October 11, 1805
Down the Snake River
Between present Clarkston and Almota, Washington, the paddlers navigate numerous Snake River rapids where the Nez Perce and Palouse have established fisheries. The captains notice a curious sweat lodge.
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October 8, 1805
A canoe accident
On the Clearwater River, the paddlers navigate numerous rapids and pick up guides Twisted Hair and Tetoharsky. After a canoe accident at Colter’s Creek—present Potlatch River—travel abruptly stops.
September 22, 1805
Bitterroot Mountain triumph
Lewis and the main party arrive at the Weippe Prairie villages “having tryumphed over the rocky Mountains”. Clark and Twisted Hair climb up from the Clearwater River and the two captains unite.
September 9, 1805
Reaching Travelers' Rest
The expedition reaches Travelers’ Rest, a well-used camping area near present Lolo, Montana. Their guide, Toby, tells them about the Road to the Buffalo—a good pass heading east to the Missouri River.
September 8, 1805
Mountains to the left and right
The expedition proceeds down the Bitterroot valley with the snow-capped Bitterroot Mountains to the west. They find three Indian horses and a new pest—brittle prickly pears.
July 30, 1805
Up the Jefferson
The expedition leaves the headwaters of the Missouri, and on the Jefferson River, they pass the place of Sacagawea‘s childhood capture. Lewis scouts ahead and mires in swamps and brush.
July 23, 1805
Signaling the Shoshone
Lewis sees black garter snakes and camps with the boats near present Townsend, Montana. Meanwhile, Clark scouts ahead looking for Shoshones. The Louisiana governor discusses Fort Mandan specimens.
July 14, 1805
Launching the new canoes
Lewis remarks on the view of Square Butte from their canoe camp near present Ulm, Montana. Sgt. Ordway brings the remaining dugouts, the two new canoes are launched, and all is made ready for departure.
July 10, 1805
A new canoe camp
Clark finds trees to make two new canoes below present Ulm, Montana. Lewis has the iron-framed boat taken apart and then goes fishing. Jefferson passes on news of the expedition to Lewis’s brother.
June 25, 1805
Two more dugouts up the hill
Below the Falls of the Missouri, Clark enjoys a cup of coffee. At the upper camp, Drouillard and Frazer bring in 800 pounds of dried meat and in Washington City, Jefferson shares news of the Expedition.
June 15, 1805
Sacagawea deteriorates
Below the Great Falls of the Missouri, Sacagawea‘s health deteriorates, and Charbonneau asks her to return home. Several miles ahead, Lewis fishes and describes a prairie rattlesnake in minute detail.
June 13, 1805
"sublimely grand specticle"
At the Grand Fall, Lewis marvels at the “sublimely grand specticle”. Downriver, Clark gives Sacagawea a dose of salts. At Fort Massac, General Wilkinson has questions about the people sent to him in the barge.
May 28, 1805
Judith River oasis
They tow the boats twenty miles reaching the fertile Judith River Basin. Lewis finds the change reviving. In St. Louis, military commander James Bruff proposes a mission for the expedition’s barge.
May 22, 1805
Passing Grouse Creek
After a wind delay, the men tow the boats sixteen miles up the Missouri along present-day Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. They pass “grows Creek,” named for the many grouse seen there.
April 7, 1805
Leaving Fort Mandan
The permanent party leaves Fort Mandan bound for the Pacific Ocean. They make it only as far as Mitutanka, one of the Knife River Villages. In the barge, the return party heads towards St. Louis.
April 6, 1805
A diplomatic delay
Some visiting Mandans tell the captains that the entire Arikara nation has moved to one of their old villages nearby. The captains postpone leaving Fort Mandan to learn more.
April 4, 1805
McKenzie's recollections
At Fort Mandan, the barge is loaded and made ready for its return to St. Louis. Interactions with Canadian traders François-Antoine Larocque and Charles McKenzie are recalled by McKenzie several years later.
March 24, 1805
Bird cages
At Fort Mandan, cages are made for the live birds that will soon be sent to Washington City. In St. Louis, Capt. Amos Stoddard updates President Thomas Jefferson regarding Lewis’s delegation of Iowas.
March 14, 1805
Charbonneau moves out
Fort Mandan, ND According to Sgt. Ordway, Toussaint Charbonneau moves outside the fort and is replaced as expedition interpreter by Joseph Gravelines. The men shell corn. In Washington City, Thomas Jefferson suggests a new expedition in the Southwest.
March 12, 1805
Charbonneau quits
Fort Mandan, ND When Toussaint Charbonneau’s expectations cannot be met, his employment as an expedition interpreter comes to an end. Two men go to a Hidatsa village to trade for tobacco, and James Wilkinson tells Spanish officials to stop the expedition.
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).