On September 7^th , 1804 on Tower hill in Boyd County Nebraska. The Corps of Discovery encountered their first Cynomys ludovicianus or as Lewis called them "barking squirrels". Clark wrote "The hill contains great numbers of holes on top of which those little animals sit erect and make a whistling noise and when alarmed step into their hole". The antics of the barking squirrel must have peaked the Corps interest, because they spent the rest of the day pouring water down one of the holes just to capture* a specimen. The animal was known by many names, but the name that caught on was the one given by Sergeant Ordway, the Prairie Dog. Today large Prairie Dog towns are hard to find. Most towns are located on State or Federal Parks.

* This captured prairie dog  survived the trip to Washington DC for President Jefferson.
 

September 7, 1804:

" Cap. Lewis & myself walked up to the top which forms a Cone and is about 70 feet higher that the high lands around it, the Base is about 300 foot  in decending this Cupola, discovered a Village of Small animals that burrow in the grown (those animals are called by the french Petite Chien).