Camp Chopunnish (Long Camp), waiting for snow to melt — Patrick Gass: May 14, 1806

white frost. Three hunters went over very early to the north
side of the river. All the rest of the men were employed in
collecting our horses and taking over the baggage. About
noon we got all the horses and baggage over safe; and met
with one of our hunters, who had killed two bears some dis-
tance off. So two men were dispatched with him to bring in
ing; the grass was verdant, and the wild fruits ripe around it. But here the snow
was not yet dissolved, the ground was still bound by the frost, the herbage had scarce
begun to spring, and the crowberry bushes were just beginning to blossom.’’ This
range of lofty mountains prevents the Tacoutche or Columbia river from finding a
direct course to the ocean, and forces it in a direction somewhat east of south, to
traverse by various windings that large tract of country, until it arrives near the 46th
degree of latitude, when it turns to the west, and at length finds its way to the Ocean
through the Columbia valley.
From the information gained by the late expedition, by M‘Kenzie’s voyage, the
discoveries of Captain Cook and others, it appears there are great quantities of timber,
chiefly of the pine or fir kind, between the shore of the Pacific and the chain of moun-
tains which run near it; but between these and the Rocky Mountains, especially
south of M‘Kenzie’s route, a great part is open prairie or plains almost totally with-
out timber. Mr. M‘Kenzie says of the information of the chief, who delineated for
him a sketch of the river and country on a piece of bark. ‘‘ As far as his knowledge
of the river extended, the country on either side was level, in many places without
wood, and abounding in red deer, and some of a smal] fallow kind.’’
According to the yerbal relation of Mr. Gass, the land on the Columbia is gen-
erally of a better quality than on the Missouri; and where a greater number of roots
grow, such as the natives subsist on. The Missouri in its general course is deeper,
more crooked and rapid than the Columbia; but the latter has more rapids or cata-
tacts; and its water is clear.
232 GASS’S JOURNAL OF THE
the meat; and we set about forming a camp at the remains of
an ancient village on the north side of the Koos-koos-ke river.
We were accompanied by a number of the natives, one of
whom gave us a horse; and three more of our old stock were
brought in by them. In the afternoon we had an operation
performed on seven of our horses, to render them more
peaceable; which was done by one of the natives upon all but
one. In the evening the men came in with the meat of the
two bears, and also our other hunters who had killed three
more, all of the grizly kind. We gave some of the meat to
the natives at our camp, who cooked it in their own way;
which was done in the following manner. They first collected
some stones and heated them, upon which they placed a part
of the meat, and upon the meat some small brush, and so
alternately meat and brush, until all the meat was on; when
the whole was covered with brush and lastly with earth; so
that the heap or mass had something of the appearance of a
small coalpit on fire. An hour and an half was necessary to
cook it in this way. The natives remained at our camp all
night.