Chapter I: Front Matter

Volume I is available as Project Gutenberg eBook #16565.

Obvious typos have been corrected, but period and inconsistent spelling left as is.

HISTORY
OF
THE EXPEDITION
UNDER THE COMMAND OF
CAPTAINS LEWIS AND CLARK,
TO
THE SOURCES OF THE MISSOURI,
THENCE
ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
AND DOWN THE
RIVER COLUMBIA TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

PERFORMED DURING THE YEARS 1804-5-6.

By order of the
GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

PREPARED FOR THE PRESS
BY PAUL ALLEN, ESQUIRE.

VOL. II.

_PHILADELPHIA_:
PUBLISHED BY BRADFORD AND INSKEEP; AND
ABM. H. INSKEEP, NEW YORK.

J. Maxwell, Printer.
1814.

DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit:

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-second day of January, in the thirty-eighth year of the independence of the United States of America, A.D. 1814, Bradford & Inskeep, of the said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, to the words following, to wit:

“History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, to the sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky Mountains, and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Performed during the Years 1804-5-6, by order of the Government of the United States. Prepared for the press by Paul Allen, Esquire.”

In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, entitled “An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the time therein mentioned.” And also to the act, entitled, “An act supplementary to an act, entitled, “An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the time therein mentioned,” and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints.”

DAVID CALDWELL,
Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania.

CONTENTS

VOL. II.

CHAPTER I.

The party proceed in canoes. Description of an Indian sweating
bath and burial place. Many dangerous rapids passed. Narrow
escape of one of the canoes. In the passage down they are
visited by several Indians, all of whom manifest pacific
dispositions. Description of the Sokulk tribe. Their dress,
and manner of building houses. Their pacific character. Their
habits of living. Their mode of boiling salmon. Vast quantities
of salmon amongst the Sokulk. Council held with this tribe. The
terror and consternation excited by captain Clark, concerning
which an interesting cause is related. Some account of the
Pisquitpaws. Their mode of burying the dead. 1

CHAPTER II.

The party in their passage still visited by the Indians.
Lepage’s river described. Immense quantities of salmon caught
by the Indians. Description of the river Towahnahiooks.
Indian mode of stacking fish, and preparing them for market.
Description of the great falls. Description of an Indian canoe.
Alarm excited by an anticipated attack from the Eheltoots. A
very dangerous rapid passed in safety, called by the Indians
the Falls. Account of the Indian houses in the neighbourhood.
Another dreadful rapid passed without injury. Some account of
the Chilluckittequaw Indians. Captain Clark examines the great
rapids. Description of an Indian burial place. The rapids
passed in safety. 27

CHAPTER III.

First appearance of tide water in the Columbia river.
Description of the Quicksand river. Some account of the
Skilloot Indians. The party pass the river Coweliskee. Some
account of the Wahkiacum Indians. Arrival on the borders of
the Pacific. Disagreeable and critical situation of the party
when first encamped. Their distress occasioned by the incessant
torrents of rain. Exposed for thirty days to this drenching
deluge, during which time their provisions are spoiled, and
most of their few articles of merchandise destroyed. Distress
of the party. Adventure of Shannon and his danger from the
Wahkiacum. Difficulty of finding a place suitable for a
permanent encampment. Visited by several Indians of different
tribes, on whom medals are bestowed. 58

CHAPTER IV.

Extravagant passion of the natives for blue beads, which
constitute amongst them the circulating medium of the country.
The party still in search of a suitable place for winter
quarters. Still suffering from the constant deluges of rain.
Are visited by the Indians, with whom they traffic but little,
on account of the extravagant prices they ask for every
article. Return of captain Lewis who reports that he has found
a suitable place for winter quarters. The rain still continues.
They prepare to form an encampment on a point of high land on
the banks of the river Nutel. Captain Clark goes with a party
to find a place suitable for the manufacture of salt. He is
hospitably entertained by the Clatsops. This tribe addicted to
the vice of gambling. Sickness of some of the party, occasioned
by the incessant rains. They form, notwithstanding, a permanent
encampment for their winter quarters. 83

CHAPTER V.

A party, headed by captain Clark, go in quest of a whale driven
on the shore of the Pacific to obtain some of the oil. They
pass the Clatsop river, which is described. The perilous nature
of this jaunt, and the grandeur of the scenery described.
Indian mode of extracting whale oil. The life of one of captain
Clark’s party preserved by the kindness of an Indian woman. A
short account of the Chinnooks, of the Clatsops, Killamucks,
the Lucktons, and an enumeration of several other tribes.
The manner of sepulchre among the Chinnooks, Clatsops, &c.
Description of their weapons of war and hunting. Their mode of
building houses. Their manufactures, and cookery. Their mode of
making canoes. Their great dexterity in managing that vehicle. 105

CHAPTER VI.

An account of the Clatsops, Killamucks, Chinnooks and
Cathlamahs. Their uniform customs of flattening the forehead.
The dress of these savages, and their ornaments, described.
The licensed prostitution of the women, married and unmarried,
of which a ludicrous instance is given. The character of their
diseases. The common opinion, that the treatment of women is
the standard by which the virtues of an Indian may be known,
combatted, and disproved by examples. The respect entertained
by these Indians for old age, compared with the different
conduct of those nations who subsist by the chase. Their mode
of government. Their ignorance of ardent spirits, and their
fondness for gambling. Their dexterity in traffic. In what
articles their traffic consists. Their extraordinary attachment
to blue beads, which forms their circulating medium. 130

CHAPTER VII.

A general description of the beasts, birds, and
plants, &c. found by the party in this expedition. 148