Day-by-Day / December 15, 1803

December 15, 1803

Cutting a road

At winter camp at Wood River—Camp River Dubois—the day brings snow, and a road is made from the camp site to the prairie. An Indian brings meat, and the hunters kill several grouse.

Woods at Camp River Dubois

A buck stares at the camera in a winter river bottom forest

Photo provided by Lewis & Clark State Historic Site, Hartford, Illinois. Used by permission.

Cutting a Road

I cut a road to the prairey 2490 yards East Comminc the Cabins one Indian Came with meat, 2 [men?] Pass to dy   hunters [k]illed Some grouse   Snow
—William Clark

Related: The Mouth of the Missouri | Ruffed Grouse

 

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.

Plan a trip related to December 15, 1803:

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logo: Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail logo: National Park Service

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.

 

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
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Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
with cooperation and funding from the following organizations:

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).