Lewis: March 1, 1806
Sergeant Gass and a party retrieved the meat of three elk killed two days earlier, leaving Thompson with the hunters to jerk and preserve the remaining two. Kuskelar and his wife departed around noon, accompanied by a roughly 10-year-old slave boy taken by the Killamucks from a distant coastal nation. Reubin Fields and Collins returned empty-handed from hunting. Lewis then began detailed natural history notes, describing the prairie grouse of the Columbia Plains—its plumage, winter-adapted feet, diet, and flocking habits—and noting that local Indians eat the nutritious, starchy root of the cattail.
Saturday March 1st 1806. This morning Sergt. Gass and a party set out in
quest of the Elk which had been killed by the hunters the day before
yesterday. they returned with the flesh of three of them late in the
evening. Thompson was left with the hunters in order to jurk and take care
of the flesh of the remaining two. Kuskelar and wife left us about noon.
he had a good looking boy of about 10 years of age with him who he
informed us was his slave. this boy had been taken prisoner by the
Killamucks from some nation on the Coast to the S. East of them at a great
distance. like other Indian nations they adopt their slaves in their
families and treat them very much as their own children. Reubin Fields and
Collins who have been absent since yesterday morning returned without
having killed any game. The birds of the Western side of the Rocky
Mountain to the Pacific Ocean, for convenience I shall divide into two
classes, which I shal designate from the habits of the birds, Terrestrial
and Aquatic.
The Grouse or Prarie hen is peculiarly the inhabitant of the Grait Plains
of Columbia they do not differ from those of the upper portion of the
Missouri, the tail of which is pointed or the feathers in it’s center much
longer than those on the sides. this Species differs essentially in the
construction of this part of their plumage from those of the Illinois
which have their tails composed of fathers of equal length. in the winter
season this bird is booted even to the first joint of it’s toes. the toes
are also curiously bordered on their lower edges with narrow hard scales
which are placed very close to each other and extend horizontally about
1/8 of an inch on each side of the toes thus adding to the width of the
tread which nature seems bountifully to have furnished them at this season
for passing over the snow with more ease. in the summer season those
scales fall off. They have four toes on each foot. Their colour is a
mixture of dark brown redish and yellowish brown and white confusedly
mixed in which the redish brown prevails most on the upper parts of the
body wings and tail and the white underneath the belley and lower parts of
the breast and tail. they associate in large flocks in autumn & winter
and are frequently found in flocks of from five to six even in summer.
They feed on grass, insects, the leaves of various shrubs in the plains
and on the seeds of several species of spelts and wild rye which grow in
the richer parts of the plains. in winter their food is the buds of the
willow & Cottonwood also the most of the native berries furnish them
with food.The Indians of this neighbourhood eat the root of the Cattail or
Cooper’s flag. it is pleasantly taisted and appears to be very nutricious.
the inner part of the root which is eaten without any previous preperation
is composed of a number of capillary white flexable strong fibers among
which is a mealy or starch like substance which readily desolves in the
mouth and separate from the fibers which are then rejected. it appears to
me that this substance would make excellent starch; nothing can be of a
purer white than it is.-
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Saturday, March 1st, 1806. This morning Sergeant Gass (Sgt. Gass) and a party set out in search of the elk that had been killed by the hunters the day before yesterday. They returned with the meat of three of them late in the evening. Thompson was left with the hunters to jerk and take care of the meat of the remaining two. Kuskelar and his wife left us about noon. He had a good-looking boy of about 10 years of age with him, who he told us was his slave. This boy had been taken prisoner by the Killamucks from some nation on the coast to the southeast of them at a great distance. Like other Indian nations, they adopt their slaves into their families and treat them very much as their own children. Reubin Fields and Collins, who have been absent since yesterday morning, returned without having killed any game. The birds of the western side of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, for convenience, I shall divide into two classes, which I shall designate from the habits of the birds: Terrestrial and Aquatic.
The Grouse, or Prairie Hen, is especially an inhabitant of the Great Plains of Columbia. They do not differ from those of the upper portion of the Missouri, whose tails are pointed, with the feathers in the center much longer than those on the sides. This species differs essentially in the construction of this part of their plumage from those of the Illinois, which have their tails composed of feathers of equal length. In the winter season, this bird is feathered (booted) even to the first joint of its toes. The toes are also curiously bordered on their lower edges with narrow hard scales, which are placed very close to each other and extend horizontally about 1/8 of an inch on each side of the toes, thus adding to the width of the tread, which nature seems bountifully to have furnished them at this season for passing over the snow with more ease. In the summer season, those scales fall off. They have four toes on each foot. Their color is a mixture of dark brown, reddish and yellowish brown, and white, confusedly mixed, in which the reddish brown prevails most on the upper parts of the body, wings, and tail, and the white underneath the belly and lower parts of the breast and tail. They gather in large flocks in autumn and winter, and are frequently found in flocks of from five to six even in summer. They feed on grass, insects, the leaves of various shrubs in the plains, and on the seeds of several species of spelt and wild rye that grow in the richer parts of the plains. In winter, their food is the buds of the willow and cottonwood; also, most of the native berries provide them with food. The Indians of this neighborhood eat the root of the Cattail, or Cooper's Flag. It is pleasantly tasted and appears to be very nutritious. The inner part of the root, which is eaten without any previous preparation, is composed of a number of capillary, white, flexible, strong fibers, among which is a mealy or starch-like substance that readily dissolves in the mouth and separates from the fibers, which are then rejected. It appears to me that this substance would make excellent starch; nothing can be of a purer white than it is.
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