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Journals of Lewis and Clark: Dates March 1805 - Part One

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The Journals of Lewis and Clark: Dates March 1, 1805 - March 9, 1805
The following excerpts are taken from entries of the Journals of Lewis and Clark. Dates: March 1, 1805 - March 9, 1805

March 1, 1805
Friday, March 1. The day is fine, and the whole party is engaged, some in making ropes and pirogues, others in burning coal, and making battle axes to sell for corn.

March 2, 1805
Saturday 2. Mr. Laroche one of the N.W. company's traders has just arrived with merchandise from the British establishments on the Assiniboine. The day is fine, and the river begins to break up in some places, the mercury being between 28° and 36° above 0, and the wind from the N.E. We were visited by several Indians.

March 3, 1805
Sunday 3. The weather pleasant, the wind from the E. with clouds; in the afternoon the clouds disappeared and the wind came from the N.W. The men are all employed in preparing the boats; we are visited by Poscapsahe and several other Indians with corn. A flock of ducks passed up the river to-day.

March 4, 1805
Monday 4. A cloudy morning with N.W. wind, the latter part of the day clear. We had again some Indian visitors with a small present of meat. The Assiniboines, who a few days since visited the Mandans, returned, and attempted to take horses from the Minnetarees, who fired on them; a circumstance which may occasion some disturbance between the two nations.

March 5, 1805
Tuesday 5. About four o'clock in the morning there was a slight fall of snow, but the day became clear and pleasant with the mercury 40° above 0. We sent down an Indian and a Frenchman to the Ricara villages with a letter to Mr. Tabeau.

March 6, 1805
Wednesday 6. The day was cloudy and smoky in consequence of the burning of the plains by the Minnetarees; they have set all the neighboring country on fire in order to obtain an early crop of grass which may answer for the consumption of their horses, and also as an inducement for the buffalo and other game to visit it. The horses stolen two days ago by the Assiniboines have been returned to the Minnetarees. Ohhaw second chief of the lower Minnetaree village came to see us. The river rose a little and overran the ice, so as to render the crossing difficult.

March 7, 1805
Thursday, 7th. The day was somewhat cloudy, and colder than usual; the wind from the northeast. Shotawhorora visited us with a sick child, to whom some medicine was administered. There were also other Indians who brought corn and dried buffalo meat in exchange for blacksmith's work.

March 8, 1805
Friday 8. The day cold and fair with a high easterly wind: we were visited by two Indians who gave us an account of the country and people near the Rocky mountains where they had been.

March 9, 1805
Saturday 9. The morning cloudy and cool, the wind from the north. The grand chief of the Minnetarees, who is called by the French Le Borgne, from his having but one eye, came down for the first time to the fort. He was received with much attention, two guns were fired in honor of his arrival, the curiosities were exhibited to him, and as he said that he had not received the presents which we had sent to him on his arrival, we again gave him a flag, a medal, shirt, armbraces and the usual presents on such occasions, with all which he was much pleased. In the course of the conversation, the chief observed that some foolish young men of his nation had told him there was a person among us who was quite black, and he wished to know if it could be true. We assured him that it was true, and sent for York: the Borgne was very much surprised at his appearance, examined him closely, and spit on his finger and rubbed the skin in order to wash off the paint; nor was it until the negro uncovered his head, and showed his short hair, that the Borgne could be persuaded that he was not a painted white man.

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