The day is stormy at the mouth of the Ohio. Strong winds swamp the pirogues, which fortunately had been emptied of their cargo. The captains compare the sizes of the Mississippi and Ohio riverbanks.
Stormy Day
the [wind] blew very heard last night from N. and continued without intermission throughout the day it became could about twelve oclock— the canoes were driven by the violence of the waves against the shore and filled with water I therefore thought myself fortunate in having had them unladen on my arrival,—
—Meriwether Lewis
Stormy Day on the Mississippi
View north from Fort Jefferson Memorial Park
© 2022 by Robert Heacock. Used by permission.
Height at the Point
measured the hight of the bank in the point and found it 36 F[eet] 8 I[nches] above the level of the water at thime [the time?] which may with much propriety be deemed low water mark as neither the Ohio or Missippi wer ever known to be lower—
—Meriwether Lewis
Height of the Mississippi Bank
I yesterday measured the bank on the W. side of the Mississipi and found it 52 feet 8 Inches and the bank at this hight is sometimes overflown so that allowing the water to be on a level a dike in the point to be on a level with the opposite bank must be raised 16 feet and to render it completely safe a few feet higher—
—Meriwether Lewis
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