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'Cbe Conservative ;
LEWIS AND CLARK.
The following somewhat condensed
account of Lewis and Clark's passage
along this part of the river , as they
ascended it in 1804 , may be of interest
to some of THE CONSERVATIVE'S read
ers , especially in connection with Ser
geant Floyd's notes of the same voyage ,
published in the issue of March 28.
The official journal of the expedition
was kept sometimes by one captain ,
sometimes by the other ; and it happen
ed occasionally that both recorded the
same incidents. Their manuscripts
were edited in 1814 by Nicholas Biddle
of Philadelphia , assisted by advice from
Captain ( then General and Governor )
Clark , Lewis being deadr This edition
is the standard history of the expedi
tion ; it does not bear Biddle's name ,
financial difficulties having arisen , but
that of an offensive person named Paul
Allen.
The party passed Cow Island on July
3rd , and observed a large pond full of
beaver at the head of it , on the Missouri
shore. Above this they saw a deserted
trading-house on the Kansas side , and
they camped for the night a short dis
tance below Atchison. Floyd mention
ed this trading-post , calling it "a old
French fort. " After proceeding one
mile on the morning of the 4th , they
came to the mouth of a cut-off lake
on the Missouri side , which they called
Gosling lake , from the abundance of
those fowls which prevailed there. It
was about three-quarters of a mile wide ,
and seven or eight miles long ; there
have always been cut-off lakes in the
Missouri bottoms , and they have always
been changing ; it is useless to guess
whether this was Sugar Lake , opposite
Atchisou , or not. Floyd's snake story
is mentioned ; and 10) miles further
they "reached a creek on the south
( Kansas side ) about 12 yards wide , com
ing from an extensive prairie which
approached the borders of the river.
To this creek , which had no name , we
gave that of Fourth of July creek ;
above it is a high mound , where three
Indian paths center , and from which is
a very extensive prospect. " This may
possibly be the site of Atohison. "After
16 miles' sail we came-to above a creek
about 80 yards wide , which we called
Independence creek , in honor of the
day , which we could only celebrate by
an evening gun , and an additional gill
of whiskey to the men. " They still
celebrate in much the same way in
Atchisou , only sometimes they omit the
gun. Independence creek receives the
privileged waters of Deer creek , where
they hold picnics and go wading.
On the 6th they followed the Kansas
shore through an extensive and beauti
ful prairie , watered by Independence
creek. "On this bank formerly stood
the second village of the Kansas ; from
the remains it must have been once a
largo town. " On the same side they
passed a small creek which they named
Yellow-ochre , from a bank of that min
eral a little above it. This day brought
them into Douiphon county.
The next day they had trouble with
sand bars , intermixed with one of
which they found "pit-coal. " On the
Missouri side they passed a prairie
called Reevey's , or Revoe's , "after a
man who was killed there. "
On the 7th they note a "fine rich
prairie on the north ( east ) called St.
Michaels , " and on the 8th "three small
islands , one of which is the Little Nod-
awa , and a large island called the Great
Nodawa , extending more than five
miles , and containing 7,000 or 8,000
acres of high good land , rarely over
flowed ; this is one of the largest islands
of the Missouri. It is separated from
the northern shore by a small channel
from 45 to 80 yards wide , up which we
passed , and found near the western ex
tremity of the island the mouth of the
river Nodawa. ' ' Nodawa Island is now
fast to the main land , and the river
empties above it , though the govern
ment map of 1879 shows the old channel
alongside the railroad. They had
passed St. Joseph the day before ; possi
bly at St. Michael's prairie.
A feature of the 9th was Lonp or
Wolf River ( just below Iowa Point )
and on the 10th they saw a stream
which Dr. Coues says was Cedar Creek ,
Doniphan county , Kansas ; the maps do
not show it , but it must have been near
"White Cloud. Captain Clark recorded
it as "a creek called Pappie ; " Captain
Lewis , "Pape's Creek , after a Spaniard
of that name , who killed himself there ; "
Sergeant Floyd called it Pope Creek
and told how it happened. Goslings
were still numerous on the banks.
On the llth passed "a creek called by
the Indians Tarkio , " hidden behind a
willow island ; crossed the Nebraska
line , and camped on a sand-bar opposite
the mouth of the Big Nemaha. This
stream Captain Clark explored while
they lay by the next day , taking obser
vations for latitude. He "ascended it
in the perioque about two miles , to the
mouth of a small creek on the lower
side. On going ashore he found on the
level plain several artificial mounds or
graves , and on the adjoining hills
others of a larger size. This appear
ance indicates sufficiently the former
population of the country , the mounds
being certainly intended as tombs.
From the top of the highest mound a
delightful prospect presented itself. "
They found here wild grapes , nearly
ripe ; "the wild cherry of the Missouri ,
resembling our own , but larger , and
growing on a small bush ; and the chokecherry -
cherry , which we observed for the first
time. * * * On the south of the
Nemahaw , about a quarter of a mile
from its mouth , is a cliff of freestone ,
on which are various inscriptions and
marks made by the Indians. "
Proceeding on the 18th , they passed
the Big Tarkio. "A channel from the
bed of the Missouri once ran into this
river , and formed an island called St.
Joseph's ; but the channel is now filled
up , and the island is added to the north
ern shore. " This occurrence of the
name , so near by , suggests a doubt
whether the city of St. Joseph was
really named , as is commonly reported ,
after a member of the Roubidoux fam
ily. A French voyageur was likely to
name a place where anything befell
trim , after his patron saint , or after the
saint whose day it was.
The next day they narrowly escaped
shipwreck in a squall , as Sergeant
Floyd graphically related , and came in
the afternoon to a small factory
( agency ) on the Missouri shore , "where '
a merchant of St. Louis treated with
the Otoes and Pawnees two years ago. "
Further on they passed the then month
of'the Nishnabotua ; "a river called by
the Maha Indians Nishnahbatona ,
which runs parallel to the Missouri '
the greater part of its course. " On the
16th the Little Nemaha was passed , and
they camped on a woody point on the
Nebraska side , which could not have
been far from Nemaha City.
"July 16th. We continued our route
between a large island opposite last
night's camp and an extensive prairie
on the south. About six miles , we
came to another large island , called
Fair Sun island , on the same side ;
above which is a spot where about 20
acres of the hill have fallen into the
river. Near this is a cliff of sandstone
for about two miles , which is much
frequented by birds. " It is at present
much frequented by Normal scholars ,
who carve their names upon its face ;
for this must be the cliff a short dis
tance below Peru , where the town of
Mt. Vernon was once projected. Fair
Sun island may be there yet ; the map
shows two opposite islands , marked
respectively Sun and Sonora islands ,
at about the proper distance from a
point between Nemaha City and Brown -
ville. "At this place ( Peru ) the river is
about a mile wide , but not deep ; as the
timber , or sawyers , may be seen scatter
ed across the whole of its bottom. At
20 miles distance , we saw on the south
an island , called by the French L'Isle
Chance ( Ohauve ) or Bald island , op
posite a large prairie , which we called
Bald-pated prairie , from a ridge of
naked hills which bound it , running
parallel with the river as far as we
could see , at from three to six miles dis
tance. To the south the hills touch the
river. We camped a quarter of a mile
beyond this , in a point of woods on the
north side. "
All that is plain in this is that they
camped somewhere on the Iowa shore ,
in the vicinity of Hamburg. Dr. Ooues
