At their Tongue Point bivouac, spirits lift when the morning proves fair and fresh elk meat arrives. Clark and several enlisted men find healing in the wapato and marrow. Down the river, Lewis continues looking for a winter site.
Tongue Point
© 10 November 2008 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Weather at Tongue Point can change quickly. Even the stormiest days may have brief sun breaks such as the one shown above. Compare this with the same view one day later.
Reviving Spirits
a fair windey morning wind from the East the men returned with the Elk which revived the Spirits of my party verry much I am Still unwell and Can’t eate even the flesh of the Elk
—William Clark
Wapato
Sagittaria sp.
© 2012 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Wapato and Elk Soup
an Indian Canoe of 8 Indians Came too, those Inds. are on their way down to the Clât Sops with Wap pa to to barter with that nation, I purchasd. a fiew of those roots for which I gave Small fish hooks, those roots I eate with a little Elks Soupe which I found gave me great relief I found the roots both nurishing and as a check to my disorder.
—William Clark
Trail Graffiti
I marked my name on a large pine tree imediately on the isthmus William Clark December 3rd 1805. By Land from the U. States in 1804 & 1805.—
—William Clark
Rendering Elk Oil
after eateing the marrow out of two Shank bones of an Elk, the Squar choped the bones fine boiled them and extracted a pint of Grease, which is Superior to the tallow of the animal. Some rain this evening
—William Clark
Plenty More Elk
Serjt. Pryor & Gibson who went hunting yesterday has not returned untill after night, they informed me that they had killed 6 Elk at a great distance which they left lying, haveing taken out their interals that they had been lost and in their ramble saw a great deel of Elk Sign.
—William Clark
Weather Diary
Day of the Month Winds State of the Weather 3rd E fair after rain fair from 12 to 2 P M. rained all the last night & this morning. rained the night of the 1st and morning of the 2 and Cloudy the remainder of the day. rained at intervales the night of the 2d instant with constant hard and Sometimes violent winds.
—Meriwether Lewis, remark by William Clark[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has spelled out some abbreviations.
Tongue Point is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site can be viewed from the east at the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge and to the west along the Astoria Riverwalk.
Notes
| ↑1 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has 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).