Lewis: May 10, 1806

Saturday May 10th 1806. This morning the snow continued falling 1/2 after
6 A.M. when it ceased, the air keen and cold, the snow 8 inches deep on
the plain; we collected our horses and after taking a scant breakfast of
roots we set out for the village of Tunnachemootoolt; our rout lay through
an open plain course S. 35 E. and distance 16 ms. the road was slippery
and the snow clogged to the horses feet, and caused them to trip
frequently. the mud at the sources of the little ravines was deep black
and well supplyed with quawmash. Drewyer turned off to the left of the
road in order to hunt and did not join us this evening. at 4 in the
afternoon we decended the hills to Commearp Creek and arrived at the
Village of Tunnachemootoolt, the cheeif at whos lodge we had left a flag
last fall. this flag was now displayed on a staff placed at no great
distance from the lodge. underneath the flag the Cheif met my friend Capt.
C. who was in front and conducted him about 80 yds. to a place on the bank
of the creek where he requested we should encamp; I came up in a few
minutes and we collected the Cheifs and men of consideration smoked with
them and stated our situation with rispect to provision. the Cheif spoke
to his people and they produced us about 2 bushels of the Quawmas roots
dryed, four cakes of the bread of cows and a dryed salmon trout. We
thanked them for this store of provision but informed them that our men
not being accustomed to live on roots alone we feared it would make them
sick, to obviate which we proposed exchangeing a good horse in reather low
order for a young horse in tolerable order with a view to kill. the
hospitality of the cheif revolted at the aydea of an exchange, he told us
that his young men had a great abundance of young horses and if we wished
to eat them we should by furnished with as many as we wanted. accordingly
they soon produced us two fat young horses one of which we killed, the
other we informed them we would pospone killing untill we had consumed the
one already killed. This is a much greater act of hospitality than we have
witnessed from any nation or tribe since we have passed the Rocky
mountains. in short be it spoken to their immortal honor it is the only
act which deserves the appellation of hospitallity which we have witnessed
in this quarter. we informed these people that we were hungry and
fatiegued at this moment, that when we had eaten and refreshed ourselves
we would inform them who we were, from whence we had come and the objects
of our resurches. a principal Cheif by name Ho-hast,-ill-pilp arrived with
a party of fifty men mounted on eligant horses. he had come on a visit to
us from his village which is situated about six miles distant near the
river. we invited this man into our circle and smoked with him, his
retinue continued on horseback at a little distance. after we had eaten a
few roots we spoke to them as we had promised; and gave Tinnachemootoolt
and Hohastillpilp each a medal; the former one of the small size with the
likeness of Mr. Jefferson and the latter one of the sewing medals struck
in the presidency of Washington, we explained to them the desighn and the
importance of medals in the estimation of the whites as well as the red
men who had been taught their value. The Cheif had a large conic lodge of
leather erected for our reception and a parsel of wood collected and laid
at the door after which he invited Capt. C. and myself to make that lodge
our home while we remained with him. we had a fire lighted in this lodge
and retired to it accompanyed by the Cheifs and as many of the considerate
men as could croud in a circcle within it. here after we had taken a
repast on some horsebeef we resumed our council with the indians which
together with smoking the pipe occupyed the ballance of the evening. I was
surprised to find on decending the hills of Commearp Cr. to find that
there had been no snow in the bottoms of that stream. it seems that the
snow melted in falling and decended here in rain while it snowed on the
plains. the hills are about six hundred feet high about one fourth of
which distance the snow had decended and still lay on the sides of the
hills. as these people had been liberal with is with rispect to provision
I directed the men not to croud their lodge surch of food in the manner
hunger has compelled them to do at most lodges we have passed, and which
the Twisted hair had informed me was disgreeable to the natives. but their
previous want of hospitality had induced us to consult their enclinations
but little and suffer our men to obtain provision from them on the best
terms they could. The village of the broken arm as I have heretofore
termed it consists of one house only which is 150 feet in length built in
the usual form of sticks matts and dry grass. it contains twenty four
fires and about double that number of families. from appearances I presume
they could raise 100 fighting men. the noise of their women pounding roots
reminds me of a nail factory. The indians seem well pleased, and I am
confident that they are not more so than our men who have their somachs
once more well filled with horsebeef and mush of the bread of cows.the
house of coventry is also seen here.-