At the Knife River Villages in present North Dakota, a Mandan village gifts more corn than the expedition boats can carry. A swivel gun is given to Hidatsa Chief Le Borgne and the blacksmith tools to Charbonneau. Mandan Chief Sheheke (Big White) agrees to go to Washington City.
Having been recalled as Governor of Upper Louisiana, discredited James Wilkinson leaves St. Louis—a move that would directly impact Meriwether Lewis.
A Reprimand and a Plea
by Yellowstone Public Radio[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
Overloaded with Corn
Maize
© 2023 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Sent up Sergt. Pryor to the mandan village, for Some Corn which they offered to give us. he informed that they had more Corn collected for us than our Canoes Could Carry Six loads of which he brought down. I thanked the Chief for his kindness
—William Clark
Gifting the Swivel Gun
I then a good deel of Ceremony made a preasent of the Swivel [gun] to the One Eye Chief and told him when he fired this gun to remember the words of his great father which we had given him. this gun had anounced the words of his great father to all the nations which we had Seen &c. &c.
—William Clark
Sheheke Will Go
[René Jusseaume] informed us soon after that the big white Chief would go if we would take his wife & Son & Jessoms wife & 2 children we wer obliged to agree to do
—William Clark
Blacksmith Anvil and Tools
Taken with cooperation from the Fort Mandan Visitors’ Center. Photo © 2013 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Gifting the Blacksmith Tools
The Commanding Officers gave discharges to the man [John Colter] who agreed to return with the hunters up the river, and the interpreter; who intends settling among these Indians, and to whom they gave the blacksmith’s tools; supposing they might be useful to the nation.
—Patrick Gass
Weather Diary
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 3 ½ in. Northern lights Seen last night which was in Streaks
—William Clark[2]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.
Wilkinson Leaves Town
St. Louis August 26th 1806.
Sir [Thomas Jefferson]
I have the Honor to inform you that in consequence of orders he had receiv’d from the Secretary of War, Governor Wilkinson left this place on his Voyage down the Missisippi on the 16th instant. The office of Governor of this Territory becoming thereby vacant, the Government devolves on me—
Joseph Browne[3]Clarence E. Carter, The Territorial Papers of the United States (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1949), 14:3, digitized by Google books.
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 of this web page, the date column is omitted, some abbreviations have been spelled out, and the three river columns have been merged. |
| ↑3 | Clarence E. Carter, The Territorial Papers of the United States (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1949), 14:3, digitized by Google books. |
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.









