Clark: September 12, 1804
Under dark, cloudy skies and a hard northwest wind, the expedition struggled to navigate around an island in the middle of the river, where shallow water and swift currents between sandbars made progress extremely slow—taking three-quarters of the day to cover just one mile. They camped on the larboard side opposite a colony of prairie dogs. During a morning walk, Clark observed several prairie dog villages, numerous grouse, three foxes, and noted slate and coal in the high hills lining the river. Light rain fell throughout the day.
Septr. 12th Wednesday 1804 a Dark Cloudy Day the wind hard from the N. W.
we passed (1) a Island the middle of the river at the head of which we
found great dificuelty in passing between the Sand bars the water Swift
and Shallow, it took 3/4 of the day to make one mile, we Camped on the L.
S. opsd. a Village of Barking Prarie Squriels
I walked out in the morning and Saw Several Villages of those little
animals, also a great number of Grous & 3 foxes, and observed Slate
& Coal mixed, Some verry high hills on each Side of the river. rains a
little all day.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
September 12th, Wednesday, 1804. A dark, cloudy day with the wind blowing hard from the northwest. We passed (1) an island in the middle of the river, at the head of which we had great difficulty passing between the sandbars; the water was swift and shallow. It took three-quarters of the day to make one mile. We camped on the larboard side, opposite a village of barking prairie squirrels.
I walked out in the morning and saw several villages of those little animals, as well as a great number of grouse and 3 foxes, and observed slate and coal mixed together. There are some very high hills on each side of the river. It rained a little all day.
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.
