Near present Bellevue, Nebraska, the captains wait another day for Otoes—and perhaps some Pawnees—to come in for a council. Clark works on a map, and Lewis writes reports for President Jefferson. Pvt. Goodrich catches a channel catfish—likely a species new to science—and four men make oars for the “bateaux”—their military-style barge.
White Catfish
Channel Catfish
Ictalurus punctatus
Photo by Rebecca M. Krogman, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 21 July 2011. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC-BY-SA 2.0) license.
This evening Guthrege [Goodrich] Cought a white Catfish, its eyes Small & tale much like that of a Dolfin
—William Clark
Clark’s Map
I am much engaged drawing off a map, Capt. Lewis also much engaged in prepareing Papers to Send back by a pirogue— Which we intended to Send back from the river Plate [Platte River]—
—William Clark
Oars for the Bateaux
Some rain this morning 4 men went to makeing ores for the Batteaux.—
—Joseph Whitehouse
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 July 24, 1804:
White Catfish Camp is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Across from White Catfish Camp, on the Nebraska side, the Fontenelle Forest provides trails and Lewis and Clark interpretation.
