Jefferson/Beaverhead River near present-day Dillon — Joseph Whitehouse: August 8, 1805
On a clear, cold morning, four hunters were sent out early before the party set off at sunrise up Jefferson's River. They traveled through a wide, pleasant prairie valley 10–12 miles across, with rich soil, willows, currants, and abundant flowers, spotting snow on distant mountain knobs. They passed the left-hand fork and a fine spring, hauling canoes over several shoal places along the crooked, narrow river. Hunters rejoined the group with deer and goats; R. Fields had searched unsuccessfully for Shannon. The day grew warm, and they camped in a thicket.
a clear cold morning. 4 hunters Sent out eairly to hunt.
we Set out at Sunrise, and proceeded on passed beautiful
Smooth prarie on each Side, but little timber only willows and
bushes currents &c. passed the left hand fork which empties
in at 2 places, but is not as large as the middle fork. Saw a
VOL. VII.—9 ‘ [ 129 ]
LEWIS AND CLARK JOURNALS _[Aug. 9
little Snow on the knobs & mountains at a Short distance
back from the [River.] this large & extensive valley which
looks verry pleasant. the Soil of these praries is much better
than below, for a long distance. we proceeded on passed a
fine Spring on L. S. one of the hunters brought us a deer
which he killed. Saw a nomber of geese & ducks on the
River. passed delightful prarie on each Side covred with high
grass thissels Small Sun flowers and a nomber of other kinds
of flowers &c, at noon R. Fields joined us had been hunting
for Shannon but had not found him. he had killed a deer &
a goat &c. one of the other hunters joined us had killed a
deer & a goat also the day warm & pleasant, in this valley,
which is 10 or 12 miles wide & all prarie. proceeded on
halled the canoes over Several Shole places. this little River
which we call Jeffersons River is only about 25 yards wide but
jenerally eight or 10 feet deep, and verry crooked. we passed
upwards of 60 points this day in comming [blank space in
MS.] miles and Camped in a thicket of bushes on the Lar?
Side. one more deer killfed].
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
A clear, cold morning. Four hunters were sent out early to hunt. We set out at sunrise and proceeded on, passing beautiful smooth prairie on each side, but with little timber—only willows and bushes, currants, etc. We passed the left-hand fork, which empties in at two places, but is not as large as the middle fork. We saw a little snow on the knobs and mountains a short distance back from the River. This large and extensive valley looks very pleasant. The soil of these prairies is much better than below, for a long distance.
We proceeded on, passing a fine spring on the larboard side. One of the hunters brought us a deer which he had killed. We saw a number of geese and ducks on the River. We passed delightful prairie on each side, covered with high grass, thistles, small sunflowers, and a number of other kinds of flowers, etc.
At noon R. Fields joined us; he had been hunting for Shannon but had not found him. He had killed a deer and a goat, etc. One of the other hunters joined us and had also killed a deer and a goat. The day was warm and pleasant in this valley, which is 10 or 12 miles wide and all prairie.
We proceeded on, hauling the canoes over several shoal places. This little river, which we call Jeffersons River, is only about 25 yards wide but generally eight or 10 feet deep, and very crooked. We passed upwards of 60 points this day in coming [blank space in MS.] miles, and camped in a thicket of bushes on the larboard side. One more deer killed.
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.
