“We had lately heard, also, that some Indians, residing at a considerable distance, on the south side of the Kooskooskee, were in possession of two tomahawks, one of which had been left at our camp on Moscheto Creek, and the other had been stolen while we were with the Chopunnish in the autumn.  This last we were anxious to obtain, in order to give it to the relations of our unfortunate companion, Sergeant Floyd,(1) to whom it once belonged.  We therefore sent Drewyer, with the two chiefs Neeshnepahkeeook and Hohastillpilp (who had returned to us) to demand it.  On their arrival, they found that the present possessor of it, who had purchased it of the thief, was at the point of death; and his relations were unwilling to give it up, as they wished to bury it in the grave with the deceased.  The influence of Neeshnepahkeeook, however, at length prevailed; and they consented to surrender the tomahawk on receiving two strands of beads and a handkerchief from Drewyer, and from each of the chiefs a horse, to be killed at the funeral of their kinsman, according to the custom of the country.”

     (1) See page 23.

The Chopunnish chiefs now gave their final answer to the two captains who had requested guides from them.  The chiefs said that they could not accompany the party, but later in the summer they might cross the great divide and spend the next winter on the headwaters of the Missouri.  At present, they could only promise that some of their young men should go with the whites; these had not been selected, but they would be sent on after the party, if the two captains insisted on starting now.  This was not very encouraging, for they had depended upon the Indians for guidance over the exceedingly difficult and even dangerous passages of the mountains.  Accordingly, it was resolved that, while waiting on the motions of the Indians, the party might as well make a visit to Quamash flats, where they could lay in a stock of provisions for their arduous journey.  It is not certain which of the several Quamash flats mentioned in the history of the expedition is here referred to; but it is likely that the open glade in which Captain Clark first struck the low country of the west is here meant.  It was here that he met the Indian boys hiding in the grass, and from here he led the expedition out of the wilderness.  For “quamash” read “camass,” an edible root much prized by the Nez Perces then and now.

While they lingered at their camp, they were visited by several bands of friendly Indians.  The explorers traded horses with their visitors, and, with what they already had, they now found their band to number sixty-five, all told.  Having finished their trading, they invited the Indians to take part in the games of prisoners’ base and foot-racing; in the latter game the Indians were very expert, being able to distance the fleetest runner of the white men’s party.  At night, the games were concluded by a dance.  The account of the expedition says that the captains were desirous of encouraging these exercises before they should begin the passage over the mountains, “as several of the men are becoming lazy from inaction.”