Weather, November 1804 | Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

November 1804

[Lewis and Clark]

[Weather, November 1804] ^[1]

1804 Day of the Month	Ther. at ☉ rise	Weather	Wind at ☉rise	Thert. at 4 P. M.	Weather	Wind at 4 P. M.	raise or fall	River Feet	Inches
Novr. 1	31	f	N. W.	47	f	N. W.
2	32	f	S E	63	f	S E
3	32	f	N. W.	53	f	N. W.
4	31	f	N W	43	c	W.
5	30	c	N. W	58	c	N W
6	31	c	S W	43	c	W
7	43	c	S	62	c	S
8	38	c	S	39	c	W.
9th	27	f	N W	43	f	N W
10th	34	f	N W	36	c	N. W
11th	28	f	N W	60	f	N W
12	18	f	N.	31	f	N E
13	18	s	S E	28	c a s	S E	f ^[2]	1	½
14	24	s	S E	32	c a s	S E	r	1
15	22	c ^[3]	N W	31	c a s	N W	r		½
16	25	c	N W	30	f	S E	r		¼
17	28	f	S. E	34	f	S E	r		¼
18	30	f	S E	38	f	W	r		¼
19	32	f	N W	48	f	N W	r	1
20	35	f	N. W.	50	f	W	r	1	¼
21	33	c	S	49	f	S E	r
22	37	f	W	45	f	N W	r		½
23	38	f	W	48	f	N W
24	36	f	N W	34	f	N W
25	34	f	W	32	f	S W
26	15	f	S W	21	f	W
27	10	f	S E	19	c	S E	f	3
28	12	s	S E	15	s	E	f	4
29	14	c a s	N E	18	f	W	f	2	½
30	17	f	W	23	f	W	f

[Remarks] ^[4]

Novr.	1st	the winds blue so heard this day that we could not decend the river ^[5] untill after 5 P.M. when ^[6] we left our
	2nd	the boat droped down to our winter station & formed a camp I 〈went〉 ascended to the lower mandane vilage
	3rd	wind blew hard all day—Mr. Jessome arrived with his Squaw ^[7] employed a Frenchman— sent out 6 hunters in a Perogue— ^[8]
	[4]	wind hard this evening. ^[9]
	5th	drew Mr. Gravlins instructions &c. and discharged two of my hands
	6th	some little hail about noon— Mr. Gravlin received his in- structions and departed in a perogue with Premo; ^[10] Lajuness and two french boys for the recares.
	7th	a few drops of rain this evening— saw the arrora. borialis at 10 P. M. it was very briliant in perpendiculer collums fre- quently changing position—
	8th	Since we have been at our present station the River has fallen about nine inches
	9th	very head frost this morning—
	10th	many Gees passing to the South— saw a flock of the crested cherry birds passing to the south ^[11]
	13th	large quanty of drift ice running this morning the river has every appearance of closing for winter
	16th	very hard frost this morning ^[12] attatched to the limbs and boughs of the trees—
	17th	the frost of yesterday remained on the trees untill 2 P. M. when it descended like a shower of snow— swans passing from the N.
	19th	the hunters arrived with a perogue loaded with fine meat— the runing ice had declined
	20th	little soft ice this morning; that from the board[er] of the river came down in such manner as to endanger the boat.
	21st	Mr. Charbona arrived, we got into our hut yesterday eve- ning.—
	25th	set out with Charbono and Jessome to visit the Indian hunt- ing camps. spent the evening with the black mockersons the Prince. Cheif of the little Vilage grosventres. ^[13]
	26th	wind bleue verry hard, visited the upper camp of the big bellies and returned to the lower camp ^[14] where I had slept the preceeding night—
	27th	much drift ice running in the river— returned to (camp) the fort in company with two chiefs and a warrior ^[15]
	28th	the Indians left us late in the evening on their return
	29th	the snow fell 8 inches deep— it drifted in heeps in the open growns— visited by Mr. La Rock, ^[16] a trader.—
	30th	the indians pass over the river on the ice— Capt Clark visits the Mandanes with a party of men. ^[17]

1. Lewis's weather table comes from his Weather Diary; Clark's table is in Codex C. Lewis is followed here, with some variations by Clark being noted. (back)

2. Lewis here resumes noting the fall and rise of the river, which was only possible while they remained in one place during the day. (back)

3. From this point through the rest of the month and into December Lewis has transposed his "Weather" and "Wind at ☉ rise" columns, putting the information in the wrong place. The information has been rearranged to avoid confusion. (back)

4. The remarks are from Lewis Weather Diary, with substantial variations in Clark's Codex C noted. The dates are Clark's, since he wrote his remarks separately and Lewis placed his beside his weather table. Someone has crossed out Clark's remarks, except those for the first, seventh, eighth, ninth, and thirteenth. (back)

5. Clark inserts "to a proper place to camp" here. (back)

6. Here Clark has "the Boat droped down." (back)

7. Here Clark adds "& child." (back)

8. Clark adds "wind hard this evening." (back)

9. Clark has no remarks for this date. (back)

10. This must be Paul Primeau. It is not clear if the two French boys were listed as engagés, were with the expedition as unlisted choreboys, or were encountered at the Mandan villages. Primeau and La Jeunesse were probably the two hands discharged on November 5. (back)

11. Probably cedar waxwings, Bombycilla cedromm [AOU, 619]. Lewis calls them "cherry or cedar birds" in his weather remarks for April 6, 1805, giving a brief description. The species was not named until 1807. Burroughs, 254–55. (back)

12. Clark's remark ends here. (back)

13. Clark notes that Lewis set out, and has "Big Bellies" instead of "grosventres." (back)

14. From here Clark has "& passed a Second night," apparently writing in the first person although he is clearly describing Lewis's activities. (back)

15. Clark again writes as if in the first person, although describing Lewis's activities. (back)

16. From here Clark writes, "a Clerk of the N W Company." (back)

17. From here Clark, writing of himself in the third person, says "to assit them in defenc of the Sioux who had killed one man wounded 2 & taken maney horses. returned in the evening on the ice." (back)

Date: November 1804
Author(s): Clark, William | Lewis, Meriwether
TEI XML: lc.jrn.1804-11-30-1.xml

Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition

November 1804

[Lewis and Clark]

Journals of the
Lewis & Clark Expedition