May 22, 1804
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Aug 30, 1803 Sep 30, 1806

May 22, 1804

 

delayed a Short time for the three french men who returned and we Set out at 6 oClock    a Cloudy morning    rained Violently hard last night    Saw Several people on the bank to day & passed 〈many〉 Several Small farms. Capt. Lewis walk on Shore a little & passed a Camp of Kickapoo Indians, [1] & incamped in the mouth of a Small Creek in a large Bend on the Stbd Side. [2]

The Courses & Distances of this day is as follows Viz.
S 60° W.   3 miles    Passed the upper point of the Isd. on which we lay
last night to a pt. L: Sd.
S: 43° W   4 miles—    this Course passes a pt. on Lbd. Sd. and this an
Island in the Mid: R: to a pt. St. Sd.
West   3 ½ miles    psd. the Mo: of Bonom [Bonhomme] Creek [3] Lbd.
Sd. at 1½ ms an Isd. in mid: R: to pt on Sbd. Sd. abov
S. 75° W.   7 ½ Miles—    psd. a pt. on Lbd. round an Isd. bend to the N: 2
Sm: Isd. opsd. one nearest the Larboard Side to the pt. in
the Cent. to Stb. opposit the lower pt. of Tavn. [Tavern]
Isld: [4] and at the mouth of Osage Woman river [5]
Total 18  
 

a Cloudy morning    Delay one hour for 4 french men who got liberty to return to arrange Some business they had forgotten in Town, at 6 oClock we proceeded on, passed Several Small farms on the bank, and a large creek on the Lbd. Side Called Bonom [NB: bon homme]    a Camp of Kickapoos [NB: an Indian nation residing on the heads of Kaskaskia & Illinois river 90 miles N E of the mouth of the Missouri, & hunt occasionally on the Missouri ] on the St. Side    Those Indians told me Several days ago that they would Come on & hunt and by the time I got to their Camp they would have Some Provisions for us, we Camped in a Bend 〈under〉 at the Mo: of a Small creek, Soon after we came too the Indians arrived with 4 Deer as a Present, for which we gave them two qts. of whiskey—

Course & Distance th 22d May
S 60° W.   3 ms. to a pt. Lbd Side
S 43° W.   4 ms. to a pt. on Stbd. Side
West   3 ½ ms. to a pt. on Stbd Sd. psd Bonon
S 75° W.   7 ½ ms. to a pt. in Bend to Stbd Side at the mo. of Osage
Womans R
18

This Day we passed Several Islands, and Some high lands on the Starboard Side, Verry hard water.

 

Tuesday May 22d 1804.    passed Bonom Creek on the South Side of the River.    came 15 miles encamped on N. [over S] Side of the River, at clifts 〈our arms inspected〉    Some Indians came to us &C

 

Tuesday may 22d 1804    Set out after a verry hard Rain and passed Bonnon Creek on the South Side of the River    came 15 mi[les]    encamped on the N. Side of the river at cliftes    Some Indianes Came to See us

 

Tuesday 22nd.    We continued our voyage; passed Bonum creek on the south side, and having made fifteen miles, encamped at the Cliffs on the north side of the river. Here we were visited by some Indians.

 

Tuesday 22nd May 1804 [6]    a fair morning.    we Set out eairly proceeded on verry well    passed canom [7] Creek on the Stard    Several Indians came to us this evening.    Gave us some venison

Tuesday May 22nd    This morning being fair, we set out early and proceeded on very well.    We passed Bonhom Creek, laying on the South side of the River, in the Evening, several Indians came to where we encamped, & behaved very friendly, and gave us some Venison.    The course of the River still being nearly West, and the current rapid.—

1. Possibly the Kickapoo town referred to on May 18, 1804, but "town" usually refers to a more permanent Indian settlement than the hunting camp this seems to have been. (back)
2. Clark indicates that this stream was "Osage Woman's River," that is, Femme Osage River, or Creek. On May 23 he states that they had to go two miles to reach Femme Osage River. Perhaps the stream was one of several small watercourses downstream from Femme Osage River that are nameless on later maps. MRC map 3; MRM map 7. (back)
3. Bonhomme Creek, in St. Louis County, Missouri. See fig. 9. MRC map 2. (back)
4. Tavern Island seems to have disappeared, unless it was the later Howell Island. The name must have come from the cave nearby (see below, May 23, 1804, n. 2). See fig. 9. MRC map 3. (back)
5. As indicated in n. 2, there is confusion about the identity of this stream. (back)
6. Whitehouse may have written "4" over "6" for the year. See his entry of May 27. (back)
7. Whitehouse means Bonhomme Creek, St. Louis County, Missouri, but he has it on the wrong side. It is correct in the fair copy. (back)