Lewis: July 31, 1805

Wednesday July 31st 1805. This morning I waited at my camp very impatiently for the arrival of Capt. Clark (Capt. Clark) and his party. I observed by my watch that it was 7 A.M. and they had not come in sight. I now became very uneasy and determined to wait until 8, and if they did not arrive by that time, to proceed on up the river, taking it as a fact that they had passed my camp some miles last evening. Just as I set out to pursue my plan, I discovered Charbono (Charbonneau) walking up shore some distance below me, and waited until he arrived. I now learned that the canoes were behind; they arrived shortly after. Their delay had been caused by the rapidity of the water and the winding route of the river. They halted and breakfasted, after which we all set out again, and I continued my walk on the starboard shore.

The river now becomes more collected; the islands, though numerous, are generally small. The river continues rapid and is from 90 to 120 yards wide, and has a considerable quantity of timber in its bottoms. Toward evening the bottoms became much narrower and the timber much more scant. High hills set in close on the larboard side, and the plain is high and waving, or rather broken, on the starboard side, approaching the river closely for a short distance. The valley above is 1½ miles wide.

About one mile above Capt. Clark's encampment of last evening, the principal entrance of a considerable river discharges itself into Jefferson's river. This stream is a little upwards of 30 yards wide and discharges a large quantity of very clear water. Its bed, like that of Jefferson's river, is pebble and gravel. It takes its rise in the snow-clad mountains between Jefferson's and Madison's Rivers to the southwest and discharges itself into the former by seven mouths. It has some timber in its bottoms and vast numbers of beaver and otter. This stream we call River Philosophy.

The rock of the cliffs this evening is a hard black granite, like that of the cliffs of most parts of the river below the limestone cliffs at the Three Forks of the Missouri. This evening, just before we camped, Drewyer (Drouillard) discovered a brown bear enter a small copse of bushes on the larboard side. We surrounded the place and searched the brush, but he had escaped in some manner unperceived, though how, we could not discover. Nothing was killed today, and our fresh meat is out. When we have plenty of fresh meat, I find it impossible to make the men take any care of it, or use it with the least frugality, though I expect that necessity will shortly teach them this art.

The mountains on both sides of the river, at no great distance, are very lofty. We have a lame crew just now: two with tumors or bad boils on various parts of them, one with a bad stone bruise, one with his arm accidentally dislocated but fortunately well replaced, and a fifth has strained his back by slipping and falling backwards on the gunwale of the canoe. The latter is Sergt. Gass. It gives him great pain to work in the canoe in his present situation, but he thinks he can walk with ease. I therefore selected him as one of the party to accompany me tomorrow, being determined to go in quest of the Snake Indians. I also directed Drewyer and Charbono to hold themselves in readiness. Charbono thinks that his ankle is sufficiently recovered to stand the march, but I have my doubts of the fact. He is very anxious to accompany me, and I therefore indulge him.

There is some pine on the hills on both sides of the river opposite to our encampment, which is on the larboard side upon a small island just above a run. The bulrush and cattail flag grow in great abundance in the moist parts of the bottoms; the drier areas are covered with fine grass, tansy, thistles, onions, and flax. The bottom land is fertile and of a black rich loam. The uplands are poor and sterile, of a light yellow clay with a mixture of small smooth pebble and gravel, producing prickly pears, sedge, and the bearded grass in great abundance. This grass is now so dry that it would burn like tinder. We saw one bighorn today, and a few antelopes and deer.