Fort Mandan, North Dakota — John Ordway: December 12, 1804
The day brought a sharp drop in temperature, several degrees colder than any previous morning of the expedition's winter so far. Because of the extreme cold, the men did no work other than gathering firewood for their fires. Their quarters were tight and well-heated, keeping them warm and comfortable inside. However, the sentinel posted outside in the open weather suffered greatly from the cold and had to be relieved every hour throughout the day. A fire had been kept burning all night at the guard chimney.
the Guard chimney where their was a fire kept all last night.
it is Several degrees colder this morning than it has been before,
so that we did nothing but git wood for our fires, our Rooms are
verry close and warm So we can keep ourselves warm and com-
fortable, but the Sentinel who Stood out in the open weather
had to be relieved every hour all this day.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
The guard chimney where there was a fire kept all last night. It is several degrees colder this morning than it has been before, so that we did nothing but get wood for our fires. Our rooms are very close and warm, so we can keep ourselves warm and comfortable, but the sentinel who stood out in the open weather had to be relieved every hour all this 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.
