The Captain's Dog

The Captain's Dog

My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe

ROLAND SMITH

Harcourt, Inc.
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Copyright © 1999 by Roland Smith
Reader's guide copyright © 2008
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

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First Harcourt paperback edition 2000

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Smith, Roland, 1951–
The captain's dog: my journey with the Lewis and Clark tribe/Roland Smith
p. cm.
Summary: Captain Meriwether Lewis's dog Seaman describes
his experiences as he accompanies his master on the Lewis and Clark
Expedition to explore the uncharted western wilderness.
1. Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806)—Juvenile fiction. [1. Lewis
and Clark Expedition (1804–1806)—Fiction. 2. Dogs—Fiction. 3. West
(U.S.)—Discovery and exploration—Fiction. 4. Explorers—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.S657655Cap 1999
[Fic]—dc21 99-25608
ISBN 978-0-15-201989-1
ISBN 978-0-15-202696-7 pb

Designed by Linda Lockowitz
Text set in Cloister Old Style
P R T U S Q
Printed in the United States of America

For Marie,
the best partner an explorer ever had

As always I want to thank my first readers—Melanie Gill, Mike Roydon, Marie Smith, Zach Teters, and Pat Washington—for their insightful comments. I would also like to thank my agent, Barbara Kouts, for arranging the lunch, all those years ago, where the seed for this book was first planted. And a very special thanks to my editor, Anne Davies, and her assistant, Nina Hess, for guiding me on this wonderful journey. This book is as much theirs as it is mine.

S
EAMAN'S
J
OURNEY
W
EST
1803 to 1806

JOHN COLTER
gallops into camp, jumps off his horse, and shouts, "Seaman? Good Lord! Is that really you? We thought you were dead!"

He falls to his knees in front of me and takes a handful of fur on either side of my face. He looks into my eyes, just like he used to, and makes that silly noise like a bull elk bugling for a cow.

Colter isn't alone. George Drouillard is with him. He swings off his horse and gives me a solid nod, which is about as emotional a greeting as I have ever seen him give.

Oh, it's good to see these men again!

Colter looks at Twisted Hair and grins. "When we rode up, Chief, I thought you had yourself a pet buffalo calf in camp!"

Twisted Hair doesn't understand a word Colter says, but he smiles at the white man's enthusiasm. Colter is dressed entirely in soiled buckskin except for his feet, which are shod in buffalo-hide
moccasins. His face is burned as dark as the chief's and there are a few more creases than the last time I saw him. His brown hair hangs behind his head like a horse's tail, nearly brushing the ground as he kneels in front of me.

Drouillard is dressed in the same manner, but he hasn't changed much. He still looks like a large black bear dressed up as a deer.

Each has two horses with him. One to ride and one to carry the furs they've trapped and traded for. By the size of the piles, my old friends have been doing mighty well for themselves.

I look across the grassy plain beyond their horses, hoping the Captain is with them, wondering if he'll be happy or cross to see me. But he is not there. I am disappointed but not surprised.

Colter stands and pays his respects to Chief Twisted Hair and they begin speaking in hand-talk. Drouillard was always better at this language, but he lets Colter do the talking, and I see Colter's hand-talk has improved a good deal.

"We've come a long way to trade with you," Colter says.

Twisted Hair nods. "I must leave today to visit another camp. When I return we will trade. I will also bring people from the other camp to trade with you."

"How many days will you be gone?" Colter asks.

"Two days ... three days at most. can stay here while I'm gone and rest."

"Lord knows we could use some of that," Colter says to Drouillard.

Drouillard nods.

Later that night, after most of the Nez Percé have covered themselves with their robes, I lie near Colter and Drouillard's fire as I have done so many times before, listening to them talk. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Mountain Dog and the old woman, Watkuweis. Mountain Dog is carrying the bag made from otter skin. Colter invites them to sit down.

"That's one beautiful bag," Colter says to Drouillard.

"Have you come to trade for your bag?" Drouillard asks Mountain Dog with hand-talk.

Mountain Dog shakes his head and looks at Watkuweis.

"We came here to show you something," Watkuweis says in French.

Drouillard and Colter stare at her in shock. French is Drouillard's boyhood tongue.

"I didn't know you spoke French," Drouillard says.

"Long ago I had a Frenchman for a husband and learned to speak his words."

"But you never told us this when—"

Watkuweis laughs. "Your chiefs never asked me. They just assumed none of us understood your words. I can read some of the French words, too." She takes the otter bag from Mountain Dog and opens it carefully, with the respect big medicine deserves. Inside is a small book with a red-leather cover and a brass clasp holding the book closed. "These words are not French. I believe they are in Colter's tongue."

She hands the book to Colter.

"Open it," Drouillard says.

Colter unhooks the clasp. He stares down at the first page, then looks up Watkuweis. "Lord Almighty! This belongs to Captain Lewis. It says right here it's his personal diary."

Watkuweis looks at Drouillard. "I want Colter to read the book to us."

"Where did Mountain Dog get this book?"

"I will tell you when the reading is finished. Colter will read the English, you will tell me the words in French, and I will pass the words to Mountain Dog in our language."

"What are you all jabbering about?" Colter asks.

"She wants you to read it."

"Out loud?"

"Yep. You read and I'll translate it into French as best I can."

Colter looks at Drouillard, nods, then scoots a little closer to the fire to better see the words in the flickering light He begins to read....

May 23, 1804

At last we are all together and on our way with the immediate goal of following the Missouri River to the Mandan Indian village where we will spend the winter.

Our mission, given to us by President Jefferson, is to find and map the most direct navigable route to the Pacific Ocean—the long-sought-after Northwest Passage; make contact with the Indians along the way, with an eye toward setting up friendly trade between our nations; and observe and record the flora and fauna, terrain, Indian customs, and anything else that might help secure the future of our country. To this end, I, Captain Clark, and some of the other men are keeping official journals of our expedition, but this little red journal I start today will not be part of the official record.

As I make this first entry I am sitting on a high bluff above the Missouri with my dog, Seaman. It seems as if I have spent my entire life preparing for this journey. I feel ready for whatever we might encounter....