Columbia River tidewater, approaching estuary — Patrick Gass: November 4, 1805
The expedition traveled 28 miles down a scenic stretch of the river, passing several large islands and Indian lodges. They stopped at a sizable Indian village where natives reported that two ships with white people lay two days ahead, evidenced by new cloth and trade goods. The party obtained dogs and wapato roots, which resembled potatoes and tasted excellent. Game was more plentiful, and one man shot a deer. They observed 52 well-built canoes at the village and saw abundant waterfowl. They camped on the north side and spotted distant Mount Rainier in the evening.
passed two large islands, and a beautiful part of the
river. The tide raised the water last night two feet. We
went about 7 miles and came to a large Indian village, where
they informed us that in two days we would come to two ships
with white people in them. The Indians here have a great
deal of new cloth among them, and other articles which they
got from these ships. We got some dogs and roots from the
natives. The roots are of a superior quality to any I had
before seen: they are called whapto; resemble a potatoe when
cooked, and are about as big as a hen egg. Game is more
plenty here than up the river, and one of the men killed a
deer this morning. At this camp of the natives they have 52
canoes, well calculated for riding waves. We proceeded on,
and passed some handsome islands, and down a beautiful part
of the river. We also passed a number of Indian lodges:
and saw a great many swans, geese, ducks, cranes, and gulls.
We went 28 miles and encamped on the north side. In the
evening we saw Mount Rainy on the same side. It is a hand-
some point of a mountain with little or no timber on it, very
high, and a considerable distance off this place.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
We passed two large islands and a beautiful part of the river. The tide raised the water last night two feet. We went about 7 miles and came to a large Indian village, where they informed us that in two days we would come to two ships with white people in them. The Indians here have a great deal of new cloth among them, and other articles which they got from these ships. We got some dogs and roots from the natives. The roots are of a superior quality to any I had seen before: they are called whapto; they resemble a potato when cooked, and are about as big as a hen's egg. Game is more plentiful here than up the river, and one of the men killed a deer this morning. At this camp of the natives they have 52 canoes, well suited for riding waves.
We proceeded on, and passed some handsome islands and a beautiful part of the river. We also passed a number of Indian lodges, and saw a great many swans, geese, ducks, cranes, and gulls. We went 28 miles and camped on the north side. In the evening we saw Mount Rainy (Mount Rainier) on the same side. It is a handsome point of a mountain with little or no timber on it, very high, and a considerable distance from this place.
This modernization is AI-generated for accessibility. The original above is the authoritative version.
Entities mentioned in this entry
Auto-extracted from the entry text. Hover any entity for context.
