The expedition struggles to get past the Northern Nez Perce Trail. Clark and five hunters leave the main group to reach the “leavel” country with hopes to find game. He sees the low plains and descends 3,000 feet in elevation to Hungery Creek.
Lewis and the main party travel along high ridges and stop at Bald Mountain to graze the horses. At evening camp, they add 20 pounds of candles and a little bear oil to their portable soup.
Clark: Low Plains in View
Hungery Creek
© 3 September 2008 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
made 32 miles and Encamped on a bold running Creek passing to the left which I call Hungery Creek as at that place we had nothing to eate.
—William Clark
Scouting Ahead
Cap Clark set out this morning to go a head with six hunters. there being no game in these mountains we concluded it would be better for one of us to take the hunters and hurry on to the leavel country a head and there hunt and provide some provision
—Meriwether Lewis
The Low Plains
from the top of a high part of the mountain at 20 miles I had a view of an emence Plain and leavel Countrey to the S W. & West at a great distance
—William Clark
Lewis: Grazing on Bald Mountain
Smoking Place (view east)
© 25 October 2009 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Grazing on Bald Mountain
we Set out and proceeded on the Mountains rough and rockey up and Steep places Some logs and bushes &C. about 3 oClock P. M. we halted on a ridge to let our horses graze a little and melt a little Snow and made a little portable Soup.
—John Ordway
Poor Provisions
we dined & suped on a skant proportion of portable soupe, a few canesters of which, a little bears oil and about 20 lbs. of candles form our stock of provision, the only resources being our guns & packhorses. the first is but a poor dependance in our present situation where there is nothing upon earth exept ourselves and a few small pheasants . . . .
—Meriwether Lewis
A Dry Camp
the Mountains continue as fer as our eyes could extend. they extend much further than we expeted. we proceeded on untill dark before we found any water then Camped on the Side of a Mountain. had come 14 miles this day. took our horses down a Steep gulley to a run to water them. we Supped on a little portable Soup and Slept on this Sidling Mountain.—
—John Ordway
Weather Diary
Weather at rise
Wind at Weather at 4 P.M. Wind at 4 P.M. fair S W fair S W. Capt Clark goes on a head with the hunters. hard black frost this morning
—Meriwether Lewis[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column and spelled out some abbreviations.
Notes
| ↑1 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column and spelled out some abbreviations. |
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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.
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- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
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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).