Clark: July 7, 1806

Monday 7th July 1806. This morning our horses were very much scattered. I sent out men in every direction in search of them. They brought all except 9 by 6 o'clock and informed me that they could not find those 9. I then ordered 6 men to take horses and go in different directions and to a greater distance. Those men all returned by 10 A.M. and informed me that they had circled in every direction for 6 or 8 miles around camp and could not see any signs of them, and that they had reason to believe that the Indians had stolen them during the night. They based their reasons on the quality of the horses, all being the most valuable horses we had, and several of them so attached to horses of inferior quality which we have that they could not be separated from each other when driving with their loads on during the day. I thought it probable that they might be stolen by some skulking Shoshones, but as it was still possible that they may have taken our back route or rambled to a greater distance, I determined to leave a small party to hunt for them today, and proceed on with the main party and all the baggage to the canoes, raise them out of the water and expose them to the sun to dry by the time this party should overtake me. I left Sergt. Ordway, Shannon, Gibson, Collins & Labeech (Labiche) with directions to hunt this day for the horses unless they should discover that the Indians had taken them into the mountains, and to pursue our trail, etc.

At 1/2 past 10 A.M. I set out and proceeded on through an open rich valley, crossing four large creeks with extensive low and miry bottoms, and a small river, keeping the course I had set out on, S. 56° E. After crossing the river I kept up on the N.E. side, sometimes following an old road which frequently disappeared. At the distance of 16 miles we arrived at a boiling spring situated about 100 paces from a large easterly fork of the small river, in a level open valley plain and nearly opposite and east of the 3 forks of this little river, which heads in the snowy mountains to the S.E. and S.W. of the springs. This spring contains a very considerable quantity of water, and actually bubbles with heat for 20 paces below where it rises. It has every appearance of boiling, too hot for a man to endure his hand in it 3 seconds. I directed Sergt. Pryor and John Shields to put each a piece of meat in the water of different sizes. The one about the size of my 3 fingers cooked done in 25 minutes; the other, much thicker, was 32 minutes before it became sufficiently done. This water boils up through some loose hard gritty stone. A little sulfurish.

After taking dinner and letting our horses graze 1 hour and a half, we proceeded on, crossed this easterly branch and up on the N. side of this middle fork 9 miles, crossed it near the head of an easterly branch, and passed through a gap of a mountain, on the easterly side of which we camped near some beautiful springs which fall into Willards Creek. I directed that the rambling horses should be hobbled, and the sentinel to examine the horses after the moon rose. Immense beaver sign.

This extensive valley, surrounded with mountains covered with snow, is extremely fertile, covered with edible plants, etc., and the creeks which pass through it contain immense numbers of beaver, etc. I now take my leave of this beautiful extensive valley, which I call the Hot Spring Valley, and behold one less extensive and much more rugged on Willards Creek for near 12 miles in length. Remarkably cold night.