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The Journals
of Lewis and Clark: Dates August 1, 1805 - August 2,
1805
The following
excerpts are taken from entries of the Journals of Lewis
and Clark. Dates: August 1, 1805 - August 2, 1805
August
1, 1805
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, Charbonneau, and Drewyer,
intending to go on in advance in search of the Shoshones.
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 color 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 flavored.
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 colored 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 low grounds 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.
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