Moving up the Mississippi, the expedition passes Tywappity Bottom—an American settlement on the Spanish side of the river. They meet two boats from Louisville also bound for Kaskaskia and two others bound for New Orleans. Lewis describes area fossils and petrified wood, Sgt. Pryor fails to return from hunting, and the ailing Clark is given ‘grouse‘ soup.
Missouri River near Thebes, Illinois
© 2024 by Richard Hunt. Used by permission.
Fossils
this quality so remarkable and observable in the waters of Ohio of scementing masses of pebble earth and sand, as also pretrefying vegitable and animal substances exposed to it for a length of time; this quality seems to be possessed equally by this river; of this I have had many evidences; beside those large masses of conjealed or scemented pebble, I met with several pieces of wood that had been petrefyed and afterwards woarn away by the gravel and the agetatition of the water untill they had become smothe and had the appearance of stone common to runing streams; tho’ the grain of the wood was quite distinct.
—Meriwether Lewis
Tywappity Settlements
arrived oposite three new habitation of some Americans who had settled under the spanish government, this settlement is on a bottom called, Tywappety [Tywappity Bottom],
—Meriwether Lewis
Clark’s Soup
saw some Heth hens or grows [grouse]— one of my men went on shore and killed one of them, of which we made soome soup for my friend Capt. Clark who had been much indisposed since the 16th inst. this bird shall hereafter be more particularly discribed.—
—Meriwether Lewis
Commercial Traffic
overtook two keels from Lousville bound to Kaskaskias loaded with dry goods and whiskey, belonging to Mr. Bullet . . . . met two Keeled boats loaded with firs for New-Orleans;
—Meriwether Lewis
Lost Hunter
one of my men [Nathaniel Pryor] who went out to hunt this morning has not yet come up, had several guns fired to bring him too, and the horn freequently blown but without effect—
—Meriwether Lewis
Notes
| ↑1 | William Bright, Native American Placenames of the United States (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), 526. |
|---|
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).