Day-by-Day / July 2, 1806

July 2, 1806

Rest and torment

At Travelers’ Rest in present Lolo, Montana, all the arms are put in good working order. Nez Perce guides race their horses and have foot races with the expedition men. Pvts. McNeal and Goodrich suffer from syphilis, and mosquitoes torment everybody.

Two Species of Clover

I found two speceis of native clover here, the one with a very narrow small leaf and a pale red flower, the other nearly as luxouriant as our red clover with a white flower the left and blume of the latter are proportionably large.
—Meriwether Lewis

Weapons Put in Order

had all of our arms put in the most prime order two of the rifles have unfortunately bursted near the muscle, Shields Cut them off and they Shute tolerable well one which is very Short we exchanged with the Indian whoe we had given a longer gun to induc them to pilot us across the Mountains. we caused every man to fill his horn with powder & have a sufficincy of Balls &c.
William Clark

Horse and Foot Races

in the evening the [Nez Perce] indians run their horses, and we had several foot races betwen the natives and our party with various success. these are a race of hardy strong athletic active men.
Meriwether Lewis

Uncommon Plant Specimens

I found several other uncommon plants specemines of which I preserved. The leaf of the cottonwood on this river is like that common to the Columbia narrower than that common to the lower part of the Missouri and Mississippi and wider than that on the upper part of the Missouri. the wild rose, servise berry [serviceberry], white berryed honeysuckle [snowberry], seven bark, elder, alder aspin [quaking aspen], chock cherry [black chokecherry] and the broad and narrow leafed willow are natives of this valley. the long leafed pine forms the principal timber of the neighbourhood, and grows as well in the river bottoms as on the hills. the firs and larch are confined to the higher parts of the hills and mountains.
—Meriwether Lewis

 

Mosquito Problems

the Musquetors has been So troublesom day and night Since our arrival in this Vally that we are tormented very much by them and Cant’ write except under our Bears [mosquito netting].
—William Clark

McNeal and Goodrich Ill

Goodrich and McNeal are both very unwell with the pox which they contracted last winter with the Chinnook [Chinook] women this forms my inducement principally for taking them to the falls of the Missouri where during an intervail of rest they can use the murcury freely.
—Meriwether Lewis

 

Weather Diaries

State of the weather at sun symbol rise Wind at sun symbol rise State of the weather at 4 P. M. Wind at 4 P. M.
fair S E fair S E

—Meriwether Lewis

State of the weather at Sun rise Wind at Sun rise State of the weather at 4 P. M Wind at 4 P M.
fair S E fair N. W

Musquetors very troublesom
—William Clark[1]To assist the reader of this web page, the date column is not presented and some abbreviations have been spelled out.

 

Notes

Notes
1 To assist the reader of this web page, the date column is not presented and some abbreviations have been spelled out.

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.