Clark: July 20, 1805
On a fine Saturday, Clark's small party traveled overland through a valley, leaving the river about six miles to their left before joining an Indian road that brought them back to the river above a creek mouth, covering 18 miles. Mosquitoes were troublesome, York was nearly exhausted, and Clark's feet were blistered. Spotting smoke rising about 12 miles up a valley to the right, Clark suspected Indians had set the prairie ablaze to warn their camps of an approaching war party, so he left signs indicating peaceful intent. The men's feet, pierced by prickly pear and cut by stones, made afternoon marching slow. They camped on the river.
July 20th Satturday 1805 a fine morning we proceded on thro a valley
leaveing the river about 6 miles to our left and fell into an Indian roade
which took us to the river above the mo. of a Creek 18 miles The
Misquetors verry troublesom my man York nearly tired out, the bottoms of
my feet blistered. I observe a Smoke rise to our right up the Valley of
the last Creek about 12 miles distant, The Cause of this Smoke I can’t
account for certainly tho think it probable that the Indians have heard
the Shooting of the Partey below and Set the Praries or Valey on fire to
allarm their Camps; Supposeing our party to be a war party comeing against
them, I left Signs to Shew the Indians if they Should come on our trail
that we were not their enemeys. Camped on the river, the feet of the men
with me So Stuck with Prickley pear & cut with the Stones that they
were Scerseley able to march at a Slow gate this after noon
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
July 20th Saturday 1805. A fine morning. We proceeded on through a valley, leaving the river about 6 miles to our left, and fell into an Indian road which took us to the river above the mouth of a creek, 18 miles. The mosquitoes were very troublesome. My man York was nearly tired out, and the bottoms of my feet were blistered.
I observed a smoke rise to our right up the valley of the last creek, about 12 miles distant. The cause of this smoke I cannot account for certainly, though I think it probable that the Indians have heard the shooting of the party below and set the prairies or valley on fire to alarm their camps, supposing our party to be a war party coming against them. I left signs to show the Indians, if they should come on our trail, that we were not their enemies.
Camped on the river. The feet of the men with me were so stuck with prickly pear and cut with the stones that they were scarcely able to march at a slow gait this afternoon.
This modernization is AI-generated for accessibility. The original above is the authoritative version.
Entities mentioned in this entry
Auto-extracted from the entry text. Hover any entity for context.
