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Set out this morning at sunrise and continued our rout through the valley on the Lard. side of the river. at eleven A.M. Drewyer killed a doe and we halted and took breakfast. the mountains continue high on either side of the valley, and are but skantily supplyed with timber; small pine appears to be the prevalent growth. there is no timber in the valley except a small quantity of the narrow leafed cottonwood on the verge of the river. the underwood consists of the narrowleafed or small willow, honeysuckle rosebushes, courant, goosbury and service bury bushes allso a small quantity of a species of dwarf burch the leaf of which, oval, deep green, finely indented and very small. we encamped this evening after sunset having traveled by estimate 23 miles. from the width and appearance of the valley at this place I concieved that the river forked not far above me and therefore resolved the next morning to examine the adjacent country more minutely.
Capt. Clark walked on shore this morning on the Stard. side, and did not join us untill half after six in the evening. he informed me that he had seen the remains of the Assinniboin encampments in every point of woodland through which he had passed. we saw immence quantities of game in every direction around us as we passed up the river; consisting of herds of Buffaloe, Elk, and Antelopes with some deer and woolves. tho we continue to see many tracks of the bear we have seen but very few of them, and those are at a great distance generally runing from us; I thefore presume that they are extreemly wary and shy; the Indian account of them dose not corrispond with our experience so far. one black bear passed near the perogues on the 16th and was seen by myself and the party but he so quickly disappeared that we did not shoot at him. at the place we halted to dine on the Lard. side we met with a herd of buffaloe of which I killed the fatest as I concieved among them, however on examining it I found it so poar that I thought it unfit for uce and only took the tongue; the party killed another which was still more lean. just before we encamped this evening we saw some tracks of Indians who had passed about 24 hours; they left four rafts of timber on the Stard. side, on which they had passed. we supposed them to have been a party of the Assinniboins who had been to war against the rocky mountain Indians, and then on their return.
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