Lewis: April 13, 1805
The expedition departed early with favorable winds, hoisting sails on the white pirogue. A sudden squall nearly capsized the vessel when Charbonneau panicked at the helm; Lewis ordered Drouillard to take over, narrowly avoiding disaster that could have lost their instruments, papers, medicine, trade goods, and the lives of nonswimmers and Sacagawea with her infant. They parted from French hunters near the Little Missouri, passed Onion Creek, and named Goose Egg Lake after Clark shot a nesting goose from a cottonwood. They noted abundant grizzly tracks, killed two antelope, and camped on the starboard shore.
Saturday April 13th Being disappointed in my observations of yesterday for
Longitude, I was unwilling to remain at the entrance of the river another
day for that purpose, and therefore determined to set out early this
morning; which we did accordingly; the wind was in our favour after 9 A.M.
and continued favourable untill three 3 P.M. we therefore hoisted both the
sails in the White Perogue, consisting of a small squar sail, and
spritsail, which carried her at a pretty good gate, untill about 2 in the
afternoon when a suddon squall of wind struck us and turned the perogue so
much on the side as to allarm Sharbono who was steering at the time, in
this state of alarm he threw the perogue with her side to the wind, when
the spritsail gibing was as near overseting the perogue as it was possible
to have missed. the wind however abating for an instant I ordered Drewyer
to the helm and the sails to be taken in, which was instant executed and
the perogue being steered before the wind was agin placed in a state of
security. this accedent was very near costing us dearly. beleiving this
vessell to be the most steady and safe, we had embarked on board of it our
instruments, Papers, medicine and the most valuable part of the
merchandize which we had still in reserve as presents for the Indians. we
had also embarked on board ourselves, with three men who could not swim
and the squaw with the young child, all of whom, had the perogue overset,
would most probably have perished, as the waves were high, and the perogue
upwards of 200 yards from the nearest shore; however we fortunately
escaped and pursued our journey under the square sail, which shortly after
the accident I directed to be again hoisted. our party caught three beaver
last evening; and the French hunters 7. as there was much appearance of
beaver just above the entrance of the little Missouri these hunters
concluded to remain some days; we therefore left them without the
expectation of seeing them again.just above the entrance of the
Little Missouri the great Missouri is upwards of a mile in width, tho
immediately at the entrance of the former it is not more than 200 yards
wide and so shallow that the canoes passed it with seting poles. at the
distance of nine miles passed the mouth of a creek on the Stard. side
which we called onion creek from the quantity of wild onions which grow in
the plains on it’s borders. Capt. Clark who was on shore informed me that
this creek was 16 yards wide a mile & a half above it’s entrance,
discharges more water than creeks of it’s size usually do in this open
country, and that there was not a stick of timber of any discription to be
seen on it’s borders, or the level plain country through which it passes.
at the distance of 10 miles further we passed the mouth of a large creek;
discharging itself in the center of a deep bend. of this creek and the
neighbouring country, Capt Clark who was on shore gave me the following
discription “This creek I took to be a small river from it’s size, and the
quantity of water which it discharged. I ascended it 11/2 miles, and found
it the discharge of a pond or small lake, which had the appearance of
having formerly been the bed of the Missouri. several small streems
discharge themselves into this lake. the country on both sides consists of
beautifull level and elivated plains; asscending as they recede from the
Missouri; there were a great number of Swan and gees in this lake and near
it’s borders I saw the remains of 43 temperary Indian lodges, which I
presume were those of the Assinniboins who are now in the neighbourhood of
the British establishments on the Assinniboin river-” This lake and it’s
discharge we call Boos Egg from the circumstance of Capt Clark shooting a
goose while on her nest in the top of a lofty cotton wood tree, from which
we afterwards took one egg. the wild gees frequently build their nests in
this manner, at least we have already found several in trees, nor have we
as yet seen any on the ground, or sand bars where I had supposed from
previous information that they most commonly deposited their eggs.- saw
some Bufhaloe and Elk at a distance today but killed none of them. we
found a number of carcases of the Buffaloe lying along shore, which had
been drowned by falling through the ice in winter and lodged on shore by
the high water when the river broke up about the first of this month. we
saw also many tracks of the white bear of enormous size, along the river
shore and about the carcases of the Buffaloe, on which I presume they
feed. we have not as yet seen one of these anamals, tho their tracks are
so abundant and recent. the men as well as ourselves are anxious to meet
with some of these bear. the Indians give a very formidable account of the
strengh and ferocity of this anamal, which they never dare to attack but
in parties of six eight or ten persons; and are even then frequently
defeated with the loss of one or more of their party. the savages attack
this anamal with their bows and arrows and the indifferent guns with which
the traders furnish them, with these they shoot with such uncertainty and
at so short a distance, that they frequently mis their aim & fall a
sacrefice to the bear. two Minetaries were killed during the last winter
in an attack on a white bear. this anamall is said more frequently to
attack a man on meeting with him, than to flee from him. When the Indians
are about to go in quest of the white bear, previous to their departure,
they paint themselves and perform all those superstitious rights commonly
observed when they are about to make war uppon a neighbouring nation.
Oserved more bald eagles on this part of the Missouri than we have
previously seen saw the small hawk, frequently called the sparrow hawk,
which is common to most parts of the U States. great quantities of gees
are seen feeding in the praries. saw a large flock of white brant or gees
with black wings pass up the river; there were a number of gray brant with
them; from their flight I presume they proceed much further still to the
N. W.we have never been enabled yet to shoot one of these birds,
and cannot therefore determine whether the gray brant found with the white
are their brude of the last year or whether they are the same with the
grey brant common to the Mississippi and lower part of the Missouri.we
killed 2 Antelopes today which we found swiming from the S. to the N. side
of the river; they were very poor.We encamped this evening on the
Stard. shore in a beautiful) plain, elivated about 30 feet above the
river.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Saturday, April 13th. Being disappointed in my observations yesterday for longitude, I was unwilling to remain at the entrance of the river another day for that purpose, and therefore determined to set out early this morning, which we did accordingly. The wind was in our favor after 9 A.M. and continued favorable until 3 P.M. We therefore hoisted both the sails in the White Pirogue, consisting of a small square sail and spritsail, which carried her at a pretty good rate until about 2 in the afternoon, when a sudden squall of wind struck us and turned the pirogue so much on her side as to alarm Sharbono (Charbonneau), who was steering at the time. In this state of alarm he threw the pirogue with her side to the wind, when the spritsail jibing came as near oversetting the pirogue as it was possible to have missed. The wind however abating for an instant, I ordered Drewyer (Drouillard) to the helm and the sails to be taken in, which was instantly executed, and the pirogue, being steered before the wind, was again placed in a state of security. This accident came very near costing us dearly. Believing this vessel to be the most steady and safe, we had embarked on board of it our instruments, papers, medicine, and the most valuable part of the merchandise which we had still in reserve as presents for the Indians. We had also embarked on board ourselves, with three men who could not swim and the squaw with the young child, all of whom, had the pirogue overset, would most probably have perished, as the waves were high and the pirogue upwards of 200 yards from the nearest shore. However, we fortunately escaped and pursued our journey under the square sail, which shortly after the accident I directed to be again hoisted.
Our party caught three beaver last evening, and the French hunters 7. As there was much appearance of beaver just above the entrance of the Little Missouri, these hunters concluded to remain some days; we therefore left them without the expectation of seeing them again. Just above the entrance of the Little Missouri, the great Missouri is upwards of a mile in width, though immediately at the entrance of the former it is not more than 200 yards wide and so shallow that the canoes passed it with setting poles.
At the distance of nine miles, we passed the mouth of a creek on the starboard side which we called Onion Creek from the quantity of wild onions which grow in the plains on its borders. Capt. Clark, who was on shore, informed me that this creek was 16 yards wide a mile and a half above its entrance, discharges more water than creeks of its size usually do in this open country, and that there was not a stick of timber of any description to be seen on its borders or the level plain country through which it passes.
At the distance of 10 miles further, we passed the mouth of a large creek, discharging itself in the center of a deep bend. Of this creek and the neighboring country, Capt Clark, who was on shore, gave me the following description: "This creek I took to be a small river from its size and the quantity of water which it discharged. I ascended it 1½ miles and found it the discharge of a pond or small lake, which had the appearance of having formerly been the bed of the Missouri. Several small streams discharge themselves into this lake. The country on both sides consists of beautiful level and elevated plains, ascending as they recede from the Missouri. There were a great number of swan and geese in this lake, and near its borders I saw the remains of 43 temporary Indian lodges, which I presume were those of the Assiniboines, who are now in the neighborhood of the British establishments on the Assiniboine River." This lake and its discharge we call Goose Egg, from the circumstance of Capt Clark shooting a goose while on her nest in the top of a lofty cottonwood tree, from which we afterwards took one egg. The wild geese frequently build their nests in this manner; at least we have already found several in trees, nor have we as yet seen any on the ground or sandbars where I had supposed from previous information that they most commonly deposited their eggs.
Saw some buffalo and elk at a distance today but killed none of them. We found a number of carcasses of the buffalo lying along shore, which had been drowned by falling through the ice in winter and lodged on shore by the high water when the river broke up about the first of this month. We saw also many tracks of the white bear of enormous size, along the river shore and about the carcasses of the buffalo, on which I presume they feed. We have not as yet seen one of these animals, though their tracks are so abundant and recent. The men as well as ourselves are anxious to meet with some of these bear. The Indians give a very formidable account of the strength and ferocity of this animal, which they never dare to attack but in parties of six, eight, or ten persons, and are even then frequently defeated with the loss of one or more of their party. The savages attack this animal with their bows and arrows and the indifferent guns with which the traders furnish them. With these they shoot with such uncertainty and at so short a distance that they frequently miss their aim and fall a sacrifice to the bear. Two Minetarees (Hidatsas) were killed during the last winter in an attack on a white bear. This animal is said more frequently to attack a man on meeting with him than to flee from him. When the Indians are about to go in quest of the white bear, previous to their departure they paint themselves and perform all those superstitious rites commonly observed when they are about to make war upon a neighboring nation.
Observed more bald eagles on this part of the Missouri than we have previously seen. Saw the small hawk, frequently called the sparrow hawk, which is common to most parts of the U. States. Great quantities of geese are seen feeding in the prairies. Saw a large flock of white brant or geese with black wings pass up the river; there were a number of gray brant with them. From their flight I presume they proceed much further still to the N.W. We have never been enabled yet to shoot one of these birds, and cannot therefore determine whether the gray brant found with the white are their brood of the last year, or whether they are the same with the gray brant common to the Mississippi and lower part of the Missouri.
We killed 2 antelopes today which we found swimming from the S. to the N. side of the river; they were very poor. We camped this evening on the starboard shore in a beautiful plain, elevated about 30 feet above the river.
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.
