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Lewis & Clark Expedition

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October 31, 1804
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October 31, 1804

[Lewis and Clark]

[Weather, October 1804] [1]
 
1804
Day of
the month 		Thermot.
at ☉
rise

Weather
Wind at
☉ rise 		thermotr.
at 4
P.M.

Weather 		Wind
at 4oC
P.M.
Octr. 1st 40 c. S E. 46 c. S E
2nd [2] 39 f S E 75 C. N. W
3rd 40 c. N W 45 c. a r & f N W
4th 38 c a r N. W 50 c. N. W.
5th 36 f. N W. 54 f N. W.
6th 43 f. N W. 60 f N W.
7th 45 c S. E. 58 f S E
8th 48 f N. W. 62 f N W
9th 45 c. N. E. 50 c. a. r. N.
10th 42 f. a r N. W 67 f. N. W
11th 43 f N. W. 59 f. N. W.
12th 42 f S 65 f. S. E.
13th 43 f. S W. 49 c a r N E
14th 42 r. S E 40 r. S E
15 46 r. N. 57 f. a. r. N. W.
16 45 c. N. E 50 f N. E.
17 47 f N. W 54 f. N. W
18 30 f N. W. 68 f. N W
19 43 f S E. 62 f S
20 44 f N. W. 48 f N.
21 31 s N. W. 34 s N W
22 35 c. a. s N. E 42 c N E
23 32 s N W 45 c N E
24 33 s a f N. W. 51 c a s N W
25 31 c S E 50 c S E.
26 42 f S E 57 f S E
27th 39 f S W 58 f S W.
28 34 f S W 54 f S W
29 32 f S W 59 f S. W.
30 32 f S W 52 f S W.
31 33 f W 48 f W.
[Remarks] [3]
October 1st the leaves of the ash popular & most of the shrubs begin
to turn yellow and decline    came too this evening near
the habitation of a Frenchman— [4]
  3rd the earth and sand which form the bars of the river are so
fully impregnated with salt that it shoots and adhers to the
little sticks which appear on the serface    it is pleasent &
seems niterous.—
  5th slight white frost last night—    brant & geese passing to
South
  6th frost as last night    saw teal, mallard, [5] & Gulls large.
  8th arrived at Recare vilage, visited the Chief on the Island [6]
  9th wind blew hard this morning drove the boat from her
anker, came to Shore, some brant & geese passing to the
south, 〈spoke to them recares〉
  10th had the mill erected    shewed the savages its operation,
spoke to them shot my airgun.    the men traded some
articles for robes, the savages much pleased, the French
chief lost his presents by his canoe overseting
  11th no fogg or dew this morning nor have we seen either for
many days (i e) since the 21st of Septr.—    received the
answer at the 1st Chief, set out
  12th receved the 〈answer and〉 present of corn from the 3rd
Cheif and the answers from both 〈of these〉 the 2d & 3rd.
recieved the corn from 2d last evening obtained 20 bush-
e[l]s.    set out at 2 in the evening.
  13th tried Newman at 12 oCk for mutiny—    cottonwood all
yellow and the leaves begin to fall, abundance of grapes
and red burries— [7]
  14th the leaves of all the trees as ash, elm &c except the cotton-
wood is now fallen—    punished newman— [8]
  17th saw a large flock of White geese with Black wings, [9] Anti-
lopes are passing to the black hills to winter, as is their
custom
  18th hard frost last night, the clay near the water edge was fro-
zen, as was the water in the vessels exposed to the air.
  19th no Mule deer seen above the dog river [10] none at the recares
  20th much more timber than usual—    Saw the first black haws [11]
that we have seen for a long time—    Pier Crusat shot a
white bear left his gun and tomahalk
  22nd the snow ½ inch deep. [12]    some Souixs 14 in number came
to us on the Lard. this morning— [13]    beleive them to be a
war party—    they were naked except their legings—.
  24th arrived at a mandane hunting camp    visited the lodge of
the chief
  25th this evening passed a rapid and sholde place in the river
were obliged to get out and drag the boat—    all the leaves
of the trees have now fallen—    the snow did not lye.
  27th camp for the purpose of speaking to the five villages,
arrived at ½ past 12 at the place we intended to fix our
[camp] [14]    sent runners to invite them to council tomorrow
with tobacco—    an article indispensible in those cases—
  28th wind so heard that we could not go into council [15]
  29th we Spoke to the Indians in council—    tho' the wind was
so hard that it was extreemly disagreeable. the sand was
blown on us in clouds—
  30th Capt. Clark visited the island above to look out a place for
winter encampment, but did not succeed [16]
  31st this day the Mandanes of the 2nd or upper vilage gave us
an answer and some corn
1. Lewis's weather observations for this month are in his Weather Diary and are followed here; some significant variations in Clark's version in Codex C are noted. As in September, neither noted the rise or fall of the river. (back)
2. Clark gives the 4:00 p. m. wind direction for October 2 and 3 as "N." (back)
3. The remarks are from Lewis's Weather Diary, with substantial variations in Clark's Codex C noted. (back)
4. Clark says they came to at "a trading house of 3 french men." (back)
5. Probably the blue-winged teal, first mentioned on September 13, 1804; the mallard, which the captains frequently called the "duckinmallard," is Anas platyrhynchos [AOU, 132]. Holmgren, 30, 32, 33. (back)
6. Most of Clark's remarks for October 8 to 31 appear to have been crossed out, though it is not always clear which were intended to be marked out and which not. (back)
7. Clark placed these observations about plants under October 14. The "red burries" are the buffaloberry. (back)
8. Clark added, "& to be Discharged." (back)
9. The snow goose. Holmgren, 28, 30. (back)
10. Here again is a mistranslation of the name of the Cheyenne River. (back)
11. Viburnum lentago L., nannyberry. This more northerly species is different from the "black haws" found on the lower Missouri River (V. prunifolium L. and V. rufidulum Raf.). See June 19, 1804. All three species have similar leaves and black fruits. Barkley, 329–30; Fernald, 1340. (back)
12. Clark notes the depth of snow on October 21. (back)
13. Clark says the Sioux came "on the L. S. with their guns cocked." (back)
14. Lewis left out the word "camp," which Clark included. (back)
15. Clark adds, "maney of the Indians of different villages visit us." (back)
16. Clark's version reads, "Examoned the Country in advance for Several Leagues for a place for winter encampment without finding a Spot Calculated for one." (back)
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