January 1-8, 1805

Having begun their journey seven months previously, Captains Lewis and Clark enjoyed their first New Year in the Louisiana Territory in the comfort of the recently completed Fort Mandan. To celebrate, a number of men on the expedition traveled to the nearby Indian village of Matootonha were they enjoyed a rousing festival of dancing. Sergeants Whitehouse and Gass reported that the men were given three glasses of "old ardent spririts." Clark reported:

The Day was ushered in by the Descharge of two Cannon, we Suffered 16 men with their musick to visit the 1st. Village for the purpose of Danceing, by as they Said the perticular request of the Chiefs of that Village, about 11 oClock I with an inturpeter & two men walked up to the Village, (my views were to alay Some little Miss understanding which had taken place thro jelloucy and mortification as to our treatment towards them I found them much pleased at the Danceing of our men, I ordered my black Servent to Dance which amused the Croud Verry much, and Somewhat astonished them, that So large a man should be active &c. &.

Sources: Hosmer, Gass's Journal 64; Thwaites, 1:243; Moulton, 3:266-267; 11:115.

January 2, 1805
Continued Celebration and a Curious Note by Sergeant Gass

On this snowy day the New Year celebration continued for the Corps of Discovery, as they spent the day at a second village dancing. Also of note was a descriptive note by Sergeant Gass regarding the Mandan method of caring for horses during the cold winter. He wrote:

This day I discovered how the Indians keep their horses during the winter. In the day time they are permitted to run out and gather what they can; and at night are brought into the lodges, with the natives themselves, and fed upon cotton wood branches: and in this way are kept in tolerable case.

Sources: Hosmer, Gass's Journal 64; Thwaites, 1:244; Moulton, 3:267.

January 3, 1805
Return to Normalcy

After two days of dancing, the men returned to normal routines. On this day eight men went hunting. The only unusual event of the day was recorded by William Clark, who wrote:

Several Indians visit us to day & a Gross Ventre came after his wife, who had been much abused, & came here for Protection.

Sources: Thwaites, 1:244, Moulton, 3:267.

January 4, 1805
Little Crow

On this unusually warm day at Fort Mandan the temperature read 28 degrees above zero. A group of Indians, including the Little Crow, visited the Fort. Clark wrote that Little Crow "proved friendly", and was given a "handkerchf & 2 files." Clark ended his account of the day by noting that he was feeling "Verry unwell after part of the Daye."

Sources: Thwaites, 1:244; Moulton, 3:267.

January 5, 1805
Calling the Buffalo: The Mandan Ceremony


	"Bison Dance of the Mandan Indians in front of their Medicine Lodge" by Karl Bodmer. Image from The Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition edited by Thwaites, limited edition 1 of 50, 1904.

Throughout the expedition, Captains Lewis and Clark maintained a careful record of anthropological information about the indigenous people they encountered. As Clark noted in early January, the Mandan natives had already begun the ceremonies that would “cause the buffalow to Come near So that they may Kill them.”

Captain Clark wrote:

"a Buffalow Dance (or Medison) for 3 nights passed in the 1st Village, a curious Custom the old men arrange themselves in a circle & after Smoke a pipe which is handed them by a young man, Dress[ed] up for the purpose, the young men who have their wives back of the circle go [each] to one of the old men with a whining tone and request the old man to take his wife (who presents [herself] necked except a robe) and – (or Sleep with her) the Girl then takes the Old Man (who veryy often can scarcely walk) and leades him to a convenient place for the business, after which they return to the lodge"

Sources: Thwaites, 1:244; Moulton, 3:268

January 6, 1805
Sergeant Ordway Reports

During this cold day Clark was busily engaged with his map of the West, which was forwarded on to President Jefferson in April, along with some reports and scientific specimens. Sergeant Orday described the only other news of the day.

Bratton caught a fox in a Steel trap where it had a hole through the pickets. it had freequently come through in to the Garrison after bones where we divided meat.

Sources: Moulton, 9:108.

January 7, 1805
The Cartographer

William Clark was the primary cartographer for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Clark's maps had a lasting legacy; they redefined the concept of the Rocky Mountains as multiple ranges, rather than a single ridge, and they gave trappers and settlers the first accurate map of the Louisiana Purchase. Clark was very meticulous in his mapmaking, using every source of information available. On this day he wrote:

Big White Chief of the Lower Mandan Village, Dined with us, and gave me a Scetch of the Countrey as far as the high Mountains, & on the South Side of the River Rejone, he says that the river rejone recvees 6 Small rivers on the S. Side, & that the Countrey is verry hilley and the greater part Covered with timber Great numbers of beaver &c. . . I Continue to Draw a connected plott from the information of Traders, Indians & my own observation & ideas. from the best information, the Great falls is about (800) miles nearly West,

Sources: Moulton, 3:269.

January 8, 1805
A Cold and Quiet Day

Although there was little recorded for this day, Sergeant Ordway broke the monotony of a cold day with winds from the northwest by making a trek by himself to the Mandan village.

Sources: Moulton, 9:108.