In the morning, ice covers standing water. With a “fine breeze up from the S. E.”, they sail much of the day making twenty-four miles through the Upper Missouri River Breaks. Above present-day Kipp Recreation Area, they set up camp and wait for the hunters and scouts to return.
Ice Covers Standing Water
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
Missouri River Breaks
Armells Creek
© 25 July 2013 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Above: Armells Creek had a recent flash flood. Clark, York, and the Charbonneau family would barely escape their own flash flood at the Great Falls of the Missouri on 29 June 1805.
we sent a man up this creek to explore the country he returned late in the evening and informed that he had proceeded ten miles directly towards these mountains . . . . this we called South Mountain creek
—Meriwether Lewis
Missouri River, Kipp Recreation Area
© 25 July 2013 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
A Fine Breeze
We set out at an early hour this morning and proceed on principally by the chord untill about 9 A. M. when a fine breeze sprung up from the S. E. and enabled us though the ballance of the day to employ our sails to advantage; we proceed at a pretty good pace notwithstanding the courant of the river was very strong
—Meriwether Lewis
Detached Hunters
a Short distance below the place we dined 2 canoes & 6 men waited & got the best of the meat. did not joine the party this evening.
—John Ordway
Weather Diary
State of thermometer at rise
Weather Wind at State of thermometer at 4 P. M. Weather Wind at 4 P. M. State of the river 32 [above 0] fair N. W. 68 [above 0] fair S. E. raised 3 ½ in. frost last night ice 1/8 of an inch thick
—Meriwether Lewis[2]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “State of the river” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations.
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, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “State of the river” columns, 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.
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).