Overland to Walla Walla, council with Yelleppit — Patrick Gass: April 28, 1806

with the Indians, and got dogs, fish, shap-a-leel and roots
from them. At 10 o’clock we began to take our horses over
the river at this place, as we can lessen our journey consider-
ably by crossing: We borrowed canoes from the natives, and
swam the horses along side, and at two o’clock in the after-
noon had them all landed safe, after a good deal of trouble.
From this place we can discover a range of mountains covered
with snow, in a south east direction and about fifty miles dis-
tant. In the evening the weather was cloudy, and it thundered
and threatened rain, a few drops of which fell. We remained
here all night, and about dark above an hundred of the
natives came down from the forks to see us. They joined
with those at this place and performed a great dance. We
were a very interesting sight to the surrounding crowd, as
nine-tenths of them had never before seen a white man.