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Wednesday 3rd September 1806

Wind continued to blow very hard this morning. it Shifted
last night to the S W. and blew the sand over us in Such a
manner as to render the after part of the night very disagreeable.
the wind luled a little and we Set out and proceeded on

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with the wind a head passed the enterance of redstone River
on the N. E. Side[6] at 11 A M. and at half past 4 P.M we
Spied two boats & Several men, our party p[l]eyed their
ores and we soon landed on the Side of the Boats the men
of [these] boats Saluted us with their Small arms I landed
& was met by a Mr. James Airs from Mackanaw by way of
Prarie Dechien and St. Louis. this Gentleman is of the house
of Dickson & Co.[7] of Prarie de Chian who has a Licence to
trade for one year with the Sieoux he has 2 Batteaux loaded
with Merchendize for that purpose. This Gentleman receved
both Capt. Lewis and my self with every mark of friendship
he was himself at the time with a chill of the agu on him which
he has had for Several days. our first enquirey was after the
President of our country and then our friends and the State
of the politicks of our country &c. and the State [of] Indian
affairs to all of which enquireys Mr. Aires gave us as Satisfactory
information as he had it in his power to have collected in the
Illinois which was not a great deel. soon after we Landed a
violent Storm of Thunder Lightning and rain from the N. W.
which was violent with hard claps of thunder and Sharp Lightning
which continued untill 10 P M after which the wind blew
hard. I set up late and partook of the tent of Mr. Aires which
was dry. Mr. Aires unfortunately had his boat Sunk on the
25 of July last by a violent storm of Wind and hail by which
accident he lost the most of his usefull articles as he informed
us. this Gentleman informed us of maney changes & misfortunes
which had taken place in the Illinois amongst others
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the loss of Mr Cady Choteaus[8] house and furniture by fire.
for this misfortune of our friend Choteaus I feel my self very
much concernd &c. he also informed us that Genl. Wilkinson
was the governor of the Louisiana and at St. Louis, 300 of the
american Troops had been cantuned on the Missouri a fiew
miles above it's mouth, Some disturbance with the Spaniards
in the Nackatosh [Natchitoches] Country is the cause of their
being called down to that country, the Spaniards had taken
one of the U. States frigates in the Mediteranean, Two British
Ships of the line had fired on an American Ship in the
port of New York, and killed the Capts. brother. 2 Indians
had been hung in St. Louis for murder and several others in
jale. and that Mr. Burr & Genl. Hambleton fought a Duel,
the latter was killed[9] &c. &c. I am happy to find that my
worthy friend Capt. L's is so well as to walk about with ease
to himself &c., we made 60 Miles to day the river much
crowded with Sand bars, which are very differently Situated
from what they were when we went up.

 
[6]

Clark appears to be in doubt as to the translation of the Indian word for this
stream. Aug. 24, 1804, he called it "White stone"; the following day, simply
"Stone River" (see our vol. i, pp. 119, 123). "Redstone" more nearly approaches
its present name—Vermilion River.—Ed.

[7]

Robert Dickson of Prairie du Chien was a prominent Canadian trader, and had
great influence with the Indians of Wisconsin and the Upper Mississippi country. In
the War of 1812–15, he and Clark were arrayed upon opposing sides of the struggle.
See his biography in Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, pp. 133–153, and papers in vols. x, xi,
xii, on the capture of Prairie du Chien.

James Aird was a Scotch trader, who early settled at that Wisconsin outpost,
dying there in 1819. He made frequent journeys up the Missouri, where Bradbury
met him in 1810 (see Thwaites, Early Western Travels, v, p. 87). He aided Dickson
on the British side in the War of 1812–15. Aird is described as a large man, of much
ability, highly respected both by whites and Indians.—Ed.

[8]

Pierre Chouteau, Jr., known as Pierre Cadet (Cady). He was born at St.
Louis in 1789, and spent two years (1806–09) with Julien Dubuque at the lead mines
on the Mississippi. Later, he embarked in the fur trade, and became one of the noted
merchants of St. Louis, and a member of the State Constitutional Convention (1820),
dying in 1865. His grandson Pierre is (1905) one of the most prominent citizens
of St. Louis, and active in the councils of the Missouri Historical Society.—Ed.

[9]

Gen. James Wilkinson was Governor of Louisiana Territory from July, 1805, to
July, 1807.

The duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, resulting in the latter's
death, occurred at Weehawken, near New York City, July 11, 1804.

At that time the relations of the United States with both England and Spain were
more or less strained, especially as English ships frequently impressed American sailors
—Proceedings which were among the causes of the War of 1812–15. The incident
to which reference is here made was the killing of John Pierce, seaman on the
"Richard," about two miles off Sandy Hook, by a shot from the British man-of-war
"Leander" (April 25, 1806). Great excitement was caused in New York, and
the funeral was the occasion of a popular demonstration, hostile to Great Britain.
The rumor of a ship being captured by Spaniards probably arose from the fact that
in the autumn of 1804 the U. S. frigate "President" was fired at by some Spanish
gunboats near the port of Algeciras, Spain.—Ed.

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