At winter camp at the Wood River across from the mouth of the Missouri, a boat with provisions arrives and mayapple blossoms appear. The captains divide the enlisted men into four squads with a sergeant in charge of each. The squads are then divided into two messes each and provided rules for cooking and sleeping. Sergeant John Ordway is assigned the duty roster.
Mayapple
Podophyllum peltatum
© 2009 by Sten Porse. Permission via the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Provisions Arrive
Dr. Catlates Boat arrived with provisions, Capt Lewis went to St. Louis with Dr. Catlate on business, a northern Light Seen [commence?] at about 10 oClock, &. frequently Changeing Coler, appearing as [various?] in the atmusfier &.
—William Clark
The Permanent Party
The Commanding officers did yesterday proceed to take the necessary inlistments and select the Detachment destined for the Expedition through the interior of the Continent of North America; and have accordingly seelected the persons herein after mentioned, as those which are to Constitute their Perminent Detachment.
—William Clark
Cooking in Oil
© 2010 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Cooking utensils and food were distributed to each mess. In turn, each mess was responsible for storage, cooking, and eating. See The Order of Encampment.
Squads and Messes
To insure order among the party, as well as to promote a regular Police in Camp, The Commanding officers, have thought to devide the detachment into three Squads, and to place a Sergeant in Command of each, who are held imediately responsible to the Commanding officers, for the regular and orderly deportment of the individuls Composeing their respective Squads.—
—William Clark
Weather Diary
Thermometr. at rise
Weather Wind at Sunrise Thermometr. at 4 oClock Weather Wind at 4 oClock River fair N E fair N E. rise 2 ½ in. The Spicewood is in full bloe, the dogs tooth violet, and may apple appeared above ground, a northern light appeared at 10 o C P. M. verry red.
—William Clark[2]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “River” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations.
Winter Camp at Wood River (Camp Dubois) is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site, near Hartford, Illinois, is managed as Lewis and Clark State Historic Site and is open to the public.
Notes
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).