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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