Another day is spent above the Great Falls of the Missouri waiting for the iron-framed boat cover to dry. Several men make leather and sew new clothes. Clark gives York a dose of tarter emetic, and Lewis has one of the men make bags from wolf hides.
Rotting Clothes, Blowflies, and Mosquitoes
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
Whitehouse and Ordway Sew New Clothes
© Michael Haynes, https://www.mhaynesart.com. Used with permission.
Drying the Boat
The weather warm and cloudy therefore unfavourable for many operations; I keep small fires under the boat; the blowing flies are innumerable about it; the moisture retained by the bark prevents it from drying as fast as it otherwise would . . . . I have prepared my composition which I should have put on this evening but the rain prevented me.
—Meriwether Lewis
York’s Emetic
Capt. Clarks black man York is very unwell today and he gave him a doze of tartar emettic which operated very well and he was much better in the evening. this is a discription of medecine that I nevr have recourse to in my practice except in cases of the intermittent fever.
—Meriwether Lewis
Sewing New Clothes
I am employed makeing leather cloaths for the party &c.
—Joseph Whitehousemany of the men are engaged in dressing leather to cloath themselves. their leather cloathes soon become rotton as they are much exposed to the water and frequently wet.
—Meriwether Lewis
Lewis’s Wolf-skin Bag
I set one of the party at work to make me some sacks of the wolf skins, to transport my Instruments when occasion requirs their being carried any distance by land.—
—Meriwether Lewis
Weather Diary
State of the thermometer at rise
Weather at Wind at State of the Thermometer at 4 P.M. Weather at 4 P.M. Wind at 4 P.M. State of the river 54 [above 0] cloudy after fair S W 77 [above 0] rain after cloudy S W fallen ¼ in. a Shower at 4 P. M.
—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.
The Great Falls Portage is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. It includes Sulpher Spring (open to the public) and Lower Portage Camp site (private land), and the Upper Portage Camp Overlook.
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.
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This site is provided as a public service by the
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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).