The Bird-Woman of the Lewis and Clark Expedition | Page 5

the skins and plants and maps. "We can get them all again when we are coming home." The soldiers made two caches. In these they hid all the things they could do without. Without so much to carry, it would not be so hard to go around the Falls.

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THE CACHE NEAR THE FALLS OF THE MISSOURI.
To make a cache, the soldiers made a ring on the ground. They took up the sod inside the ring. They dug straight down for a foot. They put dried branches on the bottom and at the sides of this hole. They put dried skins over the branches. Then they put their goods into the hole, or cache. They put dried skins over the goods. Then they put the earth in. Then they put the sod on. The ring did not look as if it had been dug up. The Indians would not think to look there for goods.

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HOW SACAJAWEA CURED RATTLESNAKE BITES.
Near the Falls of the Missouri, the party met many rattlesnakes. The snakes liked to lie in the sun on the river banks. Some times they went up trees and lay on the branches. One night Captain Lewis was sleeping under a tree. In the morning he looked up through the tree. He saw a big rattlesnake on a branch. It was going to spring at him. He caught his gun and killed it. It had seventeen rattles. Sometimes the soldiers had to go barefooted. The snakes bit their bare feet. Sacajawea knew how to cure the bite. She took a root she called the rattlesnake root. She beat it hard. She opened the snake bite. She tied the root on it. She put fresh root on two times a day. It cured the snake bite. The root would kill a man if he should eat it, but it will cure a snake bite.

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GOING AROUND THE FALLS.
The party had to go up a high hill to get around the Falls. It would take too long to carry the canoes on their backs. They could see only one big tree on the plains. It was a cottonwood. The soldiers cut it down. They cut wheels and tongues from it. The cottonwood is not hard enough for axles. The soldiers cut up the mast of their big boat for axles. They began to go up the hill. In a little time the axles broke. They put in willow axles. Then the cottonwood tongues broke. Then the men had to carry the goods on their backs. It was very hot. The mosquitoes and blow-flies bit them all the time. The prickly pear hurt their feet. It hurt them even through their moccasins. If they drank water, they were ill. One day it hailed hard. The hail knocked some of the men down. At night the grizzly bears took their food.

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GRIZZLY BEARS.
After many hard days, they got all the goods to the top of the Falls. The party saw many grizzly bears near the Falls. They were the first white men to see the grizzly bear. They found it a very large and very fierce bear. One day Captain Lewis was out hunting. He had killed a buffalo for dinner. He turned around to load his gun again. He saw a big bear coming after him. It was only twenty feet away. He did not have time to load his gun. There was no tree near. There was no rock near. The river bank was not high. Captain Lewis ran to the river. The bear ran after him with open mouth. It nearly caught him. Captain Lewis ran into the river. He turned around when the water was up to his waist. He pointed his gun at the bear. It stopped still. Then it roared and ran away. Captain Lewis did not know why the bear roared and ran, but he was glad to be safe.
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One day six of the soldiers saw a big bear lying on a little hill near the river. The six soldiers came near him. They were all good shots. Four shot at him. Four balls went into his body. He jumped up. He ran at them with open mouth. Then the two other men fired. Their balls went into his body, too. One ball broke his shoulder. Still he ran at them. The men ran to the river. Two jumped into their canoe. The others hid in the willows. They loaded their guns as fast as they could.