Fort Mandan, preparing for departure — Patrick Gass: March 1, 1805
Over several days the men finished building six canoes and hauled them about a mile and a half to the river. Two men stayed behind to complete and guard them until the 26th, when others came from the fort to help launch them. Rising water aided the move, but breaking ice clogged the channel, forcing three canoes to be carried overland. A test launch on the 27th showed the canoes held less than expected, so Captain Lewis decided to bring along a large pirogue. The rest of the month was spent preparing for the voyage.
make the canoes, and continued until six were made.
On the 2oth and 21st we carried them to the river about a
mile and a half distant: There I remained with two men to
finish them, and to take care of them, until the 26th, when
some men came up from the fort, and we put the canoes into
the water. As the river had risen there was some water be-
tween the ice and the shore. We got three of them safe to
the fort; but the ice breaking before the other three were got
down, so filled the channel, that we were obliged to carry them
the rest of the way by land. On the 27th we put one of the
canoes into the water to ascertain what weight they would
LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION 71
carry. We found they would not carry as much as was ex-
pected, and Captain Lewis agreed to take a large periogue
along. The remainder of the month we were employed in
preparing our craft for a renewal of our voyage.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
make the canoes, and continued until six were made. On the 20th and 21st we carried them to the river, about a mile and a half distant. There I remained with two men to finish them, and to take care of them, until the 26th, when some men came up from the fort, and we put the canoes into the water. As the river had risen, there was some water between the ice and the shore. We got three of them safely to the fort; but the ice broke before the other three were brought down, and so filled the channel that we were obliged to carry them the rest of the way by land.
On the 27th we put one of the canoes into the water to determine what weight they would carry. We found they would not carry as much as was expected, and Captain Lewis agreed to take a large pirogue along. The remainder of the month we were employed in preparing our craft for a renewal of our voyage.
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