Lewis and Clark Journal Summary 21: Dates July 28, 1806 - August 13, 1806
The following is a summary of the journal entries made by Lewis and Clark. Dates: July 28, 1806 - August 13, 1806
 

Lewis is Shot and the Corps of Discovery Reunites

July 28, 1806
Lewis arrived at the Missouri and met with the members of their party that they had left at the great falls to descend the river in the canoes. They removed their belongings from the horses and proceeded in the canoes. They visited several of the caches that they had made on the way up the river and managed to recover some of their goods. Their main cache had collapsed resulting in the loss of many items, including furs. They went over to the point where they has hidden a pirogue and found that it had decayed beyond the point of repair. They stripped it of its nails and other ironwork, and left it behind. They carried on with 5 canoes and 1 pirogue.

Having no proper shelter, Lewis slept in the wet all night. It continued to rain during the day as they made rapid progress in the Missouri’s strong current. The river water was becoming hard to drink as the large amount of rainfall caused sand and mud to be washed into it from the plains. Clark encountered similar problems with the water and also noted that it was warm. Hunting was getting easier with the animal numbers increasing, and the meat quality was improving. The hunting also supplied them with a good stock of animal skins.

July 31, 1806
Lewis and his party came across some Indian lodges which, along with some elk skins, gave them decent shelter from the rain. It was the 1st August before the weather was fair enough for the party to dry out their belongings, and 3rd August before Clark’s party could dry theirs. Most of the meat and many of the skins that Clark had stored were spoiled by being wet for so long.

August 04, 1806
Clark’s party was plagued with mosquitoes, so he took the decision to pack up and move further down the river. He left a note for Lewis to inform him of his decision.

August 07, 1806
Lewis and his party arrived at the site where Clark had left the note on 4th August. After reading it, Lewis decided to set off immediately for Clark’s new camp. They passed a point where they saw that Clark’s party had recently been and traveled on until dark without catching up with them. On 8th August Lewis found a suitable place to camp while the canoes and pirogue were repaired and the men were able to make new clothes from the skins they had collected. On the same day the men Clark had sent off with the horses on 24th July arrived at Clark’s camp. They’d been forced to build and use canoes to finish their journey as the horses had been stolen by Indians while they slept.

August 10, 1806
Lewis resumed his journey as the rain had returned and hampered the skin dressing. Meanwhile Clark and his party were hunting and collecting skins to use in trade with the Mandan Indians.

August 11, 1806
Lewis was out hunting with one of his men when he was shot in the thigh. Luckily the shot passed through his leg without hitting bone or artery. He suspected it was his hunting partner Pierre Crusat mistaking him for an elk because of the clothes he was wearing, although Pierre Crusat, who was near sighted and only had the use of one eye, denied it. Clark’s party saw a canoe on the river bank so pulled over to investigate. It turned out to be the camp of two trappers from Illinois. The following day Lewis also met the trappers who told him of their meeting with Clark.

August 12, 1806
At 1pm the expedition members were reunited when Lewis finally caught up with Clark.

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