September 1, 1805, the explorers set out traveling west, heading into rough, seldom traveled, mountainous country. They stopped at today's North Fork of the Salmon River, known as Fish Creek to Lewis and Clark, where they caught five fish, and were able to kill a deer (MacGregor 125). Some of the men's feet and horse's hooves were injured due to the rough, rocky terrain.

The next day, they were entering mountains far more difficult to pass than any American had ever attempted (Ambros 284). Clark describes the route: "Throu' thickets in which we were obliged to cut a road, over rocky hillsides where horses were in perpetual danger of slipping to their certain distruction and up and down steep hills..." (De Voto 232). Traveling along the steep hills, several horses fell. One was cripp

Lewis and his men ate what was left of the colt, which they had killed the previous night, and broke camp at 8:30 a.m. Lewis and his men covered eighteen miles that day and set camp on the side of the mountain. The situation was critical. Lewis wrote, "The only recourses being our gun and pack horses" (Ambros 289). That night, the men feasted on small portions of portable soup.

Lewis and Clark's amazing leadership kept the men together in the face of adversity. The men never sulked, lashed out, or demanded to retreat. They followed the captains without question, which helped them reach the Weippe Valley. From the Weippe Valley the party was able to continue on to the Pacific Ocean with little trouble.

On September 14, it began to snow. Old Toby, who was an Indian guide from the Shoshone tribe, got the party lost. He led the party down to a fishing camp, near a creek. Indians had recently been there, and their ponies had eaten all of the grass. The road they were traveling was much worse than the day before. It was covered with thick underbrush and fallen timber. Since the hunters were unsuccessful this day, the expedition party killed a colt for meat. They named the creek they found Colt Killed Creek.

When Lewis arrived at Weippe, he tried to describe his emotions: "The pleasure I now felt in having triumphed over the Rocky Mountains and descending once more to a level in fertile country where there was every rational hope of finding comfortable subsistence for myself and party can be more readily conceived than expressed nor was the flattering prospect of the final success of the expedition less pleading" (Ambros 293).

The next day, the party went down a very steep descent to a river that Lewis named, Clark's River, (Today known as The Bitterroot River.) There, they encountered a band of Salish Indians, whom the captains called Flatheads. They stayed there with the Indians the next couple of days to trade. They acquired thirteen new Appaloosa Horses, including three colts, for seven worn out horses. The Salish Indians shared berries and roots with the men for their meals.

On September 13, they passed several hot springs that were so hot the water was nearly boiling. Captain Lewis was curious about this naturally hot water, so he tasted it. The road that day was fairly level, except for a small part. Some of the mountains that they could see from the path were covered in snow.

On September 11, two of the party's horses had strayed. This delayed the explorers from leaving until late that afternoon. They were able to travel seven miles before they had to set up camp for the night. The hunters, who had been previously sent out, returned having killed nothing. Clark described the day as, "Verrey Worm" (De Voto 237).

The next day, the terrain began to get really rough. They had reached the mountains, which were very steep. The road through the mountain was covered with fallen timber and undergrowth. Captain Clark described the road as, "intolerable" (De Voto 237). They traveled eight miles along the steep mountains without water. They made camp on the hillside next to Traveler's Rest Creek. Some of the party did not arrive until after ten that night. Both the men and horses were extremely fatigued. They had just finished the first day of the most agonizing part of the journey to the Weippe

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Approximate Word count = 2271
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)