At Fort Rock in present The Dalles, Oregon, men are sent out to hunt and gather pine pitch to seal the leaking dugout canoes. Two chiefs and fifteen warriors cross the river to visit and share food, and Clark enjoys fresh steelhead cooked in bear oil. They are given peace medals and other gifts, and York dances to the fiddle “which pleased them much”. The fleas are bothersome.
Red Meat, Trout, and Fleas
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
Refuge at Fort Rock
View from Fort Rock Camp
© 8 November 2008 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
we lay campd. on the clift or pt. of rocks for Safety. 2 Sentinels to guard us.
—Joseph WhitehouseA fine morning Sent Six men out to hunt Deer, and Collect rozin to pitch the Canoes which has become verry leakey, by frequently hauling them over rocks &c as well Striking rocks frequently in passing down. all our articles we have exposed to the Sun to Dry; and the Canoes drawn out and turned up— maney of our Stores entirely Spoiled by being repeetedly wet;
—William Clark
Diplomatic Meeting
we gave to each Chief a Meadel of the Small Size a red Silk handkerchief & a knife to the 1st a arm ban & a pin of Paint & a Comb to his Son a Piece of riben tied to a tin gorget and 2 hams of Venison They deturmined to Stay with us all night, we had a fire made for them & one man played on the violin which pleased them much my Servent [York] dances—
—William Clark
Flea by Robert Hooke
To see labels, point to the image.
Courtesy of the Peter S. Raven Library of the Missouri Botanical Garden, via the Internet Archive.
Fleas
The Flees which the party got on them at the upper & great falls, are very troublesom and dificuelt to get rid of, perticularly as the me[n] have not a Change of Clothes to put on, they Strip off their Clothes and kill the flees, dureing which time they remained neckid.
—William Clark
“most delicious fish”
one of the guard at the river guiged a Salmon Trout, which we had fried in a little Bears Oil which the Chief we passed below the narrows gave us: this I thought one of the most delicious fish I have ever tasted
—William Clark
Repairing Canoes
Dugout Canoe
© 2014 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
We unloaded our Canoes, shaved their bottoms clean, payed them over with Pitch. We also put the loading that had got wet, in the Canoe Yesterday Out in order to dry.
—Joseph Whitehouse
Weather Diary
Day of the month Wind State of the Weather 26th W. fair Note from the 22d to the 29th about the Great Falls [Celilo Falls] of the Columbia river.
—William Clark[3]Some abbreviations have been spelled out.
Rock Fort Campsite is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site owned by Wasco County, Oregon, and is open to the public.
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 | Moulton, Journals, 5:344n6. |
| ↑3 | 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.
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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).