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Lewis & Clark Expedition

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January 1, 1804
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January 1, 1804

[Clark]

 

January 1st 1804    Snow about an inch deep    Cloudy to day, a woman Come forward wishing to wash and doe Such things as may be necessary for the Detachmt    Several men Come from the Countrey to See us & Shoot with the men, they bring Sugare &c. to trade, I purchase Sugar 6 lb at ⅙ per pound, I put up a Dollar to be Shot for, the two best Shots to win    Gibson best    the Countrey people won ther dollar—    (R [Reed?] & Ws. [Wiser, Windsor?] Drunk)    a Perogue Passed Loaded with Salt & Dry goods. Jos: Vaun [1] offers to let the Contrator have Beef at 4$ pd. [pound or produce?] or 3$ 50 Cents in money, Pokers hake, the Nut is Sheshake, a plant growing in the ponds with a large broad leaf, stem in the middle of the leaf    in french Volies [2]    Three men Mr. Lisbet [3] Blacksmith &c, one Man offers to sell pork at [blank]    apply to Hannerberry, [4] the blacksmith has traveled far to the north, & Visited the Mandols [Mandans] on Missouris, a quiet people 6 Day fr[om] [Ossini?] [5] or Red river & that the M: [Missouri River] is about 150 yds. over at this nation

1. Perhaps Joseph, Joshua or Josiah Vaughn, who all lived near the camp. Madison, 72, 82–83. (back)
2. Nelumbo lutea (Willd.) Pers. American lotus, yellow nelumbo, yellow lotus, water chinquapin, pond-nuts, is an aquatic plant that Lewis describes more elaborately in an undated entry. "Pokers hake" may be Clark's attempt at the Kickapoo name, which Lewis wrote as Po-kish'-a-co-mah. "Volies" is the French term for the plant, graine de volaille. It is commonly found in oxbow lakes along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Fernald, 641; Steyermark, 668. Its importance to Indians is described by Gilmore, 27, in terms very similar to Lewis's. (back)
3. The lack of punctuation makes it uncertain whether "Lisbet" was the blacksmith. The word itself is unclear. He might be the "Thos. Lisbet Blacksmith" on document 2 of the Field Notes (placed under November 26, 1803, entry). Nothing is known of this person. Osgood read it as "Leebice" (which it may well be) and related that to François Labiche, a member of the party. Osgood (FN), 11 n. 3. (back)
4. Probably Patrick Heneberry, an early settler in this part of Illinois, and at the time an employee of William Morrison. Jackson (LLC), 1:144–45 n. 4. (back)
5. If this word is read as "Ossini" or something similar, it may be a reference to the Assiniboine River of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, a tributary of the Red River of the North. There were British fur-trading posts on both rivers, from which traders sometimes traveled to the Mandan villages. (back)
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