May 27, 1806

Lewis's woodpecker

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At Long Camp, Lewis begins his twelve-day treatise on natural history. Today, he describes the Columbian ground squirrel and Lewis’s woodpecker, both new to science. Sgt. Ordway and two others leave for the Snake River to buy salmon, and a Nez Perce chief says the expedition can use any of his horses for food. Young Jean Baptiste continues to improve.

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May 12, 1806

Swallowing objections

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At Lawyer Creek near Kamiah, Idaho, the Nez Perce chiefs share what they heard at yesterday’s council and the People are told to swallow their objections with their mush. The captains then give a gun and ammunition to Walammottinin, Twisted Hair, as payment for watching their horses the previous winter. They also form a plan for crossing the Bitterroot Mountains.

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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.