260 Leslie M. Scott had been formerly a slave, but obtained his liberty & is now a chief. From this man we learned that the head of the Willamet is so difficult to ascend that it can only be hunted with canoes, & that for a length of time no one has been up it (indeed no white man has ever been all the way to the head of it) and that there are some beaver in it. I have [210] determined to go there & try what can be done as there is nothing to be got elsewhere that we can venture to go to. Old Satana & some of his men followed us up in the evening. The hunters out, P Legare killed a deer. June 19. Fine with squalls. Charles has some busi- ness to settle with the Indians which requires this day, and as he is to guide us to the head of the Willamet across the mountain we did not raise camp. There is some dis- turbance & rumors of war among the Indians here. It appears that an Indian was bitten by a rattlesnake some time ago & died. His friends accuse a tribe above of having effected his death by conjuring, & threaten to avenge it if property is not paid for the body, which will probably have to be complied with as the conjurers are the weaker party. One deer killed. June 20. Fine. There was a total eclipse of the moon last night, which continued a considerable time. Raised camp & proceeded 20 miles N. E. & N. to a fork of Elk river through a hilly country partially wooded [211] some valleys of fine rich land covered with pasturage. A num- ber of Indians encamped near our station. Three hunters out, each killed a deer. June 21. Fine. Proceeded 6 hours N. across the Elk mountain to a fork of the Willamet. Road across the mountains rugged & lies through thick woods. But on Comments June 20. Camp was on Elk Creek above the site of Drain, perhaps five miles northeast, and also a few miles northeast of the camping place of June 7, 10-13.
