Lewis: July 1, 1805
At camp on a warm, mosquito-filled day, Lewis assigned crew members to various tasks preparing his experimental iron-frame boat: Frazier and Whitehouse sewed leather sections, Shields and J. Fields prepared a tar pit, and Gass shaped willow way strips. Lewis and Drouillard finished rendering about 100 pounds of tallow. Captain Clark arrived at 3 P.M. with the exhausted party and most of the baggage, leaving some cached six miles back. Lewis gave the men a dram to rest. With bears prowling nightly, he resolved to hunt them out the next day.
Monday July 1st 1805. This morning I set Frazier and Whitehouse to sewing
the leather on the sides of the sections of the boat; Shields and J.
Fields to collect and split light wood and prepare a pit to make tar. Gas
I set at work to make the way strips out of some willow limbs which tho
indifferent were the best which could be obtained. Drewyer and myself
completed the opperation of rendering the tallow; we obtained about 100
lbs. by evening the skins were all attatched to their sections and I
returned them again to the water. all matters were now in readiness to
commence the opperation of puting the parts of the boat together in the
morning. the way strips are not yet ready but will be done in time as I
have obtained the necessary timber. the difficulty in obtaining the
necessary materials has retarded my operations in forming this boat
extreemly tedious and troublesome; and as it was a novel peice of
machinism to all who were employed my constant attention was necessary to
every part of the work; this together with the duties of cheif cook has
kept me pretty well employed. at 3 P.M. Capt. Clark arrived with the party
all very much fortiegued. he brought with him all the baggage except what
he had deposited yesterday at the six mile stake, for which the party were
too much fortiegued to return this evening. we gave them a dram and
suffered them to rest from their labours this evening. I directed Bratton
to assist in making the tar tomorrow, and scelected several others to
assist in puting the boat together. the day has been warm and the
Musquetoes troublesome of course the bear were about our camp all last
night, we have therefore determined to beat up their quarters tomorrow,
and kill them or drive them from their haunts about this place.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Monday, July 1st, 1805. This morning I set Frazier and Whitehouse to sewing the leather on the sides of the sections of the boat; Shields and J. Fields to collect and split light wood and prepare a pit to make tar. Gass I set at work to make the way strips out of some willow limbs which, though poor quality, were the best which could be obtained. Drouillard and myself completed the operation of rendering the tallow; we obtained about 100 lbs. By evening the skins were all attached to their sections and I returned them again to the water. All matters were now in readiness to commence the operation of putting the parts of the boat together in the morning. The way strips are not yet ready but will be done in time, as I have obtained the necessary timber. The difficulty in obtaining the necessary materials has made my work in forming this boat extremely tedious and troublesome; and as it was a novel piece of machinery to all who were employed, my constant attention was necessary to every part of the work. This, together with the duties of chief cook, has kept me pretty well employed.
At 3 P.M. Capt. Clark arrived with the party, all very much fatigued. He brought with him all the baggage except what he had deposited yesterday at the six-mile stake, for which the party were too much fatigued to return this evening. We gave them a dram and allowed them to rest from their labors this evening. I directed Bratton to assist in making the tar tomorrow, and selected several others to assist in putting the boat together. The day has been warm and the mosquitoes troublesome. Of course the bears were about our camp all last night; we have therefore determined to beat up their quarters tomorrow, and kill them or drive them from their haunts about this place.
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