Louisiana and Aaron Burr 361 



wrong. By most of the tribes they were well re- 

 ceived, and obtained from them not only informa- 

 tion of the route, but also a welcome supply of food. 

 At first they rather shrank from eating the dogs 

 which formed the favorite dish of the Indians; but 

 after a while they grew quite reconciled to dog's 

 flesh ; and in their journals noted that they preferred 

 it to lean elk and deer meat, and were much more 

 healthy while eating it. 



They reached the rain-shrouded forests of the 

 coast before cold weather set in, and there they 

 passed the winter, suffering somewhat from the 

 weather, and now and then from hunger, though the 

 hunters generally killed plenty of elk, and deer of a 

 new kind, the blacktail of the Columbia. 



In March, 1806, they started eastward to retrace 

 their steps. At first they did not live well, for it 

 was before the time when the salmon came up- 

 stream, and game was not common. When they 

 reached the snow-covered mountains 4 there came an- 

 other period of toil and starvation, and they were 

 glad indeed when they emerged once more on the 

 happy hunting-grounds of the Great Plains. They 

 found their caches undisturbed. Early in July they 

 separated for a time, Clark descending the Yellow- 

 stone and Lewis the Missouri, until they met at the 

 junction of the two rivers. The party which went 

 down the Yellowstone at one time split into two, 



4 The Bitter Root range, which they had originally crossed. 

 For the bibliography, etc., of this expedition see Coues' book. 

 The MS. diary of one of the soldiers, Gass, has since been dis- 

 covered in the Draper collection. 



VOL. VIII. 16 



