Day-by-Day / April 3, 1804

April 3, 1804

A Letter for Prairie du Chien

Contents

At sunrise, Nicholas Jarrot‘s trade boat leaves the expedition’s winter camp at the Wood River carrying a letter from Clark to John Campbell of Prairie Du Chien, an important fur trade center in present Wisconsin. Clark has the enlisted men pack corn meal, flour, and salted pork.

Journaling

Artist unknown. Courtesy U.S. National Park Service.

A Letter for Prairie du Chien

I wrote a letter to Mr. John Campbell, of Prarie De chaine by Mr. Hay & the Gentlemen bound to [t]hat place, those Gentlemen Set out at Sun rise
—William Clark

Preserving Food

I have meal mad & the flour Packed & repacked, also Some porkie packed in barrels
—William Clark

Weather Diary

Thermometr. at rise Weather Wind at Sunrise Thermometr. at 4 oClock Weather Wind at 4 oClock River

50 above 0 fair N E rain N E rise 3 ½ in.

Mr. Garrous [Nicholas Jarrot] Boat loaded with provisions pass up for Prarie de chien, to trade a cloudy day
—William Clark^[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “Day of month” and “River feet” columns and spelled out some of the abbreviations.

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	To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the “Day of month” and “River feet” columns and spelled out some of the 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

Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation
with cooperation and funding from the following organizations:

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
Montana Committee for the Humanities
Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee
The Capital Gallery (Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation)
Yellowstone Public Radio

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).