The Journals of Lewis & Clark: Lewis, February 11, 1806

Updated May 14, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Lewis, February 11, 1806

Tuesday February 11th 1806. This morning Sergt. Gass Reubin Fields and Thompson passed the Netul opposite to us on a hunting expedition. sent Sergt Pryor with a party of four men to bring Gibson to the fort. also sent Colter and Wiser to the Salt works to carry on the business with Joseph Fields; as Bratton had been sick we desired him to return to the Fort also if he thought proper; however in the event of his not coming Wiser was directed to return.

There is a shrub which grows commonly in this neighbourhood which is precisely the same with that in Virginia some times called the quillwood. also another which grows near the water in somewhat moist grounds & rises to the hight of 5 or 6 feet with a large, peteolate spreading plane, crenate and somewhat woolly leaf like the rose raspberry. it is much branched the bark of a redish brown colour and is covered with a number of short hooked thorns which renders it extreemly disagreeable to pass among; it dose not cast it's foliage untill about the 1st of December. this is also the case with the black alder. There is also found in this neighbourhood an evergreen shrub which I take to be another variety of the Shallun and that discribed under that name in mistake on the 26th of January. this shrub rises to the hight of from four to five feet, the stem simple branching, defuse and much branched. the bark is of a redish dark brown, that of the mane stein is somewhat rough while that of the boughs is smooth. the leaves are petiolate the petiole 1/40 of an inch long; oblong, obtuse at the apex and accute angular at the insertion of the petiole; 3/4 of an inch in length and Ysths in width; convex, somewhat revolute, serrate, smoth and of a paler green than the evergreens usually are; they are also opposite and ascending. the fruit is a small deep perple berry like the common huckleberry of a pleasent flavor. they are seperately scattered & attatched to the small boughs by short peduncles.-. the natives eat this berry when ripe but seldom collect it in such quantities as to dry it for winter uce.