Clark: November 1, 1805

November 1st, Friday, 1805. A very cold morning, with a hard wind from the northeast. We set all hands to packing the cargo over the portage, which is below the Grand Shoals (Grand Shoals) and is 940 yards of bad going over rocks and on slippery hillsides. The Indians who came down in two canoes last night packed their fish over a portage of 2½ miles to avoid a second Shoal. Four of them took their canoes over the first portage and ran the second Shoal. There were great numbers of sea otters; they are so cautious that I had difficulty getting a shot at one today, which I must have killed, but could not retrieve him as he sank.

We got all our canoes and baggage below the Great Shoal. Three of the canoes were leaky from injuries received in hauling them over the rocks, which obliged us to stop and have them repaired. There is a bad rapid just below us. Three Indian canoes loaded with pounded fish for trade down the river arrived at the upper end of the portage this evening. I cannot learn whether those Indians trade with white people or with Indians below for the beads and copper of which they are so fond. They are nearly naked, preferring beads to anything. These beads they trade with Indians still higher up this river for skins, robes, etc. The Indians on these waters do not appear to be sickly. Sore eyes are common, and many have lost their eyes — some one eye, and many both. They have bad teeth, and the greater portion of them have worn their teeth down, many into the gums. They are rather small, with high cheeks. The women are small and plain, and many of them have swollen legs, large about the knees, owing to the position in which they sit on their haunches. They are nearly naked, wearing only a piece of leather tied about their loins and a small robe that generally comes to a little below their waists and is scarcely large enough to wrap around them when they are sitting still. They are all fond of clothes, but more so of beads — particularly blue and white beads. They are dirty in the extreme, both in their cooking and in their houses.

Those at the last village raise their beds about five feet from the earth, under which they store their provisions. Their houses are about 33 to 50 feet square. The door, which is cut into a wide pine board, is about 30 inches high and 16 inches wide. They have many images cut in wood, generally in the figure of a man. These people ask high prices for what they sell, and say that the white people below give them great prices for what they sell to them. Their noses are all pierced, and they wear a white shell — many of which are 2 inches long — pushed through the nose. All the women have flat heads, pressed to almost a point at the top. They press the female children's heads between two boards when young, until they form the skull as they wish it, which is generally very flat. Among these people this is considered a great mark of beauty, and it is practiced in all the tribes we have passed on this river, to a greater or lesser degree. The men take more of the drudgery off the women than is common among Indians.

November 1st, Friday, 1805. A very cool morning, with a hard wind from the northeast. The Indians who arrived last evening took their canoes on their shoulders and carried them below the Great Shoal. We set about taking our small canoe and all the baggage by land — 940 yards of bad, slippery, and rocky going. We discovered that the Indians took their cargo the whole length of the portage, 2½ miles, to avoid a second Shoal that appears very difficult to pass, and through which they passed with their empty canoes. There were great numbers of sea otters; they are so cautious that I had difficulty getting a shot at one today, which I must have killed, but could not retrieve him as he sank.

We got all our baggage over the 940-yard portage, after which we got the four large canoes over by sliding them over the rocks on poles placed across from one rock to another, and in some places along partial streams of the river. In passing those canoes over the rocks, three of them received injuries that obliged us to stop and have them repaired.

Several Indian canoes arrived at the head of the portage. Some of the men, accompanied by those from the village, came down to smoke with us. They appear to speak the same language with a slightly different accent.

I visited the Indian village and found that the construction of the houses was similar to those described above, with this difference only: they are larger, say from 35 to 50 feet by 30 feet, raised about 5 feet above the earth, and nearly as much below ground. The doors are the same form and size, cut into the wide post that supports one end of the ridge pole, which is carved and painted with different figures and hieroglyphics. These people gave me nuts, berries, and a little dried fish to eat, and sold me a hat of their own style without a brim, and baskets in which they hold their water. Their beds are raised about 4½ feet, under which they store away their dried fish. Between the sleeping area and the back wall they store their roots, berries, nuts, and other valuable articles on mats, which are also spread around the fire pit. The fire pit is sunk about one foot lower than the floor of the house, is about 8 feet long and 6 feet wide, and is framed in. These houses are built for 4, 5, or 6 families, each family having a neatly painted ladder to climb up to their beds. I saw in these houses several wooden images, all cut in imitation of men but differently fashioned and placed in the most visible parts of the houses, probably as ornaments. I cannot learn with certainty about the trade those Indians carry on below — whether it is with white people or with Indians who trade with whites, who are either settled at or visit the mouth of this river. I believe it is mostly with the latter, as their knowledge of white people appears to be very limited, and the articles they appear to trade most — namely pounded fish, beargrass, and roots — cannot be objects of commerce with foreign merchants. However, in return for those articles they receive blue and white beads, copper tea kettles, brass arm bands, some scarlet and blue robes, and a few articles of old clothing. They prefer beads to anything, and will part with their last mouthful of food or articles of clothing for a few of these beads. These beads they trade with Indians still higher up this river for robes, skins, chal-pel-el bread, beargrass, etc., who in their turn trade with those near the Rocky Mountains for beargrass, Pashico roots, and robes, etc.

The natives of the waters of the Columbia appear healthy. Some have tumors on different parts of their bodies, and sore and weak eyes are common. Many have lost their sight entirely, great numbers have lost one eye, and frequently the other is very weak. This misfortune I must again attribute to the water, etc. They have bad teeth, which is not common among Indians. Many have worn their teeth down, and some quite into their gums. I cannot satisfactorily account for this, but I do ascribe it in some measure to their method of eating their food — roots in particular — which they eat as they are taken out of the earth, frequently nearly covered with sand. I have not seen any of their long roots offered for sale free of sand. They are rather below the common size, with high cheeks. The women are small and plain, and have swollen legs and thighs, with remarkably large knees, which I attribute to the way they sit on their haunches. They go nearly naked, wearing only a piece of leather tied about their chest that falls down nearly to the waist, a small robe about 3 feet square, and a piece of leather tied about their loins. They all have flat heads in this area. They are dirty in the extreme, both in their persons and their cooking, and wear their hair loose, hanging in every direction. They ask high prices for what they sell, and say that the white people below give great prices for everything.

Their noses are all pierced, and when dressed they have a long, tapered piece of white shell or wampum put through the nose; these shells are about 2 inches in length. I observed in many of the villages I have passed the heads of female children in the press used to compress their heads in infancy into a certain form between two boards.