Day-by-Day / January 21, 1804

January 21, 1804

Estimated schedule

Winter Camp at Wood River, IL On or near this date, Clark estimates the time it will take to complete the expedition. He plans to reach the Mandans by 5 September 1804.

Snowing Fast

The Snow this morning is about 2½ Inches Deep, & Snowing fast, The Thermometer Stood at 7d abov 0
—William Clark

Related: Thermometers and Temperatures | Weather Observations

Clark’s Estimate of Trip Length

Undated Field Note (Detail)

Messy handwritten notes

(Osgood, Document 7). Digitized by Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Library. Brightness and exposure adjusted for clarity.

Estimated Trip Time

mls months days
1804{ From Dubois to the Manden Nation 1500 miles at 10 mes. pr Day will be 150 days Viz: May June, July Augt. & Sept.— }1500 in 5 0
From Do. at 12 mes. pr. day—125 days Viz: May June July Augt. & 5 days in Septr 4 5

—William Clark, undated field note[1]This table has been created from Moulton, Journals, 2:159 and Ernest S. Osgood, The Field Notes of William Clark, 1803–1805, Document 7 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1964), 19 and … Continue reading

Related: Starting up the Missouri | Past the Omahas | Among the Yanktons | Crossing the Lakotas | Winter at Fort Mandan | The Mandans

Weather Diary

Therm. at sun symbol rise weather wind Therm. at 4 oClock weather wind River
7 above 0 cloudy & snowy N E 17 above 0 snow & hail N E fall

Snow 2½ In Deep
—Meriwether Lewis and William Clark[2]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “River” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations.

 
logo: Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail logo: National Park Service

Winter Camp at Wood River (Camp Dubois) is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site, near Hartford, Illinois, is managed as Lewis and Clark State Historic Site and is open to the public.

Notes

Notes
↑1 This table has been created from Moulton, Journals, 2:159 and Ernest S. Osgood, The Field Notes of William Clark, 1803–1805, Document 7 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1964), 19 and 203. Table borders and shading have been added for clarity.
↑2 To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “River” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations.

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.

This page was funded in part by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, U.S. National Park Service.

This site is provided as a public service by the
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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).