ich it was situated, and was reached by Clark on August 20.
The party was very ceremoniously received by Chief Cameahwait, and
all hands began to explain to the white men the difficulties of the
situation. How to transport the canoes and baggage over the mountains
to some navigable stream leading into the Columbia was now the serious
problem. The Indian chief and his old men dwelt on the obstacles in the
way and argued that it was too late in the season to make the attempt.
They even urged the white men to stay with them until another spring,
when Indian guides would be furnished them to proceed on their journey
westward.

On the twenty-first, Clark passed the junction of two streams, the
Salmon and the Lemhi, which is now the site of Salmon City, Idaho. As
Captain Lewis was the first white man who had seen these waters,
Clark gave to the combined water-course the name of Lewis' River. The
mountains here assumed a formidable aspect, and the stream was too
narrow, rapid, and rock-bound to admit of navigation. The journal says
of Captain Clark:--

"He soon began to perceive that the Indian accounts had not been
exaggerated. At the distance of a mile he passed a small creek (on the
right), and the points of four mountains, which were rocky, and so high
that it seemed almost impossible to cross them with horses. The road lay
over the sharp fragments of rocks which had fallen from the mountains,
and were strewed in heaps for miles together; yet the horses, altogether
unshod, travelled across them as fast as the men, without detaining them
a moment. They passed two bold running streams, and reached the entrance
of a small river, where a few Indian families resided, who had not been
previously acquainted with the arrival of the whites; the guide was
behind, and the woods were so thick that we came upon them unobserved,
till at a very short distance. As soon as they saw us the women and
children fled in great consternation; the men offered us everything they
had--the fish on the scaffolds, the dried berries, and the collars of
elks' tushes worn by the children. We took only a small quantity of the
food, and gave them in return some small articles which conduced very
much to pacify them. The guide now coming up, explained to them who we
were and the object of our visit, which seemed to relieve their fears;
still a number of the women and children did not recover from their
fright, but cried during our stay, which lasted about a