May 21 - July 31, 1804
William Clark:
The journey has begun! I decided to write a journal entry every month to mark my progress. Me and a team for about 4 dozen men set up camp at st. louis area, where we prepared for the expedition since fall last year. On May 20, i met Meriwether Lewis, who was to accompany me throughout the expedition. By the way, the expedition is called ” the Corps of Discovery” . We began making our way up the Missouri river, aboard a 55-foot-long keelboat and two smaller pirouges. I spent most of my time on board the keel boat, charting the course and making maps. Oh, what a headache it was, and still is. We were always on the lookout for indians, they would kill us if they weren’t peaceable, so we were always armed, incase they were to attack us. Me and Lewis sought every opportunity possible to set up camp on river islands, and posted guards at night. By the end of July, we had travelled 600 miles up the river! And fortunately, we had not met any indians. Yet.
Meriwether Lewis:
As Clark had suggested, i shall also write a monthly journal entry to mark our progress.
I met Clark on May 20, and set of with him and the team up Missouri river. While clark spent most of his time on the keelboat making maps and such, I was more interested on what was ashore. I found every opportunity to get on land, to study rock formations, soil, plants, animals along the way. They were so interesting! I now realise how many species of plants and animals there is out there. But there were dangers as well. Indians could come and attack us anytime! So we were always on the lookout, armed. But we did not meet any indians yet! I just hope it will stay that way. By the end of July, the team had covered 600 miles! I’m already starting to miss home.
August 1 - August 31, 1804
William Clark:
On August 2, a party of Oto and Missouri Indians arrived at the expedition’s camp. The team was shocked at first, but realised they meant no harm, and had no intentions to draw out our weapons. We had to make a good impression on the Sioux if we didn’t want to get killed. It was a powerful tribe. overall, the meeting went well, exchanging gifts and such, we were all fascinated by their gifts, especially Lewis.
During this time, Sergeant Charles Floyd became the first U.S. soldier to die west of the Mississippi when he died on August 20, probably of appendicitis. He was the only member of the Corps to die along the journey. We then continued on along the journey, and by the final week of august, we had reached the eastern edge of the great plains, a virtual Eden abounding in elk, deer, buffalo, and beaver. We were now heading toward the heart of Sioux territory.
September 01-30, 1804
Lewis and Clark:
Decided to combine our journals, it would be easier to read when the journal gets back to America.
When we reached the Teton Sioux, just as the Yankton Sioux had warned, the Teton Sioux greeted the expidition and its gifts with ill-disguised hospitality. One of the teton cheifs even demanded a boat as the price of the passage! We were not going to give it to him, and they threatened us. The expedition was ready to attack, we were always armed in case of emergency. I, Clark drew my sword and Lewis turned the keelboats swivel gun on the Sioux. At the last moment, they pulled back, we were on the verge of pulling the trigger. Even though we were safe, we failed to deliever on Jeffersons hopes for friendly relations with the Sioux.
We then headed off, with new found enemies and a fierce winter ahead.
October 01-December 20, 1804
Lewis and Clark
Winter was approaching fast in october, and we were finding a place to spend the winter before the Missouri froze. When the first snowfall occured, we hastened our movements, and 4 days into winter, we finally found a place. The Mandan tribe’s villages, where we planned to spend the winter.
One of our worries were dealt with, but another hung on. The Sioux were gaining, and we needed to build a fort to protect us from them, and the bitter cold of the winter. Before the end of november, the fort was finished, and ice started running in the Missouri. Temperatures dipped below 0 fahrenheit, guards that were posted had to be relieved every half hour incase they froze to death outside the fort.
Just when we thought all was going well, our food supplies began to dwindle, and if we are going to survive, the team will have to find meat soon. The cold is setting in.
December 21, 1804-April 06, 1805
Lewis and Clark:
The expedition members kept busy during the Fort Mandan winter, repairing equipment, trading with the Indians, and hunting for buffalo. Me and Clark learned much about the country to the west from the Mandan and their neighbors, the Hidatsa.
We hired a interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian fur trapper living among the Hidatsa. Charbonneau, his Shoshone wife, Sacagawea, and their baby son, Jean Baptiste, would travel with the expedition when it left Fort Mandan.
Finally after the harsh, cold winter, th spring rains came. The ice on Missouri began to melt, and flowing water could be seen again, it was time to move on. We spent most of the winter writing reports on what we have seen, we will compile it together and can be seen at the end of the whole journal. We will dispatch it and about a dozen expedition members—plus 108 botanical specimens, 68 mineral specimens, and Clark’s map of the United States—will aboard the keelboat, which was bound for St. Louis and, eventually, President Jefferson.
Six canoes and two pirouges were loaded with supplies and equipment. We were going into a territory no other American has ever entered.
April 07-May 03, 1805
Lewis and Clark
We were now in Grizzly country, The indians had warned them about these powerful creatures, but i, Lewis, was unimpressed. I was a fool, yes. For on April 29, the expedition encountered a pair of grizzlies. We were frightened, and managed to wound one of the massive bears. But the other chased me for about 80 yards, before the men reloaded and killed the bear. Now I know why the indians had warned us. We had better get out of here, fast.
May 04-28, 1805
Lewis and Clark:
In early May the expedition almost lost one of its two pirogues when a sudden gust of wind caught the sails and heeled the vessel over on its side. Only quick action by Sacagawea, who was riding in the vessel, saved this precious journals, along with our report on the things we have seen, and supplies that otherwise would have been lost. The young woman tried her best to save everything she could and we are grateful for that.
We were growing anxious to catch sight of the Rockies, a large mountain we had to cross. We waited and waited, travelled and travelled, until the last week of May, Lewis caught sight of the mountain! We were overjoyed, yet quite afraid of what was ahead of us. The boats were slow moving due to the bending river, and rocks jutting out of the shallow water.
May 29-June 11, 1805
Lewis and Clark:
On June 3, there was a fork in the river. The team had to decide which one was the Missouri, the river that would lead them to the Rockies. Even though the branches in the fork were of equal size, Me and Lewis believed that the southern branch was the Missouri. We just hoped we were right. But the rest of the team disagreed, and so Lewis had to take 3 men to the southern branch of the fork, in search of the Great Falls. When he reaches the Great falls, then he will know that that river is the Missouri. They could not afford to take the wrong route.
June 12-July 20, 1805
Lewis and Clark:
On june 13, I, Lewis, saw the Great falls. I was the first white man to ever see the great falls. I was overjoyed, for i had chosen the correct route to lead the expedition to the rockies. The great falls were not one, but five falls, which went on for a 12 mile stretch.
By june 16, Clark and the rest of the team had rejoined me, and six days later the portage began. It was the hardest part of the journey so far, the team was exhausted. more than a month would pass before we get around the falls, the Rockies awaited us.
July 21-August 07, 1805
Lewis and Clark:
We are approaching the Rockies, and the snow peaks are becoming more formidable. Once across the Continental divide, The team could ride the westward-flowing Columbia River. But we needed horses to continue the rest of the trek. We had to find the Shoshone tribe to get horses if we were going to carry on. Back at Fort mandan, the Hidatsa had told us about the Shoshone tribe, but unfortunately up till now, we haven’t encountered any of them. We have to find horses soon.
August 08-24, 1805
Lewis and Clark:
Alas! I, Lewis had spotted an indian on horseback on August 11. It was the Shoshone at last! The indian brought them to his chief, who in a dramatic stroke of luck turned out to be Sacagawea’s brother. Talk about coincidence. Soon, me and clark started bargaining for the horses with the chief, Cameahwait, with the help of Sacagawea translating. We really needed the horses. At first, all we needed to give was a knife and an old shirt, but everyday, the prices went up. And most of the horses were in poor condition. It wasn’t very fair! But we needed horses, so we took what we had. We got some information from an old man in the Shoshone, he told us about a trail used by Nez perce, who lived on the far side of the Rockies. We were overjoyed, now we had a way over the mountains.
August 25-October 07, 1805
Lewis and Clark:
Snow began to fall as the team set off for the continental divide, food supplies ran low as game was scarce in the Rockies. We managed to get into Bitterroot Valley. There we met a band of flathead indians, and bought more horses to aid us in the journey. Crossing the rockies proved harder than we thought, and most of us were exhausted and hungry. But I, Lewis, and Clark motivated the team to carry on.
After 11 days in Bitterroot, the horses were starving, and we were too. We resorted to eating 3 of the colts. After a long while, and travelling, we finally made contact with Nez Perce, who gave us some food, and of course we gladly took it. Me and Clark set up camp on the banks of clearwater river. There, we hollowed five dugouts. The Rockies behind them, the Pacific in front.
On october 7, we stopped resting and continued out journey and started down Clearwater. It was lucky that we finally had the river to travel.
October 08-December 07, 1805
Lewis and Clark:
We travelled along Clearwater, carried along by the rivers breakneck current. And we reached the Snake River on October 10. We took a rest and set up camp along the shore. There we met indians who gathered along the shore. I, Clark, saw in one of the villages, that there were at least 10,000 pounds of dry salmon. Boy, were we hungry. Anyway, we then headed down the Columbia, portaging around the river's roughest spots in the Cascades, the last mountain range between them and the Pacific. We saw a wide body of water and i thought that it was the ocean. O! ocian in view! the joy. But, we were actually at the estuary of Columbia, still about 20 miles from the coast. Fierce Pacific storms, rolling waters, and high winds pinned usdown for about three weeks. the most disagreeable time we have experienced. By the middle of November, we were safe, and made it to the Pacific. We were on the lookout for ships that could carry them home, but to no avail. We had to spend the winter on the beach.
December 08-30, 1805
Lewis and Clark:
We decided to make camp south of Columbia. We hacked down a site of trees to make way for camp, it was located along the bank of a small river. Built Fort Clatsop, named after the local Clatsop indians. We spent long hours in the fort, making moccasins and buckskin clothing, storing food, and working on journals and maps. It was raining everyday, even on christmas! Out dinner on christmas wasn't very inviting either. Me and Lewis were eager to meet one of the trading ships that came frequently to the mouth of the Columbia from U.S. ports or from Britain. But to our dismay, the Indians did not tell us when the ship had stopped to trade, and it left without us knowing. O! what a pity!
December 31, 1805-March 22, 1806
Lewis and Clark:
The team members all want to go home, but the snow had not melted, thus we could not travel by water. But if we waited to long to cross the mountains, back to the Missouri, it would have have taken too long, and the Missouri would have frozen, and we would have to spend another painful winter on the Plains.
In the third week in March, the team had planned out everything and were ready to set off, back to America. The men loaded their dugouts, purchased a fourth from the indians, and stole one from the nearest village as they could not buy anymore. Our journey home was just about to start, and quite far from over.
March 23-April 28, 1806
Lewis and Clark:
On March 23, the Corps of Discovery took its leave of Fort Clatsop, and we began to travel up the columbia river. There was a strong current, and we had to struggle and battle it, and frequently had to portage around the river's falls. That was not the only problem. Chinookan indians tried o so hard to steal our supplies! They did not only try once but many times! I had my sword at the ready, i was not going to let them take away the supplies that will bring us safely back to America.
Getting around the falls were to hard for us to manage, thus, we abandoned our canoes and decided to travel on land with horses aquired from the hospitable Walla walla tribe.
April 29-June 09, 1806
Lewis and Clark:
Tired, and almost out of food, the expedition finally reached the Nez perce territory. We had to wait there for the weather to improve before crossing the snow covered bitterroots. We mostly ate dried roots and fish, and the occaisional deer,elk or dog. We were thankful for food. During the wait with the Nez perce, Lewis busied himself with the study of natures studies, going out everyday to study the trees, soil and many plants. While I, Clark, were treating sick members of the tribe. We had to pay them back for their kind deeds. Then, after waiting, I thought it was about time we set off to the mountains and beyond.
June 10-July 02, 1806
Lewis and Clark:
We were going to cross the Bitterroots, again. We left the Nez Perce on June 10, each of us on horseback, leading one another. On June 15, we made our way up the mountain. In bitterroots, it was winter, unfortunately. Soon, we were travelling in ten feet of snow. We pulled the horses on when they were tired, and had not much time to rest, or we would have frozen to death. But after a while, the snow was packed hard enough to support the horses weight. But we were still stuck, as it was impossible to find outr way through the thick snow. We could not afford to get lost. We then had to retreat back to the Nez perce, following an indian guide back up the mountain. On june 30 we reached the travller's rest, and Me and Lewis decided to part ways to explore more of louisianna territory. I will miss my companion. Lewis and nine men would explore the Marias River to the north, and Iand the others would head for the Yellowstone River in the south.
July 03-28, 1806
Lewis:
Today, on July 3, i parted ways with my fellow companion, William Clark, so i shall write a separate journal. Me and my group broke camp,crossing the Continental Divide and descending from the mountains near the Great Falls. I asked my men to portage the supplies around the falls , while me and three other men went to explore the Marias river. Even thought the marias was blackfeet Indian territory and was highly dangerous. On July 26, Me and my men spotted 28 Blackfeet indians, to my surprise, they were friendly! And I tried to gain friends, se i decided to camp together. But they were still dangerous, so i ordered my men to take turns at night to guard our camp. In them morning, one of the indians snatched a pair of rifles, and some of my men tried to stop them, but the indians put up a fight, and in the struggle, two indians died. So much for making friends, we took off, covering 120 miles, not knowing if the Blackfeet were giving chase.
Clark:
I parted with Lewis, and me and my men crossed the divide on July 8 and descended into the territory of the Crow tribe, the great horse thieves of the Plains. On July 21, the team and I woke up to find half of our horses missing, and yet, not a Crow was to be seen. Now our horses were gone, travelling would be harder.
July 29-August 12, 1806
Lewis:
On August 11, one of m men went out hinting, and i went out exploring in my buckskin suit. He was hunting and thought he saw an elk, and shot it. It was actually me. The bullet passed through my left thigh, and only recently it had srated to heal. I hope it is not infected. The wound was painful enough to kill me, but luckily it did not, for i still have a journey to finish, and a tale to tell.
And finally! I and Clark had reunited, from here on, the Missouri river would bring us home at a swift pace. I cannot wait to get back to America!
August 13-September 09, 1806
Lewis and Clark:
Now that we are travelling together again, we will combine our journals.
Soon, we were back at the Mandan villages. We bade farewell to some of the team members, including Sacagawea. On August 17, the rest of the party left the villages, my wound having healed enough to continue. The expedition still had to run the gauntlet of the Teton Sioux. On August 30 nearly a hundred armed and mounted Sioux warriors lined the banks of the Missouri. The Corps kept to the middle of the river, however, and the encounter was one of threats and taunts only. W were frightened, yes, but they backed off, and the coast was clear again.
September 10-23, 1806
Lewis and Clark:
THE HOME STRETCH! Finally, it was the last leg of our journey, the team was making alot of progress,travelling about 80 miles per day! We met several traders along the way, who said that back in America, they were given up as dead. O! what a joke! We are very much alive!
On the morning of september 23, the Corps of Discovery entered the Mississipi river and disembarkedat st louis at noon- two years, four months, and ten days after we had left. Gathered along the shore, the one thousand people of St. Louis greeted the returned us, the Corps with gunfire salutes and an enthusiastic welcome. Finally, finally, we were home.
