The Search

The Search. . "..to take a small party and to proceed on up the river, some distance before the canoes, in order to discover them (Indians), should they be on the river before the daily discharge of our guns, which was necessary in procuring substance, should allarm and cause them to retreat to the mountains, and conceal themselves...." Lewis, July 18, 1805 , The Corps of Discovery enjoyed breakfast at this point on the morning of July 18th 1805. They had traveled over 400 miles from the Mandan Villages and had not encountered any Indians. Once above the great falls and into the mountains they noted many signs that Indians had been in the area - abandoned lodges and tipi rings. Their objective was to meet up with the Shoshone, or Snake Indians (Sacagawea's tribe), who were the horse traders of the northern plains. The Captains had come to a decision at this point - "..to take a small party and to proceed on up the river, some distance before the canoes, in order to discover them (Indians), should they be on the river before the daily discharge of our guns, which was necessary in procuring substance, should allarm and cause them to retreat to the mountains, and conceal themselves...." Lewis, July 18, 1805 , Capt. Clark, his personal African-American servant - York, and Pvts Joseph Fields and John Potts then proceeded in advance of the expedition along the river and on Indian roads that took them into the mountains and overland in a number of cases. , Lewis and Clark were not reunited until July 22nd in the Townsend Valley. The expedition did not meet the Shoshones until beyond Dillon, MT, and 250 miles to the south.