LC-2AP Lewis & Clark with the Shoshones and Flatheads, Giclee Art PrintLewis and Clark tried to obtain horses from the Snake (Shoshone) Indians, a horse for each man to carry their baggage and for some of the men to ride occasionally. "The horses are handsome," according to the Journals.The expedition had accumulated 29 horses by August 30, 1805 which was far short of their goal. They made pack saddles for them. On the 30th they set out on their route down the Lemhi River led by Old Toby, their Shoshone guide. On September 5th they purchased 11 horses and exchanged 7 with the Flathead Indians (these too were elegant horse). These Indians called themselves the Eoote-lash-Schute (Oat la shoot) of the Tushepaw Nation. This scene depicts the expedition, now owning about 40 horses, coming down Glade Creek on the western slope of the Bitterroot Mountains. The sun is peeking through what was generally a cloudy, cold day. The peaks and ridges around them were covered with snow. Their guide is shown pointing out the trail to both Lewis and Clark where after another two miles, it led to a "swift and stoney" creek 80 yards wide. It was here they were compelled to kill a colt for food. They named the creek, Colt-killed Creek, now known as White-Sand Creek. From there the trail took them up to the snow-covered mountains where many of their horses were injured by slipping and falling down the steep mountainside. After 5 more days of very difficult travel Captain Clark and his advance party of hunters, weak from hunger and the cold, came to a small level plain where they first made contact with the Nez Perce Indians. (Information for this story from Professor David Freeman Hawke's book, "Those Tremendous Mountains" and "Original Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition," Vol. 3.) |
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