The Journals of Lewis & Clark: Lewis, June 19, 1806

Updated May 14, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Lewis, June 19, 1806

Thursday June 19th 1806. Our hunters were out very early this morning, they returned before noon with one deer only. the Fishermen had been more unsuccessfull, they returned without a single fish and reported they could find but few and those they had tryed to take in vain. they had broke both their giggs which were of indian fabrication made of bone. I happened to have a pointed peice of iron in my pouch which answered by cuting in two peices to renew boath giggs. they took one fish this evening which proved to be a salmon trout much to our mortification, for we had hoped that they were the salmon of this spring arrival and of course fat and fine. these trout are of the red kind they remain all winter in the upper parts of the rivers and creeks and are generally poor at this season. At 2 P.M. J & R Feilds arived with two deer; John Sheilds and LaPage came with them, they had not succeeded in finding their horses. late in the evening Frazier reported that my riding horse that of Capt Clark and his mule had gone on towards the Quawmash flatts and that he had pursued their tracks on the road about 21/2 miles. we determined to send out all the hunters in the morning in order to make a fair experiment of the pactability of our being able to subsist at this place and if not we shall move the day after to the Quawmash flatts. the musquetoes have been excessively troublesome to us since our arrival at this place particularly in the evening. Cruzatte brought me several large morells which I roasted and eat without salt pepper or grease in this way I had for the first time the true taist of the morell which is truly an insippid taistless food. our stock of salt is now exhausted except two quarts which I have reserved for my tour up Maria's River and that I left the other day on the mountain.-