the 26th,
passing over a perilous trail, they had found a small bit of ground
from which the snow had melted, leaving exposed a growth of young
grass, where the horses had pasturage for the night.

"June 27th.... From this lofty spot we have a commanding view of the
surrounding mountains, which so completely enclose us that, though we
have once passed them [in the preceding September], we almost despair
of ever escaping from them without the assistance of the Indians....
Our guides traverse this trackless region with a kind of instinctive
sagacity; they never hesitate, they are never embarrassed; and so
undeviating is their step, that wherever the snow has disappeared, for
even a hundred paces, we find the summer road."

On the 29th they descended from the snowy mountains to the main branch
of the Kooskooskee, where they found the body of a deer that had been
left for them by the hunters, who were working in advance,--"a very
seasonable addition to our food; for having neither meat nor oil, we
were reduced to a diet of roots, without salt or any other addition."

The first day of July found them encamped at the mouth of Traveler's
Rest Creek, where all mountain trails converged. It was from this place
that Captain Clark's plan for a shorter route to the Falls of the
Missouri was to be put into execution. But that was not all that lay in
their minds.

"We now formed the following plan of operations: Captain Lewis, with
nine men, is to pursue the most direct route to the Falls of the
Missouri, where three of his party are to be left to prepare carriages
for transporting the baggage and canoes across the portage. With the
remaining six, he will ascend Maria's River to explore the country and
ascertain whether any branch of it reaches as far north as latitude
50 deg., after which he will descend that river to its mouth. The rest of
the men will accompany Captain Clark to the head of Jefferson River,
which Sergeant Ordway and a party of nine men will descend, with the
canoes and other articles deposited there. Captain Clark's party, which
will then be reduced to ten, will proceed to the Yellowstone, at its
nearest approach to the Three Forks of the Missouri. There he will
build canoes, go down that river with seven of his party, and wait at
its mouth till the rest of the party join him. Sergeant Pryor, with two
others, will then take the horses by land to the Mandans. From that
nation he will go to the British posts on