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Historical Background

Relations with coastal tribes

One coastal tribe in particular, the Chinooks, was another source of irritation. Numbering about 400, they resided on the north side of the Columbia and frequently visited Fort Clatsop. They possessed many white trade goods, including sea otter robes, guns, and other arms. British and American northwest traders had brutalized and corrupted them. The women, highly promiscuous and ridden with venereal disease, considered it an honor to have the names of traders labeled on their bodies. The members of this tribe pestered the expedition's complement with petty thievery, haggling over the prices of goods and food, and hawking of the women's favors.

The Clatsops, who resided on the south side of the river, were less numerous and less corrupted than the Chinooks. Lewis and Clark considered them to be cleaner and of a higher moral caliber, and established a close friendship with a neighboring band's chief, Comowool (or Coboway). The Killamucks, or Tillamooks, who resided in the vicinity of the saltmaking camp, were friendly.

Lewis and Clark, who counciled with and made extensive observations of all the coastal tribes, found that maritime traders had debased them to varying degrees. Most engaged in thievery and were experienced traders. Like the tribes upriver to Celilo Falls, they suffered badly from fleas and lice. Most of the groups flattened their heads, lived in wooden-plank houses, demonstrated proficiency as water-men, and maintained salmon-oriented economies. They were not warlike, and did not drink liquor. Lewis and Clark communicated with them mainly in sign language, but managed to pick up a few words of the local dialects.

This is possibly the earliest portrayal of a Chinook, some time prior to 1848, though artist George Catlin did not execute this painting in the tribe's home country along the Lower Columbia River. Note the technique employed to create the peculiar deformity of the Chinook head. (Oil by Catlin. Smithsonian Institution.)

To protect the scant possessions from the Indians, reduce vandalism, and provide insurance against any hostilities, on January 1, 1806, the day after Fort Clatsop was completed, Lewis established a formal guard routine. The detail, consisting of a sergeant and three privates, was relieved each morning at sunrise. Sentinels were required to report the approach of any Indians. The sergeant of the guard had authority to expel them from the fort if he considered it necessary or advisable; if serious trouble threatened, he was to report it to the commanders.

On the other hand, the men were under strict orders never to strike or otherwise abuse any of the natives; they were not very hostile and the leaders wanted to keep it that way. At sunset each day, all Indians were ordinarily required to leave the fort, but on a few special occasions a visiting chief or messenger was allowed to remain inside overnight. The sergeant of the guard kept the key to the meathouse. Strict accountability was maintained for all tools, precious items, which had to be turned in nightly. Only Shields, the most skilled gunsmith and blacksmith, was exempted from this order.

Cannon Beach, along the Oregon coast in the vicinity of the spot where Clark and his party in January 1806 viewed the skeleton of a whale that had washed ashore. The big monolith in the water is known as Hay Stack Rock. (Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (Blair, 1964).)

A trip to see a whale

One diversion for some members of the expedition was a jaunt to the coast in hopes of seeing the carcass of a whale that had washed ashore not far south of the salt camp, according to the Indians in the vicinity. Willard and Wiser brought back this report and a sample of the blubber when they returned from the camp on January 5. Great curiosity was aroused.

Clark decided to go to see the whale, and hopefully also to purchase some of the blubber as a supplement to the low food stores. Yielding to Sacagawea's entreaties to visit the whale and the "great waters" she had come so far to view, Clark allowed her, her son, and Charbonneau to join him and 11 men. [125] They set out on the 6th in two canoes. Following a circuitous route to the salt camp, they proceeded down the Netul to Young's Bay before heading southward along various creeks and streams until they had to abandon the canoes and move overland.

At the salt camp, reached on the 7th, Clark hired an Indian to show the way to the whale, located only about 8 miles to the south at the mouth of present Elk Creek. Yet the journey, made on the 7th and 8th, was a slow and arduous one over the tortuous terrain east of Tillamook Head. To everyone's disappointment, the Indians had stripped the whale of all its meat and blubber, a mere 300 pounds of which Clark was able to purchase along with a few gallons of rendered oil. He measured the skeleton and found it to be 105 feet long. Other bones of whales were seen along the shore. The group went back to the salt camp on January 9, spent the night there, and the next day followed essentially the outbound route back to Fort Clatsop.

Vain hope: contact with northwest traders

All winter long, Lewis and Clark and their men anxiously watched for English or American northwest traders, known to be active around the mouth of the Columbia. They not only offered a source of badly needed supplies and trade goods, but also possibly a mode of transportation back to the east coast. For these purposes, the two captains carried a special letter of credit from President Jefferson guaranteeing reimbursement by the U.S. Government.

But the commanders were never able to use the letter, for it was the wrong season. The majority of the traders usually arrived in April and stayed until October or November, trading with the Indians for sea otter, elk, and other pelts. The Indians knew the names and reputations of many of the skippers, as well as their expected arrival times.

Ironically, Capt. Samuel Hill, commanding the brig Lydia out of Boston, traded along the mouth of the Columbia for a few weeks after arriving there in November 1805, but neither he nor Lewis and Clark were aware of the other's presence. When Hill returned in the spring, after trading farther up the coast, the Indians gave his crew some of the medals the two commanders had presented to them, as well as a notice the explorers had left behind.

Had Lewis and Clark come across any of the northwest traders, they undoubtedly would have purchased supplies and trade goods to replenish their badly depleted stores, upon which they would be critically dependent on the eastbound trip. Whether or not they would have sailed on one of the ships to the east coast is a speculative matter. It would have depended on the attitude of the skipper, the size and condition of his vessel, his itinerary, and the willingness of the two captains to forgo their planned exploration of the Upper Marias and Yellowstone.