Day-by-Day / January 12, 1804

January 12, 1804

A chimney fire in the night

Winter Camp at Wood River, IL During the night, Clark’s chimney catches fire. On the Mississippi, large sheets of ice collide. Clark measures the angle of the sun’s lower limb adding to a growing data set of celestial observations.

A Chimney Fire

my Chimney got on fire last night, a fair morning . . . . river Continue to rise with large Sheets of ice running against the Ice atached to the bank with great force, the Boat is a float, and in perfect order
William Clark

The Sun’s Lower Limb

I took maridinal altitude of Suns Lower Limb with Sextent and made it 59& 31′ 52″ N th[e] Error of Enstrument as usial
—William Clark

 

Weather Diary

Therm. at sun symbol rise weather wind Therm. at 4 oClock weather wind River
[no data recorded]

W C very sick
Meriwether Lewis[2]Lewis’s original “do” has been replaced by here with the value it represents.

 

Notes

Notes
1 Lewis & Clark State Historic Site, http://www.campdubois.com.
2 Lewis’s original “do” has been replaced by here with the value it represents.

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.