At Fort Mandan, Hidatsa interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau quits, and two men go to a Hidatsa village to trade for tobacco.
In St. Louis, Commandant James Bruff forwards President Jefferson a speech made by a Kaskaskia chief that foments war against the Osage.
In Washington City, Spanish Minister Yrujo complains that President Jefferson‘s Western expeditions are intruding on Spanish territory.
Charbonneau Quits
our Interpeter Shabonah [Charbonneau], detumins on not proceeding with us as an interpeter under the terms mentioned yesterday he will not agree to work let our Situation be what it may not Stand a guard, and if miffed with any man he wishes to return when he pleases, also have the disposial of as much provisions as he Chuses to Carrye
in admissable and we Suffer him to be off the engagement which was only virbal
—William Clark
Trading for Tobacco
Tobacco, Pipe, and Bag
Photo © 2023 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
two men of the party went up to the Grossvantares [Hidatsa] Village in order to Git Some tobacco from the tradors.
—John Ordway
Weather Diary
State of Ther. at rise
Weather wind at State of Thermt. at 4 OClock Weather at 4 Ock Wind at 4 OClock State of the River 2 [below 0] fair after snow N. 10 [above 0] fair N W rise 5 in. snow but slight disappeared to day
—Meriwether Lewis[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “Day of Month 1805” column and spelled out some abbreviations.
In Defiance of Capt. Lewis
St. Louis—Louisiana. March 12 1805—
Copy
Sir
. . . . .
Enclosed is a copy of a message, I procurred from Mr. Lalime who on his return from Massac called at Kaskaskia. It is from the noted Kaskaskia’s chief Docouogne after his return from the great council—over this message (which may be to amuse us) acknowledges a combination of the red skin’d people—whose attack on the Osage (if really intended) is in defiance of Capt. Lewis’s messaged made to all those nations in the name of the President of the U. States—forbidding them to make or carry on war against the Osages. . . .
I am Sir Very respectfully—Yr. Obedient Servant—
J Bruff Majr. Arty.[2]Clarence E. Carter, The Territorial Papers of the United States (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1948), 13:101–103, digitized by Google books.
Yrujo Complains
He [Yrujo] means the commission and charge that the American government, without even knowing the true limits of Louisiana, has given to Meriwether Lewis and to Dunbar and Hunter to explore a country in the possession and under the sovereignty of the Spanish king . . . . It does not then seem correspondent with the rules of justice to exhibit so much sensibility for some military movements, dictated by necessity, and inspired by the conduct of a representative of the United States, when at the same time the rights of Spain have been treated with so little circumspection by sending out those explorers, in large part without Spain’s knowledge and all without its consent.
—Carlos Martínez de Yrujo, Spanish Minister to the United States[3]“To James Madison from Carlos Martínez de Yrujo (Abstract), 12 March 1805,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-09-02-0134. [Original … Continue reading
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.
Plan a trip related to March 12, 1805:
Fort Mandan is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The North Dakota Department of Parks and Recreation manages a modern reconstruction and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center located at US Hwy 83 and ND Hwy 200A.
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. A unit of the National Park System, the site is located at 564 County Road 37, one-half mile north of Stanton, North Dakota. It has exhibits, trails, and a visitor center.
Notes
| ↑1 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “Day of Month 1805” column and spelled out some abbreviations. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Clarence E. Carter, The Territorial Papers of the United States (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1948), 13:101–103, digitized by Google books. |
| ↑3 | “To James Madison from Carlos Martínez de Yrujo (Abstract), 12 March 1805,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-09-02-0134. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, vol. 9, 1 February 1805–30 June 1805, ed. Mary A. Hackett, J. C. A. Stagg, Mary Parke Johnson, Anne Mandeville Colony, Angela Kreider, and Katherine E. Harbury. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011, pp. 129–131.] |
