Lewis: July 29, 1805
At their camp, hunters brought in four fat bucks of long-tailed red deer, along with a young sandhill crane caught in the meadows, which Lewis observed before releasing. The men spent the day dressing skins and sewing leather garments. Lewis noted local wildlife, including abundant fish, kingfishers, mallards with young, grasshoppers, crickets, and large red-and-black ants that build small gravel pyramids. Captain Clark was improving, free of fever though still sore and weak; Lewis convinced him to take bark medicine and eat venison.
Monday July 29th 1805. This morning some of the hunters turned out and
returned in a few hours with four fat bucks, the venison is now very fine
we have killed no mule deer since we lay here, they are all of the
longtailed red deer which appear quite as large as those of the United
States. the hunters brought in a living young sandhill crane it has nearly
obtained it’s growth but cannot fly; they had pursued it and caught it in
the meadows. it’s colour is precisely that of the red deer. we see a
number of the old or full grown crams of this species feeding in these
meadows. this young animal is very ferce and strikes a severe blow with
his beak; after amusing myself with it I had it set at liberty and it
moved off apparently much pleased with being releived from his captivity.
the men have been busily engaged all day in dising skins and making them
into various garments all are leather dressers and taylors. we see a great
abundance of fish in the stream some of which we take to be trout but they
will not bite at any bate we can offer them. the King fisher is common on
the river since we have left the falls of the Missouri. we have not seen
the summer duck since we left that place, nor do I beleive that it is an
inhabitant of the Rocky mountains. the Duckanmallard were first seen with
their young on the 20th inst. and I forgot to note it; they are now
abundant with their young but do not breed in the missouri below the
mountains. the grasshopers and crickets are abundant in the plains as are
also the small birds frequently mentioned. there is also in these plains a
large ant with a redish brown body and legs, and a black head and abdomen;
they construct little perimids of small gravel in a conic shape, about 10
or 12 inches high without a mixture of sticks and with but little earth.
Capt. Clark is much better today, is perfectly clear of fever but still
very languid and complains of a general soarness in all his limbs. I
prevailed on him to take the barks which he has done and eate tolerably
freely of our good venison.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Monday July 29th 1805. This morning some of the hunters set out and returned in a few hours with four fat bucks. The venison is now very fine. We have killed no mule deer since we have been here; they are all of the long-tailed red deer, which appear quite as large as those of the United States. The hunters brought in a living young sandhill crane. It has nearly obtained its full growth but cannot yet fly; they had pursued it and caught it in the meadows. Its color is precisely that of the red deer. We see a number of the old or full-grown cranes of this species feeding in these meadows. This young animal is very fierce and strikes a severe blow with its beak. After amusing myself with it, I had it set at liberty, and it moved off apparently much pleased at being relieved from its captivity.
The men have been busily engaged all day in dressing skins and making them into various garments; all are leather-dressers and tailors. We see a great abundance of fish in the stream, some of which we take to be trout, but they will not bite at any bait we can offer them. The kingfisher is common on the river since we have left the falls of the Missouri. We have not seen the summer duck since we left that place, nor do I believe that it is an inhabitant of the Rocky Mountains. The duckinmallard were first seen with their young on the 20th inst., and I forgot to note it; they are now abundant with their young but do not breed in the Missouri below the mountains. The grasshoppers and crickets are abundant in the plains, as are also the small birds frequently mentioned. There is also in these plains a large ant with a reddish-brown body and legs and a black head and abdomen; they construct little pyramids of small gravel in a conic shape, about 10 or 12 inches high, without a mixture of sticks and with but little earth.
Capt. Clark (Capt. Clark) is much better today, is perfectly clear of fever, but still very languid, and complains of a general soreness in all his limbs. I prevailed on him to take the barks, which he has done, and he ate tolerably freely of our good venison.
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