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Lewis & Clark Expedition

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November 17, 1805
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November 17, 1805

[Clark]

November 17th Sunday 1805
 

a fair cool windey morning wind from the East.    every tide which rises 8 feet 6 Inches at this place, 〈is acomp〉 comes in with high Swells which brake on the Sand Shore with great fury.

I sent out 6 men to kill deer & fowls this morning—

Took Equal altitude with Sextt.

  h m  s     h m  s
A. M. 8 47   7       P. M. 2 34 49
   " 8 50 29      " 2 37 10
   " 8 53 56      " 2 39 35

Altitude produced 27° 58' 00"

at half past 1 oClock Capt. Lewis and his Party returned haveing around passd. Point Disapointment and Some distance on the main Ocian to the N W.    Several Indians followed him & Soon after a canoe with wapto roots, & 〈Lickorish〉 [ML: Liquorice] [1] boiled, which they gave as presents, in return for which we gave more than the worth to Satisfy them    a bad practice to receive a present of Indians, as they are never Satisfied in return.    our hunters killed 3 Deer & th fowler 2 Ducks & 4 brant    I Surveyed a little on the corse & made Some observns. The Chief of the nation below us Came up to See us [2]    the name of the nation is 〈Chin-noo〉 Chin-nook and is noumerous live principally on fish roots a fiew Elk and fowls.    they are well armed with good Fusees. I directed all the men who wished to See more of the Ocean to Get ready to Set out with me on tomorrow day light.    the following men expressed a wish to accompany me i'e' Serj. Nat Pryor Serjt. J. Ordway, Jo: Fields R. Fields, Jo. Shannon, Jo Colter, William Bratten, Peter Wiser, Shabono & my Servant York.    all others being well Contented with what part of the Ocean & its curiosities which Could be Seen from the vicinity of our Camp.

[Clark]

November 17th Sunday 1805
 

a fair cool morning wind from the East. The tide rises at this place 8 feet 6 inches and comes in with great waves brakeing on the Sand beech on which we lay with great fury    Six hunters out this morning in serch of Deer & fowl. [3]

At half past 1 oClock Capt Lewis returned haveing travesed Haleys Bay to Cape Disapointment and the Sea Coast to the North for Some distance. Several Chinnook Indians followed Capt L—    and a Canoe came up with roots mats &c. to Sell.    those Chinnooks made us a present of a rute boiled much resembling the common liquorice in taste and Size: [ML?: thy call cul-wha-mo]    in return for this root we gave more than double the value to Satisfy their craveing dispostn. It is a bad practice to receive a present from those Indians as they are never Satisfied for that they reive in return if ten time the value of the articles they gave. This Chin nook Nation is about 400 Souls inhabid the Countrey on the Small rivrs which run into the bay below us and on the Ponds to the N W of us, live principally on fish and roots, they are well armed with fusees and Sometimes kill Elk Deer and fowl.    our hunters killed to day 3 Deer, 4 brant and 2 Ducks, and inform me they Saw Some Elk Sign. I directed all the men who wished to See more of the main Ocian [4] to prepare themselves to Set out with me early on tomorrow morning. The principal Chief of the Chinnooks & his familey came up to See us this evening—

[Ordway]

 

Sunday 17th Nov. 1805.    a clear morning    Several of the party went out a hunting, and Several more for meat.    in the after part of the day the hunters returned to Camp    had killed two Deer and Several geese and brants &C. Capt. Lewis and party returned to Camp also, and informed us that they had been about 30 miles down which took them on the Sea Shore and a verry bad road the most of the way. [5]    they Saw the harbour where the vessells had lain but they were all gone.—

[Gass]

 

Sunday 17th.    We had a fine pleasant clear morning, and 6 hunters went out. About noon they all came in; but the hunter who remained out last night, did not return. He had killed 2 deer, and the other men brought them in with some brants and a deer they had killed. About the same time Capt. Lewis, and his party returned. They had been round the bay, and seen where white people had been in the course of the summer: but they had all sailed away. [6] Captain Lewis and his party killed a deer and some brants. In the evening the remaining hunter came in and had killed another deer.

There are but few Indians settled down about the seashore; [7] their dress is similar to that of some of those above. The women have a kind of fringe petticoats, made of filaments or tassels of the white cedar bark wrought with a string at the upper part, which tied round the waist. These tassels or fringe are of some use as a covering, while the ladies are standing erect and the weather calm; but in any other position, or when the wind blows, their charms have but a precarious defence.

A number of both sexes keep about our camp; some have robes made of muskrat [8] skins sewed together, and I saw some of loon-skins. [9] Their diet is chiefly fish and roots.

Memorandum [10]
Of the computed distance in miles to the furthest point of
discovery on the Pacific Ocean, from the place where
the canoes were deposited near the head of the Missouri,
which from its mouth is		 3096
From the place of deposit to head spring— 24
To first fork of the Sho-sho-ne river— 14
To first large fork down the river— 18
To forks of the road at mouth of Tour creek 14
To fishing creek, after leaving the river— 23
To Flathead, or Clarke's river at Fish camp 41
To the mouth of Travellers-rest creek— 76
To the foot of the great range of mountains, east side 12
To          ditto          ditto            ditto            west side 130
To the Flat-head village in a plain— 3
To the Koos-koos-ke river— 18
To the Canoe camp, at the forks— 6
To the Ki-moo-ce-nem— 60
To the Great Columbia, by Lewis's river— 140
To the mouth of the Sho-sho-ne, or Snake river 162
To the Great Falls of Columbia— 6
To the Short Narrows— 3
To the Long    ditto— 3
To the mouth of Catarack river, north side 23
To the Grand Shoot, or Rapids— 42
To the Last Rapids, or Strawberry island 6
To the mouth of Quicksand river, south side 26
To Shallow Bay, at salt water— 136
To Blustry Point, on north side— 13
To Point Open-slope, below encampment 3
To Chin-Ook river, at bottom of Haley's Bay 12
To Cape Disappointment, on Western Ocean 13
To Capt. Clarke's tour N. W. along coast     10
miles 4133

[Whitehouse]

 

Sunday Novemr 17th    This morning we had clear pleasant weather.    several of our hunters went out to hunt, and took with them, some of the party to help bring in the Game that they might kill to our Camp.    In the afternoon the hunters all returned to Camp.    They had killed 2 Deer, and a number of Brants & Ducks, which they, & the Men that went with them brought to us.    In the Evening Captain Lewis, & the Men that was out with him also returned.    They informed us, that they had been about 30 Miles down on the Sea Coast, & that they had seen no white people or Vessells.    They learnt from the Indians along the Coast that some white people & Vessells had been lately there but that they were all gone.    Captain Clark concluded to go down with a party tomorrow to the Ocean in order to make his obsersvations of the Coast &ca.

1. Seashore lupine, Lupinus littoralis Dougl., whose underground rhizome was prepared for eating by Chinook Indians after roasting and pounding it. The common liquorice used for comparison is the cultivated Glycyrrhiza glabra L. Hitchcock et al., 3:319; Gunther (EWW), 38; Ray (LCEN), 119; Bailey, 561. It is the "cul-wha-mo" of the day's second entry, from Chinookan qalxwima for the lupine. Gibbs (AVC), 14. See Clark's entry of January 22, 1806 (apparently copied from Lewis's entry of January 24), for an extended discussion of the plant. (back)
2. Evidently Comcomly (Qanqḿli), a one-eyed chief of whom there is written mention from 1795. He was an important figure on the lower Columbia, a shrewd businessman and diplomat who eventually came to dominate the Chinooks. He was generally friendly with the whites, which enhanced his business and political interests. He was on good terms with the Astorians when they established their post in the area in 1811, and at first urged them to resist the British takeover in 1812, offering the assistance of his warriors. When the British seized the fort, however, he adroitly became their friend and ally. He remained the dominant figure of the Columbia mouth until his death in about 1829 or 1830, of a disease imported by the whites. Ruby & Brown (CITC); Ross; Franchère (AA), 45, 58, 80, 121; Franchère (JV), 76–77, 90–91, 122–23, 193; Cox, 49, 147, 157; Irving (Astor); Coues (NLEH), 2:750; Silverstein. (back)
3. The astronomical observation given at this point is the same as that in the Elkskin-bound Journal. (back)
4. A vertical line runs from "The Chinnook Nation" to about this point. (back)
5. Lewis's party reached the Pacific Coast near Cape Disappointment and went up the coast some miles in Pacific County, Washington. There is no known account of this reconnaissance. (back)
6. Lewis has left no known account of this reconnaissance, but his party clearly reached the Pacific Coast near Cape Disappointment and went up the coast some miles in Pacific County, Washington. (back)
7. The people immediately at the river mouth on the north side were Chinooks, who have given their name to the Chinookan language. (back)
8. Perhaps the robes, noted by the captains, of the skins of the mountain beaver, Aplodontia rufa, the captains' sewelel, a rodent but not a beaver. See Clark's entry of November 21, 1805. Otherwise, the muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus. (back)
9. Perhaps the pacific loon, Gavia arctica pacifica, the western subspecies of the arctic loon, or the common loon, G. immer. (back)
10. McKeehan here offers a table of distances similar to, but much briefer than those the captains included at various places in their journals. The points may be identified as follows:
Canoes deposited Camp Fortunate, Beaverhead County, Montana
Head spring Head of Trail Creek, Beaverhead County
Shoshone River Perhaps Lemhi River, Lemhi County, Idaho
First large fork Perhaps Salmon River, Lemhi County
Tour Creek Tower Creek, Lemhi County
Fishing Creek North Fork Salmon River, Lemhi County
Flathead or Clark's River East Fork Bitterroot River, Ravalli County, Montana
Travellers Rest Creek Lolo Creek, Missoula County, Montana
Flathead [Nez Perce] village Weippe Prairie, Clearwater County, Idaho
Kooskooske River Clearwater River, Clearwater County
Canoe Camp Near Orofino, Clearwater County
Kimoocenem Tucannon River, Columbia County, Washington
Columbia Columbia River
Shoshone or Snake River Deschutes River
Great Falls of Columbia Celilo Falls, Klickitat County, Washington-Wasco
County, Oregon
Short Narrows The Dalles of the Columbia, Klickitat County-Wasco
County
Long Narrows The Dalles of the Columbia
Catarack River Klickitat River, Klickitat County
Grand Shoot or Rapids Cascades of the Columbia River, Skamania County,
Washington-Hood River and Multnomah counties,
Oregon
Strawberry Island Hamilton Island, Skamania County
Quicksand River Sandy River, Multnomah County
Shallow Bay Grays Bay, Wahkiakum County, Washington
Blustry Point Perhaps Point Ellice, Pacific County, Washington
Point Open-slope Perhaps Chinook Point, Pacific County
Chinook River Chinook River Wallacut River, Pacific County
Haley's Bay Baker Bay, Pacific County
Cape Disappointment Cape Disappointment, Pacific County
(back)
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