Journals of the
Lewis & Clark Expedition

[Clark]

a fine morning    Dispatched a perogue and 5 Men under the Derection of Sergeant Pryor to the 2nd Village for 100 bushels of Corn in ears which Mr. Jessomme, let us have    did not get more than 80 bushels—    I was allarmed about 10 oClock by the Sentinal, who informed that an Indian was about to Kill his wife in the interpeters 〈hut〉 fire about 60 yards below the works, I went down and Spoke to the fellow about the rash act which he was like to commit and forbid any act of the kind near the fort—[NB: he might lawfully have killed her for running away.]    Some missunderstanding took place between this man & his fife about 8 days ago, and She came to this place, & Continued with the Squars of the interpeters, 2 days ago She returned to the Villg.    in the evening of the Same day She came to the interpeters fire appearently much beat, & Stabed in 3 places—    We Derected that no man of this party have any intercourse with this woman under the penelty of Punishment—    he the Husband observed that one of our Serjeants Slept with his wife & if he wanted her he would give her to him, We derected the Serjeant Odway ^[1] to give the man Some articles, at which time I told the Indian that I believed not one man of the party had touched his wife except the one he had given the use of her for a nite, in his own bed, no man of the party Should touch his Squar, or the wife of any Indian, nor did I believe they touch a woman if they knew her to be the wife of another man, and advised him to take his Squar home and live hapily together in future,—    at this time the Grand Chief of the nation [Black Cat] arrived, & lecturd him, and they both went off apparently dis [NB:dissatisfied]

The grand Chief continued [NB: with us] all day    a warm Day fair afternoon—    many Indian anickdotes    one Chief & his familey Stay all night.