Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR After stealing a canoe, soldiers hide it near the fort. The captains write a short description of the expedition with the names of each member, and they distribute copies among the Indians.
PNW Coastal Indian Canoe (replica)
© 2008 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Stealing a Canoe
4 men went over to the prarie near the coast to take a canoe which belongd to the Clotsop Indians, as we are in want of it. in the evening they returned 2 of them by land and killd. an Elk. the others took the canoe near the fort and concealed it, as the chief of the Clotsops is now here.
—John Ordway
Female Band Departs
this morning we gave Delashelwilt a certificate of his good deportment &c. and also a list of our names, after which we dispatched him to his village with his female band.
—Meriwether Lewis
Fort Clatsop Notice (replica)
Provided by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park, Fort Clatsop, U.S. National Park Service
Transcription:
“The object of this list is, that through the medium of some civilized person who may see the same, it may be made known to the informed world, that the party consisting of the persons whose names are hereunto annexed, and who were sent out by the government of the U’ States in May 1804 to explore the interior of the Continent of North America, did penetrate the same by way of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, to the discharge of the latter into the Pacific Ocean, where they arrive on the 14th November 1805, and from whence they departed the [blank] day of March 1806 on their return to the United States by the same rout they had come out.”—
List of Names
These lists of our names we have given to several of the natives and also paisted up a copy in our room . . . . on the back of some of these lists we added a sketch of the connection of the upper branches of the Missouri with those of the Columbia, particularly of it’s main S. E. branch, on which we also delineated the track we had come and that we meant to pursue on our return where the same happened to very.
—Meriwether Lewis
Unwell Men
Drewyer was taken last night with a violent pain in his Side. I bled him. Several of the men are complaining of being unwell. it is truly unfortunate that they Should be Sick at the moment of our departure.
—William Clark
Bracing and Corking
we directed Sergt. Pryor to prepare the two Canoes which Drewyer brought last evening for his mess. they wanted some knees to strengthen them and several cracks corked and payed. he completed them except the latter operation which the frequent showers in the course of the day prevented as the canoes could not be made sufficiently dry even with the assistance of fire.
—Meriwether Lewis
A Plan to Divide Forces
our party are also too small to think of leaving any of them to return to the U’ States by sea, particularly as we shall be necessarily divided into three or four parties on our return in order to accomplish the objects we have in view;
—Meriwether Lewis
List of Indians
The Indians repeated to us the names of eighteen distinct tribes residing on the S. E. coast who spoke the Killamucks [Tillamook] language, and beyound those six others who spoke a different language which they did not comprehend.
—Meriwether Lewis
Weather Diary
Aspect of the weather at Rise
Wind at Aspect of weather at 4 O’Ck P. M. Wind at 4 OCk. P. M. rain after clouds & rain S W rain after fair, rain & hail S. W. frequent showers through the day
—Meriwether Lewis[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “Day of the Month” column and spelled out some abbreviations.
Fort Clatsop is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site is managed by the Lewis and Clark National and State Historic Parks.
Notes
| ↑1 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “Day of the Month” column and spelled out some abbreviations. |
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Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
This page was funded in part by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, U.S. National Park Service.
This site is provided as a public service by the
Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
with cooperation and funding from the following organizations:
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Montana Committee for the Humanities
- Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee
- The Capital Gallery (Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation)
- Yellowstone Public Radio
Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).