PASIFIC SHORE
Clark reported that he had found his way to the Clearwater, a large branch of the great Columbia River. His good news came not a moment too soon. Lewis and his men were so tired from their long journey across the mountains that many were not able to walk the few remaining mails to the camp Clark had built. These men had to be carried on supply horses. Lewis could almost not hold himself on his horse’s back. Almost everyone was ill. Only good food, rest, and medicine could build them into a successful exploring group once more.
At this moment, the explorers were as weak as they ever were on their whole trip to the Pacific, but they escaped an Indian war. They knew nothing of their danger at the time. It was not until many years later that the Nez Perces told the story of what might have been the end of the expedition.
This Indian story was handed down from father to son for many years. It tells how the strangers came near the Indians made plans to kill them all. However, a woman named Wat Ku-ese, whose life had once been saved by two white men, stopped her people. “Do not be afraid of them,” she said gently. She promised that they were not an enemy of the Indians.
Her people listened to her words. When they met the white men, they found them very friendly. In fact, the Nez Perces remained friendly with all white explorers and settlers for the next 70 years.
Never even guessing the closeness of their escape, Lewis and Clark held the usual meeting. The Nez Perces enjoyed the white men’s dances so much that the story of that meeting is still told among those Indians today.
When the explorers again had their strength, they all set to work cutting trees to build boats. The Nez Perces offered to care for the horses until the white men returned up the river. Then the little group of boats went down the Clearwater on the last part of their journey to the west. The Nez Perces chiefs went with them for several miles.
This seemed to be the easy part of the trip, since it was all downstream. But although it was simple to sail down the fast rivers, it was not always safe. On the second day, a boat hit a rock, then hit against another. Holes appeared in its sides, and it soon filled with water.
All the men were able to reach the rocks, where they held on for their lives. Below they could see the wild waters rushing among the rocks and knew that they would have to wait there for help to reach them.
A few days later, there more boats hit the rocks. The men of one boat were left on a large rock in the rising river. It was an hour before they could be brought safely back. Other men, further downstream, took from the water any supplies they could save. An Indian, moving through the water as easily as a fish, went out to save more of the bags. The boxes that had been tied to the boats were safe. But bags of bullets and other supplies were too heavy and went to the bottom of the river.
Though there were few wild animals to hunt, food was not a problem for those who liked to eat dogs. These animals could be bought in any Indian village along the river. Lewis thought dog meat was not bad to eat and he believed that his men were healthy from eating dog meat. They seemed more healthy than they had ever been since passing beyond the buffalo country. Clark said that he thought dog was a healthy food, but he would not agree to enjoy it. But the men soon learned to eat it, and some would choose dog meet rather than fresh fish.
The Columbia River Indians were friendly. They had heard of the white traders who visited the lower parts of the Columbia. Also, they could see a woman with a baby in the boats. The Indian usually realized that this did not mean a war group. But a few villages were afraid and ran away when they saw the expedition.
As they went down the river, signs that white men had been in that part of the land appeared often. A few Indians were wearing red or blue cloth coats. Others had shirts, guns, and bags of bullets. Soon they were meeting Indians who knew a few words of English.
The expedition passed two bad places safely. One was a place where the whole movement of the great Columbia River rushes between walls of rock less than 120 feet apart. Here, the water turns again and again and rushes wildly on every side. The expedition’s great riverman, Cruzat, brought the boats safely down through this wild water, even though a single wrong act would have killed them. Cruzat saved the time and labor of heaving to carry the boats over land. But when the explorers reached a place where the Columbia drops 60 feet in two miles, not even Cruzat dared to cross the wild river. The men worked like animals to carry the boats and supplies around the rocks and water.
Soon, the men were slowly moving down the lower parts of the broad Columbia. They were surprised to see the great trees of the Oregon forest. Some reaches 200 feet toward the sky, and they were almost 15 feet wide at the bottom. Here and there, along the shore, edges of rock could be seen against the green forest. Here, the falling water rushed down over the rocks in great clouds of white through nothing but air.
Beautiful as this Columbia River country was, the explorers were not happy for a time. The walls of rocks came so near the shore that the men could find no dry land to camp upon. Dry firewood was hard to find, and often the men were cold. One night, they tried to sleep on wood that was lying in the water along the shore. It was not a good night. They had eaten only a few dry fish, bought from the Indians. And all night, the wood moved on top of the water.
But soon their troubles seemed of no importance. On a great day, Clark wrote in his records: “Ocean in view! O! the joy ! ” There is some doubt that the explorers really did see the ocean that day. They may have seen only the wide opening of the lower Columbia River. But it meant the same thing. They had won their way across the country!
They had reached the great Pacific Ocean that they had been waiting so long to see. They delighted in the noise of the waves breaking on the rocks along the shore.
Thomas Jefferson’s dreams had come true. His captains and their men had fought their way up the Missouri River. They had traveled over the high, strange Rockies and down the Columbia, mapping the journey every mile of the way. The country could be crossed. Lewis and Clark had just done it. And where explorers map the way, traders and settlers follow.
Two times the ship Lydia of Boston had failed to meet the expedition, so they had lost their easy journey home. But the happy explorers were soon building a fort and winter camp. They used a good wood growing nearby, made salt from sea water and explored the land around them.
By winter 1805 the whole exploring group was settled into new houses, which were well heated by fireplaces. And there were enough men and guns to stop any possible Indian fight.
That winter on the Far Pacific Coast war safe and easy. It was not interesting, but during that quiet and peaceful season, the explorers enjoyed a rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment