Day-by-Day / January 21, 1806

January 21, 1806

Sweet edible thistles

At Fort Clatsop near the Pacific Ocean, Lewis describes edible thistle and how Chinookan People prepare and eat the plant’s sweet root. Pvts. Shannon and Labiche return having killed three elk.

Three More Elk

Two of the hunters Shannon & Labuish [Labiche] returned having killed three Elk. Ordered a party to go in quest of the meat early tomorrow morning and the hunters to return and continue the chase.
Meriwether Lewis

Edible Thistle Root

The root of the thistle, called by the natives shan-ne-táh-que is a perpendicular fusiform and possesses from two to four radicles; is from 9 to 15 Inces in length and about the size a mans thumb . . . . the consistence when first taken from the earth is white and nearly as crisp as a carrot; when prepared for uce by the same process before discribed of the white bulb or pashshequo quawmash [camas], it becomes black, and is more shugary than any fuit or root that I have met with in uce among the natives;
—Meriwether Lewis

 

Weather Diary

aspect of the weather at sun symbol rise Wind at sun symbol rise Weather at 4 OC. P.M. Wind at 4 OC. P.M.
cloudy after rain S. W. cloudy after rain S W

wind hard this morning contued all day
—Meriwether Lewis[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “Day of the month” column 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 21, 1806:

Logo: Lewis and Clark.travel
 

Notes

Notes
1 To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “Day of the month” column 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.