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Lewis & Clark Expedition

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Weather, December 1804
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Aug 30, 1803 Sep 30, 1806
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Weather, December 1804

[Lewis and Clark]

[Weather, December 1804] [1]
 
1804
Day of
the Month 		Ther.
at ☉
rise

Weather [2]
Wind at
☉ rise 		Thert.
at 4
P. M.

Weather
Wind at
4 P. M.
raise
or fall 		River

Feet

Inches
Dec. 1 1 b 0 f. E. 6 f S E r 1
        2 38 a f N. W. 36 f N W r 1  
        3 26 a f N W. 30 f N. W. r 1  
        4 18 f N. 29 f N. r 1  
        5 14 c N E. 27 s N E
           6th 10 a s N W 11 c a s N W
        7      a o [3] f. N. W 1 c. N W r 2   ½
        8 12 b s. N W 5 f a s N W
        9 7 a f E 10 f N W
       10 10 b c N 11 c N r 1½
       11 21 b f. N 18 f N f   ½
       12 38 b f N 16 f N
       13 20 b f. S. E. 4 c S. E.
       14 2 b c. S E 2 s S E f 1  
       15 8 b c. a. s W. 4 c a s W.
       16 22 b f. N. W. 4 f N W f 1  
       17       43 b [4] f N 28 f N. r 3  
       18 32 b f W 16 f S W r 1  
       19 2 b c S W 16 f S. r 1  
       20 24 a       c [5] N. W. 37 f N W r 3½
       21 22 a f N W 22 c W. r 2
       22 10 a f N W 23 f N W r 2½
       23 18 a c S. W. 27 c W f 1  
       24 22 a s S W 31 c a s W f 2½
       25 15 s N W 20 c a s N W f 1  
       26 18 c. N W 21 f N. W.
       27 4 b c N W 14 c N W
       28 12 a f N 13 f N. W. r. 2½
       29 9 b. f N. 3 f N r 1  
       30 20 b f. N. 11 f N r   ½
       31 10 b f S E. 12 c S W r 1½
[Remarks] [6]
1st Ice thick.
wind hard
5th Wind blew excessively hard this 〈morning〉 night from N W.
6th Capt. Clark was hunting the Buffaloe this day with 16 Men—    sev-
erall of the men frosted    killed 3 buffaloe himself and the party
killed 5 others. [7]
7th last night the river blocked up [8] with ice which was 1½ inches thick
in the part that had not previously frosen—    The Buffaloe appear
go out with a party in quest of them kill 14.    the mandanes take
two—the reasen—
8th The ice 1½ inch thick on the part that had not previously frosen.
The Buffaloe appear    Capt Lewis with 15 men Kill 14 [9]
[9] went hunting with a party of fifteen men    killed 10 Buffaloe and 1
deer    staid out all night [10]
14th Capt. Clark sets out with a hunting party on the ice with three small
sleds—
15 snow fell one ½ inch— [11]    visited by the big man & the big white
inform me that many buffaloe have visited the Grosventers on the
opposite side of the river    they came from the West.
16 Mr. Haney and Mr. La Roche visits us. [12]
17th at 8 P. M. this evening the Thertr. stood at 42 b. 0.
19 began to Piquet the Fort on the river side—
24th Snow verry inconsiderable [13]    complete the fort
[25] Do    do
26th played at the good old game of backgammon n—i s—h [14]
27th The trees all this day with the white frost which attached itself to
their boughs
28th the [wind] blue verry hard last night.    the frost fell like a shower
of snoe
1. The weather table is drawn from Lewis's Weather Diary; there are a few discrepancies in Clark's tables in Codex C and Voorhis No. 4, which are noted in their proper place. (back)
2. As in his November observations (see above), Lewis had transposed the notations in his "Weather" and "Wind at ☉ rise" columns through December 6; after that date, shifting to another page, he resumes doing them correctly. The columns are printed correctly here to avoid confusion. (back)
3. Clark has "0 〈a〉." (back)
4. Clark has "45 b" here in Codex C and "43 b" in Voorhis No. 4. (back)
5. There are several discrepancies between Lewis and Clark on this date; in Codex C Clark's sunrise weather is "f"; his 4 p. m. temperature is "22 a"; his 4 p. m. weather is "C"; his 4 p. m. wind is "W"; his river rise is 2 inches. His table in Voorhis No. 4 agrees with Lewis. (back)
6. These remarks follow Lewis's in his Weather Diary; the dates are taken from Clark's Codex C. Clark has remarks for December 1 and 2 in Voorhis No. 4 that are not found in the other two notebooks. (back)
7. Clark appears to have crossed out this remark in his Codex C. (back)
8. From here Clark writes "opposit Fort Mandan." The remainder of the information in this remark is in Clark's remark for December 8. Lewis has no remarks for that date. (back)
9. Clark's remarks in Codex C; Lewis has no remarks for this date. In Voorhis No. 4 Clark writes "I hunt    3 men frosted." (back)
10. Clark notes this hunting trip in Voorhis No. 4 (and not in Codex C) and adds "no blanket" after referring to Lewis's remaining out all night. (back)
11. Clark's Codex C remarks end at this point. (back)
12. Clark has no Codex C remarks for this date; in Voorhis No. 4 he writes "W C. huntig" for December 16 and 17. (back)
13. Clark's remarks in Codex C for December 24 and 25 agree with Lewis's; in Voorhis No. 4, however, he has "Snow very much" and "do" for the two dates. In that notebook he places "Complete the Fort" under December 23. (back)
14. One of the few indications of how they passed their time at Fort Mandan. It is unclear whether they brought a backgammon board and dice along or improvised them on the spot. The letters may have some reference to the game, but they do not resemble the modern system of scoring. Clark has nothing on this date. (back)
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