Fort Clatsop

January 16, 1806

"we have plenty of Elk beef for the present and a little salt, our houses dry and comfortable, and having made up our minds to remain until the 1st of April, every one appears content with this situation and his fare.  it is true that we could even travel now on our return as far as the timbered country reaches, or to the falls of the river; but further it would be madness for us to attemp to proceede untill April as the indians inform us that the snows lye knee deep in the plains of Columbia during the winter, and in these plains we could scarcely get as much fuel of any kind as would cook our provisions as we descended the river; and even were we happyly over these plains and again in the woody country at the foot of the Rocky Mountains we could not possibly pass that immence barrier of mountains on which the snows lye in winter to the debth in many places of 20 feet; in short the Indians inform us that they are impracticable untill about he 1st of June,,, we should not therefore forward ourselves on our homeward journey by reaching the rocky mountains early than the 1st of June, which we can easily effect by setting out from hence on the 1st of April."

January 17, 1806

"the culinary articles of the Indians in our neighbourhood consit of wooden bowls or throughs, baskets, wooden spoons and woden scures or spits... their baskets are formed of cedar bark and beargrass so closely interwoven with the fingers that they are watertight without the aid of gum or rosin; some of these are highly ornamented with strans of beargrass which they dye of sereral colours and interweave in a great variety of figures; this serves them the double perpose of holding their water or wearing on their heads... it is for the construction of these baskets that the beargrass becomes an article of traffic among the natives."

January 18, 1806

"The Clatsops Chinnooks Construct their houses of timber altogether.  they are from 14 feet to 20 feet wide and from 20 to 60 feet in length, and accomodate one or more families sometimes three or four families reside in the same room.  the houses are also divided by a partition of boards, but this happens only in the largest houses as the rooms are always large compared with the number of inhabitants... in the center of each room a space of six by eight feet square is sunk about twelve inches lower than the floor it's sides secured with four sticks of squr timber, in this space they make their fire, their fuel being generally pine bark.  mats are spread arround the fire on all sides, on these they et in the day and frequently sleep at night."

January 19, 1806

 " four hunters went out this morning, which was fair with flying clouds."

January 20, 1806

"on the morning of the eighteenth we issued 6 lbs of jirked Elk pr. man, this evening the Sergt. reported that it was all exhausted;; the six lbs. have therefore lasted two days and a half only.  at this rate our seven Elk will last us only 3 days longer, yet no one seems much concerned about the state of the stores; so much for habit.  we have latterly so frequently had our stock of provisions reduced to a minimum and sometimes taken a small touch of fasting that three days full allowance excites no concern.  In those cases our skill as hunters afford us some consolation."

January 21, 1806

"the root of the thistle, called by the natives shan-ne-tah-que is a perpendicular fusiform and possesses from two to four radicles; is from 9 to 15 inces in length and about the size of a mans thumb; the rhind somewhat rough and of a brown colour; the consistence when first taken from the earth is white and nearl as crisp as a carrot; when prepared or uce by the same process before discribed of the white bulb or pashshequo quawmash*, it becomes black, and is more shugary than any fruit or root that I have met with in uce among the natives; the sweet is precisely that of the sugar in flavor; this root is sometimes eaten also when first taken form the ground without any preperation; but in this way is vastly inferior." 

pashshequo quawmash* - Camas

January 22, 1806 ( Lewis and Clark's weather journals from January 1 - 22, 1806,  documented 14 days of rain... rain continued.)

"There are three species of fern in this neighbourhood the root* one of which the natves eat; this grows very abundant in the open uplands and praries where the latter are not sandy and consist of deep loose rich black lome ..."

root* - The root of the bracken fern

January 23, 1806

"The men of the garison are still busily employed in dressing Elk's skins for clothing, they find great difficulty for the want of branes*, we have not soap to supply the deficiency, nor can we procure ashes to make the lye, none of the pines which we use for fuel affords any ashes, extrawdinary as it may seem, the greene wood is consoomed without leaving the residium of a particle of ashes."