FROM THE FLATHEAD CAMP TO ST. MARY'S VALLEY. S17 
their village, and wished to show to advantage, both among their own tribe and the whites. 
The men were engaged in attending to their animals, &c., making moccasins, or boots of dressed 
buffalo-hide, for those that were lame; this latter we were compelled to do some days back, as 
several of our horses were tender-footed ; being unshod, and crossing the streams so often, the 
beds of all of which were rocky and pebbly, told upon the feet of our animals. ‘This plan of 
making boots or moccasins for them we found to answer very well. 
About 7 o’clock p. m. Mr. Burr returned. He reported, ‘that after leaving my trail on the 
morning of the 26th, he followed on the trail of the horse-tracks which we had seen, which tended 
north forty-five degrees east; he followed till he came to one of the camps; he dismounted and 
followed one of their camp-fires, and found the ashes still warm, thereby showing he was not 
many miles distant from them; that he followed the trail over a very rough, difficult, and rugged 
road to the top of a high hill, from which he could see far in the distance. ‘Towards the north 
lay the valley of a large stream, the banks of which were well wooded, the valley well grassed.” 
From his description, I took this to be the Big Blackfoot fork of the Hell Gate river. When 
gaining the top of this mountain, the Indian refused to follow him farther, but turned his horse’s 
head westward. 
Mr. Burr reports, that if his horse had been in good condition, he would have followed them 
alone; as it was, he was compelled to retrace his steps, and follow the trail of the Indian. 
September 29, 1853.—Commences cloudy but warm, thermometer at sunrise being 39°. We 
resumed our journey at 6.30 a. m. down the Hell Gate river, following along its right bank by a 
very excellent road, which lay principally through a pine forest of the valley. At a distance of 
six or seven miles we struck the Big Blackfoot fork of the Hell Gate river, which we found to 
be a rapid stream, from fifty. to sixty yards wide at its mouth, with a rocky bed, and channel- 
water twenty inches deep. We crossed it about twenty yards above its mouth. 
Where the forks come together is a beautiful prairie bottom, well grassed. This place is called 
the Hell Gate, a name given it by the Flatheads and other Indians west of the mountains, from 
the fact that here the Blackfeet Indians have committed many murders and robberies; it being 
the debouch of the defiles of the mountains, and where Indians are generally found, and must 
pass in going to the buffalo hunt east of the Missouri. 
It is a perfect gate in the mountains, forming a well known and noted landmark. From 
receiving the large volume of water brought down by the Big Blackfoot fork, the Hell Gave river 
has swollen to a large stream, with a rapid current, and eighty yards wide. At 11.30 a. m. we 
fell upon the trail of a large party from the Big Blackfoot fork; a short time after, upon the 
trail of two wheels, with animals shod, which we concluded was the trail of the main portion of 
the expedition: they had passed this place only the day before, the trail of the wheels being that 
of the odometer wagon. 
At 12 m. we halted on the right bank of the main stream of the Hell Gate river, having 
travelled fifteen miles, finding here good grass, wood, and water. Resuming our march at 1.30 
p- m., we continued for two miles farther along the Hell Gate river; crossing it at a point where 
formed a gravelly island in the channel, we found the current here quite swift, water about two 
feet deep, and bottom as above, very pebbly and rocky. 
We now entered upon a large and beautiful prairie lying between the Hell Gate and Bitter 
Root or St. Mary’s river, which latter at a distance of three or four miles we struck, finding it a 
bold, rapid stream, and of the same size and character as the Hell Gate river. We struck the 
Bitter Root river where it makes a great bend, going to the west, and about eight or nine miles 
above its mouth. 
This river rises in the main chain of the Rocky mountains, is about ninety miles long, and flows 
through a beautiful valley, where is the residence and home of the Flathead Indians. It is noted 
for its abundant and rich grass and for its exceedingly mild winters. 
Travelling up the Bitter Root river for a distance of six miles, we crossed it, camping on its 
