At Lawyer Creek near Kamiah, Idaho, Nez Perce chiefs share with their people what they heard at yesterday’s council with the captains. The captains then give a gun and ammunition to Twisted hair as payment for watching their horses the previous winter. They also form a plan for crossing the Bitterroot Mountains.
Clark, the Doctor
by Yellowstone Public Radio[1]Originally aired weekdays by Yellowstone Public Radio during the Bicentennial observance of 2003-2006. Narrated by Hal Hansen. Scripts by Whit Hansen and Ed Jacobson. Produced by Leni Holliman. © … Continue reading
Nez Perce Spoons
Photo courtesy of Nez Perce National Historical Park, NEPE 8848.
Clark the Doctor
a fine Morning great number of Indians flock about us as usial. after brackfast I began to administer eye water and in a fiew minits had near 40 applicants with Sore eyes, and many others with other Complaints most Common Rhumatic disorders & weaknesses in the back and loins perticularly the womin.
—William Clark
Nez Perce Reactions
the principal Cheif or the broken Arm . . . . concluded by inviting all such men as had resolved to abide by the decrees of the council to come and eat and requested such as would not be so bound to shew themselves by not partaking of the feast. I was told by one of our men who was present, that there was not a dissenting voice on this great national question, but all swallowed their objections if any they had, very cheerfully with their mush. during the time of this loud and animated harangue of the Cheif the women cryed wrung their hands, toar their hair and appeared to be in the utmost distress.
—Meriwether Lewis
Nez Perce Speeches
The father of Hohâstillpilp was the orrator on this occasion. he observed that they had listened with attention to our advise and that the whole nation was resolved to follow it, that they had only one heart and one tongue on this subject. he said they were fully sensible of the advantages of peace . . . .
—Meriwether Lewis
Paying Twisted Hair
we now gave the Twisted hair one gun and a hundred balls and 2 lbs. of powder in part for his attention to our horses and promised the other gun and a similar quantity of powder and lead when we received the ballance of our horses. this gun we had purchased of the indians below for 2 Elkskins.
—Meriwether Lewis
Seeking a New Camp
we informed the indians of our wish to pass the river and form a camp at some proper place to fish, hunt, and graize our horses untill the snows of the mountains would permit us to pass.
—Meriwether Lewis
Procuring Guides
we are anxious to procure some guides to accompany us on the different routs we mean to take from Travellers rest; for this purpose we have turned our attention to the Twisted hair who has several sons grown who are well acquainted as well as himself with the various roads in those mountains. we invited the old fellow to remove his family and live near us while we remained; he appeared gratifyed with this expression of our confidence and promissed to do so.—
—Meriwether Lewis
Weather Diary
State of the Weather at rise
Wind at State of the Weather at 4 P.M. Wind at 4 P.M. State of the Kooskooskee fair E fair S W the natives inform us that the salmon have arrived at the entrance of the Kooskooske [Clearwater River] in great numbers and that some were caught yesterday in Lewis’s river opposite to us many miles above the entrance of that river. from this village of the broken arm Lewis’s river is only about 10 miles distant to the S. W.— the natives also inform us that the salmon appear 〈much〉 many days sooner in Lewis’s river above the entrance of the Kooskooske than they do in that stream.
—Meriwether Lewis[2]To assist the reader of this web page, the date column is not presented, the river columns have been merged, and some abbreviations have been spelled out.
Notes
| ↑1 | Originally aired weekdays by Yellowstone Public Radio during the Bicentennial observance of 2003-2006. Narrated by Hal Hansen. Scripts by Whit Hansen and Ed Jacobson. Produced by Leni Holliman. © 2003 by Yellowstone Public Radio. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | To assist the reader of this web page, the date column is not presented, the river columns have been merged, and some abbreviations have been spelled out. |
Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
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.
This page was funded in part by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, U.S. National Park Service.
This site is provided as a public service by the
Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
with cooperation and funding from the following organizations:
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Montana Committee for the Humanities
- Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee
- The Capital Gallery (Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation)
- Yellowstone Public Radio
Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).