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Peek Inside...Entries For August 15:
1804:
Captain Clark (current)
1805:
Captain Clark:
August 15, 1804
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Camp three miles N.E. of the Maha village
I went with ten men to a creek dammed by the beavers about halfway to the village. With some small willows and bark we made a drag, and hauled up the creek, and caught 318 fish of different kinds, i.e., pike, bass, salmon, perch, red horse, small cat, and a kind of perch called silverfish on the Ohio. I caught a shrimp precisely of shape, size, and flavor of those about New Orleans and the lower part of the Mississippi, in this creek, which is only the pass or straight from [one] beaver pond to another and is crowded with large mussels. Very fat ducks, plover of different kinds, are on those ponds as well as on the river.
In my absence, Captain Lewis sent Mr. Dorion, the Sioux interpreter, and three men to examine a fire which threw up an immense smoke from the prairies on the N.E. side of the river, and at no great distance from camp. The object of this party was to find some bands of Sioux, which the interpreter thought were near the smoke, and get them to come in. In the evening this party returned, and informed that the fire arose from some trees which had been left burning by a small party of Sioux who had passed [by that place] several days. The wind, setting from that point, blew the smoke from that point over our camp. Our party all in health and spirits. The men sent to the Otos and in pursuit of the deserter, Reed, have not yet returned or joined our party.
Reprinted by permission of the American Studies Programs at the University of Virginia.
The complete text can also be downloaded for printing from their website.
