At the Wishram villages on the north side of Celilo Falls, Clark and Charbonneau struggle to buy horses. Across the river at Fort Rock, Lewis remarks on the rich verdure of the country and prepares several plant specimens.
Still Struggling to Buy Horses
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
Rock Fort
Columbia River (view west, altered)
© 3 April 2009 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Rich Verdure
the plain is covered with a rich virdure of grass and herbs from four to nine inches high and exhibits a beautifull seen particularly pleasing after having been so long imprisoned in mountains and those almost impenetrably thick forrests of the seacoast.
—Meriwether Lewis
First Horse Purchases
I made a bargin with the Chief for 2 horses, about an hour after he canseled the bargin I then packed up the articles and was about Setting out for the Village above when a man Came and Sold me two horses, and another man Sold me one horse, and Several others informed me that they would trade with me if I would Continue untill their horses could be drove up.
—William Clark
Bicolored Cluster Lily
Brodiaea howellii
Location: Near The Dalles, Oregon. Photo © 28 April 2012 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Bicolored Cluster Lily Bulb
Brodiaea howellii
Eastern Washington, harvested on private land with permission of the land owner. Photo © 31 May 2011 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Bicolored Cluster Lily
there is a species of hiasinth in these plains the bulb of which the natives eat either boiled baked or dryed in the sun . . . . this hiasinth is of a pale blue colour and is a very pretty flower. I preserved a specemine of it.
—Meriwether Lewis
Weather Diary
State of weather at rise
Wind at State of the weather at 4 P.M. Wind at 4 P.M. River fair N E cloudy after fair S. W. fallen 2 in. weather warm; the sweet willow & white oak begin to put forth their leaves
—Meriwether Lewis[2]To assist the reader of this web page, the date column is not presented, the “State of the Columbia River” columns have been merged, and some abbreviations have been spelled out.
Rock Fort Campsite is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site owned by Wasco County, Oregon, and is open to the public.
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 not presented, the “State of the Columbia River” columns have been merged, and some abbreviations have been spelled out. |
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).