Lewis: May 20, 1804
Sunday May 20th 1804 The morning was fair, and the weather pleasent; at 10
oCk A M. agreably to an appointment of the preceeding day, I was joined by
Capt. Stoddard, Lieuts. Milford & Worrell together with Messrs. A.
Chouteau, C. Gratiot, and many other respectable inhabitants of St. Louis,
who had engaged to accompany me to the Vilage of St. Charles; accordingly
at 12 Oclk after bidding an affectionate adieu to my Hostis, that
excellent woman the spouse of Mr. Peter Chouteau, and some of my fair
friends of St. Louis, we set forward to that village in order to join my
friend companion and fellow labourer Capt. William Clark who had
previously arrived at that place with the party destined for the discovery
of the interior of the continent of North America the first 5 miles of our
rout laid through a beatifull high leavel and fertile prarie which
incircles the town of St. Louis from N. W. to S. E. the lands through
which we then passed are somewhat broken up fertile the plains and
woodlands are here indiscriminately interspersed untill you arrive within
three miles of the vilage when the woodland commences and continues to the
Missouri the latter is extreamly fertile. At half after one P.M. our
progress was interrupted the near approach of a violent thunder storm from
the N. W. and concluded to take shelter in a little cabbin hard by untill
the rain should be over; accordingly we alighted and remained about an
hour and a half and regailed ourselves with a could collation which we had
taken the precaution to bring with us from St. Louis.
The clouds continued to follow each other in rapaid succession, insomuch
that there was but little prospect of it’s ceasing to rain this evening;
as I had determined to reach St. Charles this evening and knowing that
there was now no time to be lost I set forward in the rain, most of the
gentlemen continued with me, we arrived at half after six and joined Capt
Clark, found the party in good health and sperits. suped this evening with
Monsr. Charles Tayong a Spanish Ensign & late Commandant of St.
Charles at an early hour I retired to rest on board the bargeSt.
Charles is situated on the North bank of the Missouri 21 Miles above it’s
junction with the Mississippi, and about the same distance N. W. from St.
Louis; it is bisected by one principal street about a mile in length
runing nearly parrallel with the river, the plain on which it stands-is
narrow tho sufficiently elivated to secure it against the annual
inundations of the river, which usually happen in the month of June, and
in the rear it is terminated by a range of small hills, hence the
appellation of petit Cote, a name by which this vilage is better known to
the French inhabitants of the Illinois than that of St. Charles. The
Vilage contains a Chappel, one hundred dwelling houses, and about 450
inhabitants; their houses are generally small and but illy constructed; a
great majority of the inhabitants are miserably pour, illiterate and when
at home excessively lazy, tho they are polite hospitable and by no means
deficient in point of natural genious, they live in a perfect state of
harmony among each other; and plase as implicit confidence in the
doctrines of their speritual pastor, the Roman Catholic priest, as they
yeald passive obedience to the will of their temporal master the
commandant. a small garden of vegetables is the usual extent of their
cultivation, and this is commonly imposed on the old men and boys; the men
in the vigor of life consider the cultivation of the earth a degrading
occupation, and in order to gain the necessary subsistence for themselves
and families, either undertake hunting voyages on their own account, or
engage themselves as hirelings to such persons as possess sufficient
capital to extend their traffic to the natives of the interior parts of
the country; on those voyages in either case, they are frequently absent
from their families or homes the term of six twelve or eighteen months and
alwas subjected to severe and incessant labour, exposed to the ferosity of
the lawless savages, the vicissitudes of weather and climate, and
dependant on chance or accident alone for food, raiment or relief in the
event of malady. These people are principally the decendants of the
Canadian French, and it is not an inconsiderable proportian of them that
can boast a small dash of the pure blood of the aboriginees of America. On
consulting with my friend Capt. C. I found it necessary that we should
pospone our departure untill 2 P M. the next day and accordingly gave
orders to the party to hold themselves in readiness to depart at that
hour.
Captn. Clark now informed me that having gotten all the stores on board
the Barge and perogues on the evening of the 13th of May he determined to
leave our winter cantainment at the mouth of River Dubois the next day,
and to ascend the Missouri as far as the Vilage of St. Charles, where as
it had been previously concerted between us, he was to wait my arrival;
this movement while it advanced us a small distance on our rout, would
also enable him to determine whether the vessels had been judiciously
loaded and if not timely to make the necessary alterations; accordingly at
4 P.M. on Monday the 14th of May 1804, he embarked with the party in the
presence of a number of the neighbouring Citizens who had assembled to
witness his departure. during the fore part of this day it rained
excessively hard. In my last letter to the President dated at St. Louis I
mentioned the departure of Capt. Clark from River Dubois on the 15th Inst,
which was the day that had been calculated on, but having completed the
arrangements a day earlyer he departed on the 14th as before mentioned. On
the evening of the 14th the party halted and encamped on the upper point
of the first Island which lyes near the Larbord shore, on the same side
and nearly opposite the center of this Island a small Creek disimbogues
called Couldwater.
The course and distance of this day was West 4 Miles the Wind from N. E.
