Lewis: May 15, 1806
At camp, hunters pursued bears with mixed success; Labiche's three previously killed bears were brought in, prompting Lewis to conclude the variously colored bears of the region are a single species distinct from the common black bear. Several men suffered headaches and colic, attributed to a root-heavy diet. Chief Tunnachemootoolt departed with his young men, while Hohastillpilp returned after failing to cross the river. A Nez Perce hunting party passed by using deer-head decoys. The party improved their shelters and observed dramatic climate variation between river bottoms, plains, and the snow-covered Rocky Mountains nearby.
Thursday May 15th 1806. This morning early Reubin Fields in surching for
his horse saw a large bear at no great distance from camp; several men
went in pursuit of the bear, they followed his trail a considerable
distance but could not come up with him. Labuish and Shannon set out with
a view to establish a hunting camp and continuing several days, two others
accompanyed them in order to bring in the three bear which Labuish had
killed. Drewyer and Cruzatte were sent up the river; Sheilds R. Feilds and
Willard hunted in the hills near the camp they returned in the evening
with a few pheasants only and reported that there was much late appearance
of bear, but beleived that they had gone off to a greater distance. at 11
A.M. the men returned with the bear which Labuich had killed. These bear
gave me a stronger evidence of the various coloured bear of this country
being one speceis only, than any I have heretofore had. The female was
black with a considerable proportion of white hairs intermixed and a white
spot on the breast, one of the young bear was jut black and the other of a
light redish brown or bey colour. the poil of these bear were infinitely
longer finer and thicker than the black bear their tallons also longer and
more blont as if woarn by diging roots. the white and redish brown or bey
coloured bear I saw together on the Missouri; the bey and grizly have been
seen and killed together here for these were the colours of those which
Collins killed yesterday. in short it is not common to find two bear here
of this speceis precisely of the same colour, and if we were to attempt to
distinguish them by their collours and to denominate each colour a
distinct speceis we should soon find at least twenty. some bear nearly
white have also been seen by our hunters at this place. the most striking
differences between this speceis of bear and the common black bear are
that the former are larger, have longer tallons and tusks, prey more on
other animals, do not lie so long nor so closely in winter quarters, and
will not climb a tree tho eversoheardly pressed. the variagated bear I
beleive to be the same here with those on the missouri but these are not
as ferocious as those perhaps from the circumstance of their being
compelled from the scarcity of game in this quarter to live more on roots
and of course not so much in the habit of seizing and devouring living
animals. the bear here are far from being as passive as the common black
bear they have attacked and faught our hunters already but not so fiercely
as those of the Missouri. there are also some of the common black bear in
this neighbourhood. Frazier, J. Fields and Wiser complain of violent pains
in their heads, and Howard and York are afflicted with the cholic. I
attribute these complaints to their diet of roots which they have not been
accustomed. Tunnachemootoolt and 12 of his young men left us this morning
on their return to their village. Hohastillpilp and three old men remained
untill 5 in the evening when they also departed. at 1 P.M. a party of 14
natives on horseback passed our camp on a hunting excurtion; they were
armed with bows and arrows and had decoys for the deer these are the skins
of the heads and upper portions of the necks of the deer extended in their
natural shape by means of a fraim of little sticks placed within. the
hunter when he sees a deer conceals himself and with his hand gives to the
decoy the action of a deer at feed; and thus induces the deer within
arrowshot; in this mode the indians hunt on foot in the woodlands where
they cannot pursue the deer with horses which is their favorite method
when the ground will permit.we had all of our horses driven
together today near our camp, which we have directed shall be done each
day in order to familiarize them to each other. several of the horses
which were gelded yesterday are much swolen particularly those cut by
Drewyer, the others bled most but appear much better today than the
others.
we had our baggage better secured under a good shelter formed of grass; we
also strengthened our little fortification with pine poles and brush, and
the party formed themselves very comfortable tents with willow poles and
grass in the form of the orning of a waggon, these were made perfectly
secure as well from the heat of the sun as from rain. we had a bower
constructed for ourselves under which we set by day and sleep under the
part of an old sail now our only tent as the leather lodge has become
rotten and unfit for use. about noon the sun shines with intense heat in
the bottoms of the river. the air on the tom of the river hills or high
plain forms a distinct climate, the air is much colder, and vegitation is
not as forward by at least 15 or perhaps 20 days. the rains which fall in
the river bottoms are snows on the plain. at the distance of fifteen miles
from the river and on the Eastern border of this plain the Rocky Mountains
commence and present us with winter it it’s utmost extreem. the snow is
yet many feet deep even near the base of these mountains; here we have
summer spring and winter within the short space of 15 or 20 miles.Hohastillpilp
and the three old men being unable to pass the river as the canoe had been
taken away, returned to our camp late in the evening and remained with us
all night.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Thursday, May 15th, 1806. Early this morning, while searching for his horse, Reubin Fields saw a large bear not far from camp. Several men went in pursuit of the bear and followed its trail a considerable distance, but could not catch up with it. Labuish (Labiche) and Shannon set out with the intention of establishing a hunting camp and staying for several days; two others accompanied them in order to bring in the three bears Labuish had killed. Drewyer (Drouillard) and Cruzatte were sent up the river. Shields, R. Fields, and Willard hunted in the hills near camp and returned in the evening with only a few pheasants. They reported that there were many recent signs of bear, but believed the bears had gone off to a greater distance. At 11 A.M. the men returned with the bears Labuich had killed.
These bears gave me stronger evidence than any I have had before that the variously colored bears of this country are only one species. The female was black with a considerable proportion of white hairs intermixed and a white spot on her breast; one of the young bears was completely black and the other a light reddish-brown or bay color. The fur of these bears was infinitely longer, finer, and thicker than that of the black bear, and their claws were also longer and more blunt, as if worn down by digging roots. I saw the white and reddish-brown or bay-colored bears together on the Missouri; the bay and grizzly have been seen and killed together here, for these were the colors of those Collins killed yesterday. In short, it is uncommon to find two bears of this species here that are precisely the same color, and if we tried to distinguish them by their colors and call each color a distinct species, we would soon find at least twenty. Some nearly white bears have also been seen by our hunters at this place.
The most striking differences between this species of bear and the common black bear are that the former are larger, have longer claws and tusks, prey more on other animals, do not lie so long or so closely in winter quarters, and will not climb a tree no matter how hard pressed. I believe the variegated bear here is the same as those on the Missouri, but these are not as ferocious as those, perhaps because the scarcity of game in this region forces them to live more on roots and so they are not as accustomed to seizing and devouring living animals. The bears here are far from being as passive as the common black bear; they have already attacked and fought our hunters, but not so fiercely as those of the Missouri. There are also some of the common black bear in this neighborhood.
Frazier, J. Fields, and Wiser complain of violent pains in their heads, and Howard and York are afflicted with colic. I attribute these complaints to their diet of roots, which they are not accustomed to. Tunnachemootoolt and 12 of his young men left us this morning on their return to their village. Hohastillpilp and three old men remained until 5 in the evening, when they also departed. At 1 P.M. a party of 14 natives on horseback passed our camp on a hunting excursion. They were armed with bows and arrows and had decoys for deer; these are the skins of the heads and upper portions of the necks of the deer, stretched into their natural shape by means of a frame of little sticks placed inside. When the hunter sees a deer, he conceals himself and with his hand gives the decoy the motion of a feeding deer, thus luring the deer within arrow-shot. In this way the Indians hunt on foot in woodlands where they cannot pursue deer on horseback, which is their favorite method when the ground permits.
We had all of our horses driven together today near our camp, which we have directed shall be done each day to familiarize them with each other. Several of the horses that were gelded yesterday are much swollen, particularly those cut by Drewyer (Drouillard); the others bled the most but appear much better today than the rest.
We had our baggage better secured under a good shelter formed of grass; we also strengthened our little fortification with pine poles and brush, and the party made themselves very comfortable tents with willow poles and grass in the form of a wagon's awning. These were made perfectly secure from both the heat of the sun and the rain. We had a bower constructed for ourselves under which we sit by day and sleep, under the part of an old sail that is now our only tent, as the leather lodge has become rotten and unfit for use.
About noon the sun shines with intense heat in the bottoms of the river. The air on top of the river hills, or high plain, forms a distinct climate; the air is much colder, and vegetation is not as advanced by at least 15 or perhaps 20 days. The rains that fall in the river bottoms are snows on the plain. At the distance of fifteen miles from the river, and on the eastern border of this plain, the Rocky Mountains begin and present us with winter at its utmost extreme. The snow is still many feet deep even near the base of these mountains; here we have summer, spring, and winter within the short space of 15 or 20 miles.
Hohastillpilp and the three old men, being unable to cross the river because the canoe had been taken away, returned to our camp late in the evening and remained with us all night.
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