Above the Falls of the Missouri, Lewis laments they will soon be leaving buffalo country, and Sgt. Gass and Pvt. McNeal visit the falls. Loose stitches leave holes in the hides covering the iron-framed boat.
Repairing Moccasins
© Michael Haynes, https://www.mhaynesart.com. Used with permission.
Working on the Iron-framed Boat
This morning early we employed all hands; some were making tar or attempting to make it, others were attatching the skins on the boat, other cuting and fiting the bark for lining puting in the woodworke &c
—Meriwether Lewis
Loose Stitches Appear
I fear I have committed another blunder also in sewing the skins with a nedle which has sharp edges these have cut the skin and as it drys I discover that the throng dose not fill the holes as I expected tho’ I made them sew with a large throng for that purpose.
—Meriwether Lewis
Sewing Moccasins
the men not other ways directed are dressing Skins to make themselves mockinsons as they have wore them all out in the plains one pair of good mockins will not last more than about 2 days. will ware holes in them the first day and patch them for the next.—
—John Ordway
Fleeced Bison
© 2020 Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Buffalo Hunting
some hunters were sent out to kill buffaloe in order to make pemecon to take with us and also for their skins which we now wa[n]t to cover our baggage in the boat and canoes when we depart from hence.
—Meriwether Lewis
Leaving Buffalo Country
the Indians have informed us that we should shortly leave the buffaloe country after passing the falls; this I much regret for I know when we leave the buffaloe that we shal sometimes be under the necessity of fasting occasionally. and at all events the white puddings will be irretreivably lost and Sharbono [Charbonneau] out of imployment.
—Meriwether Lewis
Visiting the Falls
I was so engaged with the boat, that I had not visited the falls. I therefore set out with one of the men [Hugh McNeal] to day for that purpose. I found the 2nd pitch the most beautiful, though not the highest. About a mile below the upper pitch, the largest and most beautful spring rises out of the bank of the Missouri on the south side that I ever beheld.
—Patrick Gass
Weather Diary
State of the thermometer at rise
Weather at Wind at State of the Thermometer at 4 P.M. Weather at 4 P.M. Wind at 4 P.M. State of the river 58 [above 0] fair S. W 74 [above 0] cloudy after fair & rain S W slight rain in the evening.
—Meriwether Lewis[1]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.
Rainbow Falls is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. An overlook of the falls is accessible by roadway or footpath, and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is located about 1.5 miles to the west.
The Great Falls Portage is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. It includes Sulpher Spring (open to the public) and Lower Portage Camp site (private land), and the Upper Portage Camp Overlook.
Notes
| ↑1 | 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. |
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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).