The Journals
of Lewis and Clark: Dates April 17, 1805 - April 25, 1805
The following
excerpts are taken from entries of the Journals of Lewis
and Clark. Dates: April 17, 1805 - April 25, 1805
April 17, 1805
Wednesday, April 17. We set off early, the weather being
fine, and the wind so favorable as to enable us to sail
the greater part of the course. At ten and three quarter
miles we passed a creek ten yards wide on the south; at
eighteen miles a little run on the north, and at night encamped
in a woody point on the south. We had traveled twenty-six
miles through a country similar to that of yesterday, except
that there were greater appearances of burnt hills, furnishing
large quantities of lava and pumice stone, of the last of
which we observe some pieces floating down the river, as
we had previously done, as low as the Little Missouri. In
all the copses of wood are the remains of the Assiniboine
encampments; around us are great quantities of game, such
as herds of buffalo, elk, antelopes, some deer and wolves,
the tracks of bears, a curlue was also seen, and we obtained
three beaver, the flesh of which is more relished by the
men than any other food which we have. Just before we encamped
we saw some tracks of Indians, who had passed twenty-four
hours before, and left four rafts, and whom we supposed
to be a band of Assiniboines on their return from war against
the Indians on the Rocky mountains.
April 18, 1805
Thursday 18. We had again a pleasant day, and proceeded
on with a westerly wind, which however changed to N.W. and
blew so hard that we were obliged to stop at one o'clock
and remain four hours, when it abated and we then continued
our course.
We encamped about dark on a woody bank having made thirteen
miles. The country presented the usual variety of highlands
interspersed with rich plains. In one of these we observed
a species of pea bearing a yellow flower, which is now in
blossom, the leaf and stalk resembling the common pea. It
seldom rises higher than six inches, and the root is perennial.
On the rose bushes we also saw a quantity of the hair of
the buffalo, which had become perfectly white by exposure,
and resembled the wool of the sheep, except that it was
much finer and more soft and silky. A buffalo which we killed
yesterday had shed his long hair, and that which remained
was about two inches long, thick, [191]fine, and would have
furnished five pounds of wool, of which we have no doubt
an excellent cloth may be made. Our game to-day was a beaver,
a deer, an elk, and some geese. The river has been crooked
all day and bearing towards the south.
On the hills we observed considerable quantities of dwarf
juniper, which seldom grows higher than three feet. We killed
in the course of the day an elk, three geese and a beaver.
The beaver on this part of the Missouri are in greater quantities,
larger and fatter, and their fur is more abundant and of
a darker color than any we had hitherto seen: their favorite
food seems to be the bark of the cottonwood and willow,
as we have seen no other species of tree that has been touched
by them, and these they gnaw to the ground through a diameter
of twenty inches.
April 19, 1805
The next day, Friday, 19th, the wind was so high
from northwest that we could not proceed, but being less
violent on
April 20, 1805
Saturday, 20th, we set off about seven o'clock, and
had nearly lost one of the canoes as we left the shore,
by the falling in of a large part of the bank. The wind
too became again so strong that we could scarcely make one
mile an hour, and the sudden squalls so dangerous to the
small boats, that we stopped for the night among some willows
on the north, not being able to advance more than six and
a half miles. In walking through the neighboring plains
we found a fine fertile soil covered with cottonwood, some
box, alder, ash, red elm, and an undergrowth of willow,
rosebushes, honeysuckle, red willow, gooseberry, currant,
and serviceberries, and along the foot of the hills great
quantities of hysop. Our hunters procured elk and deer which
are now lean, and six beaver which are fatter and more palatable.
Along the plain there were also some Indian camps; near
one of these was a scaffold about seven feet high, on which
were two sleds with their harness, and under it the body
of a female, carefully wrapped in several dressed buffalo
skins; near it lay a bag made of buffalo skin, containing
a pair of moccasins, some red and blue paint, beaver's nails,
scrapers for dressing hides, some dried roots, several plaits
of sweet grass, and a small quantity of Mandan tobacco.
These things as well as the body itself had probably fallen
down by accident, as the custom is to place them on the
scaffold. At a little distance was the body of a dog not
yet decayed, who had met this reward for having dragged
thus far in the sled the corpse of his mistress, to whom
according to the Indian usage he had been sacrificed.
April 21, 1805
Sunday, 21st. Last night there was a hard white frost,
and this morning the weather cold, but clear and pleasant:
in the course of the day however it became cloudy and the
wind rose. The country is of the same description as within
the few last days. We saw immense quantities of buffalo,
elk, deer, antelopes, geese, and some swan and ducks, out
of which we procured three deer, four buffalo calves, which
last are equal in flavor to the most delicious veal; also
two beaver, and an otter. We passed one large and two small
creeks on the south side, and reached at sixteen miles the
mouth of Whiteearth river, coming in from the north. This
river before it reaches the low grounds near the Missouri,
is a fine bold stream sixty yards wide, and is deep and
navigable, but it is so much choked up at the entrance by
the mud of the Missouri, that its mouth is not more than
ten yards wide. Its course, as far as we could discern from
the neighboring hills, is nearly due north, passing through
a beautiful and fertile valley, though without a tree or
bush of any description. Half a mile beyond this river we
encamped on the same side below a point of highland, which
from its appearance we call Cut bluff.
April 22, 1805
Monday, 22d. The day clear and cold: we passed a
high bluff on the north and plains on the south, in which
were large herds of buffalo, till breakfast, when the wind
became so strong ahead that we proceeded with difficulty
even with the aid of the towline. Some of the party now
walked across to the Whiteearth river, which here at the
distance of four miles from its mouth approaches very near
to the Missouri. It contains more water than is usual in
streams of the same size at this season, with steep banks
about ten or twelve feet high, and the water is much clearer
than that of the Missouri; the salts which have been mentioned
as common on the Missouri, are here so abundant that in
many places the ground appears perfectly white, and from
this circumstance it may have derived its name; it waters
an open country and is navigable almost to its source, which
is not far from the Saskaskawan, and judging from its size
and course, it is probable that it extends as far north
as the fiftieth degree of latitude.
After
much delay in consequence of the high wind, we succeeded
in making eleven miles, and encamped in a low ground on
the south covered with cottonwood and rabbitberries. The
hills of the Missouri near this place exhibit large irregular
broken masses of rocks and stones, some of which, although
two hundred feet above the water, seem at some remote period
to have been subject to its influence, being apparently
worn smooth by the agitation of the water. These rocks and
stones consist of white and gray granite, a brittle black
rock, flint, limestone, freestone, some small specimens
of an excellent pebble, and occasionally broken strata's
of a black colored stone like petrified wood, which make
good whetstones. The usual appearances of coal, or carbonated
wood, and pumice stone still continue, the coal being of
a better quality and when burnt affords a hot and lasting
fire, emitting very little smoke or flame. There are huge
herds of deer, elk, buffalo, and antelopes in view of us:
the buffalo are not so shy as the rest, for they suffer
us to approach within one hundred yards before they run,
and then stop and resume their pasture at a very short distance.
The wolves to-day pursued a herd of them, and at length
caught a calf that was unable to keep up with the rest;
the mothers on these occasions defending their young as
long as they can retreat as fast as the herd, but seldom
returning any distance to seek for them.
April 23, 1805
Tuesday 23. A
clear and pleasant morning, but at nine o'clock the wind
became so high that the boats were in danger of upsetting;
we therefore were forced to stop at a place of safety till
about five in the afternoon, when the wind being lower we
proceeded and encamped on the north at the distance of thirteen
and a half miles: the party on shore brought us a buffalo
calf and three black tailed deer: the sand on the river
has the same appearances as usual, except that the quantity
of wood increases.
April 24, 1805
Wednesday 24. The wind blew so high during the whole
day that we were unable to move; such indeed was its violence,
that although we were sheltered by high timber the waves
wet many articles in the boats: the hunters went out and
returned with four deer, two elk, and some young wolves
of the small kind. The party are very much afflicted with
sore eyes, which we presume are occasioned by the vast quantities
of sand which are driven from the sandbars in such clouds
as often to hide from us the view of the opposite bank.
The particles of this sand are so fine and light that it
floats for miles in the air like a column of thick smoke,
and is so penetrating that nothing can be kept free from
it, and we are compelled to eat, drink, and breathe it very
copiously. To the same cause we attribute the disorder of
one of our watches, although her cases are double and tight;
since without any defect in its works, that we can discover,
it will not run for more than a few minutes without stopping.
April 25, 1805
Thursday 25. The wind moderated this morning, but
was still high; we therefore set out early, the weather
being so cold that the water froze on the oars as we rowed,
and about ten o'clock the wind increased so much that we
were obliged to stop. This detention from the wind and the
reports from our hunters of the crookedness of the river,
induced us to believe that we were at no great distance
from the Yellowstone river. In order therefore to prevent
delay as much as possible, Captain Lewis determined to go
on by land in search of that river, and make the necessary
observations, so as to be enabled to proceed on immediately
after the boats should join him; he therefore landed about
eleven o'clock on the south side, accompanied by four men;
the boats were prevented from going until five in the afternoon,
when they went on a few miles further and encamped for the
night at the distance of fourteen and a half miles.
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