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Lewis and Clark
Journal Summary 11: Dates November 10, 1805 - December 7,
1805
The following
is a summary of the journal entries made by Lewis and Clark.
Dates: November 10, 1805 - December 7, 1805
Struggling to
Keep Anything Dry, the Corps of Discovery Sought a Location
for Their Winter Camp
November 10,
1805
They managed to travel a further 10 miles before, once again,
being brought to a halt by the waves. Clark described the
situation as 'disagreeable'. The water had become salty
so they had to rely on the rain for fresh water and only
had dried pounded fish to eat. The men were constantly wet
with the tide and rain, struggling to keep anything dry.
They had to sleep and store their equipment on logs. Their
canoes were constantly battered by the waves and driftwood.
November
14, 1805
Meriwether Lewis set off with a small party to travel overland
and try to find the white people that the Indians had told
them were further down the river. They would also see if
there was a bay at the end of the river. Clark wrote in
his journal that their clothes were beginning to rot, particularly
those that were leather, after 10 days of rain with barely
a break. The next day they managed to travel 3 miles, during
a brief lull in the weather, to a long sandy beach.
November
17, 1805
Captain Lewis returned and the hunters, who had set out
earlier, returned with deer and geese. The Chief of the
Chinooks, the local Indians, visited the camp in the evening.
November 18,
1805
William Clark led a small
party to the shore of the Pacific Ocean by land.
November 19,
1805
Clark recorded in his
journal how he saw a ten foot sturgeon and several backbone
joints from a whale washed up on the beach.
November
20, 1805
Lewis and Clark tried to buy a robe, made of 2 sea otter
skins, from one of the Chinook Indians. They offered several
items in return, and finally secured the purchase using
a waist belt of blue beads that belonged to Sacagawea.
While the expedition camped in the area, they were visited
by several different tribes of Indians, and suffered at
the hands of some awful weather. There were strong winds,
rain and on a few occasions the waves breaking against the
shore were so strong that the water reached the camp.
November
24, 1805
Lewis and Clark turned their attention to setting up winter
quarters. They assembled all the expedition members to discuss
the best location for the quarters.
November 25,
1805
They began exploring
the area to find a suitable place. The Indians had told
them of an area where Elk was prominent. As they would need
a good source of food over the winter, they headed for that
area to see for themselves. A camp was set up by the shore
for a few men who would remain there and make salt.
After several days they began to see signs of Elk and one
of their hunting parties managed to track and kill some
Elk around 6 miles from their camp. Lewis found a suitable
place for the winter quarters near a small river on the
south shore where there were sufficient Elk to see them
through the winter. The wind and rain continued for much
of the time leaving them almost continually wet.
December 7,
1805
They arrived at the site
for their winter quarters, which was south of the Columbia.
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