Missouri River near White River — John Ordway: September 11, 1804

head of the Isd Cap* Clark myself and 2 more walked on Shore
S. S. I killed a verry large porkapine put it on board the pea-
rogue. Cap* Clark killed a Buck Elk a deer& a a deer faun G.
Gibson killed [a] Buck Elk a deer & faun also. Saved the Skins &
the best of the meat &. C. the Boat Sailed on passed Several
Islands & Small runs, at each side. I walked a long the s Shore
see a high red hill. I climed up to the top which is verry s[t]eep
on 2 Sides & about 150 feet high. I Saw 16 Bull Buffalow in the
vally to the W. Side, rained hard. I amed to keep my rifle
dry. I went around the gang of Buffaloe. crept near them as
they were feeding, with their heads towards me as I was a
waiting them to get one side ways, one of them discovered me I
kept Still had on a red Shirt he looked at me, & walked up
near to me. I was obledged to Shoot at his head as I Shot him
in the head among the long hair he turned & run off. the gang
ran a Short distance & went to feeding, rained So hard my gun
got wet loading, & I returned over mountains & rough hills &
Gullies &. C. &. C. George Shannon who had been absent with
the horses 16 days joined the Boat about one oclock. he in-
formed us that the reason of his keeping on so long was that he
see some tracks which must have been Indians, he to[ok] it to [be]
us and kept on, his bullets he Shot all away & he was with out
any thing to eat for about 12 days except a fiew Grapes, he had
left one of the horses behind, as he Gave out, only one horse with
him he had gave up the idea of finding our boat & was return-
ing down the river in hopes to meet some other Boat, he was near
killing the horse to Satisfy hunger, &C &C. he Shot a rabit
with Sticks which he cut & put in his gun after his Balls were
gone.2 he had been 2 days walk abov this &. C. See a village
of little Dogs in the four part of the day We passed Some Timber
1 Richard Warfington. a corporal in the U. S. army. He was not a
permanent member of the expedition, his enlistment having expired Aug. 4,
1804. However, he consented to go on to the Mandan towns and take charge
of the boat which Lewis planned to send back from there in the spring of 1805.
For Lewis’ own account of his services see Thwaites, VII, 355.
2 Shannon, a mere boy, had a propensity for getting lost. On this, his
severest experience of the sort, he had been absent from the party since August
26. “thus a man,” comments Clark upon his story, “had like to have Starved
to death in a land of Plenty for the want of Bullitts or Something to kill his
meat.”
130 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS [Sept. 12
on the Islands and points, none at all back on the mountains,
rained hard till late in the evening we Camped on S. S. near a
line of dark Bluffs.