Lewis: August 19, 1805

Monday August 19th 1805. This morning I arrose at dylight. and sent out
three hunters. some of the men who were much in want of legings and
mockersons I suffered to dress some skins. the others I employed in
repacking the baggage, making pack saddles &c. we took up the net this
morning but caugt no fish. one beaver was caught in a trap. the frost
which perfectly whitened the grass this morning had a singular appearance
to me at this season. this evening I made a few of the men construct a
sein of willow brush which we hawled and caught a large number of fine
trout and a kind of mullet about 16 Inhes long which I had not seen
before. the scales are small, the nose is long and obtusely pointed and
exceedes the under jaw. the mouth is not large but opens with foalds at
the sides, the colour of it’s back and sides is of a bluish brown and
belley white; it has the faggot bones, from which I have supposed it to be
of the mullet kind. the tongue and pallate are smooth and it has no teeth.
it is by no means as good as the trout. the trout are the same which I
first met with at the falls of the Missouri, they are larger than the
speckled trout of our mountains and equally as well flavored.- The hunters
returned this evening with two deer. from what has been said of the
Shoshones it will be readily perceived that they live in a wretched stait
of poverty. yet notwithstanding their extreem poverty they are not only
cheerfull but even gay, fond of gaudy dress and amusements; like most
other Indians they are great egotists and frequently boast of heroic acts
which they never performed. they are also fond of games of wrisk. they are
frank, communicative, fair in dealing, generous with the little they
possess, extreemly honest, and by no means beggarly. each individual is
his own sovereign master, and acts from the dictates of his own mind; the
authority of the Cheif being nothing more than mere admonition supported
by the influence which the propiety of his own examplery conduct may have
acquired him in the minds of the individuals who compose the band. the
title of cheif is not hereditary, nor can I learn that there is any
cerimony of instalment, or other epoh in the life of a Cheif from which
his title as such can be dated. in fact every man is a chief, but all have
not an equal influence on the minds of the other members of the community,
and he who happens to enjoy the greatest share of confidence is the
principal Chief. The Shoshonees may be estimated at about 100 warriors,
and about three times that number of woomen and children. they have more
children among them than I expected to have seen among a people who
procure subsistence with such difficulty. there are but few very old
persons, nor did they appear to treat those with much tenderness or
rispect. The man is the sole propryetor of his wives and daughters, and
can barter or dispose of either as he thinks proper. a plurality of wives
is common among them, but these are not generally sisters as with the
Minnetares & Mandans but are purchased of different fathers. The
father frequently disposes of his infant daughters in marriage to men who
are grown or to men who have sons for whom they think proper to provide
wives. the compensation given in such cases usually consists of horses or
mules which the father receives at the time of contract and converts to
his own uce. the girl remains with her parents untill she is conceived to
have obtained the age of puberty which with them is considered to be about
the age of 13 or 14 years. the female at this age is surrendered to her
sovereign lord and husband agreeably to contract, and with her is
frequently restored by the father quite as much as he received in the
first instance in payment for his daughter; but this is discretionary with
the father. Sah-car-gar-we-ah had been thus disposed of before she was
taken by the Minnetares, or had arrived to the years of puberty. the
husband was yet living and with this band. he was more than double her age
and had two other wives. he claimed her as his wife but said that as she
had had a child by another man, who was Charbono, that he did not want
her. They seldom correct their children particularly the boys who soon
become masters of their own acts. they give as a reason that it cows and
breaks the Sperit of the boy to whip him, and that he never recovers his
independence of mind after he is grown. They treat their women but with
little rispect, and compel them to perform every species of drudgery. they
collect the wild fruits and roots, attend to the horses or assist in that
duty cook dreess the skins and make all their apparal, collect wood and
make their fires, arrange and form their lodges, and when they travel pack
the horses and take charge of all the baggage; in short the man dose
little else except attend his horses hunt and fish. the man considers
himself degraded if he is compelled to walk any distance, and if he is so
unfortunately poor as only to possess two horses he rides the best himself
and leavs the woman or women if he has more than one, to transport their
baggage and children on the other, and to walk if the horse is unable to
carry the additional weight of their personsthe chastity of their
women is not held in high estimation, and the husband will for a trifle
barter the companion of his bead for a night or longer if he conceives the
reward adiquate; tho they are not so importunate that we should caress
their women as the siouxs were and some of their women appear to be held
more sacred than in any nation we have seen I have requested the men to
give them no cause of jealousy by having connection with their women
without their knowledge, which with them strange as it may seem is
considered as disgracefull to the husband as clandestine connections of a
similar kind are among civilized nations. to prevent this mutual exchange
of good officies altogether I know it impossible to effect, particularly
on the part of our young men whom some months abstinence have made very
polite to those tawney damsels. no evil has yet resulted and I hope will
not from these connections.notwithstanding the late loss of horses
which this people sustained by the Minnetares the stock of the band may be
very safely estimated at seven hundred of which they are perhaps about 40
coalts and half that number of mules.these people are deminutive in
stature, thick ankles, crooked legs, thick flat feet and in short but illy
formed, at least much more so in general than any nation of Indians I ever
saw. their complexion is much that of the Siouxs or darker than the
Minnetares mandands or Shawnees. generally both men and women wear their
hair in a loos lank flow over the sholders and face; tho I observed some
few men who confined their hair in two equal cues hanging over each ear
and drawnn in front of the body. the cue is formed with throngs of dressed
lather or Otterskin aternately crossing each other. at present most of
them have cut short in the neck in consequence of the loss of their
relations by the Minnetares. Cameahwait has his cut close all over his
head. this constitutes their cerimony of morning for their deceased
relations. the dress of the men consists of a robe long legings, shirt,
tippet and Mockersons, that of the women is also a robe, chemise, and
Mockersons; sometimes they make use of short legings. the ornements of
both men and women are very similar, and consist of several species of sea
shells, blue and white beads, bras and Iron arm bands, plaited cords of
the sweet grass, and collars of leather ornamented with the quills of the
porcupine dyed of various colours among which I observed the red, yellow,
blue, and black. the ear is purforated in the lower part to receive
various ornaments but the nose is not, nor is the ear lasserated or
disvigored for this purpose as among many nations. the men never mark
their skins by birning, cuting, nor puncturing and introducing a colouring
matter as many nations do. there women sometimes puncture a small circle
on their forehead nose or cheeks and thus introduce a black matter usually
soot and grease which leaves an indelible stane. tho this even is by no
means common. their arms offensive and defensive consist in the bow and
arrows sheild, some lances, and a weapon called by the Cippeways who
formerly used it, the pog-gal’-mag-gon’. in fishing they employ wairs,
gigs, and fishing hooks. the salmon is the principal object of their
pursuit. they snair wolves and foxes. I was anxious to learn whether these
people had the venerial, and made the enquiry through the intrepreter and
his wife; the information was that they sometimes had it but I could not
learn their remedy; they most usually die with it’s effects. this seems a
strong proof that these disorders bothe gonaroehah and Louis venerae are
native disorders of America. tho these people have suffered much by the
small pox which is known to be imported and perhaps those other disorders
might have been contracted from other indian tribes who by a round of
communication might have obtained from the Europeans since it was
introduced into that quarter of the globe. but so much detatched on the
other had from all communication with the whites that I think it most
probable that those disorders are original with them. from the middle of
May to the firt of September these people reside on the waters of the
Columbia where they consider themselves in perfect security from their
enimies as they have not as yet ever found their way to this retreat;
during this season the salmon furnish the principal part of their
subsistence and as this firsh either perishes or returns about the 1st of
September they are compelled at this season in surch of subsistence to
resort to the Missouri, in the vallies of which, there is more game even
within the mountains. here they move slowly down the river in order to
collect and join other bands either of their own nation or the Flatheads,
and having become sufficiently strong as they conceive venture on the
Eastern side of the Rockey mountains into the plains, where the buffaloe
abound. but they never leave the interior of the mountains while they can
obtain a scanty subsistence, and always return as soon as they have
acquired a good stock of dryed meat in the plains; when this stock is
consumed they venture again into the plains; thus alternately obtaining
their food at the risk of their lives and retiring to the mountains, while
they consume it.These people are now on the eve of their departure
for the Missouri, and inform us that they expect to be joined at or about
the three forks by several bands of their own nation, and a band of the
Flatheads. as I am now two busily engaged to enter at once into a minute
discription of the several articles which compose their dress, impliments
of war hunting fishing &c I shall pursue them at my leasure in the
order they have here occurred to my mind, and have been mentioned. This
morning capt. Clark continued his rout with his party, the Indians
accompanying him as yesterday; he was obliged to feed them. nothing
remarkable happened during the day. he was met by an Indian with two mules
on this side of the dividing ridge at the foot of the mountain, the Indian
had the politeness to offer Capt. C. one of his mules to ride as he was on
foot, which he accepted and gave the fellow a waistcoat as a reward for
his politeness. in the evening he reached the creek on this side of the
Indian camp and halted for the night. his hunters killed nothing today.
The Indians value their mules very highly. a good mule can not be obtained
for less than three and sometimes four horses, and the most indifferent
are rated at two horses. their mules generally are the finest I ever saw
without any comparison.today I observed time and distance of sun’s
and moon’s nearest limbs with sextant sun East.