Lewis: April 20, 1805
With winds calmer than the previous day, the expedition set out before seven. Lewis walked the north shore through fertile cottonwood bottoms, killing two deer and noting abundant vegetation. He examined an Indian burial scaffold holding dog sleds, a wrapped body, and personal items, and reflected on the Assiniboine, Mandan, and Hidatsa custom of sacrificing horses and dogs for the dead. Strong winds soon forced a halt; Clark reported a caving bank nearly swamped a canoe. Hunters brought in elk, geese, and deer, six beavers were caught, and the party camped on the starboard side.
Saturday April 20th 1805. The wind continued to blow tolerably hard this
morning but by no means as violently as it (lid yesterday; we determined
to set out and accordingly departed a little before seven. I walked on
shore on the N. side of the river, and Capt Clark proceeded with the
party. the river bottoms through which I passed about seven miles were
fertil and well covered with Cottonwood some Box alder, ash and red Elm.
the under brush, willow, rose bushes Honeysuccle, red willow, goosbury,
currant and servicebury & in the open grounds along the foot of the
river hills immence quantities of the hisop. in the course of my walk I
killed two deer, wounded an Elk and a deer; saw the remains of some Indian
hunting camps, near which stood a small scaffold of about 7 feet high on
which were deposited two doog slays with their harnis. underneath this
scaffold a human body was lying, well rolled in several dressed buffaloe
skins and near it a bag of the same materials containg sundry articles
belonging to the disceased; consisting of a pare of mockersons, some red
and blue earth, beaver’s nails, instruments for dressing the Buffalo skin,
some dryed roots, several platts of the sweet grass, and a small quantity
of Mandan tobacco.I presume that the body, as well as the bag
containing these articles, had formerly been placed on the scaffold as is
the custom of these people, but had fallen down by accedent. near the
scaffold I saw the carcase of a large dog not yet decayed, which I
supposed had been killed at the time the human body was left on the
scaffold; this was no doubt the reward, which the poor doog had met with
for performing the ____-friendly office to his mistres of transporting her
corps to the place of deposit. it is customary with the Assinniboins,
Mandans, Minetares &c who scaffold their dead, to sacrefice the
favorite horses and doggs of their disceased relations, with a view of
their being servicable to them in the land of sperits. I have never heard
of any instances of human sacrefices on those occasions among them.
The wind blew so hard that I concluded it was impossible fror the perogues
and canoes to proceed and therefore returned and joined them about three
in the evening. Capt. Clark informed me that soon after seting out, a part
of the bank of the river fell in near one of the canoes and had very
nearly filled her with water. that the wind became so hard and the waves
so high that it was with infinite risk he had been able to get as far as
his present station. the white perrogue and several of the canoes had
shiped water several times but happily our stores were but little injured;
those which were wet we put out to dry and determined to remain untill the
next morning. we sent out four hunters who soon added 3 Elk 4 gees and 2
deer to our stock of provisions. the party caught six beaver today which
were large and in fine order. the Buffaloe, Elk and deer are poor at this
season, and of tours are not very palitable, however our good health and
apetites make up every necessary deficiency, and we eat very heartily of
them.- encamped on Stard side; under a high well timbered bank.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Saturday April 20th 1805. The wind continued to blow fairly hard this morning, but by no means as violently as it did yesterday. We determined to set out, and accordingly departed a little before seven. I walked on shore on the north side of the river, and Capt Clark (Capt. Clark) proceeded with the party. The river bottoms through which I passed for about seven miles were fertile and well covered with cottonwood, some box elder, ash, and red elm. The underbrush was willow, rose bushes, honeysuckle, red willow, gooseberry, currant, and serviceberry; and in the open grounds along the foot of the river hills there were immense quantities of hyssop. In the course of my walk I killed two deer, and wounded an elk and a deer. I saw the remains of some Indian hunting camps, near which stood a small scaffold about 7 feet high, on which were deposited two dog sleds with their harness. Underneath this scaffold a human body was lying, well rolled in several dressed buffalo skins, and near it a bag of the same materials containing various articles belonging to the deceased: a pair of moccasins, some red and blue earth, beaver's nails, instruments for dressing buffalo skin, some dried roots, several plaits of sweet grass, and a small quantity of Mandan tobacco. I presume that the body, as well as the bag containing these articles, had formerly been placed on the scaffold, as is the custom of these people, but had fallen down by accident. Near the scaffold I saw the carcass of a large dog, not yet decayed, which I supposed had been killed at the time the human body was left on the scaffold. This was no doubt the reward which the poor dog had met with for performing the ____-friendly office to his mistress of transporting her corpse to the place of deposit. It is customary with the Assiniboines, Mandans, Minetares, etc., who scaffold their dead, to sacrifice the favorite horses and dogs of their deceased relations, with a view of their being serviceable to them in the land of spirits. I have never heard of any instances of human sacrifices on those occasions among them.
The wind blew so hard that I concluded it was impossible for the pirogues and canoes to proceed, and therefore I returned and joined them about three in the evening. Capt. Clark informed me that soon after setting out, a part of the bank of the river fell in near one of the canoes and had very nearly filled her with water; that the wind became so hard and the waves so high that it was with infinite risk that he had been able to get as far as his present station. The white pirogue and several of the canoes had shipped water several times, but happily our stores were only slightly damaged. Those which were wet we put out to dry, and we decided to remain until the next morning. We sent out four hunters, who soon added 3 elk, 4 geese, and 2 deer to our stock of provisions. The party caught six beaver today, which were large and in fine order. The buffalo, elk, and deer are poor at this season, and of course are not very palatable; however, our good health and appetites make up for every necessary deficiency, and we eat very heartily of them. Camped on the starboard side, under a high, well-timbered bank.
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.
