Clark: May 16, 1805
After a fair morning, the party spent the day drying salvaged goods from the previous day's boat accident, losing some medicine, powder, seeds, and other items. They set out at 4:30 p.m. and camped on the starboard side in hilly, sparsely timbered country. Hunters killed a cow and calf, an elk, and a meager female bear, while antelope were caught swimming the river. Clark narrowly avoided a rattlesnake, and they named a nearby stream Rattlesnake Creek. He also spotted an abandoned Indian fortified camp. Late at night, a burning tree nearly fell on their lodge, forcing a hasty move.
May 16th Thursday 1805 a fair morning our articles all out to Dry at 4
oClock we had every thing that was Saved dry and on bord, our loss is Some
medison, Powder, Seeds, & Several articles which Sunk, and maney
Spoiled had a medn. altitude which gave for Latd. ° ‘ ” N.two of
our men fired at a pant hr a little below our Camp, this animale they say
was large, had Caught a Deer & eate it half & buried the ballance.
a fiew antilope Swam the river near our Camp two of them were Cought by
the party in the river. at half past 4 oClock we Set out and proceeded on
verry well ____ miles and incamped on the Std. Side the Countrey as before
hilley & broken verry Small proprotion of timber in the points, Some
little pine & Ceader in the hills
Buffalow & Deer is yet plenty on the river in the small timbered
bottoms Capt Lewis walked out on the Std. Side and killed a Cow & Calf
the calf was verry fine their bases. it is somewhat singular that the
lower part of these hills appear to be formed of a dark rich loam while
the upper region about 150 feet is formed of a whiteish brown sand, so
hard in many parts as to resemble stone; but little rock or stone of any
kind to be seen in these hills. the river is much narrower than usual, the
bed from 200 to 300 yards only and possessing a much larger proportion of
gravel than usual. a few scattering cottonwood trees are the only timber
near the river; the sandbars, and with them the willow points have almost
entirely disappeared. greater appearance than usual of the saline
incrustations of the banks and river hills. we passed two creeks the one
on Stard. side, and the other just below our camp on the Lard. side; each
of these creeks afford a small quantity of runing water, of a brackish
tast. the great number of large beds of streams perfectly dry which we
daily pass indicate a country but badly watered, which I fear is the case
with the country through which we have been passing for the last fifteen
or twenty days. Capt Clark walked on shore this evening and killed an Elk;
buffaloe are not so abundant as they were some days past. the party with
me killed a female brown bear, she was but meagre, and appeared to have
suckled young very recently. Capt. Clark narrowly escaped being bitten by
a rattlesnake in the course of his walk, the party killed one this evening
at our encampment, which he informed me was similar to that he had seen;
this snake is smaller than those common to the middle Atlantic States,
being about 2 feet 6 inches long; it is of a yellowish brown colour on the
back and sides, variagated with one row of oval spots of a dark brown
colour lying transversely over the back from the neck to the tail, and two
other rows of small circular spots of the same colour which garnis the
sides along the edge of the scuta. it’s bely contains 176 scuta on the
belly and 17 on the tale. Capt Clark informed me that he saw some coal
which had been brought down by the water of the last creek we passed; this
creek also throws out considerable quantities of Driftwood, though there
is no timber on it which can be perceived from the Missouri; we called
this stream rattlesnake creek. Capt Clark saw an Indian fortifyed camp
this evening, which appeared to have been recently occupyed, from which we
concluded it was probable that it had been formed by a war party of the
Menetares who left their vilage in March last with a view to attack the
blackfoot Indians in consequence of their having killed some of their
principal warriors the previous autumn. we were roused late at night by
the Sergt. of the guard, and warned of the danger we were in from a large
tree that had taken fire and which leant immediately over our lodge. we
had the loge removed, and a few minutes after a large proportion of the
top of the tree fell on the place the lodge had stood; had we been a few
minutes later we should have been crushed to attoms. the wind blew so
hard, that notwithstanding the lodge was fifty paces distant from the fire
it sustained considerable injury from the burning coals which were thrown
on it; the party were much harrassed also by this fire which communicated
to a collection of fallen timber, and could not be extinguished.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
May 16th, Thursday 1805. A fair morning. We had our articles all out to dry. At 4 o'clock we had everything that was saved dry and on board. Our loss is some medicine, powder, seeds, and several articles which sank, and many were spoiled. We had a meridian altitude which gave for Latitude ° ' " N. Two of our men fired at a panther a little below our camp; this animal, they say, was large, had caught a deer and eaten half of it, and buried the rest. A few antelope swam the river near our camp; two of them were caught by the party in the river. At half past 4 o'clock we set out and proceeded on very well ____ miles and camped on the Starboard side. The country was as before, hilly and broken, with a very small proportion of timber in the points, some little pine and cedar in the hills.
Buffalo and deer are yet plenty on the river in the small timbered bottoms. Capt Lewis (Capt. Lewis) walked out on the Starboard side and killed a cow and calf; the calf was very fine. It is somewhat singular that the lower part of these hills appears to be formed of a dark, rich loam, while the upper region of about 150 feet is formed of a whitish-brown sand, so hard in many parts as to resemble stone; but little rock or stone of any kind is to be seen in these hills. The river is much narrower than usual, the bed only 200 to 300 yards wide, and contains a much larger proportion of gravel than usual. A few scattering cottonwood trees are the only timber near the river; the sandbars, and with them the willow points, have almost entirely disappeared. There is a greater appearance than usual of the saline incrustations on the banks and river hills. We passed two creeks, one on the Starboard side, and the other just below our camp on the Larboard side; each of these creeks affords a small quantity of running water, of a brackish taste. The great number of large stream beds, perfectly dry, which we pass daily, indicate a country poorly watered, which I fear is the case with the country through which we have been passing for the last fifteen or twenty days. Capt Clark (Capt. Clark) walked on shore this evening and killed an elk; buffalo are not so abundant as they were some days past. The party with me killed a female brown bear; she was lean and appeared to have suckled young very recently. Capt. Clark narrowly escaped being bitten by a rattlesnake in the course of his walk. The party killed one this evening at our encampment, which he informed me was similar to that he had seen. This snake is smaller than those common to the middle Atlantic states, being about 2 feet 6 inches long. It is of a yellowish-brown color on the back and sides, variegated with one row of oval spots of a dark brown color lying transversely over the back from the neck to the tail, and two other rows of small circular spots of the same color which garnish the sides along the edge of the scuta. Its belly contains 176 scuta on the belly and 17 on the tail. Capt Clark informed me that he saw some coal which had been brought down by the water of the last creek we passed; this creek also throws out considerable quantities of driftwood, though there is no timber on it which can be perceived from the Missouri. We called this stream Rattlesnake Creek. Capt Clark saw an Indian fortified camp this evening, which appeared to have been recently occupied, from which we concluded it was probable that it had been formed by a war party of the Menetares, who left their village in March last with a view to attack the Blackfoot Indians in consequence of their having killed some of their principal warriors the previous autumn. We were roused late at night by the Sergeant of the guard, and warned of the danger we were in from a large tree that had taken fire and which leaned immediately over our lodge. We had the lodge removed, and a few minutes later a large portion of the top of the tree fell on the place where the lodge had stood; had we been a few minutes later, we should have been crushed to atoms. The wind blew so hard that, notwithstanding the lodge was fifty paces distant from the fire, it sustained considerable injury from the burning coals which were thrown on it. The party was much harassed also by this fire, which spread to a pile of fallen timber and could not be extinguished.
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