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Lewis & Clark Expedition

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May 25, 1804
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May 25, 1804

[Clark]

25 May [1]
 

Set out early    Course West to a Point on Sbd. Side    at 2 Miles passd a Willow Isd. in a Bend to the Ldb: a creek called wood rivr [2] Lbd. Side N 57° W. to a pt. on the Sb. Side 3 Miles passed the Mouth of a Creek St. Side Called Le quever, [3] this Same course continued to a Point Ld. Side 2 ½ Miles further.    opposit a Isd. on Sd Side Passed a Creek Called R. La freeau [4] at the pt. N 20° W 2 miles To a Small french Village called La Charatt [5] of five families only, in the bend to the Starbord    This is the Last Settlement of Whites, an Island opposit [6]

[Clark]

May 25th Friday 1804
 

rain last night    river fall Several inches, Set out early psd. Several Islands    passed wood River on the Lbd Side at 2 miles    passed [NB: again] [7] 〈the〉 Creek on the St. Side Called La Querer [NB: quiver] at 5 miles    passed a [NB: small] Creek 〈called R la freeau〉 [8] at 8 mile, opsd. an Isd. on the Lbd Side, Camped at the mouth of a Creek called 〈 River a Chauritte〉, [NB: La Charrette ] above a Small french Village of 7 houses and as many families, Settled at this place to be convt. to hunt, & trade with the Indians, here we met with Mr. Louisell [9] imedeately down from the 〈Seeeder〉 [NB: Cedar] Isld. Situated in the Countrey of the Suxex [NB: Sioux ] 400 Leagues up    he gave us a good Deel of information Some letters [10]    he informed us that he Saw no Indians on the river below the Poncrars—[NB: Poncaras ] [Poncas]    Some hard rain this evening

Course & Distance 25th May
West—   3 ms. Stb Side    passed Creek
N. 57° W   5 ms. pot. Lbd. Side    psd Creek
N 20° W.   2 ms. to mo. Chaurette Creek on the St. Side & Village
  10  

The people at this Village is pore, houses Small, they Sent us milk & eggs to eat.

[Ordway]

 

Friday May 25th 1804, came 3 miles    passed a Creek called wood River on S Side    land handsome the Soil Rich &C—    high Banks, encamped at a French village N. S. called St John, this is the last Settlement of whites on this River,

[Floyd]

 

Friday may 25th 1804    Set out and Came 4 miles    passed a Creek Called Wood River on the South Side    the Land is Good & handsom the Soil Rich & high Banks    encamped at a French village Called St Johns    this is the Last Setelment of whites on this River—

[Gass]

 

Friday 25th.    We proceeded three miles and passed a creek on the south side, called Wood river the banks of the river are here high and the land rich: arrived at St. John's, a small French village situated on the north side, and encamped a quarter of a mile above it. This is the last settlement of white people on the river.

[Whitehouse]

 

Friday 25th May 1804.    we Set out eairly    passed a Smal river on the Stard. Side. [11]    the Soil of this part of the country rich.    towards evening we arived at a french village called St. Johns, on the Stard. Side    a boat came here loaded with fur & Skins had been a long destance up the River tradeing with the Savages &c    we Camped near this Small village    this is the last Settlement of white people on this River.

Friday May 25th    This morning we set out early, passed a small River on the North side, the name unknown, The soil appeared very rich, towards evening we arrived at a French Village called Saint Johns or Charette on the North side of the River.    We passed (River Boef) [12] shortly after our arrival at this place, a boat arrived laden with Furrs and peltry (deer Skins) which was returning from a Trading Voyage, the persons who were on board of it having been a great distance, up the Mesouri River; trading with the Indians.    This small Village, is the last settlement of white people on this River; we encamped near it— The course of the River being 〈still〉 West by South

1. Biddle wrote a heading, "May 25th to May 29th," at the top of this sheet (document 15). (back)
2. Dubois Creek in Franklin County, Missouri. As with River Dubois in Illinois, Clark has translated literally, though it may in fact be a personal name. MRC map 3. (back)
3. Perhaps Lake Creek, in Warren County, Missouri. Quivre River was an alternate name for Rivière aux Boeufs, which enters the Missouri in Warren County, above Washington. The location of the mouths of streams may have shifted greatly since 1804. It is nearly impossible to reconcile this stream with the "queevere" creek of the previous day (see above, May 24, 1804). Moreover, Clark records passing Rivière aux Boeufs on May 26. Possibly Clark was misinformed about these streams. Houck, 2:95; MRC map 4; MRM map 9. (back)
4. Perhaps later Tuque Creek, in Warren County, opposite the town of Washington, but see above, n. 3. It is not entirely clear from the text which side of the Missouri this creek was on. MRC map 4. (back)
5. La Charette, on Charette Creek, in Warren County, in 1804 the westernmost white settlement on the Missouri. French and American settlers had come there before 1800, and a small Spanish fort, San Juan del Misuri, was established about 1796. From the fort came the alternative name used by Patrick Gass, St. John. Daniel Boone moved there from Boone's Settlement sometime after 1804; he died and was buried there, but in 1845 his remains and those of his wife were moved to Kentucky. The village site, near present Marthasville, has been washed away by the Missouri. Missouri Guide, 364–65; Houck, 2:91–92, 94. (back)
6. Probably St. John's Island . MRC map 4. (back)
7. Biddle's interlineation suggests that this is the same stream as that of May 24, but see above, n. 3. (back)
8. Biddle apparently crossed out these words. (back)
9. Régis Loisel was apparently born in the Parish of L'Assomption, Montreal, and came to St. Louis in about 1793. By 1796 he had formed a partnership with Jacques Clamorgan, which in 1798 became the reorganized Missouri Company. After this combination broke up, he formed a new partnership with Hugh Heney on July 6, 1801. The date on which he founded his fort on Cedar Island is uncertain; it may have been in 1800, or perhaps two years later. For the post, in present Lyman County, South Dakota, see below, September 22, 1804. Loisel wintered there with his partner, Pierre-Antoine Tabeau, in 1803–4. After his meeting with Lewis and Clark, he carried to New Orleans a copy of his report on the Missouri River tribes, which he delivered to the Marquis of Casa Calvo, the former Spanish governor of Louisiana. The latter forwarded it to Madrid, with a recommendation that Loisel be made an Indian agent to secure the friendship of the tribes for Spain and forestall American ambitions in the West. Loisel, however, died in New Orleans in October 1804, at the age of thirty-one. Abel, 20–31; Nasatir (BLC), 1:114–15, 2:611–13. 735–40, 736 n. 3, 757 n. 8. (back)
10. Perhaps letters of introduction to some of Loisel's trading associates, such as Heney and Tabeau, both of whom the captains would meet later up the Missouri. (back)
11. Contrary to other writers who note a river on the opposite side, Dubois Creek, Franklin County, Missouri. (back)
12. River au Boeuf (Rivière aux Boeufs or Buffalo River) in Franklin County, which Clark reports passing on May 26. See Clark's entries of May 25 and 26, 1804. (back)
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