, six years ago, the Shoshonees had suffered a very severe defeat
from the Minnetarees; and late in the evening we reached the upper part
of the cove, where the creek enters the mountains. The part of the cove
on the northeast side of the creek has lately been burned, most probably
as a signal on some occasion. Here we were joined by our hunters with a
single deer, which Captain Lewis gave, as a proof of his sincerity,
to the women and children, and remained supperless himself. As we came
along we observed several large hares, some ducks, and many of the cock
of the plains: in the low grounds of the cove were also considerable
quantities of wild onions."

Arriving at the Shoshonee village on the Lemhi, Captain Lewis found a
note from Captain Clark, sent back by a runner, informing him of
the difficulty and impossibility of a water route to the Columbia.
Cameahwait, being told that his white friends would now need twenty more
horses, said that he would do what he could to help them. The journal
here adds:--

"In order not to lose the present favorable moment, and to keep the
Indians as cheerful as possible, the violins were brought out and our
men danced, to the great diversion of the Indians. This mirth was the
more welcome because our situation was not precisely that which would
most dispose us to gayety; for we have only a little parched corn to
eat, and our means of subsistence or of success depend on the wavering
temper of the natives, who may change their minds to-morrow. . . .

"The Shoshonees are a small tribe of the nation called the Snake
Indians, a vague appellation, which embraces at once the inhabitants of
the southern parts of the Rocky Mountains and of the plains on either
side. The Shoshonees with whom we now were amount to about one hundred
warriors, and three times that number of women and children. Within
their own recollection they formerly lived in the plains, but they have
been driven into the mountains by the Pahkees, or the roving Indians
of the Sascatchawan, and are now obliged to visit occasionally, and
by stealth, the country of their ancestors. Their lives, indeed, are
migratory. From the middle of May to the beginning of September they
reside on the headwaters of the Columbia, where they consider themselves
perfectly secure from the Pahkees, who have never yet found their way to
that retreat. During this time they subsist chiefly on salmon, and, as
that fish disappears on the approach of au