Columbia near The Dalles, trading for horses — John Ordway: April 10, 1806

last night, a cloudy & Showery morning. 2 men sent out to
hunt pitch who belonged to a Small canoe, we took up the
large canoes one at a time up the rapids with the towing line,
the Small one also who was left to help up with the other small
one. we then crossed over the River to the N. Side and halted
at a village where we took breakfast, the men who were hunting
pitch came up with their canoe one of them by the name of
Collins had killed three Deer and brought them to us. Cap*
Lewis purchased a white mountain Sheep Skin for which he gave
2 Elk hides, we bought a fiew Salmon trout then we pro-
ceed on soon came to bad rapids where we had to tow one canoe
up at a time. Drewyer & the 2 Fields went on a head with their
Smal canoe, their chord broke & their canoe went back down
the rapids and [was] taken up by the Indians below, who returnd
it to us. our officers gave them two knives for the kindness,
one of the men lamed one of his feet towing over the Stons with
Some fatigue we got all the canoes to the lower end of the portage
of the big Shoote2 and unloaded in the large eddy below on N.
Side and carried all the baggage on the top of the hill, and Camped
a number of the natives visited us Some distance below
this place I Saw a large grave yard [a] little below an ancient
village this is a different manner from any I have Seen of hurry-
ing the dead in tombs about 8 feet Square made of wood plank
and tite flowers [floors] made of plank layn in them and the corps
are layn out on the flower Roped up in Some kind of a Robe,
and all thier property is deposited with them Such as copper
tea kittles baskets cockle Shells canoes are layn by the Side
of sd tombs also. Several Images cut in wood one put up at
1 Brant Island, just below the Lower Cascades. The camp v;is on the
Oregon mainland.
2 The Upper Cascades.
340 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS [April 11
the ends of said tombs &C one of the Indians Stole an exe1
from us another told one of our men and he followed him and
took it from him and told him that he was bad and he replied
that he was &C.