Lewis: June 26, 1805
At the upper camp near the White Bear Islands, Lewis battled mosquitoes while organizing work on the iron-frame boat. He sent Fields and Drouillard to hunt elk, Frazier to sew skins, and Shields and Gass across the river for timber and bark, while he cooked buffalo meat and suet dumplings. Cottonwood bark proved too brittle, leaving willow as the best option. Shields and Gass killed seven buffalo. When Whitehouse fell ill after gulping water, Lewis bled him with a penknife. At the lower camp, Clark dispatched canoes upriver, rendered tallow, and cached supplies including Lewis's desk and the swivel gun.
Wednesday June 26th 1805. The Musquetoes are extreemly troublesome to us.
This morning early I dispatched J. Fields and Drewyer in one of the canoes
up the river to hunt Elk. set Frazier at work to sew the skins together
for the covering of the boat. Sheilds and Gas I sent over the river to
lurch a small timbered bottom on that side opposite to the Islands for
timber and bark; and to myself I assign the duty of cook as well for those
present as for the party which I expect again to arrive this evening from
the lower camp. I collected my wood and water, boiled a large quantity of
excellent dryed buffaloe meat and made each man a large suet dumpling by
way of a treat. about 4 P.M. Shields and Gass returned with a better
supply of timber than they had yet collected tho not by any means enough.
they brought some bark principally of the Cottonwood which I found was too
brittle and soft for the purpose; for this article I find my only
dependence is the sweet willow which has a tough & strong bark.
Shields and Gass had killed seven buffaloe in their absence the skins of
which and a part of the best of the meat they brought with them. if I
cannot procure a sufficient quantity of Elk’s skins I shall substitute
those of the buffaloe. late in the evening the party arrived with two more
canoes and another portion of the baggage. Whitehouse one of them much
heated and fortiegued on his arrivall dank a very hearty draught of water
and was taken almost instanly extreemly ill. his pulse were very full and
I therefore bled him plentifully from which he felt great relief. I had no
other instrument with which to perform this opperation but my pen knife,
however it answered very well. the wind being from S. E today and
favourable the men made considerable progress by means of their sails.
At the lower Camp. The party set out very early from this place, and took
with them two canoes and a second alotment of baggage consisting of
Parched meal, Pork, powder lead axes, tools, bisquit, portable soupe, some
merchandize and cloathing. Capt. C. gave Sergt. Pryor a doze of salts this
morning and employed Sharbono in rendering the buffaloe tallow which had
been collected there, he obtained a sufficient quantity to fill three
empty kegs. Capt. C. also scelected the articles to be deposited in the
cash consisting of my desk which I had left for that purpose and in which
I had left some books, my specimens of plants minerals &c. collected
from fort Mandan to that place. also 2 Kegs of Pork, 1/2 a Keg of flour 2
blunderbushes, 1/2 a keg of fixed ammunition and some other small articles
belonging to the party which could be dispenced with. deposited the swivel
and carriage under the rocks a little above the camp near the river. great
numbers of buffaloe still continue to water daily opposite the camp. The
antelopes still continue scattered and seperate in the plains. the females
with their young only of which they generally have two, and the males
alone. Capt. Clarke measured the rout from the Camp at the Whitebear
Islands to the lower camp which is as follows.-
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Wednesday, June 26th, 1805. The mosquitoes are extremely troublesome to us. Early this morning I dispatched J. Fields and Drewyer (Drouillard) in one of the canoes up the river to hunt elk. I set Frazier to work sewing the skins together for the covering of the boat. I sent Sheilds (Shields) and Gas (Gass) across the river to search a small timbered bottom on the side opposite the islands for timber and bark; and I assigned myself the duty of cook, both for those present and for the party which I expect to arrive again this evening from the lower camp. I collected my wood and water, boiled a large quantity of excellent dried buffalo meat, and made each man a large suet dumpling as a treat. About 4 P.M. Shields and Gass returned with a better supply of timber than they had yet collected, though by no means enough. They brought some bark, principally cottonwood, which I found was too brittle and soft for the purpose; for this article my only dependence is the sweet willow, which has a tough and strong bark. Shields and Gass had killed seven buffalo in their absence, the skins of which, and a part of the best of the meat, they brought with them. If I cannot procure a sufficient quantity of elk skins, I shall substitute those of the buffalo. Late in the evening the party arrived with two more canoes and another portion of the baggage. Whitehouse, one of them, was much heated and fatigued on his arrival; he drank a very hearty draught of water and was taken almost instantly extremely ill. His pulse was very full, and I therefore bled him plentifully, from which he felt great relief. I had no other instrument with which to perform this operation but my pen knife, however it answered very well. The wind being from the S.E. today and favorable, the men made considerable progress by means of their sails.
At the lower camp. The party set out very early from this place and took with them two canoes and a second allotment of baggage, consisting of parched meal, pork, powder, lead, axes, tools, biscuit, portable soup, some merchandise, and clothing. Capt. C. (Capt. Clark) gave Sergt. Pryor a dose of salts this morning and employed Sharbono (Charbonneau) in rendering the buffalo tallow which had been collected there; he obtained a sufficient quantity to fill three empty kegs. Capt. C. also selected the articles to be deposited in the cache, consisting of my desk, which I had left for that purpose and in which I had left some books, my specimens of plants, minerals, etc., collected from Fort Mandan to that place; also 2 kegs of pork, 1/2 a keg of flour, 2 blunderbusses, 1/2 a keg of fixed ammunition, and some other small articles belonging to the party which could be dispensed with. They deposited the swivel and carriage under the rocks a little above the camp near the river. Great numbers of buffalo still continue to water daily opposite the camp. The antelopes still continue scattered and separate in the plains, the females with their young only (of which they generally have two), and the males alone. Capt. Clark measured the route from the camp at the Whitebear Islands to the lower camp, which is as follows:—
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