Fort Mandan (winter) — Joseph Whitehouse: January 22, 1805
Snow and wind at daybreak delayed departure. Hunters went out and killed buffalo and deer, while another man had taken two beaver overnight. At an abandoned Indian camp, hunters found pieces of red cloth, believed to be left as offerings, reflecting Native spiritual practices in which things beyond understanding are called 'big medicine.' Around 3 o'clock the weather cleared and the party set off, with the wind shifting westward. Captain Clark and another man shot three beaver. The air was very cold. They camped on the north shore after traveling 5 miles.
at day light it began to Snow & blow So that we did not Set
off this morning. Some men went out to hunt. Killed Some
buffaloe & Some Deer, one of the party kill^ two beaver last
night, the men who was out a hunting found Several peaces
of red cloath at an Indian camp, where we expect they left last
winter for a Sacrifice to their maker as that is their form of wor-
ship, as they have Some knowledge of the Supreme being, and
anything above their comprihention they call big medicine,
about 3 oC the wind abated & quit Snowing, we Set off. pro-
i8o5] WHITEHOUSE’S JOURNAL
ceeded on. the [wind] had shifted and blew from the west,
the Snow lay on the Edge of the Sand beaches where the wind
blew it against the bank about 12 Inches Deep but their was
not more than about one Inch on a level. Cap* Clark & one
of the party Shot 3 beaver on the South Shore, the air verry
cold, we Camped on the N. S. at a handsom bottom partly
covered with timber, came 5 miles to day.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
At daylight it began to snow and blow, so we did not set off this morning. Some men went out to hunt. They killed some buffalo and some deer, and one of the party killed two beaver last night. The men who were out hunting found several pieces of red cloth at an Indian camp, where we expect they left them last winter as a sacrifice to their maker, as that is their form of worship. They have some knowledge of the Supreme Being, and anything above their comprehension they call big medicine.
About 3 o'clock the wind abated and it quit snowing. We set off and proceeded on. The wind had shifted and blew from the west. The snow lay on the edge of the sand beaches where the wind had blown it against the bank about 12 inches deep, but there was not more than about one inch on the level. Capt Clark (Capt. Clark) and one of the party shot 3 beaver on the south shore. The air was very cold. We camped on the north side at a handsome bottom partly covered with timber. We came 5 miles today.
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