Slo-ce-ac-cum (Palouse Indian, 1847)
Paul Kane (1810–1871)
Watercolour and graphite on paper, 18.0 x 13.0 cm. Courtesy Royal Ontario Museum, https://rom.on.ca.
At the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Palouse Indians had coalesced around four primary villages on the lower Snake River: Wawaiwai, Almota, Penewawa, and Palus. Lewis and Clark estimated their population as 2,300 which included Northern Nez Perce.[1]Moulton, Journals, “Estimate of Western Indians,” 6:474.
About Slo-ce-ac-sum (see Figure), the Paul Kane wrote:
We swam our horses at the mouth of the Pelouse River, where it empties itself into the Nezperees [Snake River]. The Chief of this place is named Slo-ce-ac-cum. He wore his hair divided in long masses, stuck together with grease.[2]Paul Kane, Wanderings of an Artist among the Indians of North America . . . (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1859), 274.
Selected Encounters
October 11, 1805
Down the Snake River
Between present Clarkston and Almota, Washington, the paddlers navigate numerous Snake River rapids where the Nez Perce and Palouse have established fisheries. The captains notice a curious sweat lodge.
October 12, 1805
Snake River rapids
The paddlers make about thirty miles down the Snake River in present Washington. Sgt. Gass describes the Palouse villages they pass, and they have difficulty finding firewood.
October 13, 1805
Fast water
To start the day, the non-swimmers portage rifles and scientific equipment while the boatmen navigate a long Snake River rapid. Late in the day, they run a two-mile rapid which “ran like a mill race.” Sacagawea “reconsiles all the Indians”.
October 14, 1805
'Ship Rock'
After passing a ‘ship rock’—Monumental Rock on the Snake River in Washington—Sgt. Ordway‘s canoe gets stuck on a rock and fills with water. They stop for the day and begin drying wet items.
October 15, 1805
Snake River rapids
The first half of the day is spent drying items while the hunters and Lewis explore the high plains above the Snake River. They continue through several difficult rapids and camp above yet another rapid.
October 16, 1805
A musical welcome
The paddlers negotiate the last of the Snake River rapids and the expedition arrives at the Columbia River. Soon after, they are given a musical welcome from a large group of Yakamas and Wanapums.
October 17, 1805
Snake and Columbia observations
At the confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers, Lewis takes a Wanapum vocabulary, and hunters are sent out to collect sage grouse specimens. Clark explores the Yakima River.
October 18, 1805
Down the Columbia
At the mouth of the Snake, the captains council with the Wanapums and Yakamas. Late in the day, the expedition heads down the Columbia and camps below the Twin Sisters in Wallula Gap.
June 8, 1806
Prisoner's base
Several Nez Perce people visit Long Camp, and to get the men in shape for their imminent return home, foot races are run, and prisoner’s base is played with their guests. The sunken dugout canoe is raised and three horses traded. The day ends with dancing.
July 4, 1806
Dangerous roads
The expedition is divided into two groups, and today, both are on dangerous roads.
On the Blackfoot River, Lewis’s Nez Perce guides warn him about dangerous Indians, and they decline to continue. He travels east on “Cokahlahishkit”—the Road to the Buffalo—for eight miles. He also collects a specimen of mock orange, a species named in his honor.
On the Bitterroot River, Clark’s group must cross several creeks swollen from snows melting in the nearby Bitterroot Mountains. Despite there being no buffalo, whiskey, or tobacco, they celebrate the Fourth of July with a “Sumptious Dinner”.
Notes
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Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
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