Lewis: July 20, 1805

Saturday 20th 1805. Set out early this morning as usual; the current is strong, so we use the tow rope whenever the banks permit; the water is rather deep for the setting pole in most places. At 6 A.M. the hills retreated from the river and the valley became wider than we have seen it since we entered the mountains. There is some scattered timber on the river and in the valley, consisting of the narrowleafed cottonwood, aspen, and pine. There are vast numbers of several species of currants, gooseberries, and serviceberries; I preserved some seeds of each. I found a black currant which I thought preferable in flavor to the yellow. This currant is really a charming fruit, and I am confident it would be preferred in our markets to any currant now cultivated in the United States. We killed an elk this morning, which was very welcome to us. Through the valley which we entered early in the morning, a large creek flows from the mountains and discharges itself into the river behind an island on the starboard side. It is about 15 yards wide, and we called it Potts's Creek after John Potts, one of our party. About 10 A.M. we saw smoke rising as if the country had been set on fire, up the valley of this creek about 7 miles distant. We were at a loss to determine whether it had been set on fire by the natives as a signal among themselves upon discovering us, as is their custom, or whether it had been set on fire accidentally by Capt. C. (Capt. Clark) and his party. The first proved to be the case: they had, unperceived by us, discovered Capt. Clark's party or mine, and had set the plain on fire to alarm the more distant natives, and had themselves fled further into the interior of the mountains. This evening we found the skin of an elk and part of the flesh of the animal which Capt. C. had left near the river at the upper side of the valley where he ascended the mountain, along with a note informing me of his actions and saying that he would pass the mountains that lay just above us and wait for our arrival at some convenient place on the river. We could not find the other elk that Capt. C. had killed. About 2 in the evening we had passed through a range of low mountains, and the country became more open again, though still broken and untimbered, with the bottoms not very extensive. We camped on the larboard side near a spring on a high bank. The prickly pears are so abundant that we could scarcely find room to lie down. Just above our camp the river is again closed in by mountains on both sides. I saw a black woodpecker today, about the size of the lark woodpecker and as black as a crow. I tried to get a shot at it but could not. It is a distinct species of woodpecker; it has a long tail and flies a good deal like the jay bird.

This morning Capt. Clark set out early and proceeded on through a valley, leaving the river about six miles to his left. He came upon an old Indian road which he followed until it struck the river about 18 miles from his camp of the previous evening, just above the entrance of a large creek which we call White Paint Creek. The party were so fatigued with their march, and their feet so cut by the flint and pierced by the prickly pears that they had become so painful, that he proceeded only a little further before he decided to camp on the river and wait for my arrival. Capt. C. saw smoke today up the valley of Pryor's Creek, which was no doubt caused by the natives as well. He left signals or signs on his route in order to inform the Indians, should they follow his trail, that we were not their enemies but white men and their friends. Cloth, etc.