Blowing sand makes it hard to see and turns the plains white. Despite that, Lewis collects a specimen of selenite, and Pvt. J. Field kills the expedition’s first bison. Lewis takes a large group to butcher the bull and carry the meat back to camp near present Vermillion, South Dakota.
First Bison Killed
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
American Bison Bull
Bison bison
© 2013 July 27 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Blowing Sand
The Wind blew hard West and raised the Sands off the bar in Such Clouds that we Could Scercely See this Sand being fine and verry light Stuck to every thing it touched . . . . the grass is white
—William Clark
First Bison Kill
Jo. Fields came to the Boat informed us that he had killed a Bull Buffelow, Capt. Lewis & myself & 10 more of the party went out Bucherd & Brought it to the Boat . . . . we pickled down our Buffelow meat, & jerked the venison
—John Ordway
Selenite, Mineral Specimen No. 6
23 Aug 1804, found exuding from a Strata of Sand rock on [one] of the Bluffs—
—Meriwether Lewis, Donation Book
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. |
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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.
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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).