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."

On the tenth of June the party set out for Quamash flats, each man well
mounted and leading a spare horse which carried a small load. To their
dismay, they found that their good friends, the Chopunnish, unwilling to
part with them, were bound to accompany them to the hunting-grounds. The
Indians would naturally expect to share in the hunt and to be provided
for by the white men. The party halted there only until the sixth of
June, and then, collecting their horses, set out through what proved to
be a very difficult trail up the creek on which they were camped, in
a northeasterly direction. There was still a quantity of snow on the
ground, although this was in shady places and hollows. Vegetation was
rank, and the dogtooth violet, honeysuckle, blue-bell, and columbi