As the boats move up the Missouri around present Pick City, North Dakota, Clark sees Richardson’s ground squirrels while walking the shore. Sgt. Ordway sees the first gravel bars and says the mosquitoes begin to “Suck our blood.” For dinner, Sacagawea gathers Jerusalem artichoke bulbs.
Stratified River Bank
Missouri River below Garrison Dam
© 28 July 2013 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Lignite Coal
the Bluffs of the river which we passed today were upwards of a hundred feet high, formed of a mixture of yellow clay and sand— many horizontal stratas of carbonated wood [lignite], having every appearance of pitcoal at a distance; were seen in the face of these bluffs.
—Meriwether Lewis
Jerusalem Artichokes
Helianthus tuberosus
© 2020 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Jerusalem Artichokes
when we halted for dinner the squaw [Sacagawea] busied herself in serching for the wild artichokes [Jerusalem artichokes] which the mice collect and deposit in larger hoards.
—Meriwether Lewis
Richardson’s Ground Squirrel
I saw in the prarie an animal resembling the Prarie dog or Barking Squirel & burrow in the Same way, this animal was about ⅓ as large as the barking Squirel.
—William Clark
Gravel Bars and Mosquitoes
Saw Gravelly bars which was the first we Saw on this River. they were round and large. Saw Some on Shore also we Saw a nomber of wild Geese on the River & brants flying over Some ducks. the Musquetoes begin to Suck our blood this afternoon.
—John Ordway
Weather Diary
State of Thermometer at rise
Weather Wind at State of Thermometer at 4 P.M. Weather Wind at 4 P.M. State of the River 38 [above 0] fair S. E. 70 above [above 0] fair S. W. fallen ½ in. the Crow has also returned saw the first today. & the corvus bird disappears the Musquitoes revisit us, saw several of them. Capt. Clark brought me a flower in full blo. it is a stranger to me.— the peroque is so unsteady that I can scarcely write
—William Clark and Meriwether Lewis[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, clarified the “State of the River” information, and spelled out some abbreviations.
Notes
| ↑1 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, clarified the “State of the River” information, 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.
This page is 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).