Original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806 printed from the original manuscripts in the library of the American Philosophical Society and by direction of its committee on historical documents |
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 | Chapter VI Original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806 |  |
[Clark:]
28th. of December Friday 1804—
BLEW verry hard last night, the frost fell like a Shower
of Snow, nothing remarkable to day, the Snow
Drifting from one bottom to
another and from the
leavel plains into the hollows
&c.
29th. December Satturday 1804—
The frost fell
last night nearly a ¼ of an inch Deep and
Continud to fall untill
the Sun was of Some hite, the Murcury
Stood
this Morning at 9°. below 0 which is not considered
Cold, as the
Changes take place gradually without long intermisions
a number of Indians
here
30th.. December Sunday 1804—
Cold the Termtr. at
20° below 0 a number of Indians here
to day they are much Supprised at
the Bellows one Deer
Killed
31st.. of December Monday 1804 Fort Mandan—
a fine Day Some wind last
night which Mixed the Snow
and Sand in the bead of the river, which has
the appearance
of hillocks of Sand on the ice, which is also Covered with
Sand & Snow, the frost which falls in the night, Continues
on
the earth & old Snow &c. &c. a number of indians here
every
Day our blakSmith Mending their axes hoes &c. &c.
for which the
Squars bring Corn for payment. [1]
Biddle here adds: "In their general conduct during these
visits they are honest,
but will occasionally pilfer any small article."
Mackenzie says (Masson's Bourg.
Nord-Ouest, i, p. 330), of the Indian opinion regarding Lewis
and Clark: "The
Indians admired the air gun, as it could discharge forty
shots out of one load, but
they dreaded the magic of the owners. 'Had I
these white warriors in the upper
plains,' said the Gros
Ventres chief, 'my young men on horseback would soon do for
them, as
they would do for so many wolves, for,' continued he, 'there are only two
sensible men among them, the worker of iron and the mender of guns."'
—Ed.
Fort Mandan on the NE bank of the Missouries 1600 Miles up Tuesday
January the 1st. 1805.—
The Day was ushered in by
the Descharge of two Cannon,
we Suffered 16 men with their Musick to visit
the 1st. Village
for the purpose of Danceing, by as
they Said the perticular
request of the Chiefs of that Village, about 11
oClock I with
an inturpeter & two men walked up to the Village, (my
views
were to alay Some little Miss understanding which had taken
place thro jelloucy and mortification as to our treatment
towards
them I found them much pleased at the Danceing
of our men,[2]
I ordered my
black Servent to Dance which
amused the Croud Verry much, and Somewhat
astonished
them, that So large a man should be active &c. &c. I
went
into the lodges of all the men of note. except two, whome I
heard had made Some expressions not favourable towards us,
in
Compareing us with the traders from the north,—those
Chiefs
observed (to us that) what they Sayed was in just (in
jest) & laftur. just as I was about to return,
the 2d. Chief
a(nd) the Black
man, also a Chief returnd from a Mission on
which they
had been Sent to meet a large party (150) of Gross
Ventres [3]
who were on their way down from their Camps 10
Miles above to revenge on the Shoe tribe an injury
which they
had received by a Shoe man Steeling a Gross
Ventres Girl,
those Chiefs gave the pipe [and] turned the party back,
after
Delivering up the Girl, which the Shoe Chief had taken and
given to them for that purpose." I returned in the evening,
Strings of Corn which the indians had given them, The Day
was worm, Themtr 34° above 0, Some fiew Drops of rain
about Sunset, at Dark it began to Snow, and Snowed the
greater part of the night, (the temptr. for Snow is about 0)
The Black Cat with his family visited us to day and brought a
little meet
"Particularly with the movements of one of the Frenchmen who danced on his
head" (Biddle). Coues here asserts (i, p. 219) that Clark explained to
Biddle that
the Frenchman danced on his hands, head downward.—Ed.
Biddle here adds "or wandering Minnetarees," an epithet often
used by Lewis
and Clark to designate an Arapaho band, who are still known
as "Gros Ventres of
the Prairie," in distinction from the "Gros Ventres of
the Missouri," the term
commonly applied to the Minitaree (now settled at
Fort Berthold, N. D.). See
p. 225, note, ante.
—Ed.
2nd. of January Wednesdey 1805 —
a Snowey morning, a party of Men go to Dance at the
2nd. Village to Dance, Capt Lewis
& the interptr Visit the 2d.
Village, and return in the evening, Some Snow to Day Verry
cold in
the evening[4]
This day I discovered how the Indians keep their horses during
the winter. In
the day-time they are permitted to run out and gather what
they can; and at night
are brought into the lodges, with the natives
themselves, and fed upon cottonwood
branches; and in this way are kept in
tolerable case.—Gass (p.
96).
3rd.. of January Thursday 1805—
Some Snow to day,
8 men go to hunt the buffalow, killed
a hare & wolf Several Indians
visit us to day & a Gross
Ventre came after his wife, who had been
much abused, &
came here for Protection.
4th.. of January Friday 1805 Fort Mandan—
a worm Snowey Morning, the
Thermtr. at 28°. above 0,
Cloudy, Sent out 3 Men
to hunt down the river, Several
Indians Came to day, the little Crow, who
has proved friendly
Came, we gave him a handkerchf & 2 files, in the
evening
the weather became cold and windey, wind from the NW. I
am
Verry unwell the after part of the Daye
5th. of January Satturday 1805 —
a cold day Some Snow, Several Indians visit us with their
axes to get them mended, I imploy my Self Drawing a Connection
of the Countrey [5]
from what
information I have rec[e]ved.
nights passed in the 1st. Village, a curious Custom the old
men arrange themselves in a circle & after Smoke[ing] a pipe
which is handed them by a young man, Dress[ed] up for the
purpose, the young men who have their wives back of the
Circle go [each] to one of the old men with a whining tone
and request the old man to take his wife (who presents [herself]
necked except a robe) and—(or Sleep with her) the
Girl then takes the Old Man (who verry often can scarcely
walk) and leades him to a convenient place for the business,
after which they return to the lodge; if the old man (or a
white man) returns to the lodge without gratifying the Man &
his wife, he offers her again and again; it is often the Case that
after the 2d. time without Kissing the Husband throws a new
robe over the old man &c. and begs him not to dispise him
& his wife (We Sent a man to this Medisan Dance last
night, they gave him 4 Girls) all this is to cause the buffalow
to Come near So that they may Kill them[6]
This map was sent to
President Jefferson, April 7, 1805, and preserved in the
archives of the
War Department. As drafted by Nicholas King, 1806, it is cited
herein as
"Lewis's map of 1806."—Coues (L.
and C., i, p, 221).
An atlas volume contains this and others of Clark's maps.
This ceremony is described much more fully by Biddle (i, pp.
150, 151), and
by Prince Maximilian (Voyage, ii,
pp. 453, 454, and iii, pp. 56–60).—Ed.
6th.. of January Sunday 1805 —
a Cold day but fiew indians to day I am ingaved
[engaged] as yesterday
7th, of January Monday 1805 —
a verry cold Clear Day. The Themtr. Stood
at 22°. below
0 Wind NW., the river fell 1 inch Several indians
returned
from hunting, one of them the Big White Chief of the
Lower
Mandan Village, Dined with us, and gave me a Scetch
of the Countrey as far
as the high Mountains, & on the South
Side of the River Rejone,[7]
he Says that the
river rejone
recvees (receives) 6 Small rivers on
the S. Side, & that the
Countrey is verry hilley and the greater part
Covered with
timber Great numbers of beaver &c.
the 3 men returned
from hunting, they killd., 4 Deer
& 2 Wolves, Saw Buffalow a
long ways off. I continue to Draw a
connected plott from the
ideas. from the best information, the Great falls is about
(800) miles nearly West, [8]
An imperfect phonetic
rendering of the French name Roche-Jaune, meaning
"Yellowstone," still
applied to the river here described.—Ed.
Larocque says (Masson's Bourgeois, pp.
310, 311) that Lewis and Clark found
all the longitudes estimated by David
Thompson to be inaccurate. He gives interesting
details as to the
territorial claims of the United States, saying: "They include in
their
territory as far north as River Qui appelle, for, as it
was impossible for a line
drawn west from the west end of Lac des Bois to strike the Mississippi, they make it
run till it strikes its tributary waters, that is, the north branches of
the Missouri and
from thence to the Pacific."—Ed.
8th.. of January Tuesday 1805 —
a cold Day but fiew indians at the fort to day wind from
the N.W. one man at the Village [9]
9th.. of January Wednesday 1805
a Cold Day Themometer at 21°. below 0, great numbers
of
indians go to kill Cows,[10]
(Cp. Clark accd. them with
3 or 4 men
killed a number of cows near the fort.) the little Crow
Brackft.
with us, Several Indians Call at the Fort
nearly frosed, one
man reported that he had Sent his Son a Small boy to
the
fort about 3 oClock, & was much distressed at not finding him
here, the after part of this day verry Cold, and wind keen
The buffaloes were
usually called by the French hunters "wild cows" or
"wild cattle," a term
often adopted by the English.—Ed.
10th.. of January Thursday 1805
last night was excessively Cold the Murkery this morning
Stood at 40°. below 0 which is 72°. below the freesing point,
we had one man out last night, who returned about 8 oClock
this morning. The Indians of the lower Villege turned out
to hunt for a man & a boy who had not returnd from the hunt
of yesterday, and borrow'd a Slay to bring them in expecting
to find them frosed to death[11]
about 10 oClock the boy about
layed out last night without fire with only a Buffalow Robe to
Cover him, the Dress which he wore was a pr. of Cabra
(antelope) Legins, which is verry thin and mockersons we had
his feet put in cold water and they are Comeing too. Soon
after the arrival of the Boy, a Man Came in who had also
Stayed out without fire, and verry thinly Clothed, this man
was not the least injured. Customs & the habits of those
people has anured [them] to bare more Cold than I thought
it possible for man to endure. Sent out 3 men to hunt Elk
below about 7 miles
In Biddle's account are
found some additional details, especially interesting as
showing a humane
and generous nature in these Indians: "The boy had been a
prisoner and
adopted from charity, yet the distress of the father proved that he felt for
him the tenderest affection. The man was a person of no distinction, yet
the whole
village was full of anxiety for his safety."—Ed.
11th.. January Friday 1805
Verry Cold, Send out 3 men to join 3 now below & hunt,
Pose-cop se
ha or Black Cat. came to See us and Stay all night
Sho ta har ro ra or Coal also stayd all
night, the inturpiter
oldst wife Sick, Some of our Men go to See a War
Medeson
made at the Village on the opposit Side of the river, this is a
[blank in MS.]
12th. of January Satturday 1805
a verry Cold Day three of
our hunters J & R Fields withe
2 Elk on a Slay
Sent one more hunter out.
13th.. of January Sunday 1805
a Cold Clear Day (great number of Indians move Down the
River to hunt) those people Kill a Number of Buffalow near
their
Villages and Save a great perpotion of the Meat, theer
Custom of makeing
this article of life General (see note) (common)
leaves them more than half of their time
without meat [12]
Their
Corn & Beans &c they keep for the
Summer, and as a reserve
in Case of an attack from the Soues, [of] which
they are always
in dread, and Sildom go far to hunt except in large
parties,
about ½ the Mandans nation passed this to day to hunt on
(our inturpeter) and one man that accompanied him to Some
loges of the Menatarrees near the Turtle Hill [13] returned, both
frosed in their faces. Chaboneu informs that the Clerk of the
Hudson Bay Co. with the Me ne tar res has been Speaking
Some fiew expressns unfavourable towards us, and that it is Said
the NW Co: intends building a fort at the Mene tar rés. he
Saw the grand Chief of the Big bellies who Spoke Slightly of
the Americans, Saying if we would give our great flag to him
he would Come to See us.
Referring to the custom
of dividing their game equally among all the families
of the tribe,
whether or not these have sent out men to the hunt, and to their improvidence
and carelessness (see Biddle, i,
pp. 153, 159).—Ed.
14th. of January 1805 Monday
This morning early a number of indians men
women children
Dogs &c. &c. passed down on the ice to joine those
that passed
yesterday, we Sent Sergt Pryor and five
men with those indians
to hunt (Several men with the Venereal cought from
the Mandan
women) one of our hunters Sent out
Several days [ago]
arived & informs that one Man (Whitehouse) is frost
bit and
Can't walk home.
15th.. January Tuesday 1805 Fort Mandan
between 12 & 3 oClock this Morning
we had a total eclips
of the Moon, a part of the observations necessary
for our purpose
in this eclips we got which
is
at 12 h–57 m–54 s Total Darkness of the Moon
at –1 –44 –00 End of total Darkness of The moon
at 2 – 39 – 10 End of the eclips.
This morning not so Cold as yesterday Wind from the
S.E. wind choped around to the N. W. Still temperate four
Considerate
[considerable—Ed.] men of the Menetarre Came
to See us We Smoked in the pipe, many Mands. present
also,
we Showed (attentions) to those men who had
been impressed
with an unfavourable oppinion of us (which satisfied them).
16th. January Wednesday 1805
about thirty Mandans came to the fort to day, 6
chiefs.
those Me-ne-ta-rees told them they were liars, had told them
if they Came to the fort the whites men would kill them, they
had
been with them all night, Smoked in the pipe and have
been treated well
and the whites had danced for them, observeing
the Mandans were bad and ought to hide themselves. one
of the 1st. War Chiefs of the big bell[i]es nation Came to see us
to day with one man and his Squar to wate on him (requested
that she might be used for the night) (his wife handsome) We
Shot the Air gun, and gave two
Shots with the Cannon which
pleased them verry much, the little Crow 2d. Chf of the lower
Village Came & brought us Corn
&c. 4 men of ours who
had been hunting returned one
frost'd
This War Chief gave us a Chart in his Way of the Missourie,
he informed us of his intentions of going to War in the Spring
against the Snake Indians we advised him to look back at the
number
of Nations who had been distroyed by War, and reflect
upon what he was
about to do, observing if he wished the hapiness
of his nation, he would be at peace with all, by that by
being at
peace and haveing plenty of goods amongst them & a
free intercourse
with those defenceless nations, they would get
on easy tirms a greater
Number of horses, and that Nation
would increas, if he went to War against
those Defenceless
people, he would displease his great father, and he
would not
receive that pertection & care from him as other nations who
listened to his word. This Chief who is a young man 26 yr. old
replied that if his going to war against the Snake
indians would
be displeasing to us he would not go, he had horses
enough.
We observed that what we had said was the words of his
great father, and what we had Spoken to all the Nations which
we Saw
on our passage up, they all promis to open their ears,
and we do not know as yet if any of them has Shut them (we
are
doubtfull of the Soues) if they do not attend to what we
have told them
their great father will open their ears. This
Chief Said that he would
advise all his nation to stay at home
untill we Saw the Snake Indians
& Knew if they would be
friendly, he himself would attend to what we
had told him.
17th.. January Thursday 1805
a verry Windey morning hard from the North Thermomiter
at 0, Several Indians here to
day
18th.. January Friday 1805
a fine worm morning, Mr. La Rock
a[nd] Mc.Kinzey Came
down to See us with them Several
of the Grosse Ventres.
19th.. January Satturday 1805.
a fine Day Messrs. Le rock & Mc.Kinzey returned home,
Sent three horses down to our hunting Camp for the meet
they had
killed, Jussomes Squar, left him and went to the
Village
20th..—
a Cold fair day Several Indians
at the fort to day a
Missunderstanding took place between the two
inturpeters on
account of their squars, one of the Squars of Shabowner
Squars being Sick, I ordered my Servent to give her Some
froot
Stewed and tee at dift times which was the cause of the
missundstd.[14]
I went up with one of the men to the villages. They treated us
friendly and
gave us victuals. After we were done eating they presented a
bowlful to a buffaloe
head, saying, "eat that,"
Their superstitious credulity is so great, that they believe
by using the
head well, the living buffaloe will come, and that they will get a supply
of meat.—Gass (pp. 98,
99).
21st Monday January 1805
a number of Indians here to day
a fine day nothing
remarkable one ban [man] verry bad with the
pox.
22nd.. January 1805 Tuesday
a find warm Day attempted to Cut the
Boat & perogues
out of the Ice, found water at about 8 inches under
the 1st.
Ice, the next thickness about 3
feet
23rd January 1805 Wednesday
A Cold Day Snow fell 4 Inches deep,
the accurancies
(accurrencies) of this day is as is
common
24th January Thursday 1805
a fine day, our inturpeters appear to understand each other
better than a fiew days past. Sent out Several hunters, they
returned without killing any thing, Cut Coal wood.[15]
25th.. of January 1805 Friday
we are informed of the arrival of a Band of
assniboins at
the Villages with the Grand Chief of those Tribes Call[ed]
the
(Fee de petite veau) (Fils de Petit veau) to
trade, one of our
interpeters & one man Set out to the Big Belley Camp
opposit
the Island, men employ'd in Cutting the Boat out of the ice,
and Collecting Coal wood.
26th.. of January Satturday 1805
a verry fine worm Day Several Indians Dine with us and
are
much Pleased. one man taken violently Bad with the
Plurisie, Bleed &
apply those remedies Common to that disorder.
27th. of January Sunday 1805
a fine day, attempt to Cut our Boat and Canoos out of
the Ice, a deficuelt Task I fear as we find water between the
Ice, I
bleed the man with the Plurisy to day & Swet him,
Capt. Lewis took off the Toes of one foot of the Boy who got
frost bit Some time ago, Shabonoe our interpeter returned,
&
informed that the Assiniboins had returned to their Camps,
& brought 3
horses of Mr. Larock's to Stay here for fear of
their
being Stolen by the Assiniboins who are great rogues.[16]
cut off the
boy['s] toes.
Larocque says that he sent his horses to the fort in accordance with Captain
Clark's offer to care for them with his own animals.—Ed.
28th. January Monday 1805
attempt to Cut through the ice to get our Boat and Canoo
out without Suckcess, Several Indians here
wishing to get War
hatchets Made the man
Sick yesterday is getting well Mr. Jessome our
interpiter was taken verry unwell this
evening worm day
29th.. January Tuesday 1805
Gave Jassome a Dost of Salts We Send & Collect Stones
and put them on a large log heap to heet them with a view of
worming
water in the Boat and by that means, Sepperate her
from the Ice, our
attempt appears to be defeated by the
Stones all breaking & flying to
peaces in the fire, a fine worm
Day, we are now burning a large Coal pit,
to mend the
indians hatchets, & make them war axes, the only means by
which we precure Corn from them.
30th.. January Wednesday 1805
a fine morning. clouded up at 9 oClock, Mr.
La Rocke
paid us a Visit, & we gave him an answer respecting the
request
he made when last here of accompanying us on our Journey
&c. (refused)
31st. January Thursday 1805
Snowed last night, wind high from the NW. Sawed off the
boys toes Sent 5 men down the river to hunt with 2 horses,
our
interpeter something better, George Drewyer taken with
the Pleurisy last
evening Bled & gave him Some Sage tea, this
morning he is much better.
Cold disagreeable Day
1st.. of February Friday 1805
a cold windey Day our
hunters returnd. haveing killed only
one Deer, a War
Chief of the Me ne tar ras came with some
Corn
requested to have a War hatchet made, & requested to
be allowed to go
to War against the Soues & Recarres who
had Killed a mandan Some time past. We refused, and gave
reassons,
which he verry readily assented to, and promised to
open his ears to all
We Said this Man is young and named
(Seeing
Snake)-Mar-book, She-ah-O-ke-ah. this mans Woman
Set out & he prosued her, in the evening
2nd.. of February Satturday 1805
a fine Day, one Deer killed our interpeter Still unwell,
one of the wives of the Big belley interpetr Sick.
Mr. Larocke
leave us to day
(this man is a Clerk to the NW. Company, &
verry anxious to accompany
us)
| Chapter VI Original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806 | |