On or near this date, Lewis and his crew move down the Ohio River in the area between Augusta, Kentucky and New Richmond, Ohio. A contemporary traveler in this area treated a settler with mercury pills and walked through a “fine tract of land”.[1]Because we have no journal entry from Lewis for this day, his exact location is unknown. He was at Letart Falls on 18 September and arrived in Cincinnati on 28 September. Based on Thomas … Continue reading
Honey Locust
Gleditsia triacanthos
Provided by Kevmin with permission via the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
The honey locust’s natural range is in the states bordering the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It has been successfully introduced around the world. The tree in this figure is growing on a bluff above the Columbia River in Washington state.
Treating Worms with Mercury Pills
The owner of the house come on board and asked assistance for a sick child which lay ill with worms. I went up and prescribed and furnished mercury pills which I got of Shields, and the woman gave some eggs . . .
—Thomas Rodney[2]5 October 1803. Dwight L. Smith and Ray Swick, ed., A Journey Through the West: Thomas Rodney’s 1803 Journal from Delaware to the Mississippi Territory (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1997), 99.
Fine Tract of Land
In my rout on shore before diner I passed through a fine tract of land. The chief groth was honey locust and cycamore. The honey locust trees were frequently 5 and 6 feet in diameter.
—Thomas Rodney[3]Ibid.
Notes
| ↑1 | Because we have no journal entry from Lewis for this day, his exact location is unknown. He was at Letart Falls on 18 September and arrived in Cincinnati on 28 September. Based on Thomas Rodney’s journal of his similar trip down the Ohio and Cramer’s 1802 river guide, The Navigator, one conjecture is that Lewis stopped for the night near New Richmond, Ohio on this date. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | 5 October 1803. Dwight L. Smith and Ray Swick, ed., A Journey Through the West: Thomas Rodney’s 1803 Journal from Delaware to the Mississippi Territory (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1997), 99. |
| ↑3 | Ibid. |
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).