Several miles above the mouth of the Columbia, they safely cross the river and continue downriver along the southern shore. At a Kathlamet village, Clark pays high prices for fish and roots. The villagers want blue beads and blue, red, or brown clothes and blankets. They camp near present Svenson, Oregon.
Crossing the Columbia
we Set out and proceeded on up on the North Side of this great river to a rock in the river from thence we Crossed to the lower point of an [blank] Island passed between 2 Islands to the main Shore, and proceeded down the South Side,
—William Clark
Low Islands
Great numbers of Swan Geese Brant Ducks & Gulls in this great bend which is Crouded with low Islands covered with weeds grass &c. and overflowed every flood tide
—William Clark
Disagreeable Day
we had rain all the day . . . . all wet and disagreeable . . . . a bad place to Camp . . . . all around this great bend is high land thickly timbered brushey & almost impossible to penetrate
—William Clark
Kathlamet Village
halted below the 2d at a Indian village of 9 large houses— those Indians live on an emenence behind a Island or a Channel of the river not more than 300 yds wide, they live on fish & Elk and Wapto [Wapato] roots, of which we bought a few at a high price they Call them Selves Cat-tar-bets [Kathlamets]
—William Clark
3-Point Trade Blanket
© 2011 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Points denoted the size of trade blankets and were dyed into the wool as small stripes.
Blue Beads and Blankets
they ask emence prices for what they have to Sel Blue Beeds is their great trade they are fond of Clothes or blankits of Blue red or brown
—William Clark
Weather Diary
Day of the month Wind State of the Weather 26th E N E rain rained all day with Some hard Showers. the wind not so violent as it has been for Sevral days past.
—Meriwether Lewis[1]Some abbreviations have been spelled out.
Notes
| ↑1 | Some abbreviations have been spelled out. |
|---|
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
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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).