| Day of the month. | REMARKS AND REFLECTIONS. |
|---|
| 1804. | | |
| January | 1 | Snow one inch deep. |
| 2 | Some snow last night. |
| 3 | Hard wind. |
| 4 | River covered with ice out of the Missouri. |
| 5 | River Du Bois rise. |
| 6 | do. do. do. |
| 7 | do. do. do. |
| 8 | do. do. do. and discharge ice. |
| 9 | Some snow last night. |
| 10 | The Missouri rise. |
| 13 | Snowed last night. |
| 17 | River covered with ice, some 5½ inches thick. |
| 19 | do. do. do. |
| 20 | No ice passing to-day. |
| 21 | Ice running out of the Missouri 9 inches thick.Snow 2½ inches deep. |
| 22 | Ice running out of the Missouri, snow 5¾ inchesdeep. |
| 23 | Ice stopped. |
| 24 | The trees covered with ice. |
| 28 | Ice running, cold &c. |
| February | 1 | The wind blew hard, no frost, snow disappearingfast. |
| 2 | Frost this morning, the snow has disappeared inspots. |
| 3 | Frost this morning, the show thaws considerably. |
| 4 | Frost, number of swan and geese from N. and S. |
| 5 | Immense quantity of ice running, some of which is11 inches thick. |
| 6 | A quantity of soft ice running, white frost, the snowdisappeared, swans passing. |
| 7 | A small quantity of floating ice passing, swanspassing. |
| 8 | Many swan from N.W. Creek rose and took offthe water mark. |
| 9 | The river rose 2 feet: large quantity of drift icefrom the Missouri. |
| 10 | Ice still drifting in considerable quantities: somegeese pass from the south. |
| 11 | The sugar maple runs freely: swans pass from thenorth. |
| 12 | Pigeons, geese and ducks of various kinds havereturned. |
| 13 | The first appearance of the blue crains. |
| 14 | But little drift ice: the Mississippi is not brokenup: sugar trees run. |
| 15 | Immense quantity of swans. |
| 27 | The river rose three inches and fell immediately. |
| 28 | Began to snow, and continued all day. |
| 29 | Snow all night, and until eleven o’clock A. M. and cleared away. |
| March | 7 | Saw the first brant return. |
| 8 | Rain succeeded by snow and hail. |
| 9 | Cloudy in the morning. |
| 19 | The weather has been generally fair but very cold, theice run for several days in such quantities, that itwas impossible to pass the river; visited St.Charles; saw the first snake, which was the kindusually termed the garter snake; saw also a beetleof a black colour, with two red stripes on his back,passing each other crosswise from the but of the wingto the extremity of the same. |
| 20 | Heard the first frogs on my return from St. Charles. |
| 25 | Saw the first white crane return. |
| 26 | The weather warm and fair. |
| 27 | The buds of the spicewood appeared, and the tasselsof the mail cottonwood were larger than a largemulberry, and with the shape and colour of thatfruit: some of them had fallen from the trees. Thegrass begins to spring; the weather has been warm,and no falling weather until this time, though theatmosphere has been very smoky and thick; a heavyfall of rain commenced, which continued until twelveat night, attended with thunder and lightning. Sawlarge insects which resembled musquitoes, but doubtwhether they are really those insects or the flywhich produces them, they attempted to bite my horse,but I could not observe that they made any impressionwith their beaks. |
| 31 | Windy. |
| April | 1 | The spicewood is in full bloom, the dog’s-tooth violet,and May apple appeared above ground. A northernlight appeared at 10 o’clock P. M. very red. |
| 5 | At St. Louis the buds of the peaches, apples andcherries appear. |
| 6 | A large flock of pellicans appear. |
| 7 | The leaves of some of the apple trees have burst theircoverts and put forth, the leaves of the greenwoodbushes have put forth.—Many of the wild plants havesprung up and appear above ground. |
| 10 | No appearance of the buds of the Osage apple; theOsage plum has put forth its leaves and flower buds,though it not yet completely in blow. |
| 13 | The peach trees are partly in bloom; the brant, geese,duck, swan, crane and other aquatic birds havedisappeared very much within a few days, and havegone farther north I presume; the summer ducks raisetheir young: in this neighbourhood, and are now herein great numbers. |
| 17 | Peach trees in full bloom; the weeping willow has putforth its leaves, and are one fifth of their size:the violet, the dove’s-foot and cowslip are in blow,the dog’s-tooth violet is not yet in bloom. Thetrees of the forest, particularly the cottonwood,begin to obtain from the size of their buds, agreenish cast at a distance; the gooseberry, whichis also in this country and black, have put forththeir leaves—frost. |
| 26 | The white frost killed much fruit near Kahokia, whilethat at St. Louis escaped with little injury. |
| 30 | White frost; slight; did but little injury. |
| May | 5 | Thundered and lightened excessively this morning. |
| 10 | Distant thunder: sultry this evening. |
| 12 | The wind at four was uncommonly hard. |
| 25 | Strawberries in the prairies ripe, and abundant. |
| 27 | Service berries or wild currants ripe and abundant. |
| 30 | Mulberries begin to ripen; abundant in the bottom ofthe river. |
| June | 10 | Purple raspberries ripe and abundant. |
| 11 | Many small birds are now sitting; some have young: thewhippoorwill sitting. |
| 16 | The wood duck now have its young; these ducks areabundant, and except one solitary pelican and a fewgeese, these ducks were the only aquatic fowl wehave yet seen. |
| July | 1 | Saw some geese with their young; caught several; theyare not yet feathered, nor can they fly; the oldgeese are in the same situation at this season. |
| 4 | A great number of young geese and swan in a lakeopposite to the mouth of Fourth of July creek: inthe lake there is also an abundance of fish ofvarious species, the pike, perch, carp, cat,sun-perch, &c. &c. |
| 12 | The deer and bear are becoming scarce, and the elkbegin to appear. |
| 23 | Catfish is very common, and easy taken in any part ofthis river; some are nearly white, particularly abovethe Platte river. |
| Sept. | 19 | The leaves of some of the cottonwood begin to fade:yesterday saw the first brant passing from thenorthwest to southeast. |
| 20 | The antelope is now rutting; the swallow hasdisappeared twelve days. |
| 21 | The elk is now rutting; the buffaloe is nearly ceased;the latter commence the latter end of July or thefirst of August. |
| 22 | A little foggy this morning; a great number ofgreen-legged plover are passing down the river, alsosome geese and brant. |
| 23 | The air remarkably dry; plums and grapes fully ripe;in thirty-six hours two spoonfulls of waterevaporated in a saucer. |
| 27 | Saw a large flock of white gulls, with wings tippedwith black. |
| October | 1 | The leaf of the ash, poplar, and most of the shrubsbegin to turn yellow, and decline. |
| 3 | The earth and sand which form the bars of this riverare so fully impregnated with salt, that it shootsand adheres to the little sticks which appear on thesurface; it is pleasant and seems nitrous. |
| 5 | Slight white frost last night: geese and brant passingsouth. |
| 6 | Frost last night; saw teel, mallards and gulls. |
| 9 | Wind blew hard this morning; saw some brant and geesepassing to the south. |
| 14 | Cotton-wood all yellow, and the leaves begin to fall:abundance of grapes and red berries; the leaves ofall the trees as ash, elm, &c. except thecottonwood, are now fallen. |
| 17 | Saw a large flock of white brant with black wings:antelopes are passing to the Black mountains towinter, as is their custom. |
| 18 | Hard frost last night, the clay near the water edgewas frozen, as was the water in the vessels exposedto the air. |
| 19 | No mule-deer seen above the Chayenne river. |
| 20 | Much more timber than usual: saw the first black hawsthat we have seen for a long time. |
| 29 | The wind was so hard, that it was extremelydisagreeable: the sand was blown on us in clouds. |
| Nov. | 3 | Wind blew hard all day. |
| 7 | A few drops of rain this evening; saw theaurora-borealis at 10 P. M.; it was very brilliantin perpendicular columns, frequently changingposition. |
| 8 | Since we have been at our present station, the riverhas fallen 9 inches. |
| 9 | Very hard frost this morning. |
| 10 | Many geese passing to the south; saw a flock of thecrested cherry birds passing to the south. |
| 13 | Large quantity of drift ice running this morning,the river having appearances of closing for thiswinter. |
| 16 | Hard frost this morning attached to the timber andboughs of the trees. |
| 17 | The frost of yesterday remained on the trees until2 P. M. when it descended like a shower of snow; swanspassing from the north. |
| 20 | Little soft ice this morning; the boat in much dangerfrom ice, &c. |
| 29 | The snow fell eight inches deep, it drifted in heapsin the open ground. |
| 30 | The Indians pass the river on the ice. |
| Decr. | 5 | Wind blew excessively hard this night from thenorthwest. |
| 7 | Last night the river blocked up opposite fort Mandan. |
| 8 | The ice one and a half inches thick on the part thathad not previously frozen; the buffaloe appear. |
| 14 | Captain Clark set out with a hunting party on the icewith sleighs. |
| 15 | Snow fell half inch. |
| 24 | Snow very inconsiderable. |
| 27 | The trees are all white with the frost which attacheditself to their boughs. |
| 28 | It blew very hard last night; the frost fell like ashower of snow. |
| 1805 |
| January | 3 | The snow is nine inches deep. |
| 6 | At 12 o’clock to-day two luminous spots appeared oneach side of the sun, extremely bright. |
| 8 | The snow is now ten inches deep, accumulating byfrosts. |
| 12 | Singular appearance of three distinct Halos orluminous rings about the moon appeared this eveningat half after nine, P.M. and continued one hour; themoon formed the centre of the middle ring, the othertwo which lay north and south of the moon, and hadeach of them a limb passing through the moon’scentre, and projecting north and south, asemidiameter beyondthe middle ring, to which last they were equalin dimensions, each ring appearing to extendan angle of fifteen degrees of a great circle. |
| 15 | A total eclipse of the moon last night visible here,but partially obscured by the clouds. |
| 19 | Ice now three feet thick on the most rapid part ofthe river. |
| 23 | The snow fell about four inches deep last night,and continues to snow.It frequently happens that the sun rises fair andin about fifteen or twenty minutes it becomessuddenly turbid, as if the moon had some chemicaleffect on the atmosphere. |
| 31 | The snow fell two inches last night. |
| Feb. | 8 | The black and white speckled woodpecker has returned. |
| 14 | The snow fell three inches deep last night. |
| March | 2 | The snow has disappeared in many places, the riverpartially broken up. |
| 3 | A flock of ducks passed up the river this morning. |
| 12 | Snow but slight, disappeared to-day. |
| 19 | But little snow, not enough to cover the ground.Collected some roots, herbs and plants, in orderto send by the boat, particularly the rootsaid to cure the bite of a mad dog and rattlesnake.The Indians raise a kind of artichokes, which theysay is common in the prairies; well tasted. |
| 21 | Some ducks in the river opposite the fort. |
| 24 | But little snow. |
| 25 | A flock of swan returned to-day: the ice in the riverhas given way in many places, and it is withdifficulty it can be passed. |
| 26 | The ice gave way in the river about 3 P. M. andcame down in immense sheets; very near destroyingour new canoes; some geese pass to-day. |
| 27 | The first insect I have seen, was a large black gnatto-day; the ice drifting in great quantities. |
| 28 | Ice abates in quantity, wind hard, river rises thirteeninches, and falls twelve inches. |
| 29 | A variety of insects make their appearance, as flies,bugs, &c. The ice ceases to run, supposed to haveformed an obstruction above. |
| 30 | The ice comes down in great quantities; the Mandanstake some floating buffaloe. |
| 31 | Ducks and geese passing; the ice abates in quantity. |
| April | 1 | A fine refreshing shower of rain fell about 2 P. M.this was the first shower of rain that we hadwitnessed since the 15th September, 1804, though ithas several times fallen in small quantities, andwas noticed in the diary of the weather; the cloudcame from the west, and was attended by hard thunderand lightning. I have observed that allthunder-clouds in the western part of the continent,proceed from the westerly quarter, as they do in theAtlantic states. The air is remarkably dry and purein this open country; very little rain or snow,either winter or summer. The atmosphere is moretransparent than I ever observed it in any countrythrough which I have passed. |
| 4 | Observed a flock of brant passing up the river to-day:the wind blew very hard, as it does frequently inthis quarter. There is scarcely any timber to breakthe winds from the river, and the country on bothaides being level plains, wholly destitute of timber,the winds blow with astonishing violence, in thisopen country, and form a great obstruction to thenavigation of the Missouri, particularly with smallvessels, which can neither ascend nor descend shouldthe wind be the least violent. |
| 6 | This day a flock of cherry or cedar birds were seen,one of the men killed several of them. They arecommon in the United States, usually associate inlarge flocks, and are frequently destructive to thecherry orchards, and in winter in the lower parts ofthe states of Maryland and Virginia feed on theberries of the cedar. They are a small bluish-brownbird, crested with a tuft of dark brown feathers,with a narrow black stripe passing on each side ofthe head underneath the eye, from the base of theupper beak to the back of the head; it isdistinguished more particularly by some ofthe shorter feathers of the wing, which are tippedwith red spots, which have much the appearance, at alittle distance, of sealing-wax. |
| 8 | The killdeer and large hawk have returned; the onlybird that I observed during the winter at fortMandan, was the Missouri magpie, a bird of the corvusgenus, the raven in immense numbers, the smallwoodpecker, or sapsucker as they are sometimescalled, the beautiful eagle, or calumet-bird, socalled from the circumstance of the nativesdecorating their pipe-stems with its plumage, andthe prairie-hen or grouse. |
| 9 | The crows have also returned, saw the first to-day;the musquitoes revisit us, saw several of them. |
| 10 | The lark, bald-eagle, and the large plover havereturned; the grass begins to spring up, and theleaf-buds of the willow to appear. |
| 11 | The lark-woodpecker, with yellow wings, and a blackspot on the breast, common to the United States haveappeared, with sundry small birds. Many plants beginto appear above the ground; saw a large white gullto-day; the eagle are now laying their eggs; and thegeese have mated. The elm, large leafed willow,and the bush which bears a red berry is inbloom. |
| 13 | The leaves of the choke-cherry are about halfgrown, the cottonwood is in bloom; the flowerof this tree resembles that of the aspin in form,and is of a deep purple colour. |
| 15 | Several flocks of white brant with black wings passus to-day, on their flight to the northwest; thetrees now begin to assume a green appearance,though the earth at the depth of about threefeet is not yet thawed, which we discover bythe banks of the river falling in and disclosing astrata of frozen earth. |
| 16 | Saw the first leather-wing bat; it appeared aboutthe size of those common to the United States. |
| 18 | A heavy dew this morning, which is the first andonly one we have seen since we passed theCouncil bluffs last summer; there is but littledew in this open country. Saw a flock of pellicanpass from southwest to northeast; they appearedto be on a long flight. |
| 19 | The trees have now put forth their leaves; thegooseberries, currant, service berries, and wildplums are in bloom. |
| 21 | White frost last night; the earth frozen along thewater’s edge. |
| 23 | Saw the first robbin, also the brown curfew. |
| 28 | Vegetation has progressed but little since the 18th;in short, the change is scarcely perceptible. |
| May | 2 | The wind continued so violent from 12 o’clock yesterday,until five o’clock this evening, that wewere unable to proceed; the snow which felllast night and this morning, has not yet disappeared;it forms a singular contrast with thetrees which are now in leaf. |
| 3 | At 4 P. M. the snow had not yet entirely disappeared;the new horns of the elk begin to appear. |
| 4 | The snow has disappeared; saw the first grasshoppersto-day; there are great quantities of a smallblue beetle feeding on the willows. |
| 8 | The bald eagle, of which there are great numbers,now have their young; the turtle-dove appears. |
| 9 | The choke-cherry is now in bloom. |
| 17 | The geese have their young; the elk begin to producetheir young; the antelope and deer as yethave not; the small species of whippoorwillbegin to cry; the blackbird, both large andsmall have appeared. We have had scarcelyany thunder and lightning; the clouds are generallywhite, and accompanied with wind only. |
| 18 | Saw the wild rose in bloom. The brown thrushor mocking bird have appeared; had a goodshower of rain to-day, it continued about twohours; this is the first shower that deserves theappellation of rain, which we have seen sincewe left fort Mandan; no thunder, &c. |
| 22 | Saw some particles of snow fall to-day, which didnot lie in sufficient quantity on the ground tobe perceptible. |
| 23 | Hard frost last night; ice in the eddy water alongthe shore, and the water froze on the oarsthis morning; strawberries in bloom; saw thefirst king-fisher. |
| 25 | Saw the king-bird or bee-martin; the grouse disappear;killed three of the bighorn animals. |
| 26 | The last night was much the warmest that we haveexperienced; found the covering of our blanketsufficient: the air is extremely dry and pure. |
| 28 | A slight thunder storm, the air was turbid in theforenoon, and appeared to be filled with smoke;we supposed it to proceed from the burning ofthe plains, which we are informed are frequentlyset on fire by the Snake Indiana to compel theantelopes to resort to the woody and mountainouscountry which they inhabit; saw a smallwhite and black woodpecker, with a red head,the same which is common to the Atlanticstates. |
| 30 | The rain commenced about 4 o’clock in the evening,and continued moderately through the course ofthe night; more rain has now fallen then wehave experienced since the 15th of Septemberlast. |
| 31 | The antelopes now bring forth their young; fromthe size of the young of the bighorn, I supposethey bring forth their young as early at least asthe elk. |
| June | 5 | Great numbers of sparrows, larks, curlews andother smaller birds common to prairies, arenow laying their eggs and sitting; their nestsare in great abundance; the large bats, or night-hawks,and the common buzzards appear; firstsaw the mountain-cock near the entrance ofMaria’s river. |
| 15 | The deer now begin to bring forth their young;the young magpies begin to fly. The brown andgrizly bear begin to copulate. |
| 27 | At 1 P. M. a black cloud which arose in thesouthwest came on, accompanied with a highwind and violent thunder and lightning; a greatquantity of hail also fell during this storm,which lasted about two hours and a half. The hailwhich was generally about the size of pigeons’eggs, and not unlike them in form, covered theground to one inch and a half. For about twentyminutes during this storm, hail fell of an enormoussize with violence almost incredible.When the hail-stones struck the ground, theywould rebound to the height of ten or twelvefeet, and pass twenty or thirty before they touchedagain. During this immense storm, I waswith the greater part of the men on the portage;the men saved themselves, some by getting undera canoe, others by putting sundry articles ontheir heads, two were knocked down, and sevenhad their legs and thighs much bruised. CaptainLewis weighed one of those hail stones whichweighed three ounces, and measured seveninches in circumference; they were generallyround and perfectly solid. I am convinced thatif one of these had struck a man on his nakedhead, it would certainly have fractured his skull;young blackbirds are abundant and beginningto fly. |
| July | 6 | A heavy wind from the southwest, attended withrain about the middle of the last night; aboutday had a violent thunderstorm, attended withhail and rain; the hail covered the ground, andwas near the size of musquet balls; one blackbirdwas killed with the hail; I am astonishedthat more have not suffered in a similar manner,as they are abundant, and I should supposethe hail-stones sufficiently heavy to kill them. |
| August | 7 | The river which we are now ascending, is so inconsiderable,and the current so much of astand, that I relinquished paying further attentionto its state. |
| 21 | Most astonishing was the difference between theheight of the mercury at sunrise and at 4 P.M.to-day. There was the difference of fifty-ninedegrees, and this in the space of eight hours,yet we experience this wonderful transitionwithout feeling it near so sensibly as I shouldhave expected. |
| Nov. | 3 | A thick fog continued until 12 o’clock, at whichtime it cleared off, and was fair the remainderof the day. |
| 5 | Commenced raining at 2 P.M. and continued atintervals all day; saw fourteen striped snakesto-day. |
| 7 | A thick fog this morning which continued until11 A. M., at which time it cleared off, andcontinued fair about two hours, and began to rain;several showers during the evening. |
| 12 | Violent wind from, the southwest, accompaniedwith hail thunder and lightning, the thunderexcessively loud, which continued from 3 till6 A. M. when it cleared off for a short time;afterwards a heavy rain succeeded, which lasteduntil twelve o’clock, when it cleared off for anhour, and again become cloudy; the rain has beenpretty generally falling since the 7th instant. |
| 15 | The after part of this day is fair and calm, for thefirst time since the 12th instant, and no rain. |
| 20 | Rained moderately from 6 o’clock A. M. until 1P. M. on the 21st, after which it became cloudy,without rain. |
| 22 | The wind violent from the S. S. E. throwing thewater of the river over our camp, and raincontinued all day. |
| 26 | Rained all day; some hard showers; wind not sohard as it has been for a few days past; somerain on the morning of the 23d, and night ofthe 24th. instant. |
| 27 | Rained moderately all day; a hard wind from thesouthwest, which compelled us to lie by on theisthmus of point William on the south side. |
| 28 | The wind which was from the south west shifted inthe after part of the day to the northwest, andblew a storm which was tremendous; rained allthe last night and to-day without intermission. |
| 29 | Rained all last night hard, and to-day moderately. |
| 30 | Rained and hailed at intervals throughout the lastnight, some thunder and lightning. |
| Decr. | 3 | Fair from 12 to 3 P. M. rained all the last nightand this morning; rained the night of the 1stand the morning of the 2nd, and cloudy the remainderof the day; rained at intervals the nightof the 2nd instant, with constant, hard, andsometimes violent winds. |
| 5 | Rained yesterday, last night, and moderately to-day,all day the wind violent. |
| 6 | Rained all last night and to-day until 6 o’clock, atwhich time it cleared away and became fair; thewinds also ceased to blow violent. |
| 7 | Rained from ten to twelve last night; fair day; a hardwind from the northwest, and a shower of rainat 2 P. M. |
| 10 | Rained all day, and the air cool; I returned fromthe ocean; a violent wind last night from thesouthwest; rained the greater part of the nightof the 8th, and all day the 9th instant. |
| 15 | Rained at short intervals from the 10th instant, until8 A. M. to-day. |
| 16 | Rained all the last night; cold wind violent fromthe southwest, accompanied with rain. |
| 17 | Rained all the last night and this morning until 9o’clock, when we had a shower of hail, whichlasted about an hour, and then cleared off. |
| 18 | Rained, snowed, and hailed at intervals all the lastnight; several showers of hail and snow untilmeridian. |
| 19 | Rained last night, and several showers of hail andrain this evening; the air cool. |
| 20 | Some rain and hail last night, rain continued until10 A. M. |
| 23 | Rained all last night, and moderately all day, withseveral showers of hail, accompanied with hardclaps of thunder &c.; rained 21st and 22d allday and night. |
| 25 | Rained at intervals last night and to-day. |
| 26 | Rained and blew hard all last night and to-day;some hard claps of thunder and sharp lightning. |
| 29 | Rained moderately without much intermission fromthe 26th until 7 A.M. this morning, hard windfrom southeast. |
| 30 | Hard wind and some rain last night; to-day tolerablyfair. |
| 31 | Rained last night and all this day. |
| 1806. | | |
| January | 1 | The changes of the weather are exceedingly sudden,sometimes though seldom the sun is visiblefor a few moments, the next it hails and rains,then ceases and remains cloudy; the wind blowsand it again rains; the wind blows by squallsmost generally, and is almost invariably fromsouthwest; these vicissitudes of the weatherhappen two, three or more times in half a day;snake seen 25th December. |
| 3 | The thunder and lightning of the last evening wasviolent, a singular occurrence for the time ofyear; the loss of my thermometer I most sincerelyregret. I am confident that the climatehere, is much warmer than in the same parallelof latitude on the Atlantic ocean, though howmany degrees it is now out of my power to determine.Since our arrival in this neighbourhoodon the 7th of November, we have experiencedone slight white frost only, which happenedon the morning of the 16th of that month;we have yet seen no ice, and the weather is sowarm, that we are obliged to cure our meatwith smoke and fire to save it; we lost two parcelsby depending on the air to preserve it,though it was cut in very thin slices, andsufficiently exposed. |
| 10 | Various flies and insects now alive and in motion. |
| 12 | The wind from any quarter off the land or along thenorthwest coast, causes the air to become muchcooler; every species of water fowl common tothis country at any season of the year, still continuewith us. |
| 14 | Weather perfectly temperate, I never experienceda winter so warm as the present has been. |
| 23 | When the sun is said to shine, or the weather fair,it is to be understood that it barely casts a shadow,and that the atmosphere is hazy, of a milkywhite colour. |
| 25 | It is now perceptibly colder than it has been thiswinter. |
| 26 | The snow this evening is four and three-quarterinches deep: the isicles continue suspendedfrom the eaves of the houses during the day;it now appears something like winter, for thefirst time this season. |
| 27 | The sun shone more bright this morning than it hasdone since our arrival at this place; the snowsince 4 P. M. yesterday, has increased to thedepth of six inches, and this morning is perceptiblythe coldest that we have had. I suspectthe mercury would stand at twenty degrees abovenaught; the breath is perceptible in our roomby the fire. |
| 28 | Last night exposed a vessel of water to the air, witha view to discover the depth to which it wouldfrieze in the course of the night, but unfortunatelythe vessel was only two inches deep, andit friezed the whole thickness; how much moreit might have frozen had the vessel been deeper,is therefore out of my power to decide; it isthe coldest night that we have had, and I supposethe mercury this morning would havestood as low as fifteen degrees above naught. |
| 31 | Notwithstanding the cold weather, the swan, whitebrant, geese and ducks still continue with us;the sandhill crane also continues; the brown orspeckled brant are mostly gone, some few arestill to be seen; the cormorant, and a varietyof other water fowls still remain. Thewinds from the land brings us cold and clearweather, while those obliquely along eithercoast or off the ocean brings us warm, damp,cloudy and rainy weather; the hardest windsare always from the southwest. The blue-crestedcorvus has already began to build its nest;the nest is formed of small sticks, usuallyin a pine tree. |
| February | 3 | The rain which fell in the latter part of the nightfroze, and made a slight incrustation on thesnow which fell some days past, and also on theboughs of the trees &c.; yesterday it continuedfair until 11 A. M. when the wind veered aboutto southwest, and the horizon was immediatelyovercast with clouds, which uniformly takesplace when the wind is from that point. |
| 4 | All the water-fowls before enumerated still continuewith us; the birds which resemble the robinhave now visited us in small numbers; sawtwo of them yesterday about the fort; they aregentle. |
| 8 | The rain of the last night has melted down thesnow which has continued to cover the groundsince the 24th of January; the feeling of the airand other appearances seem to indicate thatthe rigor of the winter has passed; it is sowarm that we are apprehensive our meat willspoil, we therefore cut it in small pieces andhang it separately on sticks. Saw a number ofinsects flying about: the small brown flycatchcontinues with us; this is the smallest of all theAmerican birds except the humming-bird. |
| 15 | The robbin has returned and is singing, which remindsus of spring; some other small birdspassed on their flight from the south, but wereso high that we could not distinguish of whatkind they were; the robbin had left this placebefore our arrival in November. |
| 16 | At 11 A. M. it became fair, and the insects wereflying about; at half past 12 o’clock it cloudedup and began to rain. |
| 24 | Much warmer this morning than usual; aquaticand other birds, heretofore enumerated, continuewith us still; the sturgeon and a small fishlike the anchovy begin to run, they are takenin the Columbia, about forty miles above us: theanchovy is exquisitely fine. |
| 28 | Saw a variety of insects in motion this morning,some small bugs as well as flies; a brown flywith long legs, about half the size of the commonhouse fly was the most numerous; thisis the first insect that has appeared; it isgenerally about the sinks or filth of any kind;the yellow and brown flycatch has returned, itis a very small bird with a tail as long proportionallyas a sparrow. |
| March | 1 | A great part of this day was so warm, that fire wasunnecessary, notwithstanding its being cloudyand raining. |
| 6 | Saw a spider this morning, though the air is perceptiblycolder than it has been since the 1stinstant. At 9 A. M. it clouded up and continuedso the remainder of the day; even the easterlywinds which have heretofore given us theonly fair weather which we have enjoyed, seemnow to have lost their influence in this respect. |
| 7 | The elk now begin to shed their horns. A bird ofa scarlet colour as large as a common pheasantwith a long tail has returned, one of them wasseen to-day near the fort by captain Clark’sblack man; I could not obtain a view of it. |
| 11 | It became cloudy at 10 A. M. and rained attendedwith some hail; at six P. M. it become fair, andthe wind changing to northeast it continued fairduring the night: the snow had all disappearedby 4 P. M. this evening. |
| 12 | It was fair in the morning, but became cloudy at 8P. M. and continued so during the day. |
| 13 | Saw a number of insects in motion; among otherssaw for the first time this spring and winter, adowny black fly about the size of the commonhouse fly. The plants begin to appear above theground, among others the rush, of which thenatives eat the root, which resembles in flavorthe sweet potatoe. |
| 15 | The sorrel with an oval, obtuse, and ternate leafhas now put forth its leaves, some of them havealready nearly obtained their growth; the birdswere singing very agreeably this morning,particularly the common robbin. |
| 16 | The anchovy has ceased to run; the white salmontrout have succeeded them; the weather is sowarm that insects of various species are everyday in motion. |
| 22 | The leaves and petals of the flower of the greenhuckleberry have appeared, some of the leaveshave already obtained one fourth of their size. |
| 24 | The brown briery shrub with a broad pinnate leafhas began to put forth its leaves; the polecatcalwort is in bloom; saw the blue-crested fisher;birds are singing this morning; the black alderis in bloom. |
| 25 | The elder, gooseberry and honeysuckle are nowputting forth their leaves; the nettle and a varietyof other plants are springing up; theflowers of the broad-leafed thorn are nearlyblown; several small plants in bloom. |
| 26 | The humming-bird has appeared; killed one ofthem and found it the same with those commonto the United States. |
| 27 | The small or bank martin appeared to-day; sawone large flock of them; water-fowl very scarce;a few cormorant, geese, and the red-headedfishing duck are all that are to be seen; the redflowering currant are in bloom; this I take tobe the same species I first saw on the Rockymountains; the fruit is a deep purple berry,covered with a gummy substance, and notagreeably flavoured: there is another speciesnot covered with gum which I first found on thewaters of the Columbia, about the 12th of Augustlast. |
| 28 | This evening we saw many swan passing to thenorth as if on a long flight; vegetation is notby several days as forward here as at fort Clatsopwhen we left that place; the river risingfast; the water is turbid; the tide only swellsthe water a little, it does not stop the current;it is now within two feet of its greatest height. |
| 30 | The grass is about sixteen inches high in the riverbottoms; the frogs are now abundant. |
| April | 1 | From the best opinion I could form of the state ofthe Columbia on the first of April, it was aboutnine feet higher than when we descended it inthe beginning of November last. |
| 6 | The cottonwood has put forth its leaves and beginsto assume a green appearance at a distance;the sweet willow has not yet burst its bud,while the leaves of the red and broad-leafedwillow are of some size; it appears to me tobe the most backward in vegetating of all thewillows; the narrow-leafed willow is not foundbelow tide-water on this river. |
| 8 | The male flowers of the cottonwood are falling; thegooseberry has cast the petals of its flowers,and its leaves have obtained their full size; theelder which is remarkably large, has began tobloom, some of its flowrets have expanded theircorollas; the service-berries, choke-cherries,the growth which resembles the beach, thesmall birch and gray willow have put forth theirleaves. |
| 9 | The vining honeysuckle has put forth shoots ofseveral inches; the dog-toothed violet is inbloom, as is also both the species of themountain-holly, the strawberry, the bear’s-claw,the cowslip, the violet, common striped, and thewild cress or tongue grass. |
| 11 | The geese are yet in large flocks and do not yetappear to have mated; what I have heretoforetermed the broad-leafed ash, is now in bloom;the fringe tree has cast the corolla and its leaveshave nearly obtained their full size; the saccacommisis in bloom. |
| 12 | The duckinmallard, which breed in the neighbourhood,is now laying its eggs; vegetation israpidly progressing in the bottoms, though thesnow of yesterday and to-day reaches within amile of the base of the mountains at the rapidsof the Columbia. |
| 16 | At the Rock-fort camp saw the prairie lark, a speciesof the peaweet, the blue-crested fisher, theparty-coloured corvus, and the black pheasant;a species of hyacinth, native of this place, bloomedto-day; it was not in bloom yesterday. |
| 25 | The last evening was cloudy; it continued tothreaten rain all night, but without raining;the wind blew hard all night, the air cold, asit is invariably when it sets from the westerlyquarter. |
| May | 1 | Having left the river we could no longer observeits state, it is now declining, though it has notbeen as high this season by five feet as it appearsto have been the last spring; the Indiansinform us that it will rise higher in this month,which I presume is caused by the snows of themountains. |
| 3 | The mountains on our right seem to have had anincrease of snow last evening. |
| 10 | It began to rain and hail about sunset this evening,which was shortly after succeeded by snow;it continued to fall without intermission until 7A. M. and lay 8 inches deep on the plain wherewe were; the air was very keen; a sudden transitionthis day; yesterday the face of the countryhad every appearance of summer; after nineA. M. the sun shone, but was frequently obscuredby clouds which gave us light showers ofsnow; in the after part of the day the snow meltedconsiderably, but there was too great aportion to be dissipated by the influence of oneday’s sun. |
| 11 | The crimson haw is not more forward now at thisplace than it was when we lay at Rock-fortcamp in April. |
| 20 | A nest of the large blue or sandhill crane wasfound by one of our hunters; the young werein the act of leaving the shell; the young ofthe party coloured corvus begin to fly. |
| 22 | The air is remarkably dry and pure, it has muchthe feeling and appearance of the air in theplains of the Missouri: since our arrival in thisneighbourhood on the 7th instant all the rainsnoted in the diary of the weather were snowson the plain, and in some instances it snowedon the plains when only a small mist was perceptiblein the bottoms at our camp. |
| 27 | The dove is cooing, which is the signal, as the Indiansinform us of the approach of the salmon.The snow has disappeared on the high plains,and seems to be diminishing fast on the spursand lower regions of the Rocky mountains. |
| 28 | The river from sunrise yesterday to sunrise thismorning rose one foot ten inches; driftwoodrunning in considerable quantities, and the currentincredibly swift though smooth. |
| 29 | The river rose six inches in the course ofyesterday, and one foot five inches in thecourse of the last night; it is now as high asthere are any marks of its having been in thespring 1805; at ten A. M. it arrived at its greatestheight, having rose one and a half inchesfrom sunrise to that time; in the balance of theday it fell seven inches; the natives inform usthat it will take one more rise before it beginsto subside for the season, and then the passageof the mountains will be practicable. |
| 30 | The river continued to fall until 4 A. M. havingfallen three inches by that time since sunrise;it was now at a stand until dark, after which itbegan again to rise. |
| June | 2 | The river from sunrise until 10 A. M. yesterdayrose one and a half inches, from that time untildark fell four and a half inches, and in thecourse of last night rose again eight inches—theIndians inform us that the present rise is thegreatest which it annually takes; that when thewater subsides to about the height it was at thetime we arrived here, the mountains will bepassable. I have no doubt but the melting ofthe mountain snows in the beginning of Juneis what causes the annual inundation of thelower portion of the Missouri from the first tothe middle of July. |
| 4 | Yesterday the water was at its greatest height atnoon, between that time and dark it fell fifteeninches, and in the course of the night roseone and a half inches; from the Indian informationthe water will now subside, and may thereforebe said to be at its greatest annual heighton the 3rd instant at noon. |
| 5 | The river fell three and a half inches in the courseof the day; this fluctuating state of the river isno doubt caused by the influence of the sun inthe course of the day on the snows on themountains; the accession of water thus causedin the day does not reach us until night, whenit produces a rise in the river. The wild roseis in bloom. The river fell ten inches in thecourse of this day. |
| 6 | In the course of last night the river rose a little,but fell an inch by morning lower than it was lastevening; the seven bark and the yellow vininghoneysuckle are just in bloom; a few of thedoes have produced their young. |
| 7 | The river fell three inches last night and sevenyesterday; the gooseberry is fully grown; also,the serviceberry. |
| 10 | The river fell one inch last night and five and a halfyesterday; it appears to be falling fast, and in thecourse of a few days will be as low as it was whenwe first arrived here; it is now about six feet lowerthan it has been. |
| 16 | On the top of the hills the dog-tooth violet is justin bloom, grass about two inches high; smallhuckleberry just putting forth its leaves. |
| 22 | Strawberries ripe at the Quamash flats; they are butsmall and not abundant. |
| 29 | The quamash and strawberries are just beginning tobloom at the flats on the head of the Kooskooskeeriver. The sunflower is also just beginning to bloom,which is two months later than those on the sides ofthe western mountains near the falls of the Columbia. |
| July | 5 | A dew this morning; the nights are cool; themusquetoes are troublesome until a little after darkwhen the air becomes cool, and the musquetoesdisappear. |
| 6 | I arrived in an open plain in the middle of which aviolent wind from the northwest accompanied withhard rain lasted from four until half past five P. M.Quamash in those plains at the head of Wisdom riveris just beginning to bloom, and the grass is aboutsix inches high. |
| 7 | A small shower of rain at 4 this morning was companiedwith wind from the S.S.W. |
| 8 | A heavy shower of rain was accompanied with wind fromthe southwest from four to five P. M. |
| 9 | Last night it was very cold and wind hard from thenortheast; the river is twelve inches higher than itwas last summer; there is more snow on the adjacentmountains than was at that time. |
| 10 | A large white frost last night; the air extremelycold; ice three quarters of an inch thick onstanding water. |
| 11 | A slight frost last night; the air cool; themusquetoes retired a little after dark, and did notreturn until about an hour after sunrise. |
| 12 | A heavy shower of rain accompanied with hail, thunderand lightning at 2 A. M. with hard wind from thesouthwest; after the shower was over it cleared awayand became fair. |
| 20 | The river Rochejhone falls about half an inch intwenty-four hours, and becomes much clearer thanabove. The grasshoppers are extremely numerous, andhave destroyed every species of grass from one toten miles above on the river, and a great distanceback. |
| 22 | A few drops of rain last night at dark, the cloudappeared to hang to the southwest: wind blew hardfrom different points from five to eight P. M. atwhich time it thundered and lightened. The river byeleven A. M. to-day had risen fifteen inches, andthe water was of a milky white colour. |
| 23 | The river has fallen within the last twenty-four hoursseven inches. The wind was violent from thesouthwest for about three hours last night, from oneto three A. M. |
| 24 | River falling a little; it is six feet lower than thehighest appearance of its rise; rained from three tofour P.M. but slightly; the wind violent from thesouthwest. |
| 25 | Several showers of rain with hard wind from the southand southwest the fore part of the day. The brookson each side are high and the water muddy. |
| 26 | A slight shower this morning: with hard wind from thesouthwest. The river falling but very slowly, oneinch in twenty-four hours. |
| 28 | A few drops of rain a little before daylight. Riverstill falling a little. |
| 29 | A few drops of rain accompanied with hard peals ofthunder and sharp lightning last night: wind hardfrom the northeast. |
| 30 | A slight shower of rain accompanied with thunder andlightning: several showers in the course of thisday; it cleared away in the evening and became fair.River falling a little. Great quantities of coal inthe bluffs on either side. |
| 31 | The wind blew hard and it was showery all day, thoughthere was not much rain: the clouds came up from thewest and northwest frequently in the course of theday. |
| August | 22 | The rains which have fallen in this month are mostcommonly from flying clouds which pass in differentdirections; those clouds are always accompaniedwith hard winds and sometimes with thunder andlightning. The river has been falling moderatelysince the third of the month; the rains have made noother impression on the river than causing it to bemore muddy, and probably preventing its falling fast. |