This rivulet (Blaeberry creek) descended sharply through a narrow, winding valley between the heights; and it was necessary for the party to force their way through the thick woods along the steep and rugged slopes, and to cross and recross the stream through water knee-deep, in order to reach the mouth. A full day's travel, however, brought them to the valley of the Columbia. The weather had done its work on the canoe built by Jaco Finlay; and it was quite unseaworthy. They had to halt while they scoured the woods for materials and built new canoes. Finally they embarked and paddled south up the Columbia until they came to its headwaters. There, a short distance from Lake Windermere, they hewed logs of heavy fir and built a cabin which they strongly stockaded on three sides, the fourth resting on the steep bank of the river. This was Old Kootenay House, the first trading post erected by white men on the waters of the Columbia. In this remote spot, the safety of all depended upon the courage and resource of the leader. Additional supplies were needed from Rocky Mountain House, and Finan McDonald was sent back across the mountains to fetch them. Until the end of autumn, provisions were scarce, for the red deer and antelope had not yet descended from the higher levels, and the mountain goat was hard to shoot as he leapt from crag to crag. The party therefore relied on fish and the flesh of wild horses whose feeding grounds were not more than two miles from the house. For the purpose of trade, it was necessary to get in touch with the natives and to examine the country as well as possible. The season was late, but Thompson was able to make one short excursion with a chief of the Flatbow Indians. When Finan McDonald rejoined his chief, he brought with him alarming intelligence. In the course of the summer, the brother of Old White Swan, a Blackfoot chief, had with his band assaulted and pillaged Fort Augustus, possessing himself of many guns, much ammunition and tobacco and various other articles. Whether or not he had murdered the traders at the Fort, McDonald could not say; but it was clear that the spirit of unrest and resentment against the whites which had for some time pervaded the whole Blackfeet confederacy was now coming to a head; and Thompson could hardly hope that he himself would escape serious trouble.