Lewis: June 18, 1805
At the portage camp, the crew hauled the pirogue ashore, hid it among willows, and began building a cache to store supplies. Goods, ammunition, and provisions were aired and repacked, while the iron boat frame was inspected and found nearly complete. Hunters brought in ten deer and two buffalo, though no elk, raising concerns about hide supplies for the boat. The wagons were finished. Sacagawea continued recovering well, walking out for the first time. Strong winds swept the treeless plains. Lewis also described local gooseberries, grasshoppers, and short prairie grasses.
Tuesday June 18th 1805. This morning I employed all hands in drawing the
perogue on shore in a thick bunch of willow bushes some little distance
below our camp; fastened her securely, drove out the plugs of the gage
holes of her bottom and covered her with bushes and driftwood to shelter
her from the sun. I now scelected a place for a cash and set tree men at
work to complete it, and employed all others except those about the
waggons, in overhawling airing and repacking our indian goods ammunition,
provision and stores of every discription which required inspection.
examined the frame of my Iron boat and found all the parts complete except
one screw, which the ingenuity of Sheilds can readily replace, a resource
which we have very frequent occasion for. about 12 O’Clk. the hunters
returned; they had killed 10 deer but no Elk. I begin to fear that we
shall have some difficulty in procuring skins for the boat. I wold prefer
those of the Elk because I beleive them more durable and strong than those
of the Buffaloe, and that they will not shrink so much in drying. we saw a
herd of buffaloe come down to water at the sulpher spring this evening, I
dispatched some hunters to kill some of them, and a man also for a cask of
mineral water. the hunters soon killed two of them in fine order and
returned with a good quantity of the flesh, having left the remainder in a
situation that it will not spoil provided the wolves do not visit it. The
waggons are completed this evening, and appear as if they would answer the
purpose very well if the axetrees prove sufficiently strong. the wind blew
violently this evening, as they frequently do in this open country where
there is not a tree to brake or oppose their force. The Indian woman is
recovering fast she set up the greater part of the day and walked out for
the fist time since she arrived here; she eats hartily and is free from
fever or pain. I continue same course of medecine and regimen except that
I added one doze of 15 drops of the oil of vitriol today about noon.
There is a species of goosberry which grows very common about here in open
situations among the rocks on the sides of the clifts. they are now ripe
of a pale red colour, about the size of a common goosberry. and like it is
an ovate pericarp of soft pulp invelloping a number of smal whitish
coloured seeds; the pulp is a yelloish slimy muselaginous substance of a
sweetish and pinelike tast, not agreeable to me. the surface of the berry
is covered with a glutinous adhesive matter, and the frut altho ripe
retains it’s withered corollar. this shrub seldom rises more than two feet
high and is much branched, the leaves resemble those of the common
goosberry only not so large; it has no thorns. the berry is supported by
seperate peduncles or footstalks of half an inch in length. immence
quantities of small grasshoppers of a brown colour in the plains, they no
doubt contribute much to keep the grass as low as we find it which is not
generally more than three inches, the grass is a narrow leaf, soft, and
affords a fine pasture for the Buffaloe.-
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Tuesday June 18th 1805. This morning I had all hands working to drag the pirogue ashore into a thick clump of willow bushes a little distance below our camp. We fastened her securely, drove out the plugs of the gauge holes in her bottom, and covered her with bushes and driftwood to shelter her from the sun. I then selected a place for a cache and set three men to work completing it, and employed all the others, except those working on the wagons, in overhauling, airing, and repacking our Indian goods, ammunition, provisions, and stores of every description that required inspection. I examined the frame of my iron boat and found all the parts complete except one screw, which the ingenuity of Sheilds (Shields) can readily replace—a resource we have very frequent occasion to use. About 12 o'clock the hunters returned; they had killed 10 deer but no elk. I begin to fear that we shall have some difficulty in obtaining skins for the boat. I would prefer those of elk because I believe them more durable and strong than those of buffalo, and that they will not shrink so much in drying. We saw a herd of buffalo come down to water at the sulphur spring this evening. I sent some hunters to kill some of them, and a man also for a cask of mineral water. The hunters soon killed two of them in fine condition and returned with a good quantity of the flesh, having left the remainder in a situation where it will not spoil, provided the wolves do not visit it. The wagons are completed this evening, and appear as if they will answer the purpose very well if the axletrees prove sufficiently strong. The wind blew violently this evening, as it frequently does in this open country, where there is not a tree to break or oppose its force. The Indian woman is recovering fast; she sat up the greater part of the day and walked out for the first time since she arrived here. She eats heartily and is free from fever or pain. I continue the same course of medicine and regimen, except that I added one dose of 15 drops of the oil of vitriol today about noon.
There is a species of gooseberry that grows very commonly around here in open situations among the rocks on the sides of the cliffs. They are now ripe, of a pale red color, and about the size of a common gooseberry. Like the common gooseberry, it has an ovate pericarp of soft pulp enveloping a number of small whitish-colored seeds; the pulp is a yellowish, slimy, mucilaginous substance with a sweetish, pine-like taste, not agreeable to me. The surface of the berry is covered with a glutinous, adhesive matter, and the fruit, although ripe, retains its withered corolla. This shrub seldom rises more than two feet high and is much branched. The leaves resemble those of the common gooseberry, only not so large; it has no thorns. The berry is supported by separate peduncles, or footstalks, half an inch in length. There are immense quantities of small brown grasshoppers in the plains; they no doubt contribute much to keeping the grass as low as we find it, which is generally not more than three inches. The grass has a narrow leaf, is soft, and provides fine pasture for the buffalo.
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.
