At Sawa-haini above present Mobridge, South Dakota, a council with the Arikaras is held. The standard speeches and gifts are given, Lewis demonstrates his air gun, and York hams it up for the locals. Sgt. Ordway describes their crops.
Canvas Awning and Flag
© 2015 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Arikara Council
Rick a Rees [Arikaras] Nation assembled at our Camp under the american flag to Counsel with our Officers. Capt. Lewis read a Speech to them Giving them Good counsel &.C. after the talk was inded to them three Guns was fired from our Bow peace. then our officers Gave the three Chiefs Some presents
—John Ordway
Lewis’s Air Gun
after the Council was over we Shot the Air gun, which astonished them
—William Clark
York Steals the Show
Those Indians wer much astonished at my Servent [York], They never Saw a black man before, all flocked around him & examind. him from top to toe, he Carried on the joke and made himself more turibal than we wished him to doe.
—William Clark
Indian Trade Network
They raise corn, beans, and tobacco. Their tobacco is different from any I had before seen: it answers for smoking, but not for chewing.
—John Ordway
Weather Diary
Thermot. at rise
Weather Wind at thermotr. at 4 P.M. Weather Wind at 4 oC P.M. 42 fair after rain N. W 67 fair N. W had the mill erected shewed the savages its operation, spoke to them shot my airgun. the men traded some articles for robes, the savages much pleased, the French chief lost his presents by his canoe overseting
—Meriwether Lewis[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “day of the month” column and spelled out some abbreviations.
Notes
| ↑1 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “day of the month” column and spelled out some abbreviations. |
|---|
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).