Calumet Bluff, meeting with Yankton Sioux — John Ordway: September 1, 1804

[Dorion] called from the other Shore that they had forgot their tin
kittle last evening, the pearogue crossed Brought him to the
Boat for his kittle we found it & gave it to him, & 2 fish with it,
we proceeded on under an unsteady Breeze from S. W. passed a
chalk Bluff on N. S. where we found pleanty of fine plumbs, little
above is a white clift called the den of the White Bear,2 we see
large holes in the clift which appeared to go Deep into the clift;
this clift is about 70 feet high on the top is ragged round knobs
& praries all praries on Boath Sides of the river, Some Timber
in the vallies, Cottonwood Elm oak &.C. & on the Islands which is
covered with Small cottonwood Timber &.C. G. Drewyer went
out hunting on N. S. he returned in a Short time had killed a
fine Buck Elk; it was all put on board the pearogue, we then pro-
ceeded on past Bottom praries to the lower point of a large & well
1 Calumet Bluff according to Clark’s journal (August 28); still so called.
2 Still called White Bear Cliff; it is in Yankton County, about ten miles
above the city of Yankton.
124 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS [Sept. 2
Timbered Island where we Camped on N. S.1 & jurked our Elk,
Cap* Lewis and Cap* Clark went across the river where they was
Informed that their was a Deep pond where their is a large Beaver
house & about 3 hundred Beaver or more, as they amagine in the
pond. The Captains had a curiousity to See the pond & Beaver
house; or Cabbin; they returned in the evening, but did not See the
pond nor did not Go to it for we had passed it some distance, N.B.
we passed in the course of this day a large Island between the two
Bluffs covered with timber above the White Bear clift we passed
two Islands in Sight of each other the last of which is verry large
from the Calumet Bluffs covered with young Timber also, the
high lands approach the river & in Some places touch on each
Side of the Missouri.