Lewis: July 10, 1805

Wednesday July 10th 1805. Capt. Clark set out with his party early this
morning and passed over to the opposite side. after which I dispatched
Sergt. Ordway with 4 Canoes and 8 men to take up a load of baggage as far
as Capt. Clark’s camp and return for the remainder of our plunder. with
six others I now set to work on my boat, which had been previously drawn
out of the water before the men departed, and in two hours had her fraim
in readiness to be deposited. had a cash dug and deposited the Fraim of
the boat, some papers and a few other trivial articles of but little
importance. the wind blew very hard the greater part of the day. I also
had the truck wheels buried in the pit which had been made to hold the
tar. having nothing further to do I amused myself in fishing and caught a
few small fish; they were of the species of white chub mentioned below the
falls, tho they are small and few in number. I had thought on my first
arrival here that there were no fish in this part of the river. Capt.
Clark proceeded up the river 8 miles by land (distance by water 231/4) and
found 2 trees of Cottonwood and cut them down; one proved to be hollow and
split in falling at the upper part and was somewhat windshaken at bottom;
the other proved to be much windshaken. he surched the bottom for better
but could not find any he therefore determined to make canoes of those
which he had fallen; and to contract their length in such manner as to
clear the craks and the worst of the windsken parts making up the
deficiency by allowing them to be as wide as the trees would permit. they
were much at a loss for wood to make axhandles. the Chokecherry is the
best we can procure for this purpose and of that wood they made and broke
thir 13 handles in the course of this part of a day. had the eyes of our
axes been round they would have answered this country much better. the
musquetoes were very troublesome to them as well as ourselves today.
Sergt. Ordway proceeded up the river about 5 miles when the wind became so
violent that he was obliged to ly by untill late in the evening when he
again set out with the canoes and arrived within 3 miles of Capt. Clark’s
Camp where he halted for the night. about five miles above whitebear camp
there are two Islands in the river covered with Cottonwood box alder and
some sweet willow also the undergrowth like that of the islands at this
place.-