Lewis: July 16, 1805

Tuesday July 16th 1805. We had a heavy dew last night sen one man back
this morning for an ax that he had carelessly left last evening some miles
below, and set out at an early hour. early this morning we passed about 40
little booths formed of willow bushes to shelter them from the sun; they
appeared to have been deserted about 10 days; we supposed that they were
snake Indians. they appeared to have a number of horses with them-. this
appearance gives me much hope of meeting with these people shortly.
Drewyer killed a buffaloe this morning near the river and we halted and
breakfasted on it. here for the first time I ate of the small guts of the
buffaloe cooked over a blazing fire in the Indian stile without any
preperation of washing or other clensing and found them very good.- After
breakfast I determined to leave Capt. C. and party, and go on to the point
where the river enters the Rocky Mountains and make the necessary
observations against their arrival; accordingly I set out with the two
invalleds Potts and LaPage and Drewyer; I passed through a very handsome
level plain on the Stard. side of the river, the country equally level and
beautiful) on the opposite side; at the distance of 8 mes. passed a small
stream on which I observed a considerable quantity of aspin. a little
before 12 I halted on the river at a Stard. bend and well timbered bottom
about 41/2 miles below the mountains and made the following observation.

after this observation we pursued our rout through a high roling plain to
a rappid immediately at the foot of the mountain where the Missouri first
enters them. the current of the missouri below these rappids is strong for
several miles, tho just above there is scarcely any current, the river
very narrow and deep abot 70 yds. wide only and seems to be closely hemned
in by the mountains on both sides, the bottoms only a few yards in width.
an Indian road enters the mountain at the same place with the river on the
Stard side and continues along it’s border under the steep clifts these
mountains appear to be only about 800 feet above the river and are formed
almost entirely of a hard black grannite. with a few dwarf pine and cedar
scattered on them. at this place there is a large rock of 400 feet high
wich stands immediately in the gap which the missouri makes on it’s
passage from the mountains; it is insulated from the neighbouring
mountains by a handsome little plain which surrounds it base on 3 sides
and the Missouri washes it’s base on the other, leaving it on the Lard. as
it decends. this rock I called the tower. it may be ascended with some
difficulty nearly to it’s summit, and from it there is a most pleasing
view of the country we are now about to leave. from it I saw this evening
immence herds of buffaloe in the plains below. near this place we killed a
fat elk on which we both dined and suped. the Musquetoes are extreemly
troublesome this evening and I had left my bier, of course suffered
considerably, and promised in my wrath that I never will be guily of a
similar peice of negligence while on this voyage.