The Journals of Lewis & Clark: Clark, May 10, 1806

Updated May 14, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Clark, May 10, 1806

Saturday 10th of May 1806

This morning the Snow continued falling untill 1/2 past 6 A M when it Seased. the air keen and Cold the Snow 8 inches deep on the plain. we Collected our horses and after takeing a Scanty brackfast of roots, we Set out for the Village of the Chief with a flag, and proceeded on through an open plain. the road was Slipry and the Snow Cloged and caused the horses to trip very frequently. the mud at heads of the Streams which we passed was deep and well Supplied with the Car mash. Drewyer turned off the road to hunt near the river to our lef and did not join us to day. at 4 P M we arrived at the Village of Tin nach-e-moo-toolt the Chief whome We had left a flag. this flag was hoisted on a pole unde the flag the Chief met me and Conducted me to a Spot near a Small run about 80 paces from his Lodges where he requested me to halt which I did. Soon after Cap Lewis who was in the rear Came up and we Smoked with and told this Chief our Situation in respect to provisions. they brought foward about 2 bushels of quawmash 4 Cakes of bread made of roots and a dried fish. we informed the Chief that our Party was not accustomed to eate roots without flesh & proposed to exchange Some of our oald horses for young ones to eate. they Said that they would not exchange horses, but would furnish us with Such as we wished, and produced 2 one of which we killed and informd. them that we did not wish to kill the other at this time. we gave Medals to the broken arm or Tin-nach-e-moo tolt and Hoh-halt-ill-pitp two principal Chiefs of the Chopunnish Natn. and was informed that there was one other Great Chief (in all 4) who had but one eye. he would be here tomorrow. a large Lodge of Leather was pitched and Capt. Lewis and my Self was envited into it. we entered and the Chief and principal men came into the lodge and formed a Circle a parcel of wood was Collected and laid at the dore and a fire made in this Conic lodge before we entered it. the Chief requested that we might make the Lodge our homes while we remained with him. here after we had taken a repast on roots & horse beef we resumed our Council with the indians which together with Smokeing took up the ballance of the evening. I was Supprised to find decending the hill to Commearp Creek to find that there had been no snow in the bottoms of that Stream. it seams that the Snow melted in falling and decended here in rain while it snowed in the plain. the hills are about Eight hundred feet high about 1/4 of which distance the Snow had decended and Still lay on the Sides of the hill. as those people had been liberal I directed the men not to croud their Lodge in serch of food the manner hunger has Compelled them to do, at most lodges we have passed, and which the Twisted Hair had informed us was disagreeable to the nativs. but their previous want of hospitality had enduced us to consult their enclinations but little and Suffer our men to obtain provisions from them on the best terms they could.

The Village of the broken Arm consists of one house or Lodge only which is 150 feet in length built in the usial form of Sticks, Mats and dry grass. it contains 24 fires and about double that number of families. from appearance I prosume they could raise 100 fighting men. the noise of their women pounding the cows roots remind me of a nail factory. The Indians appear well pleased, and I am Confident that they are not more so than our men who have their Stomach once more well filled with horse beef and the bread of cows. Those people has Shewn much greater acts of hospitallity than we have witnessed from any nation or tribe Since we have passed the rocky Mountains. in Short be it Spoken to their immortal honor it is the only act which diserves the appelation of hospitallity which we have witnessed in this quarter.