A party was sent in the morning." On the third of December Captain Clark carved on the trunk of a great pine tree this inscription:-- "WM.

CLARK DECEMBER 3D 1805 BY LAND FROM THE U.STATES IN 1804 & 5." A few days later, Captain Lewis took with him a small party and set out to find a suitable spot on which to build their winter camp.

He did not return as soon as he was expected, and considerable uneasiness was felt in camp on that account.

But he came in safely.

He brought good news; they had discovered a river on the south side of the Columbia, not far from their present encampment, where there were an abundance of elk and a favorable place for a winter camp.