First Across the Continent: The Story of the Exploring Expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804-5-6Brooks, Noah
History
First Across the Continent: The Story of the Exploring Expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804-5-6
Brooks, Noah
Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806); United States -- Discovery and exploration; West (U.S.) -- Description and travel
“After arranging the camp we assembled all the warriors, and having
smoked with them, the violins were produced, and some of the men danced.
This civility was returned by the Indians in a style of dancing, such as
we had not yet seen. The spectators formed a circle round the dancers,
who, with their robes drawn tightly round the shoulders, and divided
into parties of five or six men, perform by crossing in a line from one
side of the circle to the other. All the parties, performers as well as
spectators, sing, and after proceeding in this way for some time, the
spectators join, and the whole concludes by a promiscuous dance and
song. Having finished, the natives retired at our request, after
promising to barter horses with us in the morning.”
They bought three horses of these Indians and hired three more from a
Chopunnish who was to accompany them. The journal adds:--
“The natives also had promised to take our canoes in exchange for
horses; but when they found that we were resolved on travelling by land
they refused giving us anything, in hopes that we would be forced to
leave them. Disgusted at this conduct, we determined rather to cut them
to pieces than suffer these people to enjoy them, and actually began
to split them, on which they gave us several strands of beads for each
canoe. We had now a sufficient number of horses to carry our baggage,
and therefore proceeded wholly by land.”
Next day the party camped near a tribe of Indians known as the
Pishquitpah. These people had never seen white men before, and they
flocked in great numbers around the strangers, but were very civil and
hospitable, although their curiosity was rather embarrassing. These
people were famous hunters, and both men and women were excellent
riders. They were now travelling on the south side of the river, in
Oregon, and, after leaving the Pishquitpahs, they encountered the
“Wollawollahs,” as they called them. These Indians are now known as the
Walla Walla tribe, and their name is given to a river, a town, and a
fort of the United States. In several of the Indian dialects walla means
“running water,” and when the word is repeated, it diminishes the size
of the object; so that Walla Walla means “little running water.” Near
here the explorers passed the mouth of a river which they called the
Youmalolam; it is a curious example of the difficulty of rendering
Indian names into English. The stream is now known as the Umatilla.
Here they found some old acquaintances of whom the journal has this
account:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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