Whitehouse
Friday 20th Sept. 1805. a cold frosty morning. we eat a fiew peas & a little greece which was the verry last kind of eatables of any kind we had except a little portable Soup. we got up our horses except one which detained us untill about 8 oClock before we found him. we then load up our
horses and Set out. proceeded on up the creek a Short distance and found a line which Capt. Clark had left with the meat of a horse which they found and killed as they had killed nothing after they left us only three prarie hens or Phesants. we took the horse meat and put it on our horses and proceeded on a Short distance further. then left the creek and went over a mountain S. W. then followed down a ridge, came to a Spring run and halted and dined Sumptiously on our horse meat. one horse Strayed from us which had on him a pear of portmantaus which had in it Some marchandize and Capt. Lewis winter cloaths &c. 2 men Sent back to the creek to hunt him. we proceeded on up and down Several hills and followed a ridge where the timber was fell So thick across the trail that we could hardly git along. our horses got Stung by the yallow wasps. we did not find any water to Camp untill after dark, and then Camped on a ridge found a little water in a deep gulley a Short distance from us. the different kinds of pine continues as usal. considerable of Strait handsome timber on these ridges,
which resembles white ceeder but is called Arbervity. no other kind except the pine & bolsom fer, all of which grows verry tall and Strait. the mountains not So high as back but verry broken. Came about 14 miles this day. the plains appear Some distance off yet. it is twice as far as we expected where we first discovred it from a high mountain.—
Friday Septemr 20th This morning was cold, with frost, we did not set out, 'till after we had eat breakfast, which consisted of a few pease & bears Oil, which was the last kind of eatables, that we had with us (excepting a little
Portable Soup) we loaded all our horses, but one which had strayed off, which detain'd us untill 8 o'Clock at which time we proceeded on our Journey.— we went up the Creek we had been at last evening a short distance, & found a line from Captain Clark, with the flesh of a horse which the party with him had found & killed. they informed us, that he nor his party had not killed any 〈thing〉 kind of game since they left us, excepting 3 Pheasants, We put the horse meat on our Horses, and proceeded a short distance further up the Creek, we then left the Creek, and went over a Mountain a South west course, & went down a ridge, and came to a Spring where we halted, & dined sumptuously on our horse meat.— One of our horses during the time that we were at dinner, strayed away from us; he was loaded with two portmanteaus, which had in them some Merchandise & Captain Lewis's winter Cloathes.— Captain Lewis sent 2 of the Men back to the Creek to look after him, and we continued on our Journey, We ascended & descended several hills, and passed along a ridge of mountains, where the timber had fell so thick across the trail, that it was with great difficulty that we got our horses along, & the Yellow wasps was very troublesome to them, there being a great abundance of them at that place. We did not find any Water to encamp at, 'till after it was dark, and it lay in a gully, a short distance from the Ridge of mountains that we encamped at. We found growing on these Ridges, different kinds of Pine timber, and some tall White Cedar Trees. The Mountains which we crossed this day, are not so high as those Mountains, we crossed some distance back; but are very broken.— We came about 14 Miles this day & the plains appear to lay some considerable distance from us still, & We expect it is double the distance that we supposed it to be, when we first saw them from the high Mountain.—
The varied thrush, Ixoreus naevius [AOU, 763], already known to science but not to Lewis. He gave a longer description in [January 31, 1806]. Burroughs, 252–54. It was probably Biddle who drew a red vertical line through this material.
Sorbus stichensis Roem., Pacific, or Sitka, mountain ash, or more likely Greene mountain ash, S. scopulina Greene, which has red-scarlet berries attractive to birds at this time of year. It also occurs on the North Fork Salmon River in the location of the party's route of [September 2], as Lewis indicates. A specimen of this new discovery was collected on [September 4]. Hitchcock et al., 3:189–90; Booth & Wright, 120; Little (MWH), 194-W; Cutright (LCPN), 196, 416.
Steller's jay and new to science. Cutright (LCPN), 210. See Lewis's full description at [December 18, 1805].
Perhaps the gray jay, Perisoreus canadensis [AOU, 484]. Holmgren, 29. See also Lewis's entry of [December 18, 1805].
The black woodpecker is Lewis's woodpecker while the lark woodpecker is the northern, or common, flicker, Colaptes auratus [AOU, 412]. Ibid., 34.
All three species were then unknown to science. The first, the blue grouse, Lewis had noted on [August 1]. The second is the spruce grouse, first noted on [September 13, 1805]. The third is the Oregon ruffed grouse, Bonasa umbellus sabini, now combined with B. umbellus, which Lewis again calls a pheasant in comparison. See also [February 5] and [March 3, 1806]. Cutright (LCPN), 210; Burroughs, 215–19.
The spot on Hungery Creek, just beyond Lewis's camp of September 19, is marked on Atlas map 70.
On Fish Creek, or one of its branches in Idaho County, Idaho. Space, 17; Peebles (LT), 9; Atlas map 70.
Between Dollar and Sixbit creeks, in Idaho County. Space, 17; Peebles (LT), 9; Atlas map 70.
The short growing season and the high rate of erosion in the steeper mountains combine to produce a soil composed largely of rocky parent materials with little humus. In the forested areas the soil is acidic from decomposition of evergreen needles. This acid leaches minerals from the soil, leaving the soil light colored. The gray freestone is actually granitic rock of the Cretaceous-age Idaho batholith. The granitic rock has a tendency to spall off in slabs that are approximately parallel or comformable to the general erosion surface. This feature causes the weathered rock to appear layered in places.
Huckleberry is possibly mountain huckleberry, Vaccinium membranaceum Dougl. ex Hook., then new to science. Honeysuckle is western trumpet honeysuckle. Alder is probably Sitka, or wavyleaf, alder, Alnus sinuata (Regel) Rydb., or thin-leaved alder, A. incana (L.) Moench, if so, then new to science. The alder used for comparison is A. serrulata (Ait.) Willd., of the eastern United States. The honeysuckle which bears a white berry is the common snowberry. The plant which resembles the choke cherry is the choke cherry itself. Arborvita is western redcedar. Cutright (LCPN), 210, 212, 402; Hitchcock et al., 4:43, 2:74–76; Booth & Wright, 233. It was probably Biddle who drew a red verical line through this passage.
Opposite Clark's entry of September 30 in the Elkskin-bound Journal is sketch map (fig. 9) showing the party's route for about September 20-25, with some of the campsites of Clark and of the main party during this time, and with the camp of September 26-October 7 noted.
Clark reached the forks of Lolo and Eldorado creeks, crossed the former and went down it. Space, 15. Lolo Creek is "Collins Creek" on Atlas map 71, after John Collins of the party.
Clark went over Brown's Ridge and down Miles Creek to Weippe Prairie, in Clearwater County, Idaho. Appleman (LC), 283–85; Space, 15; Atlas map 71. Weippe Prairie was one of the major camas collecting grounds in the interior Pacific Northwest. Camas was an essential part of the native diet, particularly as a winter store. Not only Nez Perce, but people from as far away as the Pacific Coast came to Weippe to dig camas roots and participate in social activities. Most of the lodges Clark observed were probably late summer or early fall camps. Lodges of poles and bark mats were erected at the camas meadows and in the fall the people retired into the canyons to spend the winter. When people left in the fall, the poles were frequently cached in the area, while the mats were taken into the canyons for use there. Marshall; Ames & Marshall.
Camas, a member of the lily family and then new to science. See Lewis's description below, [June 11, 1806]. Cutright (LCPN), 209. The term pasigoo (Clark's "Pas-she-co") is the Shoshone designation for the camas and its edible bulb, historically a staple food. The word literally means "water sego," in reference to the sego lily, a common food in the region. Lewis and Clark wrote this word together with "quamash," that is, qé⊃mes, the Nez Perce term for camas, from which the Latin and English designations derive. Sven Liljeblad, personal communication.
The first village Clark came to was south of present Weippe, Clearwater County. The second, where they spent the night, was about a mile southwest of Weippe; both were on a branch of Jim Ford Creek. The villages were probably seasonal camps. Appleman (LC), 283–85; Atlas map 71.
These people are now known as the Nez Perces, from the French for "pierced noses," which corresponds to their sign language designation. The Nez Perce name for themselves is nimí·pu·, "the people" or cú·p
⊃
nit or cú·p
⊃
nitpel̓u·; the etymology of the latter term is not known, but suggests pierced noses. Haro Aoki believes that Lewis and Clark's word Chopunnish may derive from tsoopnit, "(the act of) punching a hole with a pointed object," and by extension tsoopnitpeloo meaning "piercing people." The question of whether they ever did pierce their noses is still a subject of debate. Nevertheless, Lewis and Clark saw them with ornaments in their noses and the best authorities acknowledge the practice. See Clark's entry of [May 7, 1806], and Lewis's of [May 13, 1806]. They are noted for breeding the spotted Appaloosa horse, but again it is a disputed topic whether they developed the breed. Like many of the mountain tribes of the Northwest, after acquiring horses they made periodic trips across the Rockies to hunt buffalo and assumed many elements of plains culture. American missionaries converted a large portion of the tribe to Christianity in the 1830s and 1840s. Their long history of friendly relations with the whites, beginning with Lewis and Clark, came to an end with the war of 1877, in which a part of the tribe conducted their famous retreat over the Lolo Trail and into Montana, where they were finally captured. Nez Perce tradition says that they first considered killing the members of the Corps of Discovery but were dissuaded by a woman who first met white men while a prisoner of Indians in Canada and was kindly treated by them. See below, Clark's first entry for [September 21, 1805]. Aoki; Josephy (NP), 3–15, 37–38, 645–46, and passim; Josephy (NNP); Hodge 2:65–68; Space, 16; Ronda (LCAI), 158–61.
How Clark reached this conclusion is not apparent. The Nez Perces belong to the Shahaptian (Sahaptin) language family, the Flatheads (Salish) to the Salishan family. Hodge, 2:416–18, 519–20.
Someone, perhaps Biddle, has drawn a vertical line through this passage to the end of the paragraph, but not in the usual red ink.
The peas may be the hog peanut, Amphicarpa bracteata (L.) Fern., which the party would have gathered on the Missouri River in North Dakota and carried with them, perhaps forgotten, to this place.
Whitehouse identified them as "yallow wasps," perhaps the western yellow jacket, Vespula pensylvanica.
The main party camped between Dollar and Sixbit creeks, Idaho County, Idaho.
Lepage.
Presumably western redcedar, Thuja plicata Donn., which Lewis notes on this date as "arborvita," an alternate name.
That is, arborvitae, another name for western redcedar.