Lewis: June 5, 1806
Colter and Bratton traded successfully for roots and bread at the nearby Indian villages. The captains gave the ailing Nez Perce chief another prolonged sweat treatment, leaving him languid but showing improvement in his limbs. A sick child also continued recovering, with the inflammation gone; the poultice was replaced with a basilicon plaster. In the evening, R. Fields, Shannon, and Labiche returned from a hunt with five deer and a brown bear. Lewis devoted much of the entry to describing local grasses, plants, and shrubs, noting similarities to species back east.
Thursday June 5th 1806. Colter and Bratton were permitted to visit the
indian villages today for the purpose of trading for roots and bread, they
were fortunate and made a good return. we gave the indian cheif another
sweat today, continuing it as long as he could possibly bear it; in the
evening he was very languid but appeared still to improve in the use of
his limbs. the child is recovering fast the inflamation has subsided
intirely, we discontinued the poltice, and applyed a plaster of basilicon;
the part is still considerably swolen and hard. in the evening R. Feilds
Shannon and Labuish return from the chaise and brought with them five deer
and a brown bear. among the grasses of this country I observe a large
speceis which grows in moist situations; it rises to the hight of eight or
ten feet, the culm is jointed, hollow, smooth, as large as a goos quill
and more firm than ordinary grasses; the leaf is linnear broad and rough;
it has much the appearance of the maden cain as it is called in the state
of Gergia, and retains it’s virdure untill late in the fall. this grass
propegates principally by the root which is horizontal and perennial. a
second speceis grows in tussucks and rises to the hight of six or eight
feet; it seems to delight in the soil of the river bottoms which possess a
greater mixture of sand than the hills in this neighbourhood. this is also
a harsh course grass; it appears to be the same which is called the Corn
grass in the Southern states, and the foxtail in Virginia. a third speceis
resembles the cheet, tho the horses feed on it very freely. a fourth and
most prevalent speceis is a grass which appears to be the same called the
blue grass common to many parts of the United States; it is common to the
bottom as well as the uplands, is now seeding and is from 9 inches to 2
feet high; it affords an excellent pasture for horses and appears to bear
the frosts and snow better than any grass in our country; I therefore
regret very much that the seed will not be ripe before our probable
departure. this is a fine soft grass and would no doubt make excellent hay
if cultivated. I do not find the greenswoard here which we met with on the
lower part of the Columbia. there are also several speceis of the wild rye
to be met with in the praries. among the plants and shrubs common to our
contry I observe here the seven bark, wild rose, vining honeysickle, sweet
willow, red willow, longleafed pine, Cattail or cooper’s flag,
lamsquarter, strawberry, raspberry, tonge grass, musterd, tanzy,
sinquefield, horsemint, coltsfoot, green plantin, cansar weed, elder,
shoemate and several of the pea blume flowering plants.-
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Thursday June 5th 1806. Colter and Bratton were permitted to visit the Indian villages today for the purpose of trading for roots and bread; they were fortunate and made a good return. We gave the Indian chief another sweat today, continuing it as long as he could possibly bear it; in the evening he was very languid but appeared still to improve in the use of his limbs. The child is recovering fast; the inflammation has subsided entirely. We discontinued the poultice and applied a plaster of basilicon; the part is still considerably swollen and hard. In the evening R. Feilds (R. Fields), Shannon, and Labuish (Labiche) returned from the chase and brought with them five deer and a brown bear.
Among the grasses of this country I observe a large species which grows in moist situations; it rises to the height of eight or ten feet. The culm is jointed, hollow, smooth, as large as a goose quill, and more firm than ordinary grasses; the leaf is linear, broad, and rough. It has much the appearance of the maiden cane, as it is called in the state of Gergia (Georgia), and retains its verdure until late in the fall. This grass propagates principally by the root, which is horizontal and perennial. A second species grows in tussocks and rises to the height of six or eight feet; it seems to delight in the soil of the river bottoms which possess a greater mixture of sand than the hills in this neighborhood. This is also a harsh, coarse grass; it appears to be the same which is called the corn grass in the Southern states and the foxtail in Virginia. A third species resembles the cheat, though the horses feed on it very freely. A fourth and most prevalent species is a grass which appears to be the same called the blue grass common to many parts of the United States; it is common to the bottoms as well as the uplands, is now seeding, and is from 9 inches to 2 feet high. It affords an excellent pasture for horses and appears to bear the frosts and snow better than any grass in our country; I therefore regret very much that the seed will not be ripe before our probable departure. This is a fine, soft grass and would no doubt make excellent hay if cultivated. I do not find the greensward here which we met with on the lower part of the Columbia. There are also several species of the wild rye to be met with in the prairies.
Among the plants and shrubs common to our country, I observe here the seven bark, wild rose, vining honeysuckle, sweet willow, red willow, longleafed pine, cattail or cooper's flag, lambsquarter, strawberry, raspberry, tongue grass, mustard, tansy, cinquefoil, horsemint, coltsfoot, green plantain, cancer weed, elder, shumate (sumac), and several of the pea-blossom flowering plants.
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