October 23, 1833
In the morning, gray sky, warm, wind. There were still Indians in the fort. In the forest on the other side, one saw a series of [tipis] already put up. At seven thirty, 51°F [10.6°C]. Deschamps and the hunters got ready to hunt with the Indians on the other side of the river.
I found out only today that the sandstone used for the foundation of the pickets were completely covered with leaf impressions in all shapes, rather similar to contemporary phanerogams. The stones, whitish gray and reddish yellow sandstone, are from the left, or northern, bank of the Missouri. After nine o’clock the weather was stormy and dismal. In this country one cannot count on the same weather continuing for three days.
Four Assiniboines came into our room; among them was the man who had been drawn full-figure, but [the drawing] was not yet completed. I bought the skunk skin from him. He is supposed to be the brother-in-law nephew a relative of Deschamps. His name is Piäh-Sukah-Ketutt (‘Ke’ short, ‘e’ half ) Pä́sesick-Kaskutäu (‘e’ very short, ‘ä’ too), Rien que de la Poudre. Midday, twelve thirty, 53°F [11.7°C]. A violent, unpleasant, raw wind was blowing. It was so strong that the Indians could not cross the river.
They worked diligently on our boat. Soon after midday, however, the storm became so severe that we stopped working altogether. It was scarcely possible to battle against the wind and dust [that] filled the whole area far and wide; the wind was raw and unpleasant. We kept busy with packing.
When I stepped outside the fort for a moment, beaver hunters with their packhorses had just arrived from their fall hunt. They a certain Gravelle were two sons of Deschamps and one Cree Indian. They had been away for a few months, high up on the Milk River, and brought along twenty-six beavers. They had shot many bears, but they [had] only a small skin (very white). They had also shot two orignals (Cervus alus), supposedly very common at the sources of that river.
Today I received several [more] specimens of Coluber proximus Say (the variation with red spots). They were found in the ground while [the men were] setting up the pickets. The storm (from the west) was still increasing toward evening; sparks from the fire were flying across the yard of the fort, so it was very good that all the gunpowder was already in the new powder magazine. The Indians did not feel comfortable in their [tipis], and for that reason they probably spread the news [that] there were forty Mandans close by. It rained and stormed violently at nine o’clock. The night was very unpleasant.