Day-by-Day / March 8, 1804

March 8, 1804

Announcing Louisiana's transfer

Winter Camp at Wood River, IL Lewis is in Cahokia with Captain Amos Stoddard and his honor guard who are traveling to St. Louis to formally receive the Upper Louisiana Territory. Clark is likely already there.

The Upper Louisiana Transfer

The following notice, signed and notarized, was hung on the door of a St. Louis church:

PUBLIC NOTICE

We notify the public that tomorrow, the ninth of the present month, between the hours of 11 and 12, we will deliver Upper Louisiana to Captain Amos Stoddard, Agent and Commissioner of the French Republic, in accordance with our public announcement dated Nineteenth of February last.

St. Louis of the Illinois, Mark 8th, 1804,

(Signed) CHARLES DEHAULT DELASSUS.[2]Walter Barlow Stevens, St. Louis: The Fourth City 1764–1911 (St. Louis: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911), 1:395.

 

Weather Diary

Therm at sun symbol rise weather wind Therm at 4 Oclk weather wind River
6 above 0 cloudy & snow N W 20 above 0 snow N W fall ½ in.

Rain Suceeded by Snow & hail
—Meriwether Lewis and William Clark[3]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “River” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations.

 

Notes

Notes
1 Robert J. Moore, Jr., and Michael Haynes, Tailor Made, Trail Worn: Army Life, Clothing, & Weapons of the Corps of Discovery (Helena, Montana: Farcountry Press, 2003), 16-20.
2 Walter Barlow Stevens, St. Louis: The Fourth City 1764–1911 (St. Louis: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911), 1:395.
3 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.