Lewis: April 30, 1806

Wednesday, April 30th, 1806. This morning we had some difficulty in collecting our horses, despite the fact that we had hobbled and picketed those we obtained from these people. We purchased two other horses this morning and several dogs. We exchanged one of our most inferior horses for a very good one with the Chopunnish man who has his family with him. This man has a daughter newly arrived at the age of puberty, who, being in a certain condition, is not permitted to associate with the family but sleeps at a distance from her father's camp, and when traveling follows at some distance behind. In this state I am informed that the female is not permitted to eat, nor to touch any article of a culinary nature or any item connected with men's work.

At 10 A.M. we had collected all our horses except the white horse which Yellept had given Capt. C. (Capt. Clark). The whole of the men soon after returned without being able to find this horse. I lent my horse to Yellept to search for Capt. C.'s. About half an hour after he set out, our Chopunnish man brought up Capt. C.'s horse. We now determined to leave one man to bring on my horse when Yellept returned, and to proceed on with the party. Accordingly we took leave of these friendly, honest people, the Wollahwollahs, and departed at 11 A.M., accompanied by our guide and the Chopunnish man and family.

We continued our route N. 30 E. 14 miles through an open, level, sandy plain to a bold creek 10 yards wide. This stream is a branch of the Wallahwollah River, into which it discharges itself about six miles above the junction of that river with the Columbia. It takes its rise in the same range of mountains to the east of the sources of the main branch of the same. It appears to be navigable for canoes; it is deep and has a bold current. There are many large banks of pure sand which appear to have been drifted up by the wind to the height of 15 or 20 feet, lying in many parts of the plain through which we passed today. This plain, as usual, is covered with aromatic shrubs, herbaceous plants, and a short grass. Many of those plants produce those edible roots which form a principal part of the subsistence of the natives. Among others, there is one which produces a root somewhat like the sweet potato.

We camped at the place where we intersected the creek, where we had the pleasure once more to find an abundance of good wood for the purpose of making ourselves comfortable fires, which has not been the case since we left Rock Fort Camp. Drewyer killed a beaver and an otter; a pan of the former we reserved for ourselves and gave the Indians the balance. These people will not eat the dog but feast heartily on the otter, which is vastly inferior in my estimation. They sometimes also eat their horses; this indeed is common to all the Indians who possess this animal in the plains of the Columbia, but it is only done when necessity compels them.

The narrow bottom of this creek is very fertile, though the plains are poor and sandy. The hills of the creek are generally abrupt and rocky. There is a good store of timber on this creek, at least 20 times more than on the Columbia River itself. It consists of cottonwood, birch, the crimson haw, red willow, sweet willow, chokecherry, yellow currants, gooseberry, white-berried honeysuckle, rose bushes, seven-bark, and sumac. I observed the corn grass and rushes in some parts of the bottom. Reubin Fields overtook us with my horse. Our stock of horses has now increased to 23, and most of them are excellent young horses, but by far the greater portion of them have sore backs. These Indians are cruel horse-masters; they ride hard, and their saddles are so poorly constructed that they cannot avoid wounding the backs of their horses; but regardless of this, they ride them even when the backs of those poor animals are in a horrid condition.