Journals of the
Lewis & Clark Expedition

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[Weather, July 1804]
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Aug 30, 1803 Sep 30, 1806
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[Weather, July 1804]

[Lewis and Clark]

[Weather, July 1804] [1]
 
July saw some geese with their young, caught several they are not yet
feathered nor can they fly    the old geese are in the same situation
at this season.
4th a great number of young geese and swan in a like oposit to the
mouth of the 4th of July Creek, in this lake are also abundances of
fish of various species.    the pike [hap?] catt, sunfish &c &c perch
Carp, or buffaloe fish,— [2]
12 the deer and bear begin to get scarce and the Elk begin to appear—
23rd Cat fish is verry Common and easy taken in any part of this river.
Some are nearly white perticilary above the Platte River.
1. These July remarks, placed at the end of the month, are Lewis's in the Weather Diary and Clark's in Codex C; they are nearly identical, but Lewis has no entry for July 23. Weather observations apparently ceased entirely after July 23 until September 19, as far as known records indicate, except for casual observations in Clark's daily journals. (back)
2. The words "or buffaloe fish" after "carp" appear only in Lewis's Weather Diary. The pike is probably northern pike. The "catt" is either channel cat or Ictalurus melas, black bullhead. The perch could be Stizostedion canadense, sauger; S. vitreum, walleye; or Perca flavescens, yellow perch. The carp is perhaps Carpiodes carpio, river carpsucker; the carp was not introduced into the United States until 1877. Clark lists "Sun perch" instead of "sunfish." American sunfish belong to the family Centrarchidae. Lee et al., 133, 446, 441, 745, 747, 713, 367, 152, 577–614. (back)
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