temptation; but such was their desire to oblige that two very handsome young squaws were sent on board this evening, and persecuted us with civilities. the black man york participated largely in these favours; for instead of inspiring any prejudice, his colour seemed to procure him additional advantages from the indians, who desired to preserve among them some memorial of this wonderful stranger. among other instances of attention, a ricara invited him into his house and presenting his wife to him, retired to the outside of the door: while there one of york's comrades who was looking for him came to the door, but the gallant husband would permit no interruption before a reasonable time had elapsed. the ricara lodges are in a circular or octagonal form, and generally about thirty or forty feet in diameter: they are made by placing forked posts about six feet high round the circumference of the circle; these are joined by poles from one fork to another, which are supported also by other forked poles slanting from the ground: in the centre of the lodge are placed four higher forks, about fifteen feet in length, connected together by beams; from these to the lower poles the rafters of the roof are extended so as to leave a vacancy in the middle for the smoke: the frame of the building is then covered with willow branches, with which is interwoven grass, and over this mud or clay: the aperture for the door is about four feet wide, and before it is a sort of entry about ten feet from the lodge. they are very warm and compact. they cultivate maize or indian corn, beans, pumpkins, watermelons, squashes, and a species of tobacco peculiar to themselves. their commerce is chiefly with the traders who supply them with goods in return for peltries, which they procure not only by their own hunting, but in exchange for corn from their less civilized neighbours. the object chiefly in demand seemed to be red paint, but they would give any thing they had to spare for the most trifling article. one of the men to-day gave an indian a hook made out of a pin, and he gave him in return a pair of moccasins. they express a disposition to keep at peace with all nations, but they are well armed with fusils, and being much under the influence of the sioux, who exchanged the goods which they get from the british for ricara corn, their minds are sometimes poisoned and they cannot be always depended on. at the present moment they are at war with the mandans. we are informed by mr. gravelines, who had passed through that country, that the yankton or jacques river rises about forty miles to the east or northeast of this place, the chayenne branch of the red river about twenty miles further, passing the sioux, and the st. peter's about eighty. saturday, 13th. in the morning our visitors left us, except the brother of the chief who accompanies us and one of the squaws. we passed at an early hour a camp of sioux on the north bank, who merely looked at us without saying a word, and from the character of the tribe we did not solicit a conversation. at ten and a half miles we reached the mouth of a creek on the north, which takes its rise from some ponds a short distance to the northeast: to this stream we gave the name of stoneidol creek, for after passing a willow and sand island just above its mouth, we discovered that a few miles back from the missouri there are two stones resembling human figures, and a third like a dog; all which are objects of great veneration among the ricaras. their history would adorn the metamorphoses of ovid. a young man was deeply enamoured with a girl whose parents refused their consent to the marriage. the youth went out into the fields to mourn his misfortunes; a sympathy of feeling led the lady to the same spot, and the faithful dog would not cease to follow his master. after wandering together and having nothing but grapes to subsist on, they were at last converted into stone, which beginning at the feet gradually invaded the nobler parts leaving nothing unchanged but a bunch of grapes which the female holds in her hands to this day. whenever the ricaras pass these sacred stones, they stop to make some offering of dress to propitiate these deities. such is the account given by the ricara chief which we had no mode of examining, except that we found one part of the story very agreeably confirmed; for on the river near where the event is said to have occurred, we found a greater abundance of fine grapes than we had yet seen. above this is a small creek four and a half miles from stoneidol creek, which is fifteen yards wide, comes in from the south, and received from us the name of pocasse or hay creek, in honour of the chief of the second village. above the ricara island, the missouri becomes narrow and deeper, the sandbars being generally confined to the points; the current too is much more gentle; the timber on the lowlands is also in much greater quantities, though the high grounds are still naked. we proceeded on under a fine breeze from the southeast, and after making eighteen miles encamped on the north near a timbered low plain, after which we had some rain and the evening was cold. the hunters killed one deer only. sunday, 14th. we set out in the rain which continued during the day. at five miles we came to a creek on the south, about fifteen yards wide, and named by us piaheto or eagle's feather, in honour of the third chief of the ricaras. after dinner we stopped on a sandbar, and executed the sentence of a court martial which inflicted corporal punishment on one of the soldiers. this operation affected the indian chief very sensibly, for he cried aloud during the punishment: we explained the offence and the reasons of it. he acknowledged that examples were necessary, and that he himself had given them by punishing with death; but his nation never whipped even children from their birth. after this we continued with the wind from the northeast, and at the distance of twelve miles, encamped in a cove of the southern bank. immediately opposite our camp on the north side are the ruins of an ancient fortification, the greater part of which is washed into the river: nor could we distinguish more than that the walls were eight or ten feet high. the evening is wet and disagreeable, and the river which is somewhat wider than yesterday, continues to have an unusual quantity of timber. the country was level on both sides in the morning, but afterwards we passed some black bluffs on the south. monday, 15th. we stopped at three miles on the north a little above a camp of ricaras who are hunting, where we were visited by about thirty indians. they came over in their skin canoes, bringing us meat, for which we returned them beads and fishhooks. about a mile higher we found another encampment of ricaras on the south, consisting of eight lodges: here we again ate and exchanged a few presents. as we went we discerned numbers of other indians on both sides of the river; and at about nine miles we came to a creek on the south, where we saw many high hills resembling a house with a slanting roof; and a little below the creek an old village of the sharha or chayenne indians. the morning had been cloudy, but the evening became pleasant, the wind from the northeast, and at sunset we halted, after coming ten miles over several sandbars and points, above a camp of ten ricara lodges on the north side. we visited their camp, and smoked and eat with several of them; they all appeared kind and pleased with our attentions, and the fair sex received our men with more than hospitality. york was here again an object of astonishment; the children would follow him constantly, and if he chanced to turn towards them, run with great terror. the country of to-day is generally low and covered with timber on both sides, though in the morning we passed some barren hills on the south. tuesday, 16th. at this camp the squaw who accompanied the chief left us; two others were very anxious to go on with us. just above our camp we passed a circular work or fort where the sharha or chayennes formerly lived: and a short distance beyond, a creek which we called chayenne creek. at two miles is a willow island with a large sandbar on both sides above it, and a creek, both on the south, which we called sohaweh, the ricara name for girl; and two miles above a second creek, to which we gave the name of chapawt, which means woman in the same language. three miles further is an island situated in a bend to the north, about a mile and a half long, and covered with cottonwood. at the lower end of this island comes in a small creek from the north, called keetooshsahawna or place of beaver. at the upper extremity of the island a river empties itself from the north: it is called warreconne, or elk shed their horns, and is about thirty-five yards wide: the island itself is named carp island by evans, a former traveller. as we proceeded there were great numbers of goats on the banks of the river, and we soon after saw large flocks of them in the water: they had been gradually driven into the river by the indians who now lined the shore so as to prevent their escape, and were firing on them, while sometimes boys went into the river and killed them with sticks: they seemed to be very successful, for we counted fifty-eight which they had killed. we ourselves killed some, and then passing the lodges to which these indians belonged, encamped at the distance of half a mile on the south, having made fourteen and a half miles. we were soon visited by numbers of these ricaras, who crossed the river hallooing and singing: two of them then returned for some goats' flesh and buffaloe meat dried and fresh, with which they made a feast that lasted till late at night, and caused much music and merriment. wednesday 17th. the weather was pleasant: we passed a low ground covered with small timber on the south, and barren hills on the north which come close to the river; the wind from the northwest then become so strong that we could not move after ten o'clock, until late in the afternoon, when we were forced to use the towline, and we therefore made only six miles. we all went out hunting and examining the country. the goats, of which we see large flocks coming to the north bank of the river, spend the summer, says mr. gravelines, in the plains east of the missouri, and at the present season are returning to the black mountains, where they subsist on leaves and shrubbery during the winter, and resume their migrations in the spring. we also saw buffaloe, elk, and deer, and a number of snakes; a beaver house too was seen, and we caught a whippoorwill of a small and uncommon kind: the leaves are fast falling; the river wider than usual and full of sandbars: and on the sides of the hills are large stones, and some rock of a brownish colour in the southern bend below us. our latitude by observation was 46â° 23' 57". thursday 18. after three miles we reached the mouth of le boulet or cannonball river: this stream rises in the black mountains, and falls into the missouri on the south; its channel is about one hundred and forty yards wide, though the water is now confined within forty, and its name is derived from the numbers of perfectly round large stones on the shore and in the bluffs just above. we here met with two frenchmen in the employ of mr. gravelines, who had been robbed by the mandans of their traps, furs, and other articles, and were descending the river in a periogue, but they turned back with us in expectation of obtaining redress through our means. at eight miles is a creek on the north, about twenty-eight yards wide, rising in the northeast, and called chewah or fish river; one mile above this is another creek on the south: we encamped on a sandbar to the south, at the distance of thirteen miles, all of which we had made with oars and poles. great numbers of goats are crossing the river and directing their course to the westward; we also saw a herd of buffaloe and of elk; a pelican too was killed, and six fallow deer, having found, as the ricaras informed us, that there are none of the black-tail species as high up as this place. the country is in general level and fine, with broken short high grounds, low timbered mounds on the river, and a rugged range of hills at a distance. friday 19. we set sail with a fine morning, and a southeast wind, and at two and a half miles passed a creek on the north side: at eleven and a half miles we came to a lake or large pond on the same side, in which were some swans. on both banks of the missouri are low grounds which have much more timber than lower down the river: the hills are at one or two miles distance from the banks, and the streams which rise in them are brackish, and the mineral salts appear on the sides of the hills and edges of the runs. in walking along the shore we counted fifty-two herds of buffaloe, and three of elk, at a single view. besides these we also observed elk, deer, pelicans, and wolves. after seventeen and a half miles we encamped on the north, opposite to the uppermost of a number of round hills, forming a cone at the top, one being about ninety, another sixty feet in height, and some of less elevation. our chief tells us that the calumet bird lives in the holes formed by the filtration of the water from the top of these hills through the sides. near to one of these moles, on a point of a hill ninety feet above the plain, are the remains of an old village which is high, strong, and has been fortified; this our chief tells us is the remains of one of the mandan villages, and are the first ruins which we have seen of that nation in ascending the missouri: opposite to our camp is a deep bend to the south, at the extremity of which is a pond. saturday 30. we proceeded early with a southeast wind, which continued high all day, and came to a creek on the north at two miles distance, twenty yards wide. at eight miles we reached the lower point of an island in the middle of the river, though there is no current on the south. this island is covered with willows and extends about two miles, there being a small creek coming in from the south at its lower extremity. after making twelve miles we encamped on the south, at the upper part of a bluff containing stone-coal of an inferior quality; immediately below this bluff and on the declivity of a hill, are the remains of a village covering six or eight acres, formerly occupied by the mandans, who, says our ricara chief, once lived in a number of villages on each side of the river, till the sioux forced them forty miles higher; whence after a few years residence, they moved to their present position. the country through, which we passed has wider bottoms and more timber than those we have been accustomed to see, the hills rising at a distance and by gradual ascents. we have seen great numbers of elk, deer, goats, and buffaloe, and the usual attendants of these last, the wolves, who follow their movements and feed upon those who die by accident, or who are too poor to keep pace with the herd; we also wounded a white bear, and saw some fresh tracks of those animals which are twice as large as the track of a man. sunday 21. last night the weather was cold, the wind high from the northeast, and the rain which fell froze on the ground. at daylight it began to snow, and continued till the afternoon, when it remained cloudy and the ground was covered with snow. we however, set out early, and just above our camp came to a creek on the south, called chisshetaw, about thirty yards wide and with a considerable quantity of water. our ricara chief tells us, that at some distance up this river is situated a large rock which is held in great veneration, and visited by parties who go to consult it as to their own or their nations' destinies, all of which they discern in some sort of figures or paintings with which it is covered. about two miles off from the mouth of the river the party on shore saw another of the objects of ricara superstition: it is a large oak tree, standing alone in the open prairie, and as it alone has withstood the fire which has consumed every thing around, the indians naturally ascribe to it extraordinary powers. one of their ceremonies is to make a hole in the skin of their necks through which a string is passed and the other end tied to the body of the tree; and after remaining in this way for some time they think they become braver. at two miles a from our encampment we came to the ruins of a second mandan village, which was in existence at the same time with that just mentioned. it is situated on the north at the foot of a hill in a beautiful and extensive plain, which is now covered with herds of buffaloe: nearly opposite are remains of a third village on the south of the missouri; and there is another also about two miles further on the north, a little off the river. at the distance of seven miles we encamped on the south, and spent a cold night. we procured to-day a buffaloe and an otter only. the river is wide and the sandbars numerous, and a low island near our encampment. monday 22. in the morning we passed an old mandan village on the south, near our camp; at four miles another on the same side. about seven o'clock we came to at a camp of eleven sioux of the teton tribe, who are almost perfectly naked, having only a piece of skin or cloth round the middle, though we are suffering from the cold. from their appearance, which is warlike, and from their giving two different accounts of themselves, we believe that they are either going to or returning from the mandans, to which nations the sioux frequently make excursions to steal horses. as their conduct displeased as, we gave them nothing. at six we reached an island about one mile in length, at the head of which is a mandan village on the north in ruins, and two miles beyond a bad sandbar. at eight miles are remains of another mandan village on the south; and at twelve miles encamped on the south. the hunters brought in a buffaloe bull, and mentioned that of about three hundred which they had seen, there was not a single female. the beaver is here in plenty, and the two frenchmen who are returning with us catch several every night. these villages which are nine in number are scattered along each side of the river within a space of twenty miles; almost all that remains of them is the wall which surrounded them, the fallen heaps of earth which covered the houses, and occasionally human skulls and the teeth and bones of men, and different animals, which are scattered on the surface of the ground. tuesday 23. the weather was cloudy and we had some snow; we soon arrived at five lodges where the two frenchmen had been robbed, but the indians had left it lately as we found the fires still burning. the country consists as usual of timbered low grounds, with grapes, rushes, and great quantities of a small red acid fruit, known among the indians by a name signifying rabbitberries, and called by the french graisse de buffle or buffaloe fat. the river too, is obstructed by many sandbars. at twelve miles we passed an old village on the north, which was the former residence of the ahnahaways who now live between the mandans and minnetarees. after making thirteen miles we encamped on the south. wednesday 24. the day was again dark and it snowed a little in the morning. at three miles we came to a point on the south, where the river by forcing a channel across a former bend has formed a large island on the north. on this island we found one of the grand chiefs of the mandans, who with five lodges was on a hunting excursion. he met his enemy the ricara chief, with great ceremony and apparent cordiality, and smoked with him. after visiting his lodges, the grand chief and his brother came on board our boat for a short time; we then proceeded and encamped on the north, at seven miles from our last night's station and below the old village of the mandans and ricaras. here four mandans came down from a camp above, and our ricara chief returned with them to their camp, from which we auger favourably of their pacific views towards each other. the land is low and beautiful, and covered with oak and cottonwood, but has been too recently hunted to afford much game. 25th. the morning was cold and the wind gentle from the southeast: at three miles we passed a handsome high prairie on the south, and on an eminence about forty feet above the water and extending back for several miles in a beautiful plain, was situated an old village of the mandan nation which has been deserted for many years. a short distance above it, on the continuation of the same rising ground are two old villages of ricaras, one on the top of the hill, the other in the level plain, which have been deserted only five years ago. above these villages is an extensive low ground for several miles, in which are situated, at three or four miles from the ricara villages, three old villages of mandans near together. here the mandans lived when the ricaras came to them for protection, and from this they moved to their present situation above. in the low ground the squaws raised their corn, and the timber, of which there was little near the villages, was supplied from the opposite side of the river, where it was and still is abundant. as we proceeded several parties of mandans both on foot and horseback came along the river to view us, and were very desirous that we should land and talk to them: this we could not do on account of the sandbreaks on the shore, but we sent our ricara chief to them in a periogue. the wind too having shifted to the southwest and being very high it required all our precautions on board, for the river was full of sandbars which made it very difficult to find the channel. we got aground several times, and passed a very bad point of rocks, after which we encamped on a sandpoint to the north, above a handsome plain covered with timber, and opposite to a high hill on the south side at the distance of eleven miles. here we were joined by our ricara chief, who brought an indian to the camp where he remained all night. 26th. we set out early with a southwest wind, and after putting the ricara chief on shore to join the mandans who were in great numbers along it, we proceeded to the camp of the grand chiefs four miles distant. here we met a mr. m'cracken one of the northwest or hudson bay company, who arrived with another person about nine days ago to trade for horses and buffaloe robes. two of the chiefs came on board with some of their household furniture, such as earthern pots and a little corn and went on with us; the rest of the indians following on shore. at one mile beyond the camp we passed a small creek, and at three more a bluff of coal of an inferior quality on the south. after making eleven miles we reached an old field where the mandans had cultivated grain last summer, and encamped for the night on the south side, about half a mile below the first village of the mandans. in the morning we had a willow low ground on the south and highland on the north, which occasionally varied in the course of the day. there is but little wood on this part of the river, which is here subdivided into many channels and obstructed by sandbars. as soon as we arrived a crowd of men, women, and children came down to see us. captain lewis returned with the principal chiefs to the village, while the others remained with us during the evening; the object which seemed to surprise them most, was a cornmill fixed to the boat which we had occasion to use, and delighted them by the ease with which it reduced the grain to powder. among others who visited us was the son of the grand chief of the mandans, who had his two little fingers cut off at the second joints. on inquiring into this accident, we found that it was customary to express grief for the death of relations by some corporeal suffering, and that the usual mode was to lose two joints of the little fingers, or sometimes the other fingers. the wind blew very cold in the evening from the southwest. two of the party are affected with rheumatic complaints. chapter v. council held with the mandans--a prairie on fire, and a singular instance of preservation--peace established between the mandans and ricaras--the party encamp for the winter--indian mode of catching goats--beautiful appearance of northern lights--friendly character of the indians--some account of the mandans--the ahnahaways and the minnetarees--the party acquire the confidence of the mandans by taking part in their controversy with the sioux--religion of the mandans, and their singular conception of the term medicine--their tradition--the sufferings of the party from the severity of the season--indian game of billiards described--character of the missouri, of the surrounding country, and of the rivers, creeks, islands, &c. saturday, october 27. at an early hour we proceeded and anchored off the village. captain clarke went on shore, and after smoking a pipe with the chiefs, was desired to remain and eat with them. he declined on account of his being unwell; but his refusal gave great offence to the indians, who considered it disrespectful not to eat when invited, till the cause was explained to their satisfaction. we sent them some tobacco, and then proceeded to the second village on the north, passing by a bank containing coal, and a second village, and encamped at four miles on the north, opposite to a village of ahnahaways. we here met with a frenchman, named jesseaume, who lives among the indians with his wife and children, and who we take as an interpreter. the indians had flocked to the bank to see us as we passed, and they visited in great numbers the camp, where some of them remained all night. we sent in the evening three young indians with a present of tobacco for the chiefs of the three upper villages, inviting them to come down in the morning to a council with us. accordingly the next day, sunday, october 28, we were joined by many of the minnetarees and ahnahaways from above, but the wind was so violent from the southwest that the chiefs of the lower villages could not come up, and the council was deferred till to-morrow. in the mean while we entertained our visitors by showing them what was new to them in the boat; all which, as well our black servant, they called great medicine, the meaning of which we afterwards learnt. we also consulted the grand chief of the mandans, black cat, and mr. jesseaume, as to the names, characters, &c. of the chiefs with whom we are to hold the council. in the course of the day we received several presents from the women, consisting of corn, boiled hominy, and garden stuffs: in our turn we gratified the wife of the great chief with a gift of a glazed earthen jar. our hunter brought us two beaver. in the afternoon we sent the minnetaree chiefs to smoke for us with the great chief of the mandans, and told them we would speak in the morning. finding that we shall be obliged to pass the winter at this place, we went up the river about one and a half miles to-day, with a view of finding a convenient spot for a fort, but the timber was too scarce and small for our purposes. monday, october 29. the morning was fine and we prepared our presents and speech for the council. after breakfast we were visited by an old chief of the ahnahaways, who finding himself growing old and weak had transferred his power to his son, who is now at war against the shoshonees. at ten o'clock the chiefs were all assembled under an awning of our sails, stretched so as to exclude the wind which had become high; that the impression might be the more forcible, the men were all paraded, and the council opened by a discharge from the swivel of the boat. we then delivered a speech, which like those we had already made intermingled advice with assurances of friendship and trade: while we were speaking the old ahnahaway chief grew very restless, and observed that he could not wait long as his camp was exposed to the hostilities of the shoshonees; he was instantly rebuked with great dignity by one of the chiefs for this violation of decorum at such a moment, and remained quiet during the rest of the council. towards the end of our speech we introduced the subject of our ricara chief, with whom we recommended a firm peace: to this they seemed well disposed, and all smoked with him very amicably. we all mentioned the goods which had been taken from the frenchmen, and expressed a wish that they should he restored. this being over, we proceeded to distribute the presents with great ceremony: one chief of each town was acknowledged by a gift of a flag, a medal with the likeness of the president of the united states, a uniform coat, hat and feather: to the second chiefs we gave a medal representing some domestic animals, and a loom for weaving; to the third chiefs medals with the impressions of a farmer sowing grain. a variety of other presents were distributed, but none seemed to give them more satisfaction than an iron corn mill which we gave to the mandans. the chiefs who were made to-day are: shahaka or big white, a first chief, and kagohami or little raven, a second chief of the lower village of the mandans, called matootonha: the other chiefs of an inferior quality who were recommended were, 1. ohheenaw, or big man, a chayenne taken prisoner by the mandans who adopted him, and he now enjoys great consideration among the tribe. 2. shotahawrora, or coal, of the second mandan village which is called rooptahee. we made poscopsahe, or black cat, the first chief of the village, and the grand chief of the whole mandan nation: his second chief is kagonomokshe, or raven man chief; inferior chiefs of this village were, tawnuheo, and bellahsara, of which we did not learn the translation. in the third village which is called mahawha, and where the arwacahwas reside, we made one first chief, tetuckopinreha, or white buffaloe robe unfolded, and recognized two of an inferior order: minnissurraree, or neighing horse, and locongotiha, or old woman at a distance. of the fourth village where the minnetarees live, and which is called metaharta, we made a first chief, ompsehara, or black moccasin: a second chief, ohhaw, or little fox. other distinguished chiefs of this village were, mahnotah, or big thief, a man whom we did not see as he is out fighting, and was killed soon after; and mahserassa, or tail of the calumet bird. in the fifth village we made a first chief eapanopa, or red shield; a second chief wankerassa, or two tailed calumet bird, both young chiefs; other persons of distinction are, shahakohopinnee, or little wolf's medicine; ahrattanamoekshe, or wolfman chief, who is now at war, and is the son of the old chief we have mentioned, whose name is caltahcota, or cherry on a bush. the presents intended for the grand chief of the minnetarees, who was not at the council, were sent to him by the old chief caltahcota; and we delivered to a young chief those intended for the chief of the lower village. the council was concluded by a shot from our swivel, and after firing the airgun for their amusement, they retired to deliberate on the answer which they are to give to-morrow. in the evening the prairie took fire, either by accident or design, and burned with great fury, the whole plain being enveloped in flames: so rapid was its progress that a man and a woman were burnt to death before they could reach a place of safety; another man with his wife and child were much burnt, and several other persons narrowly escaped destruction. among the rest a boy of the half white breed escaped unhurt in the midst of the flames; his safety was ascribed to the great medicine spirit, who had preserved him on account of his being white. but a much more natural cause was the presence of mind of his mother, who seeing no hopes of carrying off her son, threw him on the ground, and covering him with the fresh hide of a buffaloe, escaped herself from the flames; as soon as the fire had passed, she returned and found him untouched, the skin having prevented, the flame from reaching the grass on which he lay. tuesday 30. we were this morning visited by two persons from the lower village, one the big white the chief of the village, the other the chayenne called the big man; they had been hunting, and did not return yesterday early enough to attend the council. at their request we repeated part of our speech of yesterday, and put the medal round the neck of the chief. captain clarke took a periogue and went up the river in search of a good wintering place, and returned after going seven miles to the lower point of an island on the north side, about one mile in length; he found the banks on the north side high, with coal occasionally, and the country fine on all sides; but the want of wood and the scarcity of game up the river, induced us to decide on fixing ourselves lower down during the winter. in the evening our men danced among themselves to the great amusement of the indians. wednesday 31. a second chief arrived this morning with an invitation from the grand chief of the mandans, to come to his village where he wished to present some corn to us and to speak with us. captain clarke walked down to his village; he was first seated with great ceremony on a robe by the side of the chief, who then threw over his shoulders another robe handsomely ornamented. the pipe was then smoked with several of the old men who were seated around the chief; after some time he began his discourse, by observing that he believed what we had told him, and that they should soon enjoy peace, which would gratify him as well as his people, because they could then hunt without fear of being attacked, and the women might work in the fields without looking every moment for the enemy, and at night put off their moccasins, a phrase by which is conveyed the idea of security when the women could undress at night without fear of attack. as to the ricaras, he continued, in order to show you that we wish peace with all men, that chief, pointing to his second chief, will go with some warriors back to the ricaras with their chief now here and smoke with that nation. when we heard of your coming all the nations around returned from their hunting to see you, in hopes of receiving large presents; all are disappointed and some discontented; for his part he was not much so, though his village was. he added that he would go and see his great father the president. two of the steel traps stolen from the frenchmen were then laid before captain clarke, and the women brought about twelve bushels of corn. after the chief had finished, captain clarke made an answer to the speech and then returned to the boat, where he found the chief of the third village and kagohami (the little raven) who smoked and talked about an hour. after they left the boat the grand chief of the mandans came dressed in the clothes we had given him, with his two children, and begged to see the men dance, in which they willingly gratified him. thursday, november 1st. mr. m'cracken, the trader whom we found here, set out to-day on his return to the british fort and factory on the assiniboin river, about one hundred and fifty miles from this place. he took a letter from captain lewis to the northwest company, inclosing a copy of the passport granted by the british minister in the united states. at ten o'clock the chiefs of the lower village arrived; they requested that we would call at their village for some corn, that they were willing to make peace with the ricaras, that they had never provoked the war between them, but as the ricaras had killed some of their chiefs, they had retaliated on them; that they had killed them like birds, till they were tired of killing them, so that they would send a chief and some warriors to smoke with them. in the evening we dropped down to the lower village where captain lewis went on shore, and captain clarke proceeded to a point of wood on the north side. friday, november 2. he therefore went up to the village where eleven bushels of corn were presented to him. in the meantime captain clarke went down with the boats three miles, and having found a good position where there was plenty of timber, encamped and began to fell trees to build our huts. our ricara chief set out with one mandan chief and several minnetaree and mandan warriors; the wind was from the southeast, and the weather being fine a crowd of indians came down to visit us. saturday 3. we now began the building of our cabins, and the frenchmen who are to return to st. louis are building a periogue for the purpose. we sent six men in a periogue to hunt down the river. we were also fortunate enough to engage in our service a canadian frenchmen, who had been with the chayenne indians on the black mountains, and last summer descended thence by the little missouri. mr. jessaume our interpreter also came down with his squaw and children to live at our camp. in the evening we received a visit from kagohami or little raven, whose wife accompanied him, bringing about sixty weight of dried meat, a robe and a pot of meal. we gave him in return a piece of tobacco, to his wife an axe and a few small articles, and both of them spent the night at our camp. two beavers were caught in traps this morning. sunday 4. we continued our labours: the timber which we employ is large and heavy, and chiefly consists of cottonwood and elm with some ash of an inferior size. great numbers of the indians pass our camp on their hunting excursions: the day was clear and pleasant, but last night was very cold and there was a white frost. monday 5. the indians are all out on their hunting parties: a camp of mandans caught within two days one hundred goats a short distance below us: their mode of hunting them is to form a large strong pen or fold, from which a fence made of bushes gradually widens on each side: the animals are surrounded by the hunters and gently driven towards this pen, in which they imperceptibly find themselves inclosed and are then at the mercy of the hunters. the weather is cloudy and the wind moderate from the northwest. late at night we were awaked by the sergeant on guard to see the beautiful phenomenon called the northern light: along the northern sky was a large space occupied by a light of a pale but brilliant white colour: which rising from the horizon extended itself to nearly twenty degrees above it. after glittering for some time its colours would be overcast, and almost obscured, but again it would burst out with renewed beauty; the uniform colour was pale light, but its shapes were various and fantastic: at times the sky was lined with light coloured streaks rising perpendicularly from the horizon, and gradually expanding into a body of light in which we could trace the floating columns sometimes advancing, sometimes retreating and shaping into infinite forms, the space in which they moved. it all faded away before the morning. at daylight, tuesday 6, the clouds to the north were darkening and the wind rose high from the northwest at eight o'clock, and continued cold during the day. mr. gravelines and four others who came with us returned to the ricaras in a small periogue, we gave him directions to accompany some of the ricara chiefs to the seat of government in the spring. wednesday 7. the day was temperate but cloudy and foggy, and we were enabled to go on with our work with much expedition. thursday 8. the morning again cloudy; our huts advance very well, and we are visited by numbers of indians who come to let their horses graze near us: in the day the horses are let loose in quest of grass, in the night they are collected and receive an armful of small boughs of the cottonwood, which being very juicy, soft and brittle, form nutritious and agreeable food: the frost this morning was very severe, the weather during the day cloudy and the wind from the northwest. we procured from an indian a weasel perfectly white except the extremity of the tail which was black: great numbers of wild geese are passing to the south, but their flight is too high for us to procure any of them. november 10. we had again a raw day, a northwest wind, but rose early in hopes of finishing our works before the extreme cold begins. a chief who is a half pawnee came to us and brought a present of half a buffaloe, in return for which we gave him some small presents and a few articles to his wife and son: he then crossed the river in a buffaloe skin canoe; his wife took the boat on her back and carried it to the village three miles off. large flocks of geese and brant, and also a few ducks are passing towards the south. sunday 11. the weather is cold. we received the visit of two squaws, prisoners from the rock mountains, and purchased by chaboneau. the mandans at this time are out hunting the buffaloe. monday 12. the last night had been cold and this morning we had a very hard frost: the wind changeable during the day, and some ice appears on the edges of the rivers; swans too are passing to the south. the big white came down to us, having packed on the back of his squaw about one hundred pounds of very fine meat: for which we gave him as well as the squaw some presents, particularly an axe to the woman with which she was very much pleased. tuesday 13. we this morning unloaded the boat and stowed away the contents in a storehouse which we have built. at half past ten ice began to float down the river for the first time: in the course of the morning we were visited by the black cat, poscapsahe, who brought an assiniboin chief and seven warriors to see us. this man, whose name is chechawk, is a chief of one out of three bands of assiniboins who wander over the plains between the missouri and assiniboin during the summer, and in the winter carry the spoils of their hunting to the traders on the assiniboin river, and occasionally come to this place: the whole three bands consist of about eight hundred men. we gave him a twist of tobacco to smoke with his people, and a gold cord for himself: the sioux also asked for whiskey which we refused to give them. it snowed all day and the air was very cold. wednesday 14. the river rose last night half an inch, and is now filled with floating ice. this morning was cloudy with some snow: about seventy lodges of assiniboins and some knistenaux are at the mandan village, and this being the day of adoption and exchange of property between them all, it is accompanied by a dance, which prevents our seeing more than two indians to-day: these knistenaux are a band of chippeways whose language they speak; they live on the assiniboin and saskashawan rivers, and are about two hundred and forty men. we sent a man down on horseback to see what had become of our hunters, and as we apprehend a failure of provisions we have recourse to our pork this evening. two frenchmen who had been below returned with twenty beaver which they had caught in traps. thursday 15. the morning again cloudy, and the ice running thicker than yesterday, the wind variable. the man came back with information that our hunters were about thirty miles below, and we immediately sent an order to them to make their way through the floating ice, to assist them in which we sent some tin for the bow of the periogue and a towrope. the ceremony of yesterday seem to continue still, for we were not visited by a single indian. the swan are still passing to the south. friday 16. we had a very hard white frost this morning, the trees are all covered with ice, and the weather cloudy. the men this day moved into the huts, although they are not finished. in the evening some horses were sent down to the woods near us in order to prevent their being stolen by the assiniboins, with whom some difficulty is now apprehended. an indian came down with four buffaloe robes and some corn, which he offered for a pistol, but was refused. saturday, november 17. last night was very cold, and the ice in the river to-day is thicker than hitherto. we are totally occupied with our huts, but received visits from several indians. sunday, november 18. to-day we had a cold windy morning; the black cat came to see us, and occupied us for a long time with questions on the usages of our country. he mentioned that a council had been held yesterday to deliberate on the state of their affairs. it seems that not long ago, a party of sioux fell in with some horses belonging to the minnetarees, and carried them off; but in their flight they were met by some assiniboins, who killed the sioux and kept the horses: a frenchman too who had lived many years among the mandans, was lately killed on his route to the british factory on the assiniboin; some smaller differences existed between the two nations, all of which being discussed, the council decided that they would not resent the recent insults from the assiniboins and knistenaux, until they had seen whether we had deceived them or not in our promises of furnishing them with arms and ammunition. they had been disappointed in their hopes of receiving them from mr. evans and were afraid that we too, like him, might tell them what was not true. we advised them to continue at peace, that supplies of every kind would no doubt arrive for them, but that time was necessary to organize the trade. the fact is that the assiniboins treat the mandans as the sioux do the ricaras; by their vicinity to the british they get all the supplies, which they withhold or give at pleasure to the remoter indians: the consequence is, that however badly treated, the mandans and ricaras are very slow to retaliate lest they should* lose their trade altogether. monday 19. the ice continues to float in the river, the wind high from the northwest, and the weather cold. our hunters arrived from their excursion below, and bring a very fine supply of thirty-two deer, eleven elk, and five buffaloe, all of which was hung in a smokehouse. tuesday 20. we this day moved into our huts which are now completed. this place which we call fort mandan, is situated in a point of low ground, on the north side of the missouri, covered with tall and heavy cottonwood. the works consist of two rows of huts or sheds, forming an angle where they joined each other; each row containing four rooms, of fourteen feet square and seven feet high, with plank ceiling*, and the roof slanting so as to form a loft above the rooms, the highest part of which is eighteen feet from the ground: the backs of the huts formed a wall of that height, and opposite the angle the place of the wall was supplied by picketing; in the area were two rooms for stores and provisions. the latitude by observation is 47â° 21' 47", and the computed distance from the mouth of the missouri sixteen hundred miles. in the course of the day several indians came down to partake of our fresh meat; among the rest, three chiefs of the second mandan village. they inform us that the sioux on the missouri above the chayenne river, threaten to attack them this winter; that these sioux are much irritated at the ricaras for having made peace through our means with the mandans, and have lately ill treated three ricaras who carried the pipe of peace to them, by beating them and taking away their horses. we gave them assurances that we would protect them from all their enemies. november 21st. the weather was this day fine: the river clear of ice and rising a little: we are now settled in our new winter habitation, and shall wait with much anxiety the first return of spring to continue our journey. the villages near which we are established are five in number, and are the residence of three distinct nations: the mandans, the ahnahaways, and the minnetarees. the history of the mandans, as we received it from our interpreters and from the chiefs themselves, and as it is attested by existing monuments, illustrates more than that of any other nation the unsteady movements and the tottering fortunes of the american nations. within the recollection of living witnesses, the mandans were settled forty years ago in nine villages, the ruins of which we passed about eighty miles below, and situated seven on the west and two on the east side of the missouri. the two finding themselves wasting away before the small-pox and the sioux, united into one village, and moved up the river opposite to the ricaras. the same causes reduced the remaining seven to five villages, till at length they emigrated in a body to the ricara nation, where they formed themselves into two villages, and joined those of their countrymen who had gone before them. in their new residence they were still insecure, and at length the three villages ascended the missouri to their present position. the two who had emigrated together still settled in the two villages on the northwest side of the missouri, while the single village took a position on the southeast side. in this situation they were found by those who visited them in 1796; since which the two villages have united into one. they are now in two villages, one on the southeast of the missouri, the other on the opposite side, and at the distance of three miles across. the first, in an open plain, contains about forty or fifty lodges, built in the same way as those of the ricaras: the second, the same number, and both may raise about three hundred and fifty men. on the same side of the river, and at the distance of four miles from the lower mandan village, is another called mahaha. it is situated in a high plain at the mouth of knife river, and is the residence of the ahnahaways. this nation, whose name indicates that they were "people whose village is on a hill," formerly resided on the missouri, about thirty miles below where they now live. the assiniboins and sioux forced them to a spot five miles higher, where the greatest part of them were put to death, and the rest emigrated to their present situation, in order to obtain an assylum near the minnetarees. they are called by the french, soulier noir or shoe indians; by the mandans, wattasoons, and their whole force is about fifty men. on the south side of the same knife river, half a mile above the mahaha and in the same open plain with it, is a village of minnetarees surnamed metaharta, who are about one hundred and fifty men in number. on the opposite side of knife river, and one and a half mile above this village is a second of minnetarees, who may be considered as the proper minnetaree nation. it is situated in a beautiful low plain, and contains four hundred and fifty warriors. the accounts which we received of the minnetarees were contradictory. the mandans say that this people came out of the water to the east, and settled near them in their former establishment in nine villages; that they were very numerous, and fixed themselves in one village on the southern side of the missouri. a quarrel about a buffaloe divided the nation, of which two bands went into the plains, and were known by the name of crow and paunch indians, and the rest moved to their present establishment. the minnetarees proper assert, on the contrary, that they grew where they now live, and will never emigrate from the spot; the great spirit having declared that if they moved they would all die. they also say that the minnetarees metaharta, that is minnetarees of the willows, whose language with very little variation is their own, came many years ago from the plains and settled near them, and perhaps the two traditions may be reconciled by the natural presumption that these minnetarees were the tribe known to the mandans below, and that they ascended the river for the purpose of rejoining the minnetarees proper. these minnetarees are part of the great nation called fall indians, who occupy the intermediate country between the missouri and the saskaskawan, and who are known by the name of minnetarees of the missouri, and minnetarees of fort de prairie; that is, residing near or rather frequenting the establishment in the prairie on the saskaskawan. these minnetarees indeed, told us that they had relations on the saskaskawan, whom they had never known till they met them in war, and having engaged in the night were astonished at discovering that they were fighting with men who spoke their own language. the name of grosventres, or bigbellies is given to these minnetarees, as well as to all the fall indians. the inhabitants of these five villages, all of which are within the distance of six miles, live in harmony with each other. the ahnahaways understand in part the language of the minnetarees: the dialect of the mandans differs widely from both; but their long residence together has insensibly blended their manners, and occasioned some approximation in language, particularly as to objects of daily occurrence and obvious to the senses. november 22. the morning was fine, and the day warm. we purchased from the mandans a quantity of corn of a mixed colour, which they dug up in ears from holes made near the front of their lodges, in which it is buried during the winter: this morning the sentinel informed us that an indian was about to kill his wife near the fort; we went down to the house of our interpreter where we found the parties, and after forbidding any violence, inquired into the cause of his intending to commit such as atrocity. it appeared that some days ago a quarrel had taken place between him and his wife, in consequence of which she had taken refuge in the house where the two squaws of our interpreter lived: by running away she forfeited her life, which might have been lawfully taken by the husband. about two days ago she had returned to the village, but the same evening came back to the fort much beaten and stabbed in three places, and the husband now came for the purpose of completing his revenge. he observed that he had lent her to one of our serjeants for a night, and that if he wanted her he would give her to him altogether: we gave him a few presents and tried to persuade him to take his wife home; the grand chief too happened to arrive at the same moment, and reproached him with his violence, till at length they went off together, but by no means in a state of much apparent love. november 23. again we had a fair and warm day, with the wind from the southeast: the river is now at a stand having risen four inches in the whole. november 24. the wind continued from the same quarter and the weather was warm: we were occupied in finishing our huts and making a large rope of elk-skin to draw our boat on the bank. sunday, november 25. the weather is still fine, warm and pleasant, and the river falls one inch and a half. captain lewis went on an excursion to the villages accompanied by eight men. a minnetaree chief, the first who has visited us, came down to the fort: his name was waukerassa, but as both the interpreters had gone with captain lewis we were obliged to confine our civilities to some presents with which he was much pleased: we now completed our huts, and fortunately too, for the next day, monday, november 26, before daylight the wind shifted to the northwest, and blew very hard, with cloudy weather and a keen cold air, which confined us much and prevented us from working: the night continued very cold, and, tuesday 27, the weather cloudy, the wind continuing from the northwest and the river crowded with floating ice. captain lewis returned with two chiefs mahnotah, an ahnahaway, and minnessurraree a minnetaree, and a third warrior: they explained to us that the reason of their not having come to see us, was that the mandans had told them that we meant to combine with the sioux and cut them off in the course of the winter: a suspicion increased by the strength of the fort, and the circumstance of our interpreters having both removed there with their families: these reports we did not fail to disprove to their entire satisfaction, and amused them by every attention, particularly by the dancing of the men which diverted them highly. all the indians whom captain lewis had visited were very well disposed, and received him with great kindness, except a principal chief of one of the upper villages, named mabpahpaparapassatoo or horned weasel, who made use of the civilized indecorum of refusing to be seen, and when captain lewis called he was told the chief was not at home. in the course of the day seven of the northwest company's traders arrived from the assiniboin river, and one of their interpreters having undertaken to circulate among the indians unfavourable reports, it become necessary to warn them of the consequences if they did not desist from such proceedings. the river fell two inches to-day and the weather became very cold. wednesday 28. about eight o'clock last evening it began to snow and continued till daybreak, after which it ceased till seven o'clock, but then resumed and continued during the day, the weather being cold and the river full of floating ice: about eight o'clock poscopsahe came down to visit us, with some warriors; we gave them presents and entertained them with all that might amuse their curiosity, and at parting we told them that we had heard of the british trader, mr. laroche, having attempted to distribute medals and flags among them, but that those emblems could not be received from any other than the american nation without incurring the displeasure of their great father the president. they left us much pleased with their treatment. the river fell one inch to-day. thursday 29. the wind is again from the northwest, the weather cold, and the snow which fell yesterday and this night is thirteen inches in depth. the river closed during the night at the village above, and fell two feet; but this afternoon it began to rise a little. mr. laroche, the principal of the seven traders, came with one of his men to see us; we told him that we should not permit him to give medals and flags to the indians; he declared that he had no such intention, and we then suffered him to make use of one of our interpreters, on his stipulating not to touch any subject but that of his traffic with them. an unfortunate accident occurred to sergeant pryor, who in taking down the boat's mast dislocated his shoulder, nor was it till after four trials that we replaced it. friday 30. about eight o'clock an indian came to the opposite bank of the river, calling out that he had something important to communicate, and on sending for him, he told us that five mandans had been met about eight leagues to the southwest by a party of sioux, who had killed one of them, wounded two, and taken nine horses; that four of the wattasoons were missing, and that the mandans expected an attack. we thought this an excellent opportunity to discountenance the injurious reports against us, and to fix the wavering confidence of the nation. captain clarke therefore instantly crossed the river with twenty-three men strongly armed, and circling the town approached it from behind. his unexpected appearance surprised and alarmed the chiefs, who came out to meet him, and conducted him to the village. he then told them that having heard of the outrage just committed, he had come to assist his dutiful children; that if they would assemble their warriors and those of the nation, he would lead them against the sioux and avenge the blood of their countrymen. after some minutes conversation, oheenaw the chayenne arose; "we now see," said he, "that what you have told us is true, since as soon as our enemies threaten to attack us you come to protect us and are ready to chastise those who have spilt our blood. we did indeed listen to your good talk, for when you told us that the other nations were inclined to peace with us, we went out carelessly in small parties, and some have been killed by the sioux and ricaras. but i knew that the ricaras were liars, and i told their chief who accompanied you, that his whole nation were liars and bad men; that we had several times made a peace with them which they were the first to break; that whenever we pleased we might shoot them like buffaloe, but that we had no wish to kill them; that we would not suffer them to kill us, nor steal our horses; and that although we agreed to make peace with them, because our two fathers desired it, yet we did not believe that they would be faithful long. such, father, was my language to them in your presence, and you see that instead of listening to your good counsels they have spilt our blood. a few days ago two ricaras came here and told us that two of their villages were making moccasins, that the sioux were stirring them up against us, and that we ought to take care of our horses; yet these very ricaras we sent home as soon as the news reached us to-day, lest our people should kill them in the first moment of grief for their murdered relatives. four of the wattasoons whom we expected back in sixteen days have been absent twenty-four, and we fear have fallen. but father the snow is now deep, the weather cold, and our horses cannot travel through the plains; the murderers have gone off: if you will conduct us in the spring, when the snow has disappeared, we will assemble all the surrounding warriors and follow you." captain clarke replied that we were always willing and able to defend them; that he was sorry that the snow prevented their marching to meet the sioux, since he wished to show them that the warriors of their great father would chastise the enemies of his obedient children who opened their ears to his advice; that if some ricaras had joined the sioux, they should remember that there were bad men in every nation, and that they should not be offended at the ricaras till they saw whether these ill-disposed men were countenanced by the whole tribe; that the sioux possessed great influence over the ricaras, whom they supplied with military stores, and sometimes led them astray, because they were afraid to oppose them: but that this should be the less offensive since the mandans themselves were under the same apprehensions from the assiniboins and knistenaux, and that while they were thus dependant, both the ricaras and mandans ought to keep on terms with their powerful neighbours, whom they may afterwards set at defiance, when we shall supply them with arms, and take them under our protection. after two hours conversation captain clarke left the village. the chief repeatedly thanked him for the fatherly protection he had given them, observing that the whole village had been weeping all night and day for the brave young man who had been slain, but now they would wipe their eyes and weep no more as they saw that their father would protect them. he then crossed the river on the ice and returned on the north side to the fort. the day as well as the evening was cold, and the river rose to its former height. saturday, december 1. the wind was from the northwest, and the whole party engaged in picketing the fort. about ten o'clock the half-brother of the man who had been killed, came to inform us that six sharhas or chayenne indians had arrived, bringing a pipe of peace, and that their nation was three days march behind them. three pawnees had accompanied the sharhas, and the mandans being afraid of the sharhas on account of their being at peace with the sioux, wished to put both them and the three pawnees to death; but the chiefs had forbidden it as it would be contrary to our wishes. we gave him a present of tobacco, and although from his connexion with the sufferer, he was more embittered against the pawnees than any other mandan, yet he seemed perfectly satisfied with our pacific counsels and advice. the mandans, we observe, call all the ricaras by the name of pawnees; the name of ricaras being that by which the nation distinguishes itself. in the evening we were visited by a mr. henderson, who came from the hudson bay company to trade with the minnetarees. he had been about eight days on his route in a direction nearly south, and brought with him tobacco, beeds, and other merchandize to trade for furs, and a few guns which are to be exchanged for horses. sunday, december 2. the latter part of the evening was warm, and a thaw continued till the morning, when the wind shifted to the north. at eleven o'clock the chiefs of the lower village brought down four of the sharhas. we explained to them our intentions, and advised them to remain at peace with each other: we also gave them a flag, some tobacco, and a speech for their nation. these were accompanied by a letter to messrs. tabeau and gravelines at the ricara village, requesting them to preserve peace if possible, and to declare the part which we should be forced to take if the ricaras and sioux made war on those whom we had adopted. after distributing a few presents to the sharhas and mandans, and showing them our curiosities we dismissed them, apparently well pleased at their reception. monday, december 3. the morning was fine, but in the afternoon the weather became cold with the wind from the northwest. the father of the mandan who was killed brought us a present of dried pumpkins and some pemitigon, for which we gave him some small articles. our offer of assistance to avenge the death of his son seemed to have produced a grateful respect from him, as well as from the brother of the deceased, which pleased us much. tuesday 4th. the wind continues from the northwest, the weather cloudy and raw, and the river rose one inch, oscapsahe and two young chiefs pass the day with us. the whole religion of the mandans consists in the belief of one great spirit presiding over their destinies. this being must be in the nature of a good genius since it is associated with the healing art, and the great spirit is synonymous with great medicine, a name also applied to every thing which they do not comprehend. each individual selects for himself the particular object of his devotion, which is termed his medicine, and is either some invisible being or more commonly some animal, which thenceforward becomes his protector or his intercessor with the great spirit; to propitiate whom every attention is lavished, and every personal consideration is sacrificed. "i was lately owner of seventeen horses," said a mandan to us one day, "but i have offered them all up to my medicine and am now poor." he had in reality taken all his wealth, his horses, into the plain, and turning them loose committed them to the care of his medicine and abandoned them forever. the horses less religious took care of themselves, and the pious votary travelled home on foot. their belief in a future state is connected with this tradition of their origin: the whole nation resided in one large village under ground near a subterraneous lake; a grape-vine extended its roots down to their habitation and gave them a view of the light: some of the most adventurous climed up the vine and were delighted with the sight of the earth, which they found covered with buffaloe and rich with every kind of fruits: returning with the grapes they had gathered, their countrymen were so pleased with the taste of them that the whole nation resolved to leave their dull residence for the charms of the upper region; men, women and children ascended by means of the vine; but when about half the nation had reached the surface of the earth, a corpulent woman who was clambering up the vine broke it with her weight, and closed upon herself and the rest of the nation the light of the sun. those who were left on earth made a village below where we saw the nine villages; and when the mandans die they expect to return to the original seats of their forefathers; the good reaching the ancient village by means of the lake, which the burden of the sins of the wicked will not enable them to cross. wednesday 5. the morning was cold and disagreeable, the wind from the southeast accompanied with snow: in the evening there was snow again and the wind shifted to the northeast: we were visited by several indians with a present of pumpkins, and by two of the traders of the northwest company. thursday 6. the wind was violent from the north northwest with some snow, the air keen and cold. at eight o'clock a.m. the thermometer stood at ten degrees above 0, and the river rose an inch and a half in the course of the day. friday, december 7. the wind still continued from the northwest and the day is very cold: shahaka the chief of the lower village came to apprise us that the buffaloe were near, and that his people were waiting for us to join them in the chase: captain clark with fifteen men went out and found the indians engaged in killing the buffaloe, the hunters mounted on horseback and armed with bows and arrows encircle the herd, and gradually drive them into a plain or an open place fit for the movements of horse; they then ride in among them, and singling out a buffaloe, a female being preferred, go as close as possible and wound her with arrows till they think they have given the mortal stroke; when they pursue another till the quiver is exhausted: if, which rarely happens, the wounded buffaloe attacks the hunter, he evades his blow by the agility of his horse which is trained for the combat with great dexterity. when they have killed the requisite number they collect their game, and the squaws and attendants come up from the rear and skin and dress the animals. captain clarke killed ten buffaloe, of which five only were brought to the fort, the rest which could not be conveyed home being seized by the indians, among whom the custom is that whenever a buffaloe is found dead without an arrow or any particular mark, he is the property of the finder; so that often a hunter secures scarcely any of the game he kills if the arrow happens to fall off: whatever is left out at night falls to the share of the wolves, who are the constant and numerous attendants of the buffaloe. the river closed opposite the fort last night, an inch and a half in thickness. in the morning the thermometer stood at one degree below 0. three men were badly frostbitten in consequence of their exposure. saturday 8. the thermometer stood at twelve degrees below 0, that is at forty-two degrees below the freezing point: the wind was from the northwest. captain lewis with fifteen men went out to hunt the buffaloe; great numbers of which darkened the prairies for a considerable distance: they did not return till after dark, having killed eight buffaloe and one deer. the hunt was, however, very fatiguing, as they were obliged to make a circuit at the distance of more than seven miles; the cold too, was so excessive that the air was filled with icy particles resembling a fog, and the snow generally six or eight inches deep and sometimes eighteen, in consequence of which two of the party were hurt by falls, and several had their feet frostbitten. sunday 9. the wind was this day from the east, the thermometer at seven degrees above 0, and the sun shone clear: two chiefs visited us, one in a sleigh drawn by a dog and loaded with meat. monday 10. captain clarke who had gone out yesterday with eighteen men to bring in the meat we had killed the day before, and to continue the hunt, came in at twelve o'clock. after killing nine buffaloe and preparing that already dead, he had spent a cold disagreeable night on the snow, with no covering but a small blanket, sheltered by the hides of the buffaloe they had killed. we observe large herds of buffaloe crossing the river on the ice, the men who were frostbitten are recovering, but the weather is still exceedingly cold, the wind being from the north, and the thermometer at ten and eleven degrees below 0: the rise of the river is one inch and a half. tuesday 11. the weather became so intensely cold that we sent for all the hunters who had remained out with captain clarke's party, and they returned in the evening several of them frostbitten. the wind was from the north and the thermometer at sunrise stood at twenty-one below 0, the ice in the atmosphere being so thick as to render the weather hazy and give the appearance of two suns reflecting each other. the river continues at a stand. pocapsahe made us a visit to-day. wednesday, december 12. the wind is still from the north, the thermometer being at sunrise thirty-eight degrees below 0. one of the ahnahaways brought us down the half of an antelope killed near the fort; we had been informed that all these animals return to the black mountains, but there are great numbers of them about us at this season which we might easily kill, but are unwilling to venture out before our constitutions are hardened gradually to the climate. we measured the river on the ice, and find it five hundred yards wide immediately opposite the fort. thursday 13. last night was clear and a very heavy frost covered the old snow, the thermometer at sun rise being twenty degrees below 0, and followed by a fine day. the river falls. friday 14. the morning was fine, and the weather having moderated so far, that the mercury stood at 0, captain lewis went down with a party to hunt; they proceeded about eighteen miles, but the buffaloe having left the banks of the river they saw only two, which were so poor as not to be worth killing, and shot two deer. notwithstanding the snow we were visited by a large number of the mandans. saturday 15. captain lewis finding no game returned to the fort hunting on both sides of the river, but with no success. the wind being from the north, the mercury at sunrise eight degrees below 0, and the snow of last night an inch and a half in depth. the indian chiefs continue to visit us to-day with presents of meat. sunday 16. the morning is clear and cold, the mercury at sunrise 22â° below 0. a mr. haney with two other persons from the british establishment on the assiniboin, arrived in six days with a letter from mr. charles chabouilles, one of the company, who with much politeness offered to render us any service in his power. monday 17. the weather to-day was colder than any we had yet experienced, the thermometer at sunrise being 45â° below 0, and about eight o'clock it fell to 74â° below the freezing point. from mr. haney, who is a very sensible intelligent man, we obtained much geographical information with regard to the country between the missouri and mississippi, and the various tribes of sioux who inhabit it. tuesday 18. the thermometer at sunrise was 32â° below 0. the indians had invited us yesterday to join their chace to-day, but the seven men whom we sent returned in consequence of the cold, which was so severe last night that we were obliged to have the sentinel relieved every half hour. the northwest traders however left us on their return home. wednesday 19. the weather moderated, and the river rose a little, so that we were enabled to continue the picketing of the fort. notwithstanding the extreme cold, we observe the indians at the village engaged out in the open air at a game which resembled billiards more than any thing we had seen, and which we inclined to suspect may have been acquired by ancient intercourse with the french of canada. from the first to the second chief's lodge, a distance of about fifty yards, was covered with timber smoothed and joined so as to be as level as the floor of one of our houses, with a battery at the end to stop the rings: these rings were of clay-stone and flat like the chequers for drafts, and the sticks were about four feet long, with two short pieces at one end in the form of a mace, so fixed that the whole will slide along the board. two men fix themselves at one end, each provided with a stick, and one of them with a ring: they then run along the board, and about half way slide the sticks after the ring. thursday 20. the wind was from the n.w. the weather moderate, the thermometer 24â° above at sunrise. we availed ourselves of this change to picket the fort near the river. friday 21. the day was fine and warm, the wind n.w. by w. the indian who had been prevented a few days ago from killing his wife, came with both his wives to the fort, and was very desirous of reconciling our interpreter, a jealousy against whom on account of his wife's taking refuge in his house, had been the cause of his animosity. a woman brought her child with an abscess in the lower part of the back, and offered as much corn as she could carry for some medicine; we administered to it of course very cheerfully. saturday, 22d. a number of squaws and men dressed like squaws brought corn to trade for small articles with the men. among other things we procured two horns of the animal called by the french the rock mountain sheep, and known to the mandans by the name of ahsahta. the animal itself is about the size of a small elk or large deer: the horns winding like those of a ram which they resemble also in texture, though larger and thicker. sunday, 23d. the weather was fine and warm like that of yesterday: we were again visited by crowds of indians of all descriptions, who came either to trade or from mere curiosity. among the rest kogahami, the little raven, brought his wife and son loaded with corn, and she then entertained us with a favourite mandan dish, a mixture of pumpkins, beans, corn, and chokecherries with the stones, all boiled together in a kettle, and forming a composition by no means unpalatable. monday, 24th. the day continued warm and pleasant, and the number of visitors became troublesome. as a present to three of the chiefs, we divided a fillet of sheepskin which we brought for spunging into three pieces each of two inches in width; they were delighted at the gift, which they deemed of equal value with a fine horse. we this day completed our fort, and the next morning being christmas, tuesday, 25th, we were awaked before day by a discharge of three platoons from the party. we had told the indians not to visit us as it was one of our great medicine days; so that the men remained at home and amused themselves in various ways, particularly with dancing in which they take great pleasure. the american flag was hoisted for the first time in the fort; the best provisions we had were brought out, and this, with a little brandy, enabled them to pass the day in great festivity. wednesday, 26th. the weather is again temperate, but no indians have come to see us. one of the northwest traders who came down to request the aid of our minnetaree interpreter, informs us that a party of minnetarees who had gone in pursuit of the assiniboins who lately stole their horses had just returned. as is their custom, they came back in small detachments, the last of which brought home eight horses which they had captured or stolen from an assiniboin camp on mouse river. thursday, 27th. a little fine snow fell this morning and the air was colder than yesterday, with a high northwest wind. we were fortunate enough to have among our men a good blacksmith, whom we set to work to make a variety of articles; his operations seemed to surprise the indians who came to see us, but nothing could equal their astonishment at the bellows, which they considered as a very great medicine. having heretofore promised a more particular account of the sioux, the following may serve as a general outline of their history: almost the whole of that vast tract of country comprised between the mississippi, the red river of lake winnepeg, the saskaskawan, and the missouri, is loosely occupied by a great nation whose primitive name is darcota, but who are called sioux by the french, sues by the english. their original seats were on the mississippi, but they have gradually spread themselves abroad and become subdivided into numerous tribes. of these, what may be considered as the darcotas are the mindawarcarton, or minowakanton, known to the french by the name of the gens du lac, or people of the lake. their residence is on both sides of the mississippi near the falls of st. anthony, and the probable number of their warriors about three hundred. above them, on the river st. peter's, is the wahpatone, a smaller band of nearly two hundred men; and still farther up the same river below yellow-wood river are the wahpatootas or gens de feuilles, an inferior band of not more than one hundred men; while the sources of the st. peter's are occupied by the sisatoones, a band consisting of about two hundred warriors. these bands rarely if ever approach the missouri, which is occupied by their kinsmen the yanktons and the tetons. the yanktons are of two tribes, those of the plains, or rather of the north, a wandering race of about five hundred men, who roam over the plains at the heads of the jacques, the sioux, and the red river; and those of the south, who possess the country between the jacques and sioux rivers and the desmoine. but the bands of sioux most known on the missouri are the tetons. the first who are met on ascending the missouri is the tribe called by the french the tetons of the boise brule or burntwood, who reside on both sides of the missouri, about white and teton rivers, and number two hundred warriors. above them on the missouri are the teton okandandas, a band of one hundred and fifty men living below the chayenne river, between which and the wetarhoo river is a third band, called teton minnakenozzo, of nearly two hundred and fifty men; and below the warreconne is the fourth and last tribe of tetons of about three hundred men, and called teton saone. northward of these, between the assiniboin and the missouri, are two bands of assiniboins, one on mouse river of about two hundred men, and called assiniboin menatopa; the other, residing on both sides of white river, called by the french gens de feuilles, and amounting to two hundred and fifty men. beyond these a band of assiniboins of four hundred and fifty men, and called the big devils, wander on the heads of milk, porcupine, and martha's rivers; while still farther to the north are seen two bands of the same nation, one of five hundred and the other of two hundred, roving on the saskaskawan. those assiniboins are recognised by a similarity of language, and by tradition as descendents or seceders from the sioux; though often at war are still acknowledged as relations. the sioux themselves, though scattered, meet annually on the jacques, those on the missouri trading with those on the mississippi. chapter vi. the party increase in the favour of the mandans--description of a buffaloe dance--medicine dance--the fortitude with which the indians bear the severity of the season--distress of the party for want of provisions--the great importance of the blacksmith in procuring it--depredations of the sioux--the homage paid to the medicine stone--summary act of justice among the minnetarees--the process by which the mandans and ricaras make beads--character of the missouri, of the surrounding country, and of the rivers, creeks, islands, &c. friday, 28th. the wind continued high last night, the frost severe, and the snow drifting in great quantities through the plains. saturday, 29th. there was a frost fell last night nearly one quarter of an inch in depth, which continued to fall till the sun had gained some height: the mercury at sunrise stood at 9â° below 0: there were a number of indians at the fort in the course of the day. sunday, 30th. the weather was cold, and the thermometer 20â° below 0. we killed one deer, and yesterday one of the men shot a wolf. the indians brought corn, beans, and squashes, which they very readily gave for getting their axes and kettles mended. in their general conduct during these visits they are honest, but will occasionally pilfer any small article. monday, 31. during the night there was a high wind which covered the ice with hillocks of mixed sand and snow: the day was however fine, and the indians came in great numbers for the purpose of having their utensils repaired. tuesday, january 1, 1805. the new year was welcomed by two shot from the swivel and a round of small arms. the weather was cloudy but moderate; the mercury which at sunrise was at 18â°, in the course of the day rose to 34â° above 0: towards evening it began to rain, and at night we had snow, the temperature for which is about 0. in the morning we permitted sixteen men with their music to go up to the first village, where they delighted the whole tribe with their dances, particularly with the movements of one of the frenchmen who danced on his head. in return they presented the dancers with several buffaloe robes and quantities of corn. we were desirous of showing this attention to the village, because they had received an impression that we had been wanting in regard for them, and they had in consequence circulated invidious comparisons between us and the northern traders: all these however they declared to captain clarke, who visited them in the course of the morning, were made in jest. as captain clarke was about leaving the village, two of their chiefs returned from a mission to the grosventres or wandering minnetarees. these people were encamped about ten miles above, and while there one of the ahnahaways had stolen a minnetaree girl: the whole nation immediately espoused the quarrel, and one hundred and fifty of their warriors were marching down to revenge the insult on the ahnahaways. the chief of that nation took the girl from the ravisher, and giving her to the mandans requested their intercession. the messengers went out to meet the warriors, and delivered the young damsel into the hands of her countrymen, smoked the pipe of peace with them, and were fortunate enough to avert their indignation and induce them to return. in the evening some of the men came to the fort and the rest slept in the village. pocapsahe also visited us and brought some meat on his wife's back. wednesday, january 2. it snowed last night, and during this day the same scene of gayety was renewed at the second village, and all the men returned in the evening. thursday 3. last night it became very cold, and this morning we had some snow: our hunters were sent out for buffaloe, but the game had been frightened from the river by the indians, so that they obtained only one: they however killed a hare and a wolf. among the indians who visited us was a minnetaree who came to seek his wife: she had been much abused and came here for protection, but returned with him; as we had no authority to separate those whom even the mandan rites had united. friday 4. the morning was cloudy and warm, the mercury being 28â° above 0: but towards evening the wind changed to northwest, and the weather became cold. we sent some hunters down the river, but they killed only one buffaloe and a wolf. we received the visit of kagohami who is very friendly, and to whom we gave a hankerchief and two files. saturday 5. we had high and boisterous winds last night and this morning: the indians continue to purchase repairs with grain of different kinds. in the first village there has been a buffaloe dance for the last three nights, which has put them all into commotion, and the description which we received from those of the party who visited the village and from other sources, is not a little ludicrous: the buffaloe dance is an institution originally intended for the benefit of the old men, and practised at their suggestion. when buffaloe becomes scarce they send a man to harangue the village, declaring that the game is far off and that a feast is necessary to bring it back, and if the village be disposed a day and place is named for the celebration of it. at the appointed hour the old men arrive, and seat themselves crosslegged on skins round a fire in the middle of the lodge with a sort of doll or small image, dressed like a female, placed before them. the young men bring with them a platter of provisions, a pipe of tobacco, and their wives, whose dress on the occasion is only a robe or mantle loosely thrown round the body. on their arrival each youth selects the old man whom he means to distinguish by his favour, and spreads before him the provisions, after which he presents the pipe and smokes with him. mox senex vir simulacrum parvã¦ puellã¦ ostensit. tune egrediens eã¦tu, jecit effigium solo et superincumbens, senili ardore veneris complexit. hoc est signum. denique uxor e turba recessit, et jactu corporis, fovet amplexus viri solo recubante. maritus appropinquans senex vir dejecto vultu, et honorem et dignitatem ejus conservare amplexu uxoris illum oravit. forsitan imprimis ille refellit; dehine, maritus multis precibus, multis lachrymis, et multis donis vehementer intercessit. tune senex amator perculsus miserecordia, tot precibus, tot lachrymis, et tot donis, conjugali amplexu submisit. multum ille jactatus est, sed debilis et effoetus senectute, frustra jactatus est. maritus interdum stans juxta guadit multum honore, et ejus dignitati sic conservata. unus nostrum sodalium multum alacrior et potentior juventute, hac nocte honorem quartour maritorum custodivit. sunday 6. a clear cold morning with high wind: we caught in a trap a large gray wolf, and last night obtained in the same way a fox who had for some time infested the neighbourhood of the fort. only a few indians visited us to-day. monday 7. the weather was again clear and cold with a high northwest wind, and the thermometer at sunrise 22â° below 0; the river fell an inch. shahaka the big white chief dined with us, and gave a connected sketch of the country as far as the mountains. tuesday 8. the wind was still from the northwest, the day cold, and we received few indians at the fort. besides the buffaloe dance we have just described, there is another called medicine dance, an entertainment given by any person desirous of doing honour to his medicine or genius. he announces, that on such a day he will sacrifice his horses, or other property, and invites the young females of the village to assist in rendering homage to his medicine; all the inhabitants may join in the solemnity, which is performed in the open plain and by daylight, but the dance is reserved for the virgins or at least the unmarried females, who disdain the incumbrance or the ornament of dress. the feast is opened by devoting the goods of the master of the feast to his medicine, which is represented by a head of the animal itself, or by a medicine bag if the deity be an invisible being. the young women then begin the dance, in the intervals of which each will prostrate herself before the assembly to challenge or reward the boldness of the youth, who are often tempted by feeling or the hopes of distinction to achieve the adventure. wednesday 9. the weather is cold, the thermometer at sunrise 21â° below 0. kagohami breakfasted with us, and captain clarke with three or four men accompanied him and a party of indians to hunt, in which they were so fortunate as to kill a number of buffaloe: but they were incommoded by snow, by high and squally winds, and by extreme cold; several of the indians came to the fort nearly frozen, others are missing, and we are uneasy, for one of our men who was separated from the rest during the chase has not returned: in the morning, thursday 10, however, he came back just as we were sending out five men in search of him. the night had been excessively cold, and this morning at sunrise the mercury stood at 40â° below 0, or 72 below the freezing point. he had however, made a fire and kept himself tolerably warm. a young indian, about thirteen years of age, also came in soon after. his father who came last night to inquire after him very anxiously, had sent him in the afternoon to the fort: he was overtaken by the night, and was obliged to sleep on the snow with no covering except a pair of antelope skin moccasins and leggings and a buffaloe robe: his feet being frozen we put them into cold water, and gave him every attention in our power. about the same time an indian who had also been missing returned to the fort, and although his dress was very thin, and he had slept on the snow without a fire, he had not suffered the slightest inconvenience. we have indeed observed that these indians support the rigours of the season in a way which we had hitherto thought impossible. a more pleasing reflection occurred at seeing the warm interest which the situation of these two persons had excited in the village, the boy had been a prisoner and adopted from charity, yet the distress of the father proved that he felt for him the tenderest affection, the man was a person of no distinction, yet the whole village was full of anxiety for his safety and when they came to us, borrowed a sleigh to bring them home with ease, if they survived, or to carry their bodies if they had perished. friday 11. we despatched three hunters to join the same number whom we had sent below about seven miles to hunt elk. like that of yesterday the weather to-day was cold and clear, the thermometer standing at 38â° below 0. poscopsahe and shotahawrora visited us, and past the night at the fort. saturday 12. the weather continues very cold, the mercury at sunrise being 20â° below 0. three of the hunters returned, having killed three elk. sunday 13. we have a continuation of clear weather, and the cold has increased, the mercury having sunk to 34â° below 0. nearly one half of the mandan nation passed down the river to hunt for several days; in these excursions men, women and children, with their dogs, all leave the village together, and after discovering a spot convenient for the game, fix their tents; all the family bear their part in the labour, and the game is equally divided among the families of the tribe. when a single hunter returns from the chase with more than is necessary for his own immediate consumption, the neighbours are entitled by custom to a share of it: they do not however ask for it, but send a squaw, who without saying any thing, sits down by the door of the lodge till the master understands the hint, and gives her gratuitously a part for her family. chaboneau who with one man had gone to some lodges of minnetarees near the turtle mountain, returned with their faces much frostbitten. they had been about ninety miles distant, and procured from the inhabitants some meat and grease, with which they loaded the horses. he informs us that the agent of the hudson bay company at that place, had been endeavouring to make unfavourable impressions with regard to us on the mind of the great chief, and that the n.w. company intend building a fort there. the great chief had in consequence spoken slightly of the americans, but said that if we would give him our great flag he would come and see us. monday 14. the mandans continue to pass down the river on their hunting party, and were joined by six of our men. one of those sent on thursday returned, with information that one of his companions had his feet so badly frostbitten that he could not walk home. in their excursion they had killed a buffaloe, a wolf, two porcupines and a white hare. the weather was more moderate to-day, the mercury being at 16â° below 0, and the wind from the s.e. we had however some snow, after which it remained cloudy. tuesday 15. the morning is much warmer than yesterday, and the snow begins to melt, though the wind after being for some time from the s.e. suddenly shifted to n.w. between twelve and three o'clock a.m. there was a total eclipse of the moon, from which we obtained a part of the observation necessary for ascertaining the longitude. we were visited by four of the most distinguished men of the minnetarees, to whom we showed marked attentions, as we knew that they had been taught to entertain strong prejudices against us; these we succeeded so well in removing, that when in the morning, wednesday 16, about thirty mandans, among whom six were chiefs came to see us, the minnetarees reproached them with their falsehoods, declaring that they were bad men and ought to hide themselves. they had told the minnetarees that we would kill them if they came to the fort, yet on the contrary they had spent a night there and been treated with kindness by the whites, who had smoked with them and danced for their amusement. kagohami visited us and brought us a little corn, and soon afterwards one of the first war chiefs of the minnetarees came accompanied by his squaw, a handsome woman, whom he was desirous we should use during the night. he favoured us with a more acceptable present, a draft of the missouri in his manner, and informed us of his intention to go to war in the spring against the snake indians; we advised him to reflect seriously before he committed the peace of his nation to the hazards of war; to look back on the numerous nations whom war has destroyed, that if he wished his nation to be happy he should cultivate peace and intercourse with all his neighbours, by which means they would procure more horses, increase in numbers, and that if he went to war he would displease his great father the president, and forfeit his protection. we added that we had spoken thus to all the tribes whom we had met, that they had all opened their ears, and that the president would compel those who did not voluntarily listen to his advice. although a young man of only twenty-six years of age, this discourse seemed to strike him. he observed that if it would be displeasing to us he would not go to war, since he had horses enough, and that he would advise all the nation to remain at home, until we had seen the snake indians, and discovered whether their intentions were pacific. the party who went down with the horses for the man who was frostbitten returned, and we are glad to find his complaint not serious. thursday 17. the day was very windy from the north; the morning clear and cold, the thermometer at sunrise being at 0: we had several indians with us. friday 18. the weather is fine and moderate. messrs. laroche and m'kenzie, two of the n.w. company's traders, visited us with some of the minnetarees. in the afternoon two of our hunters returned, having killed four wolves and a blaireau. saturday 19. another cloudy day. the two traders set out on their return, and we sent two men with the horses thirty miles below to the hunting camp. sunday 20. the day fair and cold. a number of indians visit us with corn to exchange for articles, and to pay for repairs to their household utensils. monday 21. the weather was fine and moderate. the hunters all returned, having killed during their absence three elk, four deer, two porcupines, a fox and a hare. tuesday 22. the cold having moderated and the day pleasant, we attempted to cut the boats out of the ice, but at the distance of eight inches came to water, under which the ice became three feet thick, so that we were obliged to desist. wednesday 23. the cold weather returned, the mercury having sunk 2â° below 0, and the snow fell four inches deep. thursday 24. the day was colder than any we have had lately, the thermometer being at 12â° below 0. the hunters whom we sent out returned unsuccessful, and the rest were occupied in cutting wood to make charcoal. friday 25. the thermometer was at 25â° below 0, the wind from n.w. and the day fair, so that the men were employed in preparing coal, and cutting the boats out of the ice. a band of assiniboins headed by their chief, called by the french, son of the little calf, have arrived at the villages. saturday 26. a fine warm day: a number of indians dine with us: and one of our men is attacked with a violent pleurisy. sunday 27. another warm and pleasant day: we again attempted to get the boat out of the ice. the man who has the pleurisy was blooded and sweated, and we were forced to take off the toes of the young indian who was frostbitten some time since. our interpreter returned from the villages, bringing with him three of mr. laroche's horses which he had sent in order to keep them out of the way of the assiniboins, who are very much disposed to steal, and who have just returned to their camp. monday 28. the weather to-day is clear and cold: we are obliged to abandon the plan of cutting the boat through the ice, and therefore made another attempt the next day, tuesday 29, by heating a quantity of stones so as to warm the water in the boat, and thaw the surrounding ice: but in this too we were disappointed, as all the stones on being put into the fire cracked into pieces: the weather warm and pleasant: the man with the pleurisy is recovering. wednesday 30. the morning was fair, but afterwards became cloudy. mr. laroche the trader from the northwest company paid us a visit, in hopes of being able to accompany us on our journey westward, but this proposal we thought it best to decline. thursday 31. it snowed last night, and the morning is cold and disagreeable, with a high wind from the northwest: we sent five hunters down the river. another man is taken with the pleurisy. friday, february 1. a cold windy day: our hunters returned having killed only one deer. one of the minnetaree war chiefs, a young man named maubuksheahokeah or seeing snake, came to see us and procure a war hatchet: he also requested that we would suffer him to go to war against the sioux and ricaras who had killed a mandan some time ago: this we refused for reasons which we explained to him. he acknowledged that we were right, and promised to open his ears to our counsels. saturday 2. the day is fine: another deer was killed. mr. laroche who has been very anxious to go with us left the fort to-day, and one of the squaws of the minnetaree interpreter is taken ill. sunday 3. the weather is again pleasant: disappointed in all our efforts to get the boats free, we occupied ourselves in making iron spikes so as to prize them up by means of long poles. monday 4. the morning fair and cold, the mercury at sunrise being 18â° below 0, and the wind from the northwest. the stock of meat which we had procured in november and december being now nearly exhausted, it became necessary to renew our supply; captain clarke therefore took eighteen men, and with two sleighs and three horses descended the river for the purpose of hunting, as the buffaloe has disappeared from our neighbourhood, and the indians are themselves suffering for want of meat. two deer were killed to-day but they were very lean. tuesday 5. a pleasant fair morning with the wind from northwest: a number of the indians come with corn for the blacksmith, who being now provided with coal has become one of our greatest resources for procuring grain. they seem particularly attached to a battle axe, of a very inconvenient figure: it is made wholly of iron, the blade extremely thin, and from seven to nine inches long; it is sharp at the point and five or six inches on each side, whence they converge towards the eye, which is circular and about an inch in diameter, the blade itself being not more than an inch wide, the handle is straight, and twelve or fifteen inches long; the whole weighing about a pound. by way of ornament, the blade is perforated with several circular holes. the length of the blade compared with the shortness of the handle render it a weapon of very little strength, particularly as it is always used on horseback: there is still however another form which is even worse, the same sort of handle being fixed to a blade resembling an espontoon. wednesday, february 6. the morning was fair and pleasant, the wind n.w. a number of indian chiefs visited us and withdrew after we had smoked with them contrary to their custom, for after being once introduced into our apartment they are fond of lounging about during the remainder of the day. one of the men killed three antelopes. our blacksmith has his time completely occupied, so great is the demand for utensils of different kinds. the indians are particularly fond of sheet iron, out of which they form points for arrows and instruments for scraping hides, and when the blacksmith cut up an old cambouse of that metal, we obtained for every piece of four inches square seven or eight gallons of corn from the indians, who were delighted at the exchange. thursday 7. the morning was fair and much warmer than for some days, the thermometer being at 18â° above 0, and the wind from the s.e. a number of indians continue to visit us; but learning that the interpreter's squaws had been accustomed to unbar the gate during the night, we ordered a lock put on it, and that no indian should remain in the fort all night, nor any person admitted during the hours when the gate is closed, that is from sunset to sunrise. friday 8. a fair pleasant morning, with s.e. winds. pocopsahe came down to the fort with a bow, and apologized for his not having finished a shield which he had promised captain lewis, and which the weather had prevented him from completing. this chief possesses more firmness, intelligence, and integrity, than any indian of this country, and he might be rendered highly serviceable in our attempts to civilize the nation. he mentioned that the mandans are very much in want of meat, and that he himself had not tasted any for several days. to this distress they are often reduced by their own improvidence, or by their unhappy situation. their principal article of food is buffaloe-meat, their corn, beans, and other grain being reserved for summer, or as a last resource against what they constantly dread, an attack from the sioux, who drive off the game and confine them to their villages. the same fear too prevents their going out to hunt in small parties to relieve their occasional wants, so that the buffaloe is generally obtained in large quantities and wasted by carelessness. saturday 9. the morning was fair and pleasant, the wind from the s.e. mr. m'kenzie from the n.w. company establishment visited us. sunday 10. a slight snow fell in the course of the night, the morning was cloudy, and the northwest wind blew so high that although the thermometer was 18â° above 0, the day was cooler than yesterday, when it was only 10â° above the same point. mr. m'kenzie left us, and chaboneau returned with information that our horses loaded with meat were below, but could not cross the ice not being shod. monday 11. we sent down a party with sleds, to relieve the horses from their loads; the weather fair and cold, with a n.w. wind. about five o'clock one of the wives of chaboneau was delivered of a boy; this being her first child she was suffering considerable, when mr. jessaume told captain lewis that he had frequently administered to persons in her situation, a small dose of the rattle of the rattlesnake which had never failed to hasten the delivery. having some of the rattle, captain lewis gave it to mr. jessaume who crumbled two of the rings of it between his fingers, and mixing it with a small quantity of water gave it to her. what effect it may really have had it might be difficult to determine, but captain lewis was informed that she had not taken it more than ten minutes before the delivery took place. tuesday 12. the morning is fair though cold, the mercury being 14â° below the wind from the s.e. about four o'clock the horses were brought in much fatigued; on giving them meal bran moistened with water they would not eat it, but preferred the bark of the cottonwood, which as is already observed forms their principal food during the winter. the horses of the mandans are so often stolen by the sioux, ricaras, and assiniboins, that the invariable rule now is to put the horses every night in the same lodge with the family. in the summer they ramble in the plains in the vicinity of the camp, and feed on the grass, but during cold weather the squaws cut down the cottonwood trees as they are wanted, and the horses feed on the boughs and bark of the tender branches, which are also brought into the lodges at night and placed near them. these animals are very severely treated; for whole days they are pursuing the buffaloe, or burdened with the fruits of the chase, during which they scarcely ever taste food, and at night return to a scanty allowance of wood; yet the spirit of this valuable animal sustains him through all these difficulties, and he is rarely deficient either in flesh or vigour. wednesday 13. the morning was cloudy, the thermometer at 2â° below 0, the wind from the southeast. captain clarke returned last evening with all his hunting party: during their excursion they had killed forty deer, three buffaloe, and sixteen elk; but most of the game was too lean for use, and the wolves, who regard whatever lies out at night as their own, had appropriated a large part of it: when he left the fort on the 4th instant, he descended on the ice twenty-two miles to new mandan island, near some of their old villages, and encamped, having killed nothing, and therefore without food for the night. early on the 5th, the hunters went out and killed two buffaloe and a deer, but the last only could be used, the others being too lean. after breakfast they proceeded down to an indian lodge and hunted during the day: the next morning, 6th, they encamped forty-four miles from the fort on a sand point near the mouth of a creek on the southwest side, which they call hunting creek, and during this and the following day hunted through all the adjoining plains, with much success, having killed a number of deer and elk. on the 8th, the best of the meat was sent with the horses to the fort, and such parts of the remainder as were fit for use were brought to a point of the river three miles below, and after the bones were taken out, secured in pens built of logs, so as to keep off the wolves, ravens and magpies, who are very numerous and constantly disappoint the hunter of his prey: they then went to the low grounds near the chisshetaw river where they encamped, but saw nothing except some wolves on the hills, and a number of buffaloe too poor to be worth hunting. the next morning 9th, as there was no game and it would have been inconvenient to send it back sixty miles to the fort, they returned up the river, and for three days hunted along the banks and plains, and reached the fort in the evening of the twelfth much fatigued, having walked thirty miles that day on the ice and through the snow in many places knee deep, the moccasins too being nearly worn out: the only game which they saw besides what is mentioned, was some growse on the sandbars in the river. thursday 14. last night the snow fell three inches deep; the day was, however, fine. four men were despatched with sleds and three horses to bring up the meat which had been collected by the hunters. they returned however, with intelligence that about twenty-one miles below the fort a party of upwards of one hundred men, whom they supposed to be sioux, rushed on them, cut the traces of the sleds, and carried off two of the horses, the third being given up by intercession of an indian who seemed to possess some authority over them; they also took away two of the men's knifes, and a tomahawk, which last however they returned. we sent up to the mandans to inform them of it, and to know whether any of them would join a party which intended to pursue the robbers in the morning. about twelve o'clock two of their chiefs came down and said that all their young men were out hunting, and that there were few guns in the village. several indians however, armed some with bows and arrows, some with spears and battle-axes, and two with fusils, accompanied captain lewis, who set out, friday 15, at sunrise with twenty-four men. the morning was fine and cool, the thermometer being at 16â° below 0. in the course of the day one of the mandan chiefs returned from captain lewis's party, his eye-sight having become so bad that he could not proceed. at this season of the year the reflexion from the ice and snow is so intense as to occasion almost total blindness. this complaint is very common, and the general remedy is to sweat the part affected by holding the face over a hot stone, and receiving the fumes from snow thrown on it. a large red fox was killed to-day. saturday 16. the morning was warm, mercury at 32â° above 0, the weather cloudy: several of the indians who went with captain lewis returned, as did also one of our men, whose feet had been frostbitten. sunday 17. the weather continued as yesterday, though in the afternoon it became fair. shotawhorora and his son came to see us, with about thirty pounds of dried buffaloe meat and some tallow. monday 18. the morning was cloudy with some snow, but in the latter part of the day it cleared up. mr. m'kenzie who had spent yesterday at the fort now left us. our stock of meat is exhausted, so that we must confine ourselves to vegetable diet, at least till the return of the party: for this, however, we are at no loss, since both on this and the following day, tuesday 19, our blacksmith got large quantities of corn from the indians who came in great numbers to see us. the weather was fair and warm, the wind from the south. wednesday, 20th. the day was delightfully fine; the mercury being at sunrise 2â° and in the course of the day 22â° above 0, the wind southerly. kagohami came down to see us early: his village is afflicted by the death of one of their eldest men, who from his account to us must have seen one hundred and twenty winters. just as he was dying, he requested his grandchildren to dress him in his best robe when he was dead, and then carry him on a hill and seat him on a stone, with his face down the river towards their old villages, that he might go straight to his brother who had passed before him to the ancient village under ground. we have seen a number of mandans who have lived to a great age; chiefly however the men, whose robust exercises fortify the body, while the laborious occupations of the women shorten their existence. thursday 21. we had a continuation of the same pleasant weather. oheenaw and shahaka came down to see us, and mentioned that several of their countrymen had gone to consult their medicine stone as to the prospects of the following year. this medicine stone is the great oracle of the mandans, and whatever it announces is believed with implicit confidence. every spring, and on some occasions during the summer, a deputation visits the sacred spot, where there is a thick porous stone twenty-feet in circumference, with a smooth surface. having reached the place the ceremony of smoking to it is performed by the deputies, who alternately take a whiff themselves and then present the pipe to the stone; after this they retire to an adjoining wood for the night, during which it may be safely presumed that all the embassy do not sleep; and in the morning they read the destinies of the nation in the white marks on the stone, which those who made them are at no loss to decypher. the minnetarees have a stone of a similar kind, which has the same qualities and the same influence over the nation. captain lewis returned from his excursion in pursuit of the indians. on reaching the place where the sioux had stolen our horses, they found only one sled, and several pair of moccasins which were recognised to be those of the sioux. the party then followed the indian tracks till they reached two old lodges where they slept, and the next morning pursued the course of the river till they reached some indian camps, where captain clarke passed the night some time ago, and which the sioux had now set on fire, leaving a little corn near the place in order to induce a belief that they were ricaras. from this point the sioux tracks left the river abruptly and crossed into the plains; but perceiving that there was no chance of overtaking them, captain lewis went down to the pen where captain clarke had left some meat, which he found untouched by the indians, and then hunted in the low grounds on the river, till he returned with about three thousand pounds of meat, some drawn in a sled by fifteen of the men, and the rest on horseback; having killed thirty-six deer, fourteen elk, and one wolf. friday, 22nd. the morning was cloudy and a little snow fell, but in the afternoon the weather became fair. we were visited by a number of indians, among whom was shotawhorora, a chief of much consideration among the mandan, although by birth a ricara. saturday, 23d. the day is warm and pleasant. having worked industriously yesterday and all this morning we were enabled to disengage one of the periogues and haul it on shore, and also nearly to cut out the second. the father of the boy whose foot had been so badly frozen, and whom we had now cured, came to-day and carried him home in a sleigh. sunday, 24th. the weather is again fine. we succeeded in loosening the second periogue and barge, though we found a leak in the latter. the whole of the next day, monday, 25th, we were occupied in drawing up the boats on the bank: the smallest one we carried there with no difficulty, but the barge was too heavy for our elk-skin ropes which constantly broke. we were visited by orupsehara, or black moccasin, and several other chiefs, who brought us presents of meat on the backs of their squaws, and one of the minnetarees requested and obtained permission for himself and his two wives to remain all night in the fort. the day was exceedingly pleasant. tuesday 26. the weather is again fine. by great labour during the day we got all the boats on the bank by sunset, an operation which attracted a great number of indians to the fort. wednesday 27. the weather continues fine. all of us employed in preparing tools to build boats for our voyage, as we find that small periogues will be much more convenient than the barge in ascending the missouri. thursday 28. the day is clear and pleasant. sixteen men were sent out to examine the country for trees suitable for boats, and were successful in finding them. two of the n.w. company traders arrived with letters; they had likewise a root which is used for the cure of persons bitten by mad dogs, snakes, and other venomous animals: it is found on high grounds and the sides of hills, and the mode of using it is to scarify the wound, and apply to it an inch or more of the chewed or pounded root, which is to be renewed twice a day; the patient must not however chew or swallow any of the root, as an inward application might be rather injurious than beneficial. mr. gravelines with two frenchmen and two indians arrived from the ricara nation, with letters from mr. anthony tabeau. this last gentleman informs us that the ricaras express their determination to follow our advice, and to remain at peace with the mandans and minnetarees, whom they are desirous of visiting; they also wish to know whether these nations would permit the ricaras to settle near them, and form a league against their common enemies the sioux. on mentioning this to the mandans they agreed to it, observing that they always desired to cultivate friendship with the ricaras, and that the ahnahaways and minnetarees have the same friendly views. mr. gravelines states that the band of tetons whom we had seen was well disposed to us, owing to the influence of their chief the black buffaloe; but that the three upper bands of tetons, with the sisatoons, and the yanktons of the north, mean soon to attack the indians in this quarter, with a resolution to put to death every white man they encounter. moreover, that mr. cameron of st. peter's has armed the sioux against the chippeways, who have lately put to death three of his men. the men who had stolen our horses we found to be all sioux, who after committing the outrage went to the ricara villages, where they said that they had hesitated about killing our men who were with the horses, but that in future they would put to death any of us they could, as we were bad medicines and deserved to be killed. the ricaras were displeased at their conduct and refused to give them any thing to eat, which is deemed the greatest act of hostility short of actual violence. friday, march 1. the day is fine, and the whole party is engaged, some in making ropes and periogues, others in burning coal, and making battle axes to sell for corn. saturday 2. mr. laroche one of the n.w. company's traders has just arrived with merchandise from the british establishments on the assiniboin. the day is fine, and the river begins to break up in some places, the mercury being between 28â° and 36â° above 0, and the wind from the n.e. we were visited by several indians. sunday 3. the weather pleasant, the wind from the e. with clouds; in the afternoon the clouds disappeared and the wind came from the n.w. the men are all employed in preparing the boats; we are visited by poscapsahe and several other indians with corn. a flock of ducks passed up the river to-day. monday 4. a cloudy morning with n.w. wind, the latter part of the day clear. we had again some indian visitors with a small present of meat. the assiniboins, who a few days since visited the mandans, returned, and attempted to take horses from the minnetarees, who fired on them; a circumstance which may occasion some disturbance between the two nations. tuesday 5. about four o'clock in the morning there was a slight fall of snow, but the day became clear and pleasant with the mercury 40â° above 0. we sent down an indian and a frenchman to the ricara villages with a letter to mr. tabeau. wednesday 6. the day was cloudy and smoky in consequence of the burning of the plains by the minnetarees; they have set all the neighbouring country on fire in order to obtain an early crop of grass which may answer for the consumption of their horses, and also as an inducement for the buffaloe and other game to visit it. the horses stolen two days ago by the assiniboins have been returned to the minnetarees. ohhaw second chief of the lower minnetaree village came to see us. the river rose a little and overran the ice, so as to render the crossing difficult. thursday, 7th. the day was somewhat cloudy, and colder than usual; the wind from the northeast. shotawhorora visited us with a sick child, to whom some medicine was administered. there were also other indians who brought corn and dried buffaloe meat in exchange for blacksmith's work. friday 8. the day cold and fair with a high easterly wind: we were visited by two indians who gave us an account of the country and people near the rocky mountains where they had been. saturday 9. the morning cloudy and cool, the wind from the north. the grand chief of the minnetarees, who is called by the french le borgne, from his having but one eye, came down for the first time to the fort. he was received with much attention, two guns were fired in honour of his arrival, the curiosities were exhibited to him, and as he said that he had not received the presents which we had sent to him on his arrival, we again gave him a flag, a medal, shirt, armbraces and the usual presents on such occasions, with all which he was much pleased. in the course of the conversation, the chief observed that some foolish young men of his nation had told him there was a person among us who was quite black, and he wished to know if it could be true. we assured him that it was true, and sent for york: the borgne was very much surprised at his appearance, examined him closely, and spit on his finger and rubbed the skin in order to wash off the paint; nor was it until the negro uncovered his head, and showed his short hair, that the borgne could be persuaded that he was not a painted white man. sunday 10. a cold windy day. tetuckopinreha, chief of the ahnahaways, and the minnetaree chief ompsehara, passed the day with us, and the former remained during the night. we had occasion to see an instance of the summary justice of the indians: a young minnetaree had carried off the daughter of cagonomokshe, the raven man, second chief of the upper village of the mandans; the father went to the village and found his daughter, whom he brought home, and took with him a horse belonging to the offender: this reprisal satisfied the vengeance of the father and of the nation, as the young man would not dare to reclaim his horse, which from that time became the property of the injured party. the stealing of young women is one of the most common offenses against the police of the village, and the punishment of it always measured by the power or the passions of the kindred of the female. a voluntary elopement is of course more rigorously chastised. one of the wives of the borgne deserted him in favour of a man who had been her lover before the marriage, and who after some time left her, and she was obliged to return to her father's house. as soon as he heard it the borgne walked there and found her sitting near the fire: without noticing his wife, he began to smoke with the father; when they were joined by the old men of the village, who knowing his temper had followed in hopes of appeasing him. he continued to smoke quietly with them, till rising to return, he took his wife by the hair, led her as far as the door, and with a single stroke of his tomahawk put her to death before her father's eyes: then turning fiercely upon the spectators, he said that if any of her relations wished to avenge her, they might always find him at his lodge; but the fate of the woman had not sufficient interest to excite the vengeance of the family. the caprice or the generosity of the same chief gave a very different result to a similar incident which occurred some time afterwards. another of his wives eloped with a young man, who not being able to support her as she wished they both returned to the village, and she presented herself before the husband, supplicating his pardon for her conduct: the borgne sent for the lover: at the moment when the youth expected that he would be put to death, the chief mildly asked them if they still preserved their affection for each other; and on their declaring that want, and not a change of affection had induced them to return, he gave up his wife to her lover, with the liberal present of three horses, and restored them both to his favour. monday 11. the weather was cloudy in the morning and a little snow fell, the wind then shifted from southeast to northwest and the day became fair. it snowed again in the evening, but the next day, tuesday 12, was fair with the wind from the northwest. wednesday 13. we had a fine day, and a southwest wind. mr. m'kenzie came to see us, as did also many indians who are so anxious for battle-axes that our smiths have not a moment's leisure, and procure us an abundance of corn. the river rose a little to-day, and so continued. thursday 14. the wind being from the west, and the day fine, the whole party were employed in building boats and in shelling corn. friday 15. the day is clear, pleasant and warm. we take advantage of the fine weather to hang all our indian presents and other articles out to dry before our departure. saturday 16. the weather is cloudy, the wind from the southeast. a mr. garrow, a frenchman who has resided a long time among the ricaras and mandans, explained to us the mode in which they make their large beads, an art which they are said to have derived from some prisoners of the snake indian nation, and the knowledge of which is a secret even now confined to a few among the mandans and ricaras: the process is as follows: glass of different colours is first pounded fine and washed, till each kind, which is kept separate, ceases to stain the water thrown over it: some well seasoned clay, mixed with a sufficient quantity of sand to prevent its becoming very hard when exposed to heat, and reduced by water to the consistency of dough, is then rolled on the palm of the hand, till it becomes of the thickness wanted for the hole in the bead; these sticks of clay are placed upright, each on a little pedestal or ball of the same material about an ounce in weight, and distributed over a small earthen platter, which is laid on the fire for a few minutes, when they are taken off to cool: with a little paddle or shovel three or four inches long and sharpened at the end of the handle, the wet pounded glass is placed in the palm of the hand: the beads are made of an oblong form wrapped in a cylindrical form round the stick of clay which is laid crosswise over it, and gently rolled backwards and forwards till it becomes perfectly smooth. if it be desired to introduce any other colour, the surface of the bead is perforated with the pointed end of the paddle and the cavity filled with pounded glass of that colour: the sticks with the string of beads are then replaced on their pedestals, and the platter deposited on burning coals or hot embers: over the platter an earthern pot containing about three gallons, with a mouth large enough to cover the platter, is reversed, being completely closed except a small aperture at the top, through which are watched the bead: a quantity of old dried wood formed into a sort of dough or paste is placed round the pot so as almost to cover it, and afterwards set on fire: the manufacturer then looks through the small hole in the pot, till he sees the beads assume a deep red colour, to which succeeds a paler or whitish red, or they become pointed at the upper extremity; on which the fire is removed and the pot suffered to cool gradually: at length it is removed, the beads taken out, the clay in the hollow of them picked out with an awl or needle, and it is then fit for use. the beads thus formed are in great demand among the indians, and used as pendants to their ears and hair, and are sometimes worn round the neck. sunday 17. a windy but clear and pleasant day, the river rising a little and open in several places. our minnetaree interpreter chaboneau, whom we intended taking with us to the pacific, had some days ago been worked upon by the british traders, and appeared unwilling to accompany us, except on certain terms; such as his not being subject to our orders, and do duty, or to return whenever he chose. as we saw clearly the source of his hesitation, and knew that it was intended as an obstacle to our views, we told him that the terms were inadmissible, and that we could dispense with his services: he had accordingly left us with some displeasure. since then he had made an advance towards joining us, which we showed no anxiety to meet; but this morning he sent an apology for his improper conduct, and agreed to go with us and perform the same duties as the rest of the corps; we therefore took him again into our service. monday 18. the weather was cold and cloudy, the wind from the north. we were engaged in packing up the goods into eight divisions, so as to preserve a portion of each in case of accident. we hear that the sioux have lately attacked a party of assiniboins and knistenaux, near the assiniboin river, and killed fifty of them. tuesday 19. some snow fell last night, and this morning was cold, windy, and cloudy. shahaka and kagohami came down to see us, as did another indian with a sick child, to whom we gave some medicine. there appears to be an approaching war, as two parties have already gone from the minnetarees, and a third is preparing. wednesday 20. the morning was cold and cloudy, the wind high from the north, but the afternoon was pleasant. the canoes being finished, four of them were carried down to the river, at the distance of a mile and a half from where they were constructed. thursday 20. the remaining periogues were hauled to the same place, and all the men except three, who were left to watch them returned to the fort. on his way down, which was about six miles, captain clarke passed along the points of the high hills, where he saw large quantities of pumicestone on the foot, sides and tops of the hills, which had every appearance of having been at some period on fire. he collected specimens of the stone itself, the pumicestone, and the hard earth; and on being put into the furnace the hard earth melted and glazed, the pumicestone melted, and the hardstone became a pumicestone glazed. chapter vii. indian method of attacking the buffaloe on the ice--an enumeration of the presents sent to the president of the united states--the party are visited by a ricara chief--they leave their encampment, and proceed on their journey--description of the little missouri--some account of the assiniboins--their mode of burying the dead--whiteearth river described--great quantity of salt discovered on its banks--yellowstone river described--a particular account of the country at the confluence of the yellowstone and missouri--description of the missouri, the surrounding country, and of the rivers, creeks, islands, &c. friday 22. this was a clear pleasant day, with the wind from the s.s.w. we were visited by the second chief of the minnetarees, to whom we gave a medal and some presents, accompanied by a speech. mr. m'kenzie and mr. laroche also came to see us. they all took their leave next day. saturday 23. soon after their departure, a brother of the borgne with other indians came to the fort. the weather was fine, but in the evening we had the first rain that has fallen during the winter. sunday 24. the morning cloudy, but the afternoon fair, the wind from the n.e. we are employed in preparing for our journey. this evening swans and wild geese flew towards the n.e. monday 25. a fine day, the wind s.w. the river rose nine inches, and the ice began breaking away in several places, so as to endanger our canoes which we are hauling down to the fort. tuesday 26. the river rose only half an inch, and being choaked up with ice near the fort, did not begin to run till towards evening. this day is clear and pleasant. wednesday 27. the wind is still high from the s.w.: the ice which is ocasionally stopped for a few hours is then thrown over shallow sandbars when the river runs. we had all our canoes brought down, and were obliged to cauk and pitch very attentively the cracks so common in cottonwood. thursday 28. the day is fair. some obstacle above has prevented the ice from running. our canoes are now nearly ready, and we expect to set out as soon as the river is sufficiently clear to permit us to pass. friday 29. the weather clear, and the wind from n.w. the obstruction above gave way this morning, and the ice came down in great quantities; the river having fallen eleven inches in the course of the last twenty-four hours. we have had few indians at the fort for the last three or four days, as they are now busy in catching the floating buffaloe. every spring as the river is breaking up the surrounding plains are set on fire, and the buffaloe tempted to cross the river in search of the fresh grass which immediately succeeds to the burning: on their way they are often insulated on a large cake or mass of ice, which floats down the river: the indians now select the most favourable points for attack, and as the buffaloe approaches dart with astonishing agility across the trembling ice, sometimes pressing lightly a cake of not more than two feet square: the animal is of course unsteady, and his footsteps insecure on this new element, so that he can make but little resistance, and the hunter, who has given him his death wound, paddles his icy boat to the shore and secures his prey. saturday 30. the day was clear and pleasant, the wind n.w. and the ice running in great quantities. all our indian presents were again exposed to the air, and the barge made ready to descend the missouri. monday 31. early this morning it rained, and the weather continued cloudy during the day; the river rose nine inches, the ice not running so much as yesterday. several flocks of geese and ducks fly up the river. monday, april 1, 1805. this morning there was a thunder storm, accompanied with large hail, to which succeeded rain for about half an hour. we availed ourselves of this interval to get all the boats in the water. at four o'clock p.m. it began to rain a second time, and continued till twelve at night. with the exception of a few drops at two or three different times, this is the first rain we have had since the 15th of october last. tuesday 2. the wind was high last night and this morning from n.w. and the weather continued cloudy. the mandans killed yesterday twenty-one elk, about fifteen miles below, but they were so poor as to be scarcely fit for use. wednesday 3. the weather is pleasant, though there was a white frost and some ice on the edge of the water. we were all engaged in packing up our baggage and merchandize. thursday 4. the day is clear and pleasant, though the wind is high from n.w. we now packed up in different boxes a variety of articles for the president, which we shall send in the barge. they consisted of a stuffed male and female antelope with their skeletons, a weasel, three squirrels from the rocky mountains, the skeleton of the prairie wolf, those of the white and gray hare, a male and female blaireau, or burrowing dog of the prairie, with a skeleton of the female, two burrowing squirrels, a white weasel, and the skin of the louservia, the horns of the mountain ram, or big-horn, a pair of large elk horns, the horns and tail of the black-tailed deer, and a variety of skins, such as those of the red fox, white hare, martin, yellow bear obtained from the sioux; also, a number of articles of indian dress, among which was a buffaloe robe, representing a battle fought about eight years since between the sioux and ricaras against the mandans and minnetarees, in which the combatants are represented on horseback. it has of late years excited much discussion to ascertain the period when the art of painting was first discovered: how hopeless all researches of this kind are, is evident from the foregoing fact. it is indebted for its origin to one of the strongest passions of the human heart; a wish to preserve the features of a departed friend, or the memory of some glorious exploit: this inherits equally the bosoms of all men either civilized or savage. such sketches, rude and imperfect as they are, delineate the predominant character of the savage nations. if they are peaceable and inoffensive, the drawings usually consist of local scenery, and their favourite diversions. if the band are rude and ferocious, we observe tomahawks, scalpingknives, bows, arrows, and all the engines of destruction. a mandan bow and quiver of arrows; also some ricara tobacco-seed and an ear of mandan corn; to these were added a box of plants, another of insects, and three cases containing a burrowing squirrel; a prairie hen, and four magpies, all alive. friday, 5th. fair and pleasant, but the wind high from the northwest: we were visited by a number of mandans, and are occupied in loading our boats in order to proceed on our journey. saturday, 6th. another fine day with a gentle breeze from the south. the mandans continue to come to the fort; and in the course of the day informed us of the arrival of a party of ricaras on the other side of the river. we sent our interpreter to inquire into their reason for coming; and in the morning, sunday, 7th, he returned with a ricara chief and three of his nation. the chief, whose name is kagohweto, or brave raven, brought a letter from mr. tabeau, mentioning the wish of the grand chiefs of the ricaras to visit the president, and requesting permission for himself and four men to join our boat when it descends; to which we consented, as it will then be manned with fifteen hands and be able to defend itself against the sioux. after presenting the letter, he told us that he was sent with ten warriors by his nation to arrange their settling near the mandans and minnetarees, whom they wished to join; that he considered all the neighboring nations friendly except the sioux, whose persecution they would no longer withstand, and whom they hoped to repel by uniting with the tribes in this quarter: he added that the ricaras intended to follow our advice and live in peace with all nations, and requested that we would speak in their favour to the assiniboin indians. this we willingly promised to do, and assured them that their great father would protect them and no longer suffer the sioux to have good guns, or to injure his dutiful children. we then gave him a small medal, a certificate of his good conduct, a carrot of tobacco, and some wampum, with which he departed for the mandan village well satisfied with his reception. having made all our arrangements, we left the fort about five o'clock in the afternoon. the party now consisted of thirty-two persons. besides ourselves were serjeants john ordway, nathaniel pryor, and patrick gass: the privates were william bratton, john colter, john collins, peter cruzatte, robert frazier, reuben fields, joseph fields, george gibson, silas goodrich, hugh hall, thomas p. howard, baptiste lapage, francis labiche, hugh m'neal, john potts, john shields, george shannon, john b. thompson, william werner, alexander willard, richard windsor, joseph whitehouse, peter wiser, and captain clarke's black servant york. the two interpreters, were george drewyer and toussaint chaboneau. the wife of chaboneau also accompanied us with her young child, and we hope may be useful as an interpreter among the snake indians. she was herself one of that tribe, but having been taken in war by the minnetarees, by whom she was sold as a slave to chaboneau, who brought her up and afterwards married her. one of the mandans likewise embarked with us, in order to go to the snake indians and obtain a peace with them for his countrymen. all this party with the baggage was stowed in six small canoes and two large periogues. we left the fort with fair pleasant weather though the northwest wind was high, and after making about four miles encamped on the north side of the missouri, nearly opposite the first mandan village. at the same time that we took our departure, our barge manned with seven soldiers, two frenchmen, and mr. gravelines as pilot, sailed for the united states loaded with our presents and despatches. monday, 8th. the day was clear and cool, the wind from the northwest, so that we travelled slowly. after breakfasting at the second mandan village we passed the mahaha at the mouth of knife river, a handsome stream about eighty yards wide. beyond this we reached the island which captain clarke had visited on the 30th october. this island has timber as well as the lowlands on the north, but its distance from the water had prevented our encamping there during the winter. from the head of this island we made three and a half miles to a point of wood on the north, passing a high bluff on the south, and having come about fourteen miles. in the course of the day one of our boats filled and was near sinking; we however saved her with the loss of a little biscuit and powder. tuesday, april 9. we set off as soon as it was light, and proceeded five miles to breakfast, passing a low ground on the south, covered with groves of cottonwood timber. at the distance of six miles, we reached on the north a hunting camp of minnetarees consisting of thirty lodges, and built in the usual form of earth and timber. two miles and a quarter farther, comes in on the same side miry creek, a small stream about ten yards wide, which, rising in some lakes near the mouse river, passes through beautiful level fertile plains without timber in a direction nearly southwest; the banks near its entrance being steep, and rugged on both sides of the missouri. three miles above this creek we came to a hunting party of minnetarees, who had prepared a park or inclosure and were waiting the return of the antelope: this animal, which in the autumn retires for food and shelter to the black mountains during the winter, recross the river at this season of the year, and spread themselves through the plains on the north of the missouri. we halted and smoked a short time with them, and then proceeded on through handsome plains on each side of the river, and encamped at the distance of twenty-three and a half miles on the north side: the day was clear and pleasant, the wind high from the south, but afterwards changed to a western steady breeze. the bluffs which we passed to-day are upwards of one hundred feet high, composed of a mixture of yellow clay and sand, with many horizontal strata of carbonated wood resembling pit-coal, from one to five feet in depth, and scattered through the bluff at different elevations, some as high as eighty feet above the water: the hills along the river are broken, and present every appearance of having been burned at some former period; great quantities of pumicestone and lava or rather earth, which seems to have been boiled and then hardened by exposure, being seen in many parts of these hills where they are broken and washed down into gullies by the rain and melting snow. a great number of brants pass up the river: there are some of them perfectly white, except the large feathers of the first and second joint of the wing which are black, though in every other characteristic they resemble common gray brant: we also saw but could not procure an animal that burrows in the ground, and similar in every respect to the burrowing squirrel, except that it is only one third of its size. this may be the animal whose works we have often seen in the plains and prairies; they resemble the labours of the salamander in the sand hills of south carolina and georgia, and like him, the animals rarely come above ground; they consist of a little hillock of ten or twelve pounds of loose ground which would seem to have been reversed from a pot, though no aperture is seen through which it could have been thrown: on removing gently the earth, you discover that the soil has been broken in a circle of about an inch and a half diameter, where the ground is looser though still no opening is perceptible. when we stopped for dinner the squaw went out, and after penetrating with a sharp stick the holes of the mice, near some drift wood, brought to us a quantity of wild artichokes, which the mice collect and hoard in large numbers; the root is white, of an ovate form, from one to three inches long, and generally of the size of a man's finger, and two, four, and sometimes six roots are attached to a single stalk. its flavour as well as the stalk which issues from it resemble those of the jerusalem artichoke, except that the latter is much larger. a large beaver was caught in a trap last night, and the musquitoes begin to trouble us. wednesday 10. we again set off early with clear pleasant weather, and halted about ten for breakfast, above a sandbank which was falling in, and near a small willow island. on both sides of the missouri, after ascending the hills near the water, one fertile unbroken plain extends itself as far as the eye can reach, without a solitary tree or shrub, except in moist situations or in the steep declivities of hills where they are sheltered from the ravages of fire. at the distance of twelve miles we reached the lower point of a bluff on the south; which is in some parts on fire and throws out quantities of smoke which has a strong sulphurous smell, the coal and other appearances in the bluffs being like those described yesterday: at one o'clock we overtook three frenchmen who left the fort a few days before us, in order to make the first attempt on this river of hunting beaver, which they do by means of traps: their efforts promise to be successful for they have already caught twelve which are finer than any we have ever seen: they mean to accompany us as far as the yellowstone river in order to obtain our protection against the assiniboins who might attack them. in the evening we encamped on a willow point to the south opposite to a bluff, above which a small creek falls in, and just above a remarkable bend in the river to the southwest, which we called the little basin. the low grounds which we passed to-day possess more timber than is usual, and are wider: the current is moderate, at least not greater than that of the ohio in high tides; the banks too fall in but little; so that the navigation comparatively with that lower down the missouri is safe and easy. we were enabled to make eighteen and a half miles: we saw the track of a large white bear, there were also a herd of antelopes in the plains; the geese and swan are now feeding in considerable quantities on the young grass in the low prairies; we shot a prairie hen, and a bald eagle of which there were many nests in the tall cottonwood trees; but could procure neither of two elk which were in the plain. our old companions the musquitoes have renewed their visit, and gave us much uneasiness. thursday, 11th. we set out at daylight, and after passing bare and barren hills on the south, and a plain covered with timber on the north, breakfasted at five miles distance: here we were regaled with a deer brought in by the hunters, which was very acceptable as we had been for several days without fresh meat; the country between this and fort mandan being so frequently disturbed by hunters that the game has become scarce. we then proceeded with a gentle breeze from the south which carried the periogues on very well; the day was however so warm that several of the men worked with no clothes except round the waist, which is the less inconvenient as we are obliged to wade in some places owing to the shallowness of the river. at seven miles we reached a large sandbar making out from the north. we again stopped for dinner, after which we went on to a small plain on the north covered with cottonwood where we encamped, having made nineteen miles. the country around is much the same as that we passed yesterday: on the sides of the hills, and even on the banks of the rivers, as well as on the sandbars, is a white substance which appears in considerable quantities on the surface of the earth, and tastes like a mixture of common salt with glauber salts: many of the streams which come from the foot of the hills, are so strongly impregnated with this substance, that the water has an unpleasant taste and a purgative effect. a beaver was caught last night by one of the frenchmen; we killed two geese, and saw some cranes, the largest bird of that kind common to the missouri and mississippi, and perfectly white except the large feathers on the two first joints of the wing which are black. under a bluff opposite to our encampment we discovered some indians with horses, whom we supposed were minnetarees, but the width of the river prevented our speaking to them. friday, 12th. we set off early and passed a high range of hills on the south side, our periogues being obliged to go over to the south in order to avoid a sandbank which was rapidly falling in. at six miles we came to at the lower side of the entrance of the little missouri, where we remained during the day for the purpose of making celestial observations. this river empties itself on the south side of the missouri, one thousand six hundred and ninety-three miles from its confluence with the mississippi. it rises to the west of the black mountains, across the northern extremity of which it finds a narrow rapid passage along high perpendicular banks, then seeks the missouri in a northeastern direction, through a broken country with highlands bare of timber, and the low grounds particularly supplied with cottonwood, elm, small ash, box, alder, and an undergrowth of willow, redwood, sometimes called red or swamp-willow, the redberry and chokecherry. in its course it passes near the northwest side of the turtle mountain, which is said to be only twelve or fifteen miles from its mouth in a straight line a little to the south of west, so that both the little missouri and knife river have been laid down too far southwest. it enters the missouri with a bold current, and is one hundred and thirty-four yards wide, but its greatest depth is two feet and a half, and this joined to its rapidity and its sandbars, make the navigation difficult except for canoes, which may ascend it for a considerable distance. at the mouth, and as far as we could discern from the hills between the two rivers about three miles from their junction, the country is much broken, the soil consisting of a deep rich dark coloured loam, intermixed with a small proportion of fine sand and covered generally with a short grass resembling blue grass. in its colour, the nature of its bed, and its general appearance, it resembles so much the missouri as to induce a belief that the countries they water are similar in point of soil. from the mandan villages to this place the country is hilly and irregular, with the same appearance of glauber salts and carbonated wood, the low grounds smooth, sandy, and partially covered with cottonwood and small ash; at some distance back there are extensive plains of a good soil, but without timber or water. we found great quantities of small onions which grow single, the bulb of an oval form, white, about the size of a bullet with a leaf resembling that of the chive. on the side of a neighbouring hill, there is a species of dwarf cedar: it spreads its limbs along the surface of the earth, which it almost conceals by its closeness and thickness, and is sometimes covered by it, having always a number of roots on the under side, while on the upper are a quantity of shoots which with their leaves seldom rise higher than six or eight inches; it is an evergreen, its leaf more delicate than that of the common cedar, though the taste and smell is the same. the country around has been so recently hunted that the game are extremely shy, so that a white rabbit, two beaver, a deer, and a bald eagle were all that we could procure. the weather had been clear, warm, and pleasant in the morning, but about three we had a squall of high wind and rain with some thunder, which lasted till after sunset when it again cleared off. saturday 13. we set out at sunrise, and at nine o'clock having the wind in our favour went on rapidly past a timbered low ground on the south, and a creek on the north at the distance of nine miles, which we called onion creek, from the quantity of that plant which grows in the plains near it: this creek is about sixteen yards wide at a mile and a half above its mouth, it discharges more water than is usual for creeks of that size in this country, but the whole plain which it waters is totally destitute of timber. the missouri itself widens very remarkably just above the junction with the little missouri: immediately at the entrance of the latter, it is not more than two hundred yards wide, and so shallow that it may be passed in canoes with setting poles, while a few miles above it is upwards of a mile in width: ten miles beyond onion creek we came to another, discharging itself on the north in the centre of a deep bend: on ascending it for about a mile and a half, we found it to be the discharge of a pond or small lake, which seemed to have been once the bed of the missouri: near this lake were the remains of forty-three temporary lodges which seem to belong to the assiniboins, who are now on the river of the same name. a great number of swan and geese were also in it, and from this circumstance we named the creek goose creek, and the lake by the same name: these geese we observe do not build their nests on the ground or in sandbars, but in the tops of lofty cottonwood trees: we saw some elk and buffaloe to-day but at too great a distance to obtain any of them, though a number of the carcases of the latter animal are strewed along the shores, having fallen through the ice, and been swept along when the river broke up. more bald eagles are seen on this part of the missouri than we have previously met with; the small or common hawk, common in most parts of the united states, are also found here: great quantities of geese are feeding in the prairies, and one flock of white brant or goose with black wings, and some gray brant with them pass up river, and from their flight they seem to proceed much farther to the northwest. we killed two antelopes which were very lean, and caught last night two beaver: the french hunters who had procured seven, thinking the neighborhood of the little missouri a convenient hunting ground for that animal, remained behind there: in the evening we encamped in a beautiful plain on the north thirty feet above the river, having made twenty-two and a half miles. sunday 14. we set off early with pleasant and fair weather: a dog joined us, which we suppose had strayed from the assiniboin camp on the lake. at two and a half miles we passed timbered low grounds and a small creek: in these low grounds are several uninhabited lodges built with the boughs of the elm, and the remains of two recent encampments, which from the hoops of small kegs found in them we judged could belong to assiniboins only, as they are the only missouri indians who use spirituous liquors: of these they are so passionately fond that it forms their chief inducement to visit the british on the assiniboin, to whom they barter for kegs of rum their dried and pounded meat, their grease, and the skins of large and small wolves, and small foxes. the dangerous exchange is transported to their camps with their friends and relations, and soon exhausted in brutal intoxication: so far from considering drunkenness as disgraceful, the women and children are permitted and invited to share in these excesses with their husbands and fathers, who boast how often their skill and industry as hunters has supplied them with the means of intoxication: in this, as in their other habits and customs, they resemble the sioux from whom they are descended: the trade with the assiniboins and knistenaux is encouraged by the british, because it procures provision for their _engages_ on their return from rainy lake to the english river and the athabasky country where they winter; these men being obliged during that voyage to pass rapidly through a country but scantily supplied with game. we halted for dinner near a large village of burrowing squirrels, who we observe generally select a southeasterly exposure, though they are sometimes found in the plains. at ten and a quarter miles we came to the lower point of an island, which from the day of our arrival there we called sunday island: here the river washes the bases of the hills on both sides and above the island, which with its sandbar extends a mile and a half: two small creeks fall in from the south; the uppermost of these, which is the largest, we called chaboneau's creek, after our interpreter who once encamped on it several weeks with a party of indians. beyond this no white man had ever been except two frenchmen, one of whom lapage is with us, and who having lost their way straggled a few miles further, though to what point we could not ascertain: about a mile and a half beyond this island we encamped on a point of woodland on the north, having made in all fourteen miles. the assiniboins have so recently left the river that game is scarce and shy. one of the hunters shot at an otter last evening; a buffaloe too was killed, and an elk, both so poor as to be almost unfit for use; two white bear were also seen, and a muskrat swimming across the river. the river continues wide and of about the same rapidity as the ordinary current of the ohio. the low grounds are wide, the moister parts containing timber, the upland extremely broken, without wood, and in some places seem as if they had slipped down in masses of several acres in surface. the mineral appearances of salts, coal, and sulphur, with the burnt hill and pumicestone continue, and a bituminous water about the colour of strong lye, with the taste of glauber salts and a slight tincture of allum. many geese were feeding in the prairies, and a number of magpies who build their nest much like those of the blackbird in trees, and composed of small sticks, leaves and grass, open at top: the egg is of a bluish brown color, freckled with reddish brown spots. we also killed a large hooting owl resembling that of the united states, except that it was more booted and clad with feathers. on the hills are many aromatic herbs, resembling in taste, smell and appearance the sage, hysop, wormwood, southern wood, juniper and dwarf cedar; a plant also about two or three feet high, similar to the camphor in smell and taste, and another plant of the same size, with a long, narrow, smooth, soft leaf, of an agreeable smell and flavour, which is a favourite food of the antelope, whose necks are often perfumed by rubbing against it. monday 15. we proceeded under a fine breeze from the south, and clear pleasant weather. at seven miles we reached the lower point of an island in a bend to the south, which is two miles in length. captain clarke, who went about nine miles northward from the river reached the high grounds, which, like those we have seen, are level plains without timber; here he observed a number of drains, which descending from the hills pursue a northeast course, and probably empty into the mouse river, a branch of the assiniboin, which from indian accounts approaches very near to the missouri at this place. like all the rivulets of this neighbourhood these drains were so strongly impregnated with mineral salts that they are not fit to drink. he saw also the remains of several camps of assiniboins; the low grounds on both sides of the river are extensive, rich, and level. in a little pond on the north, we heard for the first time this season the croaking of frogs, which exactly resembles that of the small frogs in the united states: there are also in these plains great quantities of geese, and many of the grouse, or prairie hen, as they are called by the n.w. company traders; the note of the male, as far as words can represent it, is cook, cook, cook, coo, coo, coo, the first part of which both male and female use when flying; the male too drums with his wings when he flies in the same way, though not so loud as the pheasant; they appear to be mating. some deer, elk, and goats were in the low grounds, and buffaloe on the sand beaches, but they were uncommonly shy; we also saw a black bear, and two white ones. at fifteen miles we passed on the north side a small creek twenty yards wide, which we called goatpen creek, from a park or enclosure for the purpose of catching that animal, which those who went up the creek found, and which we presume to have been left by the assiniboins. its water is impregnated with mineral salts, and the country through which it flows consists of wide and very fertile plains, but without any trees. we encamped at the distance of twenty-three miles, on a sandpoint to the south; we passed in the evening a rock in the middle of the river, the channel of which a little above our camp, is confined within eighty yards. tuesday 16. the morning was clear, the wind light from the s.e. the country presents the same appearance of low plains and meadows on the river, bounded a few miles back by broken hills, which end in high level fertile lands, the quantity of timber is however increasing. the appearance of minerals continues as usual, and to-day we found several stones which seemed to have been wood, first carbonated and then petrified by the water of the missouri, which has the same effect on many vegetable substances. there is indeed reason to believe that the strata of coal in the hills cause the fire and appearances which they exhibit of being burned. whenever these marks present themselves in the bluffs on the river, the coal is seldom seen, and when found in the neighborhood of the strata of burnt earth, the coal with the sand and sulphurous matter usually accompanying it, is precisely at the same height and nearly of the same thickness with those strata. we passed three small creeks or rather runs, which rise in the hills to the north. numbers of geese, and few ducks chiefly of the mallard and bluewinged teal, many buffaloe, elk and deer were also observed, and in the timbered low grounds this morning we were surprised to observe a great quantity of old hornets' nests: we encamped in a point of woods on the south, having come eighteen miles, though the circuits which we were obliged to make around sandbars very much increased the real distance. wednesday, april 17. we set off early, the weather being fine, and the wind so favourable as to enable us to sail the greater part of the course. at ten and three quarter miles we passed a creek ten yards wide on the south; at eighteen miles a little run on the north, and at night encamped in a woody point on the south. we had travelled twenty-six miles through a country similar to that of yesterday, except that there were greater appearances of burnt hills, furnishing large quantities of lava and pumicestone, of the last of which we observe some pieces floating down the river, as we had previously done, as low as the little missouri. in all the copses of wood are the remains of the assiniboin encampments; around us are great quantities of game, such as herds of buffaloe, elk, antelopes, some deer and wolves, the tracks of bears, a curlue was also seen, and we obtained three beaver, the flesh of which is more relished by the men than any other food which we have. just before we encamped we saw some tracks of indians, who had passed twenty-four hours before, and left four rafts, and whom we supposed to be a band of assiniboins on their return from war against the indians on the rocky mountains. thursday 18. we had again a pleasant day, and proceeded on with a westerly wind, which however changed to n.w. and blew so hard that we were obliged to stop at one o'clock and remain four hours, when it abated and we then continued our course. we encamped about dark on a woody bank having made thirteen miles. the country presented the usual variety of highlands interspersed with rich plains. in one of these we observed a species of pea bearing a yellow flower, which is now in blossom, the leaf and stalk resembling the common pea. it seldom rises higher than six inches, and the root is perennial. on the rose bushes we also saw a quantity of the hair of the buffaloe, which had become perfectly white by exposure, and resembled the wool of the sheep, except that it was much finer and more soft and silky. a buffaloe which we killed yesterday had shed his long hair, and that which remained was about two inches long, thick, fine, and would have furnished five pounds of wool, of which we have no doubt an excellent cloth may be made. our game to-day was a beaver, a deer, an elk, and some geese. the river has been crooked all day and bearing towards the south. on the hills we observed considerable quantities of dwarf juniper, which seldom grows higher than three feet. we killed in the course of the day an elk, three geese and a beaver. the beaver on this part of the missouri are in greater quantities, larger and fatter, and their fur is more abundant and of a darker colour than any we had hitherto seen: their favourite food seems to be the bark of the cottonwood and willow, as we have seen no other species of tree that has been touched by them, and these they gnaw to the ground through a diameter of twenty inches. the next day, friday, 19th, the wind was so high from northwest that we could not proceed, but being less violent on saturday, 20th, we set off about seven o'clock, and had nearly lost one of the canoes as we left the shore, by the falling in of a large part of the bank. the wind too became again so strong that we could scarcely make one mile an hour, and the sudden squalls so dangerous to the small boats, that we stopped for the night among some willows on the north, not being able to advance more than six and a half miles. in walking through the neighbouring plains we found a fine fertile soil covered with cottonwood, some box, alder, ash, red elm, and an undergrowth of willow, rosebushes, honeysuckle, red willow, gooseberry, currant, and serviceberries, and along the foot of the hills great quantities of hysop. our hunters procured elk and deer which are now lean, and six beaver which are fatter and more palatable. along the plain there were also some indian camps; near one of these was a scaffold about seven feet high, on which were two sleds with their harness, and under it the body of a female, carefully wrapped in several dressed buffaloe skins; near it lay a bag made of buffaloe skin, containing a pair of moccasins, some red and blue paint, beaver's nails, scrapers for dressing hides, some dried roots, several plaits of sweet grass, and a small quantity of mandan tobacco. these things as well as the body itself had probably fallen down by accident, as the custom is to place them on the scaffold. at a little distance was the body of a dog not yet decayed, who had met this reward for having dragged thus far in the sled the corpse of his mistress, to whom according to the indian usage he had been sacrificed. sunday, 21st. last night there was a hard white frost, and this morning the weather cold, but clear and pleasant: in the course of the day however it became cloudy and the wind rose. the country is of the same description as within the few last days. we saw immense quantities of buffaloe, elk, deer, antelopes, geese, and some swan and ducks, out of which we procured three deer, four buffaloe calves, which last are equal in flavour to the most delicious veal; also two beaver, and an otter. we passed one large and two small creeks on the south side, and reached at sixteen miles the mouth of whiteearth river, coming in from the north. this river before it reaches the low grounds near the missouri, is a fine bold stream sixty yards wide, and is deep and navigable, but it is so much choked up at the entrance by the mud of the missouri, that its mouth is not more than ten yards wide. its course, as far as we could discern from the neighbouring hills, is nearly due north, passing through a beautiful and fertile valley, though without a tree or bush of any description. half a mile beyond this river we encamped on the same side below a point of highland, which from its appearance we call cut bluff. monday, 22d. the day clear and cold: we passed a high bluff on the north and plains on the south, in which were large herds of buffaloe, till breakfast, when the wind became so strong ahead that we proceeded with difficulty even with the aid of the towline. some of the party now walked across to the whiteearth river, which here at the distance of four miles from its mouth approaches very near to the missouri. it contains more water than is usual in streams of the same size at this season, with steep banks about ten or twelve feet high, and the water is much clearer than that of the missouri; the salts which have been mentioned as common on the missouri, are here so abundant that in many places the ground appears perfectly white, and from this circumstance it may have derived its name; it waters an open country and is navigable almost to its source, which is not far from the saskaskawan, and judging from its size and course, it is probable that it extends as far north as the fiftieth degree of latitude. after much delay in consequence of the high wind, we succeeded in making eleven miles, and encamped in a low ground on the south covered with cottonwood and rabbitberries. the hills of the missouri near this place exhibit large irregular broken masses of rocks and stones, some of which, although two hundred feet above the water, seem at some remote period to have been subject to its influence, being apparently worn smooth by the agitation of the water. these rocks and stones consist of white and gray granite, a brittle black rock, flint, limestone, freestone, some small specimens of an excellent pebble, and occasionally broken stratas of a black coloured stone like petrified wood, which make good whetstones. the usual appearances of coal, or carbonated wood, and pumicestone still continue, the coal being of a better quality and when burnt affords a hot and lasting fire, emitting very little smoke or flame. there are huge herds of deer, elk, buffaloe, and antelopes in view of us: the buffaloe are not so shy as the rest, for they suffer us to approach within one hundred yards before they run, and then stop and resume their pasture at a very short distance. the wolves to-day pursued a herd of them, and at length caught a calf that was unable to keep up with the rest; the mothers on these occasions defending their young as long as they can retreat as fast as the herd, but seldom returning any distance to seek for them. tuesday 23. a clear and pleasant morning, but at nine o'clock the wind became so high that the boats were in danger of upsetting; we therefore were forced to stop at a place of safety till about five in the afternoon, when the wind being lower we proceeded and encamped on the north at the distance of thirteen and a half miles: the party on shore brought us a buffaloe calf and three blacktailed deer: the sand on the river has the same appearances as usual, except that the quantity of wood increases. wednesday 24. the wind blew so high during the whole day that we were unable to move; such indeed was its violence, that although we were sheltered by high timber the waves wet many articles in the boats: the hunters went out and returned with four deer, two elk, and some young wolves of the small kind. the party are very much afflicted with sore eyes, which we presume are occasioned by the vast quantities of sand which are driven from the sandbars in such clouds as often to hide from us the view of the opposite bank. the particles of this sand are so fine and light that it floats for miles in the air like a column of thick smoke, and is so penetrating that nothing can be kept free from it, and we are compelled to eat, drink, and breathe it very copiously. to the same cause we attribute the disorder of one of our watches, although her cases are double and tight; since without any defect in its works, that we can discover, it will not run for more than a few minutes without stopping. thursday 25. the wind moderated this morning, but was still high; we therefore set out early, the weather being so cold that the water froze on the oars as we rowed, and about ten o'clock the wind increased so much that we were obliged to stop. this detention from the wind and the reports from our hunters of the crookedness of the river, induced us to believe that we were at no great distance from the yellowstone river. in order therefore to prevent delay as much as possible, captain lewis determined to go on by land in search of that river, and make the necessary observations, so as to be enabled to proceed on immediately after the boats should join him; he therefore landed about eleven o'clock on the south side, accompanied by four men; the boats were prevented from going until five in the afternoon, when they went on a few miles further and encamped for the night at the distance of fourteen and a half miles. friday 26. we continued our voyage in the morning and by twelve o'clock encamped at eight miles distance, at the junction of the missouri and yellowstone rivers; where we were soon joined by captain lewis. on leaving us yesterday he pursued his route along the foot of the hills, which he ascended at the distance of eight miles; from these the wide plains watered by the missouri and the yellowstone spread themselves before the eye, occasionally varied with the wood of the banks, enlivened by the irregular windings of the two rivers, and animated by vast herds of buffaloe, deer, elk, and antelope. the confluence of the two rivers was concealed by the wood, but the yellowstone itself was only two miles distant to the south. he therefore descended the hills and encamped on the bank of the river, having killed as he crossed the plain four buffaloes; the deer alone are shy and retire to the woods, but the elk, antelope, and buffaloe suffered him to approach them without alarm, and often followed him quietly for some distance. this morning he sent a man up the river to examine it, while he proceeded down to the junction: the ground on the lower side of the yellowstone near its mouth, is flat, and for about a mile seems to be subject to inundation, while that at the point or junction, as well as on the opposite side of the missouri, is at the usual height of ten or eighteen feet above the water, and therefore not overflown. there is more timber in the neighbourhood of this place, and on the missouri, as far below as the whiteearth river, than on any other part of the missouri on this side of the chayenne: the timber consists principally of cottonwood, with some small elm, ash, and box alder. on the sandbars and along the margin of the river grows the small-leafed willow; in the low grounds adjoining are scattered rosebushes three or four feet high, the redberry, serviceberry and redwood. the higher plains are either immediately on the river, in which case they are generally timbered, and have an undergrowth like that of the low grounds, with the addition of the broad-leafed willow, gooseberry, chokecherry, purple currant, and honeysuckle; or they are between the low grounds and the hills, and for the most part without wood or any thing except large quantities of wild hysop; this plant rises about two feet high, and like the willow of the sandbars is a favourite food of the buffaloe, elk, deer, grouse, porcupine, hare, and rabbit. this river which had been known to the french as the roche jaune, or as we have called it the yellowstone, rises according to indian information in the rocky mountains; its sources are near those of the missouri and the platte, and it may be navigated in canoes almost to its head. it runs first through a mountainous country, but in many parts fertile and well timbered; it then waters a rich delightful land, broken into vallies and meadows, and well supplied with wood and water till it reaches near the missouri open meadows and low grounds, sufficiently timbered on its borders. in the upper country its course is represented as very rapid, but during the two last and largest portions, its current is much more gentle than that of the missouri, which it resembles also in being turbid though with less sediment. the man who was sent up the river, reported in the evening that he had gone about eight miles, that during that distance the river winds on both sides of a plain four or five miles wide, that the current was gentle and much obstructed by sandbars, that at five miles he had met with a large timbered island, three miles beyond which a creek falls in on the s.e. above a high bluff, in which are several strata of coal. the country as far as he could discern, resembled that of the missouri, and in the plain he met several of the bighorn animals, but they were too shy to be obtained. the bed of the yellowstone, as we observed it near the mouth, is composed of sand and mud, without a stone of any kind. just above the confluence we measured the two rivers, and found the bed of the missouri five hundred and twenty yards wide, the water occupying only three hundred and thirty, and the channel deep: while the yellowstone, including its sandbar, occupied eight hundred and fifty-eight yards, with two hundred and ninety-seven yards of water: the deepest part of the channel is twelve feet, but the river is now falling and seems to be nearly at its summer height. april 27. we left the mouth of the yellowstone. from the point of junction a wood occupies the space between the two rivers, which at the distance of a mile comes within two hundred and fifty yards of each other. there a beautiful low plain commences, and widening as the rivers recede, extends along each of them for several miles, rising about half a mile from the missouri into a plain twelve feet higher than itself. the low plain is a few inches above high water mark, and where it joins the higher plain there is a channel of sixty or seventy yards in width, through which a part of the missouri when at its greatest height passes into the yellowstone. at two and a half miles above the junction and between the high and low plain is a small lake, two hundred yards wide, extending for a mile parallel with the missouri along the edge of the upper plain. at the lower extremity of this lake, about four hundred yards from the missouri, and twice that distance from the yellowstone, is a situation highly eligible for a trading establishment; it is in the high plain which extends back three miles in width, and seven or eight miles in length, along the yellowstone, where it is bordered by an extensive body of woodland, and along the missouri with less breadth, till three miles above it is circumscribed by the hills within a space four yards in width. a sufficient quantity of limestone for building may easily be procured near the junction of the rivers; it does not lie in regular stratas, but is in large irregular masses, of a light colour and apparently of an excellent quality. game too is very abundant, and as yet quite gentle; above all, its elevation recommends it as preferable to the land at the confluence of the rivers, which their variable channels may render very insecure. the n.w. wind rose so high at eleven o'clock, that we were obliged to stop till about four in the afternoon, when we proceeded till dusk. on the south a beautiful plain separates the two rivers, till at about six miles there is a timbered piece of low ground, and a little above it bluffs, where the country rises gradually from the river; the situations on the north more high and open. we encamped on that side, the wind, the sand which it raised, and the rapidity of the current having prevented our advancing more than eight miles; during the latter part of the day the river becomes wider and crowded with sandbars: although the game is in such plenty we kill only what is necessary for our subsistence. for several days past we have seen great numbers of buffaloe lying dead along the shore, and some of them partly devoured by the wolves; they have either sunk through the ice during the winter, or been drowned in attempting to cross, or else, after crossing to some high bluff, found themselves too much exhausted either to ascend or swim back again, and perished for want of food; in this situation we found several small parties of them. there are geese too in abundance, and more bald-eagles than we have hitherto observed; the nests of these last being always accompanied by those of two or three magpies, who are their inseparable attendants. chapter viii. unusual appearance of salt--the formidable character of the white bear--porcupine river described--beautiful appearance of the surrounding country--immense quantities of game--milk river described--extraordinary character of bigdry river--an instance of uncommon tenacity of life in a white bear--narrow escape of one of the party from that animal--a still more remarkable instance--muscleshell river described. sunday 28. the day was clear and pleasant, and the wind having shifted to southeast, we could employ our sails, and went twenty-four miles to a low ground on the north opposite to steep bluffs: the country on both sides is much broken, the hills approaching nearer to the river, and forming bluffs, some of a white and others of a red colour, and exhibiting the usual appearances of minerals, and some burnt hills though without any pumicestone; the salts are in greater quantities than usual, and the banks and sandbars are covered with a white incrustation like frost. the low grounds are level, fertile and partially timbered, but are not so wide as for a few days past. the woods are now green, but the plains and meadows seem to have less verdure than those below: the only streams which we met to-day are two small runs on the north and one on the south, which rise in the neighbouring hills, and have very little water. at the distance of eighteen miles the missouri makes a considerable bend to the southeast: the game is very abundant, the common, and mule or blacktailed deer, elk, buffaloe, antelope, brown bear, beaver, and geese. the beaver have committed great devastation among the trees, one of which, nearly three feet in diameter, has been gnawed through by them. monday 29. we proceeded early with a moderate wind: captain lewis who was on shore with one hunter met about eight o'clock two white bears: of the strength and ferocity of this animal, the indians had given us dreadful accounts: they never attack him but in parties of six or eight persons, and even then are often defeated with the loss of one or more of the party. having no weapons but bows and arrows, and the bad guns with which the traders supply them, they are obliged to approach very near to the bear; and as no wound except through the head or heart is mortal, they frequently fall a sacrifice if they miss their aim. he rather attacks than avoids a man, and such is the terror which he has inspired, that the indians who go in quest of him paint themselves and perform all the superstitious rites customary when they make war on a neighbouring nation. hitherto those we had seen did not appear desirous of encountering us, but although to a skilful rifleman the danger is very much diminished, yet the white bear is still a terrible animal: on approaching these two, both captain lewis and the hunter fired and each wounded a bear: one of them made his escape; the other turned upon captain lewis and pursued him seventy or eighty yards, but being badly wounded he could not run so fast as to prevent him from reloading his piece, which he again aimed at him, and a third shot from the hunter brought him to the ground: he was a male not quite full grown, and weighed about three hundred pounds: the legs are somewhat longer than those of the black bear, and the talons and tusks much larger and longer. the testicles are also placed much farther forward and suspended in separate pouches from two to four inches asunder, while those of the black bear are situated back between the thighs and in a single pouch like those of the dog: its colour is a yellowish brown, the eyes small, black, and piercing, the front of the fore legs near the feet is usually black, and the fur is finer, thicker, and deeper than that of the black bear: add to which, it is a more furious animal, and very remarkable for the wounds which it will bear without dying. we are surrounded with deer, elk, buffaloe, antelopes, and their companions the wolves, who have become more numerous and make great ravages among them: the hills are here much more rough and high, and almost overhang the banks of the river. there are greater appearances of coal than we have hitherto seen, the stratas of it being in some places six feet thick, and there are stratas of burnt earth, which are always on the same level with those of coal. in the evening after coming twenty-five miles we encamped at the entrance of a river which empties itself into a bend on the north side of the missouri: this stream which we called martha's river, is about fifty yards wide, with water for fifteen yards, the banks are of earth, and steep, though not high, and the bed principally of mud. captain clarke, who ascended it for three miles, found that it continued of the same width with a gentle current, and pursuing its course about north 30â° west, through an extensive, fertile, and beautiful valley, but without a single tree. the water is clear, and has a brownish yellow tint; at this place the highlands which yesterday and to-day had approached so near the river became lower, and receding from the water left a valley seven or eight miles wide. tuesday 30. the wind was high from the north during last evening and continued so this morning: we however continued, and found the river more winding than usual and with a number of sand islands and bars, on one of which last we encamped at the distance of twenty-four miles. the low grounds are fertile and extensive but with very little timber, and that cottonwood, very bad of its kind, being too small for planks, and broken and dead at the top and unsound in the centre of the trunk. we passed some ancient lodges of driftwood which do not appear to have been lately inhabited. the game continues abundant: we killed the largest male elk we have yet seen; on placing it in its natural erect position, we found that it measured five feet three inches from the point of the hoof to the top of the shoulder. the antelopes are yet lean and the females are with young: this fleet and quick-sighted animal is generally the victim of its curiosity: when they first see the hunters they run with great velocity; if he lies down on the ground and lifts up his arm, his hat, or his foot, the antelope returns on a light trot to look at the object, and sometimes goes and returns two or three times till they approach within reach of the rifle; so too they sometimes leave their flock to go and look at the wolves who crouch down, and if the antelope be frightened at first repeat the same manoeuvre, and sometimes relieve each other till they decoy it from the party when they seize it. but generally the wolves take them as they are crossing the rivers, for although swift of foot they are not good swimmers. wednesday, may 1. the wind was in our favour and we were enabled to use the sails till twelve o'clock, when the wind became so high and squally that we were forced to come to at the distance of ten miles on the south, in a low ground stocked with cottonwood, and remain there during the day; one of the canoes being separated from us, and not able to cross over in consequence of the high waves. the country around is more pleasant than that through which we had passed for several days, the hills being lower, the low grounds wider and better supplied with timber, which consists principally of cottonwood: the undergrowth willow on the banks and sandbars, rosebushes, redwillow, and the broad-leafed willow in the low plains, while the high country on both sides is one extensive plain without wood, though the soil is a dark, rich, mellow loam. our hunters killed a buffaloe, an elk, a goat, and two beaver, and also a bird of the plover kind. thursday, 2d. the wind continued high during the night, and at daylight it began to snow and did not stop till ten o'clock, when the ground was covered an inch deep, forming a striking contrast with the vegetation which is now considerably advanced; some flowers having put forth, and the cottonwood leaves as large as a dollar. the wind lulled about five o'clock in the afternoon, and we then proceeded along wide fertile low grounds and high level plains, and encamped at the distance of four miles. our game to-day was deer, elk, and buffaloe: we also procured three beaver who are quite gentle, as they have not been hunted, but when the hunters are in pursuit they never leave their huts during the day: this animal we esteem a great delicacy, particularly the tail, which when boiled resembles in flavor the flesh tongues and sounds of the codfish, and is generally so large as to afford a plentiful meal for two men. one of the hunters in passing near an old indian camp found several yards of scarlet cloth, suspended on the bough of a tree as a sacrifice to the deity by the assiniboins: the custom of making these offerings being common among that people as indeed among all the indians on the missouri. the air was sharp this evening; the water froze on the oars as we rowed, and in the morning. friday, 3d, the weather became quite cold, the ice was a quarter of an inch thick in the kettle, and the snow still continued on the hills though it has melted from the plains. the wind too continued high from the west, but not so violently as to prevent our going on. at two miles from our encampment we passed a curious collection of bushes about thirty feet high and ten or twelve in diameter, tied in the form of a fascine and standing on end in the middle of the low ground: this too we supposed to have been left by the indians as a religious sacrifice: at twelve o'clock the usual hour we halted for dinner. the low grounds on the river are much wider than common, sometimes extending from five to nine miles to the highlands, which are much lower than heretofore, not being more than fifty or sixty feet above the lower plain: through all this valley traces of the ancient bed of the river are every where visible, and since the hills have become lower, the stratas of coal, burnt earth, and pumicestone have in a great measure ceased, there being in fact none to-day. at the distance of fourteen miles we reached the mouth of a river on the north, which from the unusual number of porcupines near it, we called porcupine river. this is a bold and beautiful stream one hundred and twelve yards wide, though the water is only forty yards at its entrance: captain clarke who ascended it several miles and passed it above where it enters the highlands, found it continued nearly of the same width and about knee deep, and as far as he could distinguish for twenty miles from the hills, its course was from a little to the east of north. there was much timber on the low grounds: he found some limestone also on the surface of the earth in the course of his walk, and saw a range of low mountains at a distance to the west of north, whose direction was northwest; the adjoining country being every where level, fertile, open, and exceedingly beautiful. the water of this river is transparent, and is the only one that is so of all those that fall into the missouri: before entering a large sandbar through which it discharges itself, its low grounds are formed of a stiff blue and black clay, and its banks which are from eight to ten feet high and seldom if ever overflow are composed of the same materials. from the quantity of water which this river contains, its direction, and the nature of the country through which it passes, it is not improbable that its sources may be near the main body of the saskaskawan, and as in high water it can be no doubt navigated to a considerable distance, it may be rendered the means of intercourse with the athabasky country, from which the northwest company derive so many of their valuable furs. a quarter of a mile beyond this river a creek falls in on the south, to which on account of its distance from the mouth of the missouri, we gave it the name of two-thousand mile creek: it is a bold stream with a bed thirty yards wide. three miles and a half above porcupine river, we reached some high timber on the north, and encamped just above an old channel of the river, which is now dry. we saw vast quantities of buffaloe, elk, deer, principally of the long tailed kind, antelopes, beaver, geese, ducks, brant, and some swan. the porcupines too are numerous, and so careless and clumsy that we can approach very near without disturbing them as they are feeding on the young willows; towards evening we also found for the first time, the nest of a goose among some driftwood, all that we have hitherto seen being on the top of a broken tree on the forks, and invariably from fifteen to twenty feet or more in height. saturday 4. we were detained till nine in order to repair the rudder of one of the boats, and when we set out the wind was ahead; at six and a half miles we passed a small creek in a deep bend on the south with a sand island opposite to it, and then passing along an extensive plain which gradually rises from the north side of the river, encamped at the distance of eighteen miles in a point of woodland on the north: the river is this day wider than usual, and crowded with sandbars on all sides: the country is level, fertile, and beautiful, the low grounds extensive and contain a much greater portion of timber than is common: indeed all the forepart of the day the river was bordered with timber on both sides, a circumstance very rare on the missouri, and the first that has occurred since we left the mandans. there are as usual vast quantities of game, and extremely gentle; the male buffaloe particularly will scarcely give way to us, and as we approach will merely look at us for a moment, as something new, and then quietly resume their feeding. in the course of the day we passed some old indian hunting camps, one of which consisted of two large lodges fortified with a circular fence, twenty or thirty feet in diameter, and made of timber laid horizontally, the beams overlaying each other to the height of five feet, and covered with the trunks and limbs of trees that have drifted down the river: the lodges themselves are formed by three or more strong sticks about the size of a man's leg or arm, and twelve feet long, which are attached at the top by a whith of small willows, and spreading out so as to form at the base a circle of ten or fourteen feet in diameter: against these are placed pieces of driftwood and fallen timber, usually in three ranges one on the other, and the interstices are covered with leaves, bark, and straw, so as to form a conical figure about ten feet high, with a small aperture in one side for the door. it is, however, at best a very imperfect shelter against the inclemencies of the seasons. sunday 5. we had a fine morning, and the wind being from the east we used our sails. at the distance of five miles we came to a small island, and twelve miles farther encamped on the north, at the distance of seventeen miles. the country like that of yesterday is beautiful in the extreme. among the vast quantities of game around us, we distinguish a small species of goose differing considerably from the common canadian goose; its neck, head, and beak, being much thicker, larger, and shorter in proportion to its size, which is nearly a third smaller; the noise too resembling more that of the brant or of a young goose that has not yet fully acquired its note; in other respects its colour, habits, and the number of feathers in the tail, the two species correspond; this species also associates in flocks with the large geese, but we have not seen it pair off with them. the white brant is about the size of the common brown brant, or two thirds of the common goose, than which it is also six inches shorter from the extremity of the wings, though the beak, head, and neck are larger and stronger: the body and wings are of a beautiful pure white, except the black feathers of the first and second joints of the wings; the beak and legs are of a reddish or flesh-coloured white, the eye of a moderate size, the pupil of a deep sea-green incircled with a ring of yellowish brown, the tail consists of sixteen feathers equally long, the flesh is dark and as well as its note differs but little from those of the common brant, whom in form and habits it resembles, and with whom it sometimes unites in a common flock; the white brant also associate by themselves in large flocks, but as they do not seem to be mated or paired off, it is doubtful whether they reside here during the summer for the purpose of rearing their young. the wolves are also very abundant, and are of two species. first, the small wolf or burrowing dog of the prairies, which are found in almost all the open plains. it is of an intermediate size between the fox and dog, very delicately formed, fleet and active. the ears are large, erect, and pointed, the head long and pointed, like that of the fox; the tail long and bushy; the hair and fur of a pale reddish brown colour, though much coarser than that of the fox; the eye of a deep sea-green colour, small and piercing; the talons rather longer than those of the wolf of the atlantic states, which animal as far as we can perceive is not to be found on this side of the river platte. these wolves usually associate in bands of ten or twelve, and are rarely if ever seen alone, not being able singly to attack a deer or antelope. they live and rear their young in burrows, which they fix near some pass or spot much frequented by game, and sally out in a body against any animal which they think they can overpower, but on the slightest alarm retreat to their burrows making a noise exactly like that of a small dog. the second species is lower, shorter in the legs and thicker than the atlantic wolf; their colour, which is not affected by the seasons, is of every variety of shade, from a gray or blackish brown to a cream coloured white. they do not burrow, nor do they bark, but howl, and they frequent the woods and plains, and skulk along the skirts of the buffaloe herds, in order to attack the weary or wounded. captain clarke and one of the hunters met this evening the largest brown bear we have seen. as they fired he did not attempt to attack, but fled with a most tremendous roar, and such was its extraordinary tenacity of life, that although he had five balls passed through his lungs and five other wounds, he swam more than half across the river to a sandbar, and survived twenty minutes. he weighed between five and six hundred pounds at least, and measured eight feet seven inches and a half from the nose to the extremity of the hind feet, five feet ten inches and half round the breast, three feet eleven inches round the neck, one foot eleven inches round the middle of the foreleg, and his talons, five on each foot, were four inches and three eighths in length. it differs from the common black bear in having its talons much longer and more blunt; its tail shorter; its hair of a reddish or bay brown, longer, finer, and more abundant; his liver, lungs, and heart, much larger even in proportion to his size, the heart particularly being equal to that of a large ox; his maw ten times larger; his testicles pendant from the belly and in separate pouches four inches apart: besides fish and flesh he feeds on roots, and every kind of wild fruit. the antelope are now lean and with young, so that they may readily be caught at this season, as they cross the river from s.w. to n.e. monday 6. the morning being fair and the wind favourable, we set sail, and proceeded on very well the greater part of the day. the country continues level, rich, and beautiful; the low grounds wide and comparatively with the other parts of the missouri, well supplied with wood. the appearances of coal, pumicestone, and burnt earth have ceased, though the salts of tartar or vegetable salts continue on the banks and sandbars, and sometimes in the little ravines at the base of the low hills. we passed three streams on the south; the first at the distance of one mile and a half from our camp was about twenty-five yards wide, but although it contained some water in standing pools it discharges none; this we called littledry creek, about eight miles beyond which is bigdry creek; fifty yards wide, without any water; the third is six miles further, and has the bed of a large river two hundred yards wide, yet without a drop of water: like the other two this stream, which we called bigdry river, continues its width undiminished as far as we can discern. the banks are low, this channel formed of a fine brown sand, intermixed with a small proportion of little pebbles of various colours, and the country around flat and without trees. they had recently discharged their waters, and from their appearance and the nature of the country through which they pass, we concluded that they rose in the black mountains, or in the level low plains which are probably between this place and the mountains; that the country being nearly of the same kind and of the same latitude, the rains of spring melting the snows about the same time, conspire with them to throw at once vast quantities of water down these channels, which are then left dry during the summer, autumn, and winter, when there is very little rain. we had to-day a slight sprinkling. but it lasted a very short time. the game is in such plenty that it has become a mere amusement to supply the party with provisions. we made twenty-five miles to a clump of trees on the north where we passed the night. tuesday 7. the morning was pleasant and we proceeded at an early hour. there is much driftwood floating, and what is contrary to our expectation, although the river is rising, the water is somewhat clearer than usual. at eleven o'clock the wind became so high that one of the boats was nearly sunk, and we were obliged to stop till one, when we proceeded on, and encamped on the south, above a large sandbar projecting from the north, having made fifteen miles. on the north side of the river are the most beautiful plains we have yet seen: they rise gradually from the low grounds on the water to the height of fifty or sixty feet, and then extend in an unbroken level as far as the eye can reach: the hills on the south are more broken and higher, though at some distance back the country becomes level and fertile. there are no more appearances of burnt earth, coal, or pumicestone, though that of salt still continues, and the vegetation seems to have advanced but little since the twenty-eighth of last month: the game is as abundant as usual. the bald-eagles, of whom we see great numbers, probably feed on the carcases of dead animals, for on the whole missouri we have seen neither the blue-crested fisher, nor the fishing-hawks, to supply them with their favourite food, and the water of the river is so turbid that no bird which feeds exclusively on fish can procure a subsistence. wednesday 8. a light breeze from the east carried us sixteen miles, till we halted for dinner at the entrance of a river on the north. captain clarke who had walked on the south, on ascending a high point opposite to its entrance discovered a level and beautiful country which it watered; that its course for twelve or fifteen miles was n.w. when it divided into two nearly equal branches, one pursuing a direction nearly north, the other to the w. of n.w: its width at the entrance is one hundred and fifty yards, and on going three miles up, captain lewis found it to be of the same breadth, and sometimes more; it is deep, gentle, and has a large quantity of water; its bed is principally of mud, the banks abrupt, about twelve feet in height, and formed of a dark, rich loam and blue clay; the low grounds near it are wide and fertile, and possess a considerable proportion of cottonwood and willow. it seems to be navigable for boats and canoes, and this circumstance joined to its course and the quantity of water, which indicates that it passes through a large extent of country, we are led to presume that it may approach the saskashawan and afford a communication with that river. the water has a peculiar whiteness, such as might be produced by a tablespoon full of milk in a dish of tea, and this circumstance induced us to call it milk river. in the evening we had made twenty-seven miles, and encamped on the south. the country on that side consists in general of high broken hills, with much gray, black and brown granite scattered over the surface of the ground. at a little distance from the river there is no timber on either side, the wood being confined as below to the margin of the river; so that unless the contrary is particularly mentioned, it is always understood that the upland is perfectly naked, and that we consider the low grounds well timbered if even a fifth be covered with wood. the wild liquorice is found in great abundance on these hills, as is also the white apple. as usual we are surrounded by buffaloe, elk, common and blacktailed deer, beaver, antelopes and wolves. we observed a place where an indian had recently taken the hair off an antelope's skin, and some of the party thought they distinguished imperfectly some smoke and indian lodges up milk river, marks which we are by no means desirous of realizing, as the indians are probably assiniboins, and might be very troublesome. thursday, 9th. we again had a favourable wind and sailed along very well. between four and five miles we passed a large island in a deep bend to the north, and a large sandbar at the upper point. at fifteen and a quarter miles we reached the bed of a most extraordinary river which presents itself on the south: though as wide as the missouri itself, that is about half a mile, it does not discharge a drop of water and contains nothing but a few standing pools. on ascending it three miles we found an eminence from which we saw the direction of the channel, first south for ten or twelve miles, then turning to the east of southeast as far as we could see; it passes through a wide valley without timber, and the surrounding country consists of waving low hills interspersed with some handsome level plains; the banks are abrupt and consist of a black or yellow clay; or of a rich sandy loam, but though they do not rise more than six or eight feet above the bed, they exhibit no appearance of being overflowed: the bed is entirely composed of a light brown sand, the particles of which like those of the missouri are extremely fine. like the dry rivers we passed before, this seemed to have discharged its waters recently, but the watermark indicated that its greatest depth had not been more than two feet: this stream, if it deserve the name, we called bigdry river. about a mile below is a large creek on the same side, which is also perfectly dry: the mineral salts and quartz are in large quantities near this neighbourhood. the sand of the missouri from its mouth to this place has been mixed with a substance which we had presumed to be a granulated chalk, but which is most probably this quartz. the game is now in great quantities, particularly the elk and buffaloe, which last is so gentle that the men are obliged to drive them out of the way with sticks and stones. the ravages of the beaver are very apparent: in one place the timber was entirely prostrated for a space of three acres in front on the river and one in depth, and great part of it removed, although the trees were in large quantities, and some of them as thick as the body of a man. at the distance of twenty-four miles we encamped, after making twenty-five and a half miles, at the entrance of a small creek in a bend on the north; to which we gave the name of werner's creek after one of our men. for several days past the river has been as wide as it generally is near its mouth, but as it is much shallower, crowded with sandbars, and the colour of the water has become much clearer, we do not yet despair of reaching the rock mountains, for which we are very anxious. friday, 10th. we had not proceeded more than four and a quarter miles when the violence of the wind forced us to halt for the day under some timber in a bend on the south side. the wind continued high, the clouds thick and black, and we had a slight sprinkling of rain several times in the course of the day. shortly after our landing a dog came to us, and as this induced us to believe that we are near the hunting grounds of the assiniboins, who are a vicious ill-disposed people, it was necessary to be on our guard: we therefore inspected our arms which we found in good order, and sent several hunters to scour the country, but they returned in the evening having seen no tents, nor any recent tracks of indians. biles and imposthumes are very common among the party, and sore eyes continue in a greater or less degree with all of us; for the imposthumes we use emollient poultices, and apply to the eyes a solution of two grains of white vitriol and one of sugar of lead with one ounce of water. saturday, 11th. the wind blew very hard in the night, but having abated this morning we went on very well, till in the afternoon the wind arose and retarded our progress; the current too was strong, the river very crooked, and the banks as usual constantly precipitating themselves in large masses into the water. the highlands are broken and approach nearer the river than they do below. the soil however of both hills and low grounds appear as fertile as that further down the river: it consists of a black looking loam with a small portion of sand, which cover the hills and bluffs to the depth of twenty or thirty feet, and when thrown in the water dissolves as readily as loaf-sugar, and effervesces like marle; there are also great appearances of quartz and mineral salts: the first is most commonly seen in the faces of the bluffs, the second is found on the hills as well as the low grounds, and in the gullies which come down from the hills; it lies in a crust of two or three inches in depth, and may be swept up with a feather in large quantities. there is no longer any appearance of coal burnt earth or pumicestone. we saw and visited some high hills on the north side about three miles from the river, whose tops were covered with the pitch-pine: this in the first pine we have seen on the missouri, and it is like that of virginia, except that the leaves are somewhat longer; among this pine is also a dwarf cedar, sometimes between three or four feet high, but generally spreading itself like a vine along the surface of the earth, which it covers very closely, putting out roots from the under side. the fruit and smell resemble those of the common red cedar, but the leaf is finer and more delicate. the tops of the hills where these plants grow have a soil quite different from that just described, the basis of it is usually yellow or white clay, and the general appearance light coloured, sandy, and barren, some scattering tufts of sedge being almost its only herbage. about five in the afternoon one of our men who had been afflicted with biles, and suffered to walk on shore, came running to the boats with loud cries and every symptom of terror and distress: for some time after we had taken him on board he was so much out of breath as to be unable to describe the cause of his anxiety, but he at length told us that about a mile and a half below he had shot a brown bear which immediately turned and was in close pursuit of him; but the bear being badly wounded could not overtake him. captain lewis with seven men immediately went in search of him, and having found his track followed him by the blood for a mile, and found him concealed in some thick brushwood, and shot him with two balls through the skull. though somewhat smaller than that killed a few days ago, he was a monstrous animal and a most terrible enemy: our man had shot him through the centre of the lungs, yet he had pursued him furiously for half a mile, then returned more than twice that distance, and with his talons had prepared himself a bed in the earth two feet deep and five feet long, and was perfectly alive when they found him, which was at least two hours after he received the wound. the wonderful power of life which these animals possess render them dreadful: their very track in the mud or sand, which we have sometimes found eleven inches long and seven and a quarter wide, exclusive of the talons, is alarming; and we had rather encounter two indians than meet a single brown bear. there is no chance of killing them by a single shot unless the ball goes through the brains, and this is very difficult on account of two large muscles which cover the side of the forehead, and the sharp projection of the centre of the frontal bone, which is also thick. our encampment was on the south at the distance of sixteen miles from that of last night; the fleece and skin of the bear were a heavy burden for two men, and the oil amounted to eight gallons. sunday, 12th. the weather being clear and calm, we set out early. within a mile we came to a small creek, about twenty yards wide, emptying itself on the south. at eleven and three quarter miles we reached a point of woodland on the south, opposite to which is a creek of the same width as the last, but with little water, which we called pine creek. at eighteen and three quarter miles we came to on the south opposite to the lower point of a willow island, situated in a deep bend of the river to the southeast: here we remained during the day, the wind having risen at twelve so high that we could not proceed: it continued to blow violently all night, with occasional sprinklings of rain from sunset till midnight. on both sides of the river the country is rough and broken, the low grounds becoming narrower; the tops of the hills on the north exhibits some scattered pine and cedar, on the south the pine has not yet commenced, though there is some cedar on the sides of the hills and in the little ravines. the chokecherry, the wild hysop, sage, fleshy-leafed thorn, and particularly the aromatic herb on which the antelope and hare feed, are to be found on the plains and hills. the soil of the hills has now altered its texture considerably: their bases, like that of the river plains, is as usual a rich, black loam, while from the middle to the summits they are composed of a light brown-coloured earth, poor and sterile, and intermixed with a coarse white sand. monday, 13th. the wind was so strong that we could not proceed till about one o'clock, when we had to encounter a current rather stronger than usual. in the course of a mile and a half we passed two small creeks on the south, one of eighteen the other of thirty yards width, but neither of them containing any water, and encamped on the south at a point of woodland, having made only seven miles. the country is much the same as yesterday, with little timber in the low grounds, and a small quantity of pine and cedar on the northern hills. the river however continues to grow clearer, and this as well as the increased rapidity induces us to hope for some change of country. the game is as usual so abundant that we can get without difficulty all that is necessary. tuesday, 14th. there was some fog on the river this morning, which is a very rare occurrence. at the distance of a mile and a half we reached an island in a bend on the north, which continued for about half a mile, when at the head of it a large creek comes in on the north, to which we gave the name of gibson's creek. at seven and a half miles is a point of rocks on the south, above a creek on the same side, which we called sticklodge creek: five miles further is a large creek on the south, which like the two others has no running water; and at sixteen and a half miles a timbered point on the north, where we encamped for the night. the country is like that of yesterday, except that the low grounds are wider; there are also many high black bluffs along the banks: the game too is in great abundance. towards evening the men in the hindmost canoes discovered a large brown bear lying in the open grounds, about three hundred paces from the river: six of them, all good hunters, immediately went to attack him, and concealing themselves by a small eminence came unperceived within forty paces of him: four of the hunters now fired, and each lodged a ball in his body, two of them directly through the lungs: the furious animal sprung up and ran openmouthed upon them; as he came near, the two hunters who had reserved their fire gave him two wounds, one of which breaking his shoulder retarded his motion for a moment; but before they could reload he was so near that they were obliged to run to the river, and before they reached it he had almost overtaken them: two jumped into the canoe; the other four separated, and concealing themselves in the willows fired as fast as each could reload: they struck him several times, but instead of weakening the monster each shot seemed only to direct him towards the hunter, till at last he pursued two of them so closely, that they threw aside their guns and pouches, and jumped down a perpendicular bank of twenty feet into the river; the bear sprang after them, and was within a few feet of the hindmost, when one of the hunters on shore shot him in the head and finally killed him: they dragged him to the shore, and found that eight balls had passed through him in different directions; the bear was old and the meat tough, so that they took the skin only, and rejoined us at camp, where we had been as much terrified by an accident of a different kind. this was the narrow escape of one of our canoes containing all our papers, instruments, medicine, and almost every article indispensible for the success of our enterprise. the canoe being under sail, a sudden squall of wind struck her obliquely, and turned her considerably. the man at the helm, who was unluckily the worst steersman of the party, became alarmed, and instead of putting her before the wind luffed her up into it. the wind was so high that it forced the brace of the squaresail out of the hand of the man who was attending it, and instantly upset the canoe, which would have turned bottom upwards but for the resistance made by the awning. such was the confusion on board, and the waves ran so high, that it was half a minute before she righted, and then nearly full of water, but by baling out she was kept from sinking until they rowed ashore; besides the loss of the lives of three men who not being able to swim would probably have perished, we should have been deprived of nearly every thing necessary for our purpose, at a distance of between two and three thousand miles from any place where we could supply the deficiency. wednesday 15. as soon as a slight shower of rain had passed, we spread out the articles to dry; but the weather was so damp and cloudy that they derived little benefit from exposure. our hunters procured us deer, buffaloe, and beaver. thursday 16. the morning was fair and we were enabled to dry and repack our stores: the loss we sustained is chiefly in the medicines, many articles of which are completely spoiled, and others considerably injured. at four o'clock we embarked, and after making seven miles encamped on the north near some wood: the country on both sides is broken, the low grounds narrower and with less timber, though there are some scattered pine and cedar on the steep declivities of the hills, which are now higher than usual. a white bear tore the coat of one of the men which he had left on shore; and two of the party wounded a large panther who was feasting on a deer. we caught some lean antelopes as they were swimming the river, and killed two buffaloe. friday 17. we set out early and proceeded on very well; the banks being firm and the shore bold we were enabled to use the towline, which, whenever the banks will permit it, is the safest and most expeditious mode of ascending the river, except under a sail with a steady breeze. at the distance of ten and a half miles we came to the mouth of a small creek on the south, below which the hills approach the river, and continue near it during the day: three miles further is a large creek on the north, and again six and three quarter miles beyond it, another large creek to the south, which contain a small quantity of running water of a brackish taste. the last we called rattlesnake creek from our seeing that animal near it. although no timber can be observed on it from the missouri, it throws out large quantities of driftwood, among which were some pieces of coal brought down by the stream. we continued on one mile and a quarter, and encamped on the south, after making twenty and a half miles. the country in general is rugged, the hills high, with their summits and sides partially covered with pine and cedar, and their bases on both sides washed by the river: like those already mentioned the lower part of these hills is a dark rich loam, while the upper region for one hundred and fifty feet consists of a whitish brown sand, so hard as in many places to resemble stone, though in fact very little stone or rock of any kind is to be seen on the hills. the bed of the missouri is much narrower than usual, being not more than between two and three hundred yards in width, with an uncommonly large proportion of gravel; but the sandbars, and low points covered with willows have almost entirely disappeared: the timber on the river consists of scarcely any thing more than a few scattered cottonwood trees. the saline incrustations along the banks and the foot of the hills are more abundant than usual. the game is in great quantities, but the buffaloe are not so numerous as they were some days ago: two rattlesnakes were seen to-day, and one of them killed: it resembles those of the middle atlantic states, being about two feet six inches long, of a yellowish brown on the back and sides, variegated with a row of oval dark brown spots lying transversely on the back from the neck to the tail, and two other rows of circular spots of the same colour on the sides along the edge of the scuta: there are one hundred and seventy-six scuta on the belly, and seventeen on the tail. captain clarke saw in his excursions a fortified indian camp which appeared to have been recently occupied, and was, we presumed, made by a party of minnetarees who went to war last march. late at night we were roused by the sergeant of the guard in consequence of a fire which had communicated to a tree overhanging our camp. the wind was so high, that we had not removed the camp more than a few minutes when a large part of the tree fell precisely on the spot it had occupied, and would have crushed us if we had not been alarmed in time. saturday 18. the wind continued high from the west, but by means of the towline we were able to make nineteen miles, the sandbars being now few in number, the river narrow and the current gentle; the willow has in a great measure disappeared, and even the cottonwood, almost the only timber remaining, is growing scarce. at twelve and three quarter miles we came to a creek on the north, which was perfectly dry. we encamped on the south opposite the lower point of an island. sunday 19. the last night was disagreeably cold; and in the morning there was a very heavy fog which obscured the river so much as to prevent our seeing the way. this is the first fog of any degree of thickness which we have experienced: there was also last evening a fall of dew, the second which we have seen since entering this extensive open country. about eight o'clock the fog dispersed, and we proceeded with the aid of the towline: the island near which we were encamped, was three quarters of a mile in length. the country resembles that of yesterday, high hills closely bordering the river. in the afternoon the river became crooked, and contained more sawyers or floating timber than we have seen in the same space since leaving the platte. our game consisted of deer, beaver, and elk: we also killed a brown bear, who, although shot through the heart, ran at his usual pace nearly a quarter of a mile before he fell. at twenty-one miles is a willow island half a mile in length, on the north side, a quarter of a mile beyond which is a shoal of rapid water under a bluff: the water continued very strong for some distance beyond it: at half a mile we came to a sandbar on the north, from which to our place of encampment was another half mile, making in all twenty-two and a quarter miles. the saline substances which we have mentioned continue to appear; and the men are much afflicted with sore eyes and imposthumes. monday 20. as usual we set out early, and the banks being convenient for that purpose, we used the towline: the river is narrow and crooked, the water rapid, and the country much like that of yesterday: at the distance of two and a quarter miles we passed a large creek with but little water, to which we gave the name of blowingfly creek, from the quantity of those insects found in its neighbourhood. they are extremely troublesome, infesting our meat whilst cooking and at our meals. after making seven miles we reached by eleven o'clock the mouth of a large river on the south, and encamped for the day at the upper point of its junction with the missouri. this stream which we suppose to be that called by the minnetarees the muscleshell river, empties into the missouri two thousand two hundred and seventy miles above the mouth of the latter river, and in latitude 47â° 0' 24" 6 north. it is one hundred and ten yards wide, and contains more water than streams of that size usually do in this country; its current is by no means rapid, and there is every appearance of its being susceptible of navigation by canoes for a considerable distance: its bed is chiefly formed of coarse sand and gravel, with an occasional mixture of black mud; the banks abrupt and nearly twelve feet high, so that they are secure from being overflowed: the water is of a greenish yellow cast and much more transparent than that of the missouri, which itself, though clearer than below, still retains its whitish hue and a portion of its sediment. opposite to the point of junction the current of the missouri is gentle, and two hundred and twenty-two yards in width, the bed principally of mud (the little sand remaining being wholly confined to the points) and still too deep to use the setting pole. if this be, as we suppose, the muscleshell, our indian information is, that it rises in the first chain of the rocky mountains not far from the sources of the yellowstone, whence in its course to this place it waters a high broken country, well timbered particularly on its borders, and interspersed with handsome fertile plains and meadows. we have reason, however, to believe, from their giving a similar account of the timber where we now are, that the timber of which they speak is similar to that which we have seen for a few days past, which consists of nothing more than a few straggling small pine and dwarf cedar, on the summits of the hills, nine-tenths of the ground being totally destitute of wood, and covered with a short grass, aromatic herbs, and an immense quantity of prickly pears: though the party who explored it for eight miles represented low grounds on the river as well supplied with cottonwood of a tolerable size, and of an excellent soil. they also reported that the country is broken and irregular like that near our camp; that about five miles up a handsome river about fifty yards wide, which we named after chaboneau's wife, sahcajahweah, or birdwoman's river, discharges itself into the muscleshell on the north or upper side. another party found at the foot of the southern hills, about four miles from the missouri, a fine bold spring, which in this country is so rare that since we left the mandans we have found only one of a similar kind, and that was under the bluffs on the south side of the missouri, at some distance from it, and about five miles below the yellowstone: with this exception all the small fountains of which we have met a number are impregnated with the salts which are so abundant here, and with which the missouri is itself most probably tainted, though to us who have been so much accustomed to it, the taste is not perceptible. among the game to-day we observed two large owls, with remarkably long feathers resembling ears on the sides of the head, which we presume are the hooting owls, though they are larger and their colours are brighter than those common in the united states. tuesday 21. the morning being very fine we were able to employ the rope and made twenty miles to our camp on the north. the shores of the river are abrupt, bold and composed of a black and yellow clay, the bars being formed of black mud, and a small proportion of fine sand; the current strong. in its course the missouri makes a sudden and extensive bend towards the south, to receive the waters of the muscleshell. the neck of land thus formed, though itself high is lower than the surrounding country, and makes a waving valley extending for a great distance to the northward, with a fertile soil which, though without wood, produces a fine turf of low grass, some herbs and vast quantities of prickly pear. the country on the south is high, broken, and crowned with some pine and dwarf cedar; the leaf of this pine is longer than that of the common pitch or red pine of virginia, the cone is longer and narrower, the imbrications wider and thicker, and the whole frequently covered with rosin. during the whole day the bends of the river are short and sudden; and the points covered with some cottonwood, large or broad leaved willow, and a small quantity of redwood; the undergrowth consisting of wild roses, and the bushes of the small honeysuckle. the mineral appearances on the river are as usual. we do not find the grouse or prairie hen so abundant as below, and think it probable that they retire from the river to the plains during this season. the wind had been moderate during the fore part of the day, but continued to rise towards evening, and about dark veered to northeast, and blew a storm all night. we had encamped on a bar on the north, opposite the lower point of an island, which from this circumstance we called windy island; but we were so annoyed by clouds of dust and sand that we could neither eat nor sleep, and were forced to remove our camp at eight o'clock to the foot of an adjoining hill, which shielded us in some degree from the wind: we procured elk, deer, and buffaloe. wednesday 22. the wind blew so violently that it was deemed prudent to wait till it had abated, so that we did not leave the camp till ten o'clock, when we proceeded principally by the towline. we passed windy island which is about three quarters of a mile in length: and five and a half miles above it a large island in a bend to the north: three miles beyond this we came to the entrance of a creek twenty yards wide, though with little water, which we called grouse creek, from observing near its mouth a quantity of the prairie hen with pointed tails, the first we have seen in such numbers for several days: the low grounds are somewhat wider than usual and apparently fertile, though the short and scanty grass on the hills does not indicate much richness of soil. the country around is not so broken as that of yesterday, but is still waving, the southern hills possessing more pine than usual, and some appearing on the northern hills, which are accompanied by the usual salt and mineral appearances. the river continues about two hundred and fifty yards wide, with fewer sandbars, and the current more gentle and regular. game is no longer in such abundance, since leaving the muscleshell. we have caught very few fish on this side of the mandans, and these were the white catfish of two to five pounds. we killed a deer and a bear: we have not seen in this quarter the black bear, common in the united states and on the lower parts of the missouri, nor have we discerned any of their tracks, which may easily be distinguished by the shortness of its talons from the brown, grizzly, or white bear, all of which seem to be of the same family, which assumes those colours at different seasons of the year. we halted earlier than usual, and encamped on the north, in a point of woods, at the distance of sixteen and a half miles. chapter ix. the party continue their route--description of judith river--indian mode of taking the buffaloe--slaughter river described--phenomena of nature--of walls on the banks of the missouri--the party encamp on the banks of the river to ascertain which of the streams constitute the missouri--captain lewis leaves the party to explore the northern fork, and captain clarke explores the southern--the surrounding country described in the route of captain lewis--narrow escape of one of his party. thursday 23. last night the frost was severe, and this morning the ice appeared along the edges of the river, and the water froze on our oars. at the distance of a mile we passed the entrance of a creek on the north, which we named teapot creek; it is fifteen yards wide, and although it has running water at a small distance from its mouth, yet it discharges none into the missouri, resembling, we believe, most of the creeks in this hilly country, the waters of which are absorbed by the thirsty soil near the river. they indeed afford but little water in any part, and even that is so strongly tainted with salts that it is unfit for use, though all the wild animals are very fond of it. on experiment it was found to be moderately purgative, but painful to the intestines in its operation. this creek seems to come from a range of low hills, which run from east to west for seventy miles, and have their eastern extremity thirty miles to the north of teapot creek. just above its entrance is a large assemblage of the burrowing squirrels on the north side of the river. at nine miles we reached the upper point of an island in a bend on the south, and opposite the centre of the island, a small dry creek on the north. half a mile further a small creek falls in on the same side; and six and a half miles beyond this another on the south. at four and a half we passed a small island in a deep bend to the north, and on the same side in a deep northeastern bend of the river another small island. none of these creeks however possessed any water, and at the entrances of the islands, the two first are covered with tall cottonwood timber, and the last with willows only. the river has become more rapid, the country much the same as yesterday, except that there is rather more rocks on the face of the hills, and some small spruce pine appears among the pitch. the wild roses are very abundant and now in bloom; they differ from those of the united states only in having the leaves and the bush itself of a somewhat smaller size. we find the musquitoes troublesome, notwithstanding the coolness of the morning. the buffaloe is scarce to-day, but the elk, deer, and antelope, are very numerous. the geese begin to lose the feathers of the wings, and are unable to fly. we saw five bears, one of which we wounded, but in swimming from us across the river, he become entangled in some driftwood and sank. we formed our camp on the north opposite to a hill and a point of wood in a bend to the south, having made twenty-seven miles. friday 24. the water in the kettles froze one eighth of an inch during the night; the ice appears along the margin of the river, and the cottonwood trees which have lost nearly all their leaves by the frost, are putting forth other buds. we proceeded with the line principally till about nine o'clock, when a fine breeze sprung up from the s.e. and enabled us to sail very well, notwithstanding the rapidity of the current. at one mile and a half is a large creek thirty yards wide, and containing some water which it empties on the north side, over a gravelly bed, intermixed with some stone. a man who was sent up to explore the country returned in the evening, after having gone ten miles directly towards the ridge of mountains to the north, which is the source of this as well as of teapot creek. the air of these highlands is so pure, that objects appear much nearer than they really are, so that although our man went ten miles without thinking himself by any means half way to the mountains, they do not from the river appear more than fifteen miles distant; this stream we called northmountain creek. two and a half miles higher is a creek on the south which is fifteen yards wide, but without any water, and to which we gave the name of littledog creek, from a village of burrowing squirrels opposite to its entrance, that being the name given by the french watermen to those animals. three miles from this a small creek enters on the north, five beyond which is an island a quarter of a mile in length, and two miles further a small river: this falls in on the south, is forty yards wide, and discharges a handsome stream of water; its bed rocky with gravel and sand, and the banks high: we called it southmountain creek, as from its direction it seemed to rise in a range of mountains about fifty or sixty miles to the s.w. of its entrance. the low grounds are narrow and without timber; the country high and broken; a large portion of black rock, and brown sandy rock appears in the face of the hills, the tops of which are covered with scattered pine, spruce and dwarf cedar: the soil is generally poor, sandy near the tops of the hills, and nowhere producing much grass, the low grounds being covered with little else than the hysop, or southern wood, and the pulpy-leafed thorn. game is more scarce, particularly beaver, of which we have seen but few for several days, and the abundance or scarcity of which seems to depend on the greater or less quantity of timber. at twenty-four and a half miles we reached a point of woodland on the south, where we observed that the trees had no leaves, and encamped for the night. the high country through which we have passed for some days, and where we now are, we suppose to be a continuation of what the french traders called the cote noire or black hills. the country thus denominated consists of high broken irregular hills and short chains of mountains; sometimes one hundred and twenty miles in width, sometimes narrower, but always much higher than the country on either side. they commence about the head of the kanzas, where they diverge; the first ridge going westward, along the northern shore of the arkansaw; the second approaches the rock mountains obliquely in a course a little to the w. of n.w. and after passing the platte above its forks, and intersecting the yellowstone near the bigbend, crosses the missouri at this place, and probably swell the country as far as the saskashawan, though as they are represented much smaller here than to the south, they may not reach that river. saturday, 25th. two canoes which were left behind yesterday to bring on the game, did not join us till eight o'clock this morning, when we set out with the towline, the use of which the banks permitted. the wind was, however, ahead, the current strong, particularly round the points against which it happened to set, and the gullies from the hills having brought down quantities of stone, those projected into the river, forming barriers for forty or fifty feet round, which it was very difficult to pass. at the distance of two and three quarter miles we passed a small island in a deep bend on the south, and on the same side a creek twenty yards wide, but with no running water. about a mile further is an island between two and three miles in length, separated from the northern shore by a narrow channel, in which is a sand island at the distance of half a mile from its lower extremity. to this large island we gave the name of teapot island; two miles above which is an island a mile long, and situated on the south. at three and a half miles is another small island, and one mile beyond it a second three quarters of a mile in length, on the north side. in the middle of the river two miles above this is an island with no timber, and of the same extent as this last. the country on each side is high, broken, and rocky; the rock being either a soft brown sandstone, covered with a thin stratum of limestone, or else a hard black rugged granite, both usually in horizontal stratas, and the sandrock overlaying the other. salts and quartz as well as some coal and pumicestone still appear: the bars of the river are composed principally of gravel; the river low grounds are narrow, and afford scarcely any timber; nor is there much pine on the hills. the buffaloe have now become scarce: we saw a polecat this evening, which was the first for several days: in the course of the day we also saw several herds of the big-horned animals among the steep cliffs on the north, and killed several of them. at the distance of eighteen miles we encamped on the south, and the next morning, sunday, 26th, proceeded on at an early hour by means of the towline, using our oars merely in passing the river, to take advantage of the best banks. there are now scarcely any low grounds on the river, the hills being high and in many places pressing on both sides to the verge of the water. the black rock has given place to a very soft sandstone, which seems to be washed away fast by the river, and being thrown into the river renders its navigation more difficult than it was yesterday: above this sandstone, and towards the summits of the hills, a hard freestone of a yellowish brown colour shows itself in several stratas of unequal thickness, frequently overlaid or incrusted by a thin stratum of limestone, which seems to be formed of concreted shells. at eight and a quarter miles we came to the mouth of a creek on the north, thirty yards wide, with some running water and a rocky bed: we called it windsor creek, after one of the party. four and three quarter miles beyond this we came to another creek in a bend to the north, which is twenty yards wide, with a handsome little stream of water: there is however no timber on either side of the river, except a few pines on the hills. here we saw for the first time since we left the mandans several soft shelled turtles, though this may be owing rather to the season of the year than to any scarcity of the animal. it was here that after ascending the highest summits of the hills on the north side of the river, that captain lewis first caught a distant view of the rock mountains, the object of all our hopes, and the reward of all our ambition. on both sides of the river and at no great distance from it, the mountains followed its course: above these, at the distance of fifty miles from us, an irregular range of mountains spread themselves from west to northwest from his position. to the north of these a few elevated points, the most remarkable of which bore north 65â° west, appeared above the horizon, and as the sun shone on the snows of their summits he obtained a clear and satisfactory view of those mountains which close on the missouri the passage to the pacific. four and a half miles beyond this creek we came to the upper point of a small sand island. at the distance of five miles between high bluffs, we passed a very difficult rapid, reaching quite across the river, where the water is deep, the channel narrow, and gravel obstructing it on each side: we had great difficulty in ascending it, although we used both the rope and the pole, and doubled the crews: this is the most considerable rapid on the missouri, and in fact the only place where there is a sudden descent: as we were labouring over them, a female elk with its fawn swam down through the waves, which ran very high, and obtained for the place the name of the elk rapids. just above them is a small low ground of cottonwood trees, where, at twenty-two and a quarter miles we fixed our encampment, and were joined by captain lewis, who had been on the hills during the afternoon. the country has now become desert and barren: the appearances of coal, burnt earth, pumicestone, salts, and quartz, continue as yesterday: but there is no timber except the thinly scattered pine and spruce on the summits of the hills, or along the sides. the only animals we have observed are the elk, the bighorn, and the hare, common in this country. in the plain where we lie are two indian cabins made of sticks, and during the last few days we have passed several others in the points of timber on the river. monday, 27. the wind was so high that we did not start till ten o'clock, and even then were obliged to use the line during the greater part of the day. the river has become very rapid with a very perceptible descent: its general width is about two hundred yards: the shoals too are more frequent, and the rocky points at the mouth of the gullies more troublesome to pass: great quantities of this stone lie in the river and on its banks, and seem to have fallen down as the rain washed away the clay and sand in which they were imbedded. the water is bordered by high rugged bluffs, composed of irregular but horizontal stratas of yellow and brown or black clay, brown and yellowish white sand, soft yellowish white sandstone: hard dark brown freestone; and also large round kidney formed irregular separate masses of a hard black ironstone, imbedded in the clay and sand; some coal or carbonated wood also makes its appearance in the cliffs, as do also its usual attendants the pumicestone and burnt earth. the salts and quartz are less abundant, and generally speaking the country is if possible more rugged and barren than that we passed yesterday; the only growth of the hills being a few pine, spruce, and dwarf cedar, interspersed with an occasional contrast once in the course of some miles, of several acres of level ground, which supply a scanty subsistence for a few little cottonwood trees. soon after setting out we passed a small untimbered island on the south: at about seven miles we reached a considerable bend which the river makes towards the southeast, and in the evening, after making twelve and a half miles, encamped on the south near two dead cottonwood trees, the only timber for fuel which we could discover in the neighbourhood. tuesday, 28. the weather was dark and cloudy; the air smoky, and there fell a few drops of rain. at ten o'clock we had again a slight sprinkling of rain, attended with distant thunder, which is the first we have heard since leaving the mandans. we employed the line generally, with the addition of the pole at the ripples and rocky points, which we find more numerous and troublesome than those we passed yesterday. the water is very rapid round these points, and we are sometimes obliged to steer the canoes through the points of sharp rocks rising a few inches above the surface of the water, and so near to each other that if our ropes give way the force of the current drives the sides of the canoe against them, and must inevitably upset them or dash them to pieces. these cords are very slender, being almost all made of elkskin, and much worn and rotted by exposure to the weather: several times they gave way, but fortunately always in places where there was room for the canoe to turn without striking the rock; yet with all our precautions it was with infinite risk and labour that we passed these points. an indian pole for building floated down the river, and was worn at one end as if dragged along the ground in travelling; several other articles were also brought down by the current, which indicate that the indians are probably at no great distance above us, and judging from a football which resembles those used by the minnetarees near the mandans, we conjecture that they must be a band of the minnetarees of fort de prairie. the appearance of the river and the surrounding country continued as usual, till towards evening, at about fifteen miles, we reached a large creek on the north thirty-five yards wide, discharging some water, and named after one of our men thompson's creek. here the country assumed a totally different aspect; the hills retired on both sides from the river, which now spreads to more than three times its former size, and is filled with a number of small handsome islands covered with cottonwood. the low grounds on the river are again wide, fertile, and enriched with trees; those on the north are particularly wide, the hills being comparatively low and opening into three large vallies, which extend themselves for a considerable distance towards the north: these appearances of vegetation are delightful after the dreary hills over which we have passed, and we have now to congratulate ourselves at having escaped from the last ridges of the black mountains. on leaving thompson's creek we passed two small islands, and at twenty-three miles distance encamped among some timber on the north, opposite to a small creek, which we named bull creek. the bighorn is in great quantities, and must bring forth their young at a very early season, as they are now half grown. one of the party saw a large bear also, but being at a distance from the river, and having no timber to conceal him, he would not venture to fire. wednesday, 29. last night we were alarmed by a new sort of enemy. a buffaloe swam over from the opposite side and to the spot where lay one of our canoes, over which he clambered to the shore: then taking fright he ran full speed up the bank towards our fires, and passed within eighteen inches of the heads of some of the men, before the sentinel could make him change his course: still more alarmed he ran down between four fires and within a few inches of the heads of the second row of the men, and would have broken into our lodge if the barking of the dog had not stopped him. he suddenly turned to the right and was out of sight in a moment, leaving us all in confusion, every one seizing his rifle and inquiring the cause of the alarm. on learning what had happened, we had to rejoice at suffering no more injury than the damage to some guns which were in the canoe which the buffaloe crossed. in the morning early we left our camp, and proceeded as usual by the cord. we passed an island and two sandbars, and at the distance of two and a half miles we came to a handsome river which discharges itself on the south, and which we ascended to the distance of a mile and a half: we called it judith's river: it rises in the rock mountains in about the same place with the muscleshell and near the yellowstone river. its entrance is one hundred yards wide from one bank to the other, the water occupying about seventy-five yards, and in greater quantity than that of the muscleshell river, and though more rapid equally navigable, there being no stones or rocks in the bed, which is composed entirely of gravel and mud with some sand: the water too is clearer than any which we have yet seen; and the low grounds, as far as we could discern, wider and more woody than those of the missouri: along its banks we observed some box-alder intermixed with the cottonwood and the willow; the undergrowth consisting of rosebushes, honeysuckle, and a little red willow. there was a great abundance of the argalea or bighorned animals in the high country through which it passes, and a great number of the beaver in its waters: just above the entrance of it we saw the fires of one hundred and twenty-six lodges, which appeared to have been deserted about twelve or fifteen days, and on the other side of the missouri a large encampment, apparently made by the same nation. on examining some moccasins which we found there, our indian woman said that they did not belong to her own nation the snake indians, but she thought that they indicated a tribe on this side of the rocky mountain, and to the north of the missouri; indeed it is probable that these are the minnetarees of fort de prairie. at the distance of six and a half miles the hills again approach the brink of the river, and the stones and rocks washed down from them form a very bad rapid, with rocks and ripples more numerous and difficult than those we passed on the 27th and 28th; here the same scene was renewed, and we had again to struggle and labour to preserve our small craft from being lost. near this spot are a few trees of the ash, the first we have seen for a great distance, and from which we named the place ash rapids. on these hills there is but little timber, but the salts, coal, and other mineral appearances continue. on the north we passed a precipice about one hundred and twenty feet high, under which lay scattered the fragments of at least one hundred carcases of buffaloes, although the water which had washed away the lower part of the hill must have carried off many of the dead. these buffaloe had been chased down the precipice in a way very common on the missouri, and by which vast herds are destroyed in a moment. the mode of hunting is to select one of the most active and fleet young men, who is disguised by a buffaloe skin round his body; the skin of the head with the ears and horns fastened on his own head in such a way as to deceive the buffaloe: thus dressed, he fixes himself at a convenient distant between a herd of buffaloe and any of the river precipices, which sometimes extend for some miles. his companions in the meantime get in the rear and side of the herd, and at a given signal show themselves, and advance towards the buffaloe: they instantly take the alarm, and finding the hunters beside them, they run towards the disguised indian or decoy, who leads them on at full speed toward the river, when suddenly securing himself in some crevice of the cliff which he had previously fixed on, the herd is left on the brink of the precipice: it is then in vain for the foremost to retreat or even to stop; they are pressed on by the hindmost rank, who seeing no danger but from the hunters, goad on those before them till the whole are precipitated and the shore is strewn with their dead bodies. sometimes in this perilous seduction the indian is himself either trodden under root by the rapid movements of the buffaloe, or missing his footing in the cliff is urged down the precipice by the falling herd. the indians then select as much meat as they wish, and the rest is abandoned to the wolves, and create a most dreadful stench. the wolves who had been feasting on these carcases were very fat, and so gentle that one of them was killed with an esponton. above this place we came to for dinner at the distance of seventeen miles, opposite to a bold running river of twenty yards wide, and falling in on the south. from the objects we had just passed we called this stream slaughter river. its low grounds are narrow, and contain scarcely any timber. soon after landing it began to blow and rain, and as there was no prospect of getting wood for fuel farther on, we fixed our camp on the north, three quarters of a mile above slaughter river. after the labours of the day we gave to each man a dram, and such was the effect of long abstinence from spirituous liquors, that from the small quantity of half a gill of rum, several of the men were considerably affected by it, and all very much exhilirated. our game to-day consisted of an elk and two beaver. thursday, 30. the rain which commenced last evening continued with little intermission till eleven this morning, when the high wind which accompanied it having abated, we set out. more rain has now fallen than we have had since the 1st of september last, and many circumstances indicate our approach to a climate differing considerably from that of the country through which we have been passing: the air of the open country is astonishingly dry and pure. observing that the case of our sextant, though perfectly seasoned, shrank and the joints opened, we tried several experiments, by which it appeared that a tablespoon full of water exposed in a saucer to the air would evaporate in thirty-six hours, when the mercury did not stand higher than the temperate point at the greatest heat of the day. the river, notwithstanding the rain, is much clearer than it was a few days past; but we advance with great labour and difficulty; the rapid current, the ripples and rocky points rendering the navigation more embarrassing than even that of yesterday, in addition to which the banks are now so slippery after the rain, that the men who draw the canoes can scarcely walk, and the earth and stone constantly falling down the high bluffs make it dangerous to pass under them; still however we are obliged to make use of the cord, as the wind is strong ahead, the current too rapid for oars, and too deep for the pole. in this way we passed at the distance of five and a half miles a small rivulet in a bend on the north, two miles further an island on the same side, half a mile beyond which came to a grove of trees at the entrance of a run in a bend to the south, and encamped for the night on the northern shore. the eight miles which we made to-day cost us much trouble. the air was cold and rendered more disagreeable by the rain, which fell in several slight showers in the course of the day; our cords too broke several times, but fortunately without injury to the boats. on ascending the hills near the river, one of the party found that there was snow mixed with the rain on the heights: a little back of these the country becomes perfectly level on both sides of the river. there is now no timber on the hills, and only a few scattering cottonwood, ash, box-alder, and willows, along the water. in the course of the day we passed several encampments of indians, the most recent of which seemed to have been evacuated about five weeks since, and from the several apparent dates we supposed that they were made by a band of about one hundred lodges who were travelling slowly up the river. although no part of the missouri from the minnetarees to this place exhibit signs of permanent settlements, yet none seem exempt from the transient visits of hunting parties. we know that the minnetarees of the missouri extend their excursions on the south side of the river, as high as the yellowstone; and the assiniboins visit the northern side, most probably as high as porcupine river. all the lodges between that place and the rocky mountains we supposed to belong to the minnetarees of fort de prairie, who live on the south fork of the saskashawan. friday, 31. we proceeded in two periogues, leaving the canoes to bring on the meat of two buffaloes killed last evening. soon after we set off it began to rain, and though it ceased at noon, the weather continued cloudy during the rest of the day. the obstructions of yesterday still remain and fatigue the men excessively: the banks are so slippery in some places and the mud so adhesive that they are unable to wear their moccasins; one fourth of the time they are obliged to be up to their armpits in the cold water, and sometimes walk for several yards over the sharp fragments of rocks which have fallen from the hills: all this added to the burden of dragging the heavy canoes is very painful, yet the men bear it with great patience and good humour. once the rope of one of the periogues, the only one we had made of hemp, broke short, and the periogue swung and just touched a point of rock which almost overset her. at nine miles we came to a high wall of black rock rising from the water's edge on the south, above the cliffs of the river: this continued about a quarter of a mile, and was succeeded by a high open plain, till three miles further a second wall two hundred feet high rose on the same side. three miles further a wall of the same kind about two hundred feet high and twelve in thickness, appeared to the north: these hills and river cliffs exhibit a most extraordinary and romantic appearance: they rise in most places nearly perpendicular from the water, to the height of between two and three hundred feet, and are formed of very white sandstone, so soft as to yield readily to the impression of water, in the upper part of which lie imbedded two or three thin horizontal stratas of white freestone insensible to the rain, and on the top is a dark rich loam, which forms a gradually ascending plain, from a mile to a mile and a half in extent, when the hills again rise abruptly to the height of about three hundred feet more. in trickling down the cliffs, the water has worn the soft sandstone into a thousand grotesque figures, among which with a little fancy may be discerned elegant ranges of freestone buildings, with columns variously sculptured, and supporting long and elegant galleries, while the parapets are adorned with statuary: on a nearer approach they represent every form of elegant ruins; columns, some with pedestals and capitals entire, others mutilated and prostrate, and some rising pyramidally over each other till they terminate in a sharp point. these are varied by niches, alcoves, and the customary appearances of desolated magnificence: the allusion is increased by the number of martins, who have built their globular nests in the niches and hover over these columns; as in our country they are accustomed to frequent large stone structures. as we advance there seems no end to the visionary enchantment which surrounds us. in the midst of this fantastic scenery are vast ranges of walls, which seem the productions of art, so regular is the workmanship: they rise perpendicularly from the river, sometimes to the height of one hundred feet, varying in thickness from one to twelve feet, being equally broad at the top as below. the stones of which they are formed are black, thick, and durable, and composed of a large portion of earth, intermixed and cemented with a small quantity of sand, and a considerable proportion of talk or quartz. these stones are almost invariably regular parallelipeds of unequal sizes in the wall, but equally deep, and laid regularly in ranges over each other like bricks, each breaking and covering the interstice of the two on which it rests: but though the perpendicular interstice be destroyed, the horizontal one extends entirely through the whole work: the stones too are proportioned to the thickness of the wall in which they are employed, being largest in the thickest walls. the thinner walls are composed of a single depth of the paralleliped, while the thicker ones consist of two or more depths: these walls pass the river at several places, rising from the water's edge much above the sandstone bluffs which they seem to penetrate; thence they cross in a straight line on either side of the river, the plains over which they tower to the height of from ten to seventy feet, until they lose themselves in the second range of hills: sometimes they run parallel in several ranges near to each other, sometimes intersect each other at right angles, and have the appearance of walls of ancient houses or gardens. the face of some of these river hills, is composed of very excellent freestone of a light yellowish brown colour, and among the cliffs we found a species of pine which we had not yet seen, and differing from the virginia pitchpine in having a shorter leaf, and a longer and more pointed cone. the coal appears only in small quantities, as do the burnt earth and pumicestone: the mineral salts have abated. among the animals are a great number of the bighorn, a few buffaloe and elk, and some mule-deer, but none of the common deer nor any antelopes. we saw but could not procure a beautiful fox, of a colour varied with orange, yellow, white, and black, rather smaller than the common fox of this country, and about the same size as the red fox of the united states. the river to-day has been from about one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty yards wide, with but little timber. at the distance of two miles and a half from the last stone wall, is a stream on the north side, twenty-eight yards in width, and with some running water. we encamped just above its mouth having made eighteen miles. saturday, june 1. the weather was cloudy with a few drops of rain. as we proceeded by the aid of our cord we found the river cliffs and bluffs not so high as yesterday, and the country more level. the timber too is in greater abundance on the river, though there is no wood on the high ground; coal however appears in the bluffs. the river is from two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet wide, the current more gentle, the water becoming still clearer and fewer rocky points and shoals than we met yesterday, though those which we did encounter were equally difficult to pass. game is by no means in such plenty as below; all that we obtained were one bighorn, and a mule-deer though we saw in the plains a quantity of buffaloe, particularly near a small lake about eight miles from the river to the south. notwithstanding the wind was ahead all day, we dragged the canoes along the distance of twenty-three miles. at fourteen and a quarter miles, we came to a small island opposite a bend of the river to the north: two and a half miles to the upper point of a small island on the north; five miles to another island on the south side and opposite to a bluff. in the next two miles we passed an island on the south, a second beyond it on the north, and reached near a high bluff on the north a third on which we encamped. in the plains near the river are the chokecherry, yellow and red currant-bushes, as well as the wild rose and prickly pear, both of which are now in bloom. from the tops of the river hills, which are lower than usual, we enjoyed a delightful view of the rich fertile plains on both sides, in many places extending from the river cliffs to a great distance back. in these plains we meet occasionally large banks of pure sand, which were driven apparently by the southwest winds, and there deposited. the plains are more fertile some distance from the river than near its banks, where the surface of the earth is very generally strewed with small pebbles, which appear to be smoothed and worn by the agitation of the waters with which they were no doubt once covered. a mountain or part of the north mountain approaches the river within eight or ten miles, bearing north from our encampment of last evening; and this morning a range of high mountains bearing s.w. from us and apparently running to the westward, are seen at a great distance covered with snow. in the evening we had a little more rain. sunday 2. the wind blew violently last night, and a slight shower of rain fell, but this morning was fair. we set out at an early hour, and although the wind was ahead by means of the cord went on much better than for the last two days, as the banks were well calculated for towing. the current of the river is strong but regular, its timber increases in quantity, the low grounds become more level and extensive, and the bluffs on the river are lower than usual. in the course of the day we had a small shower of rain, which lasted a few minutes only. as the game is very abundant we think it necessary to begin a collection of hides for the purpose of making a leathern boat, which we intend constructing shortly. the hunters who were out the greater part of the day brought in six elk, two buffaloe, two mule-deer and a bear. this last animal had nearly cost us the lives of two of our hunters who were together when he attacked them: one of them narrowly escaped being caught, and the other after running a considerable distance, concealed himself in some thick bushes, and while the bear was in quick pursuit of his hiding place, his companion came up and fortunately shot the animal through the head. at six and at half miles we reached an island on the northern side; one mile and a quarter thence is a timbered low ground on the south: and in the next two and three quarter miles we passed three small islands, and came to a dark bluff on the south: within the following mile are two small islands on the same side. at three and a quarter miles we reached the lower part of a much larger island near a northern point, and as we coasted along its side, within two miles passed a smaller island, and half a mile above reached the head of another. all these islands are small, and most of them contain some timber. three quarters of a mile beyond the last, and at the distance of eighteen miles from our encampment, we came to for the night in a handsome low cottonwood plain on the south, where we remained for the purpose of making some celestial observations during the night, and of examining in the morning a large river which comes in opposite to us. accordingly at an early hour, monday, 3d, we crossed and fixed our camp in the point, formed by the junction of the river with the missouri. it now became an interesting question which of these two streams is what the minnetarees call ahmateahza or the missouri, which they described as approaching very near to the columbia. on our right decision much of the fate of the expedition depends; since if after ascending to the rocky mountains or beyond them, we should find that the river we were following did not come near the columbia, and be obliged to return; we should not only lose the travelling season, two months of which had already elapsed, but probably dishearten the men so much as to induce them either to abandon the enterprise, or yield us a cold obedience instead of the warm and zealous support which they had hitherto afforded us. we determined, therefore, to examine well before we decided on our future course; and for this purpose despatched two canoes with three men up each of the streams with orders to ascertain the width, depth, and rapidity of the current, so as to judge of their comparative bodies of water. at the same time parties were sent out by land to penetrate the country, and discover from the rising grounds, if possible, the distant bearings of the two rivers; and all were directed to return towards evening. while they were gone we ascended together the high grounds in the fork of these two rivers, whence we had a very extensive prospect of the surrounding country: on every side it was spread into one vast plain covered with verdure, in which innumerable herds of buffaloe were roaming, attended by their enemies the wolves: some flocks of elk also were seen, and the solitary antelopes were scattered with their young over the face of the plain. to the south was a range of lofty mountains, which we supposed to be a continuation of the south mountain, stretching themselves from southeast to northwest, and terminating abruptly about southwest from us. these were partially covered with snow; but at a great distance behind them was a more lofty ridge completely covered with snow, which seemed to follow the same direction as the first, reaching from west to the north of northwest, where their snowy tops were blended with the horizon. the direction of the rivers could not however be long distinguished, as they were soon lost in the extent of the plain. on our return we continued our examination; the width of the north branch is two hundred yards, that of the south is three hundred and seventy-two. the north, although narrower and with a gentler current, is deeper than the south: its waters too are of the same whitish brown colour, thickness, and turbidness: they run in the same boiling and rolling manner which has uniformly characterized the missouri; and its bed is composed of some gravel, but principally mud. the south fork is deeper, but its waters are perfectly transparent: its current is rapid, but the surface smooth and unruffled; and its bed too is composed of round and flat smooth stones like those of rivers issuing from a mountainous country. the air and character of the north fork so much resemble those of the missouri that almost all the party believe that to be the true course to be pursued. we however, although we have given no decided opinion, are inclined to think otherwise, because, although this branch does give the colour and character to the missouri, yet these very circumstances induce an opinion that it rises in and runs through an open plain country, since if it came from the mountains it would be clearer, unless, which from the position of the country is improbable, it passed through a vast extent of low ground after leaving them: we thought it probable that it did not even penetrate the rocky mountains, but drew it sources from the open country towards the lower and middle parts of the saskashawan, in a direction north of this place. what embarrasses us most is, that the indians who appeared to be well acquainted with the geography of the country, have not mentioned this northern river; for "the river which scolds at all others," as it is termed, must be according to their account one of the rivers which we have passed; and if this north fork be the missouri, why have they not designated the south branch which they must also have passed, in order to reach the great falls which they mention on the missouri. in the evening our parties returned, after ascending the rivers in canoes for some distance, then continuing on foot, just leaving themselves time to return by night. the north fork was less rapid, and therefore afforded the easiest navigation: the shallowest water of the north was five feet deep, that of the south six feet. at two and a half miles up the north fork is a small river coming in on the left or western side, sixty feet wide, with a bold current three feet in depth. the party by land had gone up the south fork in a straight line, somewhat north of west for seven miles, where they discovered that this little river came within one hundred yards of the south fork, and on returning down it found it a handsome stream, with as much timber as either of the larger rivers, consisting of the narrow and wide-leafed cottonwood, some birch and box-alder, amid undergrowth of willows, rosebushes, and currants: they also saw on this river a great number of elk and some beaver. all these accounts were however very far from deciding the important question of our future route, and we therefore determined each of us to ascend one of the rivers during a day and a half's march, or farther if necessary, for our satisfaction. our hunters killed two buffaloe, six elk, and four deer to-day. along the plains near the junction, are to be found the prickly pear in great quantities; the chokecherry is also very abundant in the river low grounds, as well as the ravines along the river bluffs; the yellow and red currants are not yet ripe; the gooseberry is beginning to ripen, and the wildrose which now covers all the low grounds near the rivers is in full bloom. the fatigues of the last few days have occasioned some falling off in the appearance of the men, who not having been able to wear moccasins, had their feet much bruised and mangled in passing over the stones and rough ground. they are however perfectly cheerful, and have an undiminished ardour for the expedition. tuesday, june 4. at the same hour this morning captain lewis and captain clarke set out to explore the two rivers: captain lewis with six men crossed the north fork near the camp, below a small island from which he took a course n. 30â° w. for four and a half miles to a commanding eminence. here we observed that the north mountain, changing its direction parallel to the missouri, turned towards the north and terminated abruptly at the distance of about thirty miles, the point of termination bearing n. 48â° e. the south mountain too diverges to the south, and terminates abruptly, its extremity bearing s. 8â° w. distant about twenty miles: to the right of, and retreating from this extremity, is a separate mountain at the distance of thirty-five miles in a direction s. 38â° w. which from its resemblance to the roof of a barn, we called the barn mountain. the north fork, which is now on the left, makes a considerable bend to the northwest, and on its western border a range of hills about ten miles long, and bearing from this spot n. 60â° w. runs parallel with it: north of this range of hills is an elevated point of the river bluff on its south side, bearing n. 72â° w. about twelve miles from us; towards this he directed his course across a high, level, dry open plain; which in fact embraces the whole country to the foot of the mountains. the soil is dark, rich, and fertile, yet the grass by no means so luxuriant as might have been expected, for it is short and scarcely more than sufficient to cover the ground. there are vast quantities of prickly pears, and myriads of grasshoppers, which afford food for a species of curlew which is in great numbers in the plain. he then proceeded up the river to the point of observation they had fixed on; from which he went two miles n. 15â° w. to a bluff point on the north side of the river: thence his course was n. 30â° w. for two miles to the entrance of a large creek on the south. the part of the river along which he passed is from forty to sixty yards wide, the current strong, the water deep and turbid, the banks falling in, the salts, coal and mineral appearances are as usual, and in every respect, except as to size, this river resembles the missouri. the low grounds are narrow but well supplied with wood: the bluffs are principally of dark brown yellow, and some white clay with freestone in some places. from this point the river bore n. 20â° e. to a bluff on the south, at the distance of twelve miles: towards this he directed his course, ascending the hills which are about two hundred feet high, and passing through plains for three miles, till he found the dry ravines so steep and numerous that he resolved to return to the river and follow its banks. he reached it about four miles from the beginning of his course, and encamped on the north in a bend among some bushes which sheltered the party from the wind: the air was very cold, the northwest wind high, and the rain wet them to the skin. besides the game just mentioned, he observed buffaloe, elk, wolves, foxes, and we got a blaireau and a weasel, and wounded a large brown bear, whom it was too late to pursue. along the river are immense quantities of roses which are now in full bloom, and which make the low grounds a perfect garden. wednesday 5. the rain fell during the greater part of the last night, and in the morning the weather was cloudy and cold, with a high northwest wind: at sunrise he proceeded up the river eight miles to the bluff on the left side, towards which he had been directing his course yesterday. here he found the bed of a creek twenty-five yards wide at the entrance, with some timber, but no water, notwithstanding the rain: it is, indeed, astonishing to observe the vast quantities of water absorbed by the soil of the plains, which being opened in large crevices presents a fine rich loam: at the mouth of this stream (which he called lark creek) the bluffs are very steep and approach the river so that he ascended them, and crossing the plains reached the river, which from the last point bore n. 50â° w: four miles from this place it extended north two miles. here he discovered a lofty mountain standing alone at the distance of more than eighty miles in the direction of n. 30â° w. and which from its conical figure he called tower mountain. he then proceeded on these two hills and afterwards in different courses six miles, when he again changed for a western course across a deep bend along the south side: in making this passage over the plains he found them like those of yesterday, level and beautiful, with great quantities of buffaloes, and some wolves, foxes, and antelopes, and intersected near the river by deep ravines. here at the distance of from one to nine miles from the river, he met the largest village of barking squirrels which we had yet seen: for he passed a skirt of their territory for seven miles. he also saw near the hills a flock of the mountain cock or a large species of heath hen with a long pointed tail, which the indians below had informed us were common among the rock mountains. having finished his course of ten miles west across a bend, he continued two miles n. 80â° w. and from that point discovered some lofty mountains to the northwest of tower mountain and bearing n. 65â° w. at eighty or one hundred miles distance: here he encamped on the north side in a handsome low ground, on which were several old stick lodges: there had been but little timber on the river in the forepart of the day, but now there is a greater quantity than usual. the river itself is about eighty yards wide, from six to ten feet deep, and has a strong steady current. the party had killed five elk, and a mule-deer; and by way of experiment roasted the burrowing squirrels, which they found to be well flavoured and tender. thursday 6. captain lewis was now convinced that this river pursued a direction too far north for our route to the pacific, and therefore resolved to return; but waited till noon to take a meridian altitude. the clouds, however, which had gathered during the latter part of the night continued and prevented the observation: part of the men were sent forward to a commanding eminence, six miles s. 70â° w; from which they saw at the distance of about fifteen miles s. 80â° w. a point of the south bluff of the river, which thence bore northwardly. in their absence two rafts had been prepared, and when they returned about noon, the party embarked: but they soon found that the rafts were so small and slender that the baggage was wet, and therefore it was necessary to abandon them, and go by land. they therefore crossed the plains, and at the distance of twelve miles came to the river, through a cold storm from the northeast, accompanied by showers of rain. the abruptness of the cliffs compelled them, after going a few miles, to leave the river and meet the storm in the plains. here they directed their course too far northward, in consequence of which they did not meet the river till late at night, after having travelled twenty-three miles since noon, and halted at a little below the entrance of lark creek. they had the good fortune to kill two buffaloe which supplied them with supper, but spent a very uncomfortable night without any shelter from the rain, which continued till morning, friday 7, when at an early hour they continued down the river. the route was extremely unpleasant, as the wind was high from the n.e. accompanied with rain, which made the ground so slippery that they were unable to walk over the bluffs which they had passed on ascending the river. the land is the most thirsty we have ever seen; notwithstanding all the rain which has fallen, the earth is not wet for more than two inches deep, and resembles thawed ground; but if it requires more water to saturate it than the common soils, on the other hand it yields its moisture with equal difficulty. in passing along the side of one of these bluffs at a narrow pass thirty yards in length, captain lewis slipped, and but for a fortunate recovery, by means of his espontoon, would then have been precipitated into the river over a precipice of about ninety feet. he had just reached a spot where by the assistance of his espontoon he could stand with tolerable safety, when he heard a voice behind him cry out, good god captain what shall i do? he turned instantly and found it was windsor who had lost his foothold about the middle of the narrow pass, and had slipped down to the very verge of the precipice where he lay on his belly, with his right arm and leg over the precipice, while with the other leg and arm he was with difficulty holding on to keep himself from being dashed to pieces below. his dreadful situation was instantly perceived by captain lewis, who stifling his alarm, calmly told him that he was in no danger; that he should take his knife out of his belt with the right hand, and dig a hole in the side of the bluff to receive his right foot. with great presence of mind he did this, and then raised himself on his knees; captain lewis then told him to take off his moccasins and come forward on his hands and knees, holding the knife in one hand and his rifle in the other. he immediately crawled in this way till he came to a secure spot. the men who had not attempted this passage, were ordered to return and wade the river at the foot of the bluff, where they found the water breast high. this adventure taught them the danger of crossing the slippery heights of the river; but as the plains were intersected by deep ravines almost as difficult to pass, they continued down the river, sometimes in the mud of the low grounds, sometimes up to their arms in the water, and when it became too deep to wade, they cut footholds with their knives in the sides of the banks. in this way they travelled through the rain, mud, and water, and having made only eighteen miles during the whole day, encamped in an old indian lodge of sticks, which afforded them a dry shelter. here they cooked part of six deer they had killed in the course of their walk, and having eaten the only morsel they had tasted during the whole day slept comfortably on some willow boughs. chapter x. return of captain lewis--account of captain clarke's researches with his exploring party--perilous situation of one of his party--tansy river described--the party still believing the southern fork the missouri, captain lewis resolves to ascend it--mode of making a place to deposit provisions, called cache--captain lewis explores the southern fork--falls of the missouri discovered, which ascertains the question--romantic scenery of the surrounding country--narrow escape of captain lewis--the main body under captain clarke approach within five miles of the falls, and prepare for making a portage over the rapids. saturday 8. it continued to rain moderately all last night, and the morning was cloudy till about ten o'clock, when it cleared off, and became a fine day. they breakfasted about sunrise and then proceeded down the river in the same way as they had done yesterday, except that the travelling was somewhat better, as they had not so often to wade, though they passed some very dangerous bluffs. the only timber to be found is in the low grounds which are occasionally on the river, and these are the haunts of innumerable birds, who, when the sun began to shine, sang very delightfully. among these birds they distinguished the brown thrush, robin, turtledove, linnet, goldfinch, the large and small blackbird, the wren, and some others. as they came along, the whole of the party were of opinion that this river was the true missouri, but captain lewis being fully persuaded that it was neither the main stream, nor that which it would be advisable to ascend, gave it the name of maria's river. after travelling all day they reached the camp at five o'clock in the afternoon, and found captain clarke and the party very anxious for their safety, as they had staid two days longer than had been expected, and as captain clarke had returned at the appointed time, it was feared that they had met with some accident. captain clarke on setting out with five men on the 4th, went seven miles on a course s. 25â° w. to a spring; thence he went s. 20â° w. for eight miles to the river where was an island, from which he proceeded in a course n. 45â° w. and approached the river at the distance of three, five, and thirteen miles, at which place they encamped in an old indian lodge made of sticks and bark. in crossing the plains they observed several herds of buffaloe, some muledeer, antelopes and wolves. the river is rapid and closely hemmed in by high bluffs, crowded with bars of gravel, with little timber on the low grounds, and none on the highlands. near the camp this evening, a white bear attacked one of the men, whose gun happening to be wet, would not go off; he instantly made towards a tree, but was so closely pursued, that as he ascended the tree he struck the bear with his foot. the bear not being able to climb, waited till he should be forced to come down; and as the rest of the party were separated from him by a perpendicular cliff of rocks, which they could not descend, it was not in their power to give him any assistance: fortunately however at last the bear became frighted at their cries and firing, and released the man. in the afternoon it rained, and during the night there fell both rain and snow, and in the morning. june 5, the hills to the s.e. were covered with snow, and the rain continued. they proceeded on in a course n. 20â° w. near the river several miles, till at the distance of eleven miles they reached a ridge, from the top of which on the north side they could plainly discern a mountain to the s. and w. at a great distance covered with snow; a high ridge projecting from the mountains to the southeast approaches the river on the southeast side, forming some cliffs of dark hard stone. they also saw that the river ran for a great distance west of south, with a rapid current, from which as well as its continuing of the same width and depth, captain clarke thought it useless to advance any further, and therefore returned across the level plain in a direction north 30â° east, and reached at the distance of twenty miles the little river which is already mentioned as falling into the north fork, and to which they gave the name of tansy river, from the great quantity of that herb growing on its banks. here they dined, and then proceeded on a few miles by a place where the tansy breaks through a high ridge on its north side and encamped. the next day, 6th, the weather was cold, raw and cloudy, with a high northeast wind. they set out early, down the tansy, whose low grounds resemble precisely, except as to extent, those of the missouri before it branches, containing a great proportion of a species of cottonwood, with a leaf like that of the wild cherry. after halting at twelve o'clock for dinner, they ascended the plain, and at five o'clock reached the camp through the rain, which had fallen without intermission since noon. during his absence the party had been occupied in dressing skins, and being able to rest themselves were nearly freed from their lameness and swollen feet. all this night and the whole of the following day, 7th, it rained, the wind being from the southwest off the mountains: yet the rivers are falling, and the thermometer 40â° above 0. the rain continued till the next day, 8th, at ten o'clock, when it cleared off, and the weather became fine, the wind high from the southwest. the rivers at the point have now fallen six inches since our arrival, and this morning the water of the south fork became of a reddish brown colour, while the north branch continued of its usual whitish appearance. the mountains to the south are covered with snow. sunday, 9th. we now consulted upon the course to be pursued. on comparing our observations, we were more than ever convinced of what we already suspected, that mr. arrowsmith is incorrect in laying down in the chain of rocky mountains one remarkable mountain called the tooth, nearly as far south as 45â°, and said to be so marked from the discoveries of mr. fidler. we are now within one hundred miles of the rocky* mountains and in the latitude of 47â° 24' 12" 8, and therefore it is highly improbable that the missouri should make such a bend to the south before it reaches the rocky mountains, as to have suffered mr. fidler to come as low as 45â° along the eastern borders without touching that river: yet the general course of maria's river from this place for fifty-nine miles, as far as captain lewis ascended, was north 69â° west, and the south branch, or what we consider the missouri, which captain clarke had examined as far as forty-five miles in a straight line, ran in a course south 29â° west, and as far as it could be seen went considerably west of south, whence we conclude that the missouri itself enters the rocky mountains to the north of 45â°. in writing to the president from our winter quarters, we had already taken the liberty of advancing the southern extremity of mr. fidler's discoveries about a degree to the northward, and this from indian information as to the bearing of the point at which the missouri enters the mountain; but we think actual observation will place it one degree still further to the northward. this information of mr. fidler however, incorrect as it is, affords an additional reason for not pursuing maria's river; for if he came as low even as 47â° and saw only small streams coming down from the mountains, it is to be presumed that these rivulets do not penetrate the rocky mountains so far as to approach any navigable branch of the columbia, and they are most probably the remote waters of some northern branch of the missouri. in short, being already in latitude 47â° 24' we cannot reasonably hope by going farther to the northward to find between this place and the saskashawan any stream which can, as the indians assure us the missouri does, possess a navigable current for some distance in the rocky mountains: the indians had assured us also that the water of the missouri was nearly transparent at the falls; this is the case with the southern branch; that the falls lay a little to the south of sunset from them; this too is in favour of the southern fork, for it bears considerably south of this place which is only a few minutes to the northward of fort mandan; that the falls are below the rocky mountains and near the northern termination of one range of those mountains: now there is a ridge of mountains which appear behind the south mountains and terminates to the southwest of us, at a sufficient distance from the unbroken chain of the rocky mountains to allow space for several falls, indeed we fear for too many of them. if too the indians had ever passed any stream as large as this southern fork on their way up the missouri, they would have mentioned it; so that their silence seems to prove that this branch must be the missouri. the body of water also which it discharges must have been acquired from a considerable distance in the mountains, for it could not have been collected in the parched plains between the yellowstone and the rocky mountains, since that country could not supply nourishment for the dry channels which we passed on the south, and the travels of mr. fidler forbid us to believe that it could have been obtained from the mountains towards the northwest. these observations which satisfied our mind completely we communicated to the party: but every one of them were of a contrary opinion; and much of their belief depended on crusatte, an experienced waterman on the missouri, who gave it as his decided judgment that the north fork was the genuine missouri. the men therefore mentioned that although they would most cheerfully follow us wherever we should direct, yet they were afraid that the south fork would soon terminate in the rocky mountains and leave us at a great distance from the columbia. in order that nothing might be omitted which could prevent our falling into an error, it was agreed that one of us should ascend the southern branch by land until we reached either the falls or the mountains. in the meantime in order to lighten our burdens as much as possible, we determined to deposit here one of the periogues and all the heavy baggage which we could possibly spare, as well as some provision, salt, powder, and tools: this would at once lighten the other boats, and give them the crew which had been employed on board the periogue. monday, 10. the weather being fair and pleasant we dried all our baggage and merchandize and made our deposit. these holes or _caches_ as they are called by the missouri traders are very common, particularly among those who deal with the sioux, as the skins and merchandize will keep perfectly sound for years, and are protected from robbery: our cache is built in this manner: in the high plain on the north side of the missouri and forty yards from a steep bluff, we chose a dry situation, and then describing a small circle of about twenty inches diameter, removed the sod as gently and carefully as possible: the hole is then sunk perpendicularly for a foot deep, or more if the ground be not firm. it is now worked gradually wider as they descend, till at length it becomes six or seven feet deep, shaped nearly like a kettle or the lower part of a large still with the bottom somewhat sunk at the centre. as the earth is dug it is handed up in a vessel and carefully laid on a skin or cloth, in which it is carried away and usually thrown into the river or concealed so as to leave no trace of it. a floor of three or four inches in thickness is then made of dry sticks, on which is thrown hay or a hide perfectly dry. the goods being well aired and dried are laid on this floor, and prevented from touching the wall by other dried sticks in proportion as the merchandize is stowed away: when the hole is nearly full, a skin is laid over the goods, and on this earth is thrown and beaten down until with the addition of the sod first removed the whole is on a level with the ground, and there remains not the slightest appearance of an excavation. in addition to this we made another of smaller dimensions, in which we placed all the baggage, some powder, and our blacksmith's tools, having previously repaired such of the tools we carry with us as require mending. to guard against accident, we hid two parcels of lead and powder in the two distinct places. the red periogue was drawn up on the middle of a small island at the entrance of maria's river, and secured by being fastened to the trees from the effect of any floods. in the evening there was a high wind from the southwest accompanied with thunder and rain. we now made another observation of the meridian altitude of the sun, and found that the mean latitude of the entrance of maria's river, as deduced from three observations, is 47â° 25' 17" 2 north. we saw a small bird like the blue thrush or catbird which we had not before met, and also observed that the beemartin or kingbird is common to this country although there are no bees here, and in fact we have not met with the honey-bee since leaving the osage river. tuesday 11. this morning captain lewis with four men set out on their expedition up the south branch. they soon reached the point where the tansy river approaches the missouri, and observing a large herd of elk before them, descended and killed several which they hung up along the river so that the party in the boats might see them as they came along. they then halted for dinner; but captain lewis who had been for some days afflicted with the dysentery, was now attacked with violent pains attended by a high fever and was unable to go on. he therefore encamped for the night under some willow boughs: having brought no medicine he determined to try an experiment with the small twigs of the chokecherry, which being stripped of their leaves and cut into pieces about two inches long were boiled in pure water, till they produced a strong black decoction of an astringent bitter taste; a pint of this he took at sunset, and repeated the dose an hour afterwards. by ten o'clock he was perfectly relieved from pain, a gentle perspiration ensued, his fever abated and in the morning he was quite recovered. one of the men caught several dozen fish of two species: the first is about nine inches long, of a white colour, round in shape; the mouth is beset both above and below with a rim of fine sharp teeth, the eye moderately large, the pupil dark, and the iris narrow, and of a yellowish brown colour: in form and size it resembles the white chub of the potomac, though its head is proportionably smaller; they readily bite at meat or grasshoppers; but the flesh though soft and of a fine white colour is not highly flavoured. the second species is precisely of the form and about the size of the fish known by the name of the hickory shad or old wife, though it differs from it in having the outer edge of both the upper and lower jaw set with a rim of teeth, and the tongue and palate also are defended by long sharp teeth bending inwards, the eye is very large, the iris wide and of a silvery colour; they do not inhabit muddy water, and the flavour is much superior to that of the former species. of the first kind we had seen a few before we reached maria's river; but had found none of the last before we caught them in the missouri above its junction with that river. the white cat continues as high as maria's river, but they are scarce in this part of the river, nor have we caught any of them since leaving the mandans which weighed more than six pounds. of other game they saw a great abundance even in their short march of nine miles. wednesday 12. this morning captain lewis left the bank of the river in order to avoid the steep ravines which generally run from the shore to the distance of one or two miles in the plain: having reached the opened country he went for twelve miles in a course a little to the west of southwest, when the sun becoming warm by nine o'clock, he returned to the river in quest of water and to kill something for breakfast, there being no water in the plain, and the buffaloe discovering them before they came within gunshot took to flight. they reached the banks in a handsome open low ground with cottonwood, after three miles walk. here they saw two large brown bears, and killed them both at the first fire, a circumstance which has never before occurred since we have seen that animal. having made a meal of a part and hung the remainder on a tree with a note for captain clarke, they again ascended the bluffs into the open plains. here they saw great numbers of the burrowing squirrel, also some wolves, antelopes, muledeer, and vast herds of buffaloe. they soon crossed a ridge considerably higher than the surrounding plains, and from its top had a beautiful view of the rocky mountains, which are now completely covered with snow: their general course is from southeast to the north of northwest, and they seem to consist of several ranges which successively rise above each other till the most distant mingles with the clouds. after travelling twelve miles they again met the river, where there was a handsome plain of cottonwood; and although it was not sunset, and they had only come twenty-seven miles, yet captain lewis felt weak from his late disorder, and therefore determined to go no further that night. in the course of the day they killed a quantity of game, and saw some signs of otter as well as beaver, and many tracks of the brown bear: they also caught great quantities of the white fish mentioned yesterday. with the broad-leafed cottonwood, which has formed the principal timber of the missouri, is here mixed another species differing from the first only in the narrowness of its leaf and the greater thickness of its bark. the leaf is long, oval, acutely pointed, about two and a half or three inches long and from three quarters of an inch to an inch in width; it is smooth and thick sometimes slightly grooved or channeled with the margin a little serrate, the upper disk of a common, the lower of a whitish green. this species seems to be preferred by the beaver to the broad-leaved, probably because the former affords a deeper and softer bark. thursday 13. they left their encampment at sunrise, and ascending the river hills went for six miles in a course generally southwest, over a country which though more waving than that of yesterday may still be considered level. at the extremity of this course they overlooked a most beautiful plain, where were infinitely more buffaloe than we had ever before seen at a single view. to the southwest arose from the plain two mountains of a singular appearance and more like ramparts of high fortifications than works of nature. they are square figures with sides rising perpendicularly to the height of two hundred and fifty feet, formed of yellow clay, and the tops seemed to be level plains. finding that the river here bore considerably to the south, and fearful of passing the falls before reaching the rocky mountains, they now changed their course to the south, and leaving those insulated hills to the right proceeded across the plain. in this direction captain lewis had gone about two miles when his ears were saluted with the agreeable sound of a fall of water, and as he advanced a spray which seemed driven by the high southwest wind arose above the plain like a column of smoke and vanished in an instant. towards this point he directed his steps, and the noise increasing as he approached soon became too tremendous to be mistaken for any thing but the great falls of the missouri. having travelled seven miles after first hearing the sound he reached the falls about twelve o'clock, the hills as he approached were difficult of access and two hundred feet high: down these he hurried with impatience and seating himself on some rocks under the centre of the falls, enjoyed the sublime spectacle of this stupendous object which has since the creation had been lavishing its magnificence upon the desert, unknown to civilization. [illustration: the falls and portage] the river immediately at its cascade is three hundred yards wide, and is pressed in by a perpendicular cliff on the left, which rises to about one hundred feet and extends up the stream for a mile; on the right the bluff is also perpendicular for three hundred yards above the falls. for ninety or a hundred yards from the left cliff, the water falls in one smooth even sheet, over a precipice of at least eighty feet. the remaining part of the river precipitates itself with a more rapid current, but being received as it falls by the irregular and somewhat projecting rocks below, forms a splendid prospect of perfectly white foam two hundred yards in length, and eighty in perpendicular elevation. this spray is dissipated into a thousand shapes, sometimes flying up in columns of fifteen or twenty feet, which are then oppressed by larger masses of the white foam, on all which the sun impresses the brightest colours of the rainbow. as it rises from the fall it beats with fury against a ledge of rocks which extend across the river at one hundred and fifty yards from the precipice. from the perpendicular cliff on the north, to the distance of one hundred and twenty yards, the rocks rise only a few feet above the water, and when the river is high the stream finds a channel across them forty yards wide, and near the higher parts of the ledge which then rise about twenty feet, and terminate abruptly within eighty or ninety yards of the southern side. between them and the perpendicular cliff on the south, the whole body of water runs with great swiftness. a few small cedars grow near this ridge of rocks which serves as a barrier to defend a small plain of about three acres shaded with cottonwood, at the lower extremity of which is a grove of the same tree, where are several indian cabins of sticks; below the point of them the river is divided by a large rock, several feet above the surface of the water, and extending down the stream for twenty yards. at the distance of three hundred yards from the same ridge is a second abutment of solid perpendicular rock about sixty feet high, projecting at right angles from the small plain on the north for one hundred and thirty-four yards into the river. after leaving this, the missouri again spreads itself to its usual distance of three hundred yards, though with more than its ordinary rapidity. the hunters who had been sent out now returned loaded with buffaloe meat, and captain lewis encamped for the night under a tree near the falls. the men were again despatched to hunt for food against the arrival of the party, and captain lewis walked down the river to discover if possible some place where the canoes might be safely drawn on shore, in order to be transported beyond the falls. he returned however without discovering any such spot, the river for three miles below being one continued succession of rapids and cascades, overhung with perpendicular bluffs from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high; in short, it seems to have worn itself a channel through the solid rock. in the afternoon they caught in the falls some of both kinds of the white fish, and half a dozen trout from sixteen to twenty-three inches long, precisely resembling in form and the position of its fins the mountain or speckled trout of the united states, except that the specks of the former are of a deep black, while those of the latter are of a red or gold colour: they have long sharp teeth on the palate and tongue, and generally a small speck of red on each side behind the front ventral fins; the flesh is of a pale yellowish red, or when in good order of a rose-coloured red. friday 14. this morning one of the men was sent to captain clarke with an account of the discovery of the falls, and after employing the rest in preserving the meat which had been killed yesterday, captain lewis proceeded to examine the rapids above. from the falls he directed his course southwest up the river: after passing one continued rapid, and three small cascades, each three or four feet high, he reached at the distance of five miles a second fall. the river is about four hundred yards wide, and for the distance of three hundred throws itself over to the depth of nineteen feet, and so irregularly that he gave it the name of the crooked falls. from the southern shore it extends obliquely upwards about one hundred and fifty yards, and then forms an acute angle downwards nearly to the commencement of four small islands close to the northern side. from the perpendicular pitch to these islands, a distance of more than one hundred yards, the water glides down a sloping rock with a velocity almost equal to that of its fall. above this fall the river bends suddenly to the northward: while viewing this place captain lewis heard a loud roar above him, and crossing the point of a hill for a few hundred yards, he saw one of the most beautiful objects in nature: the whole missouri is suddenly stopped by one shelving rock, which without a single niche and with an edge as straight and regular as if formed by art, stretches itself from one side of the river to the other for at least a quarter of a mile. over this it precipitates itself in an even uninterrupted sheet to the perpendicular depth of fifty feet, whence dashing against the rocky bottom it rushes rapidly down, leaving behind it a spray of the purest foam across the river. the scene which it presented was indeed singularly beautiful, since without any of the wild irregular sublimity of the lower falls, it combined all the regular elegances which the fancy of a painter would select to form a beautiful waterfall. the eye had scarcely been regaled with this charming prospect, when at the distance of half a mile captain lewis observed another of a similar kind: to this he immediately hastened, and found a cascade stretching across the whole river for a quarter of a mile with a descent of fourteen feet, though the perpendicular pitch was only six feet. this too in any other neighborhood would have been an object of great magnificence, but after what he had just seen it became of secondary interest; his curiosity being however awakened, he determined to go on even should night overtake him to the head of the falls. he therefore pursued the southwest course of the river, which was one constant succession of rapids and small cascades, at every one of which the bluffs grew lower, or the bed of the river became more on a level with the plains. at the distance of two and a half miles he arrived at another cataract of twenty-six feet. the river is here six hundred yards wide, but the descent is not immediately perpendicular, though the river falls generally with a regular and smooth sheet; for about one third of the descent a rock protrudes to a small distance, receives the water in its passage and gives it a curve. on the south side is a beautiful plain a few feet above the level of the falls; on the north the country is more broken, and there is a hill not far from the river. just below the falls is a little island in the middle of the river well covered with timber. here on a cottonwood tree an eagle had fixed its nest, and seemed the undisputed mistress of a spot, to contest whose dominion neither man nor beast would venture across the gulfs that surround it, and which is further secured by the mist rising from the falls. this solitary bird could not escape the observation of the indians who made the eagle's nest a part of their description of the falls, which now proves to be correct in almost every particular, except that they did not do justice to their height. just above this is a cascade of about five feet, beyond which, as far as could be discerned, the velocity of the water seemed to abate. captain lewis now ascended the hill which was behind him, and saw from its top a delightful plain extending from the river to the base of the snow mountains to the south and southwest. along this wide level country the missouri pursued its winding course, filled with water to its even and grassy banks, while about four miles above it was joined by a large river flowing from the northwest through a valley three miles in width, and distinguished by the timber which adorned its shores; the missouri itself stretches to the south in one unruffled stream of water as if unconscious of the roughness it must soon encounter, and bearing on its bosom vast flocks of geese, while numerous herds of buffaloe are feeding on the plains which surround it. captain lewis then descended the hill, and directed his course towards the river falling in from the west. he soon met a herd of at least a thousand buffaloe, and being desirous of providing for supper shot one of them; the animal began to bleed, and captain lewis who had forgotten to reload his rifle, was intently watching to see him fall, when he beheld a large brown bear who was stealing on him unperceived, and was already within twenty steps. in the first moment of surprise he lifted his rifle, but remembering instantly that it was not charged, and that he had not time to reload, he felt that there was no safety but in flight. it was in the open level plain, not a bush nor a tree within three hundred yards, the bank of the river sloping and not more than three feet high, so that there was no possible mode of concealment: captain lewis therefore thought of retreating in a quick walk as fast as the bear advanced towards the nearest tree; but as soon as he turned the bear ran open mouth and at full speed upon him. captain lewis ran about eighty yards, but finding that the animal gained on him fast, it flashed on his mind that by getting into the water to such a depth that the bear would be obliged to attack him swimming, there was still some chance of his life, he therefore turned short, plunged into the river about waist deep, and facing about presented the point of his espontoon. the bear arrived at the water's edge within twenty feet of him, but as soon as he put himself in this position of defence, he seemed frightened, and wheeling about, retreated with as much precipitation as he had pursued. very glad to be released from this danger, captain lewis returned to the shore, and observed him run with great speed, sometimes looking back as if he expected to be pursued, till he reached the woods. he could not conceive the cause of the sudden alarm of the bear, but congratulated himself on his escape when he saw his own track torn to pieces by the furious animal, and learnt from the whole adventure never to suffer his rifle to be a moment unloaded. he now resumed his progress in the direction which the bear had taken towards the western river, and found it a handsome stream about two hundred yards wide, apparently deep, with a gentle current; its waters clear, and its banks, which were formed principally of dark brown and blue clay, are about the same height as those of the missouri, that is from three to five feet. what was singular was that the river does not seem to overflow its banks at any season, while it might be presumed from its vicinity to the mountains, that the torrents arising from the melting of the snows, would sometimes cause it to swell beyond its limits. the contrary fact would induce a belief that the rocky mountains yield their snows very reluctantly and equably to the sun, and are not often drenched by very heavy rains. this river is no doubt that which the indians call medicine river, which they mentioned as emptying into the missouri, just above the falls. after examining medicine river, captain lewis set out at half after six o'clock in the evening on his return towards the camp, which he estimated at the distance of twelve miles. in going through the low grounds on medicine river he met an animal which at a distance he thought was a wolf, but on coming within sixty paces, it proved to be some brownish yellow animal standing near its burrow, which, when he came nigh, crouched and seemed as if about to spring on him. captain lewis fired and the beast disappeared in its burrow. from the track and the general appearance of the animal he supposed it to be of the tiger kind. he then went on, but as if the beasts of the forests had conspired against him, three buffaloe bulls which were feeding with a large herd at the distance of half a mile, left their companions and ran at full speed towards him. he turned round, and unwilling to give up the field advanced towards them: when they came within a hundred yards, they stopped, looked at him for some time, and then retreated as they came. he now pursued his route in the dark, reflecting on the strange adventures and sights of the day which crowded on his mind so rapidly that he should have been inclined to believe it all enchantment if the thorns of the prickly pear piercing his feet did not dispel at every moment the illusion. he at last reached the party, who had been very anxious for his safety, and who had already decided on the route which each should take in the morning to look for him. being much fatigued he supped and slept well during the night. saturday, 15. the men were again sent out to bring in the game killed yesterday and to procure more: they also obtained a number of fine trout and several small catfish weighing about four pounds, and differing from the white catfish lower down the missouri. on awaking this morning captain lewis found a large rattlesnake coiled on the trunk of a tree under which he had been sleeping. he killed it, and found it like those we had seen before, differing from those of the atlantic states, not in its colours but in the form and arrangement of them; it had one hundred and seventy-six scuta on the abdomen, and seventeen half-formed scuta on the tail. there is a heavy dew on the grass about the camp every morning, which no doubt proceeds from the mist of the falls, as it takes place no where in the plains nor on the river except here. the messenger sent to captain clarke returned with information of his having arrived five miles below at a rapid, which he did not think it prudent to ascend and would wait till captain lewis and his party rejoined him. on tuesday 11th, the day when captain lewis left us, we remained at the entrance of maria's river and completed the deposits of all the articles with which we could dispense. the morning had been fair with a high wind from the southwest, which shifted in the evening to northwest, when the weather became cold and the wind high. the next morning, wednesday, 12, we left our encampment with a fair day and a southwest wind. the river was now so crowded with islands that within the distance of ten miles and a half we passed eleven of different dimensions before reaching a high black bluff in a bend on the left, where we saw a great number of swallows. within one mile and a half farther we passed four small islands, two on each side, and at fifteen miles from our encampment reached a spring which the men called grog spring: it is on the northern shore, and at the point where tansy river approaches within one hundred yards of the missouri. from this place we proceeded three miles to a low bluff on the north opposite to an island, and spent the night in an old indian encampment. the bluffs under which we passed were composed of a blackish clay and coal for about eighty feet, above which for thirty or forty feet is a brownish yellow earth. the river is very rapid and obstructed by bars of gravel and stone of different shapes and sizes, so that three of our canoes were in great danger in the course of the day. we had a few drops of rain about two o'clock in the afternoon. the only animals we killed were elk and deer; but we saw great numbers of rattlesnakes. thursday, 13. the morning was fair and there was some dew on the ground. after passing two islands we reached at the distance of a mile and a half a small rapid stream fifty yards wide, emptying itself on the south, rising in a mountain to the southeast about twelve or fifteen miles distant, and at this time covered with snow. as it is the channel for the melted snow of that mountain we called it snow river: opposite to its entrance is another island: at one mile and three quarters is a black bluff of slate on the south; nine miles beyond which, after passing ten islands, we came to on the southern shore near an old indian fortified camp, opposite the lower point of an island, having made thirteen miles. the number of islands and shoals, the rapidity of the river, and the quantity of large stones, rendered the navigation very disagreeable: along the banks we distinguished several low bluffs or cliffs of slate. there were great numbers of geese and goslings; the geese not being able to fly at this season. gooseberries are ripe and in great abundance; the yellow currant is also common, but not yet ripe. our game consisted of buffaloe and goats. friday, 14. again the day is fine. we made two miles to a small island in the southern bend, after passing several bad rapids. the current becomes indeed swifter as we ascend and the canoes frequently receive water as we drag them with difficulty along. at the distance of six miles we reached captain clarke's camp on the fourth, which is on the north side and opposite to a large gravelly bar. here the man sent by captain lewis joined us with the pleasing intelligence that he had discovered the falls, and was convinced that the course we were pursuing was that of the true missouri. at a mile and a half we reached the upper point of an island, three quarters of a mile beyond which we encamped on the south, after making only ten and a quarter miles. along the river was but little timber, but much hard slate in the bluffs. saturday, 15. the morning being warm and fair we set out at the usual hour, but proceeded with great difficulty in consequence of the increased rapidity of the current. the channel is constantly obstructed by rocks and dangerous rapids. during the whole progress the men are in the water hauling the canoes, and walking on sharp rocks and round stones which cut their feet or cause them to fall. the rattlesnakes too are so numerous that the men are constantly on their guard against being bitten by them; yet they bear the fatigues with the most undiminished cheerfulness. we hear the roar of the falls very distinctly this morning. at three and three quarter miles we came to a rock in a bend to the south, resembling a tower. at six and three quarter miles we reached a large creek on the south, which after one of our men we called shield's creek. it is rapid in its course, about thirty yards wide, and on sending a person five miles up it proved to have a fall of fifteen feet, and some timber on its low ground. above this river the bluffs of the missouri are of red earth mixed with stratas of black stone; below it we passed some white clay in the banks which mixes with water in every respect like flour. at three and three quarter miles we reached a point on the north opposite an island and a bluff; and one mile and a quarter further, after passing some red bluffs, came to on the north side, having made twelve miles. here we found a rapid so difficult that we did not think proper to attempt the passage this evening, and therefore sent to captain lewis to apprise him of our arrival. we saw a number of geese, ducks, crows, and blackbirds to-day, the two former with their young. the river rose a little this evening, but the timber is still so scarce that we could not procure enough for our use during the night. sunday, june 16. some rain fell last night, and this morning the weather was cloudy and the wind high from the southwest. we passed the rapid by doubly manning the periogue and canoes, and halted at the distance of a mile and a quarter to examine the rapids above, which we found to be a continued succession of cascades as far as the view extended, which was about two miles. about a mile above where we halted was a large creek falling in on the south, opposite to which is a large sulphur spring falling over the rocks on the north: captain lewis arrived at two from the falls about five miles above us, and after consulting upon the subject of the portage, we crossed the river and formed a camp on the north, having come three quarters of a mile to-day. from our own observation we had deemed the south side to be the most favourable for a portage, but two men sent out for the purpose of examining it, reported that the creek and the ravines intersected the plain so deeply that it was impossible to cross it. captain clarke therefore resolved to examine more minutely what was the best route: the four canoes were unloaded at the camp and then sent across the river, where by means of strong cords they were hauled over the first rapid, whence they may be easily drawn into the creek. finding too, that the portage would be at all events too long to enable us to carry the boats on our shoulders, six men were set to work to make wheels for carriages to transport them. since leaving maria's river the wife of chaboneau, our interpreter, has been dangerously ill, but she now found great relief from the mineral water of the sulphur spring. it is situated about two hundred yards from the missouri, into which it empties over a precipice of rock about twenty-five feet high. the water is perfectly transparent, strongly impregnated with sulphur, and we suspect iron also, as the colour of the hills and bluffs in the neighbourhood indicates the presence of that metal. in short the water to all appearance is precisely similar to that of bowyer's sulphur spring in virginia. monday 17. captain clarke set out with five men to explore the country; the rest were employed in hunting, making wheels and in drawing the five canoes and all the baggage up the creek, which we now called portage creek: from this creek there is a gradual ascent to the top of the high plain, while the bluffs of the creek lower down and of the missouri, both above and below its entrance, were so steep as to have rendered it almost impracticable to drag them up from the missouri. we found great difficulty and some danger in even ascending the creek thus far, in consequence of the rapids and rocks of the channel of the creek, which just above where we brought the canoes has a fall of five feet, and high and sleep bluffs beyond it: we were very fortunate in finding just below portage creek a cottonwood tree about twenty-two inches in diameter, and large enough to make the carriage wheels; it was perhaps the only one of the same size within twenty miles; and the cottonwood, which we are obliged to employ in the other parts of the work, is extremely soft and brittle. the mast of the white periogue which we mean to leave behind, supplied us with two axletrees. there are vast quantities of buffaloe feeding in the plains or watering in the river, which is also strewed with the floating carcases and limbs of these animals. they go in large herds to water about the falls, and as all the passages to the river near that place are narrow and steep, the foremost are pressed into the river by the impatience of those behind. in this way we have seen ten or a dozen disappear over the falls in a few minutes. they afford excellent food for the wolves, bears, and birds of prey; and this circumstance may account for the reluctance of the bears to yield their dominion over the neighbourhood. tuesday 18. the periogue was drawn up a little below our camp and secured in a thick copse of willow bushes. we now began to form a cache or place of deposit and to dry our goods and other articles which required inspection. the wagons too are completed. our hunters brought us ten deer, and we shot two out of a herd of buffaloe that came to water at the sulphur spring. there is a species of gooseberry growing abundantly among the rocks on the sides of the cliffs: it is now ripe, of a pale red colour, about the size of the common gooseberry, and like it is an ovate pericarp of soft pulp enveloping a number of small whitish coloured seeds, and consisting of a yellowish slimy mucilaginous substance, with a sweet taste; the surface of the berry is covered with a glutinous adhesive matter, and its fruit though ripe retains its withered corolla. the shrub itself seldom rises more than two feet high, is much branched, and has no thorns. the leaves resemble those of the common gooseberry except in being smaller, and the berry is supported by separate peduncles or footstalks half an inch long. there are also immense quantities of grasshoppers of a brown colour in the plains, and they no doubt contribute to the lowness of the grass, which is not generally more than three inches high, though it is soft, narrow-leafed and affords a fine pasture for the buffaloe. wednesday 19. the wind blew violently to-day, as it did yesterday, and as it does frequently in this open country, where there is not a tree to break or oppose its force. some men were sent for the meat killed yesterday which fortunately had not been discovered by the wolves. another party went to medicine river in quest of elk, which we hope may be induced to resort there, from there being more wood in that neighborhood than on the missouri. all the rest were occupied in packing the baggage and mending their moccasins, in order to prepare for the portage. we caught a number of the white fish, but no catfish or trout. our poor indian woman, who had recovered so far as to walk out, imprudently ate a quantity of the white apple, which with some dried fish occasioned a return of her fever. the meridian altitude of the sun's lower limb, as observed with octant by back observation, was 53â° 15', giving as the latitude of our camp, 47â° 8' 59" 5"'. thursday 20. as we were desirous of getting meat enough to last us during the portage, so that the men might not be diverted from their labour to look for food, we sent out four hunters to-day: they killed eleven buffaloe. this was indeed an easy labour, for there are vast herds coming constantly to the opposite bank of the river to water; they seem also to make much use of the mineral water of the sulphur spring, but whether from choice, or because it is more convenient than the river, we cannot determine, as they sometimes pass near the spring and go on to the river. besides this spring, brackish water or that of a dark colour impregnated with mineral salts, such as we have frequently met on the missouri, may be found in small quantities in some of the steep ravines on the north side of the river opposite to us and at the falls. captain clarke returned this evening, having examined the whole course of the river and fixed the route most practicable for the portage. the first day, 17th, he was occupied in measuring the heights and distances along the banks of the river, and slept near a ravine at the foot of the crooked falls, having very narrowly escaped falling into the river, where he would have perished inevitably, in descending the cliffs near the grand cataract. the next day, 18th, he continued the same occupation and arrived in the afternoon at the junction of medicine and missouri rivers: up the latter he ascended, and passed at the distance of a mile an island and a little timber in an eastwardly bend of the river. one mile beyond this he came to the lower point of a large island; another small island in the middle of the river, and one near the left shore at the distance of three miles, opposite to the head of which he encamped near the mouth of a creek which appeared to rise in the south mountain. these three islands are opposite to each other, and we gave them the name of the whitebear islands from observing some of those animals on them. he killed a beaver, an elk and eight buffaloe. one of the men who was sent a short distance from the camp to bring home some meat, was attacked by a white bear, and closely pursued within forty paces of the camp, and narrowly escaped being caught. captain clarke immediately went with three men in quest of the bear, which he was afraid might surprise another of the hunters who was out collecting the game. the bear was however too quick, for before captain clarke could reach the man, the bear had attacked him and compelled him to take refuge in the water. he now ran off as they approached, and it being late they deferred pursuing him till the next morning. chapter xi. description and romantic appearance of the missouri at the junction of the medicine river--the difficulty of transporting the baggage at the falls--the party employed in the construction of a boat of skins--the embarrassments they had to encounter for want of proper materials--during the work the party much troubled by white bears--violent hail-storm, and providential escape of captain clarke and his party--description of a remarkable fountain--singular explosion heard from the black mountains--the boat found to be insufficient, and the serious disappointment of the party--captain clarke undertakes to repair the damage by building canoes, and accomplishes the task. on the 19th, captain clarke not being able to find the bear mentioned in the last chapter, spent the day in examining the country both above and below the whitebear islands, and concluded that the place of his encampment would be the best point for the extremity of the portage. the men were therefore occupied in drying the meat to be left here. immense numbers of buffaloe are every where round, and they saw a summer duck which is now sitting. the next morning, 20th, he crossed the level plain, fixed stakes to mark the route of the portage, till he passed a large ravine which would oblige us to make the portage farther from the river: after this there being no other obstacle he went to the river where he had first struck it, and took its courses and distances down to the camp. from the draught and survey of captain clarke, we had now a clear and connected view of the falls, cascades, and rapids of the missouri. this river is three hundred yards wide at the point where it receives the waters of medicine river, which is one hundred and thirty-seven yards in width. the united current continues three hundred and twenty-eight poles to a small rapid on the north side, from which it gradually widens to one thousand four hundred yards, and at the distance of five hundred and forty-eight poles reaches the head of the rapids, narrowing as it approaches them. here the hills on the north which had withdrawn from the bank closely border the river, which, for the space of three hundred and twenty poles, makes its way over the rocks with a descent of thirty feet: in this course the current is contracted to five hundred and eighty yards, and after throwing itself over a small pitch of five feet, forms a beautiful cascade of twenty-six feet five inches; this does not however fall immediately perpendicular, being stopped by a part of the rock which projects at about one third of the distance. after descending this fall, and passing the cottonwood island on which the eagle has fixed its nest, the river goes on for five hundred and thirty-two poles over rapids and little falls, the estimated descent of which is thirteen feet six inches till it is joined by a large fountain boiling up underneath the rocks near the edge of the river, into which it falls with a cascade of eight feet. it is of the most perfect clearness and rather of a bluish cast; and even after falling into the missouri it preserves its colour for half a mile. from this fountain the river descends with increased rapidity for the distance of two hundred and fourteen poles, during which the estimated descent is five feet from this for a distance of one hundred and thirty-five poles, the river descends fourteen feet seven inches including a perpendicular fall of six feet seven inches. the river has now become pressed into a space of four hundred and seventy-three yards, and here forms a grand cataract by falling over a plain rock the whole distance across the river to the depth of forty-seven feet eight inches: after recovering itself the missouri then proceeds with an estimated descent of three feet, till at the distance of one hundred and two poles it again is precipitated down the crooked falls of nineteen feet perpendicular; below this at the mouth of a deep ravine is a fall of five feet, after which for the distance of nine hundred and seventy poles the descent is much more gradual, not being more than ten feet, and then succeeds a handsome level plain for the space of one hundred and seventy-eight poles with a computed descent of three feet, making a bend towards the north. thence it descends during four hundred and eight poles, about eighteen feet and a half, when it makes a perpendicular fall of two feet, which is ninety poles beyond the great cataract, in approaching which it descends thirteen feet within two hundred yards, and gathering strength from its confined channel, which is only two hundred and eighty yards wide, rushes over the fall to the depth of eighty-seven feet and three quarters of an inch. after raging among the rocks and losing itself in foam, it is compressed immediately into a bed of ninety-three yards in width: it continues for three hundred and forty poles to the entrance of a run or deep ravine where there is a fall of three feet, which, joined to the decline of the river during that course, makes the descent six feet. as it goes on the descent within the next two hundred and forty poles is only four feet: from this passing a run or deep ravine the descent for four hundred poles is thirteen feet; within two hundred and forty poles a second descent of eighteen feet; thence one hundred and sixty poles a descent of six feet; after which to the mouth of portage creek, a distance of two hundred and eighty poles, the descent is ten feet. from this survey and estimate it results that the river experiences a descent of three hundred and fifty-two feet in the course of two and three quarter miles, from the commencement of the rapids to the mouth of portage creek, exclusive of the almost impassable rapids which extend for a mile below its entrance. the latitude of our camp below the entrance of portage creek, was found to be 47â° 7' 10" 3, as deduced from a meridian altitude of the sun's lower limb taken with octant by back observation giving 53â° 10'. friday, june 21. having made the necessary preparations for continuing our route, a part of the baggage was carried across the creek into the high plain, three miles in advance and placed on one of the carriages with truck wheels: the rest of the party was employed in drying meat and dressing elk skins. we killed several muledeer and an elk, and observed as usual vast quantities of buffaloe who came to drink at the river. for the first time on the missouri we have seen near the falls a species of fishing duck, the body of which is brown and white, the wings white, and the head and upper part of the neck of a brick red, with a narrow beak, which seems to be of the same kind common in the susquehanna, potomac and james' river. the little wood which this neighbourhood affords consists of the broad and narrow-leafed cottonwood, the box alder, the narrow and broad-leafed willow, the large or sweet willow, which was not common below maria's river, but which here attains the same size and has the same appearance as in the atlantic states. the undergrowth consists of roses, gooseberries, currants, small honeysuckles, and the redwood, the inner part of which the _engages_ or watermen are fond of smoking when mixed with tobacco. saturday, 22. we now set out to pass the portage and halted for dinner at eight miles distance near a little stream. the axletrees of our carriage, which had been made of an old mast, and the cottonwood tongues broke before we came there: but we renewed them with the timber of the sweet willow, which lasted till within half a mile of our intended camp, when the tongues gave way and we were obliged to take as much baggage as we could carry on our backs down to the river, where we formed an encampment in a small grove of timber opposite to the whitebear islands. here the banks on both sides of the river are handsome, level, and extensive; that near our camp is not more than two feet above the surface of the water. the river is about eight hundred yards wide just above these islands, ten feet deep in most places, and with a very gentle current. the plains however on this part of the river are not so fertile as those from the mouth of the muscleshell and thence downwards; there is much more stone on the sides of the hills and on the broken lands than is to be found lower down. we saw in the plains vast quantities of buffaloe, a number of small birds, and the large brown curlew, which is now sitting, and lays its eggs, which are of a pale blue with black-specks, on the ground without any nest. there is also a species of lark much resembling the bird called the oldfield lark, with a yellow breast and a black spot on the croup; though it differs from the latter in having its tail formed of feathers of an unequal length and pointed; the beak too is somewhat longer and more curved, and the note differs considerably. the prickly pear annoyed us very much to-day by sticking through our moccasins. as soon as we had kindled our fires we examined the meat which captain clarke had left here, but found that the greater part of it had been taken by the wolves. sunday, 23. after we had brought up the canoe and baggage captain clarke went down to the camp at portage creek, where four of the men had been left with the indian woman. captain lewis during the morning prepared the camp, and in the afternoon went down in a canoe to medicine river to look after the three men who had been sent thither to hunt on the 19th, and from whom nothing had as yet been heard. he went up the river about half a mile and then walked along on the right bank, hallooing as he went, till at the distance of five miles he found one of them who had fixed his camp on the opposite bank, where he had killed seven deer and dried about six hundred pounds of buffaloe meat, but had killed no elk, the animal chiefly wanted. he knew nothing of his companions except that on the day of their departure from camp he had left them at the falls and come on to medicine river, not having seen them since. as it was too late to return captain lewis passed over on a raft which he made for the purpose and spent the night at shannon's camp, and the next morning, monday, 24, sent j. fields up the river with orders to go four miles and return, whether he found the two absent hunters or not; then descending the southwest side of medicine river, he crossed the missouri in the canoe, and sent shannon back to his camp to join fields and bring the meat which they had killed: this they did, and arrived in the evening at the camp on whitebear islands. a part of the men from portage creek also arrived with two canoes and baggage. on going down yesterday captain clarke cut off several angles of the former route so as to shorten the portage considerably, and marked it with stakes: he arrived there in time to have two of the canoes carried up in the high plain about a mile in advance. here they all repaired their moccasins, and put on double soals to protect them from the prickly pear and from the sharp points of earth which have been formed by the trampling of the buffaloe during the late rains: this of itself is sufficient to render the portage disagreeable to one who had no burden; but as the men are loaded as heavily as their strength will permit, the crossing is really painful: some are limping with the soreness of their feet, others are scarcely able to stand for more than a few minutes from the heat and fatigue: they are all obliged to halt and rest frequently, and at almost every stopping place they fall and many of them are asleep in an instant; yet no one complains and they go on with great cheerfulness. at their camp drewyer and fields joined them, and while captain lewis was looking for them at medicine river, they returned to report the absence of shannon about whom they had been very uneasy. they had killed several buffaloe at the bend of the missouri above the falls: and dried about eight hundred pounds of meat and got one hundred pounds of tallow: they had also killed some deer, but had seen no elk. after getting the party in motion with the canoes captain clarke returned to his camp at portage creek. we were now occupied in fitting up a boat of skins, the frame of which had been prepared for the purpose at harper's ferry. it was made of iron, thirty-six feet long, four feet and a half in the beam, and twenty-six inches wide in the bottom. two men had been sent this morning for timber to complete it, but they could find scarcely any even tolerably straight sticks four and a half feet long, and as the cottonwood is too soft and brittle we were obliged to use the willow and box-alder. tuesday, 25. the party returned to the lower camp. two men were sent on the large island to look for timber. j. fields was sent up the missouri to hunt elk; but he returned about noon and informed us that a few miles above he saw two white bear near the river, and in attempting to fire at them came suddenly on a third, who being only a few steps off immediately attacked him; that in running to escape from the monster he leaped down a steep bank of the river, where falling on a bar of stone he cut his hand and knee and bent his gun; but fortunately for him the bank concealed him from his antagonist or he would have been most probably lost. the other two returned with a small quantity of bark and timber, which was all they could find on the island; but they had killed two elk: these were valuable, as we are desirous of procuring the skins of that animal in order to cover the boat, as they are more strong and durable than those of the buffaloe, and do not shrink so much in drying. the party that went to the lower camp had one canoe and the baggage carried into the high plain to be ready in the morning, and then all who could make use of their feet had a dance on the green to the music of a violin. we have been unsuccessful in our attempt to catch fish, nor does there seem to be any in this part of the river. we observe a number of water terrapins. there are quantities of young blackbirds in these islands just beginning to fly. among the vegetable productions we observe a species of wild rye which is now heading: it rises to the height of eighteen or twenty inches, the beard remarkably fine and soft; the culen is jointed, and in every respect except in height it resembles the wild rye. great quantities of mint too, like the peppermint, are found here. the winds are sometimes violent in these plains. the men inform us that as they were bringing one of the canoes along on truck-wheels, they hoisted the sail and the wind carried her along for some distance. wednesday 26. two men were sent on the opposite side of the river for bark and timber, of which they procured some, but by no means enough for our purposes. the bark of the cottonwood is too soft, and our only dependence is on the sweet willow, which has a tough strong bark; the two hunters killed seven buffaloe. a party arrived from below with two canoes and baggage, and the wind being from the southeast, they had made considerable progress with the sails. on their arrival one of the men who had been considerably heated and fatigued, swallowed a very hearty draught of water, and was immediately taken ill; captain lewis bled him with a penknife, having no other instrument at hand, and succeeded in restoring him to health the next day. captain clarke formed a second cache or deposit near the camp, and placed the swivel under the rocks near the river. the antelopes are still scattered through the plains; the females with their young, which are generally two in number, and the males by themselves. thursday 27. the party were employed in preparing timber for the boat, except two who were sent to hunt. about one in the afternoon a cloud arose from the southwest and brought with it violent thunder, lightning, and hail: soon after it passed the hunters came in from about four miles above us. they had killed nine elk, and three bear. as they were hunting on the river they saw a low ground covered with thick brushwood, where from the tracks along shore they thought a bear had probably taken refuge: they therefore landed, without making a noise, and climbed a tree about twenty feet above the ground. having fixed themselves securely, they raised a loud shout, and a bear instantly rushed towards them. these animals never climb, and therefore when he came to the tree and stopped to look at them, drewyer shot him in the head; he proved to be the largest we have yet seen, his nose appeared to be like that of a common ox, his fore feet measured nine inches across, and the hind feet were seven inches wide, and eleven and three quarters long, exclusive of the talons. one of these animals came within thirty yards of the camp last night, and carried off some buffaloe meat which we had placed on a pole. in the evening after the storm the water on this side of the river became of a deep crimson colour, probably caused by some stream above washing down a kind of soft red stone, which we observed in the neighbouring bluffs and gullies. at the camp below, the men who left us in the morning were busy in preparing their load for to-morrow, which were impeded by the rain, hail, and the hard wind from the northwest. friday 28. the party all occupied in making the boat; they obtained a sufficient quantity of willow bark to line her, and over these were placed the elk skins, and when they failed we were obliged to use the buffaloe hide. the white bear have now become exceedingly troublesome; they constantly infest our camp during the night, and though they have not attacked us, as our dog who patroles all night gives us notice of their approach, yet we are obliged to sleep with our arms by our sides for fear of accident, and we cannot send one man alone to any distance, particularly if he has to pass through brushwood. we saw two of them to-day on the large island opposite to us, but as we are all so much occupied now, we mean to reserve ourselves for some leisure moment, and then make a party to drive them from the islands. the river has risen nine inches since our arrival here. at portage creek captain clarke completed the cache, in which we deposited whatever we could spare from our baggage; some ammunition, provisions, books, the specimens of plants and minerals, and a draught of the river from its entrance to fort mandan. after closing it he broke up the encampment, and took on all the remaining baggage to the high plain, about three miles. portage creek has risen considerably in consequence of the rain, and the water had become of a deep crimson colour, and ill tasted; on overtaking the canoe he found that there was more baggage than could be carried on the two carriages, and therefore left some of the heavy articles which could not be injured, and proceeded on to willowrun where he encamped for the night. here they made a supper on two buffaloe which they killed on the way; but passed the night in the rain, with a high wind from the southwest. in the morning, saturday 29, finding it impossible to reach the end of the portage with their present load, in consequence of the state of the road after the rain, he sent back nearly all his party to bring on the articles which had been left yesterday. having lost some notes and remarks which he had made on first ascending the river, he determined to go up to the whitebear islands along its banks, in order to supply the deficiency. he there left one man to guard the baggage, and went on to the falls accompanied by his servant york, chaboneau and his wife with her young child. on his arrival there he observed a very dark cloud rising in the west which threatened rain, and looked around for some shelter, but could find no place where they would be secure from being blown into the river if the wind should prove as violent as it sometimes does in the plains. at length about a quarter of a mile above the falls he found a deep ravine where there were some shelving rocks, under which he took refuge. they were on the upper side of the ravine near the river, perfectly safe from the rain, and therefore laid down their guns, compass, and other articles which they carried with them. the shower was at first moderate, it then increased to a heavy rain, the effects of which they did not feel: soon after a torrent of rain and hail descended; the rain seemed to fall in a solid mass, and instantly collecting in the ravine came rolling down in a dreadful current, carrying the mud and rocks, and every thing that opposed it. captain clarke fortunately saw it a moment before it reached them, and springing up with his gun and shotpouch in his left hand, with his right clambered up the steep bluff, pushing on the indian woman with her child in her arms; her husband too had seized her hand and was pulling her up the hill, but he was so terrified at the danger that but for captain clark, himself and his wife and child would have been lost. so instantaneous was the rise of the water, that before captain 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 moment longer would have swept them into the river just above the great falls, down which they must inevitable have been precipitated. they reached the plain in safety, and found york who had separated from them just before the storm to hunt some buffaloe, and was now returning to find his master. they had been obliged to escape so rapidly that captain clarke lost his compass and umbrella. chaboneau left his gun, shotpouch, and tomahawk, and the indian woman had just time to grasp her child, before the net in which it lay at her feet was carried down the current. he now relinquished his intention of going up the river and returned to the camp at willowrun. here he found that the party sent this morning for the baggage, had all returned to camp in great confusion, leaving their loads in the plain. on account of the heat they generally go nearly naked, and with no covering on their heads. the hail was so large and driven so furiously against them by the high wind, that it knocked several of them down: one of them particularly was thrown on the ground three times, and most of them bleeding freely and complained of being much bruised. willow run had risen six feet since the rain, and as the plains were so wet that they could not proceed, they passed the night at their camp. at the whitebear camp also, we had not been insensible to the hail-storm, though less exposed. in the morning there had been a heavy shower of rain, after which it became fair. after assigning to the men their respective employments, captain lewis took one of them and went to see the large fountain near the falls. for about six miles he passed through a beautiful level plain, and then on reaching the break of the river hills, was overtaken by the gust of wind from the southwest attended by lightning, thunder, and rain: fearing a renewal of the scene on the 27th, they took shelter in a little gully where there were some broad stones with which they meant to protect themselves against the hail; but fortunately there was not much, and that of a small size; so that they felt no inconvenience except that of being exposed without shelter for an hour, and being drenched by the rain: after it was over they proceeded to the fountain which is perhaps the largest in america. it is situated in a pleasant level plain, about twenty-five yards from the river, into which it falls over some steep irregular rocks with a sudden ascent of about six feet in one part of its course. the water boils up from among the rocks and with such force near the centre, that the surface seems higher there than the earth on the sides of the fountain, which is a handsome turf of fine green grass. the water is extremely pure, cold and pleasant to the taste, not being impregnated with lime or any foreign substance. it is perfectly transparent and continues its bluish cast for half a mile down the missouri, notwithstanding the rapidity of the river. after examining it for some time captain lewis returned to the camp. sunday 30. in the morning captain clarke sent the men to bring up the baggage left in the plains yesterday. on their return the axletrees and carriages were repaired, and the baggage, conveyed on the shoulders of the party across willow run which had fallen as low as three feet. the carriages being then taken over, a load of baggage was carried to the six-mile stake, deposited there, and the carriages brought back. such is the state of the plains that this operation consumed the day. two men were sent to the falls to look for the articles lost yesterday; but they found nothing but the compass covered with mud and sand at the mouth of the ravine; the place at which captain clarke had been caught by the storm, was filled with large rocks. the men complain much of the bruises received yesterday from the hail. a more than usual number of buffaloe appeared about the camp to-day, and furnished plenty of meat: captain clarke thought that at one view he must have seen at least ten thousand. in the course of the day there was a heavy gust of wind from the southwest, after which the evening was fair. at the whitebear camp we had a heavy dew this morning, which is quite a remarkable occurrence. the party continues to be occupied with the boat, the crossbars for which are now finished, and there remain only the strips to complete the wood work: the skins necessary to cover it have already been prepared and they amount to twenty-eight elk skins and four buffaloe skins. among our game were two beaver, which we have had occasion to observe always are found wherever there is timber. we also killed a large bat or goatsucker of which there are many in this neighbourhood, resembling in every respect those of the same species in the united states. we have not seen the leather-winged bat for some time, nor are there any of the small goatsucker in this part of the missouri. we have not seen either that species of goatsucker or nighthawk called the whippoorwill, which is commonly confounded in the united states with the large goatsucker which we observe here; this last prepares no nest but lays its eggs in the open plains; they generally begin to sit on two eggs, and we believe raise only one brood in a season: at the present moment they are just hatching their young. monday, july 1. after a severe day's work captain clarke reached our camp in the evening, accompanied by his party and all the baggage except that left at the six-mile stake, for which they were too much fatigued to return. the route from the lower camp on portage creek to that near whitebear island, having been now measured and examined by captain clarke was as follows: from our camp opposite the last considerable rapid to the entrance of portage creek south 9â° east for three quarters of a mile: thence on a course south 10â° east for two miles, though for the canoes the best route is to the left of this course, and strikes portage one mile and three quarters from its entrance, avoiding in this way a very steep hill which lies above portage creek; from this south 18â° west for four miles, passing the head of a drain or ravine which falls into the missouri below the great falls, and to the willow run which has always a plentiful supply of good water and some timber: here the course turns to south 45â° west for four miles further; then south 66â° west three miles, crossing at the beginning of the course the head of a drain which falls into the missouri at the crooked falls, and reaching an elevated point of the plain from which south 42â° west. on approaching the river on this course there is a long and gentle descent from the high plain, after which the road turns a little to the right of the course up the river to our camp. the whole portage is seventeen and three quarter miles. at the whitebear camp we were occupied with the boat and digging a pit for the purpose of making some tar. the day has been warm, and the mosquitoes troublesome. we were fortunate enough to observe equal altitudes of the sun with sextant, which since our arrival here we have been prevented from doing, by flying clouds and storms in the evening. tuesday, july 2d. a shower of rain fell very early this morning. we then despatched some men for the baggage left behind yesterday, and the rest were engaged in putting the boat together. this was accomplished in about three hours, and then we began to sew on the leather over the crossbars or iron on the inner side of the boat which form the ends of the sections. by two o'clock the last of the baggage arrived, to the great delight of the party who were anxious to proceed. the mosquitoes we find very troublesome. having completed our celestial observations we went over to the large island to make an attack upon its inhabitants the bears, who have annoyed us very much of late, and who were prowling about our camp all last night. we found that the part of the island frequented by the bear forms an almost impenetrable thicket of the broad-leafed willow: into this we forced our way in parties of three; but could see only one bear, who instantly attacked drewyer. fortunately as he was rushing on the hunter shot him through the heart within twenty paces and he fell, which enabled drewyer to get out of his way: we then followed him one hundred yards and found that the wound had been mortal. not being able to discover any more of these animals we returned to camp: here in turning over some of the baggage we caught a rat somewhat larger than the common european rat, and of a lighter colour: the body and outer parts of the legs and head of a light lead colour; the inner side of the legs as well as the belly, feet and ears are white; the ears are not covered with hair, and are much larger than those of the common rat; the toes also are longer, the eyes black and prominent, the whiskers very long and full; the tail rather longer than the body, and covered with fine fur and hair of the same size with that on the back, which is very close, short, and silky in its texture. this was the first we had met, although its nests are very frequent among the cliffs of rocks and hollow trees, where we also found large quantities of the shells and seed of the prickly pear, on which we conclude they chiefly subsist. the musquitoes are uncommonly troublesome. the wind was again high from the southwest: these winds are in fact always the coldest and most violent which we experience, and the hypothesis which we have formed on that subject is, that the air coming in contact with the snowy mountains immediately becomes chilled and condensed, and being thus rendered heavier than the air below it descends into the rarified air below or into the vacuum formed by the constant action of the sun on the open unsheltered plains. the clouds rise suddenly near these mountains and distribute their contents partially over the neighbouring plains. the same cloud will discharge hail alone in one part, hail and rain in another, and rain only in a third, and all within the space of a few miles; while at the same time there is snow falling on the mountains to the southeast of us. there is at present no snow on those mountains; that which covered them on our arrival as well as that which has since fallen having disappeared. the mountains to the north and northwest of us are still entirely covered with snow, and indeed there has been no perceptible diminution of it since we first saw them, which induces a belief either that the clouds prevailing at this season do not reach their summits or that they deposit their snow only. they glisten with great beauty when the sun shines on them in a particular direction, and most probably from this glittering appearance have derived the name of the shining mountains. wednesday, 3. nearly the whole party were employed in different labours connected with the boat, which is now almost completed: but we have not as yet been able to obtain tar from our kiln, a circumstance that will occasion us not a little embarrassment. having been told by the indians that on leaving the falls we should soon pass the buffaloe country, we have before us the prospect of fasting occasionally; but in order to provide a supply we sent out the hunters who killed only a buffaloe and two antelopes, which added to six beaver and two otter have been all our game for two or three days. at ten in the morning we had a light shower which scarcely wet the grass. thursday, july 4th. the boat was now completed except what is in fact the most difficult part, the making her seams secure. we had intended to despatch a canoe with part of our men to the united states early this spring; but not having yet seen the snake indians, or knowing whether to calculate on their friendship or enmity, we have decided not to weaken our party which is already scarcely sufficient to repel any hostility. we were afraid too that such a measure might dishearten those who remain; and as we have never suggested it to them, they are all perfectly and enthusiastically attached to the enterprise, and willing to encounter any danger to ensure its success. we had a heavy dew this morning. since our arrival at the falls we have repeatedly heard a strange noise coming from the mountains in a direction a little to the north of west. it is heard at different periods of the day and night, sometimes when the air is perfectly still and without a cloud, and consists of one stroke only, or of five or six discharges in quick succession. it is loud and resembles precisely the sound of a six pound piece of ordnance at the distance of three miles. the minnetarees frequently mentioned this noise like thunder, which they said the mountains made; but we had paid no attention to it, believing it to have been some superstition or perhaps a falsehood. the watermen also of the party say that the pawnees and ricaras give the same account of a noise heard in the black mountains to the westward of them. the solution of the mystery given by the philosophy of the watermen is, that it is occasioned by the bursting of the rich mines of silver confined within the bosom of the mountain. an elk and a beaver are all that were killed to-day: the buffaloe seemed to have withdrawn from our neighbourhood, though several of the men who went to-day to visit the falls for the first time, mention that they are still abundant at that place. we contrived however to spread not a very sumptuous but a comfortable table in honour of the day, and in the evening gave the men a drink of spirits, which was the last of our stock. some of them appeared sensible to the effects of even so small a quantity, and as is usual among them on all festivals, the fiddle was produced and a dance begun, which lasted till nine o'clock, when it was interrupted by a heavy shower of rain. they continued however their merriment till a late hour. friday 5. the boat was brought up into a high situation and fires kindled under her in order to dry her more expeditiously. despairing now of procuring any tar, we formed a composition of pounded charcoal with beeswax and buffaloe tallow to supply its place; should this resource fail us it will be very unfortunate, as in every other respect the boat answers our purposes completely. although not quite dry she can be carried with ease by five men; her form is as complete as could be wished; very strong, and will carry at least eight thousand pounds with her complement of hands. besides our want of tar, we have been unlucky in sewing the skins with a needle which had sharp edges instead of a point merely, although a large thong was used in order to fill the hole, yet it shrinks in drying and leaves the hole open, so that we fear the boat will leak. a large herd of buffaloe came near us and we procured three of them: besides which were killed two wolves and three antelopes. in the course of the day other herds of buffaloe came near our camp on their way down the river: these herds move with great method and regularity. although ten or twelve herds are seen scattered from each other over a space of many miles, yet if they are undisturbed by pursuit they will be uniformly travelling in the same direction. saturday 6. last night there were several showers of rain and hail, attended with thunder and lightning: and about day break a heavy storm came on from the southwest with one continued roar of thunder, and rain and hail. the hail which was as large as musket balls, covered the ground completely; and on collecting some of it, it lasted during the day and served to cool the water. the red and yellow currant is abundant and now ripe, although still a little acid. we have seen in this neighbourhood what we have not met before, a remarkably small fox which associates in bands and burrows in the prairie, like the small wolf, but have not yet been able to obtain any of them, as they are extremely vigilant, and betake themselves on the slightest alarm to their burrows which are very deep. sunday 7. the weather is warm but cloudy, so that the moisture retained by the bark after the rain leaves it slowly, though we have small fires constantly under the boat. we have no tents, and therefore are obliged to use the sails to keep off the bad weather. our buffaloe skins too, are scarcely sufficient to cover our baggage, but the men are now dressing others to replace their present leather clothing, which soon rots by being so constantly exposed to water. in the evening the hunters returned with the skins of only three buffaloe, two antelope, four deer, and three wolf skins, and reported that the buffaloe had gone further down the river; two other hunters who left us this morning could find nothing except one elk: in addition to this we caught a beaver. the musquitoes still disturb us very much, and the blowing-flies swarm in vast numbers round the boat. at four in the afternoon we had a light shower of rain attended with some thunder and lightning. monday 8. in order more fully to replace the notes of the river which he had lost, and which he was prevented from supplying by the storm of the twenty-ninth ult. captain clarke set out after breakfast, taking with him nearly the whole party with a view of shooting buffaloe if there should be any near the falls. after getting some distance in the plains the men were divided into squads, and he with two others struck the missouri at the entrance of medicine river, and thence proceeded down to the great cataract. he found that the immense herds of buffaloe have entirely disappeared, and he thought had gone below the falls. having made the necessary measurements, he returned through the plains and reached camp late in the evening; the whole party had killed only three buffaloe, three antelopes and a deer; they had also shot a small fox, and brought a living ground-squirrel somewhat larger than those of the united states. the day was warm and fair, but a slight rain fell in the afternoon. the boat having now become sufficiently dry, we gave it a coat of the composition, which after a proper interval was repeated, and the next morning, tuesday 9, she was launched into the water, and swam perfectly well: the seats were then fixed and the oars fitted; but after we had loaded her, as well as the canoes, and were on the point of setting out a violent wind caused the waves to wet the baggage, so that we were forced to unload them. the wind continued high till evening, when to our great disappointment we discovered that nearly all the composition had separated from the skins, and left the seams perfectly exposed; so that the boat now leaked very much. to repair this misfortune without pitch is impossible, and as none of that article is to be procured, we therefore, however reluctantly, are obliged to abandon her, after having had so much labour in the construction. we now saw that the section of the boat covered with buffaloe skins on which hair had been left, answered better than the elk skins and leaked but little; while that part which was covered hair about one eighth of an inch, retained the composition perfectly, and remained sound and dry. from this we perceived that had we employed buffaloe instead of elk skins, and not singed them so closely as we have done, carefully avoiding to cut the leather in sewing, the boat would have been sufficient even with the present composition, or had we singed instead of shaving the elk skins we might have succeeded. but we discovered our error too late: the buffaloe had deserted us, the travelling season was so fast advancing that we had no time to spare for experiments, and therefore finding that she could be no longer useful she was sunk in the water, so as to soften the skins and enable us the more easily to take her to pieces. it now became necessary to provide other means for transporting the baggage which we had intended to stow in her. for this purpose we shall want two canoes, but for many miles below the mouth of the muscleshell river to this place, we have not seen a single tree fit to be used in that way. the hunters however who had hitherto been sent after timber, mention that there is a low ground on the opposite side of the river, about eight miles above us by land, and more than twice that distance by water, in which we may probably find trees large enough for our purposes. captain clarke therefore determined to set out by land for that place with ten of the best workmen who would be occupied in building the canoes till the rest of the party, after taking the boat to pieces and making the necessary deposits, should transport the baggage and join them with the other six canoes. wednesday 10. he accordingly passed over to the opposite side of the river with his party, and proceeded on eight miles by land, the distance by water being twenty-three and three quarter miles. here he found two cottonwood trees, but on cutting them down, one proved to be hollow, split at the top in falling, and both were much damaged at the bottom. he searched the neighbourhood but could find none which would suit better, and therefore was obliged to make use of those which he had felled, shortening them in order to avoid the cracks, and supplying the deficiency by making them as wide as possible. they were equally at a loss for wood of which they might make handles for their axes, the eyes of which not being round they were obliged to split the timber in such a manner that thirteen of the handles broke in the course of the day, though made of the best wood they could find for the purpose, which was the chokecherry. the rest of the party took the frame of the boat to pieces, deposited it in a cache or hole, with a draught of the country from fort mandan to this place, and also some other papers and small articles of less importance. after this we amused ourselves with fishing, and although we had thought on our arrival that there were none in this part of the river, we caught some of a species of white chub below the falls, but few in number, and small in size. serjeant ordway with four canoes and eight men had set sail in the morning, with part of the baggage to the place where captain clarke had fixed his camp, but the wind was so high that he only reached within three miles of that place, and encamped for the night. thursday, july 11. in the morning one of the canoes joined captain clarke: the other three having on board more valuable articles, which would have been injured by the water, went on more cautiously, and did not reach the camp till the evening. captain clarke then had the canoes unloaded and sent back, but the high wind prevented their floating down nearer than about eight miles above us. his party were busily engaged with the canoes, and their hunters supplied them with three fat deer and a buffaloe, in addition to two deer and an antelope killed yesterday. the few men who were with captain lewis were occupied in hunting, but with not much success, having killed only one buffaloe. they heard about sunset two discharges of the tremendous mountain artillery: they also saw several very large gray eagles, much larger than those of the united states, and most probably a distinct species, though the bald eagle of this country is not quite so large as that of the united states. the men have been much afflicted with painful whitlows, and one of them disabled from working by this complaint in his hand. friday, 12. in consequence of the wind the canoes did not reach the lower camp till late in the afternoon, before which time captain lewis sent all the men he could spare up the river to assist in building the boats, and the day was too far advanced to reload and send them up before morning. the mosquitoes are very troublesome, and they have a companion not less so, a large black gnat which does not sting, but attacks the eyes in swarms. the party with captain clarke are employed on the canoes: in the course of the work serjeant pryor dislocated his shoulder yesterday, but it was replaced immediately, and though painful does not threaten much injury. the hunters brought in three deer and two otter. this last animal has been numerous since the water has become sufficiently clear for them to take fish. the blue-crested fisher, or as it is sometimes called, the kingfisher, is an inhabitant of this part of the river; it is a bird rare on the missouri: indeed we had not seen more than three or four of them from its entrance to maria's river, and even those did not seem to reside on the missouri but on some of the clearer streams which empty into it, as they were seen near the mouths of those streams. saturday 13. the morning being fair and calm captain lewis had all the remaining baggage embarked on board the six canoes, which sailed with two men in each for the upper camp. then with a sick man and the indian woman, he left the encampment, and crossing over the river went on by land to join captain clarke. from the head of the whitebear islands he proceeded in a southwest direction, at the distance of three miles, till he struck the missouri, which he then followed till he reached the place where all the party were occupied in boat-building. on his way he passed a very large indian lodge, which was probably designed as a great council-house, but it differs in its construction from all that we have seen lower down the missouri or elsewhere. the form of it was a circle two hundred and sixteen feet in circumference at the base, and composed of sixteen large cottonwood poles about fifty feet long, and at their thicker ends, which touched the ground, about the size of a man's body: they were distributed at equal distances, except that one was omitted to the east, probably for the entrance. from the circumference of this circle the poles converged towards the centre where they were united and secured by large withes of willow brush. there was no covering over this fabric, in the centre of which were the remains of a large fire, and round it the marks of about eighty leathern lodges. he also saw a number of turtledoves, and some pigeons, of which he shot one differing in no respect from the wild pigeon of the united states. the country exhibits its usual appearances, the timber confined to the river, the country on both sides as far as the eye can reach being entirely destitute of trees or brush. in the low ground in which we are building the canoes, the timber is larger and more abundant than we have seen it on the missouri for several hundred miles. the soil too is good, for the grass and weeds reach about two feet high, being the tallest we have observed this season, though on the high plains and prairies the grass is at no season above three inches in height. among these weeds are the sandrush, and nettle in small quantities; the plains are still infested by great numbers of the small birds already mentioned, among whom is the brown curlew. the current of the river is here extremely gentle; the buffaloe have not yet quite gone, for the hunters brought in three in very good order. it requires some diligence to supply us plentifully, for as we reserve our parched meal for the rocky mountains, where we do not expect to find much game, our principal article of food is meat, and the consumption of the whole thirty-two persons belonging to the party, amounts to four deer, an elk and a deer, one buffaloe every twenty four hours. the musquitoes and gnats persecute us as violently as below, so that we can get no sleep unless defended by biers, with which we are all provided. we here found several plants hitherto unknown to us, and of which we preserved specimens. serjeant ordway proceeded with the six canoes five miles up the river, but the wind becoming so high as to wet the baggage he was obliged to unload and dry it. the wind abated at five o'clock in the evening, when he again proceeded eight miles and encamped. the next morning, sunday, july 14, he joined us about noon. on leaving the whitebear camp he passed at a short distance a little creek or run coming in on the left. this had been already examined and called flattery run; it contains back water only, with very extensive low grounds, which rising into large plains reach the mountains on the east; then passed a willow island on the left within one mile and a half, and reached two miles further a cliff of rocks in a bend on the same side. in the course of another mile and a half he passed two islands covered with cottonwood, box-alder, sweet-willow, and the usual undergrowth, like that of the whitebear islands. at thirteen and three quarter miles he came to the mouth of a small creek on the left; within the following nine miles he passed three timbered islands, and after making twenty-three and a quarter miles from the lower camp, arrived at the point of woodland on the north where the canoes were constructed. the day was fair and warm; the men worked very industriously, and were enabled by the evening to lanch the boats, which now want only seats and oars to be complete. one of them is twenty-five, the other thirty-three feet in length and three feet wide. captain lewis walked out between three and four miles over the rocky bluffs to a high situation, two miles from the river, a little below fort mountain creek. the country which he saw was in most parts level, but occasionally became varied by gentle rises and descents, but with no timber except along the water. from this position, the point at which the missouri enters the first chain of the rocky mountains bore south 28â° west about twenty-five miles, according to our estimate. the northern extremity of that chain north 73â° west at the distance of eighty miles. to the same extremity of the second chain north 65â° west one hundred and fifty miles. to the most remote point of a third and continued chain of these mountains north 50â° west about two hundred miles. the direction of the first chain was from south 20â° east to north 20â° west; of the second, from south 45â° east to north 45â° west; but the eye could not reach their southern extremities, which most probably may be traced to mexico. in a course south 75â° west, and at the distance of eight miles is a mountain, which from its appearance we shall call fort mountain. it is situated in the level plain, and forms nearly a square, each side of which is a mile in extent. these sides, which are composed of a yellow clay with no mixture of rock or stone whatever, rise perpendicularly to the height of three hundred feet, where the top becomes a level plain covered, as captain lewis now observed, with a tolerably fertile mould two feet thick, on which was a coat of grass similar to that of the plain below: it has the appearance of being perfectly inaccessible, and although the mounds near the falls somewhat resemble it, yet none of them are so large. chapter xii. the party embark on board the canoes--description of smith's river--character of the country, &c.--dearborne's river described--captain clarke precedes the party for the purpose of discovering the indians of the rocky mountains--magnificent rocky appearances on the borders of the river denominated the gates of the rocky mountains--captain clarke arrives at the three forks of the missouri without overtaking the indians--the party arrive at the three forks, of which a particular and interesting description is given. monday, july 15. we rose early, embarked all our baggage on board the canoes, which though light in number are still heavily loaded, and at ten o'clock set out on our journey. at the distance of three miles we passed an island, just above which is a small creek coming in from the left, which we called fort mountain creek, the channel of which is ten yards wide but now perfectly dry. at six miles we came to an island opposite to a bend towards the north side; and reached at seven and a half miles the lower point of a woodland at the entrance of a beautiful river, which in honour of the secretary of the navy we called smith's river. this stream falls into a bend on the south side of the missouri, and is eighty yards wide. as far as we could discern its course it wound through a charming valley towards the southeast, in which many herds of buffaloe were feeding, till at the distance of twenty five miles it entered the rocky mountains, and was lost from our view. after dining near this place we proceeded on four and three quarter miles to the head of an island; four and a quarter miles beyond which is a second island on the left; three and a quarter miles further in a bend of the river towards the north, is a wood where we encamped for the night, after making nineteen and three quarter miles. we find the prickly pear, one of the greatest beauties as well as the greatest inconveniences of the plains, now in full bloom. the sunflower too, a plant common on every part of the missouri from its entrance to this place, is here very abundant and in bloom. the lambsquarter, wild-cucumber, sandrush, and narrowdock are also common. two elk, a deer, and an otter, were our game to-day. the river has now become so much more crooked than below that we omit taking all its short meanders, but note only its general course, and lay down the small bends on our daily chart by the eye. the general width is from one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards. along the banks are large beds of sand raised above the plains, and as they always appear on the sides of the river opposite to the southwest exposure, seem obviously brought there from the channel of the river by the incessant winds from that quarter: we find also more timber than for a great distance below the falls. tuesday 16. there was a heavy dew last night. we soon passed about forty little booths, formed of willow bushes as a shelter against the sun. these seemed to have been deserted about ten days, and as we supposed by the snake indians, or shoshonees, whom we hope soon to meet, as they appeared from the tracks to have a number of horses with them. at three and three quarter miles we passed a creek or run in a bend on the left side, and four miles further another run or small rivulet on the right. after breakfasting on a buffaloe shot by one of the hunters, captain lewis resolved to go on ahead of the party to the point where the river enters the rocky mountains and make the necessary observations before our arrival. he therefore set out with drewyer and two of the sick men to whom he supposed the walk would be useful: he travelled on the north side of the river through a handsome level plain, which continued on the opposite side also, and at the distance of eight miles passed a small stream on which he observed a considerable quantity of the aspen tree. a little before twelve o'clock he halted on a bend to the north in a low ground well covered with timber, about four and a half miles below the mountains, and obtained a meridian altitude, by which he found the latitude was n. 46â° 46' 50" 2"'. his route then lay through a high waving plain to a rapid where the missouri first leaves the rocky mountains, and here he encamped for the night. in the meantime we had proceeded after breakfast one mile to a bend in the left, opposite to which was the frame of a large lodge situated in the prairie, constructed like that already mentioned above the whitebear islands, but only sixty feet in diameter: round it were the remains of about eighty leathern lodges, all which seemed to have been built during the last autumn; within the next fifteen and a quarter miles we passed ten islands, on the last of which we encamped near the right shore, having made twenty-three miles. the next morning, wednesday 17, we set out early, and at four miles distance joined captain lewis at foot of the rapids, and after breakfast began the passage of them: some of the articles most liable to be injured by the water were carried round. we then double manned the canoes, and with the aid of the towing-line got them up without accident. for several miles below the rapids the current of the missouri becomes stronger as you approach, and the spurs of the mountains advance towards the river, which is deep and not more than seventy yards wide: at the rapids the river is closely hemmed in on both sides by the hills, and foams for half a mile over the rocks which obstruct its channel. the low grounds are now not more than a few yards in width, but they furnish room for an indian road which winds under the hills on the north side of the river. the general range of these hills is from southeast to northwest, and the cliffs themselves are about eight hundred feet above the water, formed almost entirely of a hard black granite, on which are scattered a few dwarf pine and cedar trees. immediately in the gap is a large rock four hundred feet high, which on one side is washed by the missouri, while on its other sides a handsome little plain separates it from the neighbouring mountains. it may be ascended with some difficulty nearly to its summit, and affords a beautiful prospect of the plains below, in which we could observe large herds of buffaloe. after ascending the rapids for half a mile we came to a small island at the head of them, which we called pine island from a large pine tree at the lower end of it, which is the first we have seen near the river for a great distance. a mile beyond captain lewis's camp we had a meridian altitude which gave us the latitude of 46â° 42' 14" 7"'. as the canoes were still heavily loaded all those not employed in working them walked on shore. the navigation is now very laborious. the river is deep but with little current and from seventy to one hundred yards wide; the low grounds are very narrow, with but little timber and that chiefly the aspen tree. the cliffs are steep and hang over the river so much that often we could not cross them, but were obliged to pass and repass from one side of the river to the other in order to make our way. in some places the banks are formed of rocks, of dark black granite rising perpendicularly to a great height, through which the river seems in the progress of time to have worn its channel. on these mountains we see more pine than usual, but it is still in small quantities. along the bottoms, which have a covering of high grass, we observe the sunflower blooming in great abundance. the indians of the missouri, and more especially those who do not cultivate maize, make great 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 times they add a sufficient proportion of marrow grease to reduce it to the consistency of common dough and eat it in that manner. this last composition we preferred to all the rest, and thought it at that time a very palatable dish. there is however little of the broad-leafed cottonwood on this side of the falls, much the greater part of what we see being of the narrow-leafed species. there are also great quantities of red, purple, yellow and black currants. the currants are very pleasant to the taste, and much preferable to those of our common garden. the bush rises to the height of six or eight feet; the stem simple, branching and erect. these shrubs associate in corps either in upper or timbered lands near the water courses. the leaf is peteolate, of a pale green, and in form resembles the red currant so common in our gardens. the perianth of the fruit is one leaved, five cleft, abbriviated and tubular. the corolla is monopetallous, funnel-shaped, very long, and of a fine orange colour. there are five stamens and one pistillum of the first, the filaments are capillar, inserted in the corolla, equal and converging, the anther ovate and incumbent. the germ of the second species is round, smooth, inferior and pidicelled: the style long and thicker than the stamens, simple, cylindrical, smooth and erect. it remains with the corolla until the fruit is ripe, the stamen is simple and obtuse, and the fruit much the size and shape of our common garden currants, growing like them in clusters supported by a compound footstalk. the peduncles are longer in this species, and the berries are more scattered. the fruit is not so acid as the common currant, and has a more agreeable flavour. the other species differs in no respect from the yellow currant excepting in the colour and flavour of the berries. the serviceberry differs in some points from that of the united states. the bushes are small, sometimes not more than two feet high, and rarely exceed eight inches. they are proportionably small in their stems, growing very thickly, associated in clumps. the fruit is of the same form, but for the most part larger and of a very dark purple. they are now ripe and in great perfection. there are two species of gooseberry here, but neither of them yet ripe: nor are the chokecherry, though in great quantities. besides there are also at that place the box alder, red willow and a species of sumach. in the evening we saw some mountain rams or big-horned animals, but no other game of any sort. after leaving pine island we passed a small run on the left, which is formed by a large spring rising at the distance of half a mile under the mountain. one mile and a half above the island is another, and two miles further a third island, the river making small bends constantly to the north. from this last island to a point of rocks on the south side the low grounds become rather wider, and three quarters of a mile beyond these rocks, in a bend on the north, we encamped opposite to a very high cliff, having made during the day eleven and a half miles. thursday 18. this morning early before our departure we saw a large herd of the big-horned animals, who were bounding among the rocks in the opposite cliff with great agility. these inaccessible spots secure them from all their enemies, and the only danger is in wandering among these precipices, where we should suppose it scarcely possible for any animal to stand; a single false step would precipitate them at least five hundred feet into the water. at one mile and a quarter we passed another single cliff on the left; at the same distance beyond which is the mouth of a large river emptying itself from the north. it is a handsome, bold, and clear stream, eighty yards wide, that is nearly as broad as the missouri, with a rapid current over a bed of small smooth stones of various figures. the water is extremely transparent, the low grounds are narrow, but possess as much wood as those of the missouri; and it has every appearance of being navigable, though to what distance we cannot ascertain, as the country which it waters, is broken and mountainous. in honour of the secretary at war we called it dearborn's river. being now very anxious to meet with the shoshonees or snake indians, for the purpose of obtaining the necessary information of our route, as well as to procure horses, it was thought best for one of us to go forward with a small party and endeavour to discover them, before the daily discharge of our guns, which is necessary for our subsistence, should give them notice of our approach: if by an accident they hear us, they will most probably retreat to the mountains, mistaking us for their enemies who usually attack them on this side. accordingly captain clarke set out with three men, and followed the course of the river on the north side; but the hills were so steep at first that he was not able to go much faster than ourselves. in the evening however he cut off many miles of the circuitous course of the river, by crossing a mountain over which he found a wide indian road which in many places seems to have been cut or dug down in the earth. he passed also two branches of a stream which he called ordway's creek, where he saw a number of beaver-dams extending in close succession towards the mountains as far as he could distinguish: on the cliffs were many of the big-horned animals. after crossing this mountain he encamped near a small stream of running water, having travelled twenty miles. on leaving dearborn's river we passed at three and a half miles a small creek, and at six beyond it an island on the north side of the river, which makes within that distance many small bends. at two and a half miles further is another island: three quarters of a mile beyond this is a small creek on the north side. at a mile and a half above the creek is a much larger stream thirty yards wide, and discharging itself with a bold current on the north side: the banks are low, and the bed formed of stones altogether. to this stream we gave the name of ordway's creek, after serjeant john ordway. at two miles beyond this the valley widens: we passed several bends of the river, and encamped in the centre of one on the south, having made twenty-one miles. here we found a small grove of the narrow-leafed cottonwood, there being no longer any of the broad-leafed kind since we entered the mountains. the water of these rivulets which come down from the mountains is very cold, pure, and well tasted. along their banks as well as on the missouri the aspen is very common, but of a small kind. the river is somewhat wider than we found it yesterday; the hills more distant from the river and not so high; there are some pines on the mountains, but they are principally confined to the upper regions of them: the low grounds are still narrower and have little or no timber. the soil near the river is good, and produces a luxuriant growth of grass and weeds; among these productions the sunflower holds a very distinguished place. for several days past we have observed a species of flax in the low grounds, the leaf-stem and pericarp of which resemble those of the flax commonly cultivated in the united states: the stem rises to the height of two and a half or three feet, and spring to the number of eight or ten from the same root, with a strong thick bark apparently well calculated for use: the root seems to be perennial, and it is probable that the cutting of the stems may not at all injure it, for although the seeds are not yet ripe, there are young suckers shooting up from the root, whence we may infer that the stems which are fully grown and in the proper stage of vegetation to produce the best flax, are not essential to the preservation or support of the root, a circumstance which would render it a most valuable plant. to-day we have met with a second species of flax smaller than the first, as it seldom obtains a greater height than nine or twelve inches: the leaf and stem resemble those of the species just mentioned, except that the latter is rarely branched, and bears a single monopetalous bell-shaped blue flower, suspended with its limb downwards. we saw several herds of the big-horn, but they were in the cliffs beyond our reach. we killed an elk this morning and found part of a deer which had been left for us by captain clarke. he pursued his route, friday, 19, early in the morning, and soon passed the remains of several indian camps formed of willow brush, which seemed to have been deserted this spring. at the same time he observed that the pine trees had been stripped of their bark about the same season, which our indian woman say her countrymen do in order to obtain the sap and the soft parts of the wood and bark for food. about eleven o'clock he met a herd of elk and killed two of them, but such was the want of wood in the neighbourhood that he was unable to procure enough to make a fire, and he was therefore obliged to substitute the dung of the buffaloe, with which he cooked his breakfast. they then resumed their course along an old indian road. in the afternoon they reached a handsome valley watered by a large creek, both of which extend a considerable distance into the mountain: this they crossed, and during the evening travelled over a mountainous country covered with sharp fragments of flint-rock: these bruised and cut their feet very much, but were scarcely less troublesome than the prickly pear of the open plains, which have now become so abundant that it is impossible to avoid them, and the thorns are so strong that they pierce a double soal of dressed deer skin: the best resource against them is a soal of buffaloe hide in parchment. at night they reached the river much fatigued, having passed two mountains in the course of the day and having travelled thirty miles. captain clarke's first employment on lighting a fire was to extract from his feet the briars, which he found seventeen in number. in the meantime we proceeded on very well, though the water appears to increase in rapidity as we advance: the current has indeed been strong during the day and obstructed by some rapids, which are not however much broken by rocks, and are perfectly safe: the river is deep, and its general width is from one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards wide. for more than thirteen miles we went along the numerous bends of the river and then reached two small islands; three and three quarter miles beyond which is a small creek in a bend to the left, above a small island on the right side of the river. we were regaled about ten o'clock p.m. with a thunder storm of rain and hail which lasted for an hour, but during the day in this confined valley, through which we are passing, the heat is almost insupportable; yet whenever we obtain a glimpse of the lofty tops of the mountains we are tantalized with a view of the snow. these mountains have their sides and summits partially varied with little copses of pine, cedar, and balsam fir. a mile and a half beyond this creek the rocks approach the river on both sides, forming a most sublime and extraordinary spectacle. for five and three quarter miles these rocks rise perpendicularly from the water's edge to the height of nearly twelve hundred feet. they are composed of a black granite near its base, but from its lighter colour above and from the fragments we suppose the upper part to be flint of a yellowish brown and cream colour. nothing can be imagined more tremendous than the frowning darkness of these rocks, which project over the river and menace us with destruction. the river, of one hundred and fifty yards in width, seems to have forced its channel down this solid mass, but so reluctantly has it given way that during the whole distance the water is very deep even at the edges, and for the first three miles there is not a spot except one of a few yards, in which a man could stand between the water and the towering perpendicular of the mountain: the convulsion of the passage must have been terrible, since at its outlet there are vast columns of rock torn from the mountain which are strewed on both sides of the river, the trophies as it were of the victory. several fine springs burst out from the chasms of the rock, and contribute to increase the river, which has now a strong current, but very fortunately we are able to overcome it with our oars, since it would be impossible to use either the cord or the pole. we were obliged to go on some time after dark, not being able to find a spot large enough to encamp on, but at length about two miles above a small inland in the middle of the river we met with a spot on the left side, where we procured plenty of lightwood and pitchpine. this extraordinary range of rocks we called the gates of the rocky mountains. we had made twenty-two miles; and four and a quarter miles from the entrance of the gates. the mountains are higher to-day than they were yesterday. we saw some big-horns, a few antelopes and beaver, but since entering the mountains have found no buffaloe: the otter are however in great plenty: the musquitoes have become less troublesome than they were. saturday 20. by employing the towrope whenever the banks permitted the use of it, the river being too deep for the pole, we were enabled to overcome the current which is still strong. at the distance of half a mile we came to a high rock in a bend to the left in the gates. here the perpendicular rocks cease, the hills retire from the river, and the vallies suddenly widen to a greater extent than they have been since we entered the mountains. at this place was some scattered timber, consisting of the narrow-leafed cottonwood, the aspen, and pine. there are also vast quantities of gooseberries, serviceberries, and several species of currant, among which is one of a black colour, the flavour of which is preferable to that of the yellow, and would be deemed superior to that of any currant in the united states. we here killed an elk which was a pleasant addition to our stock of food. at a mile from the gates, a large creek comes down from the mountains and empties itself behind an island in the middle of a bend to the north. to this stream which is fifteen yards wide we gave the name of potts's creek, after john potts, one of our men. up this valley about seven miles we discovered a great smoke, as if the whole country had been set on fire; but were at a loss to decide whether it had been done accidentally by captain clarke's party, or by the indians as a signal on their observing us. we afterwards learnt that this last was the fact; for they had heard a gun fired by one of captain clarke's men, and believing that their enemies were approaching had fled into the mountains, first setting fire to the plains as a warning to their countrymen. we continued our course along several islands, and having made in the course of the day fifteen miles, encamped just above an island, at a spring on a high bank on the left side of the river. in the latter part of the evening we had passed through a low range of mountains, and the country became more open, though still unbroken and without timber, and the lowlands not very extensive: and just above our camp the river is again closed in by the mountains. we found on the banks an elk which captain clarke had left us, with a note mentioning that he should pass the mountains just above us and wait our arrival at some convenient place. we saw but could not procure some redheaded ducks and sandhill cranes along the sides of the river, and a woodpecker about the size of the lark-woodpecker, which seems to be a distinct species: it is as black as a crow with a long tail, and flies like a jaybird. the whole country is so infested by the prickly pear that we could scarcely find room to lie down at our camp. captain clarke on setting out this morning had gone through the valley about six miles to the right of the river. he soon fell into an old indian road which he pursued till he reached the missouri, at the distance of eighteen miles from his last encampment, just above the entrance of a large creek, which we afterwards called whiteearth creek. here he found his party so much cut and pierced with the sharp flint and the prickly pear that he proceeded only a small distance further, and then halted to wait for us. along his track he had taken the precaution to strew signals, such as pieces of cloth, paper and linen, to prove to the indians, if by accident they met his track, that we were white men. but he observed a smoke some distance ahead, and concluded that the whole country had now taken the alarm. sunday 21. on leaving our camp we passed an island at half a mile, and reached at one mile a bad rapid at the place where the river leaves the mountain: here the cliffs are high and covered with fragments of broken rocks, the current is also strong, but although more rapid the river is wider and shallower, so that we are able to use the pole occasionally, though we principally depend on the towline. on leaving this rapid which is about half a mile in extent, the country opens on each side; the hills become lower; at one mile is a large island on the left side, and four and a half beyond it a large and bold creek twenty-eight yards wide, coming in from the north, where it waters a handsome valley: we called it pryor's creek after one of the sergeants, john pryor. at a mile above this creek on the left side of the missouri we obtained a meridian altitude, which gave 46â° 10' 32" 9"' as the latitude of the place. for the following four miles, the country, like that through which we passed during the rest of the day, is rough and mountainous as we found it yesterday; but at the distance of twelve miles, we came towards evening into a beautiful plain ten or twelve miles wide and extending as far the eye could reach. this plain or rather valley is bounded by two nearly parallel ranges of high mountains whose summits are partially covered with snow, below which the pine is scattered along the sides down to the plain in some places, though the greater part of their surface has no timber and exhibits only a barren soil with no covering except dry parched grass or black rugged rocks. on entering the valley the river assumes a totally different aspect; it spreads to more than a mile in width, and though more rapid than before, is shallow enough in almost every part for the use of the pole, while its bed is formed of smooth stones and some large rocks, as it has been indeed since we entered the mountains: it is also divided by a number of islands some of which are large near the northern shore. the soil of the valley is a rich black loam apparently very fertile, and covered with a fine green grass about eighteen inches or two feet in height; while that of the high grounds is perfectly dry and seems scorched by the sun. the timber though still scarce is in greater quantities in this valley than we have seen it since entering the mountains, and seems to prefer the borders of the small creeks to the banks of the river itself. we advanced three and a half miles in this valley and encamped on the left side, having made in all fifteen and a half miles. our only large game to-day was one deer. we saw however two pheasants of a dark brown colour, much larger than the same species of bird in the united states. in the morning too, we saw three swans which, like the geese, have not yet recovered the feathers of the wing, and were unable to fly: we killed two of them, and the third escaped by diving and passing down the current. these are the first we have seen on the river for a great distance, and as they had no young with them, we presume that they do not breed in this neighbourhood. of the geese we daily see great numbers, with their young perfectly feathered except on the wings, where both young and old are deficient; the first are very fine food, but the old ones are poor and unfit for use. several of the large brown or sandhill crane are feeding in the low grounds on the grass which forms their principal food. the young crane cannot fly at this season: they are as large as a turkey, of a bright reddish bay colour. since the river has become shallow we have caught a number of trout to-day, and a fish, white on the belly and sides, but of a bluish cast on the back, and a long pointed mouth opening somewhat like that of the shad. this morning captain clarke wishing to hunt but fearful of alarming the indians, went up the river for three miles, when finding neither any of them nor of their recent tracks returned, and then his little party separated to look for game. they killed two bucks and a doe, and a young curlew nearly feathered: in the evening they found the musquitoes as troublesome as we did: these animals attack us as soon as the labours and fatigues of the day require some rest, and annoy us till several hours after dark, when the coldness of the air obliges them to disappear; but such is their persecution that were it not for our biers we should obtain no repose. monday, 22. we set out at an early hour. the river being divided into so many channels by both large and small islands, that it was impossible to lay it down accurately by following in a canoe any single channel, captain lewis walked on shore, took the general courses of the river, and from the rising grounds laid down the situation of the islands and channels, which he was enabled to do with perfect accuracy, the view not being obstructed by much timber. at one mile and a quarter we passed an island somewhat larger than the rest, and four miles further reached the upper end of another, on which we breakfasted. this is a large island forming in the middle of a bend to the north a level fertile plain ten feet above the surface of the water and never overflowed. here we found great quantities of a small onion about the size of a musket ball, though some were larger; it is white, crisp, and as well flavoured as any of our garden onions; the seed is just ripening, and as the plant bears a large quantity to the square foot, and stands the rigours of the climate, it will no doubt be an acquisition to settlers. from this production we called it onion island. during the next seven and three quarter miles we passed several long circular bends, and a number of large and small islands which divide the river into many channels, and then reached the mouth of a creek on the north side. it is composed of three creeks which unite in a handsome valley about four miles before they discharge themselves into the missouri, where it is about fifteen feet wide and eight feet deep, with clear transparent water. here we halted for dinner, but as the canoes took different channels in ascending it was some time before they all joined. here we were delighted to find that the indian woman recognizes the country; she tells us that to this creek her countrymen make excursions to procure a white paint on its banks, and we therefore call it whiteearth creek. she says also that the three forks of the missouri are at no great distance, a piece of intelligence which has cheered the spirits of us all, as we hope soon to reach the head of that river. this is the warmest day except one we have experienced this summer. in the shade the mercury stood at 80â° above 0, which is the second time it has reached that height during this season. we encamped on an island after making nineteen and three quarter miles. in the course of the day we saw many geese, cranes, small birds common to the plains, and a few pheasants: we also observed a small plover or curlew of a brown colour, about the size of the yellow-legged plover or jack curlew, but of a different species. it first appeared near the mouth of smith's river, but is so shy and vigilant that we were unable to shoot it. both the broad and narrow-leafed willow continue, though the sweet willow has become very scarce. the rosebush, small honeysuckle, the pulpy-leafed thorn, southern wood, sage and box-alder, narrow-leafed cottonwood, redwood, and a species of sumach, are all abundant. so too are the red and black gooseberries, serviceberries, chokecherry, and the black, red, yellow, and purple currant, which last seems to be a favourite food of the bear. before encamping we landed and took on board captain clarke with the meat he had collected during this day's hunt, which consisted of one deer and an elk: we had ourselves shot a deer and an antelope. the musquitoes and gnats were unusually fierce this evening. tuesday, 23. captain clarke again proceeded with four men along the right bank. during the whole day the river divided by a number of islands, which spread it out sometimes to the distance of three miles: the current is very rapid and has many ripples; and the bed formed of gravel and smooth stones. the banks along the low grounds are of a rich loam, followed occasionally by low bluffs of yellow and red clay, with a hard red slatestone intermixed. the low grounds are wide, and have very little timber but a thick underbrush of willow, and rose and currant bushes: these are succeeded by high plains extending on each side to the base of the mountains, which lie parallel to the river about eight or twelve miles apart, and are high and rocky, with some small pine and cedar interspersed on them. at the distance of seven miles a creek twenty yards wide, after meandering through a beautiful low ground on the left for several miles parallel to the river, empties itself near a cluster of small islands: the stream we called whitehouse creek after joseph whitehouse one of the party, and the islands from their number received the name of the "ten islands." about ten o'clock we came up with drewyer, who had gone out to hunt yesterday, and not being able to find our encampment had staid out all night: he now supplied us with five deer. three and a quarter miles beyond whitehouse creek we came to the lower point of an island where the river is three hundred yards wide, and continued along it for one mile and a quarter, and then passed a second island just above it. we halted rather early for dinner in order to dry some part of the baggage which had been wet in the canoes: we then proceeded, and at five and a half miles had passed two small islands. within the next three miles we came to a large island, which from its figure we called broad island. from that place we made three and a half miles, and encamped on an island to the left, opposite to a much larger one on the right. our journey to-day was twenty-two and a quarter miles, the greater part of which was made by means of our poles and cords, the use of which the banks much favoured. during the whole time we had the small flags hoisted in the canoes to apprise the indians, if there were any in the neighbourhood, of our being white men and their friends; but we were not so fortunate as to discover any of them. along the shores we saw great quantities of the common thistle, and procured a further supply of wild onions and a species of garlic growing on the highlands, which is now green and in bloom: it has a flat leaf, and is strong, tough, and disagreeable. there was also much of the wild flax, of which we now obtained some ripe seed, as well as some bullrush and cattail flag. among the animals we met with a black snake about two feet long, with the belly as dark as any other part of the body, which was perfectly black, and which had one hundred and twenty-eight scuta on the belly and sixty-three on the tail: we also saw antelopes, crane, geese, ducks, beaver, and otter; and took up four deer which had been left on the water side by captain clarke. he had pursued all day an indian road on the right side of the river, and encamped late in the evening at the distance of twenty-five miles from our camp of last night. in the course of his walk he met besides deer a number of antelopes and a herd of elk, but all the tracks of indians, though numerous, were of an old date. wednesday, 24. we proceeded for four and a quarter miles along several islands to a small run, just above which the low bluffs touch the river. within three and a half miles further we came to a small island on the north, and a remarkable bluff composed of earth of a crimson colour, intermixed with stratas of slate, either black or of a red resembling brick. the following six and three quarter miles brought us to an assemblage of islands, having passed four at different distances; and within the next five miles we met the same number of islands, and encamped on the north after making nineteen and a half miles. the current of the river was strong and obstructed, as indeed it has been for some days by small rapids or ripples which descend from one to three feet in the course of one hundred and fifty yards, but they are rarely incommoded by any fixed rocks, and therefore, though the water is rapid, the passage is not attended with danger. the valley through which the river passes is like that of yesterday; the nearest hills generally concealing the most distant from us; but when we obtain a view of them they present themselves in amphitheatre, rising above each other as they recede from the river till the most remote are covered with snow. we saw many otter and beaver to-day: the latter seem to contribute very much to the number of islands and the widening of the river. they begin by damming up the small channels of about twenty yards between the islands; this obliges the river to seek another outlet, and as soon as this is effected the channel stopped by the beaver becomes filled with mud and sand. the industrious animal is then driven to another channel which soon shares the same fate, till the river spreads on all sides, and cuts the projecting points of the land into islands. we killed a deer and saw great numbers of antelopes, cranes, some geese, and a few redheaded ducks. the small birds of the plains and the curlew are still abundant: we saw but could not come within gunshot of a large bear. there is much of the track of elk but none of the animals themselves, and from the appearance of bones and old excrement, we suppose that buffaloe have sometimes strayed into the valley, though we have as yet seen no recent sign of them. along the water are a number of snakes, some of a brown uniform colour, others black, and a third speckled on the abdomen, and striped with black and a brownish yellow in the back and sides. the first, which are the largest, are about four feet long; the second is of the kind mentioned yesterday, and the third resembles in size and appearance the garter-snake of the united states. on examining the teeth of all these several kinds we found them free from poison: they are fond of the water, in which they take shelter on being pursued. the mosquitoes, gnats, and prickly pear, our three persecutors, still continue with us, and joined with the labour of working the canoes have fatigued us all excessively. captain clarke continued along the indian road which led him up a creek. about ten o'clock he saw at the distance of six miles a horse feeding in the plains. he went towards him, but the animal was so wild that he could not get within several hundred paces of him: he then turned obliquely to the river where he killed a deer and dined, having passed in this valley five handsome streams, only one of which had any timber; another had some willows, and was very much dammed up by the beaver. after dinner he continued his route along the river and encamped at the distance of thirty miles. as he went along he saw many tracks of indians, but none of recent date. the next morning, thursday, 25, at the distance of a few miles he arrived at the three forks of the missouri. here he found that the plains had been recently burnt on the north side, and saw the track of a horse which seemed to have passed about four or five days since. after breakfast he examined the rivers, and finding that the north branch, although not larger, contained more water than the middle branch, and bore more to the westward, he determined to ascend it. he therefore left a note informing captain lewis of his intention, and then went up that stream on the north side for about twenty-five miles. here chaboneau was unable to proceed any further, and the party therefore encamped, all of them much fatigued, their feet blistered and wounded by the prickly pear. in the meantime we left our camp, and proceeded on very well, though the water is still rapid and has some occasional ripples. the country is much like that of yesterday: there are however fewer islands, for we passed only two. behind one of them is a large creek twenty-five yards wide, to which we gave the name of gass's creek, from one of our serjeants, patrick gass: it is formed by the union of five streams, which descend from the mountains and join in the plain near the river. on this island we saw a large brown bear, but he retreated to the shore and ran off before we could approach him. these animals seem more shy than they were below the mountains. the antelopes have again collected in small herds, composed of several females with their young, attended by one or two males, though some of the males are still solitary or wander in parties of two over the plains, which the antelope invariably prefers to the woodlands, and to which it always retreats if by accident it is found straggling in the hills, confiding no doubt in its wonderful fleetness. we also killed a few young geese, but as this game is small and very incompetent to the subsistence of the party, we have forbidden the men any longer to waste their ammunition on them. about four and a half miles above gass's creek, the valley in which we have been travelling ceases, the high craggy cliffs again approach the river, which now enters or rather leaves what appears to be a second great chain of the rocky mountains. about a mile after entering these hills or low mountains we passed a number of fine bold springs, which burst out near the edge of the river under the cliffs on the left, and furnished a fine freestone water: near these we met with two of the worst rapids we have seen since entering the mountains; a ridge of sharp pointed rocks stretching across the river, leaving but small and dangerous channels for the navigation. the cliffs are of a lighter colour than those we have already passed, and in the bed of the river is some limestone which is small and worn smooth, and seems to have been brought down by the current. we went about a mile further and encamped under a high bluff on the right opposite to a cliff of rocks, having made sixteen miles. all these cliffs appeared to have been undermined by the water at some period, and fallen down from the hills on their sides, the stratas of rock sometimes lying with their edges upwards, others not detached from the hills are depressed obliquely on the side next the river as if they had sunk to fill up the cavity formed by the washing of the river. in the open places among the rocky cliffs are two kinds of gooseberry, one yellow and the other red. the former species was observed for the first time near the falls, the latter differs from it in no respect except in colour and in being of a larger size; both have a sweet flavour, and are rather indifferent fruit. friday 26. we again found the current strong and the ripples frequent: these we were obliged to overcome by means of the cord and the pole, the oar being scarcely ever used except in crossing to take advantage of the shore. within three and three quarter miles we passed seven small islands and reached the mouth of a large creek which empties itself in the centre of a bend on the left side: it is a bold running stream fifteen yards wide, and received the name of howard creek after john p. howard one of the party. one mile beyond it is a small run which falls in on the same side just above a rocky cliff. here the mountains recede from the river, and the valley widens to the extent of several miles. the river now becomes crowded with islands of which we passed ten in the next thirteen and three quarter miles, then at the distance of eighteen miles we encamped on the left shore near a rock in the centre of a bend towards the left, and opposite to two more islands. this valley has wide low grounds covered with high grass, and in many with a fine turf of green sward. the soil of the highlands is thin and meagre, without any covering except a low sedge and a dry kind of grass which is almost as inconvenient as the prickly pear. the seeds of it are armed with a long twisted hard beard at their upper extremity, while the lower part is a sharp firm point, beset at its base with little stiff bristles, with the points in a direction contrary to the subulate point to which they answer as a barb. we see also another species of prickly pear. it is of a globular form, composed of an assemblage of little conic leaves springing from a common root to which their small points are attached as a common centre, and the base of the cone forms the apex of the leaf which is garnished with a circular range of sharp thorns like the cochineal plant, and quite as stiff and even more keen than those of the common flat-leafed species. between the hills the river had been confined within one hundred and fifty or two hundred yards, but in the valley it widens to two hundred or two hundred and fifty yards, and sometimes is spread by its numerous islands to the distance of three quarters of a mile. the banks are low, but the river never overflows them. on entering the valley we again saw the snow-clad mountains before us, but the appearance of the hills as well as of the timber near us is much as heretofore. finding chaboneau unable to proceed captain clarke left him with one of the men, and accompanied by the other went up the river about twelve miles to the top of a mountain. here he had an extensive view of the river valley upwards and saw a large creek which flowed in on the right side. he however discovered no fresh sign of the indians, and therefore determined to examine the middle branch and join us by the time we reached the forks: he descended the mountain by an indian path which wound through a deep valley, and at length reached a fine cold spring. the day had been very warm, the path unshaded by timber, and his thirst was excessive; he was therefore tempted to drink: but although he took the precaution of previously wetting his head, feet and hands, he soon found himself very unwell; he continued his route, and after resting with chaboneau at his camp, resumed his march across the north fork near a large island. the first part was knee deep, but on the other side of the island the water came to their waists and was so rapid that chaboneau was on the point of being swept away, and not being able to swim would have perished if captain clarke had not rescued him. while crossing the island they killed two brown bear and saw great quantities of beaver. he then went on to a small river which falls into the north fork some miles above its junction with the two others: here, finding himself grow more unwell, he halted for the night at the distance of four miles from his last encampment. saturday 27. we proceeded on but slowly, the current being still so rapid as to require the utmost exertions of us all to advance, and the men are losing their strength fast in consequence of their constant efforts. at half a mile we passed an island, and a mile and a quarter further again entered a ridge of hills which now approach the river with cliffs apparently sinking like those of yesterday. they are composed of a solid limestone of a light lead colour when exposed to the air, though when freshly broken it is of a deep blue, and of an excellent quality and very fine grain. on these cliffs were numbers of the bighorn. at two and a half miles we reached the centre of a bend towards the south passing a small island, and at one mile and a quarter beyond this reached about nine in the morning the mouth of a river seventy yards wide, which falls in from the southeast. here the country suddenly opens into extensive and beautiful meadows and plains, surrounded on every side with distant and lofty mountains. captain lewis went up this stream for about half a mile, and from the height of a limestone cliff could observe its course about seven miles, and the three forks of the missouri, of which this river is one. its extreme point bore s. 65â° e. and during the seven miles it passes through a green extensive meadow of fine grass dividing itself into several streams, the largest passing near the ridge of hills on which he stood. on the right side of the missouri a high, wide and extensive plain succeeds to this low meadow which reaches the hills. in the meadow a large spring rises about a quarter of a mile from this southeast fork, into which it discharges itself on the right side about four hundred paces from where he stood. between the southeast and middle forks a distant range of snow-topped mountains spread from east to south above the irregular broken hills nearer to this spot: the middle and southwest forks unite at half a mile above the entrance of the southeast fork. the extreme point at which the former can be seen, bears s. 15â° e. and at the distance of fourteen miles, where it turns to the right round the point of a high plain and disappears from the view. its low grounds are several miles in width, forming a smooth and beautiful green meadow, and like the southeast fork it divides itself into several streams. between these two forks and near their junction with that from the southwest, is a position admirably well calculated for a fort. it is a limestone rock of an oblong form, rising from the plain perpendicularly to the height of twenty-five feet on three of its sides; the fourth towards the middle fork being a gradual ascent and covered with a fine green sward, as is also the top which is level and contains about two acres. an extensive plain lies between the middle and southwest forks, the last of which after watering a country like that of the other two branches, disappears about twelve miles off, at a point bearing south 30â° west. it is also more divided and serpentine in its course than the other two, and possesses more timber in its meadows. this timber consists almost exclusively of the narrow-leafed cottonwood, with an inter-mixture of box alder and sweet-willow, the underbrush being thick and like that of the missouri lower down. a range of high mountains partially covered with snow is seen at a considerable distance running from south to west, and nearly all around us are broken ridges of country like that below, through which those united streams appear to have forced their passage: after observing the country captain lewis descended to breakfast. we then left the mouth of the southeast fork, to which in honour of the secretary of the treasury we called gallatin's river, and at the distance of half a mile reached the confluence of the southwest and middle branch of the missouri. here we found the letter from captain clarke, and as we agreed with him that the direction of the southwest fork gave it a decided preference over the others, we ascended that branch of the river for a mile, and encamped in a level handsome plain on the left: having advanced only seven miles. here we resolved to wait the return of captain clarke, and in the meantime make the necessary celestial observations, as this seems an essential point in the geography of the western world, and also to recruit the men and air the baggage. it was accordingly all unloaded and stowed away on shore. near the three forks we saw many collections of the mud-nests of the small martin attached to the smooth faces of the limestone rock, where they were sheltered by projections of the rock above it: and in the meadows were numbers of the duck or mallard with their young, who are now nearly grown. the hunters returned towards evening with six deer, three otter and a muskrat; and had seen great numbers of antelopes, and much sign of the beaver and elk. during all last night captain clarke had a high fever and chills accompanied with great pain. he however pursued his route eight miles to the middle branch, where not finding any fresh indian track he came down it and joined us about three o'clock, very much exhausted with fatigue and the violence of his fever. believing himself bilious he took a dose of rush's pills, which we have always found sovereign in such cases, and bathing the lower extremities in warm water. we are now very anxious to see the snake indians. after advancing for several hundred miles into this wild and mountainous country, we may soon expect that the game will abandon us. with no information of the route we may be unable to find a passage across the mountains when we reach the head of the river, at least such a one as will lead us to the columbia, and even were we so fortunate as to find a branch of that river, the timber which we have hitherto seen in these mountains does not promise us any fit to make canoes, so that our chief dependence is on meeting some tribe from whom we may procure horses. our consolation is, that this southwest branch can scarcely head with any other river than the columbia, and that if any nation of indians can live in the mountains we are able to endure as much as they, and have even better means of procuring subsistence. chapter xiii. the name of the missouri changed, as the river now divides itself into three forks, one of which is called after jefferson, the other madison, and the other after gallatin--their general character--the party ascend the jefferson branch--description of the river philosophy which enters into the jefferson--captain lewis and a small party go in advance in search of the shoshonees--description of the country, &c. bordering on the river--captain lewis still preceding the main party in quest of the shoshonees--a singular accident which prevented captain clarke from following captain lewis's advice, and ascending the middle fork of the river--description of philanthropy river, another stream running into the jefferson--captain lewis and a small party having been unsuccessful in their first attempt, set off a second time in quest of the shoshonees. sunday, july 28. captain clarke continued very unwell during the night, but was somewhat relieved this morning. on examining the two streams it became difficult to decide which was the larger or the real missouri; they are each ninety yards wide and so perfectly similar in character and appearance that they seem to have been formed in the same mould. we were therefore induced to discontinue the name of missouri, and gave to the southwest branch the name of jefferson in honour of the president of the united states, and the projector of the enterprise: and called the middle branch madison, after james madison secretary of state. these two, as well as gallatin river, run with great velocity and throw out large bodies of water. gallatin river is however the most rapid of the three, and though not quite as deep, yet navigable for a considerable distance. madison river though much less rapid than the gallatin, is somewhat more rapid than the jefferson; the beds of all of them are formed of smooth pebble and gravel, and the waters are perfectly transparent. the timber in the neighbourhood would be sufficient for the ordinary uses of an establishment, which, however, it would be adviseable to build of brick, as the earth appears calculated for that purpose, and along the shores are some bars of fine pure sand. the greater part of the men, having yesterday put their deer skins in water, were this day engaged in dressing them, for the purpose of making clothing. the weather was very warm, the thermometer in the afternoon was at 90â° above 0, and the musquitoes more than usually inconvenient: we were, however, relieved from them by a high wind from the southwest, which came on at four o'clock, bringing a storm of thunder and lightning, attended by refreshing showers, which continued till after dark. in the evening the hunters returned with eight deer and two elk; and the party who had been sent up the gallatin, reported that after passing the point, where it escaped from captain* lewis's view yesterday, it turned more towards the east, as far as they could discern the opening of the mountains, formed by the valley which bordered it. the low grounds were still wide but not so extensive as near its mouth, and though the stream is rapid and much divided by islands, it is still sufficiently deep for navigation with canoes. the low grounds, although not more than eight or nine feet above the water, seem never to be overflowed, except a part on the west side of the middle fork, which is stony and seems occasionally inundated, are furnished with great quantities of small fruit, such as currants and gooseberries: among the last of which is a black species, which we observe not only in the meadows but along the mountain rivulets. from the same root rise a number of stems to the height of five or six feet, some of them particularly branched and all reclining. the berry is attached by a long peduncle to the stem, from which they hang of a smooth ovate form, as large as the common garden gooseberry, and as black as jet, though the pulp is of a bright crimson colour. it is extremely acid: the form of the leaf resembles that of the common gooseberry, though larger. the stem is covered with very sharp thorns or briars: the grass too is very luxuriant and would yield fine hay in parcels of several acres. the sand-rushes will grow in many places as high as a man's breast, and as thick as stalks of wheat; it would supply the best food during the winter to cattle of any trading or military post. sacajawea, our indian woman, informs us that we are encamped on the precise spot where her countrymen, the snake indians, had their huts five years ago, when the minnetarees of knife river first came in sight of them, and from which they hastily retreated three miles up the jefferson, and concealed themselves in the woods. the minnetarees, however, pursued and attacked them, killed four men, as many women, and a number of boys; and made prisoners of four other boys, and all the females, of whom sacajawea was one: she does not, however, show any distress at these recollections, nor any joy at the prospect of being restored to her country; for she seems to possess the folly or the philosophy of not suffering her feelings to extend beyond the anxiety of having plenty to eat and a few trinkets to wear. monday 29. this morning the hunters brought in some fat deer of the long-tailed red kind, which are quite as large as those of the united states, and are, indeed, the only kind we have found at this place: there are numbers of the sandhill cranes feeding in the meadows; we caught a young one of the same colour as the red deer, which, though it had nearly attained its full growth could not fly; it is very fierce and strikes a severe blow with its beak. the kingfisher has become quite common on this side of the falls: but we have seen none of the summer duck since leaving that place. the mallard duck, which we saw for the first time on the 20th instant, with their young, are now abundant, though they do not breed on the missouri, below the mountains. the small birds already described are also abundant in the plains; here too, are great quantities of grasshoppers or crickets; and among other animals, a large ant with a reddish brown body and legs, and a black head and abdomen, who build little cones of gravel, ten or twelve inches high, without a mixture of sticks, and but little earth. in the river we see a great abundance of fish, but we cannot tempt them to bite by any thing on our hooks. the whole party have been engaged in dressing skins, and making them into moccasins and leggings. captain clarke's fever has almost left him, but he still remains very languid and has a general soreness in his limbs. the latitude of our camp, as the mean of two observations of the meridian altitude of the sun's lower limb with octant by back observation is n. 45â° 24' 8" 5"'. tuesday 30. captain clarke was this morning much restored; and, therefore, having made all the observations necessary to fix the longitude, we reloaded our canoes, and began to ascend jefferson river. the river now becomes very crooked, and forms bends on each side; the current too is rapid, and cut into a great number of channels, and sometimes shoals, the beds of which consist of coarse gravel. the islands are unusually numerous: on the right are high plains occasionally forming cliffs of rocks and hills; while the left was an extensive low ground and prairie intersected by a number of bayous or channels falling into the river. captain lewis, who had walked through it with chaboneau, his wife, and two invalids, joined us at dinner, a few miles above our camp. here the indian woman said was the place where she had been made prisoner. the men being too few to contend with the minnetarees, mounted their horses, and fled as soon as the attack began. the women and children dispersed, and sacajawea as she was crossing at a shoal place, was overtaken in the middle of the river by her pursuers. as we proceeded, the low grounds were covered with cottonwood and a thick underbrush, and on both sides of the river, except where the high hills prevented it, the ground was divided by bayous, which are dammed up by the beaver, which are very numerous here. we made twelve and a quarter miles, and encamped on the north side. captain lewis proceeded after dinner, through an extensive low ground of timber and meadow land intermixed; but the bayous were so obstructed by beaver dams, that in order to avoid them he directed his course towards the high plain on the right. this he gained with some difficulty, after wading up to his waist through the mud and water of a number of beaver dams. when he desired to rejoin the canoes he found the underbrush so thick, and the river so crooked, that this, joined to the difficulty of passing the beaver dams, induced him to go on and endeavour to intercept the river at some point where it might be more collected into one channel and approach nearer to the high plain. he arrived at the bank about sunset, having gone only six miles in a direct course from the canoes: but he saw no traces of the men, nor did he receive any answer to his shouts nor the firing of his gun. it was now nearly dark; a duck lighted near him and he shot it. he then went on the head of a small island where he found some driftwood, which enabled him to cook his duck for supper, and he laid down to sleep on some willow brush. the night was cool, but the driftwood gave him a good fire, and he suffered no inconvenience except from the mosquitoes. wednesday 31. the next morning he waited till after seven o'clock, when he became uneasy lest we should have gone beyond his camp last evening and determined to follow us. just as he had set out with this intention, he saw one of the party in advance of the canoes; although our camp was only two miles below him, in a straight line, we could not reach him sooner, in consequence of the rapidity of the water and the circuitous course of the river. we halted for breakfast, after which captain lewis continued his route. at the distance of one mile from our encampment we passed the principal entrance of a stream on the left, which rises in the snowy mountains to the southwest, between jefferson and madison rivers, and discharges itself by seven mouths, five below, and one three miles above this, which is the largest, and about thirty yards wide: we called it philosophy river. the water of it is abundant and perfectly clear, and the bed like that of the jefferson consists of pebble and gravel. there is some timber in the bottoms of the river, and vast numbers of otter and beaver, which build on its smaller mouths and the bayous of its neighbourhood. the jefferson continues as yesterday, shoaly and rapid, but as the islands though numerous are small, it is however more collected into one current than it was below, and is from ninety to one hundred and twenty yards in width. the low ground has a fertile soil of rich black loam, and contains a considerable quantity of timber, with the bullrush and cattail flag very abundant in the moist parts, while the drier situations are covered with fine grass, tansy, thistles, onions, and flax. the uplands are barren, and without timber: the soil is a light yellow clay intermixed with small smooth pebble and gravel, and the only produce is the prickly-pear, the sedge, and the bearded grass, which is as dry and inflammable as tinder. as we proceeded the low grounds became narrower, and the timber more scarce, till at the distance of ten miles the high hills approach and overhang the river on both sides, forming cliffs of a hard black granite, like almost all those below the limestone cliffs at the three forks of the missouri: they continue so for a mile and three quarters, where we came to a point of rock on the right side, at which place the hills again retire, and the valley widens to the distance of a mile and a half. within the next five miles we passed four islands, and reached the foot of a mountain in a bend of the river to the left: from this place we went a mile and a quarter to the entrance of a small run discharging itself on the left, and encamped on an island just above it, after making seventeen and three quarter miles. we observe some pine on the hills on both sides of our encampment, which are very lofty. the only game which we have seen are one bighorn, a few antelopes, deer, and one brown bear, which escaped from our pursuit. nothing was, however, killed to-day, nor have we had any fresh meat except one beaver for the last two days, so that we are now reduced to an unusual situation, for we have hitherto always had a great abundance of flesh. 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, chaboneau, and drewyer, intending to go on in advance in search of the shoshonees. 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 colour 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 flavoured. 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 coloured 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 lowgrounds 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. 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 travelling twenty-four miles. he met no fresh tracks of indians. throughout the valley are scattered the bones and excrement of the buffaloe* 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 colours; 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 colour, size, and the superior excellence of its flavour. 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. saturday, 3. captain lewis continued his course along the river through the valley, which continued much as it was yesterday, except that it now widens to nearly twelve miles; the plains too are more broken and have some scattered pine near the mountains, where they rise higher than hitherto. in the level parts of the plains and the river bottoms there is no timber except small cottonwood near the margin, and an undergrowth of narrow-leafed willow, small honeysuckle, rosebushes, currants, serviceberry, and gooseberry, and a little of a small species of birch; it is a finely indented oval of a small size and a deep green colour; the stem is simple, ascending and branching, and seldom rises higher than ten or twelve feet. the mountains continue high on each side of the valley, but their only covering is a small species of pitch-pine with a short leaf, growing on the lower and middle regions, while for some distance below the snowy tops there is neither timber nor herbage of any kind. about eleven o'clock drewyer killed a doe on which they breakfasted, and after resting two hours continued till night, when they reached the river near a low ground more extensive than usual. from the appearance of the timber captain lewis supposed that the river forked above him, and therefore encamped with an intention of examining it more particularly in the morning. he had now made twenty-three miles, the latter part of which were for eight miles through a high plain covered with prickly pears and bearded grass, which rendered the walking very inconvenient: but even this was better than the river bottoms we crossed in the evening, which, though apparently level, were formed into deep holes as if they had been rooted up by hogs, and the holes were so covered with thick grass that they were in danger of falling at every step. some parts of these low grounds, however, contain turf or peat of an excellent quality for many feet deep apparently, as well as the mineral salts which we have already mentioned on the missouri. they saw many deer, antelopes, ducks, geese, some beaver, and great traces of their work, and the small birds and curlews as usual. the only fish which they observed in this part of the river is the trout and a species of white fish, with a remarkably long small mouth, which one of our men recognize as the fish called in the eastern states the bottlenose. on setting out with the canoes we found the river as usual much crowded with islands, the current more rapid as well as shallower, so that in many places they were obliged to man the canoes double, and drag them over the stone and gravel of the channel. soon after we set off captain clarke who was walking on shore observed a fresh track which he knew to be that of an indian from the large toes being turned inwards, and on following it found that it led to the point of a hill from which our camp of last night could be seen. this circumstance strengthened the belief that some indian had strayed thither, and had run off alarmed at the sight of us. at two and a quarter miles, is a small creek in a bend towards the right, which runs down from the mountains at a little distance; we called it panther creek from an animal of that kind killed by reuben fields at its mouth. it is precisely the same animal common to the western parts of the united states, and measured seven and a half feet from the nose to the extremity of the tail. six and three quarter miles beyond this stream is another on the left formed by the drains which convey the melted snows from a mountain near it, under which the river passes, leaving the low grounds on the right side, and making several bends in its course. on this stream are many large beaver dams. one mile above it is a small run on the left, and after leaving which begins a very bad rapid, where the bed of the river is formed of solid rock: this we passed in the course of a mile, and encamped on the lower point of an island. our journey had been only thirteen miles, but the badness of the river made it very laborious, as the men were compelled to be in the water during the greater part of the day. we saw only deer, antelopes, and the common birds of the country. saturday 4. this morning captain lewis proceeded early, and after going southeast by east for four miles, reaching a bold running creek, twelve yards wide, with clear cold water, furnished apparently by four drains from the snowy mountains on the left; after passing this creek he changed his direction to southeast, and leaving the valley in which he had travelled for the last two days, entered another which bore east. at the distance of three miles on this course he passed a handsome little river, about thirty yards wide, which winds through the valley: the current is not rapid nor the water very clear, but it affords a considerable quantity of water, and appears as if it might be navigable for some miles. the banks are low, and the bed formed of stone and gravel. he now changed his route to southwest, and passing a high plain which separates the vallies, returned to the more southern or that which he had left: in passing this he found a river about forty-five yards wide, the water of which has a whitish blue tinge, with a gentle current, and a gravelly bottom. this he waded and found it waist deep. he then continued down it, till at the distance of three quarters of a mile he saw the entrance of the small river he had just passed; as he went on two miles lower down, he found the mouth of the creek he had seen in the morning. proceeding further on three miles, he arrived at the junction of this river, with another which rises from the southwest, runs through the south valley about twelve miles before it forms its junction, where it is fifty yards wide: we now found that our camp of last night was about a mile and a half above the entrance of this large river, on the right side. this is a bold, rapid, clear stream, but its bed is so much obstructed by gravelly bars, and subdivided by islands, that the navigation must be very insecure, if not impracticable. the other or middle stream, has about two thirds its quantity of water, and is more gentle, and may be safely navigated. as far as it could be observed, its course was about southwest, but the opening of the valley induced him to believe that farther above it turned more towards the west. its water is more turbid and warmer than that of the other branch, whence it may be presumed to have its sources at a greater distance in the mountains, and to pass through a more open country. under this impression he left a note recommending to captain clarke the middle fork, and then continued his course along the right side of the other, or more rapid branch. after travelling twenty-three miles he near a place where the river leaves the valley and enters the mountain. here he encamped for the night. the country he passed is like that of the rest of this valley, though there is more timber in this part on the rapid fork than there has been on the river in the same extent since we entered it; for on some parts of the valley the indians seem to have destroyed a great proportion of the little timber there was, by setting fire to the bottoms. he saw some antelopes, deer, cranes, geese and ducks of the two species common to this country, though the summer duck has ceased to appear, nor does it seem to be an inhabitant of this part of the river. we proceeded soon after sunrise: the first five miles we passed four bends on the left, and several bayous on both sides. at eight o'clock we stopped to breakfast, and found the note captain lewis had written on the 2d instant. during the next four miles, we passed three small bends of the river to the right, two small islands, and two bayous on the same side. here we reached a bluff on the left; our next course was six miles to our encampment. in this course we met six circular bends on the right, and several small bayous, and halted for the night in a low ground of cottonwood on the right. our days journey, though only fifteen miles in length, was very fatiguing. the river is still rapid and the water though clear is very much obstructed by shoals or ripples at every two or three hundred yards: at all these places we are obliged to drag the canoes over the stones as there is not a sufficient depth of water to float them, and in the other parts the current obliges us to have recourse to the cord. but as the brushwood on the banks will not permit us to walk on shore, we are under the necessity of wading through the river as we drag the boats. this soon makes our feet tender, and sometimes occasions severe falls over the slippery stones; and the men by being constantly wet are becoming more feeble. in the course of the day the hunters killed two deer, some geese and ducks, and the party saw antelopes, cranes, beaver and otter. monday 5. this morning chaboneau complained of being unable to march far to-day, and captain lewis therefore ordered him and serjeant gass to pass the rapid river and proceed through the level low ground, to a point of high timber on the middle fork, seven miles distant, and wait his return. he then went along the north side of the rapid river about four miles, where he waded it, and found it so rapid and shallow that it would be impossible to navigate it. he continued along the left side for a mile and a half, when the mountains came close on the river, and rise to a considerable height with a partial covering of snow. from this place the course of the river was to the east of north. after ascending with some difficulty a high point of the mountain, he had a pleasing view of the valley he had passed, and which continued for about twenty miles further on each side of the middle fork, which then seemed to enter the mountains, and was lost to the view. in that direction, however, the hills which terminate the valley are much lower than those along either of the other forks, particularly the rapid one, where they continue rising in ranges above each other us far as the eye could reach. the general course too of the middle fork, as well as that of the gap which it forms on entering the mountains, is considerably to the south of west; circumstances which gave a decided preference to this branch as our future route. captain lewis now descended the mountain, and crossed over to the middle fork, about five miles distant, and found it still perfectly navigable. there is a very large and plain indian road leading up it, but it has at present no tracks, except those of horses which seem to have used it last spring. the river here made a great bend to the southeast, and he therefore directed his course, as well as he could, to the spot where he had directed chaboneau and gass to repair, and struck the river about three miles above their camp. it was now dark, and he, therefore, was obliged to make his way through the thick brush of the pulpy-leafed thorn and the prickly pear, for two hours before he reached their camp. here he was fortunate enough to find the remains of some meat, which was his only food during the march of twenty-five miles to-day. he had seen no game of any sort except a few antelopes who were very shy. the soil of the plains is a meagre clay, of a light yellow colour, intermixed with a large proportion of gravel, and producing nothing but twisted or bearded grass, sedge and prickly pears. the drier parts of the low grounds are also more indifferent in point of soil than those further down the river, and although they have but little grass, are covered with southern wood, pulpy-leafed thorn, and prickly pears, while the moist parts are fertile, and supplied with fine grass and sandrushes. we passed within the first four and a quarter miles three small islands, and the same number of bad rapids. at the distance of three quarters of a mile is another rapid of difficult passage: three miles and three quarters beyond this are the forks of the river, in reaching which we had two islands and several bayous on different sides to pass. here we had come nine miles and a quarter. the river was straighter and more rapid than yesterday, the labour of the navigation proportionally increased, and we therefore proceeded very slowly, as the feet of several of the men were swollen, and all were languid with fatigue. we arrived at the forks about four o'clock, but unluckily captain lewis's note had been left on a green pole which the beaver had cut down and carried off with the note, an accident which deprived us of all information as to the character of the two branches of the river. observing therefore that the northwest fork was most in our direction, and contained as much water as the other, we ascended it; we found it extremely rapid, and its waters were scattered in such a manner, that for a quarter of a mile we were forced to cut a passage through the willowbrush that leaned over the little channels and united at the top. after going up it for a mile we encamped on an island which had been overflowed, and was still so wet that we were compelled to make beds of brush to keep ourselves out of the mud. our provision consisted of two deer which had been killed in the morning. tuesday 6. we proceeded up the northwest fork, which we found still very rapid, and divided by several islands, while the plains near it were intersected by bayous. after passing with much difficulty over stones and rapids, we reached a bluff on the right, at the distance of nine miles, our general course south 30â° west, and halted for breakfast. here we were joined by drewyer, who informed us of the state of the two rivers and of captain lewis's note, and we immediately began to descend the river in order to take the other branch. on going down one of the canoes upset, and two others filled with water, by which all the baggage was wet, and several articles irrecoverably lost. as one of them swung round in a rapid current, whitehouse was thrown out of her, and whilst down the canoe passed over him, and had the water been two inches shallower would have crushed him to pieces; but he escaped with a severe bruise of his leg. in order to repair these misfortunes we hastened to the forks, where we were joined by captain lewis, and then passed over to the left side opposite to the entrance of the rapid fork, and encamped on a large gravelly bar, near which there was plenty of wood. here we opened and exposed to dry all the articles which had suffered from the water; none of them were completely spoiled except a small keg of powder; the rest of the powder, which was distributed in the different canoes was quite safe, although it had been under the water upwards of an hour. the air is indeed so pure and dry that any wood-work immediately shrinks, unless it is kept filled with water; but we had planned our powder in small canisters of lead, each containing powder enough for the canister when melted into bullets, and smeared with cork and wax, which answered our purpose perfectly. captain lewis had risen very early, and having nothing to eat, sent out drewyer to the woodland on the left in search of a deer, and directed sergeant gass to keep along the middle branch to meet us if we were ascending it. he then set off with chaboneau towards the forks, but five miles above them, hearing us on the left, struck the river as we were descending, and came on board at the forks. in the evening we killed three deer and four elk, which furnished us once more with a plentiful supply of meat. shannon, the same man who was lost before for fifteen days, was sent out this morning to hunt, up the northwest fork; when we decided on returning, drewyer was directed to go in quest of him, but he returned with information that he had gone several miles up the river without being able to find shannon. we now had the trumpet sounded, and fired several guns, but he did not return, and we fear he is again lost. wednesday 7. we remained here this morning for the purpose of making some celestial observations, and also in order to refresh the men, and complete the drying of the baggage. we obtained a meridian altitude which gave the latitude of our camp at north 45â° 2' 48" 8"'. we were now completely satisfied that the middle branch was the most navigable, and the true continuation of the jefferson. the northwest fork seems to be the drain of the melting snows of the mountains, its course cannot be so long as the other branch, and although it contains now as great a quantity of water, yet the water has obviously overflowed the old bed, and spread into channels which leave the low grounds covered with young grass, resembling that of the adjoining lands, which are not inundated; whence we readily infer that the supply is more precarious than that of the other branch, the waters of which though more gentle are more constant. this northwest fork we called wisdom river. as soon as the baggage was dried, it was reloaded on board the boats, but we now found it so much diminished, that we would we able to proceed with one canoe less. we therefore hauled up the superfluous one into a thicket of brush where we secured her against being swept away by the high tide. at one o'clock all set out, except captain lewis who remained till the evening in order to complete the observation of equal altitudes: we passed several bends of the river both to the right and left, as well as a number of bayous on both sides, and made seven miles by water, though the distance by land is only three. we then encamped on a creek which rises in a high mountain to the northeast, and after passing through an open plain for several miles, discharges itself on the left, where it is a bold running stream twelve yards wide. we called it turf creek, from the number of bogs and the quantity of turf on its waters. in the course of the afternoon there fell a shower of rain attended with thunder and lightning, which lasted about forty minutes, and the weather remained so cloudy all night that we were unable to take any lunar observations. uneasy about shannon, we sent r. fields in search of him this morning, but we have as yet no intelligence of either of them. our only game to-day was one deer. thursday 8. there was a heavy dew this morning. having left one of the canoes, there are now more men to spare for the chace; and four were sent out at an early hour, after which we proceeded. we made five miles by water along two islands and several bayous, but as the river formed seven different bends towards the left, the distance by land was only two miles south of our encampment. at the end of that course we reached the upper principal entrance of a stream which we called philanthropy river. this river empties itself into the jefferson on the southeast side, by two channels a short distance from each other: from its size and its southeastern course, we presume that it rises in the rocky mountains near the sources of the madison. it is thirty yards wide at its entrance, has a very gentle current, and is navigable for some distance. one mile above this river we passed an island, a second at the distance of six miles further, during which the river makes a considerable bend to the east. reuben fields returned about noon with information that he had gone up wisdom river till its entrance into the mountains, but could find nothing of shannon. we made seven miles beyond the last island, and after passing some small bayous, encamped under a few high trees on the left, at the distance of fourteen miles above philanthropy river by water, though only six by land. the river has in fact become so very crooked that although by means of the pole which we now use constantly we make a considerable distance, yet being obliged to follow its windings, at the end of the day, we find ourselves very little advanced on our general course. it forms itself into small circular bends, which are so numerous that within the last fourteen miles we passed thirty-five of them, all inclining towards the right; it is however much more gentle and deep than below wisdom river, and its general width is from thirty-five to forty-five yards. the general appearance of the surrounding country is that of a valley five or six miles wide, enclosed between two high mountains. the bottom is rich, with some small timber on the islands and along the river, which consists rather of underbrush, and a few cottonwood, birch, and willow-trees. the high grounds have some scattered pine, which just relieve the general nakedness of the hills and the plain, where there is nothing except grass. along the bottoms we saw to-day a considerable quantity of the buffaloe clover, the sunflower, flax, green sward, thistle and several species of rye grass, some of which rise to the height of three or four feet. there is also a grass with a soft smooth leaf which rises about three feet high, and bears its seed very much like the timothy, but it does not grow luxuriantly nor would it apparently answer so well in our meadows as that plant. we preserved some of its seed, which are now ripe, in order to make the experiment. our game consisted of deer and antelope, and we saw a number of geese and ducks just beginning to fly, and some cranes. among the inferior animals we have an abundance of the large biting or hare fly, of which there are two species, one black, the other smaller and brown, except the head which is green. the green or blowing flies unite with them in swarms to attack us, and seem to have relieved the eye-gnats who have now disappeared. the musquitoes too are in large quantities, but not so troublesome as they were below. through the valley are scattered bogs, and some very good turf, the earth of which the mud is composed is of a white or bluish white colour, and seems to be argilaceous. on all the three rivers, but particularly on the philanthropy, are immense quantities of beaver, otter and muskrat. at our camp there was an abundance of rosebushes and briars, but so little timber that we were obliged to use willow brush for fuel. the night was again cloudy which prevented the lunar observations. on our right is the point of a high plain, which our indian woman recognizes as the place called the beaver's-head from a supposed resemblance to that object. this she says is not far from the summer retreat of her countrymen, which is on a river beyond the mountains, and running to the west. she is therefore certain that we shall meet them either on this river, or on that immediately west of its source, which judging from its present size, cannot be far distant. persuaded of the absolute necessity of procuring horses to cross the mountains, it was determined that one of us should proceed in the morning to the head of the river, and penetrate the mountains till he found the shoshonees or some other nation who could assist us in transporting our baggage, the greater part of which we shall be compelled to leave without the aid of horses. friday 9. the morning was fair and fine. we set off early, and proceeded on very well, though there were more rapids in the river than yesterday. at eight o'clock we halted for breakfast, part of which consisted of two fine geese killed before we stopped. here we were joined by shannon for whose safety we had been so uneasy. the day on which he left us on his way up wisdom river, after hunting for some time and not seeing the party arrive, he returned to the place where he had left us. not finding us there he supposed we had passed him, and he therefore marched up the river during all the next day, when he was convinced that we had not gone on, as the river was no longer navigable. he now followed the course of the river down to the forks, and then took the branch which we are pursuing. during the three days of his absence, he had been much wearied with his march, but had lived plentifully, and brought the skins of three deer. as far as he had ascended wisdom river it kept its course obliquely down towards the jefferson. immediately after breakfast, captain lewis took drewyer, shields and m'neal, and slinging their knapsacks they set out with a resolution to meet some nation of indians before they returned, however long they might be separated from the party. he directed his course across the low ground to the plain on the right, leaving the beaver's-head about two miles to the left. after walking eight miles to the river, which they waded, they went on to a commanding point from which he saw the place at which it enters the mountain, but as the distance would not permit his reaching it this evening, he descended towards the river, and after travelling eight miles further, encamped for the evening some miles below the mountain. they passed before reaching their camp a handsome little stream formed by some large springs which rise in the wide bottom on the left side of the river. in their way they killed two antelopes, and took with them enough of the meat for their supper and breakfast the next morning. in the meantime we proceeded, and in the course of eleven miles from our last encampment passed two small islands, sixteen short round bends in the river, and halted in a bend towards the right where we dined. the river increases in rapidity as we advance, and is so crooked that the eleven miles, which have cost us so much labour, only bring us four miles in a direct line. the weather became overcast towards evening, and we experienced a slight shower attended with thunder and lightning. the three hunters who were sent out killed only two antelopes; game of every kind being scarce. saturday, 10. captain lewis continued his route at an early hour through the wide bottom along the left bank of the river. at about five miles he passed a large creek, and then fell into an indian road leading towards the point where the river entered the mountain. this he followed till he reached a high perpendicular cliff of rocks where the river makes its passage through the hills, and which he called the rattlesnake cliff, from the number of that animal which he saw there: here he kindled a fire and waited the return of drewyer, who had been sent out on the way to kill a deer: he came back about noon with the skin of three deer and the flesh of one of the best of them. after a hasty dinner they returned to the indian road which they had left for a short distance to see the cliff. it led them sometimes over the hills, sometimes in the narrow bottoms of the river, till at the distance of fifteen miles from the rattlesnake cliffs they reached a handsome open and level valley, where the river divided into two nearly equal branches. the mountains over which they passed were not very high, but are rugged and continue close to the river side. the river, which before it enters the mountain was rapid, rocky, very crooked, much divided by islands, and shallow, now becomes more direct in its course as it is hemmed in by the hills, and has not so many bends nor islands, but becomes more rapid and rocky, and continues as shallow. on examining the two branches of the river it was evident that neither of them was navigable further. the road forked with the river; and captain lewis therefore sent a man up each of them for a short distance, in order that by comparing their respective information he might be able to take that which seemed to have been most used this spring. from their account he resolved to choose that which led along the southwest branch of the river which was rather the smaller of the two: he accordingly wrote a note to captain clarke informing him of the route, and recommending his staying with the party at the forks till he should return: this he fixed on a dry willow pole at the forks of the river, and then proceeded up the southwest branch; but after going a mile and a half the road became scarcely distinguishable, and the tracks of the horses which he had followed along the jefferson were no longer seen. captain lewis therefore returned to examine the other road himself, and found that the horses had in fact passed along the western or right fork which had the additional recommendation of being larger than the other. this road he concluded to take, and therefore sent back drewyer to the forks with a second letter to captain clarke apprising him of the change, and then proceeded on. the valley of the west fork through which he now passed, bears a little to the north of west, and is confined within the space of about a mile in width, by rough mountains and steep cliffs of rock. at the distance of four and a half miles it opens into a beautiful and extensive plain about ten miles long and five or six in width: this is surrounded on all sides by higher rolling or waving country, intersected by several little rivulets from the mountains, each bordered by its wide meadows. the whole prospect is bounded by these mountains, which nearly surround it, so as to form a beautiful cove about sixteen or eighteen miles in diameter. on entering this cove the river bends to the northwest, and bathes the foot of the hills to the right. at this place they halted for the night on the right side of the river, and having lighted a fire of dry willow brush, the only fuel which the country affords, supped on a deer. they had travelled to-day thirty miles by estimate: that is ten to the rattlesnake cliff, fifteen to the forks of jefferson river, and five to their encampment. in this cove some parts of the low grounds are tolerably fertile, but much the greater proportion is covered with prickly pear, sedge, twisted grass, the pulpy-leafed thorn, southern-wood, and wild sage, and like the uplands have a very inferior soil. these last have little more than the prickly pear and the twisted or bearded grass, nor are there in the whole cove more than three or four cottonwood trees, and those are small. at the apparent extremity of the bottom above, and about ten miles to the westward, are two perpendicular cliffs rising to a considerable height on each side of the river, and at this distance seem like a gate. in the meantime we proceeded at sunrise, and found the river not so rapid as yesterday, though more narrow and still very crooked, and so shallow that we were obliged to drag the canoes over many ripples in the course of the day. at six and a half miles we had passed eight bends on the north, and two small bayous on the left, and came to what the indians call the beaver's-head, a steep rocky cliff about one hundred and fifty feet high, near the right side of the river. opposite to this at three hundred yards from the water is a low cliff about fifty feet in height, which forms the extremity of a spur of the mountain about four miles distant on the left. at four o'clock we were overtaken by a heavy shower of rain, attended with thunder, lightning and hail. the party were defended from the hail by covering themselves with willow bushes, but they got completely wet, and in this situation, as soon as the rain ceased, continued till we encamped. this we did at a low bluff on the left, after passing in the course of six and a half miles, four islands and eighteen bends on the right, and a low bluff and several bayous on the same side. we had now come thirteen miles, yet were only four on our route towards the mountains. the game seems to be declining, for our hunters procured only a single deer, though we found another for us that had been killed three days before by one of the hunters during an excursion, and left for us on the river. chapter xiv. captain lewis proceeds before the main body in search of the shoshonees--his ill success on the first interview--the party with captain lewis at length discover the source of the missouri--captain clarke with the main body still employed in ascending the missouri or jefferson river--captain lewis's second interview with the shoshonees attended with success--the interesting ceremonies of his first introduction to the natives, detailed at large--their hospitality--their mode of hunting the antelope--the difficulties encountered by captain clarke and the main body in ascending the river--the suspicions entertained of captain lewis by the shoshonees, and his mode of allaying them--the ravenous appetites of the savages illustrated by a singular adventure--the indians still jealous, and the great pains taken by captain lewis to preserve their confidence--captain clarke arrives with the main body exhausted by the difficulties which they underwent. sunday, august 11. captain lewis again proceeded on early, but had the mortification to find that the track which he followed yesterday soon disappeared. he determined therefore to go on to the narrow gate or pass of the river which he had seen from the camp, in hopes of being able to recover the indian path. for this purpose he waded across the river, which was now about twelve yards wide, and barred in several places by the dams of the beaver, and then went straight forward to the pass, sending one man along the river to his left, and another on the right, with orders to search for the road, and if they found it to let him know by raising a hat on the muzzle of their guns. in this order they went along for about five miles, when captain lewis perceived with the greatest delight a man on horseback at the distance of two miles coming down the plain towards them. on examining him with the glass, captain lewis saw that he was of a different nation from any indians we had hitherto met: he was armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows; mounted on an elegant horse without a saddle, and a small string attached to the under jaw answered 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 lewis was full of anxiety to approach without alarming him, and endeavour to convince him that he was a white man. he therefore, proceeded on towards the indian at his usual pace, when they were within a mile of each other the indian suddenly stopt, captain lewis immediately followed his example, took his blanket from his knapsack, and holding it with both hands at the two 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 practice of spreading a robe or a skin, as a seat for guests to whom they wish to show a distinguished kindness, is the universal sign of friendship among the indians on the missouri and the rocky mountains. as usual, captain lewis repeated this signal three times: still the indian kept his position, and looked with an air of suspicion on drewyer and shields who were now advancing on each side. captain lewis was afraid to make any signal for them to halt, lest he should increase the suspicions of the indian, who began to be uneasy, and they too distant to hear his voice. he, therefore, took from his pack some beads, a looking-glass and a few trinkets, which he had brought for the purpose, and leaving his gun advanced unarmed towards the indian. he remained in the same position till captain lewis came within two hundred yards of him, when he turned his horse, and began to move off slowly; captain lewis then called out to him, in as loud a voice as he could, repeating the word, tabba bone! which in the shoshonee language means white man; but looking over his shoulder the indian kept his eyes on drewyer and shields, who were still advancing, without recollecting the impropriety of doing so at such a moment, till captain lewis made a signal to them to halt; this drewyer obeyed, but shields did not observe it, and still went forward: seeing drewyer halt the indian turned his horse about as if to wait for captain lewis who now reached within one hundred and fifty paces, repeating the word tabba bone, and holding up the trinkets in his hand, at the same time stripping up the sleeve of his shirt to show the colour of his skin. the indian suffered him to advance within one hundred paces, then suddenly turned his horse, and giving him the whip, leaped across the creek, and disappeared in an instant among the willow bushes: with him vanished all the hopes which the sight of him had inspired of a friendly introduction to his countrymen. though sadly disappointed by the imprudence of his two men, captain lewis determined to make the incident of some use, and therefore calling the men to him they all set off after the track of the horse, which they hoped might lead them to the camp of the indian who had fled, or if he had given the alarm to any small party, their track might conduct them to the body of the nation. they now fixed a small flag of the united states on a pole, which was carried by one of the men as a signal of their friendly intentions, should the indians observe them as they were advancing. the route lay across an island formed by a nearly equal division of the creek in the bottom: after reaching the open grounds on the right side of the creek, the track turned towards some high hills about three miles distant. presuming that the indian camp might be among these hills, and that by advancing hastily he might be seen and alarm them, captain lewis sought an elevated situation near the creek, had a fire made of willow brush, and took breakfast. at the same time he prepared a small assortment of beads, trinkets, awls, some paint and a looking glass, and placed them on a pole near the fire, in order that if the indians returned they might discover that the party were white men and friends. whilst making these preparations a very heavy shower of rain and hail came on, and wet them to the skin: in about twenty minutes it was over, and captain lewis then renewed his pursuit, but as the rain had made the grass which the horse had trodden down rise again, his track could with difficulty be distinguished. as they went along they passed several places where the indians seemed to have been digging roots to-day, and saw the fresh track of eight or ten horses, but they had been wandering about in so confused a manner that he could not discern any particular path, and at last, after pursuing it about four miles along the valley to the left under the foot of the hills, he lost the track of the fugitive indian. near the head of the valley they had passed a large bog covered with moss and tall grass, among which were several springs of pure cold water: they now turned a little to the left along the foot of the high hills, and reached a small creek where they encamped for the night, having made about twenty miles, though not more than ten in a direct line from their camp of last evening. the morning being rainy and wet we did not set out with the canoes till after an early breakfast. during the first three miles we passed three small islands, six bayous on different sides of the river, and the same number of bends towards the right. here we reached the lower point of a large island which we called three-thousand-mile island, on account of its being at that distance from the mouth of the missouri. it is three miles and a half in length, and as we coasted along it we passed several small bends of the river towards the left, and two bayous on the same side. after leaving the upper point of three-thousand-mile island, we followed the main channel on the left side, which led us by three small islands and several small bayous, and fifteen bends towards the right. then at the distance of seven miles and a half we encamped on the upper end of a large island near the right. the river was shallow and rapid, so that we were obliged to be in the water during a great part of the day, dragging the canoes over the shoals and ripples. its course too was so crooked, that notwithstanding we had made fourteen miles by water, we were only five miles from our encampment of last night. the country consists of a low ground on the river about five miles wide, and succeeded on both sides by plains of the same extent which reach to the base of the mountains. these low grounds are very much intersected by bayous, and in those on the left side is a large proportion of bog covered with tall grass, which would yield a fine turf. there are very few trees, and those small narrow-leafed cottonwood: the principal growth being the narrow-leafed willow, and currant bushes, among which were some bunches of privy near the river. we saw a number of geese, ducks, beaver, otter, deer and antelopes, of all which one beaver was killed with a pole from the boat, three otters with a tomahawk, and the hunters brought in three deer and an antelope. monday, 12. this morning as soon as it was light captain lewis sent drewyer to reconnoitre if possible the route of the indians: in about an hour and a half he returned, after following the tracks of the horse which we had lost yesterday to the mountains, where they ascended and were no longer visible. captain lewis now decided on making the circuit along the foot of the mountains which formed the cove, expecting by that means to find a road across them, and accordingly sent drewyer on one side, and shields on the other. in this way they crossed four small rivulets near each other, on which were some bowers or conical lodges of willow brush, which seemed to have been made recently. from the manner in which the ground in the neighbourhood was torn up the indians appeared to have been gathering roots; but captain lewis could not discover what particular plant they were searching for, nor could he find any fresh track, till at the distance of four miles from his camp he met a large plain indian road which came into the cove from the northeast, and wound along the foot of the mountains to the southwest, approaching obliquely the main stream he had left yesterday. down this road he now went towards the southwest: at the distance of five miles it crossed a large run or creek, which is a principal branch of the main stream into which it falls, just above the high cliffs or gates observed yesterday, and which they now saw below them: here they halted and breakfasted on the last of the deer, keeping a small piece of pork in reserve against accident: they then continued through the low bottom along the main stream near the foot of the mountains on their right. for the first five miles the valley continues towards the southwest from two to three miles in width; then the main stream, which had received two small branches from the left in the valley, turns abruptly to the west through a narrow bottom between the mountains. the road was still plain, and as it led them directly on towards the mountain the stream gradually became smaller, till after going two miles it had so greatly diminished in width that one of the men in a fit of enthusiasm, with one foot on each side of the river, thanked god that he had lived to bestride the missouri. as they went along their hopes of soon seeing the waters of the columbia arose almost to painful anxiety, when after four miles from the last abrupt turn of the river, they reached a small gap formed by the high mountains which recede on each side, leaving room for the indian road. from the foot of one of the lowest of these mountains, which rises with a gentle ascent of 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 labours and all their difficulties. they left reluctantly this interesting spot, and pursuing the indian road through the interval of the hills, arrived at the top of a ridge, from which they saw high mountains partially covered with snow still to the west of them. the ridge on which they stood formed the dividing 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 handsome bold creek of cold clear water running to the westward. 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 dry willow brush 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 remained of their provisions. before reaching the fountain of the missouri they saw several large hawks nearly black, and some of the heath cocks: these last have a long pointed tail, and are of a uniform dark brown colour, much larger than the common dunghill fowl, and similar in habits and the mode of flying to the grouse or prairie hen. drewyer also wounded at the distance of one hundred and thirty yards an animal which we had not yet seen, but which after falling recovered itself and escaped. it seemed to be of the fox kind, rather larger than the small wolf of the plains, and with a skin in which black, reddish brown, and yellow, were curiously intermixed. on the creek of the columbia they found a species of currant which does not grow as high as that of the missouri, though it is more branching, and its leaf, the under disk of which is covered with a hairy pubescence, is twice as large. the fruit is of the ordinary size and shape of the currant, and supported in the usual manner, but is of a deep purple colour, acid, and of a very inferior flavour. we proceeded on in the boats, but as the river was very shallow and rapid, the navigation is extremely difficult, and the men who are almost constantly in the water are getting feeble and sore, and so much wore down by fatigue that they are very anxious to commence travelling by land. we went along the main channel which is on the right side, and after passing nine bends in that direction, three islands and a number of bayous, reached at the distance of five and a half miles the upper point of a large island. at noon there was a storm of thunder which continued about half an hour; after which we proceeded, but as it was necessary to drag the canoes over the shoals and rapids, made but little progress. on leaving the island we passed a number of short bends, several bayous, and one run of water on the right side, and having gone by four small and two large islands, encamped on a smooth plain to the left near a few cottonwood trees: our journey by water was just twelve miles, and four in a direct line. the hunters supplied us with three deer and a fawn. tuesday 13. very early in the morning captain lewis resumed the indian road, which led him in a western direction, through an open broken country; on the left was a deep valley at the foot of a high range of mountains running from southeast to northwest, with their sides better clad with timber than the hills to which we have been for some time accustomed, and their tops covered in part with snow. at five miles distance, after following the long descent of another valley, he reached a creek about ten yards wide, and on rising the hill beyond it had a view of a handsome little valley on the left, about a mile in width, through which they judged, from the appearance of the timber, that some stream of water most probably passed. on the creek they had just left were some bushes of the white maple, the sumach of the small species with the winged rib, and a species of honeysuckle, resembling in its general appearance and the shape of its leaf the small honeysuckle of the missouri, except that it is rather larger, and bears a globular berry, about the size of a garden pea, of a white colour, and formed of a soft white mucilaginous substance, in which are several small brown seeds irregularly scattered without any cell, and enveloped in a smooth thin pellicle. they proceeded along a waving plain parallel to this valley for about four miles, when they discovered two women, a man and some dogs on an eminence at the distance of a mile before them. the strangers first viewed them apparently with much attention for a few minutes, and then two of them sat down as if to await captain lewis's arrival. he went on till he reached within about half a mile, then ordered his party to stop, put down his knapsack and rifle, and unfurling the flag advanced alone towards the indians. the females soon retreated behind the hill, but the man remained till captain lewis came within a hundred yards from him, when he too went off, though captain lewis called out tabba bone! loud enough to be heard distinctly. he hastened to the top of the hill, but they had all disappeared. the dogs however were less shy, and came close to him; he therefore thought of tying a handkerchief with some beads round their necks, and then let them loose to convince the fugitives of his friendly disposition, but they would not suffer him to take hold of them, and soon left him. he now made a signal to the men, who joined him, and then all followed the track of the indians, which led along a continuation of the same road they had been already travelling. it was dusty and seemed to have been much used lately both by foot passengers and horsemen. they had not gone along it more than a mile when on a sudden they saw three female indians, from whom they had been concealed by the deep ravines which intersected the road, till they were now within thirty paces of each other; one of them a young woman immediately took to flight, the other two, an elderly woman and a little girl, seeing we were too near for them to escape, sat on the ground, and holding down their heads seemed as if reconciled to the death which they supposed awaited them. the same habit of holding down the head and inviting the enemy to strike, when all chance of escape is gone, is preserved in egypt to this day. captain lewis instantly put down his rifle, and advancing towards them, took the woman by the hand, raised her up, and repeated the word tabba bone! at the sane time stripping up his shirt sleeve to prove that he was a white man, for his hands and face had become by constant exposure quite as dark as their own. she appeared immediately relieved from her alarm, and drewyer and shields now coming up, captain lewis gave them some beads, a few awls, pewter mirrors, and a little paint, and told drewyer to request the woman to recall her companion who had escaped to some distance, and by alarming the indians might cause them to attack him without any time for explanation. she did as she was desired, and the young woman returned almost out of breath: captain lewis gave her an equal portion of trinkets, and painted the tawny cheeks of all three of them with vermillion, a ceremony which among the shoshonees is emblematic of peace. after they had become composed, he informed them by signs of his wish to go to their camp in order to see their chiefs and warriors; they readily obeyed, and conducted the party along the same road down the river. in this way they marched two miles, when they met a troop of nearly sixty warriors mounted on excellent horses riding at full speed towards them. as they advanced captain lewis put down his gun, and went with the flag about fifty paces in advance. the chief who with two men were riding in front of the main body, spoke to the women, who now explained that the party was composed of white men, and showed exultingly the presents they had received. the three men immediately leaped from their horses, came up to captain lewis and embraced him with great cordiality, putting their left arm over his right shoulder and clasping his back, applying at the same time their left cheek to his, and frequently vociferating ah hi e! ah hi e! "i am much pleased, i am much rejoiced." the whole body of warriors now came forward, and our men received the caresses, and no small share of the grease and paint of their new friends. after this fraternal embrace, of which the motive was much more agreeable than the manner, captain lewis lighted a pipe and offered it to the indians who had now seated themselves in a circle around the party. but before they would receive this mark of friendship they pulled off their moccasins, a custom as we afterwards learnt, which indicates the sacred sincerity of their professions when they smoke with a stranger, and which imprecates on themselves the misery of going barefoot forever if they are faithless to their words, a penalty by no means light to those who rove over the thorny plains of their country. it is not unworthy to remark the analogy which some of the customs of those wild children of the wilderness bear to those recorded in holy writ. moses is admonished to pull off his shoes, for the place on which he stood was holy ground. why this was enjoined as an act of peculiar reverence; whether it was from the circumstance that in the arid region in which the patriarch then resided, it was deemed a test of the sincerity of devotion to walk upon the burning sands barefooted, in some measure analogous to the pains inflicted by the prickly pear, does not appear. after smoking a few pipes, some trifling presents were distributed amongst them, with which they seemed very much pleased, particularly with the blue beads and the vermillion. captain lewis then informed the chief that the object of his visit was friendly, and should be explained as soon as he reached their camp; but that in the meantime as the sun was oppressive, and no water near, he wished to go there as soon as possible. they now put on their moccasins, and their chief, whose name was cameahwait, made a short speech to the warriors. captain lewis then gave him the flag, which he informed him was among white men the emblem of peace, and now that he had received it was to be in future the bond of union between them. the chief then moved on, our party followed him, and the rest of the warriors in a squadron, brought up the rear. after marching a mile they were halted by the chief, who made a second harangue, on which six or eight young men rode forward to their camp, and no further regularity was observed in the order of march. at the distance of four miles from where they had first met, they reached the indian camp, which was in a handsome level meadow on the bank of the river. here they were introduced into an old leathern lodge which the young men who had been sent from the party had fitted up for their reception. after being seated on green boughs and antelope skins, one of the warriors pulled up the grass in the centre of the lodge so as to form a vacant circle of two feet diameter, in which he kindled a fire. the chief then produced his pipe and tobacco, the warriors all pulled off their moccasins, and our party was requested to take off their own. this being done, the chief lighted his pipe at the fire within the magic circle, and then retreating from it began a speech several minutes long, at the end of which he pointed the stem towards the four cardinal points of the heavens, beginning with the east and concluding with the north. after this ceremony he presented the stem in the same way to captain lewis, who supposing it an invitation to smoke, put out his hand to receive the pipe, but the chief drew it back, and continued to repeat the same offer three times, after which he pointed the stem first to the heavens, then to the centre of the little circle, took three whiffs himself, and presented it again to captain lewis. finding that this last offer was in good earnest, he smoked a little, the pipe was then held to each of the white men, and after they had taken a few whiffs was given to the warriors. this pipe was made of a dense transparent green stone, very highly polished; about two and an half inches long, and of an oval figure, the bowl being in the same situation with the stem. a small piece of burnt clay is placed in the bottom of the bowl to separate the tobacco from the end of the stem, and is of an irregularly round figure, not fitting the tube perfectly close, in order that the smoke may pass with facility. the tobacco is of the same kind with that used by the minnetarees, mandans and ricaras of the missouri. the shoshonees do not cultivate this plant, but obtain it from the rocky mountain indians, and some of the bands of their own nation who live further south. the ceremony of smoking being concluded, captain lewis explained to the chief the purposes of his visit, and as by this time all the women and children of the camp had gathered around the lodge to indulge in a view of the first white men they had ever seen, he distributed among them the remainder of the small articles he had brought with him. it was now late in the afternoon, and our party had tasted no food since the night before. on apprising the chief of this circumstance, he said that he had nothing but berries to eat, and presented some cakes made of serviceberry and chokecherries which had been dried in the sun. on these captain lewis made a hearty meal, and then walked down towards the river: he found it a rapid clear stream forty yards wide and three feet deep; the banks were low and abrupt, like those of the upper part of the missouri, and the bed formed of loose stones and gravel. its course, as far as he could observe it, was a little to the north of west, and was bounded on each side by a range of high mountains, of which those on the east are the lowest and most distant from the river. the chief informed him that this stream discharged itself at the distance of half a day's march, into another of twice its size, coming from the southwest; but added, on further inquiry, that there was scarcely more timber below the junction of those rivers than in this neighbourhood, and that the river was rocky, rapid, and so closely confined between high mountains, that it was impossible to pass down it, either by land or water to the great lake, where as he had understood the white men lived. this information was far from being satisfactory; for there was no timber here that would answer the purpose of building canoes, indeed not more than just sufficient for fuel, and even that consisted of the narrow-leafed cotton wood, the red and the narrow-leafed willow, the chokecherry, serviceberry and a few currant bushes such as are common on the missouri. the prospect of going on by land is more pleasant; for there are great numbers of horses feeding in every direction round the camp, which will enable us to transport our stores if necessary over the mountains. captain lewis returned from the river to his lodge, and on his way an indian invited him into his bower and gave him a small morsel of boiled antelope and a piece of fresh salmon roasted. this was the first salmon he had seen, and perfectly satisfied him that he was now on the waters of the pacific. on reaching this lodge, he resumed his conversation with the chief, after which he was entertained with a dance by the indians. it now proved, as our party had feared, that the men whom they had first met this morning had returned to the camp and spread the alarm that their enemies, the minnetarees of fort de prairie, whom they call pahkees, were advancing on them. the warriors instantly armed themselves and were coming down in expectation of an attack, when they were agreeably surprised by meeting our party. the greater part of them were armed with bows and arrows, and shields, but a few had small fusils, such as are furnished by the northwest company traders, and which they had obtained from the indians on the yellowstone, with whom they are now at peace. they had reason to dread the approach of the pahkees, who had attacked them in the course of this spring and totally defeated them. on this occasion twenty of their warriors were either killed or made prisoners, and they lost their whole camp except the leathern lodge which they had fitted up for us, and were now obliged to live in huts of a conical figure made with willow brush. the music and dancing, which was in no respect different from those of the missouri indians, continued nearly all night; but captain lewis retired to rest about twelve o'clock, when the fatigues of the day enabled him to sleep though he was awaked several times by the yells of the dancers. whilst all these things were occurring to captain lewis we were slowly and laboriously ascending the river. for the first two and a half miles we went along the island opposite to which we encamped last evening, and soon reached a second island behind which comes in a small creek on the left side of the river. it rises in the mountains to the east and forms a handsome valley for some miles from its mouth, where it is a bold running stream about seven yards wide: we called it m'neal's creek, after hugh m'neal one of our party. just above this stream and at the distance of four miles from our camp is a point of limestone rock on the right, about seventy feet high, forming a cliff over the river. from the top of it the beaver's-head bore north 24â° east twelve miles distant, the course of wisdom river, that is the direction of its valley through the mountains is north 25â° west, while the gap through which the jefferson enters the mountains is ten miles above us on a course south 18â° west. from this limestone rock we proceeded along several islands, on both sides, and after making twelve miles arrived at a cliff of high rocks on the right, opposite to which we encamped in a smooth level prairie, near a few cottonwood trees; but were obliged to use the dry willow brush for fuel. the river is still very crooked, the bends short and abrupt, and obstructed by so many shoals, over which the canoes were to be dragged, that the men were in the water three fourths of the day. they saw numbers of otter, some beaver, antelopes, ducks, geese, and cranes, but they killed nothing except a single deer. they, however, caught some very fine trout, as they have done for several days past. the weather had been cloudy and cool during the forepart of the day, and at eight o'clock a shower of rain fell. wednesday 14. in order to give time for the boats to reach the forks of jefferson river, captain lewis determined to remain here and obtain all the information he could collect with regard to the country. having nothing to eat but a little flour and parched meal, with the berries of the indians, he sent out drewyer and shields, who borrowed horses from the natives, to hunt for a few hours. about the same time the young warriors set out for the same purpose. there are but few elk or blacktailed deer in this neighbourhood, and as the common red-deer secrete themselves in the bushes when alarmed, they are soon safe from the arrows, which are but feeble weapons against any animals which the huntsmen cannot previously run down with their horses. the chief game of the shoshonees, therefore, is the antelope, which when pursued retreats to the open plains, where the horses have full room for the chase. but such is its extraordinary fleetness and wind that a single horse has no possible chance of outrunning it, or tiring it down; and the hunters are therefore obliged to resort to stratagem. about twenty indians, mounted on fine horses, and armed with bows and arrows, left the camp; in a short time they descried a herd of ten antelopes: they immediately separated into little squads of two or three, and formed a scattered circle round the herd for five or six miles, keeping at a wary distance, so as not to alarm them till they were perfectly inclosed, and usually selecting some commanding eminence as a stand. having gained their positions, a small party rode towards the herd, and with wonderful dexterity the huntsman preserved his seat, and the horse his footing, as he ran at full speed over the hills, and down the steep ravines, and along the borders of the precipices. they were soon outstripped by the antelopes, which on gaining the other extremity of the circle were driven back and pursued by the fresh hunters. they turned and flew, rather than ran in another direction; but there too, they found new enemies. in this way they were alternately pursued backwards and forwards, till at length, notwithstanding the skill of the hunters, they all escaped, and the party after running for two hours returned without having caught any thing, and their horses foaming with sweat. this chase, the greater part of which was seen from the camp, formed a beautiful scene; but to the hunters is exceedingly laborious, and so unproductive, even when they are able to worry the animal down and shoot him, that forty or fifty hunters will sometimes be engaged for half a day without obtaining more than two or three antelopes. soon after they returned, our two huntsmen came in with no better success. captain lewis therefore made a little paste with the flour, and the addition of some berries formed a very palatable repast. having now secured the good will of cameahwait, captain lewis informed him of his wish that he would speak to the warriors and endeavour to engage them to accompany him to the forks of jefferson river, where by this time another chief with a large party of white men were waiting his return: that it would be necessary to take about thirty horses to transport the merchandize; that they should be well rewarded for their trouble; and that when all the party should have reached the shoshonee camp they would remain some time among them, and trade for horses, as well as concert plans for furnishing them in future with regular supplies of merchandize. he readily consented to do so, and after collecting the tribe together he made a long harangue, and in about an hour and a half returned, and told captain lewis that they would be ready to accompany him in the morning. as the early part of the day was cold, and the men stiff and sore from the fatigues of yesterday: we did not set out till seven o'clock. at the distance of a mile we passed a bold stream on the right, which comes from a snowy mountain to the north, and at its entrance is four yards wide, and three feet in depth: we called it track creek: at six miles further we reached another stream which heads in some springs at the foot of the mountains on the left. alter passing a number of bayous and small islands on each side, we encamped about half a mile by land below the rattlesnake cliffs. the river was cold, shallow, and as it approached the mountains formed one continued rapid, over which we were obliged to drag the boats with great labour and difficulty. by using constant exertions we succeeded in making fourteen miles, but this distance did not carry us more than six and a half in a straight line: several of the men have received wounds and lamed themselves in hauling the boats over the stones. the hunters supplied them with five deer and an antelope. thursday 15. captain lewis rose early, and having eaten nothing yesterday except his scanty meal of flour and berries felt the inconveniences of extreme hunger. on inquiry he found that his whole stock of provisions consisted of two pounds of flour. this he ordered to be divided into two equal parts, and one half of it boiled with the berries into a sort of pudding: and after presenting a large share to the chief, he and his three men breakfasted on the remainder. cameahwait was delighted at this new dish; he took a little of the flour in his hand tasted and examined it very narrowly, asking if it was made of roots; captain lewis explained the process of preparing it, and he said it was the best thing he had eaten for a long time. this being finished, captain lewis now endeavoured to hasten the departure of the indians who still hesitated, and seemed reluctant to move, although the chief addressed them twice for the purpose of urging them: on inquiring the reason, cameahwait told him that some foolish person had suggested that he was in league with their enemies the pahkees, and had come only to draw them into ambuscade, but that he himself did not believe it: captain lewis felt uneasy at this insinuation: he knew the suspicious temper of the indians, accustomed from their infancy to regard every stranger as an enemy, and saw that if this suggestion were not instantly checked, it might hazard the total failure of the enterprise. assuming therefore a serious air, he told the chief that he was sorry to find they placed so little confidence in him, but that he pardoned their suspicions because they were ignorant of the character of white men, among whom it was disgraceful to lie or entrap even an enemy by falsehood; that if they continued to think thus meanly of us they might be assured no white men would ever come to supply them with arms and merchandize; that there was at this moment a party of white men waiting to trade with them at the forks of the river; and that if the greater part of the tribe entertained any suspicion, he hoped there were still among them some who were men, who would go and see with their own eyes the truth of what he said, and who, even if there was any danger, were not afraid to die. to doubt the courage of an indian is to touch the tenderest string of his mind, and the surest way to rouse him to any dangerous achievement. cameahwait instantly replied, that he was not afraid to die, and mounting his horse, for the third time harangued the warriors: he told them that he was resolved to go if he went alone, or if he were sure of perishing; that he hoped there were among those who heard him some who were not afraid to die, and who would prove it by mounting their horses and following him. this harangue produced an effect on six or eight only of the warriors, who now joined their chief. with these captain lewis smoked a pipe, and then fearful of some change in their capricious temper set out immediately. it was about twelve o'clock when his small party left the camp, attended by cameahwait and the eight warriors; their departure seemed to spread a gloom over the village; those who would not venture to go were sullen and melancholy, and the woman were crying and imploring the great spirit to protect their warriors as if they were going to certain destruction: yet such is the wavering inconstancy of these savages, that captain lewis's party had not gone far when they were joined by ten or twelve more warriors, and before reaching the creek which they had passed on the morning of the 13th, all the men of the nation and a number of women had overtaken them, and had changed from the surly ill temper in which they were two hours ago, to the greatest cheerfulness and gayety. when they arrived at the spring on the side of the mountain where the party had encamped on the 12th, the chief insisted on halting to let the horses graze; to which captain lewis assented and smoked with them. they are excessively fond of the pipe, in which however they are not able to indulge much as they do not cultivate tobacco themselves, and their rugged country affords them but few articles to exchange for it. here they remained for about an hour, and on setting out, by engaging to pay four of the party, captain lewis obtained permission for himself and each of his men to ride behind an indian; but he soon found riding without stirrup more tiresome than walking, and therefore dismounted, making the indian carry his pack. about sunset they reached the upper part of the level valley in the cove through which he had passed, and which they now called shoshonee cove. the grass being burnt on the north side of the river they crossed over to the south, and encamped about four miles above the narrow pass between the hills noticed as they traversed the cove before. the river was here about six yards wide, and frequently dammed up by the beaver. drewyer had been sent forward to hunt, but he returned in the evening unsuccessful, and their only supper therefore was the remaining pound of flour stirred in a little boiling water and then divided between the four white men and two of the indians. in order not to exhaust the strength of the men, captain clarke did not leave his camp till after breakfast. although, he was scarcely half a mile below the rattlesnake cliffs he was obliged to make a circuit of two miles by water before he reached them. the river now passed between low and rugged mountains and cliffs formed of a mixture of limestone and a hard black rock, with no covering except a few scattered pines. at the distance of four miles is a bold little stream which throws itself from the mountains down a steep precipice of rocks on the left. one mile farther is a second point of rocks, and an island, about a mile beyond which is a creek on the right, ten yards wide and three feet three inches in depth, with a strong current: we called it willard's creek after one of our men, alexander willard. three miles beyond this creek, after passing a high cliff on the right opposite to a steep hill, we reached a small meadow on the left bank of the river. during its passage through these hills to willard's creek the river had been less torturous than usual, so that in the first six miles to willard's creek we had advanced four miles on our route. we continued on for two miles, till we reached in the evening a small bottom covered with clover and a few cottonwood trees: here we passed the night near the remains of some old indian lodges of brush. the river is as it has been for some days shallow and rapid; and our men, who are for hours together in the river, suffer not only from fatigue, but from the extreme coldness of the water, the temperature of which is as low as that of the freshest springs in our country. in walking along the side of the river, captain clarke was very near being bitten twice by rattlesnakes, and the indian woman narrowly escaped the same misfortune. we caught a number of fine trout; but the only game procured to-day was a buck, which had a peculiarly bitter taste, proceeding probably from its favourite food, the willow. friday, 16. as neither our party nor the indians had any thing to eat, captain lewis sent two of his hunters ahead this morning to procure some provision: at the same time he requested cameahwait to prevent his young men from going out, lest by their noise they might alarm the game; but this measure immediately revived their suspicions: it now began to be believed that these men were sent forward in order to apprise the enemy of their coming, and as captain lewis was fearful of exciting any further uneasiness, he made no objection on seeing a small party of indians go on each side of the valley under pretence of hunting, but in reality to watch the movements of our two men: even this precaution however did not quiet the alarms of the indians, a considerable part of whom returned home, leaving only twenty-eight men and three women. after the hunters had been gone about an hour, captain lewis again mounted with one of the indians behind him, and the whole party set out; but just as they passed through the narrows they saw one of the spies coming back at full speed across the plain: the chief stopped and seemed uneasy, the whole band were moved with fresh suspicions, and captain lewis himself was much disconcerted, lest by some unfortunate accident some of their enemies might have perhaps straggled that way. the young indian had scarcely breath to say a few words as he came up, when the whole troop dashed forward as fast as their horses could carry them, and captain lewis astonished at this movement was borne along for nearly a mile before he learnt with great satisfaction that it was all caused by the spy's having come to announce that one of the white men had killed a deer. relieved from his anxiety he now found the jolting very uncomfortable; for the indian behind him being afraid of not getting his share of the feast had lashed the horse at every step since they set off; he therefore reined him in and ordered the indian to stop beating him. the fellow had no idea of losing time in disputing the point, and jumping off the horse ran for a mile at full speed. captain lewis slackened his pace, and followed at a sufficient distance to observe them. when they reached the place where drewyer had thrown out the intestines, they all dismounted in confusion and ran tumbling over each other like famished dogs: each tore away whatever part he could and instantly began to eat it; some had the liver, some the kidneys, in short no part on which we are accustomed to look with disgust escaped them: one of them who had seized about nine feet of the entrails was chewing at one end, while with his hand he was diligently clearing his way by discharging the contents at the other. it was indeed impossible to see these wretches ravenously feeding on the filth of animals, and the blood streaming from their mouths, without deploring how nearly the condition of savages approaches that of the brute creation: yet though suffering with hunger they did not attempt, as they might have done, to take by force the whole deer, but contented themselves with what had been thrown away by the hunter. captain lewis now had the deer skinned, and after reserving a quarter of it gave the rest of the animal to the chief to be divided among the indians, who immediately devoured nearly the whole of it without cooking. they now went forward towards the creek where there was some brushwood to make a fire, and found drewyer who had killed a second deer: the same struggle for the entrails was renewed here, and on giving nearly the whole deer to the indians, they devoured it even to the soft part of the hoofs. a fire being made captain lewis had his breakfast, during which drewyer brought in a third deer: this too, after reserving one quarter, was given to the indians, who now seemed completely satisfied and in good humour. at this place they remained about two hours to let the horses graze, and then continued their journey, and towards evening reached the lower part of the cove having on the way shot an antelope, the greater part of which was given to the indians. as they were now approaching the place where they had been told by captain lewis they would see the white men, the chief insisted on halting: they therefore all dismounted, and cameahwait with great ceremony and as if for ornament, put tippets or skins round the necks of our party, similar to those worn by themselves. as this was obviously intended to disguise the white men, captain lewis in order to inspire them with more confidence put his cocked hat and feather on the head of the chief, and as his own over-shirt was in the indian form, and his skin browned by the sun, he could not have been distinguished from an indian: the men followed his example, and the change seemed to be very agreeable* to the indians. in order to guard however against any disappointment captain lewis again explained the possibility of our not having reached the forks in consequence of the difficulty of the navigation, so that if they should not find us at that spot they might be assured of our not being far below. they again all mounted their horses and rode on rapidly, making one of the indians carry their flag, so that we might recognise them as they approached us; but to the mortification and disappointment of both parties on coming within two miles of the forks, no canoes were to be seen. uneasy lest at this moment he should be abandoned, and all his hopes of obtaining aid from the indians be destroyed, captain lewis gave the chief his gun, telling him that if the enemies of his nation were in the bushes he might defend himself with it; that for his own part he was not afraid to die, and that the chief might shoot him as soon as they discovered themselves betrayed. the other three men at the same time gave their guns to the indians, who now seemed more easy, but still wavered in their resolutions. as they went on towards the point, captain lewis perceiving how critical his situation had become, resolved to attempt a stratagem which his present difficulty seemed completely to justify. recollecting the notes he had left at the point for us, he sent drewyer for them with an indian who witnessed his taking them from the pole. when they were brought, captain lewis told cameahwait that on leaving his brother chief at the place where the river issues from the mountains, it was agreed that the boats should not be brought higher than the next forks we should meet; but that if the rapid water prevented the boats from coming on as fast as they expected, his brother chief was to send a note to the first forks above him to let him know where the boats were; that this note had been left this morning at the forks, and mentioned that the canoes were just below the mountains, and coming slowly up in consequence of the current. captain lewis added, that he would stay at the forks for his brother chief, but would send a man down the river, and that if cameahwait doubted what he said, one of their young men would go with him whilst he and the other two remained at the forks. this story satisfied the chief and the greater part of the indians, but a few did not conceal their suspicion, observing that we told different stories, and complaining that the chief exposed them to danger by a mistaken confidence. captain lewis now wrote by the light of some willow brush a note to captain clarke, which he gave to drewyer, with an order to use all possible expedition in ascending the river, and engaged an indian to accompany him by a promise of a knife and some beads. at bedtime the chief and five others slept round the fire of captain lewis, and the rest hid themselves in different parts of the willow brush to avoid the enemy, who they feared would attack them in the night. captain lewis endeavoured to assume a cheerfulness he did not feel to prevent the despondency of the savages: after conversing gayly with them he retired to his musquitoe bier, by the side of which the chief now placed himself: he lay down, yet slept but little, being in fact scarcely less uneasy than his indian companions. he was apprehensive that finding the ascent of the river impracticable, captain clarke might have stopped below the rattlesnake bluff, and the messenger would not meet him. the consequence of disappointing the indians at this moment would most probably be, that they would retire and secrete themselves in the mountains, so as to prevent our having an opportunity of recovering their confidence: they would also spread a panic through all the neighbouring indians, and cut us off from the supply of horses so useful and almost so essential to our success: he was at the same time consoled by remembering that his hopes of assistance rested on better foundations than their generosity--their avarice, and their curiosity. he had promised liberal exchanges for their horses; but what was still move seductive, he had told them that one of their country-women who had been taken with the minnetarees accompanied the party below; and one of the men had spread the report of our having with us a man perfectly black, whose hair was short and curled. this last account had excited a great degree of curiosity, and they seemed more desirous of seeing this monster than of obtaining the most favourable barter for their horses. in the meantime we had set out after breakfast, and although we proceeded with more ease than we did yesterday, the river was still so rapid and shallow as to oblige us to drag the large canoes during the greater part of the day. for the first seven miles the river formed a bend to the right so as to make our advance only three miles in a straight line; the stream is crooked, narrow, small, and shallow, with highlands occasionally on the banks, and strewed with islands, four of which are opposite to each other. near this place we left the valley, to which we gave the name of serviceberry valley, from the abundance of that fruit now ripe which is found in it. in the course of the four following miles we passed several more islands and bayous on each side of the river, and reached a high cliff on the right. two and a half miles beyond this the cliffs approach on both sides and form a very considerable rapid near the entrance of a bold running stream on the left. the water was now excessively cold, and the rapids had been frequent and troublesome. on ascending an eminence captain clarke saw the forks of the river and sent the hunters up. they must have left it only a short time before captain lewis's arrival, but fortunately had not seen the note which enabled him to induce the indians to stay with him. from the top of this eminence he could discover only three trees through the whole country, nor was there along the sides of the cliffs they had passed in the course of the day, any timber except a few small pines: the low grounds were supplied with willow, currant bushes, and serviceberries. after advancing half a mile further we came to the lower point of an island near the middle of the river, and about the centre of the valley: here we halted for the night, only four miles by land, though ten by water, below the point where captain lewis lay. although we had made only fourteen miles, the labours of the men had fatigued and exhausted them very much: we therefore collected some small willow brush for a fire, and lay down to sleep. chapter xv. affecting interview between the wife of chaboneau and the chief of the shoshonees--council held with that nation, and favourable result--the extreme navigable point of the missouri mentioned--general character of the river and of the country through which it passes--captain clarke in exploring the source of the columbia falls in company with another party of shoshonees--the geographical information acquired from one of that party--their manner of catching fish--the party reach lewis river--the difficulties which captain clarke had to encounter in his route--friendship and hospitality of the shoshonees--the party with captain lewis employed in making saddles, and preparing for the journey. saturday, august 17. captain lewis rose very early and despatched drewyer and the indian down the river in quest of the boats. shields was sent out at the same time to hunt, while m'neal prepared a breakfast out of the remainder of the meat. drewyer had been gone about two hours, and the indians were all anxiously waiting for some news, when an indian who had straggled a short distance down the river, returned with a report that he had seen the white men, who were only a short distance below, and were coming on. the indians were all transported with joy, and the chief in the warmth of his satisfaction renewed his embrace to captain lewis, who was quite as much delighted as the indians themselves; the report proved most agreeably true. on setting out at seven o'clock, captain clarke with chaboneau and his wife walked on shore, but they had not gone more than a mile before captain clarke saw sacajawea, who was with her husband one hundred yards ahead, began to dance, and show every mark of the most extravagant joy, turning round him and pointing to several indians, whom he now saw advancing on horseback, sucking her fingers at the same time to indicate that they were of her native tribe. as they advanced captain clarke discovered among them drewyer dressed like an indian, from whom he learnt the situation of the party. while the boats were performing the circuit, he went towards the forks with the indians, who as they went along, sang aloud with the greatest appearance of delight. we soon drew near to the camp, and just as we approached it a woman made her way through the crowd towards sacajawea, and recognising each other, they embraced with the most tender affection. the meeting of these two young women had in it something peculiarly touching, not only in the ardent manner in which their feelings were expressed, but from the real interest of their situation. they had been companions in childhood, in the war with the minnetarees they had both been taken prisoners in the same battle, they had shared and softened the rigours of their captivity, till one of them had escaped from the minnetarees, with scarce a hope of ever seeing her friend relieved from the hands of her enemies. while sacajawea was renewing among the women the friendships of former days, captain clarke went on, and was received by captain lewis and the chief, who after the first embraces and salutations were over, conducted him to a sort of circular tent or shade of willows. here he was seated on a white robe; and the chief immediately tied in his hair six small shells resembling pearls, an ornament highly valued by these people, who procured them in the course of trade from the seacoast. the moccasins of the whole party were then taken off, and after much ceremony the smoking began. after this the conference was to be opened, and glad of an opportunity of being able to converse more intelligibly, sacajawea was sent for; she came into the tent, sat down, and was beginning to interpret, when in the person of cameahwait she recognised her brother: she instantly jumped up, and ran and embraced him, throwing over him her blanket and weeping profusely; the chief was himself moved, though not in the same degree. after some conversation between them she resumed her seat, and attempted to interpret for us, but her new situation seemed to overpower her, and she was frequently interrupted by her tears. after the council was finished, the unfortunate woman learnt that all her family were dead except two brothers, one of whom was absent, and a son of her eldest sister, a small boy, who was immediately adopted by her. the canoes arriving soon after, we formed a camp in a meadow on the left side, a little below the forks; took out our baggage, and by means of our sails and willow poles formed a canopy for our indian visitors. about four o'clock the chiefs and warriors were collected, and after the customary ceremony of taking off the moccasins and smoking a pipe, we explained to them in a long harangue the purposes of our visit, making themselves one conspicuous object of the good wishes of our government, on whose strength as well as its friendly disposition we expatiated. we told them of their dependance on the will of our government for all future supplies of whatever was necessary either for their comfort or defence; that as we were sent to discover the best route by which merchandize could be conveyed to them, and no trade would be begun before our return, it was mutually advantageous that we should proceed with as little delay as possible; that we were under the necessity of requesting them to furnish us with horses to transport our baggage across the mountains, and a guide to show us the route, but that they should be amply remunerated for their horses, as well as for every other service they should render us. in the meantime our first wish was, that they should immediately collect as many horses as were necessary to transport our baggage to their village, where, at our leisure we would trade with them for as many horses as they could spare. the speech made a favourable impression: the chief in reply thanked us for our expressions of friendship towards himself and his nation, and declared their willingness to render us every service. he lamented that it would be so long before they should be supplied with firearms, but that till then they could subsist as they had heretofore done. he concluded by saying that there were not horses here sufficient to transport our goods, but that he would return to the village to-morrow, and bring all his own horses, and encourage his people to come over with theirs. the conference being ended to our satisfaction, we now inquired of cameahwait what chiefs were among the party, and he pointed out two of them. we then distributed our presents: to cameahwait we gave a medal of the small size, with the likeness of president jefferson, and on the reverse a figure of hands clasped with a pipe and tomahawk: to this was added an uniform coat, a shirt, a pair of scarlet leggings, a carrot of tobacco, and some small articles. each of the other chiefs received a small medal struck during the presidency of general washington, a shirt, handkerchief, leggings, a knife, and some tobacco. medals of the same sort were also presented to two young warriors, who though not chiefs were promising youths and very much respected in the tribe. these honorary gifts were followed by presents of paint, moccasins, awls, knives, beads and looking-glasses. we also gave them all a plentiful meal of indian corn, of which the hull is taken off by being boiled in lye; and as this was the first they had ever tasted, they were very much pleased with it. they had indeed abundant sources of surprise in all they saw: the appearance of the men, their arms, their clothing, the canoes, the strange looks of the negro, and the sagacity of our dog, all in turn shared their admiration, which was raised to astonishment by a shot from the airgun: this operation was instantly considered as a _great medicine_, by which they as well as the other indians mean something emanating directly from the great spirit, or produced by his invisible and incomprehensible agency. the display of all these riches had been intermixed with inquiries into the geographical situation of their country; for we had learnt by experience, that to keep the savages in good temper their attention should not be wearied with too much business; but that the serious affairs should be enlivened by a mixture of what is new and entertaining. our hunters brought in very seasonably four deer and an antelope, the last of which we gave to the indians, who in a very short time devoured it. after the council was over, we consulted as to our future operations. the game does not promise to last here for a number of days, and this circumstance combined with many others to induce our going on as soon as possible. our indian information as to the state of the columbia is of a very alarming kind, and our first object is of course to ascertain the practicability of descending it, of which the indians discourage our expectations. it was therefore agreed that captain clarke should set off in the morning with eleven men, furnished, besides their arms, with tools for making canoes; that he should take chaboneau and his wife to the camp of the shoshonees, where he was to leave them, in order to hasten the collection of horses; that he was then to lead his men down to the columbia, and if he found it navigable, and the timber in sufficient quantity, begin to build canoes. as soon as he had decided as to the propriety of proceeding down the columbia or across the mountains, he was to send back one of the men with information of it to captain lewis, who by that time would have brought up the whole party, and the rest of the baggage as far as the shoshonee village. preparations were accordingly made this evening for such an arrangement. the sun is excessively hot in the day time, but the nights very cold, and rendered still more unpleasant from the want of any fuel except willow brush. the appearances too of game, for many days' subsistence, are not very favourable. sunday 18. in order to relieve the men of captain clarke's party from the heavy weight of their arms provisions and tools, we exposed a few articles to barter for horses, and soon obtained three very good ones, in exchange for which we gave a uniform coat, a pair of leggings, a few handkerchiefs, three knifes and some other small articles, the whole of which did not in the united states cost more than twenty dollars: a fourth was purchased by the men for an old checkered shirt, a pair of old leggings and a knife. the indians seemed to be quite as well pleased as ourselves at the bargains they had made. we now found that the two inferior chiefs were somewhat displeased at not having received a present equal to that given to the great chief, who appeared in a dress so much finer than their own. to allay their discontent, we bestowed on them two old coats, and promised them that if they were active in assisting us across the mountains they should have an additional present. this treatment completely reconciled them, and the whole indian party, except two men and two women, set out in perfect good humour to return home with captain clarke. after going fifteen miles through a wide level valley with no wood but willows and shrubs, he encamped in the shoshonee cove near a narrow pass where the highlands approach within two hundred yards of each other, and the river is only ten yards wide. the indians went on further, except the three chiefs and two young men, who assisted in eating two deer brought in by the hunters. after their departure every thing was prepared for the transportation of the baggage, which was now exposed to the air and dried. our game was one deer and a beaver, and we saw an abundance of trout in the river for which we fixed a net in the evening. we have now reached the extreme navigable point of the missouri, which our observation places in latitude 43â° 30' 43" north. it is difficult to comprise in any general description the characteristics of a river so extensive, and fed by so many streams which have their sources in a great variety of soils and climates. but the missouri is still sufficiently powerful to give to all its waters something of a common character, which is of course decided by the nature of the country through which it passes. the bed of the river is chiefly composed of a blue mud from which the water itself derives a deep tinge. from its junction here to the place near which it leaves the mountains, its course is embarrassed by rapids and rocks which the hills on each side have thrown into its channel. from that place, its current, with the exception of the falls, is not difficult of navigation, nor is there much variation in its appearance till the mouth of the platte. that powerful river throws out vast quantities of coarse sand which contribute to give a new face to the missouri, which is now much more impeded by islands. the sand, as it is drifted down, adheres in time to some of the projecting points from the shore, and forms a barrier to the mud, which at length fills to the same height with the sandbar itself; as soon as it has acquired a consistency, the willow grows there the first year, and by its roots assists the solidity of the whole: as the mud and sand accumulate the cottonwood tree next appears; till the gradual excretion of soils raises the surface of the point above the highest freshets. thus stopped in its course the water seeks a passage elsewhere, and as the soil on each side is light and yielding, what was only a peninsula, becomes gradually an island, and the river indemnifies itself for the usurpation by encroaching on the adjacent shore. in this way the missouri like the mississippi is constantly cutting off the projections of the shore, and leaving its ancient channel, which is then marked by the mud it has deposited and a few stagnant ponds. the general appearance of the country as it presents itself on ascending may be thus described: from its mouth to the two charletons, a ridge of highlands borders the river at a small distance, leaving between them fine rich meadows. from the mouth of the two charletons the hills recede from the river, giving greater extent to the low grounds, but they again approach the river for a short distance near grand river, and again at snake creek. from that point they retire, nor do they come again to the neighbourhood of the river till above the sauk prairie, where they are comparatively low and small. thence they diverge and reappear at the charaton searty, after which they are scarcely if at all discernible, till they advance to the missouri nearly opposite to the kanzas. the same ridge of hills extends on the south side, in almost one unbroken chain, from the mouth of the missouri to the kanzas, though decreasing in height beyond the osage. as they are nearer the river than the hills on the opposite sides, the intermediate low grounds are of course narrower, but the general character of the soil is common to both sides. in the meadows and along the shore, the tree most common is the cottonwood, which with the willow forms almost the exclusive growth of the missouri. the hills or rather high grounds, for they do not rise higher than from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, are composed of a good rich black soil, which is perfectly susceptible of cultivation, though it becomes richer on the hills beyond the platte, and are in general thinly covered with timber. beyond these hills the country extends into high open plains, which are on both sides sufficiently fertile, but the south has the advantage of better streams of water, and may therefore be considered as preferable for settlements. the lands, however, become much better and the timber more abundant between the osage and the kanzas. from the kanzas to the nadawa the hills continue at nearly an equal distance, varying from four to eight miles from each other, except that from the little platte to nearly opposite the ancient kanzas village, the hills are more remote, and the meadows of course wider on the north side of the river. from the nadawa the northern hills disappear, except at occasional intervals, where they are seen at a distance, till they return about twenty-seven miles above the platte near the ancient village of the ayoways. on the south the hills continue close to the river from the ancient village of the kanzas up to council bluff, fifty miles beyond the platte; forming high prairie lands. on both sides the lands are good, and perhaps this distance from the osage to the platte may be recommended as among the best districts on the missouri for the purposes of settlers. from the ayoway village the northern hills again retire from the river, to which they do not return till three hundred and twenty miles above, at floyd's river. the hills on the south also leave the river at council bluffs, and reappear at the mahar village, two hundred miles up the missouri. the country thus abandoned by the hills is more open and the timber in smaller quantities than below the platte, so that although the plain is rich and covered with high grass, the want of wood renders it less calculated for cultivation than below that river. the northern hills after remaining near the missouri for a few miles at floyd's river, recede from it at the sioux river, the course of which they follow; and though they again visit the missouri at whitestone river, where they are low, yet they do not return to it till beyond james river. the highlands on the south, after continuing near the river at the mahar villages, again disappear, and do not approach it till the cobalt bluffs, about forty-four miles from the villages, and then from those bluffs to the yellowstone river, a distance of about one thousand miles, they follow the banks of the river with scarcely any deviation. from the james river, the lower grounds are confined within a narrow space by the hills on both sides, which now continue near each other up to the mountains. the space between them however varies from one to three miles as high as the muscleshell river, from which the hills approach so high as to leave scarcely any low grounds on the river, and near the falls reach the waters edge. beyond the falls the hills are scattered and low to the first range of mountains. the soil during the whole length of the missouri below the platte is generally speaking very fine, and although the timber is scarce, there is still sufficient for the purposes of settlers; but beyond that river, although the soil is still rich, yet the almost total absence of timber, and particularly the want of good water, of which there is but a small quantity in the creeks, and even that brackish, oppose powerful obstacles to its settlement. the difficulty becomes still greater between the muscleshell river and the falls, where besides the greater scarcity of timber, the country itself is less fertile. the elevation of these highlands varies as they pass through this extensive tract of country. from wood river they are about one hundred and fifty feet above the water, and continue at that height till they rise near the osage, from which place to the ancient fortification they again diminish in size. thence they continue higher till the mandan village, after which they are rather lower till the neighbourhood of muscleshell river, where they are met by the northern hills, which have advanced at a more uniform height, varying from one hundred and fifty to two hundred or three hundred feet. from this place to the mountains the height of both is nearly the same, from three hundred to five hundred feet, and the low grounds so narrow that the traveller seems passing through a range of high country. from maria's river to the falls, the hills descend to the height of about two or three hundred feet. monday 19. the morning was cold, and the grass perfectly whitened by the frost. we were engaged in preparing packs and saddles to load the horses as soon as they should arrive. a beaver was caught in a trap, but we were disappointed in trying to catch trout in our net; we therefore made a seine of willow brush, and by hauling it procured a number of fine trout, and a species of mullet which we had not seen before: it is about sixteen inches long, the scales small; the nose long, obtusely pointed, and exceeding the under jaw; the mouth opens with folds at the sides; it has no teeth, and the tongue and palate is smooth. the colour of its back and sides is a bluish brown, while the belly is white: it has the faggot bones, whence we concluded it to be of the mullet species. it is by no means so well flavoured a fish as the trout, which are the same as those we first saw at the falls, larger than the speckled trout of the mountains in the atlantic states, and equally well flavoured. in the evening the hunters returned with two deer. captain clarke, in the meantime, proceeded through a wide level valley, in which the chief pointed out a spot where many of his tribe were killed in battle a year ago. the indians accompanied him during the day, and as they had nothing to eat, he was obliged to feed them from his own stores, the hunters not being able to kill any thing. just as he was entering the mountains, he met an indian with two mules and a spanish saddle, who was so polite as to offer one of them to him to ride over the hills. being on foot, captain clarke accepted his offer and gave him a waistcoat as a reward for his civility. he encamped for the night on a small stream, and the next morning, tuesday, august 20, he set out at six o'clock. in passing through a continuation of the hilly broken country, he met several parties of indians. on coming near the camp, which had been removed since we left them two miles higher up the river, cameahwait requested that the party should halt. this was complied with: a number of indians came out from the camp, and with great ceremony several pipes were smoked. this being over captain clarke was conducted to a large leathern lodge prepared for his party in the middle of the encampment, the indians having only shelters of willow bushes. a few dried berries, and one salmon, the only food the whole village could contribute, were then presented to him; after which he proceeded to repeat in council, what had been already told them, the purposes of his visit; urged them to take their horses over and assist in transporting our baggage, and expressed a wish to obtain a guide to examine the river. this was explained and enforced to the whole village by cameahwait, and an old man was pointed out who was said to know more of their geography to the north than any other person, and whom captain clarke engaged to accompany him. after explaining his views he distributed a few presents, the council was ended, and nearly half the village set out to hunt the antelope, but returned without success. captain clarke in the meantime made particular inquiries as to the situation of the country, and the possibility of soon reaching a navigable water. the chief began by drawing on the ground a delineation of the rivers, from which it appeared that his information was very limited. the river on which the camp is he divided into two branches just above us, which, as he indicated by the opening of the mountains, were in view: he next made it discharge itself into a larger river ten miles below, coming from the southwest: the joint stream continued one day's march to the northwest, and then inclined to the westward for two day's march farther. at that place he placed several heaps of sand on each side, which, as he explained them, represented, vast mountains of rock always covered with snow, in passing through which the river was so completely hemmed in by the high rocks, that there was no possibility of travelling along the shore; that the bed of the river was obstructed by sharp-pointed rocks, and such its rapidity, that as far as the eye could reach it presented a perfect column of foam. the mountains he said were equally inaccessible, as neither man nor horse could cross them; that such being the state of the country neither he nor any of his nation had ever attempted to go beyond the mountains. cameahwait said also that he had been informed by the chopunnish, or pierced-nose indians, who reside on this river west of the mountains, that it ran a great way towards the setting sun, and at length lost itself in a great lake of water which was ill-tasted, and where the white men lived. an indian belonging to a band of shoshonees who live to the southwest, and who happened to be at camp, was then brought in, and inquiries made of him as to the situation of the country in that direction: this he described in terms scarcely less terrible than those in which cameahwait had represented the west. he said that his relations lived at the distance of twenty days' march from this place, on a course a little to the west of south and not far from the whites, with whom they traded for horses, mules, cloth, metal, beads, and the shells here worn as ornaments, and which are those of a species of pearl oyster. in order to reach his country we should be obliged during the first seven days to climb over steep rocky mountains where there was no game, and we should find nothing but roots for subsistence. even for these however we should be obliged to contend with a fierce warlike people, whom he called the broken-moccasin, or moccasin with holes, who lived like bears in holes, and fed on roots and the flesh of such horses as they could steal or plunder from those who passed through the mountains. so rough indeed was the passage, that the feet of the horses would be wounded in such a manner that many of them would be unable to proceed. the next part of the route was for ten days through a dry parched desert of sand, inhabited by no animal which would supply us with subsistence, and as the sun had now scorched up the grass and dried up the small pools of water which are sometimes scattered through this desert in the spring, both ourselves and our horses would perish for want of food and water. about the middle of this plain a large river passes from southeast to northwest, which, though navigable, afforded neither timber nor salmon. three or four days' march beyond this plain his relations lived, in a country tolerably fertile and partially covered with timber, on another large river running in the same direction as the former; that this last discharges itself into a third large river, on which resided many numerous nations, with whom his own were at war, but whether this last emptied itself into the great or stinking lake, as they called the ocean, he did not know: that from his country to the stinking lake was a great distance, and that the route to it, taken by such of his relations as had visited it, was up the river on which they lived, and over to that on which the white people lived, and which they knew discharged itself into the ocean. this route he advised us to take, but added, that we had better defer the journey till spring, when he would himself conduct us. this account persuaded us that the streams of which he spoke were southern branches of the columbia, heading with the rio des apostolos, and rio colorado, and that the route which he mentioned was to the gulf of california: captain clarke therefore told him that this road was too much towards the south for our purpose, and then requested to know if there was no route on the left of the river where we now are, by which we might intercept it below the mountains; but he knew of none except that through the barren plains, which he said joined the mountains on that side, and through which it was impossible to pass at this season, even if we were fortunate enough to escape the broken-moccasin indians. captain clarke recompensed the indian by a present of a knife, with which he seemed much gratified, and now inquired of cameahwait by what route the pierced-nose indians, who he said lived west of the mountains, crossed over to the missouri: this he said was towards the north, but that the road was a very bad one; that during the passage he had been told they suffered excessively from hunger, being obliged to subsist for many days on berries alone, there being no game in that part of the mountains, which were broken and rocky, and so thickly covered with timber that they could scarcely pass. surrounded by difficulties as all the other routes are, this seems to be the most practicable of all the passages by land, since, if the indians can pass the mountains with their women and children, no difficulties which they could encounter could be formidable to us; and if the indians below the mountains are so numerous as they are represented to be, they must have some means of subsistence equally within our power. they tell us indeed that the nations to the westward subsist principally on fish and roots, and that their only game were a few elk, deer, and antelope, there being no buffaloe west of the mountain. the first inquiry however was to ascertain the truth of their information relative to the difficulty of descending the river: for this purpose captain clarke set out at three o'clock in the afternoon, accompanied by the guide and all his men, except one whom he left with orders to purchase a horse and join him as soon as possible. at the distance of four miles he crossed the river, and eight miles from the camp halted for the night at a small stream. the road which he followed was a beaten path through a wide rich meadow, in which were several old lodges. on the route he met a number of men, women, and children, as well as horses, and one of the men who appeared to possess some consideration turned back with him, and observing a woman with three salmon obtained them from her, and presented them to the party. captain clarke shot a mountain cock or cock of the plains, a dark brown bird larger than the dunghill fowl, with a long and pointed tail, and a fleshy protuberance about the base of the upper chop, something like that of the turkey, though without the snout. in the morning, wednesday 21, he resumed his march early, and at the distance of five miles reached an indian lodge of brush, inhabited by seven families of shoshonees. they behaved with great civility, gave the whole party as much boiled salmon as they could eat, and added as a present several dried salmon and a considerable quantity of chokecherries. after smoking with them all he visited the fish weir, which was about two hundred yards distant; the river was here divided by three small islands, which occasioned the water to pass along four channels. of these three were narrow, and stopped by means of trees which were stretched across, and supported by willow stakes, sufficiently near each other to prevent the passage of the fish. about the centre of each was placed a basket formed of willows, eighteen or twenty feet in length, of a cylindrical form, and terminating in a conic shape at its lower extremity; this was situated with its mouth upwards, opposite to an aperture in the weir. the main channel of the water was then conducted to this weir, and as the fish entered it they were so entangled with each other that they could not move, and were taken out by untying the small end of the willow basket. the weir in the main channel was formed in a manner somewhat different; there were in fact two distinct weirs formed of poles and willow sticks quite across the river, approaching each other obliquely with an aperture in each side near the angle. this is made by tying a number of poles together at the top, in parcels of three, which were then set up in a triangular form at the base, two of the poles being in the range desired for the weir, and the third down the stream. to these poles two ranges of other poles are next lashed horizontally, with willow bark and wythes, and willow sticks joined in with these crosswise, so as to form a kind of wicker-work from the bottom of the river to the height of three or four feet above the surface of the water. this is so thick as to prevent the fish from passing, and even in some parts with the help of a little gravel and some stone enables them to give any direction which they wish to the water. these two weirs being placed near to each other, one for the purpose of catching the fish as they ascend, the other as they go down the river, is provided with two baskets made in the form already described, and which are placed at the apertures of the weir. after examining these curious objects, he returned to the lodges, and soon passed the river to the left, where an indian brought him a tomahawk which he said he had found in the grass, near the lodge where captain lewis had staid on his first visit to the village. this was a tomahawk which had been missed at the time, and supposed to be stolen; it was however the only article which had been lost in our intercourse with the nation, and as even that was returned the inference is highly honourable to the integrity of the shoshonees. on leaving the lodges captain clarke crossed to the left side of the river, and despatched five men to the forks of it, in search of the man left behind yesterday, who procured a horse and passed by another road as they learnt, to the forks. at the distance of fourteen miles they killed a very large salmon, two and a half feet long, in a creek six miles below the forks: and after travelling about twenty miles through the valley, following the course of the river, which runs nearly northwest, halted in a small meadow on the right side, under a cliff of rocks. here they were joined by the five men who had gone in quest of crusatte. they had been to the forks of the river, where the natives resort in great numbers for the purpose of gigging fish, of which they made our men a present of five fresh salmon. in addition to this food, one deer was killed to-day. the western branch of this river is much larger than the eastern, and after we passed the junction we found the river about one hundred yards in width, rapid and shoaly, but containing only a small quantity of timber. as captain lewis was the first white man who visited its waters, captain clarke gave it the name of lewis's river. the low grounds through which he had passed to-day were rich and wide, but at his camp this evening the hills begin to assume a formidable aspect. the cliff under which he lay is of a reddish brown colour, the rocks which have fallen from it are a dark brown flintstone. near the place are gullies of white sandstone, and quantities of a fine sand, of a snowy whiteness: the mountains on each side are high and rugged, with some pine trees scattered over them. thursday 22. he soon began to perceive that the indian accounts had not exaggerated: at the distance of a mile he passed a small creek, and the points of four mountains, which were rocky, and so high that it seemed almost impossible to cross them with horses. the road lay over the sharp fragments of rocks which had fallen from the mountains, and were strewed in heaps for miles together, yet the horses altogether unshod, travelled across them as fast as the men, and without detaining them a moment. they passed two bold-running streams, and reached the entrance of a small river, where a few indian families resided. they had not been previously acquainted with the arrival of the whites, the guide was behind, and the wood so thick that we came upon them unobserved, till at a very short distance. as soon as they saw us, the women and children fled in great consternation; the men offered us every thing they had, the fish on the scaffolds, the dried berries and the collars of elk's tushes worn by the children. we took only a small quantity of the food, and gave them in return some small articles which conduced very much to pacify them. the guide now coming up, explained to them who we were, and the object of our visit, which seemed to relieve the fears, but still a number of the women and children did not recover from their fright, but cryed during our stay, which lasted about an hour. the guide, whom we found a very intelligent friendly old man, informed us that up this river there was a road which led over the mountains to the missouri. on resuming his route, he went along the steep side of a mountain about three miles, and then reached the river near a small island, at the lower part of which he encamped; he here attempted to gig some fish, but could only obtain one small salmon. the river is here shoal and rapid, with many rocks scattered in various directions through its bed. on the sides of the mountains are some scattered pines, and of those on the left the tops are covered with them; there are however but few in the low grounds through which they passed, indeed they have seen only a single tree fit to make a canoe, and even that was small. the country has an abundant growth of berries, and we met several women and children gathering them who bestowed them upon us with great liberality. among the woods captain clarke observed a species of woodpecker, the beak and tail of which were white, the wings black, and every other part of the body of a dark brown; its size was that of the robin, and it fed on the seeds of the pine. friday 23. captain clarke set off very early, but as his route lay along the steep side of a mountain, over irregular and broken masses of rocks, which wounded the horses' feet, he was obliged to proceed slowly. at the distance of four miles he reached the river, but the rocks here became so steep, and projected so far into the river, that there was no mode of passing, except through the water. this he did for some distance, though the river was very rapid, and so deep that they were forced to swim their horses. after following the edge of the water for about a mile under this steep cliff, he reached a small meadow, below which the whole current of the river beat against the right shore on which he was, and which was formed of a solid rock perfectly inaccessible to horses. here too, the little track which he had been pursuing terminated. he therefore resolved to leave the horses and the greater part of the men at this place, and examine the river still further, in order to determine if there were any possibility of descending it in canoes. having killed nothing except a single goose to-day, and the whole of our provision being consumed last evening, it was by no means advisable to remain any length of time where they were. he now directed the men to fish and hunt at this place till his return, and then with his guide and three men he proceeded, clambering over immense rocks, and along the side of lofty precipices which bordered the river, when at about twelve miles distance he reached a small meadow, the first he had seen on the river since he left his party. a little below this meadow, a large creek twelve yards wide, and of some depth, discharges itself from the north. here were some recent signs of an indian encampment, and the tracks of a number of horses, who must have come along a plain indian path, which he now saw following the course of the creek. this stream his guide said led towards a large river running to the north, and was frequented by another nation for the purpose of catching fish. he remained here two hours, and having taken some small fish, made a dinner on them with the addition of a few berries. from the place where he had left the party, to the mouth of this creek, it presents one continued rapid, in which are five shoals, neither of which could be passed with loaded canoes; and the baggage must therefore be transported for a considerable distance over the steep mountains, where it would be impossible to employ horses for the relief of the men. even the empty canoes must be let down the rapids by means of cords, and not even in that way without great risk both to the canoes as well as to the men. at one of these shoals, indeed the rocks rise so perpendicularly from the water as to leave no hope of a passage or even a portage without great labour in removing rocks, and in some instances cutting away the earth. to surmount these difficulties would exhaust the strength of the party, and what is equally discouraging would waste our time and consume our provisions, of neither of which have we much to spare. the season is now far advanced, and the indians tell us we shall shortly have snow: the salmon too have so far declined that the natives themselves are hastening from the country, and not an animal of any kind larger than a pheasant or a squirrel, and of even these a few only will then be seen in this part of the mountains: after which we shall be obliged to rely on our own stock of provisions, which will not support us more than ten days. these circumstances combine to render a passage by water impracticable in our present situation. to descend the course of the river on horseback is the other alternative, and scarcely a more inviting one. the river is so deep that there are only a few places where it can be forded, and the rocks approach so near the water as to render it impossible to make a route along the waters' edge. in crossing the mountains themselves we should have to encounter, besides their steepness, one barren surface of broken masses of rock, down which in certain seasons the torrents sweep vast quantities of stone into the river. these rocks are of a whitish brown, and towards the base of a gray colour, and so hard, that on striking them with steel, they yield a fire like flint. this sombre appearance is in some places scarcely relieved by a single tree, though near the river and on the creeks there is more timber, among which are some tall pine: several of these might be made into canoes, and by lashing two of them together, one of tolerable size might be formed. after dinner he continued his route, and at the distance of half a mile passed another creek about five yards wide. here his guide informed him that by ascending the creek for some distance he would have a better road, and cut off a considerable bend of the river towards the south. he therefore pursued a well-beaten indian track up this creek for about six miles, when leaving the creek to the right he passed over a ridge, and after walking a mile again met the river, where it flows through a meadow of about eighty acres in extent. this they passed and then ascended a high and steep point of a mountain, from which the guide now pointed out where the river broke through the mountains about twenty miles distant. near the base of the mountains a small river falls in from the south: this view was terminated by one of the loftiest mountains captain clarke had ever seen, which was perfectly covered with snow. towards this formidable barrier the river went directly on, and there it was, as the guide observed, that the difficulties and dangers of which he and cameahwait had spoken commenced. after reaching the mountain, he said, the river continues its course towards the north for many miles, between high perpendicular rocks, which were scattered through its bed: it then penetrated the mountain through a narrow gap, on each side of which arose perpendicularly a rock as high as the top of the mountain before them; that the river then made a bend which concealed its future course from view, and as it was alike impossible to descend the river or clamber over that vast mountain, eternally covered with snow, neither he nor any of his nation had ever been lower than at a place where they could see the gap made by the river on entering the mountain. to that place he said he would conduct captain clarke if he desired it by the next evening. but he was in need of no further evidence to convince him of the utter impracticability of the route before him. he had already witnessed the difficulties of part of the road, yet after all these dangers his guide, whose intelligence and fidelity he could not doubt, now assured him that the difficulties were only commencing, and what he saw before him too clearly convinced him of the indian's veracity. he therefore determined to abandon this route, and returned to the upper part of the last creek we had passed, and reaching it an hour after dark encamped for the night: on this creek he had seen in the morning an indian road coming in from the north. disappointed in finding a route by water, captain clarke now questioned his guide more particularly as to the direction of this road which he seemed to understand perfectly. he drew a map on the sand, and represented this road as well as that we passed yesterday on berry creek as both leading towards two forks of the same great river, where resided a nation called tushepaws, who having no salmon on their river, came by these roads to the fish weirs on lewis's river. he had himself been among these tushepaws, and having once accompanied them on a fishing party to another river he had there seen indians who had come across the rocky mountains. after a great deal of conversation, or rather signs, and a second and more particular map from his guide, captain clarke felt persuaded that his guide knew of a road from the shoshonee village they had left, to the great river to the north, without coming so low down as this on a route impracticable for horses. he was desirous of hastening his return, and therefore set out early, saturday 24, and after descending the creek to the river, stopped to breakfast on berries in the meadow above the second creek. he then went on, but unfortunately fell from a rock and injured his leg very much; he however walked on as rapidly as he could, and at four in the afternoon rejoined his men. during his absence they had killed one of the mountain cocks, a few pheasants, and some small fish, on which with haws and serviceberries they had subsisted. captain clarke immediately sent forward a man on horseback with a note to captain lewis, apprising him of the result of his inquiries, and late in the afternoon set out with the rest of the party and encamped at the distance of two miles. the men were much disheartened at the bad prospect of escaping from the mountains, and having nothing to eat but a few berries which have made several of them sick, they all passed a disagreeable night, which was rendered more uncomfortable by a heavy dew. sunday 25. the want of provisions urged captain clarke to return as soon as possible; he therefore set out early, and halted an hour in passing the indian camp near the fish weirs. these people treated them with great kindness, and though poor and dirty they willingly give what little they possess; they gave the whole party boiled salmon and dried berries, which were not however in sufficient quantities to appease their hunger. they soon resumed their old road, but as the abstinence or strange diet had given one of the men a very severe illness, they were detained very much on his account, and it was not till late in the day they reached the cliff under which they had encamped on the twenty-first. they immediately began to fish and hunt, in order to procure a meal. we caught several small fish, and by means of our guide, obtained two salmon from a small party of women and children, who, with one man, were going below to gather berries. this supplied us with about half a meal, but after dark we were regaled with a beaver which one of the hunters brought in. the other game seen in the course of the day were one deer, and a party of elk among the pines on the sides of the mountains. monday 26. the morning was fine, and three men were despatched ahead to hunt, while the rest were detained until nine o'clock, in order to retake some horses which had strayed away during the night. they then proceeded along the route by the forks of the river, till they reached the lower indian camp where they first were when we met them. the whole camp immediately flocked around him with great appearance of cordiality, but all the spare food of the village did not amount to more than two salmon, which they gave to captain clarke, who distributed them among his men. the hunters had not been able to kill any thing, nor had captain clarke or the greater part of the men any food during the twenty-four hours, till towards evening one of them shot a salmon in the river, and a few small fish were caught, which furnished them with a scanty meal. the only animals they had seen were a few pigeons, some very wild hares, a great number of the large black grasshopper, and a quantify of ground lizards. tuesday 27. the men, who were engaged last night in mending their moccasins, all except one, went out hunting, but no game was to be procured. one of the men however killed a small salmon, and the indians made a present of another, on which the whole party made a very slight breakfast. these indians, to whom this life is familiar, seem contented, although they depend for subsistence on the scanty productions of the fishery. but our men who are used to hardships, but have been accustomed to have the first wants of nature regularly supplied, feel very sensibly their wretched situation; their strength is wasting away; they begin to express their apprehensions of being without food in a country perfectly destitute of any means of supporting life, except a few fish. in the course of the day an indian brought into the camp five salmon, two of which captain clarke bought, and made a supper for the party. wednesday 28. there was a frost again this morning. the indians gave the party two salmon out of several which they caught in their traps, and having purchased two more, the party was enabled to subsist on them during the day. a camp of about forty indians from the west fork passed us to-day, on their route to the eastward. our prospect of provisions is getting worse every day: the hunters who had ranged through the country in every direction where game might be reasonably expected, have seen nothing. the fishery is scarcely more productive, for an indian who was out all day with his gig killed only one salmon. besides the four fish procured from the indians, captain clarke obtained some fishroe in exchange for three small fish-hooks, the use of which he taught them, and which they very readily comprehended. all the men who are not engaged in hunting, are occupied in making pack-saddles for the horses which captain lewis informed us he had bought. august 20. two hunters were despatched early in the morning, but they returned without killing any thing, and the only game we procured was a beaver, who was caught last night in a trap which he carried off two miles before he was found. the fur of this animal is as good as any we have ever seen, nor does it in fact appear to be ever out of season on the upper branches of the missouri. this beaver, with several dozen of fine trout, gave us a plentiful subsistence for the day. the party were occupied chiefly in making pack-saddles, in the manufacture of which we supply the place of nails and boards, by substituting for the first thongs of raw hide, which answer very well; and for boards we use the handles of our oars, and the plank of some boxes, the contents of which we empty into sacks of raw hides made for the purpose. the indians who visit us behave with the greatest decorum, and the women are busily engaged in making and mending the moccasins of the party. as we had still some superfluous baggage which would be too heavy to carry across the mountains, it became necessary to make a cache or deposit. for this purpose we selected a spot on the bank of the river, three quarters of a mile below the camp, and three men were set to dig it, with a sentinel in the neighbourhood, who was ordered if the natives were to straggle that way, to fire a signal for the workmen to desist and separate. towards evening the cache was completed without being perceived by the indians, and the packages prepared for deposit. chapter xvi. contest between drewyer and a shoshonee--the fidelity and honour of that tribe--the party set out on their journey--the conduct of cameahwait reproved, and himself reconciled--the easy parturition of the shoshonee women--history of this nation--their terror of the pawkees--their government and family economy in their treatment of their women--their complaints of spanish treachery--description of their weapons of warfare--their curious mode of making a shield--the caparison of their horses--the dress of the men and of the women particularly described--their mode of acquiring new names. wednesday, august 21. the weather was very cold; the water which stood in the vessels exposed to the air being covered with ice a quarter of an inch thick: the ink freezes in the pen, and the low grounds are perfectly whitened with frost: after this the day proved excessively warm. the party were engaged in their usual occupations, and completed twenty saddles with the necessary harness, all prepared to set off as soon as the indians should arrive. our two hunters who were despatched early in the morning have not returned, so that we were obliged to encroach on our pork and corn, which we consider as the last resource when our casual supplies of game fail. after dark we carried our baggage to the cache, and deposited what we thought too cumbrous to carry with us: a small assortment of medicines, and all the specimens of plants, seeds, and minerals, collected since leaving the falls of the missouri. late at night drewyer, one of the hunters, returned with a fawn and a considerable quantity of indian plunder, which he had taken by way of reprisal. while hunting this morning in the shoshonee cove, he came suddenly upon an indian camp, at which were an old man, a young one, three women, and a boy: they showed no surprise at the sight of him and he therefore rode up to them, and after turning his horse loose to graze sat down and began to converse with them by signs. they had just finished a repast on some roots, and in about twenty minutes one of the women spoke to the rest of the party, who immediately went out, collected their horses and began to saddle them. having rested himself, drewyer thought that he would continue his hunt, and rising went to catch his horse who was at a short distance, forgetting at the moment to take up his rifle. he had scarcely gone more than fifty paces when the indians mounted their horses, the young man snatched up the rifle, and leaving all their baggage, whipt their horses, and set off at full speed towards the passes of the mountains: drewyer instantly jumped on his horse and pursued them. after running about ten miles the horses of the women nearly gave out, and the women finding drewyer gain on them raised dreadful cries, which induced the young man to slacken his pace, and being mounted on a very fleet horse rode round them at a short distance. drewyer now came up with the women, and by signs persuaded them that he did not mean to hurt them: they then stopped, and as the young man came towards them drewyer asked him for his rifle, but the only part of the answer which he understood was pahkee, the name by which they call their enemies, the minnetarees of fort de prairie. while they were thus engaged in talking, drewyer watched his opportunity, and seeing the indian off his guard, galloped up to him and seized his rifle: the indian struggled for some time, but finding drewyer getting too strong for him, had the presence of mind to open the pan and let the priming fall out; he then let go his hold, and giving his horse the whip escaped at full speed, leaving the women to the mercy of the conqueror. drewyer then returned to where he had first seen them, where he found that their baggage had been left behind, and brought it to camp with him. thursday, 22. this morning early two men were sent to complete the covering of the cache, which could not be so perfectly done during the night as to elude the search of the indians. on examining the spoils which drewyer had obtained, they were found to consist of several dressed and undressed skins; two bags wove with the bark of the silk grass, each containing a bushel of dried serviceberries, and about the same quantity of roots; an instrument made of bone for manufacturing the flints into heads for arrows; and a number of flints themselves: these were much of the same colour and nearly as transparent as common black glass, and when cut detached itself into flakes, leaving a very sharp edge. the roots were of three kinds, and folded separate from each in hides of buffaloe made into parchment. the first is a fusiform root six inches long, and about the size of a man's finger at the largest end, with radicles larger than is usual in roots of the fusiform sort: the rind is white and thin, the body is also white, mealy, and easily reducible, by pounding, to a substance resembling flour, like which it thickens by boiling, and is of an agreeable flavour: it is eaten frequently in its raw state either green or dried. the second species was much mutilated, but appeared to be fibrous; it is of a cylindrical form about the size of a small quill, hard and brittle. a part of the rind which had not been detached in the preparation was hard and black, but the rest of the root was perfectly white; this the indiana informed us was always boiled before eating; and on making the experiment we found that it became perfectly soft, but had a bitter taste, which was nauseous to our taste, but which the indians seemed to relish; for on giving the roots to them they were very heartily swallowed. the third species was a small nut about the size of a nutmeg, of an irregularly rounded form, something like the smallest of the jerusalem artichokes, which, on boiling, we found them to resemble also in flavour, and is certainly the best root we have seen in use among the indians. on inquiring of the indians from what plant these roots were procured, they informed us that none of them grew near this place. the men were chiefly employed in dressing the skins belonging to the party who accompanied captain clarke. about eleven o'clock chaboneau and his wife returned with cameahwait, accompanied by about fifty men with their women and children. after they had encamped near us and turned loose their horses, we called a council of all the chiefs and warriors and addressed them in a speech; additional presents were then distributed, particularly to the two second chiefs, who had agreeably to their promises exerted themselves in our favour. the council was then adjourned, and all the indians were treated with an abundant meal of boiled indian corn and beans. the poor wretches, who had no animal food and scarcely any thing but a few fish, had been almost starved, and received this new luxury with great thankfulness. out of compliment to the chief we gave him a few dried squashes which we had brought from the mandans, and he declared it was the best food he had ever tasted except sugar, a small lump of which he had received from his sister: he now declared how happy they should all be to live in a country which produced so many good things, and we told him that it would not be long before the white men would put it in their power to live below the mountains, where they might themselves cultivate all these kinds of food instead of wandering in the mountains. he appeared to be much pleased with this information, and the whole party being now in excellent temper after their repast, we began our purchase of horses. we soon obtained five very good ones on very reasonable terms; that is, by giving for each merchandise which cost us originally about six dollars. we have again to admire the perfect decency and propriety of their conduct; for although so numerous, they do not attempt to crowd round our camp or take any thing which they see lying about, and whenever they borrow knives or kettles or any other article from the men, they return them with great fidelity. towards evening we formed a drag of bushes, and in about two hours caught five hundred and twenty-eight very good fish most of them large trout. among them we observed for the first time ten or twelve trout of a white or silvery colour, except on the back and head where they are of a bluish cast: in appearance and shape they resemble exactly the speckled trout, except that they are not quite so large, though the scales are much larger, and the flavour equally good. the greater part of the fish was distributed among the indians. friday 28. our visitors seem to depend wholly on us for food, and as the state of our provisions obliges us to be careful of our remaining stock of corn and flour, this was an additional reason for urging our departure; but cameahwait requested us to wait till the arrival of another party of his nation who were expected to-day. knowing that it would be in vain to oppose his wish, we consented, and two hunters were sent out with orders to go further up the southeast fork than they had hitherto been. at the same time the chief was informed of the low state of our provisions, and advised to send out his young men to hunt. this he recommended them to do, and most of them set out: we then sunk our canoes by means of stones to the bottom of the river, a situation which better than any other secured them against the effects of the high waters, and the frequent fires of the plains; the indians having promised not to disturb them during our absence, a promise we believe the more readily, as they are almost too lazy to take the trouble of raising them for fire-wood. we were desirous of purchasing some more horses, but they declined selling any until we reached their camp in the mountains. soon after starting the indian hunters discovered a mule buck, and twelve of their horsemen pursued it, for four miles. we saw the chase, which was very entertaining, and at length they rode it down and killed it. this mule buck was the largest deer of any kind we have seen, being nearly as large as a doe elk. besides this they brought in another deer and three goats; but instead of a general distribution of the meat, and such as we have hitherto seen among all tribes of indians, we observed that some families had a large share, while others received none. on inquiring of cameahwait the reason of this custom, he said that meat among them was scarce; that each hunter reserved what he killed for the use of himself and his own family, none of the rest having any claim on what he chose to keep. our hunters returned soon after with two mule deer and three common deer, three of which we distributed among the families who had received none of the game of their own hunters. about three o'clock the expected party consisting of fifty men, women and children arrived. we now learnt that most of the indians were on their way down the valley towards the buffaloe country, and some anxiety to accompany them appeared to prevail among those who had promised to assist us in crossing the mountains. we ourselves were not without some apprehension that they might leave us, but as they continued to say that they would return with us nothing was said upon the subject. we were, however, resolved to move early in the morning; and therefore despatched two men to hunt in the cove and leave the game on the route we should pass to-morrow. saturday 24. as the indians who arrived yesterday had a number of spare horses, we thought it probable they might be willing to dispose of them, and desired the chief to speak to them for that purpose. they declined giving any positive answer, but requested to see the goods which we proposed to exchange. we then produced some battle-axes which we had made at fort mandan, and a quantity of knives; with both of which they appeared very much pleased; and we were soon able to purchase three horses by giving for each an axe, a knife, a hankerchief and a little paint. to this we were obliged to add a second knife, a shirt, a handkerchief and a pair of leggings; and such is the estimation in which those animals are held, that even at this price, which was double that for a horse, the fellow who sold him took upon himself great merit in having given away a mule to us. they now said that they had no more horses for sale, and as we had now nine of our own, two hired horses, and a mule, we began loading them as heavily as was prudent, and placing the rest on the shoulders of the indian women, left our camp at twelve o'clock. we were all on foot, except sacajawea, for whom her husband had purchased a horse with some articles which we gave him for that purpose; an indian however had the politeness to offer captain lewis one of his horses to ride, which he accepted in order better to direct the march of the party. we crossed the river below the forks, directing our course towards the cove by the route already passed, and had just reached the lower part of the cove when an indian rode up to captain lewis to inform him that one of his men was very sick, and unable to come on. the party was immediately halted at a run which falls into the creek on the left, and captain lewis rode back two miles, and found wiser severely afflicted with the colic: by giving him some of the essence of peppermint and laudanum, he recovered sufficiently to ride the horse of captain lewis, who then rejoined the party on foot. when he arrived he found that the indians who had been impatiently expecting his return, at last unloaded their horses and turned them loose, and had now made their camp for the night. it would have been fruitless to remonstrate, and not prudent to excite any irritation, and therefore, although the sun was still high, and we had made only six miles, we thought it best to remain with them: after we had encamped there fell a slight shower of rain. one of the men caught several fine trout; but drewyer had been sent out to hunt without having killed any thing. we therefore gave a little corn to those of the indians who were actually engaged in carrying our baggage, and who had absolutely nothing to eat. we also advised cameahwait, as we could not supply all his people with provisions, to recommend to all who were not assisting us, to go on before us to their camp. this he did: but in the morning, sunday 25, a few only followed his advice, the rest accompanying us at some distance on each side. we set out at sunrise and after going seventeen miles halted for dinner within two miles of the narrow pass in the mountains. the indians who were on the sides of our party had started some antelopes, but were obliged after a pursuit of several hours to abandon the chase: our hunters had in the meantime brought in three deer, the greater part of which was distributed among the indians. whilst at dinner we learnt by means of sacajawea, that the young men who left us this morning, carried a request from the chief, that the village would break up its encampment and meet this party to-morrow, when they would all go down the missouri into the buffaloe country. alarmed at this new caprice of the indians which, if not counteracted, threatened to leave ourselves and our baggage on the mountains, or even if we reached the waters of the columbia, prevent our obtaining horses to go on further, captain lewis immediately called the three chiefs together. after smoking a pipe he asked them if they were men of their words, and if we can rely on their promises. they readily answered in the affirmative. he then asked, if they had not agreed to assist us in carrying our baggage over the mountains. to this they also answered yes; and why then, said he, have you requested your people to meet us to-morrow, where it will be impossible for us to trade for horses, as you promised we should. if, he continued, you had not promised to help us in transporting our goods over the mountains, we should not have attempted it, but have returned down the river, after which no white men would ever have come into your country. if you wish the whites to be your friends, and to bring you arms and protect you from your enemies, you should never promise what you do not mean to perform: when i first met you, you doubted what i said, yet you afterwards saw that i told you the truth. how therefore can you doubt what i now tell you; you see that i have divided amongst you the meat which my hunters kill, and i promise to give all who assist us a share of whatever we have to eat. if therefore you intend to keep your promise, send one of the young men immediately to order the people to remain at the village till we arrive. the two inferior chiefs then said, that they had wished to keep their words and to assist us; that they had not sent for the people, but on the contrary had disapproved of the measure which was done wholly by the first chief. cameahwait remained silent for some time: at last he said that he knew he had done wrong, but that seeing his people all in want of provisions, he had wished to hasten their departure for the country where their wants might be supplied. he however now declared, that having passed his word he would never violate it, and counter orders were immediately sent to the village by a young man, to whom we gave a handkerchief in order to ensure despatch and fidelity. this difficulty being now adjusted, our march was resumed with an unusual degree of alacrity on the part of the indians. we passed a spot, where six years ago the shoshonees* suffered a very severe defeat from the minnetarees; and late in the evening we reached the upper part of the cove where the creek enters the mountains. the part of the cove on the northeast side of the creek has lately been burnt, most probably as a signal on some occasion. here we were joined by our hunters with a single deer, which captain lewis gave, as a proof of his sincerity, to the women and children, and remained supperless himself. as we came along we observed several large hares, some ducks, and many of the cock of the plains: in the low grounds of the cove were also considerable quantities of wild onions. monday 26. the morning was excessively cold, and the ice in our vessels was nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness: we set out at sunrise, and soon reached the fountain of the missouri, where we halted for a few minutes, and then crossing the dividing ridge reached the fine spring where captain lewis had slept on the 12th in his first excursion to the shoshonee camp. the grass on the hill sides is perfectly dry and parched by the sun, but near the spring was a fine green grass: we therefore halted for dinner and turned our horses to graze. to each of the indians who were engaged in carrying our baggage was distributed a pint of corn, which they parched, then pounded, and made a sort of soup. one of the women who had been leading two of our pack horses halted at a rivulet about a mile behind, and sent on the two horses by a female friend: on inquiring of cameahwait the cause of her detention, he answered with great appearance of unconcern, that she had just stopped to lie in, but would soon overtake us. in fact we were astonished to see her in about an hour's time come on with her new born infant and pass us on her way to the camp, apparently in perfect health. this wonderful facility with which the indian women bring forth their children, seems rather some benevolent gift of nature, in exempting them from pains which their savage state would render doubly grievous, than any result of habit. if as has been imagined, a pure dry air or a cold and elevated country are obstacles to easy delivery, every difficulty incident to that operation might be expected in this part of the continent; nor can another reason, the habit of carrying heavy burthens during pregnancy, be at all applicable to the shoshonee women, who rarely carry any burdens, since their nation possesses an abundance of horses. we have indeed been several times informed by those conversant with indian manners, and who asserted their knowledge of the fact, that indian women pregnant by white men experience more difficulty in child-birth than when the father is an indian. if this account be true, it may contribute to strengthen the belief, that the easy delivery of the indian women is wholly constitutional. the tops of the high irregular mountains to the westward are still entirely covered with snow; and the coolness which the air acquires in passing them, is a very agreeable relief from the heat, which has dried up the herbage on the sides of the hills. while we stopped, the women were busily employed in collecting the root of a plant with which they feed their children, who like their mothers are nearly half starved and in a wretched condition. it is a species of fennel which grows in the moist grounds; the radix is of the knob kind, of a long ovate form, terminating in a single radicle, the whole being three or four inches long, and the thickest part about the size of a man's little finger: when fresh, it is white, firm, and crisp; and when dried and pounded makes a fine white meal. its flavour is not unlike that of aniseed, though less pungent. from one to four of these knobbed roots are attached to a single stem which rises to the height of three or four feet, and is jointed, smooth, cylindric, and has several small peduncles, one at each joint above the sheathing leaf. its colour is a deep green, as is also that of the leaf, which is sheathing, sessile, and _polipartite_, the divisions being long and narrow. the flowers, which are now in bloom, are small and numerous, with white and umbellifferous petals: there are no root leaves. as soon as the seeds have matured, the roots of the present year as well as the stem decline, and are renewed in the succeeding spring from the little knot which unites the roots. the sunflower is also abundant here, and the seeds, which are now ripe, are gathered in considerable quantities, and after being pounded and rubbed between smooth stones, form a kind of meal, which is a favourite dish among the indians. after dinner we continued our route and were soon met by a party of young men on horseback, who turned with us and went to the village. as soon as we were within sight of it, cameahwait requested that we would discharge our guns; the men were therefore drawn up in a single rank, and gave a running fire of two rounds, to the great satisfaction of the indians. we then proceeded to the encampment where we arrived about six o'clock, and were conducted to the leathern lodge in the centre of thirty-two others made of brush. the baggage was arranged near this tent, which captain lewis occupied, and surrounded by those of the men so as to secure it from pillage. this camp was in a beautiful smooth meadow near the river, and about three miles above their camp when we first visited the indians. we here found colter, who had been sent by captain clarke with a note apprising us that there were no hopes of a passage by water, and that the most practicable route seemed to be that mentioned by his guide, towards the north. whatever road we meant to take, it was now necessary to provide ourselves with horses; we therefore informed cameahwait of our intention of going to the great river beyond the mountains, and that we would wish to purchase twenty more horses: he said the minnetarees had stolen a great number of their horses this spring, but he still hoped they could spare us that number. in order not to loose the present favourable moment, and to keep the indians as cheerful as possible, the violins were brought out and our men danced to the great diversion of the indians. this mirth was the more welcome because our situation was not precisely that which would most dispose us for gayety, for we have only a little parched corn to eat, and our means of subsistence or of success, depend on the wavering temper of the natives, who may change their minds to-morrow. the shoshonees are a small tribe of the nation called snake indians, a vague denomination, which embraces at once the inhabitants of the southern parts of the rocky mountains and of the plains on each side. the shoshonees with whom we now are, amount to about one hundred warriors, and three times that number of women and children. within their own recollection they formerly lived in the plains, but they have been driven into the mountains by the pawkees, or the roving indians of the sascatchawain, and are now obliged to visit occasionally, and by stealth, the country of their ancestors. their lives are indeed migratory. from the middle of may to the beginning of september, they reside on the waters of the columbia, where they consider themselves perfectly secure from the pawkees who have never yet found their way to that retreat. during this time they subsist chiefly on salmon, and as that fish disappears on the approach of autumn, they are obliged to seek subsistence elsewhere. they then cross the ridge to the waters of the missouri, down which they proceed slowly and cautiously, till they are joined near the three forks by other bands, either of their own nation or of the flatheads, with whom they associate against the common enemy. being now strong in numbers, they venture to hunt buffaloe in the plains eastward of the mountains, near which they spend the winter, till the return of the salmon invites them to the columbia. but such is their terror of the pawkees, that as long as they can obtain the scantiest subsistence, they do not leave the interior of the mountains; and as soon as they collect a large stock of dried meat, they again retreat, and thus alternately obtaining their food at the hazard of their lives, and hiding themselves to consume it. in this loose and wandering existence they suffer the extremes of want; for two thirds of the year they are forced to live in the mountains, passing whole weeks without meat, and with nothing to eat but a few fish and roots. nor can any thing be imagined more wretched than their condition at the present time, when the salmon is fast retiring, when roots are becoming scarce, and they have not yet acquired strength to hazard an encounter with their enemies. so insensible are they however to these calamities, that the shoshonees are not only cheerful but even gay; and their character, which is more interesting than that of any indians we have seen, has in it much of the dignity of misfortune. in their intercourse with strangers they are frank and communicative, in their dealings perfectly fair, nor have we had during our stay with them, any reason to suspect that the display of all our new and valuable wealth, has tempted them into a single act of dishonesty. while they have generally shared with us the little they possess, they have always abstained from begging any thing from us. with their liveliness of temper, they are fond of gaudy dresses, and of all sorts of amusements, particularly to games of hazard; and like most indians fond of boasting of their own warlike exploits, whether real or fictitious. in their conduct towards ourselves, they were kind and obliging, and though on one occasion they seemed willing to neglect us, yet we scarcely knew how to blame the treatment by which we suffered, when we recollected how few civilized chiefs would have hazarded the comforts or the subsistence of their people for the sake of a few strangers. this manliness of character may cause or it may be formed by the nature of their government, which is perfectly free from any restraint. each individual is his own master, and the only control to which his conduct is subjected, is the advice of a chief supported by his influence over the opinions of the rest of the tribe. the chief himself is in fact no more than the most confidential person among the warriors, a rank neither distinguished by any external honor, nor invested by any ceremony, but gradually acquired from the good wishes of his companions and by superior merit. such an officer has therefore strictly no power; he may recommend or advise or influence, but his commands have no effect on those who incline to disobey, and who may at any time withdraw from their voluntary allegiance. his shadowy authority which cannot survive the confidence which supports it, often decays with the personal vigour of the chief, or is transferred to some more fortunate or favourite hero. in their domestic economy, the man is equally sovereign. the man is the sole proprietor of his wives and daughters, and can barter them away, or dispose of them in any manner he may think proper. the children are seldom corrected; the boys, particularly, soon become their own masters; they are never whipped, for they say that it breaks their spirit, and that after being flogged they never recover their independence of mind, even when they grow to manhood. a plurality of wives is very common; but these are not generally sisters, as among the minnetarees and mandans, but are purchased of different fathers. the infant daughters are often betrothed by the father to men who are grown, either for themselves or for their sons, for whom they are desirous of providing wives. the compensation to the father is usually made in horses or mules; and the girl remains with her parents till the age of puberty, which is thirteen or fourteen, when she is surrendered to her husband. at the same time the father often makes a present to the husband equal to what he had formerly received as the price of his daughter, though this return is optional with her parent. sacajawea had been contracted in this way before she was taken prisoner, and when we brought her back, her betrothed was still living. although he was double the age of sacajawea, and had two other wives, he claimed her, but on finding that she had a child by her new husband, chaboneau, he relinquished his pretensions and said he did not want her. the chastity of the women does not appear to be held in much estimation. the husband will for a trifling present lend his wife for a night to a stranger, and the loan may be protracted by increasing the value of the present. yet strange as it may seem, notwithstanding this facility, any connexion of this kind not authorized by the husband, is considered highly offensive and quite as disgraceful to his character as the same licentiousness in civilized societies. the shoshonees are not so importunate in volunteering the services of their wives as we found the sioux were; and indeed we observed among them some women who appeared to be held in more respect than those of any nation we had seen. but the mass of the females are condemned, as among all savage nations, to the lowest and most laborious drudgery. when the tribe is stationary, they collect the roots, and cook; they build the huts, dress the skins and make clothing; collect the wood, and assist in taking care of the horses on the route; they load the horses and have the charge of all the baggage. the only business of the man is to fight; he therefore takes on himself the care of his horse, the companion of his warfare; but he will descend to no other labour than to hunt and to fish. he would consider himself degraded by being compelled to walk any distance; and were he so poor as to possess only two horses, he would ride the best of them, and leave the other for his wives and children and their baggage; and if he has too many wives or too much baggage for the horse, the wives have no alternative but to follow him on foot; they are not however often reduced to those extremities, for their stock of horses is very ample. notwithstanding their losses this spring they still have at least seven hundred, among which are about forty colts, and half that number of mules. there are no horses here which can be considered as wild; we have seen two only on this side of the muscleshell river which were without owners, and even those although shy, showed every mark of having been once in the possession of man. the original stock was procured from the spaniards, but they now raise their own. the horses are generally very fine, of a good size, vigorous and patient of fatigue as well as hunger. each warrior has one or two tied to a stake near his hut both day and night, so as to be always prepared for action. the mules are obtained in the course of trade from the spaniards, with whose brands several of them are marked, or stolen from them by the frontier indians. they are the finest animals of that kind we have ever seen, and at this distance from the spanish colonies are very highly valued. the worst are considered as worth the price of two horses, and a good mule cannot be obtained for less than three and sometimes four horses. we also saw a bridle bit, stirrups and several other articles which, like the mules, came from the spanish colonies. the shoshonees say that they can reach those settlements in ten days' march by the route of the yellowstone river; but we readily perceive that the spaniards are by no means favourites. they complain that the spaniards refuse to let them have fire arms under pretence that these dangerous weapons will only induce them to kill each other. in the meantime, say the shoshonees, we are left to the mercy of the minnetarees, who having arms, plunder them of their horses, and put them to death without mercy. "but this should not be," said cameahwait fiercely, "if we had guns, instead of hiding ourselves in the mountains and living like the bears on roots and berries, we would then go down and live in the buffaloe country in spite of our enemies, whom we never fear when we meet on equal terms." as war is the chief occupation, bravery is the first virtue among the shoshonees. none can hope to be distinguished without having given proofs of it, nor can there be any preferment, or influence among the nation, without some warlike achievement. those important events which give reputation to a warrior, and which entitle him to a new name, are killing a white bear, stealing individually the horses of the enemy, leading out a party who happen to be successful either in plundering horses or destroying the enemy, and lastly scalping a warrior. these acts seem of nearly equal dignity, but the last, that of taking an enemy's scalp, is an honour quite independent of the act of vanquishing him. to kill your adversary is of no importance unless the scalp is brought from the field of battle, and were a warrior to slay any number of his enemies in action, and others were to obtain the scalps or first touch the dead, they would have all the honours, since they have borne off the trophy. although thus oppressed by the minnetarees, the shoshonees are still a very military people. their cold and rugged country inures them to fatigue; their long abstinence makes them support the dangers of mountain warfare, and worn down as we saw them, by want of sustenance, have a look of fierce and adventurous courage. the shoshonee warrior always fights on horseback; he possesses a few bad guns, which are reserved exclusively for war, but his common arms are the bow and arrow, a shield, a lance and a weapon called by the chippeways, by whom it was formerly used, the poggamoggon. the bow is made of cedar or pine covered on the outer side with sinews and glue. it is about two and a half feet long, and does not differ in shape from those used by the sioux, mandans and minnetarees. sometimes, however, the bow is made of a single piece of the horn of an elk, covered on the back like those of wood with sinews and glue, and occasionally ornamented by a strand wrought of porcupine quills and sinews, which is wrapped round the horn near its two ends. the bows made of the horns of the bighorn, are still more prized, and are formed by cementing with glue flat pieces of the horn together, covering the back with sinews and glue, and loading the whole with an unusual quantity of ornaments. the arrows resemble those of the other indians except in being more slender than any we have seen. they are contained, with the implements for striking fire, in a narrow quiver formed of different kinds of skin, though that of the otter seems to be preferred. it is just long enough to protect the arrows from the weather, and is worn on the back by means of a strap passing over the right shoulder and under the left arm. the shield is a circular piece of buffaloe hide about two feet four or five inches in diameter, ornamented with feathers, and a fringe round it of dressed leather, and adorned or deformed with paintings of strange figures. the buffaloe hide is perfectly proof against any arrow, but in the minds of the shoshonees, its power to protect them is chiefly derived from the virtues which are communicated to it by the old men and jugglers. to make a shield is indeed one of their most important ceremonies: it begins by a feast to which all the warriors, old men and jugglers are invited. after the repast a hole is dug in the ground about eighteen inches in depth and of the same diameter as the intended shield: into this hole red hot stones are thrown and water poured over them, till they emit a very strong* hot steam. the buffaloe skin, which must be the entire hide of a male two years old, and never suffered to dry since it was taken from the animal, is now laid across the hole, with the fleshy side to the ground, and stretched in every direction by as many as can take hold of it. as the skin becomes heated, the hair separates and is taken off by the hand; till at last the skin is contracted into the compass designed for the shield. it is then taken off and placed on a hide prepared into parchment, and then pounded during the rest of the festival by the bare heels of those who are invited to it. this operation sometimes continues for several days, after which it is delivered to the proprietor, and declared by the old men and jugglers to be a security against arrows; and provided the feast has been satisfactory, against even the bullets of their enemies. such is the delusion, that many of the indians implicitly believe that this ceremony has given to the shield supernatural powers, and that they have no longer to fear any weapons of their enemies. the paggamoggon is an instrument, consisting of a handle twenty-two inches long, made of wood, covered with dressed leather about the size of a whip-handle: at one end is a thong of two inches in length, which is tied to a round stone weighing two pounds and held in a cover of leather: at the other end is a loop of the same material, which is passed round the wrist so as to secure the hold of the instrument, with which they strike a very severe blow. besides these, they have a kind of armour something like a coat of mail, which is formed by a great many folds of dressed antelope skins, united by means of a mixture of glue and sand. with this they cover their own bodies and those of their horses, and find it impervious to the arrow. the caparison of their horses is a halter and a saddle: the first is either a rope of six or seven strands of buffaloe hair platted or twisted together, about the size of a man's finger and of great strength; or merely a thong of raw hide, made pliant by pounding and rubbing; though the first kind is much preferred. the halter is very long, and is never taken from the neck of the horse when in constant use. one end of it is first tied round the neck in a knot and then brought down to the under jaw, round which it is formed into a simple noose, passing through the mouth: it is then drawn up on the right side and held by the rider in his left hand, while the rest trails after him to some distance. at other times the knot is formed at a little distance from one of the ends, so as to let that end serve as a bridle, while the other trails on the ground. with these cords dangling along side of them the horse is put to his full speed without fear of falling, and when he is turned to graze the noose is merely taken from his mouth. the saddle in formed like the pack-saddles used by the french and spaniards, of two flat thin boards which fit the sides of the horse, and are kept together by two cross pieces, one before and the other behind, which rise to a considerable height, ending sometimes in a flat point extending outwards, and always making the saddle deep and narrow. under this a piece of buffaloe skin, with the hair on, is placed so as to prevent the rubbing of the boards, and when they mount they throw a piece of skin or robe over the saddle, which has no permanent cover. when stirrups are used, they consist of wood covered with leather; but stirrups and saddles are conveniences reserved for old men and women. the young warriors rarely use any thing except a small leather pad stuffed with hair, and secured by a girth made of a leathern thong. in this way they ride with great expertness, and they have a particular dexterity in catching the horse when he is running at large. if he will not immediately submit when they wish to take him, they make a noose in the rope, and although the horse may be at a distance, or even running, rarely fail to fix it on his neck; and such is the docility of the animal, that however unruly he may seem, he surrenders as soon as he feels the rope on him. this cord is so useful in this way that it is never dispensed with, even when they use the spanish bridle, which they prefer, and always procure when they have it in their power. the horse becomes almost an object of attachment: a favourite is frequently painted and his ears cut into various shapes: the mane and tail, which are never drawn nor trimmed, are decorated with feathers of birds, and sometimes a warrior suspends at the breast of his horse the finest ornaments he possesses. thus armed and mounted the shoshonee is a formidable enemy, even with the feeble weapons which he is still obliged to use. when they attack at full speed they bend forward and cover their bodies with the shield, while with the right hand they shoot under the horses neck. the only articles of metal which the shoshonees possess are a few bad knives, some brass kettles, some bracelets or armbands of iron and brass, a few buttons worn as ornaments in their hair, one or two spears about a foot in length, and some heads for arrows made of iron and brass. all these they had obtained in trading with the crow or rocky mountain indians, who live on the yellowstone. the few bridle-bits and stirrups they procured from the spanish colonies. the instrument which supplies the place of a knife among them, is a piece of flint with no regular form, and the sharp part of it not more than one or two inches long: the edge of this is renewed, and the flint itself is formed into heads for arrows, by means of the point of a deer or elk horn, an instrument which they use with great art and ingenuity. there are no axes or hatchets; all the wood being cut with flint or elk-horn, the latter of which is always used as a wedge in splitting wood. their utensils consist, besides the brass kettles, of pots in the form of a jar, made either of earth, or of a stone found in the hills between madison and jefferson rivers, which, though soft and white in its natural state, becomes very hard and black after exposure to the fire. the horns of the buffaloe and the bighorn supply them with spoons. the fire is always kindled by means of a blunt arrow, and a piece of well-seasoned wood of a soft spongy kind, such as the willow or cottonwood. the shoshonees are of a diminutive stature, with thick flat feet and ankles, crooked legs, and are, generally speaking, worse formed than any nation of indians we have seen. their complexion resembles that of the sioux, and is darker than that of the minnetarees, mandans, or shawnees. the hair in both sexes is suffered to fall loosely over the face and down the shoulders: some men, however, divide it by means of thongs of dressed leather or otter skin into two equal queues, which hang over the ears and are drawn in front of the body; but at the present moment, when the nation is afflicted by the loss of so many relations killed in war, most of them have the hair cut quite short in the neck, and cameahwait has the hair cut short all over his head, this being the customary mourning for a deceased kindred. the dress of the men consists of a robe, a tippet, a shirt, long leggings and moccasins. the robe is formed most commonly of the skins of antelope, bighorn, or deer, though when it can be procured, the buffaloe hide is preferred. sometimes too they are made of beaver, moonax, and small wolves, and frequently during the summer of elk skin. these are dressed with the hair on, and reach about as low as the middle of the leg. they are worn loosely over the shoulders, the sides being at pleasure either left open or drawn together by the hand, and in cold weather kept close by a girdle round the waist. this robe answers the purpose of a cloak during the day, and at night is their only covering. the tippet is the most elegant article of indian dress we have ever seen. the neck or collar of it is a strip about four or five inches wide, cut from the back of the otter skin, the nose and eyes forming one extremity, and the tail another. this being dressed with the fur on, they attach to one edge of it, from one hundred to two hundred and fifty little rolls of ermine skin, beginning at the ear, and proceeding towards the tail. these ermine skins are the same kind of narrow strips from the back of that animal, which are sewed round a small cord of twisted silkgrass thick enough to make the skin taper towards the tail which hangs from the end, and are generally about the size of a large quill. these are tied at the head into little bundles, of two, three or more according to the caprice of the wearer, and then suspended from the collar, and a broad fringe of ermine skin is fixed so as to cover the parts where they unite, which might have a coarse appearance. little tassels of fringe of the same materials are also fastened to the extremities of the tail, so as to show its black colour to greater advantage. the centre of the collar is further ornamented with the shells of the pearl oyster. thus adorned, the collar is worn close round the neck, and the little rolls fall down over the shoulders nearly to the waist, so as to form a sort of short cloak, which has a very handsome appearance. these tippets are very highly esteemed, and are given or disposed of on important occasions only. the ermine is the fur known to the northwest traders by the name of the white weasel, but is the genuine ermine; and by encouraging the indians to take them, might no doubt be rendered a valuable branch of trade. these animals must be very abundant, for the tippets are in great numbers, and the construction of each requires at least one hundred skins. the shirt is a covering of dressed skin without the hair, and formed of the hide of the antelope, deer, bighorn, or elk, though the last is more rarely used than any other for this purpose. it fits the body loosely, and reaches half way down the thigh. the aperture at the top is wide enough to admit the head, and has no collar, but is either left square, or most frequently terminates in the tail of the animal, which is left entire, so as to fold outwards, though sometimes the edges are cut into a fringe, and ornamented with quills of the porcupine. the seams of the shirt are on the sides, and are richly fringed and adorned with porcupine quills, till within five or six inches of the sleeve, where it is left open, as is also the under side of the sleeve from the shoulder to the elbow, where it fits closely round the arm as low as the wrist, and has no fringe like the sides, and the under part of the sleeve above the elbow. it is kept up by wide shoulder straps, on which the manufacturer displays his taste by the variety of figures wrought with porcupine quills of different colours, and sometimes by beads when they can be obtained. the lower end of the shirt retains the natural shape of the fore legs and neck of the skin, with the addition of a slight fringe; the hair too is left on the tail and near the hoofs, part of which last is retained and split into a fringe. the leggings are generally made of antelope skins, dressed without the hair, and with the legs, tail and neck hanging to them. each legging is formed of a skin nearly entire, and reaches from the ancle to the upper part of the thigh, and the legs of the skin are tucked before and behind under a girdle round the waist. it fits closely to the leg, the tail being worn upwards, and the neck highly ornamented with fringe and porcupine quills, drags on the ground behind the heels. as the legs of the animal are tied round the girdle, the wide part of the skin is drawn so high as to conceal the parts usually kept from view, in which respect their dress is much more decent than that of any nation of indians on the missouri. the seams of the leggings down the sides, are also fringed and ornamented, and occasionally decorated with tufts of hair taken from enemies whom they have slain. in making all these dresses, their only thread is the sinew taken from the backs and loins of deer, elk, buffaloe, or any other animal. the moccasin is of the deer, elk, or buffaloe skin, dressed without the hair, though in winter they use the buffaloe skin with the hairy side inward, as do most of the indians who inhabit the buffaloe country. like the mandan moccasin, it is made with a single seam on the outer edge, and sewed up behind, a hole being left at the instep to admit the foot. it is variously ornamented with figures wrought with porcupine quills, and sometimes the young men most fond of dress, cover it with the skin of a polecat, and trail at their heels the tail of the animal. the dress of the women consists of the same articles as that of their husbands. the robe though smaller is worn in the same way: the moccasins are precisely similar. the shirt or chemise reaches half way down the leg, is in the same form, except that there is no shoulder-strap, the seam coming quite up to the shoulder; though for women who give suck both sides are open, almost down to the waist. it is also ornamented in the same way with the addition of little patches of red cloth, edged round with beads at the skirts. the chief ornament is over the breast, where there are curious figures made with the usual luxury of porcupine quills. like the men they have a girdle round the waist, and when either sex wishes to disengage the arm, it is drawn up through the hole near the shoulder, and the lower part of the sleeve thrown behind the body. children alone wear beads round their necks; grown persons of both sexes prefer them suspended in little bunches from the ear, and sometimes intermixed with triangular pieces of the shell of the pearl oyster. sometimes the men tie them in the same way to the hair of the forepart of the head, and increase the beauty of it by adding the wings and tails of birds, and particularly the feathers of the great eagle or calumet bird, of which they are extremely fond. the collars are formed either of sea shells procured from their relations to the southwest, or of the sweet-scented grass which grows in the neighbourhood, and which they twist or plait together, to the thickness of a man's finger, and then cover with porcupine quills of various colours. the first of these is worn indiscriminately by both sexes, the second principally confined to the men, while a string of elk's tusks is a collar almost peculiar to the women and children. another collar worn by the men is a string of round bones like the joints of a fish's back, but the collar most preferred, because most honourable, is one of the claws of the brown bear. to kill one of these animals is as distinguished an achievement as to have put to death an enemy, and in fact with their weapons is a more dangerous trial of courage. these claws are suspended on a thong of dressed leather, and being ornamented with beads, are worn round the neck by the warriors with great pride. the men also frequently wear the skin of a fox, or a strip of otter skin round the head in the form of a bandeau. in short, the dress of the shoshonees is as convenient and decent as that of any indians we have seen. they have many more children than might have been expected, considering their precarious means of support and their wandering life. this inconvenience is however balanced by the wonderful facility with which their females undergo the operations of child-birth. in the most advanced state of pregnancy they continue their usual occupations, which are scarcely interrupted longer than the mere time of bringing the child into the world. the old men are few in number and do not appear to be treated with much tenderness or respect. the tobacco used by the shoshonees is not cultivated among them, but obtained from the indians of the rocky mountains, and from some of the bands of their own nation who live south of them; it is the same plant which is in use among the minnetarees, mandans, and ricaras. their chief intercourse with other nations seems to consist in their association with other snake indians, and with the flatheads when they go eastward to hunt buffaloe, and in the occasional visits made by the flatheads to the waters of the columbia for the purpose of fishing. their intercourse with the spaniards is much more rare, and it furnishes them with a few articles, such as mules, and some bridles, and other ornaments for horses, which, as well as some of their kitchen utensils, are also furnished by the bands of snake indians from the yellowstone. the pearl ornaments which they esteem so highly come from other bands, whom they represent as their friends and relations, living to the southwest beyond the barren plains on the other side of the mountains: these relations they say inhabit a good country, abounding with elk, deer, bear, and antelope, where horses and mules are much more abundant than they are here, or to use their own expression, as numerous as the grass of the plains. the names of the indians varies in the course of their life: originally given in childhood, from the mere necessity of distinguishing objects, or from some accidental resemblance to external objects, the young warrior is impatient to change it by some achievement of his own. any important event, the stealing of horses, the scalping an enemy, or killing a brown bear, entitles him at once to a new name which he then selects for himself, and it is confirmed by the nation. sometimes the two names subsist together: thus, the chief cameahwait, which means, "one who never walks," has the war name of tooettecone, or "black gun," which he acquired when he first signalized himself. as each new action gives a warrior a right to change his name, many of them have had several in the course of their lives. to give to a friend his own name is an act of high courtesy, and a pledge like that of pulling off the moccasin of sincerity and hospitality. the chief in this way gave his name to captain clarke when he first arrived, and he was afterwards known among the shoshonees by the name of cameahwait. the diseases incident to this state of life may be supposed to be few, and chiefly the result of accidents. we were particularly anxious to ascertain whether they had any knowledge of the venereal disorder. after inquiring by means of the interpreter and his wife, we learnt that they sometimes suffered from it, and that they most usually die with it; nor could we discover what was their remedy. it is possible that this disease may have reached them in their circuitous communications with the whites through the intermediate indians; but the situation of the shoshonees is so insulated, that it is not probable that it could have reached them in that way, and the existence of such a disorder among the rocky mountains seems rather a proof of its being aboriginal. chapter xvii. the party, after procuring horses from the shoshonees, proceed on their journey through the mountains--the difficulties and dangers of the route--a council held with another band of the shoshonees, of whom some account is given--they are reduced to the necessity of killing their horses for food--captain clarke with a small party precedes the main body in quest of food, and is hospitably received by the pierced-nose indians--arrival of the main body amongst this tribe, with whom a council is held--they resolve to perform the remainder of their journey in canoes--sickness of the party--they descend the kooskooskee to its junction with lewis river, after passing several dangerous rapids--short description of the manners and dress of the pierced-nose indians. august 27. we were now occupied in determining our route and procuring horses from the indians. the old guide who had been sent on by captain clarke, now confirmed, by means of our interpreter, what he had already asserted, of a road up berry creek which would lead to indian establishments on another branch of the columbia: his reports however were contradicted by all the shoshonees. this representation we ascribed to a wish on their part to keep us with them during the winter, as well for the protection we might afford against their enemies, as for the purpose of consuming our merchandise amongst them; and as the old man promised to conduct us himself, that route seemed to be the most eligible. we were able to procure some horses, though not enough for all our purposes. this traffic, and our inquiries and councils with the indians, consumed the remainder of the day. august 28. the purchase of horses was resumed, and our stock raised to twenty-two. having now crossed more than once the country which separates the head waters of the missouri from those of the columbia, we can designate the easiest and most expeditious route for a portage; it is as follows: from the forks of the river north 60â° west, five miles to the point of a hill on the right: then south 80â° west, ten miles to a spot where the creek is ten miles wide, and the highlands approach within two hundred yards; southwest five miles to a narrow part of the bottom; then turning south 70â° west, two miles to a creek on the right: thence south 80â° west, three miles to a rocky point opposite to a thicket of pines on the left; from that place west, three miles to the gap where is the fountain of the missouri: on leaving this fountain south 80â° west, six miles across the dividing ridge, to a run from the right passing several small streams north 80â° west, four miles over hilly ground to the east fork of lewis's river, which is here forty yards wide. thursday 29. captain clarke joined us this morning, and we continued our bargains for horses. the late misfortunes of the shoshonees make the price higher than common, so that one horse cost a pistol, one hundred balls, some powder and a knife; another was changed for a musket, and in this way we obtained twenty-nine. the horses themselves are young and vigorous, but they are very poor, and most of them have sore backs in consequence of the roughness of the shoshonee saddle. we are therefore afraid of loading them too heavily and are anxious to obtain one at least for each man to carry the baggage, or the man himself, or in the last resource to serve as food; but with all our exertions we could not provide all our men with horses. we have, however, been fortunate in obtaining for the last three days a sufficient supply of flesh, our hunters having killed two or three deer every day. friday 30. the weather was fine, and having now made all our purchases, we loaded our horses, and prepared to start. the greater part of the band who had delayed their journey on our account, were also ready to depart. we then took our leave of the shoshonees, who set out on their visit to the missouri at the same time that we accompanied by the old guide, his four sons, and another indian, began the descent of the river, along the same road which captain clarke had previously pursued. after riding twelve miles we encamped on the south bank of the river, and as the hunters had brought in three deer early in the morning we did not feel the want of provisions. saturday 31. at sunrise we resumed our journey, and halted for three hours on salmon creek to let the horses graze. we then proceeded to the stream called berry creek eighteen miles from the camp of last night: as we passed along, the vallies and prairies were on fire in several places, in order to collect the bands of the shoshonees and the flatheads, for their journey to the missouri. the weather was warm and sultry, but the only inconvenience which we apprehend is a dearth of food, of which we had to-day an abundance, having procured a deer, a goose, one duck and a prairie fowl. on reaching tower creek we left the former track of captain clarke, and began to explore the new route, which is our last hope of getting out of the mountains. for four miles the road, which is tolerably plain, led us along berry creek to some old indian lodges where we encamped for the night; the next day, sunday, september 1, 1805, we followed the same road which here left the creek and turned to the northwest across the hills. during all day we were riding over these hills, from which are many drains and small streams running into the river to the left, and at the distance of eighteen miles, came to a large creek called fish creek emptying into the columbia which is about six miles from us. it had rained in the course of the day, and commenced raining again towards evening. we therefore determined not to leave the low grounds to night, and after going up fish creek four miles formed our encampment. the country over which we passed is well watered, but poor and rugged or stony, except the bottoms of fish creek, and even these are narrow. two men were sent to purchase fish of the indians at the mouth of the creek, and with the dried fish which they obtained, and a deer and a few salmon killed by the party, we were still well supplied. two bear also were wounded but we could procure neither of them. monday 2. this morning all the indians left us, except the old guide, who now conducted us up fish creek: at one mile and a half we passed a branch of the river coming in through a low ground covered with pine on the left, and two and a half miles further is a second branch from the right; after continuing our route along the hills covered with pine, and a low ground of the same growth, we arrived at the distance of three and a half miles at the forks of the creek. the road which we were following now turned up the east side of these forks, and as our guide informed us led to the missouri. we were therefore left without any track; but as no time was to be lost we began to cut our road up the west branch of the creek. this we effected with much difficulty; the thickets of trees and brush through which we were obliged to cut our way required great labour; the road itself was over the steep and rocky sides of the hills where the horses could not move without danger of slipping down, while their feet were bruised by the rocks and stumps of trees. accustomed as these animals were to this kind of life they suffered severely, several of them fell to some distance down the sides of the hills, some turned over with the baggage, one was crippled, and two gave out exhausted with fatigue. after crossing the creek several times we at last made five miles, with great fatigue and labour, and encamped on the left side of the creek in a small stony low ground. it was not, however, till after dark that the whole party was collected, and then, as it rained, and we killed nothing, we passed an uncomfortable night. the party had been too busily occupied with the horses to make any hunting excursion, and though as we came along fish creek we saw many beaver dams we saw none of the animals themselves. in the morning, tuesday 3, the horses were very stiff and weary. we sent back two men for the load of the horse which had been crippled yesterday, and which we had been forced to leave two miles behind. on their return, we set out at eight o'clock, and proceeded up the creek, making a passage through the brush and timber along its borders. the country is generally supplied with pine, and in the low grounds is a great abundance of fir trees, and under bushes. the mountains are high and rugged, and those to the east of us, covered with snow. with all our precautions the horses were very much injured in passing over the ridges and steep points of the hills, and to add to the difficulty, at the distance of eleven miles, the high mountains closed the creek, so that we were obliged to leave the creek to the right, and cross the mountain abruptly. the ascent was here so steep that several of the horses slipped and hurt themselves, but at last we succeeded in crossing the mountain, and encamped on a small branch of fish creek. we had now made fourteen miles in a direction nearly north from the river; but this distance, though short, was very fatiguing, and rendered still more disagreeable by the rain which began at three o'clock. at dusk it commenced snowing, and continued till the ground was covered to the depth of two inches, when it changed into a sleet. we here met with a serious misfortune the last of our thermometers being broken by accident. after making a scanty supper on a little corn and a few pheasants killed in the course of the day, we laid down to sleep, and next morning, wednesday 4, found every thing frozen, and the ground covered with snow. we were obliged to wait some time in order to thaw the covers of the baggage, after which we began our journey at eight o'clock. we crossed a high mountain which joins the dividing ridge between the waters of the creek we had been ascending, and those running to the north and west. we had not gone more than six miles over the snow, when we reached the head of a stream from the right, which directed its course more to the westward. we descended the steep sides of the hills along its border, and at the distance of three miles found a small branch coming in from the eastward. we saw several of the argalia, but they were too shy to be killed, and we therefore made a dinner from a deer shot by one of the hunters. then we pursued the course of the stream for three miles, till it emptied itself into a river from the east. in the wide valley at their junction, we discovered a large encampment of indians: when we had reached them and alighted from our horses, we were received with great cordiality. a council was immediately assembled, white robes were thrown over our soldiers, and the pipe of peace introduced. after this ceremony, as it was too late to go any further, we encamped, and continued smoking and conversing with the chiefs till a late hour. the next morning, thursday 5, we assembled the chiefs and warriors, and informed them who we were, and the purpose for which we visited their country. all this was however conveyed to them through so many different languages, that it was not comprehended without difficulty. we therefore proceeded to the more intelligible language of presents, and made four chiefs by giving a medal and a small quantity of tobacco to each. we received in turn from the principal chief, a present consisting of the skins of a braro, an otter, and two antelopes, and were treated by the women to some dried roots and berries. we then began to traffic for horses, and succeeded in exchanging seven, purchasing eleven, for which we gave a few articles of merchandise. this encampment consists of thirty-three tents, in which were about four hundred souls, among whom eighty were men. they are called ootlashoots, and represent themselves as one band of a nation called tushepaws, a numerous people of four hundred and fifty tents, residing on the heads of the missouri and columbia rivers, and some of them lower down the latter river. in person these indians are stout, and their complexion lighter than that common among indians. the hair of the men is worn in queues of otter skin, falling in front over the shoulders. a shirt of dressed skin covers the body to the knee, and on this is worn occasionally a robe. to these were added leggings and moccasins. the women suffer their hair to fall in disorder over the face and shoulders, and their chief article of covering is a long shirt of skin, reaching down to the ancles, and tied round the waist. in other respects, as also in the few ornaments which they possess, their appearance is similar to that of the shoshonees; there is however a difference between the language of these people which is still farther increased by the very extraordinary pronunciation of the ootlashoots. their words have all a remarkably guttural sound, and there is nothing which seems to represent the tone of their speaking more exactly than the clucking of a fowl, or the noise of a parrot. this peculiarity renders their voices scarcely audible, except at a short distance, and when many of them are talking, forms a strange confusion of sounds. the common conversation we overheard, consisted of low guttural sounds occasionally broken by a loud word or two, after which it would relapse and scarcely be distinguished. they seem kind and friendly and willingly shared with us berries and roots, which formed their only stock of provisions. their only wealth is their horses, which are very fine, and so numerous that this party had with them at least five hundred. friday 6. we continued this morning with the ootlashoots, from whom we purchased two more horses, and procured a vocabulary of their language. the ootlashoots set off about two o'clock to join the different bands who were collecting at the three forks of the missouri. we ourselves proceeded at the same time, and taking a direction n. 30 w. crossed within the distance of one mile and a half, a small river from the right, and a creek coming in from the north. this river is the main stream, and when it reaches the end of the valley, where the mountains close in upon it, is joined by the river on which we encamped last evening, as well as by the creek just mentioned. to the river thus formed we gave the name of captain clarke, he being the first white man who had ever visited its waters. at the end of five miles on this course we had crossed the valley, and reached the top of a mountain covered with pine; this we descended along the steep sides and ravines for a mile and a half, when we came to a spot on the river, where the ootlashoots had encamped a few days before. we then followed the course of the river, which is from twenty-five to thirty yards wide, shallow, stony, and the low grounds on its borders narrow. within the distance of three and a half miles, we crossed it several times, and after passing a run on each side, encamped on its right bank, after making ten miles during the afternoon. the horses were turned out to graze, but those we had lately bought were secured and watched, lest they should escape, or be stolen by their former owners. our stock of flour was now exhausted, and we had but little corn, and as our hunters had killed nothing except two pheasants, our supper consisted chiefly of berries. saturday, 7. the greater part of the day the weather was dark and rainy: we continued through the narrow low grounds along the river, till at the distance of six miles we came to a large creek from the left, after which the bottoms widen. four miles lower is another creek on the same side, and the valley now extends from one to three miles, the mountains on the left being high and bald, with snow on the summits, while the country to the right is open and hilly. four miles beyond this is a creek running from the snow-top'd mountains, and several runs on both sides of the river. two miles from this last is another creek on the left. the afternoon was now far advanced, but not being able to find a fit place to encamp we continued six miles further till after dark, when we halted for the night. the river here is still shallow and stony, but is increased to the width of fifty yards. the valley through which we passed is of a poor soil, and its fertility injured by the quantity of stone scattered over it. we met two horses which had strayed from the indians and were now quite wild. no fish was to be seen in the river, but we obtained a very agreeable supply of two deer, two cranes, and two pheasants. sunday, 8. we set out early: the snow-top'd hills on the left approach the river near our camp, but we soon reached a valley four or five miles wide, through which we followed the course of the river in a direction due north. we passed three creeks on the right, and several runs emptying themselves into the opposite side of the river. at the distance of eleven miles the river turned more towards the west: we pursued it for twelve miles, and encamped near a large creek coming in from the right, which, from its being divided into four different channels, we called scattering creek. the valley continues to be a poor stony land, with scarcely any timber, except some pine trees along the waters and partially scattered on the hills to the right, which, as well as those on the left, have snow on them. the plant which forces itself most on our attention is a species of prickly pear very common on this part of the river: it grows in clusters, in an oval form about the size of a pigeon's egg, and its thorns are so strong and bearded, that when it penetrates our feet it brings away the pear itself. we saw two mares and a colt, which, like the horses seen yesterday, seemed to have lost themselves and become wild. our game to-day consisted of two deer, an elk, and a prairie fowl. monday, 9. we resumed our journey through the valley, and leaving the road on our right crossed the scattering creek, and halted at the distance of twelve miles on a small run from the east, where we breakfasted on the remains of yesterday's hunt: we here took a meridian altitude, which gave the latitude of 46â° 41' 38" 9"': we then continued, and at the distance of four miles passed over to the left bank of the river, where we found a large road through the valley. at this place is a handsome stream of very clear water, a hundred yards wide with low banks, and a bed formed entirely of gravel: it has every appearance of being navigable, but as it contains no salmon, we presume there must be some fall below which obstructs their passage. our guide could not inform us where this river discharged its waters; he said that as far as he knew its course it ran along the mountains to the north, and that not far from our present position it was joined by another stream nearly as large as itself, which rises in the mountains to the east near the missouri, and flows through an extensive valley or open prairie. through this prairie is the great indian road to the waters of the missouri; and so direct is the route, that in four days' journey from this place we might reach the missouri about thirty miles above what we called the gates of the rocky mountains, or the spot where the valley of that river widens into an extensive plain on entering the chain of mountains. at ten miles from our camp is a small creek falling in from the eastward, five miles below which we halted at a large stream which empties itself on the west side of the river. it is a fine bold creek of clear water about twenty yards wide, and we called it _traveller's-rest_ creek; for as our guide told us that we should here leave the river, we determined to remain for the purpose of making celestial observations and collecting some food, as the country through which we are to pass has no game for a great distance. the valley of the river through which we have been passing is generally a prairie from five to six miles in width, and with a cold gravelly white soil. the timber which it possesses is almost exclusively pine, chiefly of the long-leafed kind, with some spruce, and a species of fir resembling the scotch fir: near the water courses are also seen a few narrow-leafed cottonwood trees, and the only underbrush is the redwood, honeysuckle, and rosebushes. our game was four deer, three geese, four ducks, and three prairie fowls; one of the hunters brought in a red-headed woodpecker of the large kind common in the united states, but the first of the kind we have seen since leaving the illinois. tuesday, 10. the morning being fair all the hunters were sent out, and the rest of the party employed in repairing their clothes: two of them were sent to the junction of the river from the east, along which the indians go to the missouri: it is about seven miles below traveller's-rest creek; the country at the forks is seven or eight miles wide, level and open, but with little timber; its course is to the north, and we incline to believe that this is the river which the minnetarees had described to us as running from south to north along the west side of the rocky mountains, not far from the sources of medicine river: there is moreover reason to suppose, that after going as far northward as the head-waters of that river it turns to the westward and joins the tacootchetessee. towards evening one of the hunters returned with three indians, whom he had met in his excursion up traveller's-rest creek: as soon as they saw him they prepared to attack him with arrows, but he quieted them by laying down his gun and advancing towards them, and soon persuaded them to come to the camp. our shoshonee guide could not speak the language of these people, but by the universal language of signs and gesticulations, which is perfectly intelligible among the indians, he found that these were three tushepaw flatheads in pursuit of two men, supposed to be shoshonees, who had stolen twenty-three of their horses: we gave them some boiled venison and a few presents; such as a fishhook, a steel to strike fire, and a little powder; but they seemed better pleased with a piece of riband which we tied in the hair of each of them. they were however in such haste, lest their horses should be carried off, that two of them set off after sunset in quest of the robbers: the third however was persuaded to remain with us and conduct us to his relations: these he said were numerous, and resided on the columbia in the plain below the mountains. from that place he added, the river was navigable to the ocean; that some of his relations had been there last fall and seen an old white man who resided there by himself, and who gave them some handkerchiefs like those we have. the distance from this place is five sleeps or days' journey. when our hunters had all joined us we found our provisions consisted of four deer, a beaver, and three grouse. the observation of to-day gave 46â° 48' 28" as the latitude of travellers-rest creek. wednesday 11. two of our horses having strayed away we were detained all the morning before they were caught. in the meantime our tushepaw indian became impatient of the delay, and set out to return home alone. as usual we had dispatched four of our best hunters ahead, and as we hoped with their aid and our present stock of provisions to subsist on the route, we proceeded at three o'clock up the right side of the creek, and encamped under some old indian huts at the distance of seven miles. the road was plain and good; the valley is however narrower than that which we left and bordered by high and rugged hills to the right, while the mountains on the left were covered with snow. the day was fair and warm, the wind from the northwest. thursday 12. there was a white frost this morning. we proceeded at seven o'clock and soon passed a stream falling in on the right, near which was an old indian camp with a bath or sweating-house covered with earth. at two miles distance we ascended a high, and thence continued through a hilly and thickly timbered country for nine miles, when we came to the forks of the creek, where the road branches up each fork. we followed the western route, and finding that the creek made a considerable bend at the distance of four miles, crossed a high mountain in order to avoid the circuit. the road had been very bad during the first part of the day, but the passage of the mountain, which was eight miles across, was very painful to the horses, as we were obliged to go over steep stony sides of hills and along the hollows and ravines, rendered more disagreeable* by the fallen timber, chiefly pine, spruce pine and fir. we at length reached the creek, having made twenty-three miles of a route so difficult that some of the party did not join us before ten o'clock. we found the account of the scantiness of game but too true, as we were not able to procure any thing during the whole of yesterday, and to-day we killed only a single pheasant. along the road we observed many of the pine trees pealed off, which is done by the indians to procure the inner bark for food in the spring. friday 13. two of the horses strayed away during the night, and one of them being captain lewis's, he remained with four men to search for them while we proceeded up the creek: at the distance of two miles we came to several springs issuing from large rocks of a coarse hard grit, and nearly boiling hot. those seem to be much frequented as there are several paths made by elk, deer and other animals, and near one of the springs a hole or indian bath, and roads leading in different directions. these embarrassed our guide, who mistaking the road took us three miles out of the proper course over an exceedingly bad route. we then fell into the right road, and proceeded on very well, when having made five miles we stopped to refresh the horses. captain lewis here joined us, but not having been able to find his horse two men were sent back to continue the search. we then proceeded along the same kind of country which we passed yesterday, and after crossing a mountain and leaving the sources of the travellers-rest creek on the left, reached after five miles riding a small creek which also came in from the left hand, passing through open glades, some of which were half a mile wide. the road which had been as usual rugged and stony, became firm, plain and level after quitting the head of travellers-rest. we followed the course of this new creek for two miles and encamped at a spot where the mountains close on each side. other mountains covered with snow are in view to the southeast and southwest. we were somewhat more fortunate to-day in killing a deer and several pheasants which were of the common species, except that the tail was black. saturday 14. the day was very cloudy with rain and hail in the vallies, while on the top of the mountains some snow fell. we proceeded early, and continuing along the right side of glade creek crossed a high mountain, and at the distance of six miles reached the place where it is joined by another branch of equal size from the right. near the forks the tushepaws have had an encampment which is but recently abandoned, for the grass is entirely destroyed by horses, and two fish weirs across the creek are still remaining; no fish were however to be seen. we here passed over to the left side of the creek and began the ascent of a very high and steep mountain nine miles across. on reaching the other side we found a large branch from the left, which seems to rise in the snowy mountains to the south and southeast. we continued along the creek two miles further, when night coming on we encamped opposite a small island at the mouth of a branch on the right side of the river. the mountains which we crossed to-day were much more difficult than those of yesterday; the last was particularly fatiguing, being steep and stony, broken by fallen timber, and thickly overgrown by pine, spruce, fir, haematack and tamarac. although we had made only seventeen miles we were all very weary. the whole stock of animal food was now exhausted, and we therefore killed a colt, on which we made a hearty supper. from this incident we called the last creek we had passed from the south colt-killed creek. the river itself is eighty yards wide, with a swift current, and a stony channel. its indian name is kooskooskee. sunday 15. at an early hour we proceeded along the right side of the kooskooskee over steep rocky points of land, till at the distance of four miles we reached an old indian fishing place: the road here turned to the right of the water, and began to ascend a mountain: but the fire and wind had prostrated or dried almost all the timber on the south side, and the ascents were so steep that we were forced to wind in every direction round the high knobs which constantly impeded our progress. several of the horses lost their foot-hold and slipped: one of them which was loaded with a desk and small trunk, rolled over and over for forty yards, till his fall was stopped by a tree. the desk was broken; but the poor animal escaped without much injury. after clambering in this way for four miles, we came to a high snowy part of the mountain where was a spring of water, at which we halted two hours to refresh our horses. on leaving the spring the road continued as bad as it was below, and the timber more abundant. at four miles we reached the top of the mountain, and foreseeing no chance of meeting with water, we encamped on the northern side of the mountain, near an old bank of snow, three feet deep. some of this we melted, and supped on the remains of the colt killed yesterday. our only game to-day was two pheasants, and the horses on which we calculated as a last resource begin to fail us, for two of them were so poor, and worn out with fatigue, that we were obliged to leave them behind. all around us are high rugged mountains, among which is a lofty range from southeast to northwest, whose tops are without timber, and in some places covered with snow. the night was cloudy and very cold, and three hours before daybreak, monday 16, it began to snow, and continued all day, so that by evening it was six or eight inches deep. this covered the track so completely, that we were obliged constantly to halt and examine, lest we should lose the route. in many places we had nothing to guide us except the branches of the trees which, being low, have been rubbed by the burdens of the indian horses. the road was, like that of yesterday, along steep hill sides, obstructed with fallen timber, and a growth of eight different species of pine, so thickly strewed that the snow falls from them as we pass, and keeps us continually wet to the skin, and so cold, that we are anxious lest our feet should be frozen, as we have only thin moccasins to defend them. at noon we halted to let the horses feed on some long grass on the south side of the mountains, and endeavoured by making fires to keep ourselves warm. as soon as the horses were refreshed, captain clarke went ahead with one man, and at the distance of six miles reached a stream from the right, and prepared fires by the time of our arrival at dusk. we here encamped in a piece of low ground, thickly timbered, but scarcely large enough to permit us to lie level. we had now made thirteen miles. we were all very wet, cold, and hungry: but although before setting out this morning, we had seen four deer, yet we could not procure any of them, and were obliged to kill a second colt for our supper. tuesday 17. our horses became so much scattered during the night, that we were detained till one o'clock before they were all collected. we then continued our route over high rough knobs, and several drains and springs, and along a ridge of country separating the waters of two small rivers. the road was still difficult, and several of the horses fell and injured themselves very much, so that we were unable to advance more than ten miles to a small stream, on which we encamped. we had killed a few pheasants, but these being insufficient for our subsistence, we killed another of the colts. this want of provisions, and the extreme fatigue to which we were subjected, and the dreary prospects before us, began to dispirit the men. it was therefore agreed that captain clarke should go on ahead with six hunters, and endeavour to kill something for the support of the party. he therefore set out, wednesday 18, early in the morning in hopes of finding a level country from which he might send back some game. his route lay s. 85â° w., along the same high dividing ridge, and the road was still very bad; but he moved on rapidly, and at the distance of twenty miles was rejoiced on discovering far off an extensive plain towards the west and southwest, bounded by a high mountain. he halted an hour to let the horses eat a little grass on the hill sides, and then went on twelve and a half miles till he reached a bold creek, running to the left, on which he encamped. to this stream he gave the very appropriate name of hungry creek; for having procured no game, they had nothing to eat. in the meantime we were detained till after eight o'clock by the loss of one of our horses which had strayed away and could not be found. we then proceeded, but having soon finished the remainder of the colt killed yesterday, felt the want of provisions, which was more sensible from our meeting with no water, till towards nightfall we found some in a ravine among the hills. by pushing on our horses almost to their utmost strength, we made eighteen miles. we then melted some snow, and supped on a little portable soup, a few canisters of which, with about twenty weight of bears oil, are our only remaining means of subsistence. our guns are scarcely of any service, for there is no living creature in these mountains, except a few small pheasants, a small species of gray squirrel, and a blue bird of the vulture kind about the size of a turtle dove or jay, and even these are difficult to shoot. thursday 19. captain clarke proceeded up the creek, along which the road was more steep and stony than any he had yet passed, at six miles distance he reached a small plain, in which he fortunately found a horse, on which he breakfasted, and hung the rest on a tree for the party in the rear. two miles beyond this he left the creek, and crossed three high mountains, rendered almost impassable from the steepness of the ascent and the quantity of fallen timber. after clambering over these ridges and mountains, and passing the heads of some branches of hungry creek, he came to a large creek running westward. this he followed for four miles, then turned to the right down the mountain, till he came to a small creek to the left. here he halted, having made twenty-two miles on his course, south eighty degrees west, though the winding route over the mountains almost doubled the distance. on descending the last mountain, the heat became much more sensible after the extreme cold he had experienced for several days past. besides the breakfast in the morning, two pheasants were their only food during the day, and the only kinds of birds they saw were the blue jay, a small white-headed hawk, a larger hawk, crows, and ravens. we followed soon after sunrise. at six miles the ridge terminated and we had before us the cheering prospect of the large plain to the southwest. on leaving the ridge we again ascended and went down several mountains, and six miles further came to hungry creek where it was fifteen yards wide, and received the waters of a branch from the north. we went up it on a course nearly due west, and at three miles crossed a second branch flowing from the same quarter. the country is thickly covered with pine timber, of which we have enumerated eight distinct species. three miles beyond this last branch of hungry creek we encamped, after a fatiguing route of eighteen miles. the road along the creek is a narrow rocky path near the borders of very high precipices, from which a fall seems almost inevitable destruction. one of our horses slipped and rolling over with his load down the hill side, which was nearly perpendicular and strewed with large irregular rocks, nearly a hundred yards, and did not stop till he fell into the creek: we all expected he was killed, but to our astonishment, on taking off his load, he rose, and seemed but little injured, and in twenty minutes proceeded with his load. having no other provision we took some portable soup, our only refreshment during the day. this abstinence, joined with fatigue, has a visible effect on our health. the men are growing weak and losing their flesh very fast: several are afflicted with the dysentery, and eruptions of the skin are very common. friday 20. captain clarke went on through a country as rugged as usual, till on passing a low mountain he came at the distance of four miles to the forks of a large creek. down this he kept on a course south 60â° west for two miles, then turning to the right, continued over a dividing ridge where were the heads of several little streams, and at twelve miles distance descended the last of the rocky mountains and reached the level country. a beautiful open plain partially supplied with pine now presented itself. he continued for five miles when he discovered three indian boys, who, on observing the party, ran off and hid themselves in the grass. captain clarke immediately alighted, and giving his horse and gun to one of the men went after the boys. he soon relieved their apprehensions and sent them forward to the village about a mile off with presents of small pieces of riband. soon after the boys had reached home, a man came out to meet the party, with great caution, but he conducted them to a large tent in the village, and all the inhabitants gathered round to view with a mixture of fear and pleasure these wonderful strangers. the conductor now informed captain clarke by signs, that the spacious tent was the residence of the great chief, who had set out three days ago with all the warriors to attack some of their enemies towards the southwest; that he would not return before fifteen or eighteen days, and that in the meantime there were only a few men left to guard the women and children. they now set before them a small piece of buffaloe meat, some dried salmon, berries, and several kinds of roots. among these last is one which is round and much like an onion in appearance and sweet to the taste: it is called quamash, and is eaten either in its natural state, or boiled into a kind of soup or made into a cake, which is then called pasheco. after the long abstinence this was a sumptuous treat; we returned the kindness of the people by a few small presents, and then went on in company with one of the chiefs to a second village in the same plain, at the distance of two miles. here the party was treated with great kindness and passed the night. the hunters were sent out, but though they saw some tracks of deer were not able to procure any thing. we were detained till ten o'clock before we could collect our scattered horses; we then proceeded for two miles, when to our great joy we found the horse which captain clarke had killed, and a note apprising us of his intention of going to the plains towards the southwest, and collect provisions by the time we reached him. at one o'clock we halted on a small stream, and made a hearty meal of horse flesh. on examination it now appeared that one of the horses was missing, and the man in whose charge he had been, was directed to return and search for him. he came back in about two hours without having been able to find the horse; but as the load was too valuable to be lost, two of the best woodsmen were directed to continue the search while we proceeded. our general course was south 25â° west through a thick forest of large pine, which has fallen in many places, and very much obstructs the road. after making about fifteen miles we encamped on a ridge where we could find but little grass and no water. we succeeded, however, in procuring a little from a distance, and supped on the remainder of the horse. on descending the heights of the mountains the soil becomes gradually more fertile, and the land through which we passed this evening, is of an excellent quality. it has a dark gray soil, though very broken, and with large masses of gray free-stone above the ground in many places. among the vegetable productions we distinguished the alder, honeysuckle, and huckleberry, common in the united states, and a species of honeysuckle, known only westward of the rocky mountains, which rises to the height of about four feet, and bears a white berry. there is also a plant resembling the chokecherry, which grows in thick clumps eight or ten feet high, and bears a black berry with a single stone of a sweetish taste. the arbor vitã¦ too, is very common, and grows to a great size, being from two to six feet in diameter. saturday 21. the free use of food, to which he had not been accustomed, made captain clarke very sick both yesterday evening and during the whole of to-day. he therefore sent out all the hunters and remained himself at the village, as well on account of his sickness as for the purpose of avoiding suspicion and collecting information from the indians as to the route. the two villages consist of about thirty double tents, and the inhabitants call themselves chopunnish or pierced-nose. the chief drew a chart of the river, and explained, that a greater chief than himself, who governed this village and was called the twisted-hair, was now fishing at the distance of half a day's ride down the river: his chart made the kooskooskee fork a little below his camp, a second fork below, still further on a large branch flowed in on each side, below which the river passed the mountains: here was a great fall of water, near which lived white people, from whom were procured the white beads and brass ornaments worn by the women. a chief of another band made a visit this morning, and smoked with captain clarke. the hunters returned without having been able to kill any thing; captain clarke purchased as much dried salmon, roots, and berries as he could, with the few articles he chanced to have in his pockets, and having sent them by one of the men and a hired indian back to captain lewis, he went on towards the camp of the twisted-hair. it was four o'clock before he set out, and the night soon came on; but having met an indian coming from the river, they engaged him by a present of a neckcloth, to guide them to the twisted-hair's camp. for twelve miles they proceeded through the plain before they reached the river hills, which are very high and steep. the whole valley from these hills to the rocky mountain is a beautiful level country, with a rich soil covered with grass: there is, however, but little timber, and the ground is badly watered: the plain is so much lower than the surrounding hills, or so much sheltered by them, that the weather is quite warm, while the cold of the mountains was extreme. from the top of the river hills they proceeded down for three miles till they reached the water side, between eleven and twelve o'clock at night: here we found a small camp of five squaws and three children, the chief himself being encamped, with two others, on a small island in the river: the guide called to him and he soon came over. captain clarke gave him a medal, and they smoked together till one o'clock. we could not set out till eleven o'clock, because being obliged in the evening to loosen our horses to enable them to find subsistence, it is always difficult to collect them in the morning. at that hour we continued along the ridge on which we had slept, and at a mile and a half reached a large creek running to our left, just above its junction with one of its branches. we proceeded down the low grounds of this creek, which are level, wide, and heavily timbered, but turned to the right at the distance of two and a half miles, and began to pass the broken and hilly country; but the thick timber had fallen in so many places that we could scarcely make our way. after going five miles we passed the creek on which captain clarke had encamped during the night of the 19th, and continued five miles further over the same kind of road, till we came to the forks of a large creek. we crossed the northern branch of this stream, and proceeded down it on the west side for a mile: here we found a small plain where there was tolerable grass for the horses, and therefore remained during the night, having made fifteen miles on a course s. 30â° w. the arbor vitã¦ increases in size and quantity as we advance: some of the trees we passed to-day being capable of forming periogues at least forty-five feet in length. we were so fortunate also as to kill a few pheasants and a prairie wolf, which, with the remainder of the horse, supplied us with one meal, the last of our provisions, our food for the morrow being wholly dependent on the chance of our guns. sunday, 22. captain clarke passed over to the island with the twisted-hair, who seemed to be cheerful and sincere in his conduct. the river at this place is about one hundred and sixty yards wide, but interrupted by shoals, and the low grounds on its borders are narrow. the hunters brought in three deer; after which captain clarke left his party, and accompanied by the twisted-hair and his son, rode back to the village, where he arrived about sunset: they then walked up together to the second village, where we had just arrived. we had intended to set out early, but one of the men having neglected to hobble his horse he strayed away, and we were obliged to wait till nearly twelve o'clock. we then proceeded on a western course for two and a half miles, when we met the hunters sent by captain clarke from the village, seven and a half miles distant, with provisions. this supply was most seasonable, as we had tasted nothing since last night, and the fish, and roots, and berries, in addition to a crow which we killed on the route, completely satisfied our hunger. after this refreshment we proceeded in much better spirits, and at a few miles were overtaken by the two men who had been sent back after a horse on the 20th. they were perfectly exhausted with the fatigue of walking and the want of food; but as we had two spare horses they were mounted and brought on to the village. they had set out about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 20th with one horse between them: after crossing the mountain they came to the place where we had eaten the horse. here they encamped, and having no food made a fire and roasted the head of the horse, which even our appetites had spared, and supped on the ears, skin, lips, &c. of the animal. the next morning, 21st, they found the track of the horse, and pursuing it recovered the saddle-bags, and at length about eleven o'clock, the horse himself. being now both mounted, they set out to return and slept at a small stream: during the day they had nothing at all except two pheasants, which were so torn to pieces by the shot, that the head and legs were the only parts fit for food. in this situation they found the next morning, 22d, that during the night their horses had run away from them or been stolen by the indians. they searched for them until nine o'clock, when seeing that they could not recover them and fearful of starving if they remained where they were, they set out on foot to join us, carrying the saddle-bags alternately. they walked as fast as they could during the day, till they reached us in a deplorable state of weakness and inanition. as we approached the village, most of the women, though apprised of our being expected, fled with their children into the neighbouring woods. the men, however, received us without any apprehension, and gave us a plentiful supply of provisions. the plains were now crowded with indians, who came to see the persons of the whites and the strange things they brought with them: but as our guide was perfectly a stranger to their language we could converse by signs only. our inquiries were chiefly directed to the situation of the country, the courses of the rivers, and the indian villages, of all which we received information from several of the indians, and as their accounts varied but little from each other, we were induced to place confidence in them. among others, the twisted-hair drew a chart of the river on a white elk skin. according to this, the kooskooskee forks a few miles from this place; two days towards the south is another and larger fork on which the shoshonee or snake indians fish: five days' journey further is a large river from the northwest into which clarke's river empties itself: from the mouth of that river to the falls is five days' journey further: on all the forks as well as on the main river great numbers of indians reside, and at the falls are establishments of whites. this was the story of the twisted-hair. monday 23. the chiefs and warriors were all assembled this morning, and we explained to them where we came from, the objects of our visiting them, and our pacific intentions towards all the indians. this being conveyed by signs, might not have been perfectly comprehended, but appeared to give perfect satisfaction. we now gave a medal to two of the chiefs, a shirt in addition to the medal already received by the twisted-hair, and delivered a flag and a handkerchief for the grand chief on his return. to these were added a knife, a handkerchief and a small piece of tobacco for each chief. the inhabitants did not give us any provisions gratuitously. we therefore purchased a quantity of fish, berries (chiefly red haws) and roots; and in the afternoon went on to the second village. the twisted-hair introduced us into his own tent, which consisted however of nothing more than pine bushes and bark, and gave us some dried salmon boiled. we continued our purchases, and obtained as much provision as our horses could carry in their present weak condition as far as the river. the men exchanged a few old canisters for dressed elk skins, of which they made shirts: great crowds of the natives are round us all night, but we have not yet missed any thing except a knife and a few other articles stolen yesterday from a shot pouch. at dark we had a hard wind from the southwest accompanied with rain which lasted half an hour, but in the morning, tuesday 24, the weather was fair. we sent back colter in search of the horses lost in the mountains, and having collected the rest set out at ten o'clock along the same route already passed by captain clarke towards the river. all round the village the women are busily employed in gathering and dressing the pasheco root, of which large quantities are heaped up in piles over the plain. we now felt severely the consequence of eating heartily after our late privations: captain lewis and two of the men were taken very ill last evening, and to-day he could scarcely sit on his horse, while others were obliged to be put on horseback, and some from extreme weakness and pain, were forced to lie down along side of the road for some time. at sunset we reached the island where the hunters had been left on the 22d. they had been unsuccessful, having killed only two deer since that time, and two of them are very sick. a little below this island is a larger one on which we encamped, and administered rush's pills to the sick. wednesday 25. the weather was very hot, and oppressive to the party, most of whom are now complaining of sickness. our situation indeed, rendered it necessary to husband our remaining strength, and it was determined to proceed down the river in canoes. captain clarke therefore set out with the twisted-hair and two young men, in quest of timber for canoes. as he went down the river he crossed at the distance of a mile a creek from the right, which from the rocks that obstructed its passage, he called rockdam river. the hills along the river are high and steep: the low grounds are narrow, and the navigation of the river embarrassed by two rapids. at the distance of three miles further he reached two nearly equal forks of the river, one of which flowed in from the north. here he rested for an hour, and cooked a few salmon which one of the indians caught with a gig. here too, he was joined by two canoes of indians from below: they were long, steady, and loaded with the furniture and provisions of two families. he now crossed the south fork, and returned to the camp on the south side, through a narrow pine bottom the greater part of the way, in which was found much fine timber for canoes. one of the indian boats with two men, set out at the same time, and such was their dexterity in managing the pole, that they reached camp within fifteen minutes after him, although they had to drag the canoe over three rapids. he found captain lewis, and several of the men still very sick; and distributed to such as were in need of it, salts and tartar emetic. thursday 26. having resolved to go down to some spot calculated for building canoes, we set out early this morning and proceeded five miles, and encamped on low ground on the south, opposite the forks of the river. but so weak were the men that several were taken sick in coming down; the weather being oppressively hot. two chiefs and their families followed us, and encamped with a great number of horses near us: and soon after our arrival we were joined by two indians, who came down the north fork on a raft. we purchased some fresh salmon, and having distributed axes, and portioned off the labour of the party, began, friday 27, at an early hour, the preparations for making five canoes. but few of the men, however, were able to work, and of these several were soon taken ill, as the day proved very hot. the hunters too, returned without any game, and seriously indisposed, so that nearly the whole party was now ill. we procured some fresh salmon; and colter, who now returned with one of the horses, brought half a deer, which was very nourishing to the invalids: several indians from a camp below, came up to see us. saturday 28. the men continue ill, though some of those first attacked are recovering. their general complaint is a heaviness at the stomach, and a lax, which is rendered more painful by the heat of the weather, and the diet of fish and roots, to which they are confined, as no game is to be procured. a number of indians collect about us in the course of the day to gaze at the strange appearance of every thing belonging to us. sunday 29. the morning was cool, the wind from the southwest; but in the afternoon the heat returned. the men continue ill; but all those who are able to work are occupied at the canoes. the spirits of the party were much recruited by three deer brought in by the hunters; and the next day, monday 30th, the sick began to recruit their strength, the morning being fair and pleasant. the indians pass in great numbers up and down the river, and we observe large quantities of small duck going down this morning. tuesday, october 1, 1805. the morning was cool, the wind easterly, but the latter part of the day was warm. we were visited by several indians from the tribes below, and others from the main south fork. to two of the most distinguished men, we made presents of a ring and broach, and to five others a piece of riband, a little tobacco, and the fifth part of a neckcloth. we now dried our clothes and other articles, and selected some articles such as the indians admire, in order to purchase some provisions, as we have nothing left except a little dried fish, which operates as a complete purgative. wednesday 2. the day is very warm. two men were sent to the village with a quantity of these articles to purchase food. we are now reduced to roots, which produce violent pains in the stomach. our work continued as usual, and many of the party are convalescent. the hunters returned in the afternoon with nothing but a small prairie-wolf, so that our provisions being exhausted, we killed one of the horses to eat, and provide soup for the sick. thursday 3. the fine cool morning and easterly wind had an agreeable effect upon the party, most of whom are now able to work. the indians from below left us, and we were visited by others from different quarters. friday 4. again we had a cool east wind from the mountains. the men were now much better, and captain lewis himself so far recovered as to walk about a little. three indians arrived to-day from the great river to the south. the two men also returned from the village with roots and fish, and as the flesh of the horse killed yesterday was exhausted, we were confined to that diet, although unwholesome as well as unpleasant. the afternoon was warm. saturday 5. the wind easterly, and the weather cool. the canoes being nearly finished it became necessary to dispose of our horses. they were therefore collected to the number of thirty-eight, and being branded and marked were delivered to three indians, the two brothers and the son of a chief, who promises to accompany us down the river. to each of those men we gave a knife and some small articles, and they agreed to take good care of the horses till our return. the hunters with all their diligence are unable to kill any thing, the hills being high and rugged, and the woods too dry to hunt deer, which is the only game in the country. we therefore continue to eat dried fish and roots, which are purchased from the squaws, by means of small presents, but chiefly white beads, of which they are extravagantly fond. some of these roots seem to possess very active properties, for after supping on them this evening, we were swelled to such a degree as to be scarcely able to breathe for several hours. towards night we lanched two canoes which proved to be very good. sunday 6. this morning is again cool, and the wind easterly. the general course of the winds seems to resemble that which we observed on the east side of the mountain. while on the head waters of the missouri, we had every morning a cool wind from the west. at this place a cool breeze springs up during the latter part of the night, or near daybreak, and continues till seven or eight o'clock, when it subsides, and the latter part of the day is warm. captain lewis is not so well as he was, and captain clarke was also taken ill. we had all our saddles buried in a cache near the river, about half a mile below, and deposited at the same time a canister of powder, and a bag of balls. the time which could be spared from our labours on the canoes, was devoted to some astronomical observations. the latitude of our camp as deduced from the mean of two observations is 46â° 34' 56" 3"' north. monday 7. this morning all the canoes were put in the water and loaded, the oars fixed, and every preparation made for setting out but when we were all ready, the two chiefs who had promised to accompany us, were not to be found, and at the same time we missed a pipe tomahawk. we therefore proceeded without them. below the forks this river is called the kooskooskee, and is a clear rapid stream, with a number of shoals and difficult places. for some miles the hills are steep, the low grounds narrow, but then succeeds an open country with a few trees scattered along the river. at the distance of nine miles is a small creek on the left. we passed in the course of the day ten rapids, in descending which, one of the canoes struck a rock, and sprung a leak: we however continued for nineteen miles, and encamped on the left side of the river, opposite to the mouth of a small run. here the canoe was unloaded and repaired, and two lead canisters of powder deposited; several camps of indians were on the sides of the river, but we had little intercourse with any of them. tuesday 8. we set out at nine o'clock. at eight and a half miles we passed an island: four and a half miles lower a second island, opposite a small creek on the left side of the river. five miles lower is another island on the left: a mile and a half below which is a fourth. at a short distance from this is a large creek from the right, to which we gave the name of colter's creek, from colter one of the men. we had left this creek about a mile and a half, and were passing the last of fifteen rapids which we had been fortunate enough to escape, when one of the canoes struck, and a hole being made in her side, she immediately filled and sunk. the men, several of whom could not swim, clung to the boat till one of our canoes could be unloaded, and with the assistance of an indian boat, they were all brought to shore. all the goods were so much wet, that we were obliged to halt for the night, and spread them out to dry. while all this was exhibited, it was necessary to place two sentinels over the merchandise, for we found that the indians, though kind and disposed to give us every aid during our distress, could not resist the temptation of pilfering some of the small articles. we passed during our route of twenty miles to-day, several encampments of indians on the islands, and near the rapids, which places are chosen as most convenient for taking salmon. at one of these camps we found our two chiefs, who after promising to descend the river with us, had left us; they however willingly came on board after we had gone through the ceremony of smoking. wednesday, 9. the morning was as usual, cool; but as the weather both yesterday and to-day was cloudy, our merchandise dried but slowly. the boat, though much injured, was repaired by ten o'clock so as to be perfectly fit for service; but we were obliged to remain during the day till the articles were sufficiently dry to be reloaded: the interval we employed in purchasing fish for the voyage and conversing with the indians. in the afternoon we were surprised at hearing that our old shoshonee guide and his son had left us, and been seen running up the river several miles above. as he had never given any notice of his intention, nor had even received his pay for guiding us, we could not imagine the cause of his desertion, nor did he ever return to explain his conduct. we requested the chief to send a horseman after him to request that he would return and receive what we owed him. from this however he dissuaded us, and said very frankly, that his nation, the chopunnish, would take from the old man any presents that he might have on passing their camp. the indians came about our camp at night, and were very gay and good-humoured with the men. among other exhibitions was that of a squaw who appeared to be crazy: she sang in a wild incoherent manner, and would offer to the spectators all the little articles she possessed, scarifying herself in a horrid manner if any one refused her present: she seemed to be an object of pity among the indians, who suffered her to do as she pleased without interruption. thursday, 10. a fine morning. we loaded the canoes and set off at seven o'clock. at the distance of two and a half miles we had passed three islands, the last of which is opposite to a small stream on the right. within the following three and a half miles is another island and a creek on the left, with wide low grounds, containing willow and cottonwood trees, on which were three tents of indians. two miles lower is the head of a large island, and six and a half miles further we halted at an encampment of eight lodges on the left, in order to view a rapid before us: we had already passed eight, and some of them difficult; but this was worse than any of them, being a very hazardous ripple strewed with rocks: we here purchased roots and dined with the indians. among them was a man from the falls, who says that he saw white people at that place and is very desirous of going down with us; an offer which however we declined. just above this camp we had passed a tent, near which was an indian bathing himself in a small pond or hole of water, warmed by throwing in hot stones. after finishing our meal we descended the rapid with no injury, except to one of our boats which ran against a rock, but in the course of an hour was brought off with only a small split in her side. this ripple, from its appearance and difficulty, we named the rugged rapid. we went on over five other rapids of a less dangerous kind, and at the distance of five miles reached a large fork of the river from the south; and after coming twenty miles, halted below the junction on the right side of the river: our arrival soon attracted the attention of the indians, who flocked in all directions to see us. in the evening the indian from the falls, whom we had seen at the rugged rapid, joined us with his son in a small canoe, and insisted on accompanying us to the falls. being again reduced to fish and roots we made an experiment to vary our food by purchasing* a few dogs, and after having been accustomed to horse-flesh, felt no disrelish to this new dish. the chopunnish have great numbers of dogs which they employ for domestic purposes, but never eat; and our using the flesh of that animal soon brought us into ridicule as dog-eaters. the country at the junction of the two rivers is an open plain on all sides, broken towards the left by a distant ridge of highland, thinly covered with timber: this is the only body of timber which the country possesses; for at the forks there is not a tree to be seen, and during almost the whole descent of sixty miles down the kooskooskee from its forks there are very few. this southern branch is in fact the main stream of lewis's river on which we encamped when among the shoshonees. the indians inform us that it is navigable for sixty miles; that not far from its mouth it receives a branch from the south; and a second and larger branch, two days' march up, and nearly parallel to the first chopunnish villages, we met near the mountains. this branch is called pawnashte, and is the residence of a chief, who, according to their expression, has more horses than he can count. the river has many rapids, near which are situated many fishing camps; there being ten establishments of this before reaching the first southern branch; one on that stream, five between that and the pawnashte; one on that river, and two above it; besides many other indians who reside high up on the more distant waters of this river. all these indians belong to the chopunnish nation, and live in tents of an oblong form, covered with flat roofs. at its mouth lewis's river is about two hundred and fifty yards wide, and its water is of a greenish blue colour. the kooskooskee, whose waters are clear as crystal, one hundred and fifty yards in width, and after the union the river enlarges to the space of three hundred yards: at the point of the union is an indian cabin, and in lewis's river a small island. the chopunnish or pierced-nose nation, who reside on the kooskooskee and lewis's rivers, are in person stout, portly, well-looking men: the women are small, with good features, and generally handsome, though the complexion of both sexes is darker than that of the tushepaws. in dress they resemble that nation, being fond of displaying their ornaments. the buffaloe or elk-skin robe decorated with beads, sea-shells, chiefly mother-of-pearl, attached to an otter-skin collar and hung in the hair, which falls in front in two queues; feathers, paints of different kinds, principally white, green, and light blue, all of which they find in their own country: these are the chief ornaments they use. in the winter they wear a short shirt of dressed skins, long painted leggings and moccasins, and a plait of twisted grass round the neck. the dress of the women is more simple, consisting of a long shirt of argalia or ibex skin, reaching down to the ankles without a girdle: to this are tied little pieces of brass and shells and other small articles; but the head is not at all ornamented. the dress of the female is indeed more modest, and more studiously so than any we have observed, though the other sex is careless of the indelicacy of exposure. the chopunnish have very few amusements, for their life is painful and laborious; and all their exertions are necessary to earn even their precarious subsistence. during the summer and autumn they are busily occupied in fishing for salmon, and collecting their winter store of roots. in the winter they hunt the deer on snow shoes over the plains, and towards spring cross the mountains to the missouri for the purpose of trafficking for buffaloe robes. the inconveniences of that comfortless life are increased by frequent encounters with their enemies from the west, who drive them over the mountains with the loss of their horses, and sometimes the lives of many of the nation. though originally the same people, their dialect varies very perceptibly from that of the tushepaws: their treatment to us differed much from the kind and disinterested services of the shoshonees: they are indeed selfish and avaricious; they part very reluctantly with every article of food or clothing; and while they expect a recompense for every service however small, do not concern themselves about reciprocating any presents we may give them. they are generally healthy--the only disorders which we have had occasion to remark being of a scrophulous kind, and for these, as well as for the amusement of those who are in good health, hot and cold bathing is very commonly used. the soil of these prairies is of a light yellow clay intermixed with small smooth grass: it is barren, and produces little more than a bearded grass about three inches high, and a prickly pear, of which we now found three species: the first is of the broad-leafed kind, common to the missouri. the second has the leaf of a globular form, and is also frequent on the upper part of the missouri, particularly after it enters the rocky mountains. the third is pecular to this country, and is much more inconvenient than the other two: it consists of small thick leaves of a circular form, which grow from the margin of each other as in the broad-leafed pear of the missouri: these leaves are armed with a greater number of thorns, which are stronger, and appear to be barbed; and as the leaf itself is very slightly attached to the stem, as soon as one thorn touches the moccasin it adheres and brings with it the leaf, which is accompanied by a reenforecement of thorns. end of volume 1. 