Zenas Leonard - Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard

The next morning our Indian hosts bro't some horses to the camp for the purpose of trading, which were marked with a Spanish brand. After trading for five of the best of their horses, for which we gave one yard of scarlet cloth and two knives, we left these Indians and continued down the river in search of beaver, which are very scarce. These Indians are quite small, amp; much darker than those of the buffaloe country, as well as more indolent amp; slothful. They generally run naked with the exception of a few, who wear shields made of some kind of skins. Their huts are composed of dry poles or logs set upon end, and their bedding consists of grass. Their food is composed principally of horse meat and acorns – the latter are very large and of a good quality, which they manufacture into a kind of mush. Their method of manufacturing this is as follows – They go to a large log and build a fire upon it and burn it half or two-thirds of the way through, which is done by keeping the log wet except about a foot in diameter, where the fire is kept up until the hole is deep enough, and of the proper shape. After the hole is burnt deep enough they extinguish the fire, scrape out the coals and ashes, and have a tolerably well shaped hopper. When this is done they get a long stone which is rounded at one end, and put the acorns in and commence mashing them fine, which is easily done as they are always previously dried by fire or the sun. The meal thus made is then taken out amp; mixed with water in a basket made almost water-tight – which they broil by making stones red hot and throwing them into the basket. By this process they make a kind of mush with which any hungry man would be glad to satiate his appetite.

These Indians also appear very delicate and feeble – which they attribute to eating acorns. To-day, whilst some of our hunters were searching for beaver signs along the river beach, they found the carcases of four Indians, two of which were partly consumed by Grizzly bears. They appeared as if they had died natural deaths, and been laid there by their friends according to their custom of disposing of the dead, as two of them were well wrapped up in beaver skins. This day our course lay through a large prairie covered with wild oats – which at this season of the year when nothing but the stock remains, has much the appearance of common oats. – This plain lays on the South side of the river, to which we gave the name of Oat Plain. The grizzly bear and wild horses appeared more numerous in the country through which we this day passed, than I had ever before known them. In the evening just before sunset we came across the carcase of another Indian, which was also partly eaten by the wild beasts. From the numerous signs we were led to the belief that the country through which we were now travelling was thickly inhabited with Indians, but notwithstanding we kept watch both night and day we were unable to discover any but those we had left in the morning; nor could we find any of their habitations, although we would sometimes come across a trail that looked as if it was traversed by hundreds at a time. We also discovered some signs of white people, as we would occasionally come across a tree or log chopped with an axe as if done by trappers and hunters. At this place the river is from two to three hundred yards wide, as the country is generally level the water moves gently forward, being quite deep, clear and smooth. This night we encamped on the bank of the river in a very beautiful situation. Soon after the men went to rest and the camp had became quieted we were startled by a loud distant noise similar to that of thunder. Whilst lying close to the ground this noise could be distinctly heard for a considerable length of time without intermission. When it was at first observed some of our men were much alarmed they readily supposed it was occasioned an earthquake, and they began to fear that we would all be swallowed up in the bowels of the earth; and others judged it to be the noise of a neighboring cataract. Capt. Walker, however, suggested a more plausible cause, which allayed the fears of the most timid. He supposed that the noise origined by the Pacific rolling and dashing her boisterous waves against the rocky shore. Had any of us ever before been at the coast, we would have readily accounted for the mysterious noise.

The idea of being within hearing of the end of the Far West inspired the heart of every member of our company with a patriotic feeling for his country's honor, and all were eager to lose no time until they should behold what they had heard. We felt as if all our previous hardships and privations would be adequately compensated, if we would be spared to return in safety to the homes of our kindred and have it to say that we had stood upon the extreme end of the great west. The two next days we travelled very fast, without meeting with any thing to impede our progress. On the night of the 12th our men were again thrown into great consternation by the singular appearance of the heavens. Soon after dark the air appeared to be completely thickened with meteors falling towards the earth, some of which would explode in the air and others would be dashed to pieces on the ground, frightening our horses so much that it required the most active vigilance of the whole company to keep them together. This was altogether a mystery to some of the men who probably had never before seen or heard of anything of the kind, but after an explanation from Capt. Walker, they were satisfied that no danger need be apprehended from the falling of the stars, as they were termed.

After travelling a few miles the next morning we arrived at the head of tide water, which convinced us that the noise we had heard a few days previous was created by the ocean. We continued down the river until we arrived at the bay, where it mingles its water with the briny ocean. The country here lays very low, amp; looks as if it was subject to being overflowed. Here we found difficult travelling owing to the ground being wet and swampy. In the vicinity of this bay we found a great many Indians, who were mostly occupied in fishing – which are very plenty. These Indians appeared friendly enough, but then they manifested a kind of careless indifference, whether they treated us well or ill, that we did not like, and we therefore concluded to leave this place and make for the main coast as soon as possible, – and accordingly we started in a southern direction and after travelling a day and a half the broad Pacific burst forth to view on the 20th. The first night we encamped quite close to the beach near a spring of delightful water. The scenes which we could now contemplate was quite different from those we had beheld and dwelt amidst for months back. Here was a smooth unbroken sheet of water stretched out far beyond the reach of the eye – altogether different from mountains, rocks, snows amp; the toilsome plains we had traversed. Here we occasionally found the traces of white men, and as the Indians still appeared to act so strange, we began to think that the Spaniards had the Indians under complete subjection, and that they could, if so disposed, set them on us and give us trouble. It was therefore thought best to find out the whereabouts of the Spaniards and cultivate their friendship. The Indians here practice fishing to a great extent; indeed it seems to be the only thing they do. – They have many methods of catching them – but the principle process is by spearing them with bones made sharp, and some have proper instruments of Spanish manufacture, in which they are very expert. – The principal fish in the river we came down, and which has the principal Indian fisheries, are shad and salmon. We did not find out the name of this tribe, or whether they consider themselves distinct from any other tribe. Most all of the natives we met with since crossing the last mountain, seem to belong to the same nation, as they were about the same colour and size – spoke the same language for any thing we could discover to the contrary, and all appeared equally ignorant and dillatory – and most of them entirely naked. They have no particular place of residence but claim the whole of the country stretching from the mountain to the sea shore as their own. In some parts the natives raise a small quantity of corn, pumpkins, melons, amp;c., the soil being so very strong and mellow, that it requires but little labour to raise good crops.