Meeting with the Salish (Flathead) Indians at Ross'
Hole
September 04, 1805
Joseph Whitehouse
towards evening we arived at a large Encampment of the flat head
nation which is a large band of the nation of about 40 lodges. they
have between 4 and 500 well looking horses now feeding in this valley
... they received us as friends and appeared to be glad to See us....
the natives are light Complectioned decent looking people the most
of them well cloathed with Mo. Sheep and other Skins. they have
buffalow Robes leather lodges to live in, but have no meat at this
time. but gave us abundance of their dryed fruit Such as Servis
berrys cherries different kinds of roots all of which eat verry
well. they tell us that we can go in 6 days to where white traders
come and that they have Seen bearded men who came [from] a river
to the North of us 6 days march but we have 4 mountains to cross
before we come on that River.
September 04, 1805
John Ordway
(Flathead Indians) -- these natives are well dressed, descent looking
Indians. light complectioned. ... they have the most curious language
of any we have seen before. they talk as though they lisped or have
a bur on their tongue. we suppose that they are the welch Indians
if their is any Such from the language. ... they tell us that they
or Some of them have Seen bearded men towards the ocean, but they
cannot give us any accurate accoun of the ocean, but we have 4 mountains
to cross to go where they saw white men which was on a river as we
suppose the Columbian River.
September 05, 1805
William Clark
... we assembled the Chiefs & warriers and Spoke to them (with
much dificuel[t]y as what we Said had to pass through Several languages
before it got into theirs, which is a gugling kind of language Spoken
much thro the throught [throat]) ... I purchased 11 horses &
exchanged 7 for which we gave a fiew articles of merchendize, those
people possess ellegant horses.
|
