Lewis: May 12, 1805

Sunday May 12th 1805. Set out at an early hour, the weather clear and
Calm; I walked on shore this morning for the benifit of exersize which I
much wanted, and also to examine the country and it’s productions, in
these excurtions I most generally went alone armed with my rifle and
espontoon; thus equiped I feel myself more than an equal match for a brown
bear provided I get him in open woods or near the water, but feel myself a
little diffident with respect to an attack in the open plains, I have
therefore come to a resolution to act on the defencive only, should I meet
these gentlemen in the open country. I ascended the hills and had a view
of a rough and broken country on both sides of the river; on the North
side the summits of the hills exhibit some scattering pine and cedar, on
the South side the pine has not yet commenced tho there is some cedar on
the face of the hills and in the little ravines. the choke cherry also
grows here in the hollows and at the heads of the gullies; the choke
Cherry has been in blume since the ninth inst. this growth has freequently
made it’s appearance on the Missouri from the neighbourhood of the
Baldpated Prarie, to this place in the form of it’s leaf colour and
appearance of it’s bark, and general figure of it’s growth it resembles
much the Morillar cherry,1 tho much smaller not generally rising to a
greater hight than from 6 to 10 feet and ascociating in thick clusters or
clumps in their favorit situations which is usually the heads of small
ravines or along the sides of small brooks which flow from the hills. the
flowers which are small and white are supported by a common footstalk as
those of the common wild cherry are, the corolla consists of five oval
petals, five stamen and one pistillum, and of course of the Class and
order Pentandria Monogynia. it bears a fruit which much resembles the wild
cherry in form and colour tho larger and better flavoured; it’s fruit
ripens about the begining of July and continues on the trees untill the
latter end of SeptemberThe Indians of the Missouri make great uce
of this cherry which they prepare for food in various ways, sometimes
eating when first plucked from the trees or in that state pounding them
mashing the seed boiling them with roots or meat, or with the prarie beans
and white-apple; again for their winter store they geather them and lay
them on skins to dry in the sun, and frequently pound them and make them
up in small roles or cakes and dry them in the sun; when thus dryed they
fold them in skins or put them in bags of parchment and keep them through
the winter either eating them in this state or boiling them as before
mentioned. the bear and many birds also feed on these burries. the wild
hysop sage, fleshey leaf thorn, and some other herbs also grow in the
plains and hills, particularly the arromatic herb on which the Antelope
and large hare feed. The soil has now changed it’s texture considerably;
the base of the hills and river bottoms continue the same and are composed
of a rich black loam while the summits of the hills and about half their
hight downwards are of a light brown colour, poor sterile and intermixed
with a coarse white sand. about 12 OClock the wind veered about to the N.
W. and blew so hard that we were obliged to Ly by the ballance of the day.
we saw great quantities of game as usual. the bottom lands still becomeing
narrower.

About sunset it began to rain, and continued to fall a few drops at a time
untill midnight; the wind blew violently all night.