Rapid descent of Missouri, 70-80 miles/day — Patrick Gass: August 27, 1806

barked early: proceeded on till we came to the upper end of
the Great-bend, and there stopped to hunt.* As our hunters
*In a former geographical note (pa. 62) we stated that the place where Mr.
Thompson, Astronomer to the North West Company, took his observations in the
year 1798 to ascertain the latitude and longitude of the northern bend of the Missouri,
was near the longitude of the Mandan villages. If what Mr. Thompson called the
northern bend is the same with what Mr. Gass calls the great bend (of which there
appears little doubt) the longitude of the Mandan villages will be between two and
three degrees west of the northern, or great bend ; or in about longitude 104 degrees
west of London, 29 degrees west of Philadelphia, rz 1-2 degrees west of the mouth of
the Missouri, and nearly 20 degreéS east of the mouth of the Columbia. This will
still shew the great errors of those maps of Louisiana, which place the Mandan villages
20 degrees west of the longitude of the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi ;
and less than 12 degrees east of that of the mouth of the Columbia.
LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION — 281
saw no game, we in a short time continued our voyage round
the bend; at the lower end of which we killed an elk. As we
were passing an island we saw a gang of buffaloe feeding on
it; when we halted and killed three of them, and encamped
on the island for the night.
Tbursday 28th. We had another pleasant day; embarked
early, and proceeded on till about 11 o’clock, when we arrived
at Pleasant camp, and halted. We left this camp on the
13th Sept. 1804. The Commanding Officers wishing to pro-
cure and take down with them the skeletons of some mule
deer, and cabre; and knowing that there were but few of those
animals lower down the river, continued here the remainder
of the day, and sent out six or eight hunters; who returned
at night without finding any of the wished for animals, but
killed some fat buffaloe and common deer.