Clark: May 21, 1805
On a beautiful, breezy Tuesday morning, the expedition set out early, making progress mainly by towing the boats with ropes since the muddy bottoms made poles less useful. Clark walked along the starboard shore, observing a large southward bend of the river near the mouth of Shell River, with rich uneven valleys, prickly pears, and scattered pine and cedar on the southern hills. The wind grew stronger through the day, shifting to the northwest by dark and storming all night, blowing several items overboard and forcing the camp to move from a sandbar to shelter beneath the hills. Clark killed two elk, and the party also took several deer and a buffalo cow.
May 21st Tuesday 1805. a butifull morning, wind from the West, river
falling a little, we Set out at an early hour and proceed on in the usial
way by the assistance of the Coard principally, but little use of the
Oares & less with the poles as the bottoms are muddey, we Se no great
bodies of pure Sand the bars & points are rich mud mixed with fine
Sand. I walked on Shore Stard. Side the river makes a great bend to the
South to receve Shell River, the boint for many miles out in a Northerley
direction is a rich uneaven valley Contain Some Short grass, and Prickley
pears without timber The Countrey on the South Side of the Missouri is
high, Soil and mineral appearance as usial, more Scattering pine &
Cedar on the hills, the wind which blew moderatly all the forepart of the
day increassd and about Dark Shifted to the N W. and Stormed all night,
Several loose articles were blown over board, our lodge & Camp which
was on a Sand bar on the Std. Side & opposite to the lower point of an
Island we were obliged to move under the hills, the dust & Sand blew
in clouds. The bends of the river are Short and points Covered with Cotton
wood under groth wild rose bushes I killed 2 Elk to day Several Deer
Killd. & a Buffalow Cow.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
May 21st, Tuesday, 1805. A beautiful morning, wind from the west, the river falling a little. We set out at an early hour and proceeded on in the usual way, mainly by the assistance of the cord, with little use of the oars and less of the poles, as the bottoms are muddy. We see no great bodies of pure sand; the bars and points are rich mud mixed with fine sand.
I walked on shore on the starboard side. The river makes a great bend to the south to receive Shell River. The point, for many miles out in a northerly direction, is a rich uneven valley containing some short grass and prickly pears, without timber. The country on the south side of the Missouri is high, with soil and mineral appearance as usual, with more scattering pine and cedar on the hills.
The wind, which blew moderately all the forepart of the day, increased, and about dark shifted to the N.W. and stormed all night. Several loose articles were blown overboard. Our lodge and camp, which were on a sandbar on the starboard side and opposite the lower point of an island, we were obliged to move under the hills. The dust and sand blew in clouds.
The bends of the river are short, and the points are covered with cottonwood, with undergrowth of wild rose bushes. I killed 2 elk today, and several deer were killed, and a buffalo cow.
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.
