Day-by-Day / December 26, 1805

December 26, 1805

Managing smoke and fleas

Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR Fleas have infested the cabins making sleep difficult. Gass reports smoky cabins and recommends building chimneys.

Christmas[1]Originally aired weekdays by Yellowstone Public Radio during the Bicentennial observance of 2003-2006. Narrated by Hal Hansen. Scripts by Whit Hansen and Ed Jacobson. Produced by Leni Holliman. © … Continue reading

The Captains’ Table

Fort Clatsop Reconstruction

Rough-hewn table and two chairs

© 2010 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Taken with cooperation from Lewis and Clark National Historic Park, Fort Clatsop.

Tables and Chairs

Joseph Fields finish a Table & 2 Seats for us.
—William Clark

Related: “Captains’ Table” in A Fort Clatsop Tour | Joseph Field

Troublesome Fleas

we dry our wet articles before the fire, and have our blankets fleed, great numbers were Caught out of the blankets, those trouble insects are So abundant that we have to have them killd. out of our blankets every day or get no Sleep at night—
—William Clark

Related: Fleas | Flea Country

Smoky Cabins

We had Stormy weather the whole of this day. We found that our huts smoaked occasion’d by the hard wind; & find that we cannot live in them without building Chimneys.—
—Patrick Gass

Related: “Managing Smoke” in Chinookan Houses | Building Fort Clatsop

Weather Diary

Day of the Month Winds State of the Weather
26th S W. rain after thunder & Lightning

raind with violent wind all last night and to day with Hard Claps of thunder & Sharp Lightning.
—Meriwether Lewis[2]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has spelled out some abbreviations.

Related: Weather Observations

logo: Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail logo: National Park Service

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

Notes
↑1 Originally aired weekdays by Yellowstone Public Radio during the Bicentennial observance of 2003-2006. Narrated by Hal Hansen. Scripts by Whit Hansen and Ed Jacobson. Produced by Leni Holliman. © 2003 by Yellowstone Public Radio.
↑2 To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has spelled out some abbreviations.

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
Logo: Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation
Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation
with cooperation and funding from the following organizations:

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).