Lewis: August 5, 1805

Monday August 5th 1805. As Charbono (Charbonneau) complained of being unable to march far today, I ordered him and Sergt. Gass (Sergeant Gass) to cross the rapid river near our camp and proceed at their leisure through the level bottom to a point of high timber about seven miles distant on the middle fork, which was in view. I gave them my pack, that of Drewyer (Drouillard), and the meat which we had, directing them to remain at that place until we joined them. I took Drewyer with me and continued my route up the starboard side of the river about 4 miles and then waded it; I found it so rapid and shallow that it was impossible to navigate it. I continued up it on the larboard side about 1 1/2 miles further, when the mountains closed in on both sides and rose to great height, partially covered with snow. From here the course of the river ran to the east of north. I took advantage of a high projecting spur of the mountain, which with some difficulty we ascended to its summit in about half an hour.

From this eminence I had a pleasing view of the valley through which I had passed many miles below, and the continuation of the middle fork through the valley, equally wide above me, for a distance of about 20 miles, when that also appeared to enter the mountains and disappear from my view. However, the mountains which terminate the valley in this direction appeared much lower than those up either of the other forks. On the rapid fork they appeared still to rise, one range towering above another as far as I could see them. The middle fork, as I suspected, does bear considerably to the west of south, and the gap formed by it in the mountains after the valley terminates is in the same direction. Under these circumstances I did not hesitate to believe the middle fork was the most proper for us to ascend. About south from me, the middle fork approached within about 5 miles. I resolved to cross the plains to it and return to Gass and Charbono.

Accordingly we set out and descended the mountain among some steep and difficult precipices of rocks. Here Drewyer missed his step and had a very dangerous fall; he sprained one of his fingers and hurt his leg very much. In fifteen or 20 minutes he was able to proceed, and we continued our route to the river where we had intended to intercept it. I quenched my thirst and rested a few minutes, examined the river, and found it still very navigable. An old Indian road, very large and plain, leads up this fork, but I could see no tracks except those of horses, which appeared to have passed early in the spring. As the river made a great bend to the southeast, we again ascended the high plain and steered our course as straight as we could to the point where I had directed Gass and Sharbono (Charbonneau) to remain. We crossed the plain, regained the bottom, and struck the river about 3 miles above them. By this time it was perfectly dark, and we whooped but could hear no tidings of them. We had struck the river at the point of timber to which I had directed them, but having mistaken a point of woods lower down, they had halted short of the place. We continued our route after dark down the bottom through thick brush of the pulpy-leafed thorn and prickly pears for about 2 hours, when we arrived at their camp. They had a small quantity of meat left, which Drewyer and I ate, it being the first we had tasted today. We had traveled about 25 miles. I soon lay down and slept very soundly until morning.

I saw no deer today nor any game except a few antelope, which were very shy. The soil of the plains is a light yellow clay, very meager and intermixed with a large proportion of gravel, producing nothing except the twisted or bearded grass, sedge, and prickly pears. The drier parts of the bottoms are also much poorer in soil than those below and are covered with the southernwood, pulpy-leafed thorn, and prickly pears, with but little grass. The moist parts are fertile and covered with fine grass and sand rushes.

This morning Capt. Clark (Captain Clark) set out at sunrise and dispatched Joseph and Reubin Fields to hunt. They killed two deer, on one of which the party breakfasted. They found the river today straighter and more rapid even than yesterday, and the labor and difficulty of the navigation was proportionably increased. They therefore proceeded but slowly and with great pain, as the men had become very languid from working in the water, and many of their feet were swollen and so painful that they could scarcely walk. At 4 P.M. they arrived at the confluence of the two rivers, where I had left the note. This note had unfortunately been placed on a green pole, which the beaver had cut and carried off together with the note; the possibility of such an occurrence never once occurred to me when I placed it on the green pole. This accident deprived Capt. Clark of any information with respect to the country, and supposing that the rapid fork was most in the direction which it was proper for us to pursue, or west, he took that stream and ascended it with much difficulty about a mile, and camped on an island that had been lately overflowed and was yet damp. They were therefore compelled to make beds of brush to keep themselves out of the mud. In ascending this stream for about a quarter of a mile, it scattered in such a manner that they were obliged to cut a passage through the willow brush, which leaned over the little channels and united their tops. Capt. Clark's ankle is extremely painful to him this evening; the tumor has not yet matured, and he has a slight fever. The men were so much fatigued today that they wished very much that navigation was at an end so that they might go by land.