FIELD PARTIES AND OPERATIONS. 79 



camp?, some hundred and seventy miles south of Fort Benton, by Lieutenant Mullan, and the 

 Blackfeet, the same distance north, by Mr. Stanley; and that the exploring parties, Lieutenant 

 Mullan, by the Hell Gate, Lieutenant Donelson, with the engineer parties, by the Blackfoot trail, 

 all rendezvoused at the St. Mary s village by the 30th September, except Mr. Tinkham, who 

 reached the St. Mary s valley on the 6th of October. Mr. Lander, who had gone sixty-five miles 

 on his way to examine the Marias Pass, on the arrival of Lieutenant Saxton, made, under the 

 direction of Lieutenant Donelson, a reconnaissance of the Marias, Teton, Sun and Dearborn 

 rivers, and crossed the dividing ridge of the Rocky mountains by the pass of Lewis and Clark 

 on their return route some eight miles northwest of Cadotte s Pass, crossed by the main party, and 

 came upon the common trail thirteen and a half miles lower down the pass; and Mr. Tinkham, 

 before reaching the narrow defile ending in Hell Gate, examined a route from the pass to the 

 Jocko river flowing into Clark s fork, and then came into the St. Mary s valley in Lieutenant 

 Saxton s trail. 



At St. Mary s valley I found Lieutenant Arnold in charge of that post with six men and a 

 considerable depot of provisions. Lieutenant Saxton s route to that post was by the Dalles, 

 Wallah- Wallah, Peluse, Coeur d Alene prairie, Clark s fork, and Jocko river. He reached the 

 village on the 28th of August, and started for Fort Bentr n with a party of eighteen men on the 2d 

 of September. Lieutenant Macfeely, in command of twenty-six enlisted men and quartermaster 

 employes, left that village on the 4th day of September, by the southern Nez Perces trail, for 

 the Dalles. 



Lieutenant Mullan was placed in charge, with fifteen men, of a meteorological post at the St. 

 Mary s village, with orders to explore a route to Fort Hall, and to make all possible examinations 

 of the mountain passes, especially as to the depth and continuance of snows; and Lieutenant 

 Donelson was sent over the general route explored by Lieutenant Saxton, with directions to send 

 Mr. Lander down the St. Mary s river, and meet him at Horse Plain. Mr. Tinkham was sent 

 back over the Rocky mountains by the Marias Pass, with orders to return, by some southern 

 pass, to the St. Mary s village, thence by the southern Nez Perces trail to Wallah- Wallah, and 

 thence over the military road to Steilacoom and Olympia. Dr. Suckley was directed to go down 

 the St. Mary s river, Clark s fork, and the Columbia, and to make the best exploration his means 

 permitted. 



Leaving the St. Mary s valley, opposite Hell Gate, on the 7th of October, I pushed with a small 

 party over the Coeur d Alene mountains, and resting my animals one day at the Coeur d Alene 

 mission, I pushed on to Colville, and reached that place on the 18th of October, the day of the 

 crossing of the Columbia river at that point by Captain McClellan. 



To guard against the possibility of Captain McClellan s passing the eastern division, on his 

 way to the Rocky mountains, Lieutenant Donelson was directed to despatch Lieutenant Arnold 

 on his second crossing of Clark s fork, by the northern trail to Colville, and orders were left at 

 Colville, directing him to go up the Columbia river, make a general reconnaissance of the river 

 in the vicinity of the 49th parallel, and then repair to Wallah-Wallah by the route of the left bank 

 of the Columbia, by the Grand Coulee, and by the mouth of Snake river. 



Word was sent to Lieutenant Donelson to meet the western division at a camp south of the Spo 

 kane river, and arrangements were made to complete the exploration of the Snoqualme Pass by a 

 small party with one of the assistant engineers, Mr. Lander, and carry the line down to the harbor 

 on the sound ; to explore the route crossing the Columbia above the mouth of Snake river, and lead 

 ing by its north bank to Vancouver, both parties under the charge of Captain McClellan, who was 

 also to determine, in his way, one or two doubtful points as to the geography of the country; to 

 explore a third route, by Lieutenant Donelson, from the Coeur d Alene mission to Wallah-Wallah, 

 and thence down the south bank of the Columbia river to the Dalles, and to send the animals and 

 men not needed for those duties along the usual trail to Wallah- Wallah, under Lieutenant Hodges. 

 On a careful inspection of the animals, made by Captain McClellan and Lieutenant Donelson, 



