Lewis: July 3, 1805
At the Great Falls portage camp, the entire crew worked on multiple tasks: building a tar kiln, attaching skins to Lewis's experimental iron-frame boat, fitting bark lining, and hunting buffalo for pemmican and hides to cover baggage. Lewis worried the tar kiln was failing and that his sharp-edged needle had cut the skins during sewing, possibly ruining the boat. Hunters killed only one buffalo and two antelopes. A brief shower fell at 10 a.m. The Indians warned they would soon leave buffalo country, which Lewis regretted. The boat was nearly complete and looked unusually light.
Wednesday July 3rd 1805. This morning early we employed all hands; some
were making tar or attempting to make it, others were attatching the skins
on the boat, other cuting and fiting the bark for lining puting in the
woodworke &c some hunters were sent out to kill buffaloe in order to
make pemecon to take with us and also for their skins which we now want to
cover our baggage in the boat and canoes when we depart from hence. the
Indians have informed us that we should shortly leave the buffaloe country
after passing the falls; this I much regret for I know when we leave the
buffaloe that we shal sometimes be under the necessity of fasting
occasionally. and at all events the white puddings will be irretreivably
lost and Sharbono out of imployment. our tar-kiln which ought to have
began to run this morning has yealded no tar as yet and I am much affraid
will not yeald any, if so I fear the whole opperation of my boat will be
useless. I fear I have committed another blunder also in sewing the skins
with a nedle which has sharp edges these have cut the skin and as it drys
I discover that the throng dose not fill the holes as I expected tho I
made them sew with a large throng for that purpose. at 10 OCk A.M. we had
a slight shower which scarcely wet the grass. One buffaloe only and 2
Antelopes killed today six beaver and 2 otter have been killed within the
last three days. The current of the river looks so gentle and inviting
that the men all seem anxious to be moving upward as well as ourselves. we
have got the boat prety well forward today and think we shall be able to
complete her tomorrow except paying her, to do which will require some
little time to make her first perfectly dry. she has assumed her shape and
looks extreemly well. She will be very light, more so than any vessel of
her size that I ever saw.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Wednesday July 3rd 1805. Early this morning we put all hands to work; some were making tar, or attempting to make it; others were attaching the skins to the boat; others were cutting and fitting the bark for lining and putting in the woodwork, etc. Some hunters were sent out to kill buffalo in order to make pemmican to take with us, and also for their skins, which we now need to cover our baggage in the boat and canoes when we depart from here. The Indians have informed us that we should shortly leave the buffalo country after passing the falls. I much regret this, for I know that when we leave the buffalo we shall sometimes be under the necessity of fasting occasionally. And at all events the white puddings will be irretrievably lost, and Sharbono (Charbonneau) out of employment.
Our tar-kiln, which ought to have begun to run this morning, has yielded no tar as yet, and I am much afraid it will not yield any. If so, I fear the whole operation of my boat will be useless. I fear I have committed another blunder also in sewing the skins with a needle that has sharp edges; these have cut the skin, and as it dries I discover that the thong does not fill the holes as I expected, though I made them sew with a large thong for that purpose.
At 10 o'clock A.M. we had a slight shower which scarcely wet the grass. Only one buffalo and two antelopes were killed today. Six beaver and two otter have been killed within the last three days. The current of the river looks so gentle and inviting that the men all seem anxious to be moving upward, as do we ourselves. We have gotten the boat pretty well forward today, and think we shall be able to complete her tomorrow except for paying her, which will require some little time in order to make her first perfectly dry. She has assumed her shape and looks extremely well. She will be very light, more so than any vessel of her size that I ever saw.
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.
