Lewis: January 18, 1806
At Fort Clatsop, two Clatsop visitors from the previous day briefly returned to retrieve a dog they had left behind, then departed. Nothing else of note occurred. The men continued dressing skins to make clothing for the upcoming journey home. Lewis devoted most of the entry to a detailed description of how the Clatsop, Chinook, and neighboring tribes build their plank houses, covering dimensions, post-and-beam construction, cedar-bark fastenings, sunken floors, central fire pits, sleeping mats, interior shelving, and the racks where fish and elk meat are smoked over the fire.
Sunday January 18th 1806. Two of the Clatsops who were here yesterday
returned today for a dog they had left; they remained with us a few hours
and departed. no further occurrence worthy of relation took place. the men
are still much engaged in dressing skins in order to cloath themselves and
prepare for our homeward journey. The Clatsops Chinnooks &c construct
their houses of timber altogether. they are from 14 to 20 feet wide and
from 20 to 60 feet in length, and acommodate one or more families
sometimes three or four families reside in the same room. thes houses are
also divided by a partition of boards, but this happens only in the
largest houses as the rooms are always large compared with the number of
inhabitants. these houses are constructed in the following manner; two or
more posts of split timber agreeably to the number of divisions or
partitions are furst provided, these are sunk in the ground at one end and
rise perpendicularly to the hight of 14 or 18 feet, the tops of them are
hollowed in such manner as to receive the ends of a round beam of timber
which reaches from one to the other, most commonly the whole length of the
building, and forming the upper part of the roof; two other sets of posts
and poles are now placed at proper distances on either side of the first,
formed in a similar manner and parrallel to it; these last rise to the
intended hight of the eves, which is usually about 5 feet. smaller sticks
of timber are now provided and are placed by pares in the form of rafters,
resting on, and reaching from the lower to the upper horizontal beam, to
both of which they are attatched at either end with the cedar bark; two or
three ranges of small poles are now placed horizontally on these rafters
on each side of the roof and are secured likewise with strings of the
Cedar bark. the ends sides and partitions are then formed with one range
of wide boards of abut two inches thick, which are sunk in the ground a
small distance at their lower ends and stand erect with their upper ends
Taping on the outside of the eve poles and end rafters to which they are
secured by an outer pole lying parallel with the eve poles and rafters
being secured to them by chords of cedar bark which pass through wholes
made in the boards at certain distances for that purpose; the rough roof
is then covered with a double range of thin boards, and an aperture of 2
by 3 feet left in the center of the roof to permit the smoke to pass.
these houses are sometimes sunk to the debth of 4 or 5 feet in which cace
the eve of the house comes nearly to the surface of the earth. in the
center of each room a space of six by eight feet square is sunk about
twelve inches lower than the floor having it’s sides secured with four
sticks of squar timber, in this space they make their fire, their fuel
being generally pine bark. mats are spread arround the fire on all sides,
on these they set in the day and frequently sleep at night. on the inner
side of the hose on two sides and sometimes on three, there is a range of
upright peices about 4 feet removed from the wall; these are also sunk in
the ground at their lower ends, and secured at top to the rafters, from
these other peices ar extended horizontally to the wall and are secured in
the usual method by bark to the upright peices which support the eve
poles. on these short horizontal pieces of which there are sometimes two
ranges one above the other, boards are laid, which either form ther beads,
or shelves on which to put their goods and chattles of almost every
discription. their uncured fish is hung on sticks in the smoke of their
fires as is also the flesh of the Elk when they happen to be fortunate
enough to procure it which is but seldom.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Sunday, January 18th, 1806. Two of the Clatsops who were here yesterday returned today for a dog they had left. They remained with us a few hours and then departed. No further occurrence worthy of mention took place. The men are still much engaged in dressing skins in order to clothe themselves and prepare for our homeward journey.
The Clatsops, Chinooks, etc. construct their houses entirely of timber. They are from 14 to 20 feet wide and from 20 to 60 feet in length, and accommodate one or more families—sometimes three or four families reside in the same room. These houses are also divided by a partition of boards, but this happens only in the largest houses, as the rooms are always large compared with the number of inhabitants.
These houses are constructed in the following manner. Two or more posts of split timber, according to the number of divisions or partitions, are first provided. These are sunk in the ground at one end and rise perpendicularly to a height of 14 or 18 feet. The tops of them are hollowed in such a manner as to receive the ends of a round beam of timber which reaches from one to the other, most commonly the whole length of the building, and forms the upper part of the roof. Two other sets of posts and poles are then placed at proper distances on either side of the first, formed in a similar manner and parallel to it. These last rise to the intended height of the eaves, which is usually about 5 feet. Smaller sticks of timber are then provided and placed in pairs in the form of rafters, resting on and reaching from the lower to the upper horizontal beam, to both of which they are attached at either end with cedar bark. Two or three ranges of small poles are then placed horizontally on these rafters on each side of the roof and are likewise secured with strings of cedar bark.
The ends, sides, and partitions are then formed with one range of wide boards about two inches thick, which are sunk a short distance into the ground at their lower ends and stand erect with their upper ends tapering on the outside of the eave poles and end rafters, to which they are secured by an outer pole lying parallel with the eave poles and rafters, being secured to them by cords of cedar bark that pass through holes made in the boards at certain distances for that purpose. The rough roof is then covered with a double range of thin boards, and an aperture of 2 by 3 feet is left in the center of the roof to allow the smoke to pass. These houses are sometimes sunk to a depth of 4 or 5 feet, in which case the eaves of the house come nearly to the surface of the earth.
In the center of each room a space of six by eight feet square is sunk about twelve inches lower than the floor, having its sides secured with four sticks of squared timber. In this space they make their fire, their fuel being generally pine bark. Mats are spread around the fire on all sides; on these they sit during the day and frequently sleep at night. On the inner side of the house, on two sides and sometimes on three, there is a range of upright pieces about 4 feet removed from the wall. These are also sunk in the ground at their lower ends and secured at the top to the rafters. From these, other pieces are extended horizontally to the wall and are secured in the usual manner with bark to the upright pieces which support the eave poles. On these short horizontal pieces—of which there are sometimes two ranges, one above the other—boards are laid, which form either their beds or shelves on which to put their goods and possessions of almost every description. Their uncured fish is hung on sticks in the smoke of their fires, as is also the flesh of the elk when they happen to be fortunate enough to procure it, which is but seldom.
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