Lewis: April 9, 1805
The expedition departed at dawn and traveled roughly 23 miles up the Missouri before camping on the north side. The Indian man who had agreed to guide them to the Snake Indians changed his mind and returned to his village. Lewis observed white brant mixed with the common gray, and Clark spotted a small burrowing animal resembling a miniature ground squirrel. They passed clay-and-sand bluffs containing carbonized wood layers, pumice, and lava. Sacagawea dug up wild artichoke roots from mouse caches. They also passed a Minetare wintering camp, Miry Creek, and a Minetare antelope-hunting camp.
Tuesday April 9th Set out as early as it was possible to see this morning
and proceed about five miles where we halted and took beakfasthe
Indian man who had promised us to accompany us as far as the Snake
Indians, now informed us of his intention to relinquish the journey, and
accordingly returned to his village. we saw a great number of brant
passing up the river, some of them were white, except the large feathers
in the first and second joint of the wing which are black. there is no
other difference between them and the common gray brant but that of their
colourtheir note and habits are the same, and they are freequently
seen to associate together. I have not yet positively determined whether
they are the same, or a different species.Capt Clark walked on
shore to-day and informed me on his return, that passing through the
prarie he had seen an anamal that precisely resembled the burrowing
squrril, accept in point of size, it being only about one third as large
as the squirrel, and that it also burrows. I have observed in many parts
of the plains and praries the work of an anamal of which I could never
obtain a view. their work resembles that of the salamander common to the
sand hills of the States of South Carolina and Georgia; and like that
anamal also it never appears above the ground. the little hillocks which
are thrown up by these anamals have much the appearance of ten or twelve
pounds of loose earth poared out of a vessel on the surface of the plain.
in the state they leave them you can discover no whole through which they
throw out this earth; but by removing the loose earth gently you may
discover that the soil has been broken in a circle manner for about an
inch and a half in diameter, where it appears looser than the adjacent
surface, and is certainly the place through which the earth has been
thrown out, tho the operation is performed without leaving any visible
aperture.the Bluffs of the river which we passed today were upwards
of a hundred feet high, formed of a mixture of yellow clay and sandmany
horizontal stratas of carbonated wood, having every appearance of pitcoal
at a distance; were seen in the the face of these bluffs. these stratas
are of unequal thicknesses from I to 5 feet, and appear at different
elivations above the water some of them as much as eighty feet. the hills
of the river are very broken and many of them have the apearance of having
been on fire at some former period. considerable quantities of pumice
stone and lava appear in many parts of these hills where they are broken
and washed down by the rain and melting snow. when we halted for dinner
the squaw busied herself in serching for the wild artichokes which the
mice collect and deposit in large hoards. this operation she performed by
penetrating the earth with a sharp stick about some small collections of
drift wood. her labour soon proved successful, and she procurrd a good
quantity of these roots. the flavor of this root resembles that of the
Jerusalem Artichoke, and the stalk of the weed which produces it is also
similar, tho both the root and stalk are much smaller than the Jarusalem
Artichoke. the root is white and of an ovate form, from one to three
inches in length and usually about the size of a man’s finger. one stalk
produces from two to four, and somitimes six of these roots.
at the distance of 6 miles passed a large wintering or hunting camp of the
Minetares on the Stard. side. these lodges about thirty in number are
built of earth and timber in their usual stile. 21/4 miles higher we
passed the entrance of Miry Creek, which discharges itself on the Stard.
side. this creek is but small, takes it’s rise in some small lakes near
the Mouse river and passes in it’s course to the Missouri, through
beatifull, level, and fertile plains, intirely destitute of timber.Three
miles above the mouth of this creek we passed a hunting camp of Minetares
who had prepared a park and were wating the return of the Antelope; which
usually pass the Missouri at this season of the year from the Black hills
on the South side, to the open plains on the north side of the river; in
like manner the Antelope repasses the Missouri from N. to South in the
latter end of Autumn, and winter in the black hills, where there is
considerable bodies of woodland. we proceed on 111/2 miles further and
encamped on the N. side in a most beatifull high extensive open bottom
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Tuesday, April 9th. We set out as early as it was possible to see this morning, and proceeded about five miles, where we halted and took breakfast. The Indian man who had promised to accompany us as far as the Snake Indians now informed us of his intention to give up the journey, and accordingly returned to his village. We saw a great number of brant passing up the river. Some of them were white, except for the large feathers in the first and second joint of the wing, which are black. There is no other difference between them and the common gray brant but that of their color. Their note and habits are the same, and they are frequently seen to associate together. I have not yet positively determined whether they are the same species or a different one.
Capt Clark (Capt. Clark) walked on shore today and informed me on his return that, passing through the prairie, he had seen an animal that precisely resembled the burrowing squirrel, except in point of size, being only about one third as large as the squirrel, and that it also burrows. I have observed in many parts of the plains and prairies the work of an animal of which I could never obtain a view. Their work resembles that of the salamander common to the sand hills of the States of South Carolina and Georgia, and like that animal it also never appears above the ground. The little hillocks thrown up by these animals look much like ten or twelve pounds of loose earth poured out of a vessel onto the surface of the plain. In the state they leave them, you can discover no hole through which they throw out this earth; but by removing the loose earth gently, you may discover that the soil has been broken in a circular manner for about an inch and a half in diameter, where it appears looser than the adjacent surface, and is certainly the place through which the earth has been thrown out, though the operation is performed without leaving any visible opening.
The bluffs of the river that we passed today were upwards of a hundred feet high, formed of a mixture of yellow clay and sand. Many horizontal strata of carbonated wood, having every appearance of pit coal at a distance, were seen in the face of these bluffs. These strata are of unequal thicknesses, from one to five feet, and appear at different elevations above the water, some of them as much as eighty feet. The hills along the river are very broken, and many of them have the appearance of having been on fire at some former period. Considerable quantities of pumice stone and lava appear in many parts of these hills where they are broken and washed down by the rain and melting snow.
When we halted for dinner, the squaw busied herself in searching for the wild artichokes which the mice collect and deposit in large hoards. She performed this task by penetrating the earth with a sharp stick about some small collections of driftwood. Her labor soon proved successful, and she procured a good quantity of these roots. The flavor of this root resembles that of the Jerusalem artichoke, and the stalk of the weed which produces it is also similar, though both the root and stalk are much smaller than the Jerusalem artichoke. The root is white and of an oval form, from one to three inches in length, and usually about the size of a man's finger. One stalk produces from two to four, and sometimes six, of these roots.
At the distance of six miles, we passed a large wintering or hunting camp of the Minetares on the starboard side. These lodges, about thirty in number, are built of earth and timber in their usual style. Two and a quarter miles higher, we passed the entrance of Miry Creek, which empties on the starboard side. This creek is small, takes its rise in some small lakes near the Mouse River, and passes in its course to the Missouri through beautiful, level, and fertile plains, entirely destitute of timber.
Three miles above the mouth of this creek, we passed a hunting camp of Minetares who had prepared a park and were waiting for the return of the antelope, which usually pass the Missouri at this season of the year from the Black Hills on the south side to the open plains on the north side of the river. In the same manner, the antelope recross the Missouri from north to south in the latter end of autumn, and winter in the Black Hills, where there are considerable bodies of woodland. We proceeded eleven and a half miles further and camped on the north side in a most beautiful, high, extensive, open bottom.
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