Patrick Gass: May 26, 1805
The expedition traveled through barren desert country with almost no timber except scattered pines on the hills. Wildlife was scarce, though one man shot a male mountain sheep (Ibex) with horns two feet long. Two creeks were passed on the north side during the morning, and another man killed a buffalo in the evening. After dark, the party reached strong rapids and had to combine the crews of two or three canoes to push through. They made camp after nightfall on the south side, having traveled twenty-one miles.
through a desert country: in which there is no timber on any
part, except a few scattered pines on the hills. We saw few
animals of any kind, but the Ibex or mountain sheep. One of
our men killed a male, which had horns two feet long and four
inches diameter at the root.* We passed two creeks this fore-
* «The Ibex resembles the goat in the shape of its body : but differs in the horns
which are much larger. ‘They are bent backwards, full! of knots; and it is generally
asserted that there is a knot added every year. There are some of these found if we
may believe Bellonius, at least two yards long. ‘The Ibex has a large black beard,
is of a brown colour, with a thick woven coat of hair. ‘There is a streak of black
runs along the top of the back; and the belly and back of the thighs are of a fawn
colour, It is anative of the Alps, the Pyrennees, and mountains of Greece; extremely
swift and capable of running with ease along the edges of precipices, where even the
Wolf or the Fox, though instigated by hunger, dares not pursue it.’’ Goldsmith.
Such is the description given of the Ibex; but which to us does not appear to suit
the animal found about the Rocky mountains called the mountain Ram. From what
we have before heared of that animal, and from Mr. Gass’s verbal description, we
are led to believe, that it much more nearly resembles the wild sheep, called the
Muftion or Musmon, to be found in the uncultivated parts of Greece, Sardinia, Cor-
sica and in the desert of Tartary ; and which is thought to be the primitive race and
LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION 89
noon on the North side; and in the evening one of the men
killed a buffaloe. At dark we came to large rapids, where we
had to unite the crews of two or three canoes, to force them
through. It was sometime after night before we could encamp.
We at length after having gone twenty-one miles, encamped
on the South side in a small grove of timber, the first we had
seen during the day.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
We traveled through a desert country, where there is no timber anywhere, except a few scattered pines on the hills. We saw few animals of any kind, except the Ibex or mountain sheep. One of our men killed a male, which had horns two feet long and four inches in diameter at the root.* We passed two creeks this forenoon on the north side; and in the evening one of the men killed a buffalo.
At dark we came to large rapids, where we had to combine the crews of two or three canoes to force them through. It was some time after nightfall before we could camp. At length, after having gone twenty-one miles, we camped on the south side in a small grove of timber, the first we had seen during the day.
* "The Ibex resembles the goat in the shape of its body, but differs in the horns, which are much larger. They are bent backwards and full of knots; and it is generally asserted that a knot is added every year. There are some of these, if we may believe Bellonius, at least two yards long. The Ibex has a large black beard, is of a brown color, with a thick woven coat of hair. There is a streak of black running along the top of the back; and the belly and the back of the thighs are of a fawn color. It is a native of the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the mountains of Greece; it is extremely swift and capable of running with ease along the edges of precipices, where even the wolf or the fox, though driven by hunger, dares not pursue it."—Goldsmith. Such is the description given of the Ibex; but to us it does not appear to suit the animal found about the Rocky Mountains called the mountain Ram. From what we have heard before of that animal, and from Mr. Gass's verbal description, we are led to believe that it much more nearly resembles the wild sheep, called the Mufflon or Musmon, found in the uncultivated parts of Greece, Sardinia, Corsica, and in the desert of Tartary, and which is thought to be the primitive race and
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