After crossing the creek several times we at last made five
miles, with great fatigue and labor, and camped on the left side of the
creek in a small stony low ground. It was not, however, till after dark
that the whole party was collected; and then, as it rained and we had
killed nothing, we passed an uncomfortable night. The party had been
too busily occupied with the horses to make any hunting excursion; and
though, as we came along Fish Creek, we saw many beaver-dams, we saw
none of the animals themselves."
The Indian guide appears here to have lost his way; but, not dismayed,
he pushed on through a trackless wilderness, sometimes travelling on
the snow that now covered the mountains. On the fourth of September, the
party came upon a large encampment of Indians, who received them with
much ceremony. The journal says:--
"September 5, we assembled the chiefs and warriors, and informed them
who we were, and the purpose for which we had visited their country. All
this was, however, conveyed to them through so many different languages,
that it was not comprehended without difficulty. We therefore proceeded
to the more intelligible language of presents, and made four chiefs by
giving a medal and a small quantity of tobacco to each. We received in
turn from the principal chief a present consisting of the skins of a
blaireau (badger), an otter, and two antelopes, and were treated by
the women to some dried roots and berries. We then began to traffic for
horses, and succeeded in exchanging seven and purchasing eleven, for
which we gave a few articles of merchandise.
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