60 LETTER FROM LIEUTENANT MULLAN. 



land&quot; crossing. On my route from the Missouri I crossed the headwaters of the Shonkee 

 creek, or Shonkec river, Arrow river, Judith river, and Hammell Island creek, before striking 

 the Muscle Shell river. All of these streams referred to are tributaries of the Missouri from the 

 south, but lose their importance when compared with the Muscle Shell river. This last men 

 tioned stream I found to be one of the most important tributaries of the Missouri. It takes its 

 rise in the main chain of the Belt or Girdle mountains, a chain of the Rocky mountains east of 

 the Missouri. This river winds through a very beautiful, level valley, well wooded along the 

 borders of the stream from its headwaters to the point where I struck it, a distance of sixty 

 miles and I have every reason to believe that it is well wooded thence to its mouth. The 

 valley through which it flows is about one mile wide, bounded on the east side by low prairie 

 bluffs. There are two trails across the mountains by this river one by the northern, and the 

 other by the southern fork of the river. In coursing the southern fork of the Muscle Shell river 

 you cross the headwaters of the Missouri ; in crossing along the northern fork you pass though 

 the Girdle mountains, by a very excellent pass, to the Missouri. 



I did not fall upon the Flathead trail when I first struck the river, but found it four miles 

 above, which I saw tended towards the east. This trail I followed for a distance of twenty 

 miles to a ford. I thence followed it southeast to the Muscle Shell, for a distance of twenty 

 miles farther, over a very rough, rugged, and difficult road. There I found that the Flatheads 

 were five days ahead of me, and that it would be perfectly impossible for me to overtake them 

 with my pack animals. Therefore I deemed it advisable to go into camp which I left in charge 

 of Mr. Burr to go in search of the Flatheads, with my Indian guide. To this effect the Indian 

 guide and myself, mounted on two of my best horses, followed on their trail for a distance of 

 sixty or seventy miles, and found them encamped in a very beautiful valley. Here I was 

 received by them with the greatest hospitality and kindness. I explained to the principal men 

 of the camp, in detail, the object of my visit. I told them that I came among them to secure a 

 delegation of their most intelligent and reliable men to accompany me across the Rocky mount 

 ains, to meet you at the St. Mary s village. I told them that you had visited the camp of the 

 Blackfect Indians, and that your intention and determination was to bring all the tribes, both 

 east and west of the mountains, into one general peace; that your determination was to protect 

 them from the incursions of the Blackfeet Indians, who for years have been their enemies to the 

 knife; that your determination was to build anew the village of St. Mary s, and cause the 

 valley, where had been their homes for years, again to teem with beauty ; that, in the beautiful 

 valley of St. Mary s, a foundation had been laid, and that upon it you intended to build, if 

 possible, a superstructure that all the Indian tribes of North America could look upon and 

 imitate, and that would be a monument which our government could view with feelings of pride 

 and credit. After much persuasion, the chief of the tribe delegated five of his principal men 

 to accompany me, to be their representatives to you. Four of them accompanied me to this 

 village, and I am compelled to bear witness, on an occasion, to their noble and Christian 

 character. Did what Father De Smet has told of the Flathead Indians need confirmation, 

 I am ready and willing to add my evidence in the behalf of these interesting children of the 

 mountains. 



From the Flathead camp I followed up the Muscle Shell river to its headwaters, by its north 

 ern fork. I there fell upon the headwaters of Smith river, flowing into the Missouri from the 

 south, and running in a northwesterly course by a very excellent prairie road across the 

 dividing ridge. This river takes its rise in the same range of mountains as the Muscle Shell, 

 and flows in the opposite direction. This river winds through a very beautiful prairie valley, 

 well wooded. The current of the stream is rapid, bed rocky, and water about eighteen inches 

 deep. This valley I followed down for many miles, and, finding it to take a course too far to 

 the north, I left it arid crossed to the Missouri by a very excellent road. Here I found the Mis 

 souri to be five feet deep and about thirty yards wide, and flowing with a very rapid current 

 towards the north. The water here is perfectly clear und limpid. From the point where I 



