Journals of Lewis and Clark: Dates December 1805
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Journals of Lewis and Clark
Dates: December 17, 1805 - December 22, 1805

 

This article provides interesting facts about their historic journey taken from the Journals of Lewis and Clark dates December 17, 1805 - December 22, 1805.

Lewis and cClark Expedition: Jounal Dates December 17, 1805 - December 22, 1805

The Journals of Lewis and Clark: Dates December 1805
 

The Journals of Lewis and Clark: Dates December 17, 1805 - December 22, 1805
The following excerpts are taken from entries of the Journals of Lewis and Clark. Dates: December 17, 1805 - December 22, 1805

December 17, 1805
Tuesday 17. It rained all night, and this morning there was a high wind, and hail as well as rain fell; and on the top of a mountain about ten miles to the southeast of us we observed some snow. The greater part of our stores is wet, and our leathern tent is so rotten that the slightest touch makes a rent in it, and it will now scarcely shelter a spot large enough for our beds. We were all busy in finishing the inside of the huts. The after part of the day was cool and fair. But this respite was of very short duration, for all night it continued raining and snowing alternately, and in the morning,

December 18, 1805
Wednesday 18, we had snow and hail till twelve o'clock, after which it changed to rain. The air now became cool and disagreeable, the wind high and unsettled, so that being thinly dressed in leather, we were able to do very little on the houses.

December 19, 1805
Thursday 19. The rain continued all night with short intervals, but the morning was fair and the wind from the southwest. Situated as we are, our only occupation is to work as diligently as we can on our houses, and to watch the changes of the weather, on which so much of our comfort depends. We availed ourselves of this glimpse of sunshine, to send across Meriwether's bay for the boards of an old Indian house; but before the party returned with them, the weather clouded, and we again had hail and rain during the rest of the day. Our only visiters were two Indians who spent a short time with us.

December 20, 1805
Friday 20. A succession of rain and hail during the night. At ten o'clock it cleared off for a short time, but the rain soon recommenced; we now covered in four of our huts; three Indians came in a canoe with mats, roots, and the berries of the sacacommis. These people proceed with a dexterity and finesse in their bargains, which, if they have not learnt from their foreign visiters, it may show how nearly allied is the cunning of savages to the little arts of traffic. They begin by asking double or treble the value of what they have to sell, and lower their demand in proportion to the greater or less degree of ardor or knowledge of the purchaser, who with all his management is not able to procure the article for less than its real value, which the Indians perfectly understand. Our chief medium of trade consists of blue and white beads, files with which they sharpen their tools, fish-hooks, and tobacco: but of all these articles blue beads and tobacco are the most esteemed.

December 21, 1805
Saturday 21. As usual it rained all night and continued without intermission during the day. One of our Indian visiters was detected in stealing a horn spoon, and turned out of the camp. We find that the plant called sacacommis forms an agreeable mixture with tobacco, and we therefore dispatched two men to the open lands near the ocean, in order to collect some of it, while the rest continued their work.

December 22, 1805
Sunday 22. There was no interval in the rain last night and to-day; so that we cannot go on rapidly with our buildings. Some of the men are indeed quite sick, others have received bruises, and several complain of biles. We discover too, that part of our elk meat is spoiling in consequence of the warmth of the weather, though we have kept a constant smoke under it. Monday 23. It continued raining the whole day, with no variation except occasional thunder and hail. Two canoes of Clatsops came to us with various articles for sale; we bought three mats and bags neatly made of flags and rushes and also the skin of a panther seven feet long, including the tail. For all these we gave six small fish-hooks, a worn-out file, and some pounded fish which had become so soft and mouldy by exposure that we could not use it: it is, however, highly prized by the Indians of this neighborhood. Although a very portable and convenient food, the mode of curing seems known, or at least practised only by the Indians near the great falls, and coming from such a distance, has an additional value in the eyes of these people, who are anxious to possess some food less precarious than their ordinary subsistence. Among these Clatsops was a second chief to whom we gave a medal, and sent some pounded fish to Cuscalah, who could not come to see us, on account of sickness.

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Journals of Lewis and Clark - Dates: December 17, 1805 - December 22, 1805

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