| Summary: | current and the expedition subsisted on dried meat, dog and what little game the hunters could bring in each day. The expedition came out of the river on April 21, 1806, and continued overland. Twelve days later, the last of the dried meat and dogs were divided among the party. Fortunately, on May 4, 1806, the Corps of Discovery and the Nez Peree people were reunited. The herd of 21 horses belonging to the expedition had survived the winter, but not enough horses for the expedition to make it back over the Continental Divide. However, during the winter Clark's reputation as a doctor had grown, the result of his successful treatment of a number of Indians the previous fall. Indians now lined up to be treated by Clark. By the time the expedition left the Nez Perce, Clark's medical practice resulted in rejuvenated horse herd, increasing its numbers to 65 animals. Lewis wrote, "We now view our horses as the only certain resource for food." Lewis and Clark had reached the Nez Perce too early in the year to cross the snow clogged mountain passes. The explorers spent a month at Camp Chopunnish waiting, gathering roots and drying meat to sustain themselves during the mountain crossing. Still they were impatient. So primed were the captains to face the challenge of the mountains, they attacked the Lolo Trail on June 10, 1806, despite warnings that the passes were not open. Snow turned them back. A second attempt, begun June 24, was successful. The Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled from its camp with the Nez Perce to Travelers Rest, 156 miles, in six days, this was only half the time it took to cover the same ground on the way out, perhaps because they had better guides and didn't get lost. During the winter, the captains had developed a plan to explore in greater detail the country on the east slope of the Rocky Mountains. There remained a chance that a Northwest Passage could be found. At Travelers Rest, the Corps of Discovery was divided into two groups: ** Lewis would follow the Nez Perce buffalo route to the Great Falls on the Missouri River. With him would go nine men from the expedition and five Nez Perce guides (who would turn back at the falls). He would have 17 horses. Once Lewis reached the portage, he would leave three men there and take the rest of the party into the country drained by the Marias River to determine if that was the water route to the Pacific Ocean. The party would reunite on the Missouri River below the falls. ** Clark would take the rest of the expedition down the Jefferson River. From Three Forks, he would send Sergeant John Ordway down the Missouri River with canoes that the expedition had left behind the summer before. Clark would take the 1999-2001 North Dakota Blue Book 23
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