Lewis: June 11, 1806
Wednesday June 11th 1806. All our hunters were out this morning by
daylight; Labuish and Gibson only proved successfull, the former killed a
black bear of the brown speceis and a very large buck, the latter also
killed a fine fat buck. five of the Indians also turned out and hunted
untill noon, when they returned without having killed anything; at three
P.M. the left us on their return to ther villages. previous to their
departure one of our men exchanged an indifferent horse with one of them
for a very good one. in the evening our hunters resumed the chase; as game
has become scarce and shye near our camp they were directed to hunt at a
greater distance and therefore set out prepared to remain all night and
make a mornings hunt in grounds not recently frequented. Whitehouse
returned this morning to our camp on the Kooskooske in surch of his horse.As
I have had frequent occasion to mention the plant which the Chopunnish
call quawmash I shall here give a more particular discription of that
plant and the mode of preparing it for food as practiced by the Chopunnish
and others in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains with whom it forms much
the greatest portion of their subsistence. we have never met with this
plant but in or adjacent to a piny or fir timbered country, and there
always in the open grounds and glades; in the Columbian vally and near the
coast it is to be found in small quantities and inferior in size to that
found in this neighbourhood and in the high rich flatts and vallees within
the rocky mountains. it delights in a black rich moist soil, and even
grows most luxuriantly where the land remains from 6 to nine inches under
water untill the seed are nearly perfect which in this neighbourhood or on
these flats is about the last of this month. neare the river where I had
an opportunity of observing it the seed were begining to ripen on the 9th
inst. and the soil was nearly dry. it seems devoted to it’s particular
soil and situation, and you will seldom find it more than a few feet from
the inundated soil tho within it’s limits it grows very closely in short
almost as much so as the bulbs will permit; the radix is a tunicated bulb,
much the consistence shape and appearance of the onion, glutanous or
somewhat slymy when chewed and almost tasteless and without smell in it’s
unprepared state; it is white except the thin or outer tunicated scales
which are few black and not succulent; this bulb is from the size of a
nutmeg to that of a hens egg and most commonly of an intermediate size or
about as large as an onion of one years growth from the seed. the radicles
are numerous, reather large, white, flexable, succulent and diverging. the
foliage consists of from one to four seldom five radicale, linear sessile
and revolute pointed leaves; they are from 12 to 18 inches in length and
from 1 to 3/4 of an inch in widest part which is near the middle; the uper
disk is somewhat groved of a pale green and marked it’s whole length with
a number of small longitudinal channels; the under disk is a deep glossy
green and smooth. the leaves sheath the peduncle and each other as high as
the surface of the earth or about 2 inches; they are more succulent than
the grasses and less so than most of the fillies hyesinths &c.the
peduncle is soletary, proceeds from the root, is columner, smooth leafless
and rises to the hight of 2 or 21/2 feet. it supports from 10 to forty
flowers which are each supported by seperate footstalk of 1/2 an inch in
length scattered without order on the upper portion of the peduncle. the
calix is a partial involucret situated at the base of the footstalk of
each flower on the peduncle; it is long thin and begins to decline as soon
as the corolla expands. the corolla consists of six long oval, obtusly
pointed skye blue or water coloured petals, each about 1 inch in length;
the corolla is regular as to the form and size of the petals but irregular
as to their position, five of them are placed near ech other pointing
upward while one stands horizantally or pointing downwards, they are
inserted with a short claw on the extremity of the footstalk at the base
of the germ; the corolla is of course inferior; it is also shriveling, and
continues untill the seeds are perfect. The stamens are perfect, six in
number; the filaments each elivate an anther, near their base are flat on
the inside and rounded on the outer terminate in a subulate point, are
bowed or bent upwards, inserted on the inner side and on the base of the
claws of the petals, below the germ, are equal both with rispect to
themselves and the corolla, smooth & membraneous. the Anther is
oblong, obtusely pointed, 2 horned or forked at one end and furrowed
longitudinally with four channels, the upper and lower of which seem
almost to divide it into two loabs, incumbent patent, membranous, very
short, naked, two valved and fertile with pollen, which last is of a
yellow colour-the anther in a few hours after the corolla unfoalds,
bursts, discharges it’s pollen and becomes very minute and shrivled; the
above discription of the anther is therefore to be understood of it at the
moment of it’s first appearance. the pistillum is only one, of which, the
germ is triangular reather swolen on the sides, smooth superior, sessile,
pedicelled, short in proportion to the corolla atho wide or bulky; the
style is very long or longer than the stamens, simple, cilindrical, bowed
or bent upwards, placed on the top of the germ, membranous shrivels and
falls off when the pericarp has obtained its full size. the stigma is
three cleft very minute, & pubescent. the pericarp is a capsule,
triangular, oblong, obtuse, and trilocular with three longitudinal valves.
the seed so far as I could judge are numerous not very minute and
globelar.soon after the seeds are mature the peduncle and foliage
of this plant perishes, the grownd becomes dry or nearly so and the root
encreases in size and shortly becomes fit for use; this happens about the
middle of July when the natives begin to collect it for use which they
continue untill the leaves of the plant attain some size in the spring of
the year. when they have collected a considerable quantity of these roots
or 20 30 bushels which they readily do by means of stick sharpened at one
end, they dig away the surface of the earth forming a circular concavity
of 21/2 feet in the center and 10 feet in diameter; they next collect a
parsel of split dry wood with which they cover this bason in the grown
perhaps a foot thick, they next collect a large parsel of stones of about
4 or 6 lbs. weight which are placed on the dry wood; fire is then set to
the wood which birning heats the stones; when the fire has subsided and
the stones are sufficiently heated which are nearly a red heat, they are
adjusted in such manner in the whole as to form as level a surface as
pissible, a small quantity of earth is sprinkled over the stones and a
layer of grass about an inch thick is put over the stones; the roots,
which have been previously devested of the black or outer coat and
radicles which rub off easily with the fingers, are now laid on in a
conical pile, are then covered with a layer of grass about 2 or 3 inches
thick; water is now thrown on the summit of the pile and passes through
the roots and to the hot stones at bottom; some water is allso poared
arround the edges of the hole and also finds its way to the hot stones; as
soon as they discover from the quantity of steem which issues that the
water has found its way generally to the hot stones, they cover the roots
and grass over with earth to the debth of four inches and then build a
fire of dry wood all over the connical mound which they continue to renew
through the course of the night or for ten or 12 hours after which it is
suffered to cool two or three hours when the earth and grass are removed
and the roots thus sweated and cooked with steam are taken out, and most
commonly exposed to the sun on scaffoalds untill they become dry, when
they are black and of a sweet agreeable flavor. these roots are fit for
use when first taken from the pitt, are soft of a sweetish tast and much
the consistency of a roasted onion; but if they are suffered to remain in
bulk 24 hour after being cooked they spoil. if the design is to make bread
or cakes of these roots they undergo a second process of baking being
previously pounded after the fist baking between two stones untill they
are reduced to the consistency of dough and then rolled in grass in cakes
of eight or ten lbs are returned to the sweat intermixed with fresh roots
in order that the steam may get freely to these loaves of bread. when
taken out the second time the women make up this dough into cakes of
various shapes and sizes usually from 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick and
expose it on sticks to dry in the sun, or place it over the smoke of their
fires.the bread this prepared if kept free from moisture will keep
sound for a great length of time. this bread or the dryed roots are
frequently eaten alone by the natives without further preparation, and
when they have them in abundance they form an ingredient in almost every
dish they prepare. this root is pallateable but disagrees with me in every
shape I have ever used it.
