In order to give Capt. Clark time to reach the forks of Jefferson's river I concluded to spend this day at the Shoshone Camp and obtain what information I could with rispect to the country.  as we had nothing but a little flour and parched meal to eat except the berries with which the Indians furnished us I directed Drewyer and Shields to hunt a few hours and try to kill something, the Indians furnished them with horses and most of their young men also turned out to hunt.  the game which they principally hunt is the Antelope which they pursue on horseback and shoot with their arrows.  this animal is so extreemly fleet and dureable that a single horse has no possible chance to overtake them or run them down.  the Indians are therefore obliged to have recorce to strategem when they discover a herd of the Antelope they seperate and scatter themselves to the distance of five or six miles in different directions around them generally scelecting some commanding eminence for a stand; some one or two now pursue the herd at full speed over the hills vallies gullies and the sides of precipices that are tremendious to view.  thus after running them from five to six or seven miles the fresh horses that were in waiting head them and drive them back persuing them as far or perhaps further quite to the other extreem of the hunters who now in turn pursue on their fresh horses this <finally> worrying the poor animal down and finally killing them with their arrows.    forty or fifty hunters will be engaged for half a day in this manner and perhaps not kill more than two or three Antelopes.  they have but few Elk or black tailed deer, and the common red deer they cannot take as they secrete themselves in the brush when pursued, and they have only the bow and arrow wich is a very slender depencence for killing any game except such as they can run down with their horses.  I was very much entertained with a view of this indian chase; it was after a herd of about 10 Antelope and about 20 hunters.  it lasted about 2 hours and considerable part of the chase in view from my tent.  about 1 A.M. the hunters returned had not killed a single Antelope, and their horses foaming with sweat.  my hunters returned soon after and had been equally unsuccessfull.  I now directed McNeal to make me a little paist with the flour and added some berries to it which I found very pallateable.

The means I had of communicating with these people was by way of Drewyer who understood perfectly the common language of jesticulation or signs which seems to be universally understood by all the Nations we have yet seen.   it is true that this language is imperfect and liable to error but is much less so than would be expected.  the strong parts of the ideas are seldom mistaken.

I now prevailed on the Chief to instruct me with rispect to the geography of his country.  this he undertook very cheerfully, by delienating the rivers on the ground.   but I soon found that his information fell far short of my expectation or wishes.   he drew the river on which we now are to which he placed two branches just above us, [Possible Hayden Creek and the Lemhi River, merging near the town of Lemhi. Another would place it farther south, near Leadore.]  which he shewed me from the openings of the mountains were in view; he next made it discharge itself into a large river which flowed from the S.W. about ten miles below us, [The Salmon River.] then continued this joint stream in the same direction of this valley or N.W. for one days march and then enclined it to the West for 2 more days march, here he placed a number of heeps of sand on each side which he informed me represented the vast mountains of rock eternally covered with snow through which the river passed. [The Salmon River runs through some of the most rugged country in the United States and is known as the "River of No Return."]  that the perpendicular and even juting rocks so closely hemned in the river that there was no possibilyte of passing along the shore; that the bed of the river was obstructed with sharp pointed rocks and the rapidity of the stream such that the whole surface of the river was beat into perfect foam as far as the eye could reach.  that the mountains were also inaccessible to man or horse.  he said that this being the state of the country in that direction that himself nor none of his nation had ever been further down the river than these mountains. I then enquired the state of the country on either side of the river but he could not inform me.  he said there was an old man of his nation a days march below who could probably give me some information of the country to the N.W. and refered me to an old man then present for that to the S.W.--  the Chief further informed me that he had understood from the persed nosed Indians [Probably the first written reference to the Nez Perces by the name and trait by which they became known in history. The question of whether they actually pierced their noses remains unsettled. See September 20, 1805.] who inhabit this river below the rock mountains that it ran a great way toward the seting sun and finally lost itself in a great lake of water which was illy taisted, and where the white men lived. I next commenced my enquiries of the old man to whom I had been refered for information relative the country S W. of us.  this he depicted with horrors and obstructions scarcely inferior to that just mentioned.  he informed me that the band of this nation to which he belonged resided at the distance of 20 days march from hence not far from the white people [The white people were, most likely, Spanish.] with whom they traded for horses mules cloth metal beads and the shells which they woar as orniment being those of a species of perl oister.  that the course to his relations was a little to the West of South.  that in order to get to his relations the first seven days we should be obliged to climb over steep and rocky mountains where we could find no game to kill nor anything but roots such as a ferce and warlike nation lived on whom he called the broken mockersons [Possibly the Tukudikas, a Shoshonean group or groups living in various parts of the northern Rockies, later referred to by whites as "Sheepeaters" because they ate the bighorn sheep. The Shoshone name arose from their moccasins being worn out by the lava rocks in their home regions.] or mockersons with holes, and said inhabited those mountains and lived like the bear of other countries among the rocks and fed on roots or the flesh of such horses as they could take or steel from those who passed through their country.   that in passing this country the feet of our horses would be so much wounded with the stones many of them would give out.  the next part of the rout was about 10 days through a dry and parched sandy desert [Likely the arid Snake River plain of southern Idaho.] in which no food at this season for either man or horse, and in which we must suffer if not perish for the want of water.  that the sun had now dryed up the little pools of water which exist through this desert plain in the spring season and had also scorched all the grass.  that no animal inhabited this plain on which we could hope to subsist.  that about the center of this plain a large river passed from S.E. to N.W. which was navigable but afforded neither Salmon nor timber. [Their first information about the Snake River.]  that beyond this plain thee or four days march his relations lived in a country tolerable fertile and partially covered with timber on another large river which ran in the same direction of the former. [Probably the Owyhee River, a tributary of the Snake that runs through eastern Oregon.] that this last discharged itself into a large river [The Snake again.] on which many numerous nations lived with whom his relations were at war but whether this last discharged itself into the great lake or not he did not know.  that from his relations it was yet a great distance to the great or stinking lake as they call the Ocean.  that the way which such of his nation as had been to the Stinking lake traveled was up the river on which they lived and over to that on which the white people lived which last they knew discharged itself into the Ocean, and that this was the way which he would advise me to travel if I was determined to proceed to the Ocean but would advise me to put off the journey untill the next spring when he would conduct me. I thanked him for his information and advise and gave him a knife with which he appeared to be much gratifyed.  from this narative I was convinced that the streams of which he had spoken as runing through the plains and that on which his relations lived were southern branches of the Columbia, heading with the rivers Apostles and Collorado, and that the rout he had pointed our was to the Vermillion Sea or gulph of Callifornia. [The Snake does head near the upper Green River, a principal tributary of the Colorado, but otherwise the captains' concepts were wrong.  Traveling up the Owyhee would not take them near a stream running to either the Pacific or the Gulf of California. The Rio de los Apostolos was a mythical river of the Southwest which appears on Nicholas King's map of 1803 and Clark's Fort Mandan map of 1805.]  I therefore told him that this rout was more to the South than I wished to travel, and requested to know if there was no rout left of this river on which we now are, by means of which, I could intercept it below the mountains through which it passes; but he could not inform me of any except that of the barren plain which he said joined the mountain on that side and through which it was impossible for us to pass at this season even if we were fortunate enough to escape from the broken mockerson Indians. I now asked Cameahwait by what rout the Pierced nosed indians, who he informed me inhabited this river below the mountains, came over to the Missouri; this he informed me was to the north, but added that the road was a very bad one as he had been informed by them and that they had suffered excessively with hunger on the rout being obligated to subsist for many days on berries alone as there was no game in that part of the mountains which were broken rockey and so thickly covered with timber that they could scarcely pass.  however knowing that Indians had passed, and did pass, at this season on that side of this river to the same below the mountains, my rout was instantly settled in my own mind, povided the account of this river should prove true on an investigation of it, which I was determined should be made before we would undertake the rout by land in any direction.  I felt perfectly satisfyed, that if the Indians could pass these mountains with their women and Children, that we could also pass them; and that if the nations on this river below the mountains were as numerous as they were stated to be that they must have some means of subsistence which it would be equally in our power to procure in the same country.  they informed me that there was no buffaloe on the West side of these mountains; that the game consisted of a few Elk deer and Antelopes, and that the natives subsisted on fish and roots principally.  in this manner I spent the day smoking with them and acquiring what information I could with respect to the country.  they informed me that they could pass to the Spaniards by the way of the yellowstone river in 10 days.  I can discover that these people are by no means friendly to the Spaniard  their complaint is, that the Spaniards will not let them have fire arms and ammunition, [The Spanish followed a fairly consistent policy of refusing to trade guns to Indians, in contrast to the French, English, and Americans. Having no direct contact with the Canadian or Missouri River trade systems, the Shoshones were at a great disadvantage, compared to their Blackfeet, Atsina, and Hidatsa enemies.] that they put them off by telling them that if they suffer them to have guns they will kill each other, thus leaving them defenceless and an easy prey to their bloodthirsty neighbours to the East of them, who being in possession of fire arms hunt them up and murder them without rispect to sex or age and plunder them of their horses on all occasions.  they told me that to avoid their enemies who were eternally harassing them that they were obliged to remain in the interior of these mountains at least two thirds of the year where the suffered as we then saw great heardships for the want of food sometimes living for weeks without meat and only a little fish roots and berries.  but this added Cameahwait, with his ferce eyes and lank jaws grown meager for the want of food, would not be the case if we had guns, we could then live in the country of buffaloe and eat as our enimies do and not be compelled to hide ourselves in these mountains and live on roots and berries as the bear do.   we do not fear our enimies when placed on an equal footing with them.  I told them that the Minnetares Mandans & Recares of the Missouri had promised us to desist from making war on them & that we would indevour to find the means of making the Minnetares of fort d Prarie or as they call them Pahkees desist from waging war against them also.  that after our finally returning to our homes towards the rising sun whitemen would come to them with an abundance of guns and every other article necessary to their defence and comfort, and that they would be enabled to supply themselves with these articles on reasonable terms in exchange for the  skins of the beaver Otter and Ermin [Long-Tailed Weasel, Mustela frenata. See August 20, 1805.] so abundant in their country.  they expressed great pleasure at this information and said they had been long anxious to see the whitemen that traded guns; and that we might rest assured of their friendship and that they would do whatever we wished them.

I now told Cameahwait that I wished him to speak to his people and engage them to go with me tomorrow to the forks of Jeffersons river where our baggage was by this time arrived with another Chief and a large party of whitemen who would wait my return at that place.  that I wish them to take with them about 30 spare horses to transport our baggage to this place where we would then remain sometime among them and trade with them for horses, and finally concert our future plans for geting on the the ocean and of the traid which would be extended to them after our return to our homes.  he complyed with my request and made a lengthey harrangue to his village.  he returned in about an hour and a half and informed me that they would be ready to acompany me in the morning.   I promised to reward them for their trouble. Drewyer who had had a good view of their horses estimated them at 400.  most of them are fine horses.  indeed many of them would make a figure on the South side of James River or the land of fine horses.--   I saw several with spanish brands on them, and some mules which they informed me that they had also obtained from the Spaniards. I also saw a bridle bit of spanish manufactary, and sundry other articles which I have no doubt were obtained from the same source.  notwithstanding the extreem poverty of those poor people they are very merry they danced again this evening untill midnight.  each warrior keep one ore more horses tyed by a cord to a stake near his lodge both day and night and are always prepared for action at a moments warning.  they fight on horseback altogether.  I observe that the large flies [Horse Fly.] are extreemly troublesome to the horses as well as ourselves.

This morning being cold and the men stif and soar from the exertions of yesterday Capt. Clark did not set out this morning untill 7 A.M.  the river was so crooked and rapid that they made but little way  at one mile he passed a bold running stream on Stard. which heads in a mountain to the North, on which there is snow.  this we called track Creek. [Later named Rattlesnake Creek, rising on Baldy Mountain.]   it is 4 yard wide and 3 feet deep  at 7 Ms. passed a stout stream which heads in some springs under the foot of the mountains on Lard.  the river near the mountain they found one continued rapid, wich was extreemly laborious and difficult to ascend.   this evening Charbono struck his indian Woman for which Capt. C. gave him a severe repremand. Joseph and Reubin Fields killed 4 deer and an Antelope, Capt. C. killed a buck.   several of the men have lamed themselves by various accedents in working the canoes through this difficult part of the river, and capt. C. was obliged personally to assist them in this labour.  they encamped this evening on Lard. side near the rattlesnake Clift. [About 10 miles southwest of present Dillon and just downstream of Barretts siding.]

Courses and distances traveld by Capt. Clark  August 14th 1805.

S. 14o W.	7	to the gap of the mountain at the rattlesnake Clifts where the river enters the mountains.  the same being 16 miles by the meanders of the river.   the river cold shoally and one continued rapid throughout.  passed a number of small Islands and bayous on either side.  passed bold running stream on Stard. at 1 M. called track Creek.  also another at 6 M. higher up, on Lard. side and encamped on Lard. 2 Miles by water short of the extremity of this course distance by land scarcely 1/2 a Mile
Miles	7

August 14, 1805
William Clark

A Cold morning wind from the S.W. The Thermometer Stood at 51^o a o, at Sunrise the morning being cold and men Stiff. I deturmind to delay & take brackfast at the place we Encamped.  we Set out at 7 oClock and proceeded on river verry Crooked and rapid as below Some fiew trees on the borders near the mountain, passed a bold running Stream at 1 mile on the Stard. Side which heads in a mountain to the North on which there is Snow   passed a bold running Stream on the Lard. Side which heads in a Spring undr. a mountain, the river near the mountain is one continued rapid, which requres great labour to push & haul the Canoes <over the> up. We Encamped on the Lard Side near the place the river passes thro' the mountain. I checked our interpreter for Strikeing his woman at their Dinner.

The hunters Jo. & R. Fields killed 4 Deer & a antilope, I killed a fat Buck in the evening. Several men have hurt themselves pushing up the Canoes. I am oblige to a pole occasionally.

August 14, 1805
John Ordway

a clear cold morning.  the 2 hunters Stayed out all last night.  we took an eairly breakfast and Set out. the [water] is verry cold. We have to waid in it which makes our feet and legs ake with cold. we expect it is made of Springs and near the head of the most of them which causes the River water to be as cold as Spring water.  the upper part of this valley is Smooth and pleasant  passed a large Spring run or creek [Track Creek to Lewis & Clark, probably todays Rattlesnake Creek] on the Stard. Side   a handsome valley & Small timber Some distance up it.  the hills appear verry high to the West  about 10 oClock A. m. we came up to the hunters Camp at a grove of cotton timber on L. Side.  they have killed 4 Deer and one antelope.   we proceeded on  the current more rapid oblidged us to hall the large canoes up the rapids & shole places.  the bottom of the River Shores & bars Stoney.   about one oC. P. m. we halted to dine at a dry part of the plain  a fiew groves of cotton timber along the River  the red & yallow currents common.  the black goose berry verry Sower to the taste. The wind high from S W. the current continued rapid all day. Capt. Clark killed a buck.  one of the men killed a faun deer.   we Came [blank] miles and Camped on the upper part of the valley   a little timber.  the plain high.  the foot of the mountains near.--

August 14, 1805
Patrick Gass

The morning was clear and cold. We embarked after breakfast; passed a small creek on the north side and a beautiful valley on the same side. Timber is very scarce, and only some few scattering trees along the river. Our hunters [Joseph and Reubin Fields.] came in at noon, who had been out all day yesterday: they had killed 5 deer and a goat. There are a few deer and goats in this part of the country; and otter and beaver in plenty along the river, but no other kind of game that we could discover. There are some fish in the river and trout of a large size, and of the black kind. We went 15 miles and encamped on the South side where we had great difficulty in procuring a sufficient quantity of wood to cook with.

August 14, 1805
Joseph Whitehouse

a clear cold morning. we did not Set out untill we took an eairly breakfast.    the 2 hunters Stayed out last night.   the water in the River is clear and Cold    we are now drawing near the Mountains. the upper part of the valley pleasant.   passed a Spring run or creek [The party's Track Creek, possible current day Rattlesnake Creek.] on S. Side a handsome vally Some distance up it.   Some Small timber on its Shores.   about 10 oClock A. m. we came up to the hunters [Joseph and Reubin Fields.] Camp.    they had killed 4 Deer & one antelope.   we proceeded on the current more rapid.   obledged to hale the large canoes over Sholes & rapids.   the Shores & banks of the River Stoney.  halted to dine about one oClock at a dry part of the plain a fine groves of cotton trees &c.    proceeded on took on board a deer and a goat which the hunters had hung on a limb of a tree.  the current continues verry rapid all day.   Capt. Clark killed a buck and one of the men killed a faun deer.   we Came [blank] miles and Camped [About 10 miles southwest of Dillon downstream from Barretts Siding.] on he L. Side of the foot of the Mountains, on the Smooth plain at the upper end of the valley.

August 14, 1805
Joseph Whitehouse

We had a Cleear cold morning, & did not set out on our Voyage, 'till after we had taken an early breakfast; the two hunters did not return to us last night, the River water is here perfectly Clear, and Cool; we are now near the Mountains, The upper part of the Valley is very pleasant.  We continued on, and passed a run of water, which came from a spring lying on the South side of the River & where a handsome Valley lay near it, and some scattering timber; lying, along the Shore of the Rive on both sides of it; About 10 o'Clock A. M. we came to where our 2 hunters, that were out last night were encamped; they had killed 4 deer & one antelope.--   We proceeded on, and found the River running again rapid, which oblig'd us to hawl our Canoes over the Shoals & rapids.   We found the Shores & banks of the River very Stony; About One o'Clock A. M. [P.M.]we halted to dine, at a dry part of the plain, in a Grove of Cotton wood trees.--  We took on board our Canoes here, a deer & a Goat which the hunters had killed and hung on the limbs of trees.  Captain Clark and one of our party, had went out hunting this morning; they returned to us, & had killed a Buck Deer & fawn, which was brought to us.   We came 12 Miles this day, and encamped on the South side of the River, at the foot of the Mountains on a smooth plain at the upper end of a Valley.--