At Wood River, the thermometer drops below zero, and across the Mississippi, the Missouri River is thick with ice.
In Washington City, Spanish Minister Casa Yrujo proposes that the Americans settle east of the Mississippi River and leave the west side to the Native Nations.
Cold Weather
Unloading the Red Pirogue at Camp River Dubois
Watercolor by Steve Ludeman
© 2023 by Steve Ludeman, www.steveludemanfineart.com. Used by permission.
a verry Cold morning, at 7 oClock the Thermometer in the air fall 8° below, 0, the wind from the N W, a Stiff Breeze Ice run greatly out of Missouries—
—William Clark
Thick River Ice
the Missouris has fallen to day about 6 Inches, runs with Ice— Ice from Shore 20 yds in the river is 5½ Inches Thick—
—William Clark
Protecting Spanish Provinces
The Spanish Minister to the United States suggests keeping Americans on the east side of the Mississippi and Indian settlements on the west—an idea also promoted by President Thomas Jefferson.
[January 17, 1804]
Most Excellent Señor [Pedro Cevallos, Commandant General of [Spanish] Interior Provinces]
The government and the greater part of the persons of influence and character in this country are more and more confirmed in the necessity that the American population should not cross the Mississippi and establish themselves on its right bank . . . .
. . . . .
For our part we will obtain a natural and powerful barrier between the population of the American citizens and our possessions of New Mexico, a barrier which will be all the more solid in as much as there will result from this wise policy of the United States, in addition to the settlements of the Indians, an immense desert which will serve us equally for protection.
. . . . .
Most Excellent Señor, Your most attentive and grateful servant kisses
Your Excellency’s hand.El Marqués de Casa Yrujo[1]Yrujo to Cevallos, Washington, DC, 17 January 1804 in Before Lewis and Clark: Documents Illustrating the History of the Missouri 1785–1804, ed. A. P. Nasatir, Bison Books edition. (Lincoln: … Continue reading
Weather Diary
Therm. at rise
weather wind Therm. at 4 oClock weather wind River 8 below 0 fair N W 1 ½ below 0 N N W fall 6 in. river falls & full of Ice 5½ In. thick
—Meriwether Lewis and William Clark[2]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “River” columns, 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.
Plan a trip related to January 17, 1804:
- Winter Camp at Wood River (Camp Dubois)
- Old Cahokia Courthouse
- Along the Mississippi (Inspiration Trip)
- Around St. Louis (Inspiration Trip)
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.
Notes
| ↑1 | Yrujo to Cevallos, Washington, DC, 17 January 1804 in Before Lewis and Clark: Documents Illustrating the History of the Missouri 1785–1804, ed. A. P. Nasatir, Bison Books edition. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990), 723–24. |
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| ↑2 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “River” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations. |
