Page:The Columbia river , or, Scenes and adventures during a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Mountains among various tribes of Indians hitherto unknown (Volume 1).djvu/123

 along when Mr. Stuart's party came to his assistance, and conducted him to the upper end of the portage in safety. The loss of the dispatches determined Mr. Stuart to postpone Mr. Reed's journey to New York, and the whole party proceeded to Oakinagan, the post established by Mr. David Stuart. They remained here only a few days, and early in May left it on their return to Fort Astoria. On their way down, near the entrance of the Shoshoné river, they fell in with Mr. R. Crooks and a Kentucky hunter, named John Day, in a state of miserable destitution.

I have already mentioned that this gentleman, with five of his men, owing to their inability to continue the journey from excessive fatigue, had been left by Mr. Hunt among a tribe of friendly Indians, supposed to be a branch of the extensive Snake nation. Finding, however, that they had nothing to expect from the strangers, these savages, shortly after the departure of Mr. Hunt, robbed them of every article in their possession, even to their shirts, in exchange for which they gave them a few old skins to cover their nakedness.

The miserable party, thus attired, and without any provisions, recommenced their journey to the