Lewis: June 27, 1805
At the upper camp, Lewis kept the party busy building the iron-frame boat: Whitehouse and Frazier sewed skins while Shields and Gass shaped wooden crossbars from poor, crooked timber. Lewis cooked and the men killed two elk near camp. A violent thunderstorm with hail struck in the afternoon. Drouillard and Joseph Field returned having killed nine elk and three bears, including an enormous one shot from a tree. At the lower camp, Clark finished a map of the Missouri to Fort Mandan to be cached, and Sergeant Pryor was improving.
Thursday June 27th 1805. The party returned early this morning for the
remaining canoe and baggage; Whitehouse was not quite well this morning I
therefore detained him and about 10 A.M. set him at work with Frazier
sewing the skins together for the boat; Shields and Gass continued the
operation of shaving and fiting the horizontall bars of wood in the
sections of the boat; the timber is so crooked and indifferent that they
make but little progress, for myself I continued to act the part of cook
in order to keep all hands employed. some Elk came near our camp and we
killed 2 of them at 1 P.M. a cloud arrose to the S. W. and shortly after
came on attended with violent Thunder Lightning and hail &c. (see
notes on diary of the weather for June). soon after this storm was over
Drewyer and J. Fields returned. they were about 4 miles above us during
the storm, the hail was of no uncommon size where they were. They had
killed 9 Elk and three bear during their absence; one of the bear was the
largest by far that we have yet seen; the skin appear to me to be as large
as a common ox. while hunting they saw a thick brushey bottom on the bank
of the river where from the tracks along shore they suspected that there
were bare concealed; they therefore landed without making any nois and
climbed a leaning tree and placed themselves on it’s branches about 20
feet above the ground, when thus securely fixed they gave a hoop and this
large bear instantly rushed forward to the place from whence he had heard
the human voice issue, when he arrived at the tree he made a short paus
and Drewyer shot him in the head. it is worthy of remark that these bear
never climb. the fore feet of this bear measured nine inches across and
the hind feet eleven and3/4 in length & exclusive of the
tallons and seven inches in width. a bear came within thirty yards of our
camp last night and eat up about thirty weight of buffaloe suit which was
hanging on a pole. my dog seems to be in a constant state of alarm with
these bear and keeps barking all night. soon after the storm this evening
the water on this side of the river became of a deep crimson colour which
I pesume proceeded from some stream above and on this side. there is a
kind of soft red stone in the bluffs and bottoms. of the gullies in this
neighbourhood which forms this colouring matter.At the lower camp.
Capt. Clark completed a draught of the river with the couses and distances
from the entrance of the Missouri to Ft. Mandan, which we intend
depositing here in order to guard against accedents. Sergt. Pryor is
somewhat better this morning. at 4 P.M. the party returned from the upper
camp; Capt. C. gave them a drink of grog; they prepared for the labour of
the next day. soon after the party returned it began to rain accompanyed
by some hail and continued a short time; a second shower fell late in the
evening accompanyed by a high wind from N. W.the mangled carcases
of several buffaloe pass down the river today which had no doubt perished
in the falls.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Thursday, June 27th, 1805. The party returned early this morning for the remaining canoe and baggage. Whitehouse was not quite well this morning, so I kept him back, and about 10 A.M. I set him to work with Frazier sewing the skins together for the boat. Shields and Gass continued the work of shaving and fitting the horizontal wooden bars in the sections of the boat. The timber is so crooked and poor that they make only little progress. As for myself, I continued to act as cook in order to keep all hands employed. Some elk came near our camp and we killed two of them. At 1 P.M. a cloud arose to the southwest, and shortly after it came on with violent thunder, lightning, hail, etc. (see notes on diary of the weather for June). Soon after this storm was over, Drewyer and J. Fields returned. They were about 4 miles above us during the storm; the hail was of no unusual size where they were. They had killed 9 elk and three bears during their absence. One of the bears was by far the largest we have yet seen; the skin appears to me to be as large as that of a common ox. While hunting, they saw a thick brushy bottom on the bank of the river where, from the tracks along shore, they suspected there were bears hidden. They therefore landed without making any noise and climbed a leaning tree, placing themselves on its branches about 20 feet above the ground. When thus securely fixed, they gave a whoop, and this large bear instantly rushed forward to the place where he had heard the human voice. When he arrived at the tree, he made a short pause, and Drewyer shot him in the head. It is worth noting that these bears never climb. The forefeet of this bear measured nine inches across, and the hind feet eleven and 3/4 inches in length, exclusive of the talons, and seven inches in width. A bear came within thirty yards of our camp last night and ate up about thirty pounds of buffalo suet that was hanging on a pole. My dog seems to be in a constant state of alarm with these bears and keeps barking all night. Soon after the storm this evening, the water on this side of the river became a deep crimson color, which I presume came from some stream above and on this side. There is a kind of soft red stone in the bluffs and in the bottoms of the gullies in this neighborhood that produces this coloring matter.
At the lower camp, Capt. Clark (Capt. Clark) completed a draft of the river with the courses and distances from the entrance of the Missouri to Ft. Mandan, which we intend to deposit here in order to guard against accidents. Sergt. Pryor is somewhat better this morning. At 4 P.M. the party returned from the upper camp; Capt. C. gave them a drink of grog, and they prepared for the labor of the next day. Soon after the party returned, it began to rain, accompanied by some hail, and continued a short time. A second shower fell late in the evening, accompanied by a high wind from the northwest. The mangled carcasses of several buffalo passed down the river today, which had no doubt perished in the falls.
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