Fort Mandan (winter) — John Ordway: January 29, 1805
The crew hauled stones on hand sleds from a bluff downstream, planning to heat them and drop them into water-filled pirogues and the barge. The hope was that the hot water would thaw the vessels free from the ice. However, when the men tried to heat the stones, they cracked and shattered into pieces as soon as they grew hot, making them useless for the task. The effort to free the boats failed.
hailing Stone on hand Sleds from a Bluff below in order to heat
a large nomber of Sizeable Stone & put warter in to the pearogues
& barge & make the water hot with the Stone So as to git them
loose but come to heat the Stone they flew in peaces as soon as
they Got hot, So that we could not make use of them at all.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
We hauled stones on hand sleds from a bluff below in order to heat a large number of sizeable stones and put water into the pirogues and barge, then make the water hot with the stones so as to get them loose. But when we came to heat the stones, they flew into pieces as soon as they got hot, so that we could not make use of them at all.
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