December 27, 1833
Early in the morning, bright, cold, very severe, biting southeast wind. All night it stormed. At eight o’clock, 11 1/2°F [−11.4°C]. About this time the mail departed for the lower Missouri and St. Louis. Four men left with two sleds and a number of horses. Both sleds were loaded with corn for the horses. Two [of these] men were supposed to return [with] meat. We no longer had meat; we ate nothing but corn bread and biscuit for breakfast and dinner. We expected the men to be back in four days. About noon the sun shone and the wind was not as strong. Síh-Chidä visited us and brought along the paper that he [had] inherited from his father. It contains the peace treaty the Mandans concluded with General Atkinson and the Indian Agent, Major O’Fallon, when the troops were here in 18[——]. This instrument is in very large format, written in the Hidatsa language and in English. Without doubt Charbonneau gave the Indian names; they are mostly written wrongly. Síh-Sä worked in our room on his new finery with childlike enjoyment. At one two o’clock, 28 1/2°F [−1.9°C], wind west. The wind had turned [and] was very strong but by far not as cold as in the morning. It was likely to snow.
At lunch we had no meat, only bean soup and corn bread. Charbonneau took a sled to the lower Mandan village. The weather changed, and in the afternoon, it was not as cold anymore, but [there was] a severe, stormy wind. Síh-Chidä drew Bodmer’s whole figure and took the picture along, perhaps as protection [against] his [own] portrait [by Bodmer]. Night very stormy but not very cold.