July 15, 1804
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Aug 30, 1803 Sep 30, 1806

July 15, 1804

 

Course Distance and refferrnnces July 15th 1804 [1]
N. 30° W. 3 ½ ms. to a pt. of a willow Isld. on the L. S.    psd. the Isld. on
S. S. (1)
S. 75 W.   ¼ mile to a Lard point of the same Island—    the boat passed
to Lard of Isld.    the hill here projects to the river—
N. 89 W.   ¼ to a lard pt. on the same island—    the hills here leave the
river—
N. 88 W.   ¼ to a point on Lard main shore opposite a sand bar, took
merd. Altd. ☉s L L.
Due W. 1 ¼ mile to a pt. 〈Lard〉 Stard. oposite which the hills again touch
the river.
N. 45 W. 1 ½ mile to the mouth of Little Ni ma-haw on the Lard. in a bend
oposite the lower point of a large sand bar—
N. 30 E 1 ½ to a point on Lard. a deep bend to the right below this point
N. 30 W.   ½ to pt. Lard.
N. 15   ¾ to a pt. of an Island. due E. from this about three miles is a large Pond

July 15th Sunday 1804.    a heavy fog this morning which Detained us untill 7 oClock, put Drewyer Sgt. Floyd on Shore, at 9 I took two Men [2] and went on Shore, with a view to Kill Some elk, passed thro open plains, and barroney lands [barrens]    Crossed three butifull Small Streams of water, [3] Saw great quantity of Cherres Plums, Grapes & Berries of Difft. Kinds, the lands Generally of a good quallity, on the Streams the wood 〈Grases〉 escapes the fire, at about 7 miles I Struck the river at the mouth Ne ma har Creek about 40 yds wide, [4] near this Creek on a high part of the Prarie I had a extensive View of the river & Countrey on both Sides.    on S. a contnuation of the plain as far as I could See, on the N. a bottom Prarie of about 5 ms. wide & 18 or 20 long, hills back of this Plain. I Swam across the Creek and waited for the Boat about three miles above, we camped opsd. an Island. [5]

 

July 15th, Sunday    a heavy Fog this morning prevented our Setting out before 7 oClock, at nine I took two men and walked on the L. S.    I crossed 〈two〉 three butifull Streems of runnig water heading in the Praries    on those Streem the lands verry fine covered with pea Vine & rich weed [6]    the high Praries are also good land Covered with Grass entirely void of timber except what grows on the water, [7] I proceeded on thro those praries Several miles to the mouth of a large Creek on the L. S. called (2) [NB: Little] Ne ma har    this is a Small river, about 100 yds. above the mouth it is 40 yards wide, at the mouth (as all other Creeks & rivers falling into the Missourie are) much narrower than a little distance up.    after continueing at the mouth of this Creek about an hour, I Swam across and proceeded on about 3 miles and halted to wate for the boat, which was Some distance below—    In all this days march thro woods & Praries, I only Saw three Deer & 3 fawns—    I had at one part of the Prarie a verry extensive view of all the Countrey around up and down the river a Considerable distance, on the Larbd. Sd. one Continul Plain, on the S. S. Some timber on the bank of the river, for a Short distance back of this timber is a bottom Plain of four or five miles back to the hills and under the hills between them & the river    this plain appeared to extend 20 or 30 miles, those Hills have but little timber, and the Plain appears to Continu back of them—    I Saw Great quantities of Grapes, Plums, or 2 Kinds wild Cherries of 2 Kinds, Hazelnuts, and Goosberries.

we Camped in a point of woods on the Larboard S. opsd. a large Island.

Course Dists. and refrs. July 15th 1804
N 30° W 3 ½ ms. to a pt. on a willow Isd. on the L. S.    passed the head of
the large Isd. on S. S. (1)
N 70° W   ¼ of a Me. to L pt. on Sd. Isd. the boat passed to the L. S. Hills
projects to river
N 89 W.   ¼ of a Me. to a pt. of Sd. Isld. the Hills here leave the river.
N 88° W.   ¼ of a mile to a pt. on main Shore L. S. opposit a Sand bar
took Medn. altd. ☉ L L
West 1 ¼ ms. to a pt. on S. S. opposit to which the hills again touch
the river.
N 45° W. 1 ½ ms. to the mouth of Ne-ma-haw Creek in a bend to L. S. (2)
opsd. Low pt. of Sd. bar
N. 30° E 2 ms. to a pt. on L. S. a Deep bend to the right below the pt.
N 15 E.   ¾ me. to the lower pt. of a Isd.    east of this Isd. is Said to be
a Pond.
  9 ¾  
 

On the upper point of an Island [9] mentioned in the 2ed & 3rd course of this day.

Observed meridian Altd. of ☉ L. L. with Octant by back observatn.    42' 11' —"

Latitude deduced from this observatn.    40° 8' 31.8"

This evening I discovered that my Chronometer had stoped, nor can I assign any cause for this accedent; she had been wound up the preceding noon as usual. This is the third instance in which the instrument has stopt in a similar manner since she has been in my possession, tho' the fi[r]st only since our departure from the River Dubois.    in the two preceding cases when she was again set in motion, and her rate of going determined by a series of equal altitudes of the ☉ taken for that purpose, it was found to be the same precisely as that mentioned in the preliminary remarks [i.e., July 22, 1804, below] to these observations, or 15 s & 5 tenths too slow in 24 h—as her rate of going after stoping, and begin again set in motion has in two instances proved to be the same, I have concluded, that whatever this impediment may procede from, it is not caused by any material injury which her works have sustained, and that when she is in motion, her error on mean time above stated, may be depended on as accurate. In consequence of the chronometer's having thus accedentally stoped, I determined to come too at the first convenient place and make such observations as were necessary to ascertain her error, establish the Latitude & Longitude, and determine the variation of the nedle, in order to fix a second point of departure.    accordingly on [see Lewis's observation for July 16 below, where this note continues]

 

Sunday July 15th 1804.    a foggy morning which Detained us untill 7 oClock, Drewyer & Sgt. Floyd went on Shore.    we proceded on till Breakfast    af[ter] I went on Shore with Capt. Clark on the South Side    we Saw fresh Sign on bank of Elk.    crossed a creek named faun Creek [10] which came in on the South Side of Missouris.    we walked on over a Ridge    came to high large praries & hills.    we walked on    found Some cherries near a handsome Spring River named cherry Run, at which we drank at    the forks then followed it or one branch to the head which came out of a ridige which joined the praries, and went up on a high R. Ridge of prarie where we could See all around for a long distance in the open praries or as far as our eyes could behold, and on the opposite Side of the Missouris we Saw a large & extensive prarie which looked verry handsome, we walked along the hill prarie    came to a large Creek called ne-ma-haw Creek whic is about 30 yds. wide    we delayed their till the boat came in Site then crosed & went on to a point where the Boat came & Camped, the flanking party who were with the horses did not join us this night, Jo. Fields went out on the North Side & killed a Deer.—    we found plenty of ripe grapes along the Bottoms.

 

Sunday July 15th 1804    Set out at Six oclock A. m    pased a Creek on the South〈e〉 Side Called Plumb Run    water verry Strong    passed a Creek on the South Side Called Nemahaw Creek    it is about 30 yards wide    the Land is High and Good.    encamt on the South〈e〉 Side

 

Sunday 15th.    We got under way at six o'clock; passed a creek [11] on the south side; and gathered some ripe grapes. There is high land and prairies on this side. Captain Clarke and two men went by land. At the head of an island, called Elk island, we found some pummice stone among the drift wood. We passed a creek on the south side, called Na-ma-ha, and encamped on the same.

 

Sundy 15    the Morning was foggy    had to wait Untill it went off    Passd. the River namd. Nishnay Baton [12]    at 3 Oclock passd. the little Mohaugh    Got to Camp [13] on the Mohaugh prarie.    Roed. 11 Miles

Sunday July 15th    The morning being foggy, we had to waite 'till it cleared away, at 9 o'Clock A. M. we set off, and passed a River called Nishna Balon, at 3 oClock P. M. passed the little Mahaw River; and encamped at the Mahaw Priari, having rowed 11 Miles this day—    The little Mahaw River lies on the South side of the Mesouri.—

1. The first course is in Clark's hand; the remainder of these July 15 courses and distances are by Lewis. This is probably because Clark was ashore much of the day. The second entry, S. 75 W., disagrees with the Codex A course, given as N 70° W. There are also other variations. (back)
2. One of them was Ordway. (back)
3. In southeastern Nemaha County, Nebraska. Two of the streams were probably later Beadow Creek and Deroin creeks. MRC map 20; MRR map 56. (back)
4. The Little Nemaha reaches the Missouri River in Nemaha County, a little below the present town of Nemaha. MRC map 20; MRR map 56. (back)
5. This last sentence is written at right angles to the rest of the entry, over the rest, but appears to be part of the entry. Clark ran out of space at the bottom of the page. The camp, according to the present course of the Missouri, would be in Nehama County, somewhat above the present town of Nemaha. Opposite is Atchison County, Missouri. MRC map 20; MRR map 56. (back)
6. The "pea Vine" may refer to Amphicarpa bracteata (L.) Fern., hog peanut, which is a common species with a vining habit typically found in the area described. "Rich weed" is observed correctly in its appropriate moist, shaded streamside habitat. Steyermark, 953. (back)
7. They were now seeing the eastern margin of the Great Plains; the characteristic treelessness was new to them and worthy of comment. The area along the Missouri is more wooded today because prarie fires have been controlled. (back)
8. Lewis's observation from Codex O. (back)
9. Probably later Morgan Island. MRC map 20; MRR map 56. (back)
10. Clark mentions but does not name Ordway's two creeks; Floyd calls one (perhaps Ordway's second) "Plumb Run," which may be either Beadow or Deroin creeks, in southeastern Nemaha County, Nebraska. (back)
11. Perhaps either Beadow or Deroin creeks, southeastern Nemaha County, Nebraska, noticed but not named by Clark. (back)
12. The Nishnabotna River, which everyone else says they passed the previous day. (back)
13. In Nemaha County, somewhat above present Nemaha. (back)