September 26, 1804 - Discover Lewis & Clark

Contents

Clark and Lewis are ceremoniously carried into a Lakota Sioux village where they are feted with food and music. Clark sees several recently captured Omaha prisoners and asks for their return.

Evening of Ceremony with the Teton Sioux—September 26, 1804

Charles Fritz

36″ x 54″ oil on canvas

Curious Indians

the river lined with indians, came too & anchored by the particular request of the Chiefs to let their Womin & Boys See the Boat, and Suffer them to Show us some friendship—
—William Clark

Ceremonial Arrival

they Spread a Buffaloe robe dressed white on the Ground for him to Git on as Soon as he landed he Set on it 8 of the Savages carried him to the lodge which is a Great Mark of friendship.
—John Ordway

Pemmican by Candlelight

Sioux Delicacies

We smoked, and he again harangued his people, after which the repast was served up to us. It consisted of the dog which they had just been cooking, this being a great dish among the Sioux, and used on all festivals; to this were added, pemitigon [pemmican], a dish made of buffalo meat, dried or jerked, and then pounded and mixed raw with grease and a kind of ground potato [large Indian breadroot], dressed like the preparation of Indian corn called hominy, to which it is little inferior. Of all these luxuries which were place before us in platters with horn spoons, we took the pemitigon and the potato, which we found good, but we could as yet partake but sparingly of the dog.
—William Clark paraphrased by Nicholas Biddle^[1]Nicholas Biddle, Ed., History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark to the sources of the Missouri and thence across the Rocky Mountains and down the River Columbia to the … Continue reading

Music and Dancing

Several men with Tamborens [tambourines] highly Decorated with Der & Cabra Hoofs to make them rattle, assembled and began to Sing & Beat— The women Came forward highly decerated with the Scalps & Trofies of war of their fathes Husbands & relations, and Danced the war Dance
—William Clark

Omaha Prisoners

in the evening I walked on Shore, and Saw Several Mahar [Omaha] Womin & Boys in a lodge & was told they were Prisones laterly taken in a battle in which they killed a number & took 48 prisoners— I advised the Chiefs to make peace with that nation and give up the Prisoners, if they intended to follow the words of their great father they promised that they would do So—

In this Tribe I saw 25 Squars and boys taken 13 days ago in a battle with the mahars in this battle they Destroyd 40 lodges, killed 75 men, & Som boys & children, & took 48 Prisones Womin & boys which they promis both Capt. Lewis and my Self Shall be Delivered up to Mr. Durion [Pierre Dorion, Sr.]
—William Clark

Weather Diary

Thermot. at rise Weather Wind at rise thermotr. at 4 P.M. Weather Wind at 4 oC. P.M

54 fair W 78 fair S. W.

—Meriwether Lewis^[2]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “day of the month” column and spelled out some abbreviations.

Thermot. at rise	Weather	Wind at rise	thermotr. at 4 P.M.	Weather	Wind at 4 oC. P.M
54	fair	W	78	fair	S. W.

Bad River Encounter Site is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site is located in Fischers Lilly Park of the city of Fort Pierre.

Notes[+]

Notes
↑1	Nicholas Biddle, Ed., History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark to the sources of the Missouri and thence across the Rocky Mountains and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Performed during the years 1804–5–6. By order of the Government of the United States (New York: The Heritage Press, 1962), 53.
↑2	To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “day of the month” column and spelled out some abbreviations.

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