Bitterroot crossing attempt, turned back by snow — Patrick Gass: June 16, 1806
The party traveled up a creek for about three miles before climbing into rough hills covered with thawing snowbanks, some four or five feet deep but packed firmly enough to support the horses. They stopped for dinner at a stream with grass for the animals, then pushed on through rain in the afternoon, encountering deeper snow up to eight feet in places. By evening they reached Hungry Creek, where Captain Clark had killed a horse the previous fall, and camped there so the horses could graze before entering areas with little forage.
our journey; went up a handsome creek about three miles,
and then took to the hills which are very rough with a great
many banks of snow, some of them four or five feet deep.
These banks are so closely packed and condensed, that they
carry our horses, and are all in a thawing state. We halted
for dinner at a handsome stream where there was some grass
for our horses; and in about two hours proceeded on again,
and had some rain. In the afternoon we found the snow
banks more numerous, extensive and deep: in some of them
the snow was as much as eight feet deep. In the evening we
came to Hungry creek (where Capt. Clarke killed a horse last
fall and left it for the party) and encamped, that our horses
might get some grass as we do not expect they will get any
soon again; and there is not much here.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
We continued our journey, going up a beautiful creek for about three miles, and then took to the hills, which are very rough with a great many banks of snow, some of them four or five feet deep. These banks are so closely packed and condensed that they hold up our horses, and they are all in a thawing state. We halted for dinner at a beautiful stream where there was some grass for our horses; and in about two hours we proceeded on again, and had some rain.
In the afternoon we found the snow banks more numerous, extensive, and deep: in some of them the snow was as much as eight feet deep. In the evening we came to Hungry Creek (where Capt. Clarke (Capt. Clark) killed a horse last fall and left it for the party) and camped, so that our horses might get some grass, as we do not expect they will get any soon again; and there is not much here.
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