CHAPTER XV
SCOUTING IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST
"SOME of you boys went out to Illinois, last summer," he began. "Did yougo as far as the Mississippi River?"
"No, but we camped out on the Illinois River," I told him, "and thatflows into the Mississippi."
"We explored," explained Benny, "just like LaSalle and Tonty and theother guys did. Skinny was LaSalle and I was Tonty."
"LaSalle and Tonty were great scouts. Do you remember when they madethose early explorations?"
"I think it was somewhere around 1680 or 1681," said Skinny, who wasalways good in history. "Mr. Baxter told us all about it while we weresitting on top of Starved Rock, where LaSalle once had a fort."
"There was a great country west of the Mississippi, about which LaSalleknew very little, although when he explored the river he took possessionof the land in the name of his king, and he called the countryLouisiana.
"At that time, with the exception of a few fur traders and missionaries,all the people who came to America from the Old World settled along theAtlantic coast and the Great Lakes, in various colonies. Some of theseafterward became the thirteen original states of the United States ofAmerica.
"After Thomas Jefferson became president, he had a chance to buyLouisiana of Napoleon, who was then at the head of the Frenchgovernment, and he did so."
"Huh! Napoleon!" said Skinny. "George Washington could lick----"
"Aw, ferget it, can't you?" said Bill. "You are stopping the story."
"That gave us a vast territory, reaching from the Atlantic Ocean to theRocky Mountains. Nobody knew very much about it, or about the countrywest of the Rockies. Jefferson may have been looking far into the futurewhen he made the Louisiana purchase, but probably his more immediatepurpose was to secure undisputed possession of the wonderful MississippiRiver.
"That was in 1804, only a little more than a lifetime ago and nearly acentury and a half after LaSalle explored the river and took possessionof the country. Little, if anything, was known about the country at thetime of its purchase by the United States more than was known inLaSalle's time. A few hardy traders went up and down the river, buyingfurs of friendly Indians, and that was all.
"Naturally, after Jefferson had bought it, he wanted to know somethingabout his purchase. So he appointed two men to explore the new country.I want you to remember their names, because they did a great work. Onewas Meriwether Lewis and the other William Clark, and you will findtheir trip described in your school history as 'the Lewis and Clarkexpedition.' I can't see why their exploration was not attended by asmuch danger and hardship as LaSalle's, which had been undertaken so manyyears before. The dense forests and great rivers of the West were allunknown and there were many hostile Indians.
"What did you boys do, when you made up your minds to explore the riversin Illinois last summer?"
"We built a boat," Hank told him.
"Exactly. And that was what Lewis and Clark did, or, rather, it was donefor them at Government expense. A keel boat, fifty-five feet long anddrawing not more than three feet of water, was made for them atPittsburgh, where, if you remember, two rivers unite to form the Ohio.This boat had places for twenty-two oarsmen and carried a large, squaresail. Steamboats were not known in those days, although a few yearsafterward Robert Fulton ran one on Hudson River. The Government alsoprovided two smaller boats and loaded them with coffee, sugar, crackers,dried meats, carpenter's tools, presents for the Indians, and thingslike that. A few horses also were taken along in the large boat.
"The leaders selected a crew of twenty-five men, and one fine day thewhole outfit started down the Ohio River. When they reached theMississippi they turned north and soon made their way up the great riverto St. Louis. St. Louis was a French trading station then. Now it is alarge city. A few years ago the hundredth anniversary of the Louisianapurchase was celebrated by holding a world's fair in St. Louis.
"There more men joined the expedition and considerable information thatPresident Jefferson wanted was picked up about the Indian tribes wholived up and down the river.
"Finally, May 14, 1804, the explorers started on the real trip. Itwasn't easy work any longer, for they had to row against the mightycurrent of the Mississippi. After they had gone a few miles they came toanother great river, which was pouring a dirty looking, yellow floodinto the Mississippi. Who can tell me what that river was?"
"The Missouri," said Benny, who had been studying about it in school."The Mississippi River, with its principal tributary, the Missouri, isthe longest river in the world."
"Right you are. If you will look on some map you will see how it ispossible to go in a boat from Pittsburgh almost across the continent.Lewis and Clark turned into the Missouri and started for the thenunknown Northwest. They made their way along very slowly, for the riverwas swollen with heavy rains and the current was very strong.
"After much labor and hardship they managed to reach the mouth of theOsage River. There they went into camp and sent out an armed party toexplore the interior. When the party returned they brought back ten deerand all had a great feast on the river bank.
"Once more they breasted the fierce current, narrowly escaping shipwreckseveral times. Once the wind was so strong that they were obliged toanchor and go ashore. Again they had to pull their boats along withropes through some rapids."
"Betcher life they didn't go without a rope," said Skinny. "Why----"
Somebody threw a sofa pillow just then and it struck exactly where hisface happened to be. Before he could find out who did it Mr. Norton wenton.
"At last they reached the mouth of the Kansas River. A large city standsthere now. Does anybody know the name of it?"
"That is too far from home," said Benny. "I know what city is at themouth of Hoosac River. There ain't any."
"Kansas City now stands where they went into camp. They divided into twoparties. One went out after game, so that there should be plenty to eat,and the other explored the country."
"It's fun to explore," said Bill.
"Probably these men found a certain pleasure in it, notwithstanding thehardships. They were seeing something new every day. After a time theystarted once more and late in July reached the mouth of the PlatteRiver. They had heard that a tribe of Indians were living near there, soLewis and Clark went out with a party to find them and tell them thatthe country now belonged to the Great Father at Washington. Under somebluffs, opposite the present city of Omaha, they sat in council with theIndians, made them gifts, and smoked the peace pipe. The Indians didn'tseem to care who owned the country so long as they received presents andhad room enough to hunt. A city now stands on those bluffs where theIndian council was held. I guess you can tell me the name of that one."
"Council Bluffs," said two or three of us at the same time.
"Then on went the explorers up the river, through a wonderful country.Vast prairies, covered with grass and without any trees, stretched awayin every direction, as far as they could see, and great herds of buffaloroamed up and down. On they went, through what is now Nebraska; thenthrough South Dakota; then, North Dakota, where some fierce Indiansdwelt. Another council was held and more presents were given. When theboat was about to put off after this council, the Indians grabbed holdof the cable and held it. They wouldn't let go."
"Great snakes!" said Bill. "I'll bet they didn't do a thing to thoseInjuns. I'll bet they paralyzed them. They had guns, didn't they?"
"Yes, and they did sort of paralyze the savages, I guess.
"'Take aim but don't fire,' Lewis told his men.
"The next second those Indians were looking into the muzzles of abouttwenty-five guns."
"That's the stuff!" shouted Skinny, swinging his arms and thenpretending to shoot. "Did they kill them all?"
"I am afraid that you boys are a little bloodthirsty," said Mr. Norton."They didn't shoot at all. When the Indians saw the pointed guns theydropped the cable and pretended that all they wanted was to do some moretrading. The white men were gl
ad enough to let it go at that and getaway as quickly as possible.
"It soon became necessary to go into camp for the winter. An island inthe river was chosen for the purpose and they spent the winter there.The Indians in the vicinity proved to be friendly. They never had seenwhite men before, possibly that was the reason. Some of the things whichare very common to us seemed wonderful to them. Do you remember how Ilighted the fire one day, when we wanted to cook dinner on Bob's Hilland had forgotten the matches?"
"With a sunglass," I told him.
"Well, that didn't seem very astonishing to us because we were used toit, but the Indians had never seen a sunglass. They started their firesby rubbing two sticks together. Even the whites had to use a flint andsteel, for the art of making matches hadn't been discovered. CaptainClark carried a sunglass in his pocket. One day he went to an Indianvillage, intending to smoke a peace pipe with the chief. As he wasentering the village, he saw some wild geese flying over and shot one.The Indians heard what seemed to be thunder and saw the goose fall, andit scared them. They ran into their wigwams and closed the skin doors.Soon after Captain Clark came up to the wigwam of the chief, withoutthinking he was doing anything out of the ordinary, he pulled out hissunglass and lighted his pipe with it.
"The frightened Indians were peeking out of their wigwams, and when theysaw the white man start a blaze in his pipe by holding up one hand,they felt sure that he was a spirit. The Redskins gave one yell and raninto the woods. It was a long time before they could be made tounderstand.
"Spring came at last and the impatient party started up the river again.The way grew more and more difficult. They were now a long distance fromthe mouth of the river, and the water was shallow in places and filledwith dangerous rocks. Often they had to get out and wade, pulling theboats along by the cables.
"May 26 they passed the mouth of the Yellowstone River and for the firsttime saw the Rocky Mountains in the distance, covered with snow andlooking very grand. They were then in Montana, or what we now callMontana.
"In June they heard the roaring of a cataract, and Lewis started outafoot to find it. After he had traveled for hours he climbed a cliff andat last looked down upon the cataract. So far as we know he was thefirst white man who had ever seen it, although thousands see it everyyear now. The cascades of the Missouri stretch for thirteen miles, withfoaming rapids between. It is a great sight."
"Gee, Peck's Falls ain't in it," said Skinny. "Did he find a cave?"
"History fails to mention a cave. Lewis went back and ordered the boatsto proceed up the river as far as the first rapids. The question was,how to get around those cascades. They couldn't go up the river, so theyhad to get the boats around in some way. Their horses had died duringthe winter. There was nothing to do but drag the boats around eighteenmiles. The men went to work and made rough carts, felled trees, clearedaway bushes, dug out rocks, leveled off the ground, and pulled, pushed,and struggled on, until at last the work was accomplished and the boatswere launched again in the river above the rapids.
"But soon the river became too shallow for the large boat and they hadto stop again. Then they cut down trees and made 'dugouts.' They paddledon until finally they came to a most wonderful place. We think that theravine below Peck's Falls and that at the Basin are grand and beautiful,and so they are, but they found a great canyon, whose walls in placeswere a thousand feet high.
"Beyond this canyon they could not go in their boats, for they were atthe foot of the first range of the Rockies. They had to leave theirboats there and climb. But, first, Lewis started out alone to find someIndians for guides.
"The brave man made his way to the top of the ridge and looked down intothe valley beyond. In that valley flowed a river, and far up the streamhe could see an Indian village. It was the home of the Shoshones. Hemanaged to reach the village, and by offering presents induced some ofthe Indians to go back with him, bringing horses, and to guide his menacross the mountains.
"The trip was a very perilous one, even with guides, and it took them awhole month to cross. Up, up they climbed, so high that they could notfind any game to shoot. One by one, the horses died from exhaustion, andthe starving men ate the flesh to keep themselves alive.
"After terrible hardships, they finally left the mountains behind andcame upon streams which flowed toward the west. Here they rested,secured a new supply of food, built new boats, and then, when all wasready, paddled down the Lewis and Clark rivers into the broad Columbia,which, as you know, pours its waters into the Pacific Ocean. They hadcrossed the entire country from Pittsburgh to the Pacific, and made thewhole trip by water except that terrible journey across the RockyMountains.
"It was now November and they were forced to go into camp once more tospend the winter months. In the spring they started on the long journeyhome again and at last reached Washington, where they told the Presidentabout the vast Northwest and what a great country he had purchased fromFrance."
"I'll tell you what let's do," said Benny, after Mr. Norton hadfinished. "When we start on our trip let's play we are Lewis and Clark'sploring the country."