Lewis reaches the Grand Fall of Missouri and marvels at its “sublimely grand specticle”. Downriver, Clark gives Sacagawea a dose of salts as a purgative and leads the boats thirteen river miles. At Fort Massac at the mouth of the Ohio, General James Wilkinson has questions about the delegation of Native Peoples who arrived with the expedition’s barge.
At the Great Falls of the Missouri
by Yellowstone Public Radio[1]Originally aired weekdays by Yellowstone Public Radio during the Bicentennial observance of 2003-2006. Narrated by Hal Hansen. Scripts by Whit Hansen and Ed Jacobson. Produced by Leni Holliman. © … Continue reading
Lewis at the Grand Fall
Painting created by Split Rock Studios, Sioux City, Iowa. Original in the collection of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation and photographed by Kristopher K. Townsend.
At the Grand Fall
I wished for the pencil of Salvator Rosa or the pen of Thompson, that I might be enabled to give to the enlightened world some just idea of this truly magnifficent and sublimely grand object, which has from the commencement of time been concealed from the view of civilized man
—Meriwether Lewis
Infinitely More Buffalo
I overlooked a most beatifull and level plain of great extent or at least 50 or sixty miles; in this there were infinitely more buffaloe than I had ever before witnessed at a view.
—Meriwether Lewis
Cutthroat Trout
Oncorhynchus clarkii
Photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Cutthroat Trout
Goodrich had caught half a douzen very fine trout and a number of both species of the white fish. these trout are from sixteen to twenty three inches in length
—Meriwether Lewis
Sorting Grizzly Bears
I am induced to believe that the Brown, the white and the Grizly bear of this country are the same species only differing in colour from age or more probably from the same natural cause that many other anamals of the same family differ in colour.
—Meriwether Lewis
A Dose of Salts
a fair morning, Some dew this morning the Indian woman [Sacagawea] Verry sick I gave her a doste of Salts. We Set out early
—William Clark
Weather Diary
State of the thermometer at rise
Weather Wind at State of the thermometer at 4 OC. P.M. Weather Wind at 4 OC. P. M. State of river 52 [above 0] fair S. W. 72 [above 0] fair S. W. raised ¾ in. Some dew this morng.
—William Clark[2]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “State of the river” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations.
Wilkinson’s Bewilderment
At Fort Massac, the commander of the U.S. Army, James Wilkinson, has questions about what to do with the Indian delegates that recently arrived with the expedition’s barge.
Massac June 13th. 05
Sir [Henry Dearborn]
I understand Capt. Lewis has sent back his large Boat from his Wintering Ground, but I can learn no particulars of his voyage, thus I am informed upwards of twenty Chiefs from the Indians of the Missorui have arrived at St. Louis with intention to visit the President.
. . . . .
Capt. Stoddard in his absence, has deputed a Mr. Gratiot (a respectable Person) to represent him, & expects a Capt. [James Mackay will conduct the Indians to the seat of Government.
. . . . .
Ja: Wilkinson[3]Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 688–90.
Notes
| ↑1 | Originally aired weekdays by Yellowstone Public Radio during the Bicentennial observance of 2003-2006. Narrated by Hal Hansen. Scripts by Whit Hansen and Ed Jacobson. Produced by Leni Holliman. © 2003 by Yellowstone Public Radio. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “State of the river” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations. |
| ↑3 | Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 688–90. |
Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
This page was funded in part by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, U.S. National Park Service.
This site is provided as a public service by the
Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
with cooperation and funding from the following organizations:
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Montana Committee for the Humanities
- Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee
- The Capital Gallery (Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation)
- Yellowstone Public Radio
Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).