Day-by-Day / April 24, 1805

April 24, 1805

Blowing dust

High winds pin the expedition down at their camp near present Trenton, North Dakota. Hunters are sent out, and they kill a “considerable number of Buffalo, Elk and Deer“. The dust from blowing sand gets into everything and makes eyes sore.

Sore Eyes

Soar eyes is a common complaint among the party. I believe it origenates from the immence quantities of sand which is driven by the wind from the sandbars of the river
Meriwether Lewis

Penetrating Sand

so penitrating is this sand that we cannot keep any article free from it; in short we are compelled to eat, drink, and breath it very freely.
—Meriwether Lewis

Faulty Watch

my pocket watch, is out of order, she will run only a few minutes without stoping. I can discover no radical defect in her works, and must therefore attribute it to the sand, with which, she seems plentifully charged, notwithstanding her cases are double and tight.
—Meriwether Lewis

Successful Hunters

A party of our Men were sent out a hunting. They returned in the Evening, they had met with great succees, having kill’d a considerable number of Buffalo, Elk and Deer, one of the party brought in with him 6 Young Wolves, which he caught.—
Joseph Whitehouse

 

Weather Diary

State of Thermometer at sun symbol rise Weather Wind at sun symbol rise State of Thermometer at 4 P.M. Weather Wind at 4 P.M. State of the River
40 [above 0] fair N. 56 [above 0] fair N raised 1 in.

[wind very hard] this morning.
William Clark and Meriwether Lewis[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, clarified the “State of the River” information, and spelled out some abbreviations.

Notes

Notes
1 To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, clarified the “State of the River” information, 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.