November 7, 1833
Early [on], everything was frozen, ice and hoarfrost, the sky slightly overcast, the wind from the west. We departed at dawn and [were] not even a quarter of an hour down the river when Indians called after us at our place of departure. We had barely, but luckily, escaped [an] unpleasant encounter. When we were farther away, they fired a few shots.
We saw a beaver lodge and tracks on the bank to the right. At nine o’clock we went ashore, this time on the left bank, and cooked breakfast beneath the slope of the bank. Above [us] there was a narrow strip of forest floor with Rosa, Symphoria, and a few other plants. Magpies sat on a high tree and [mimicked] all kinds of voices, like a tame parrot.
In the dense forest, we located an old Indian lodge. It had been built by the Hidatsas when they came here to hunt. It was put together with thick pieces of wood, with a rectangular door or opening in front. The lower part was covered with large sheets of bark. Bones lay strewn around.
Behind the forest, in front of the unusual low hills with cone-shaped pyramids, there were small, narrow meadows with high and currently dry grass. At ten fortyfive we left this place. Soon we saw on the left bank higher hills of red-fired brick. In the bushes in front of them were Indian scaffolds for preserving or drying meat. The wind rose and drove the wind [sic, sand] from the sandbars into the air.
At eleven forty-five, to the right [stood remains] of an old Mandan village. Manuel Lisa, a Spaniard, had a fort here some time ago. The wind blew cold and raw. In the bushes on the bank to the right, Clematis grew everywhere. Grapevines are rare here and [are] always very small. When we were at the left bank below the forest, we saw two birds the size of a small thrush, olive or brownish gray, the head from the top of the eye rust-colored or rust-brown. Where the left bank created protection from the wind, it was more pleasant. Black layers in the right bank.
After an hour we saw a white horse in the distance at a turn of the river to the left. Soon, near the bank, [we saw] an Indian; then three Indians [were spied], with a whole herd of horses, at a watering place on the river. They had bare heads, reddish brown buffalo robes, [and] bows and arrows. Only one had a gun in its case, and only this one wore his face painted red. In the forest that immediately followed, a winter village of these Hidatsas was located. They had moved only yesterday or two days previously from their summer villages. They shouted at us, but we did not stay and moved past quickly on the strong current. A beautiful brown dog stood a little farther away on the bank; an Indian woman followed him; still farther on, a wretched Indian dog was standing, totally starved, drinking the cold river water. It seemed to be sick. Opposite the bank was a long, low cottonwood forest; in front of it, a strip of willows, [colored a] lively, reddish brown. On the next wooded headland, we navigated again across the river. There the bank was steeper, therefore [the] water [was] deeper. We mostly sailed around that way, [constantly] going back and forth.
On the sandbar to the left stood a large flock of wild geese (outardes); farther down [we saw] even more. We let the boat float quietly and fired some shots in vain, which chased up a large flock of ducks. [We were] now in the true territory of the Hidatsas, [and] we expected to see them on both banks in great numbers. Soon we saw one Indian climbing the hills to the left.
Black coal [strata] were visible on the left bank in the low gray bluffs; usually there was a broader strip at the bottom and above that a more narrow one. The air was darkened somewhat by sand that flew up to the right from the sandbars.
After some time the Missouri made a very large turn. To the right [there was] a broad, flat headland with willows and a broad [beach?] of sand in front. A Hidatsa on horseback stopped there with his dog. The extremely raw, stormlike wind blew at us, mostly head-on.
Hardly one mile farther down, we saw some Indians on the right bank, and soon to the left, a few [shelters] in the dense cottonwood forest. Nearby [appeared] a few men dressed like Europeans. Among them we suddenly recognized the old interpreter Charbonneau. They shouted to us; we put ashore and found there the brother of the Indian agent Major Dougherty, who is a clerk for Mr. Sublette and Mr. Campbell. [The latter two had] recently formed an opposition to Fort Clark among the Mandans. The clerk had stayed before in the Hidatsa villages. [He had moved] with these people into the forest to their winter dwellings. They presently had only two temporary huts but were now busy building a new house in the forest.
About one and a half farther [sic] in the forest were the [lodges] (some very close) of [several] Hidatsas under their principal chief, Lachpitzí-SahihriSíhrisch (Yellow Bear). They had only been here since yesterday. I gave Mr. Dougherty a letter from Mr. Campbell. We ate with him [and] also smoked in his small hut; [the smoking] ceased, however, when we found out that gunpowder was stored there, which was very dangerous with such a strong wind. We saw many interesting Indians on horseback and on foot. [Some Indians] sat with us around the fire and admired our long beards [although] they disapprove of them. The night was dark, stormy, and very cold. Mr. Bodmer and I slept on the boat. Dreidoppel slept in Mr. Dougherty’s hut; our [crew] slept together at the company place.