Day-by-Day / December 17, 1805

December 17, 1805

Trying to stay dry

The enlisted men endure rain, hail, and snow as they work to complete Fort Clatsop. Several are assigned the task of making elk jerky before the meat spoils and others chink cabin walls or attempt to split boards to cover the huts.

Difficulties Staying Dry

The trees which our men have fallen latterly Split verry badly into boards. The most of our Stores are wet. our Leather Lodge has become So rotten that the Smallest thing tares it into holes and it is now Scrcely Sufficent to keep off the rain off a Spot Sufficiently large for our bead.
—William Clark

Smoking Elk Meat

The mountain [Saddle Mtn.] which lies S. E of this is covered with Snow to day & we fleece all the meat and hang it up over a Small Smoke
William Clark

Fort Clatsop Finish Work

a little Snow and hail fell last night and continues this morning. we went at chinking up our huts and Splitting plank &C.
John Ordway

Weather Diary

Day of the Month Winds State of the Weather
17th S W. fair after rain & hail

rained all last night and to day untill 9 A M when we had a Shower of hail for an hour and Cleared off.
Meriwether Lewis[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has spelled out some abbreviations.

 

Notes

Notes
1 To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has 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.

Logo: Lewis and Clark.travel

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.