FROM HEADWATERS OF THE MISSOURI TO DALLES OF THE COLUMBIA. 
507 
point a sharp shoulder of rock abutted into the river, and the trail wound over the ridge back of 
it. On the side of the ascent the sun had melted the surface of the frozen ground in course oi 
the day, and had made it so slippery that, all we could do, we could not contrive to get our ani¬ 
mals up it. They would pick their way carefully about two-thirds the way up, and then slide 
back to the bottom. After abandoning the attempt, we succeeded in getting them round the point 
of rock on a narrow strip of ice. 
Since last night it has been cloudy, and a little sleet has fallen from time to time. Camped 
about four miles from “Horse Plain.” 
On the 5th, travelling was unusually bad. The trail, for the most part, threaded along the 
river bank, through dense thickets of pine, and was often covered with ice, so that the pack- 
animals were constantly slipping down, or bolting from side to side against trees, and wrenching 
off their packs and spilling the contents. 
About the middle of the day we came to a place called “ Bad Rock,” where a mountain cliff 
crowds itself into the river, and the trail winds up its jagged side in a serpentine course to the 
height of about five hundred feet, and down an equally precipitous face on the other side. The 
ascent is bad enough, under the most favorable circumstances; but now, ice in the path made a 
portion of it impassable for animals without assistance; but ropes were made fast round their 
necks, and by dint of pulling from above and whipping from below, one by one we forced them 
up. All these extraordinary proceedings amused Paul very much, and he frequently exclaimed, 
“ Es-em-mowela,” (bad rock.) I felt strongly inclined to pitch him down the hill for hinting that 
I didn’t know that without being told. 
After crossing a small stream called by the Indians “ In-shanshe,” we camped on “Thomp¬ 
son’s Prairie.” This prairie is an interval between the river and the mountainous country inland, 
and has been made the depot for the horses of one or two parties which have gone west this win¬ 
ter, under the impression that, on account of deep snows and want of feed, it would be impossi¬ 
ble to take them much farther. 
There is some snow here, but not much. To-day has been very clear and pleasant. 
February 6.—Remained in camp to give the animals a little rest and recruiting before entering 
the pine desert before us. Sent Paul and one of the men across the river into a timbered bottom 
to hunt deer, but they were unable to find any. The deer, what few there were, appear to have 
been driven back into the mountains, for there are no fresh tracks. 
February 7.—Upon leaving “ Thompson’s Prairie,” we entered that dense pine forest which 
extends without interruption to Pend d’Oreille lake. The influence of the sun, especially in the 
winter, when his rays fall more obliquely, is very imperfectly felt through the thick foliage, and 
the snows from the time of their falling lie entirely undisturbed through the winter months. 
From the commencement of snow, at “ Thompson’s Prairie,” it has been gradually on the 
increase during the day, and at camp to-night it is one foot deep. Had the ground been bare, it 
would have been no better for our animals, for the forest, at best very meagre in undergrowth, 
was overrun by a fire last fall, which swept it clean of every blade of grass and green thing. 
Without feed, then, the animals were tied to keep them from returning on the trail. 
Early in the afternoon we passed a small camp of five lodges of Pend d’Oreille Indians. They 
were the most destitute, squalid, miserable-looking human beings I think I ever saw. Their 
lodges, which were low and badly constructed, were made of poles set up in the usual form, 
covered with rush matting. 
Upon approaching the lodge doors, we were greeted with the usual outburst of yelping dogs, 
followed by the inmates of the lodges. One-eyed and distorted old men, toothless old women, 
and naked children, all besmeared with filth, crowded round to shake hands with the tyee. I 
began to fear we might get short of provisions before getting through, or I should have passed 
them by unnoticed ; but as it was, I swallowed my disgust, and bought about twenty pounds of 
venison—all they had to spare—for which they received in return some powder and balls. 
