On the Northern Nez Perce Trail, the expedition follows Hungery Creek for several miles and then starts climbing up to the Bitterroot Divide. They encounter deep snows with no grass for their horses. On Cache Mountain, they place non-essential cargo on a platform and go back down to the creek.
Hungery Creek
© 6 June 2009 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Descending Hungery Creek
we collected our horses and set out early; we proceeded down hungry creek about seven miles passing it twice; we found it difficult and dangerous to pass the creek in consequence of its debth and rapidity; we avoided two other passes of the creek by ascending a very steep rocky and difficult hill.
—Meriwether Lewis
Climbing Cache Mountain
we ascended about 3 miles when we found ourselves invelloped in snow from 12 to 15 feet deep even on the south sides of the hills with the fairest exposure to the sun; here was winter with all it’s rigors; the air was cold, my hands and feet were benumbed.
—Meriwether Lewis
Cache Mountain
Painting at the Weippe Discovery Center. Photo 2013 by Kristopher K. Townsend.
Madness to Proceed
under these circumstances we conceived it madnes in this stage of the expedition to proceed without a guide who could certainly conduct us to the fish wears on the Kooskooske [Clearwater River], as our horses could not possibly sustain a journey of more than five days without food.
—Meriwether Lewis
A Retrograde March
we concluded it would be most adviseable to go back to some place where there was food for our horses. We therefore hung up our loading on poles, tied to and extended between trees, covered it all safe with deer skins, and turned back melancholy and disappointed. At this time it began to rain; and we proceeded down to Hungry creek
—Patrick Gass
Weather Diary
State of the weather at rise
Wind at State of the weather at 4 P.M. Wind at 4 P.M. cloudy after rain E cloudy after fair & rain S E rained slightly a little after sunset air cool. rained from 1 to 3 P.M. [Clark:] assend a mtn. Snow 15 feet deep on top.
—Meriwether Lewis and William Clark[1]To assist the reader of this web page, the date column is not presented and some abbreviations have been spelled out.
Notes
| ↑1 | To assist the reader of this web page, the date column is not presented and some abbreviations have been spelled out. |
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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.
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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).