Pheasant Camp

Pheasant Camp. "Here we killed...three pheasants". Arriving here in late September 1805, Captain Lewis and a contingent of the Corps of Discovery were cold and hungry. Wearing only worn moccasins, they had struggled over rough, hilly terrain. Climbing over fallen trees and through log strewn creek bottoms, the 100 mile trip over the mountains had taken them eleven agonizing days. , After camping at this meadow, now called Pheasant Camp, Captain Lewis would lead his party on through more gentle meadows and rolling hills. They reached the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) camp near present-day Weippe on September 22, 1805. , The three pheasants which Sgt. Gass referred to where actually ruffed grouse. Today, these birds are often spotted in deciduous and mixed woodlands. , Sgt. Patrick Gass, September 21, 1805 , "... passed along the ridge with a great deal of difficulty and fatigue, our march being much impeded by the fallen timber. A great portion of the timber through which we passed along this ridge is dead, and a considerable part fallen and our horses are weak and much jaded. , ...We went down this creek about a mile, and encamped on it for the night in a small rich bottom. Here we killed a duck and two or three pheasants; and supped upon them and the last of our horse meat. We also killed a wolf and eat it. The hunters did not join us this evening nor the two men who went to look for the horse."