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I have no doubt that this tract of Country if Cultivated would produce in great abundance every article esentially necessary to the comfort and Subsistence of civillized man. to it's present inhabitents nature Seems to have dealt with a liberal hand, for she has distributed a great variety of esculent plants over the face of the Country which furnish them a plentiful Store of provisions; those are acquired but little toil; and when prepared after the method of the nativs afford not only a nutricious but an agreeable food. among other roots those Called by them the Quawmash and Cows are esteemd. the most agreeable and valuable as they are also the most abundant in those high plains.
Lewis's river appear to pass through those Mountains near the N Eastern extremity. those hills termonate in a high leavil plain between the Kooskoske & Lewis's river. these plains are in maney places well covered with the long leafed pine and Some balsom fir. the Soil is extreamly fertile. no does it appear So thirsty as that of the Same apparrant texture of the open plains. it produces great quantities of the quawmash a root of which the nativs are extreemly fond. a Great portion of the Chopunnish we are informed are now distributed in Small villages through this plain Collecting the Cowse a white Meley root which is very fine in Soup after being dried and pounded; the Salmon not yet haveing arived to Call them to the river-. The hills of the Creek which we decended this morning are high and in most parts rocky and abrupt. one of our pack horses Sliped from one of those hights and fell into the Creek with it's load Consisting principally of amunition, but fortunately neither the horse nor load Suffered any Matereal injury. the ammunition being Secured in Canesters the water did not effect it.
The root of the thistle, called by the natives shan-ne-tahque is a perpendicular fusiform and possesses from two to four radicles; is from 9 to 15 Inces in length and about the size a mans thumb; the rhind somewhat rough and of a brown colour; the consistence when first taken from the earth is white and nearly as crisp as a carrot; when prepared for uce by the same process before discribed of the white bulb or pashshequo quawmash, it becomes black, and is more shugary than any fuit or root that I have met with in uce among the natives; the sweet is precisely that of the sugar in flavor; this root is sometimes eaten also when first taken from the ground without any preperation; but in this way is vastly in-ferior. it delights most in a deep rich dry lome which has a good mixture of sand. the stem of this plant is simple ascending celindric and hisped. the root leaves yet possess their virdure and are about half grown of a plale green. the cauline leaf as well as the stem of the last season are now dead, but in rispect to it's form &c. it is simple, crenate, & oblong, reather more obtuse at it's apex than at the base or insertion; it's margin armed with prickles while it's disks are hairy, it's insertion decurrent and position declining. the flower is also dry and mutilad. the pericarp seems much like that of the common thistle. it rises to the hight of from 3 to 4 feet.
Colter and Willard Set out this morning on a hunting excurtion towards the quawmash grounds beyond Colins creek. we begin to feel Some anxiety with respect to Sergt.
I observed the apples of these Species last fall to be more than triple the Size of those of the ordinary wild rose; the Stem of this rose is the Same with the other tho the leaf is somewhat larger. after we encamped this evening we Sent out our hunters; Collins killed a doe on which we Suped much to our Satisfaction, we had not reached the top of the river hills before we were overtaken by a party of 8 Indians who informed me that they were gowing to the quawmash flatts to hunt; their object I belive is the expectation of being fed by us in which however kind as they have been we must disappoint them at this moment as it is necessary that we Should use all frugallaty as well as employ every exertion to provide meat for our journey. they have encamped with us. we find a great number of burrowing Squirels about our camp of which we killed Several; I eate of them and found them quit as tender and well flavd. as our grey squirel.
Thence North 5 Miles to the Eastern boarders of the Quawmash flatts where we encamped near the place I first met with the Chopunnish Nation last fall. the pass of Collins Creek was deep and extreemly difficult tho we passed without sustaining further injury than wetting some of our roots and bread.
We Sent on four hunters a head to the quawmash flatts to make an evening hunt; they So far Suckceeded as to kill one deer. We left R. and Jo. Fields at the Creek where we dined, and Sergt. Gass in order to hunt about that place untill our return. at 7 in the evening we found ourselves once more at our old encampment where we Shall anxiously await the return of Drewyer & Shannon.
We collected our horses early and set out. the road still continued on the heights of the same dividing ridge on which we had traveled yesterday for nine miles or to our encampment of the 18th of September last. about one mile short of this encampment on an elivated point we halted by the request of the Indians a few minutes and smoked the pipe. on this eminence the natives have raised a conic mound of stones of 6 or eight feet high and on it's summit erected a pine pole of 15 feet long from hence they informed us that when passing over with their familes some of the men were usually sent on foot by the fishery at the entrance of Colt Creek in order to take fish and again met the main party at the Quawmash glade on the head of the Kooskooske river. from this place we had an extensive view of these stupendous mountains principally covered with snow like that on which we stood; we were entirely surrounded by those mountains from which to one unacquainted with them it would have seemed impossible ever to have escaped; in short without the assistance of our guides I doubt much whether we who had once passed them could find our way to Travellers rest in their present situation for the marked trees on which we had placed considerable reliance are much fewer and more difficult to find than we had apprehended. these fellows are most admireable pilots; we find the road wherever the snow has disappeared though it be only for a few hundred paces. after smoking the pipe and contemplating this seene sufficient to have damp the sperits of any except such hardy travellers as we have become, we continued our march and at the distance of 3 ms. decended a steep mountain and passed two small branches of the Chopunnish river just above their forks and again ascended the ridge on which we passed several miles and at a distance of 7 ms. arrived at our encampment of September near which we passed 3 small branches of the Chopunnish river and again ascended to the dividing ridge on which we continued nine miles when the ridge became lower and we arrived at a situation very similar to our encampment of the last evening tho the ridge was somewhat higher and the snow had not been so long desolved of course there was but little grass. here we encamped for the night having traveled 28 miles over these mountains without releiving the horses from their packs or their having any food. the indians inform us that there is an abundance of the mountain sheep or what they call white buffaloe. we saw three black-tailed or mule deer this evening but were unable to get a shoot at them. we also saw several tracks of those animals in the snow. the indians inform that there is great abundance of Elk in the vally about the Fishery on the Kooskooske River. our meat being exhausted we issued a pint of bears oil to a mess which with their boiled roots made an agreeable dish.
N. 25 E. 12 m. passing a small creek at one m. on S side on which there is a handsom and extensive Valley and plain for 10 or 12 ms. also another creek 12 yd. wide at 1/2 a mile further on N. sides and another 8 yds. wide on N. side at 5 ms further one & 1/2 m. short of the extremity of this course arrive at a high prarie on N. side from one to three miles in width extending up the river. halted and dined in the mouth of a little drane on the left of the plain where there was a considerable quantity of quawmash. saw a gang of antelopes here of which we killed one the does at this season herd with each other and have their young. the bucks are alone there are many wild horses on Clarkes river about the place we passed it we saw some of them at a distance. there are said to be many of them about the head of the yellowstone river.
Sahcargarmeah geathered a quantity of the roots of a speceis of fennel which we found very agreeable food, the flavor of this root is not unlike annis seed, and they dispell the wind which the roots called Cows and quawmash are apt to create particularly the latter. we also boil a small onion which we find in great abundance, with other roots and find them also an antidote to the effects of the others. the mush of roots we find adds much to the comfort of our diet. we sent out several hunters this morning but they returned about 11 A.M. without success; they killed a few pheasants only. at 5 P.M. Drewyer and Cruzatte returned having killed one deer only.
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