They Also
Saw Elk, Deer, Turkeys, Grouse, Beaver, And Prairie-Dogs.
The journal
bitterly complains of the "moschetoes," which were very troublesome.
As mosquitoes we now know them.
Oddly enough, the journal sometimes speaks of "goats" and sometimes
of "antelopes," and the same animal is described in both instances.
Here is a good story of the fleetness of the beautiful creature: -
"Of all the animals we had seen, the antelope seems to possess the most
wonderful fleetness. Shy and timorous, they generally repose only on
the ridges, which command a view of all the approaches of an enemy:
the acuteness of their sight distinguishes the most distant danger;
the delicate sensibility of their smell defeats the precautions
of concealment; and, when alarmed, their rapid career seems
more like the flight of birds than the movements of a quadruped.
After many unsuccessful attempts, Captain Lewis at last, by winding
around the ridges, approached a party of seven, which were on
an eminence towards which the wind was unfortunately blowing.
The only male of the party frequently encircled the summit of the hill,
as if to announce any danger to the females, which formed a group at the top.
Although they did not see Captain Lewis, the smell alarmed them,
and they fled when he was at the distance of two hundred yards:
he immediately ran to the spot where they had been; a ravine concealed
them from him; but the next moment they appeared on a second ridge,
at the distance of three miles.
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