Near present Bismarck, North Dakota, Lewis is shot through the buttock. At first, an attack is first suspected, but likely Pvt. Cruzatte mistook his captain for an elk. They move down the river and find a note from Clark.[1]For more on the captains’ strategy and various groups after leaving Travelers’ Rest, see Dividing Forces at Travelers’ Rest.
Waiting for Lewis several miles down the river, Clark meets a group of fur traders and learns the fate of the expedition’s barge. He also learns that the fur traders did not maintain the peace that the captains had tried to establish.
Two Trappers on the River
by Yellowstone Public Radio[2]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
Lewis’s Hunting Accident
A Painful Injury
© 2026 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Cruzatte Shoots Lewis
I was in the act of firing on the Elk a second time when a ball struck my left thye about an inch below my hip joint, missing the bone it passed through the left thye and cut the thickness of the bullet across the hinder part of the right thye; the stroke was very severe; I instantly supposed that Cruzatte had shot me in mistake for an Elk as I was dressed in brown leather and he cannot see very well
—Meriwether Lewis
Just a Flesh Wound
with the assistance of Sergt. Gass I took off my cloaths and dressed my wounds myself as well as I could, introducing tents of patent lint into the ball holes, the wounds blead considerably but I was hapy to find that it had touched neither bone nor artery.
—Meriwether Lewis
The next day, Clark reported on the extent of Lewis’s wound:
I examined the wound and found it a very bad flesh wound the ball had passed through the fleshey part of his left thy below the hip bone and cut the cheek of the right buttock for 3 inches in length and the debth of the ball.
—William Clark, 12 August 1806
A Note from Clark
I found a note from Capt. C. informing me that he had left a letter for me at the entrance of the Yelow stone river, but that Sergt. Pryor who had passed that place since he left it had taken the letter; that Sergt. Pryor having been robed of all his horses had decended the Yelowstone river in skin canoes and had over taken him at this encampment.
—Meriwether Lewis
Clark Meets Traders
News of the Barge
I found two men from the illinoies Jos. Dixon, and Handcock those men are on a trapping expedition up the River Rochejhone. Those men further informed me that they met the Boat and party we Sent down from Fort Mandan near the Kanzas river on board of which was a Chief of the Ricaras [Arikaras], that he met the Yankton Chiefs with Mr. Deurion [Dorion], McClellen & Several other traders on their way down.
—William Clark
Diplomatic Setbacks
the Mandans and Menitarrais [Hidatsas] wer at war with the Ricaras and had killed two of the latter. the Assinniboins were also at war with the Mandans &c and had prohibited the N W. traders from Comeing to the Missouri to trade. they have latterly killed one Trader near the Mous River and are now in wait for Mr. McKenzey [Charles McKenzie] one of the Clerks who have been for a long time with Menetarias.
—William Clark
Weather Diaries
State of the weather at rise
Wind at State of the weather at 4 P. M. Wind at 4 P. M. fair N. E fair N W air cool this evening wind hard.
—Meriwether Lewis
State of the weather at Sun rise State of wind at Sunrise State of the weather at 4 P. M. Wind at 4 P. M. State of river fair N. W. fair N. W fall 2 in. sarvis berries in abundance & ripe.
—William Clark[3]To assist the reader of this web page, the date column is omitted, some abbreviations have been spelled out, and the three river columns have been merged.
Notes
| ↑1 | For more on the captains’ strategy and various groups after leaving Travelers’ Rest, see Dividing Forces at Travelers’ Rest. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | 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. |
| ↑3 | To assist the reader of this web page, the date column is omitted, some abbreviations have been spelled out, and the three river columns have been merged. |
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.
This page was funded in part by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, U.S. National Park Service.
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.
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