Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/47

44 our remaining strength. It was determined to proceed down the river in canoes. Captain Clark, therefore, set out with the Chief called "Twisted Hair" and two young men in quest of timber for canoes. Having resolved to go down to some spot calculated for building canoes, we set out early in the morning, and encamped on the low ground on the south, opposite the forks of the river."

The Winter at Fort Clatsop. Carried by the current in canoes from October 7, Lewis and Clark reached the mouth of the Columbia, November 11. Jefferson had instructed them to "learn upon reaching the Pacific if there be any

Columbia smoke stacks near wallula.jpg Copyright by Weister. COLUMBIA SMOKE STACKS NEAR WALLULA

port within your reach frequented by the sea vessels of any nation, and to send two of your trusty people back by sea or if "the return of your party by the way they went will be imminently dangerous, then ship the whole and return by sea-either by Cape Horn or by the Cape of Good Hope." Failing of an opportunity to return by sea, they built Fort Clatsop on the Netal River—now called the Lewis and