Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 21.djvu/63



DAVID THOMPSON AND BEGINNINGS IN IDAHO 53

Sepr. 12. Tuesday. A rainy night but very fine day began our warehouse. The Ground is so very full of small stones that the Holes for the Posts &c. &c. is a long time making. Got the Posts and Needles ready & threw down a Red Fir of 2 fm. round to make a Canoe for fishing &c. 16 canoes of Pointed Hearts passed us & camped with the other Flat Heads. Sepr. 13. Wednesday. A fine morning, but abt. 10 a.m. a heavy Gale from S.W. which soon brought on moderate Rain, which lasted nearly all night. Bouche & the Chein Foux brought 2 Chevruil, cut & hauled wood, the Needles & arranged a Horse Collar 6 which broke towards evening, we then got wood for another. Spent much of the day in trading 7 with the Indians who brought abt. 120 or 130 skins. Put out a Fire the Indians kindled.

A transcript of the entire text 8 would be monotonous read- ing and sufficient has been given to indicate the style and extent and accuracy of the journal. In it we find one of the earliest instances of contact between" the white man and the Indian in Idaho and unimpeachable proof of the friendliness and even cordiality of the relations then existing. In it is given the narrative of the building of the first houses in Idaho, for another year elapsed before Andrew Henry, the American trader from St. Louis, erected his temporary cabins at the headwaters of Snake River. In it are given some figures of the first commercial transaction known to have taken place in Idaho. These are historic facts not widely known as yet.

An interesting item of nomenclature also appears in one of the entries ; the name of the next largest lake in Idaho, Coeur d'Alene. Here appears the first written reference to that name, which literally translated means awl-hearted or stingy-hearted, referring to trade relations. But it is evident that some French- Canadian or half-breed trapper had already penetrated to Coeur d'Alene lake and brought back that name to David Thompson for his use in the corrupted form of Pointed Hearts, referring to the Indians from that region.

6 Used in moving logs with horses.

7 The first recorded commercial transaction in Idaho. Lewis and Clark had bartered for food and horses but not for gain.

8 See Washington Historical Quarterly, Vol. XI for complete text and annota- tions.