Day-by-Day / April 19, 1805

April 19, 1805

Grounded by winds

The wind being high, the captains decide to remain another day at their present camp below present Williston, North Dakota. Lewis describes the area’s beaver and collects a specimen of creeping juniper.

Too Windy for Canoes

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

Creeping Juniper Specimen

Observed considerable quantities of dwarf Juniper on the hill sides (see specimen No. 4)
—Meriwether Lewis[2]This is one of the specimens ruined in a cache above the Great Falls. Other specimens of this plant were sent back on the barge (called the ‘boat’ or ‘barge’ but never the … Continue reading

Strong Winds

The wind blew So hard this morning from N. W. that we dared not to venture our canoes on the river.—
Meriwether Lewis

Blooming Plums

the Praries appear to green, the cotton trees bigin to leave, Saw some plumb bushes in full bloom, those were the plumb bushes which I have Seen for Some time.
William Clark

Missouri River Beaver

The beaver of this part of the Missouri are larger, fatter, more abundant and better clad with fur than those of any other part of the country that I have yet seen; I have remarked also that their fur is much darker.—
—Meriwether Lewis

 

Weather Diary

State of Thermometer at sun symbol rise Weather Wind at sun symbol rise State of Thermometer at 4 P.M. Weather Wind at 4 P.M. State of the River
45 [above 0] cloudy N. W. 56 [above 0] cloudy N. W.  

wind violent. The trees have now put forth their leaves. the goosbury, current, servisbury, and wild plumbs are in blume.
—William Clark and Meriwether Lewis[3]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, clarified the “State of the River” information, and spelled out some abbreviations.

Notes

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 This is one of the specimens ruined in a cache above the Great Falls. Other specimens of this plant were sent back on the barge (called the ‘boat’ or ‘barge’ but never the ‘keelboat’). See Moulton, ed. Herbarium, specimen 84.
3 To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, clarified the “State of the River” information, and spelled out some abbreviations.

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.