Most of the expedition members spend the day hunting, fishing for “Salmon Trout”, and searching for stray horses. One steelhead is caught, and Lewis finds the local mushrooms taste insipid. Despite the fine grass and camas at their camp on Eldorado Creek, they plan to move back to Weippe Prairie to subsist.
A Decision to Turn Back
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
Eldorado Creek
Salmon Trout Camp
© 2008 June 22 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Camas and Fine Grass
in my walk of this day up the Creek I observed a great abundance of fine grass sufficient to Sustain our horses any length of time we chose to Stay at this place. Several Glades of quawmash [Camas]. the S W. Sides of the hills is fallen timber and burnt woods, the N. E. Sides of the hills is thickly timbered with lofty pine, and thick under growth
—William Clark
Hunting for Game and Horses
Labeesh [Labiche] killed one Deer neither of the others killed any thing. about 1 P. M. Jo. & R Fields Shields & LaPage [Lepage] came up. Reubin [Field] & Joseph Fields brought two Deer which R. had killed in the Small glade on a branch of Hungary [Hungery] Creek where we had left them yesterday. Shields & LaPage did not find the two horses which we lost yesterday morning.
—William Clark
Steelhead trout, salmon trout, or coastal rainbow trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss, formerly Salmo gairdneri, Family Salmonidae
Courtesy American Fisheries Society & Phillips Petroleum Foundation.
Fishing for Salmon Trout
they took one fish this evening which proved to be a salmon trout much to our mortification, for we had hoped that they were the salmon of this spring arrival and of course fat and fine. these trout are of the red kind they remain all winter in the upper parts of the rivers and creeks and are generally poor at this season.
—Meriwether Lewis
Gathering Mushrooms
Cruzatte brought me several large morells which I roasted and eat without salt pepper or grease in this way I had for the first time the true taist of the morell which is truly an insippid taistless food. our stock of salt is now exhausted except two quarts which I have reserved for my tour up Maria’s River and that I left the other day on the mountain.—
—Meriwether Lewis
Tomorrow’s Plan
we determined to send out all the hunters in the morning in order to make a fair experiment of the pactability of our being able to subsist at this place and if not we shall move the day after to the Quawmash flatts [Weippe Prairie]. the musquetoes have been excessively troublesome to us since our arrival at this place particularly in the evening.
—Meriwether Lewis
Weather Diary
State of the weather at rise
Wind at State of the weather at 4 P.M. Wind at 4 P.M. fair after cloudy S E fair N W returned to quawmash flats.
—Meriwether Lewis and William Clark[2]To assist the reader of this web page, the date column is omitted and some abbreviations have been spelled out.
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 omitted 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).