Lewis remarks on the view of Square Butte from their canoe camp near present Ulm, Montana. Sgt. Ordway‘s detachment brings the remaining dugouts and baggage, the two new canoes are launched, and all is made ready for departure. In Washington City, Lewis’s letters and Clark’s large map arrives.
Launching the new canoes
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
Square Butte (Fort Mountain)
© 2 July 2013 Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Lewis’s Commanding View
I walked out today and ascended the bluffs which are high rockey and steep; I continued my rout about 3½ when I gained a conspicuous eminence about 2 mes. distant from the river a little below the entrance of Fort Mountain Creek. from this place I had a commanding view of the country and took the bearings of the following places.
—Meriwether Lewis
River Bottoms
The country in most parts very level and in others swelling with gentle rises and decents, or in other wirds what I have heretofore designated a wavy country destitute of timber except along the water-courses . . . . the grass and weeds in this bottom are about 2 feet high; which is a much greater hight than we have seen them elsewhere this season . . . . the grass in the plains is not more than 3 inches high.
—Meriwether Lewis
The Old Canoes Arrive
The morning clear and pleasant. we Set out eairly and proceeded on very well. passed 3 Islands covered with timber and arived at the upper Camp about noon. Capt. Clark and party at Camp had got the 2 large canoes nearly done. we unloaded the canoes, and put the large niew one in the River about 4 oClock P. M.
—John Ordway
Launching the New Canoes
all hands that could work were employed about the canoes. which we completed and launched this evening. the one was 25 feet and the other 33 feet in length and about 3 feet wide. we have now the seats and oars to make and fit &c.
—Meriwether Lewis
Weather Diary
State of the thermometer at rise
Weather at Wind at State of the Thermometer at 4 P.M. Weather at 4 P.M. Wind at 4 P.M. State of the river 45 [above 0] fair S W. 78 [above 0] cloudy after rain S. W. —Meriwether Lewis[2]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “State of the river” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations.
Clark’s Fort Mandan Map
Sunday July 14. 05.
Th:J. to Genl. Dearborne
I have left Lewis’s large map with a servt. to be carried to your office tomorrow morning. it is the 29. half sheets which contain very accurately his survey of the river & no more. mr King being with me this morning I gave them to him to be reduced to a scale of 20. miles to the inch for engraving.[3]Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-2088 [from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson]; also in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related … Continue reading
Lewis’s Letters Arrive
Washington July 14. 05.
Dear Sir [William Claiborne]
In the moment of my departure for Monticello I recieve letters from Capt. Lewis by which I percieve he has sent about 6. or 8. packages, filled with very curious subjects from the upper country of the Missouri, to St. Louis, from whence they will be embarked for N. Orleans to your care, to be forwarded to me.
Accept my friendly salutations & assurances of great esteem & respect.
Th: Jefferson[4]Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-2086 [from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson].
Square Butte is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site is privately owned but can be seen for several miles around Great Falls, Montana.
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, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “State of the river” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations. |
| ↑3 | Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-2088 [from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson]; also in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783–1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 252. |
| ↑4 | Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-2086 [from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson]. |
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.
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- 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).