At Fort Mandan below the Knife River Villages, Lewis fixes North West Company trader François-Antoine Larocque‘s compass, but the latter’s attempt to join the expedition fails. One of the interpreters’ wives—perhaps Sacagawea—is taken ill.
Elsewhere, the Hunter and Dunbar Expedition returns to Natchez, the home of William Dunbar.
Mr. Larocque Leaves
by Yellowstone Public Radio[1]Originally aired weekdays by Yellowstone Public Radio during the Bicentennial observance of 2003-2006. Narrated by Hal Hansen. Scripts by Whit Hansen and Ed Jacobson. Produced by Leni Holliman. © … Continue reading
Compass
From the private collection Norman Anderson. Photo © 2023 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Visiting the American Fort
Went down to the American Fort to get my Compass put in order, the glass being broke, & the needle not pointing due north; & to see how the horses were. . . . Cap’t Lewis fix’d my Compass very well, in doing of which he Employed the whole day, Cleaning it &c.
—François-Antoine Larocque[2]30 January 1805, W. Raymond Wood and Thomas D. Thiessen, Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains: Canadian Traders among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians, 1738–1818 (Norman: University of Oklahoma … Continue reading
Mr. Larocque Leaves
Mr. Larocke leave us to day (this man is a Clerk to the N W Company, & verry anxious to accompany us)
—William Clark
A Sick Wife
a find Day one Deer Killed our interpeter Still unwell, one of the wives of the Big belley [Hidatsa] interptr taken Sick—
—William Clark
Hunter and Dunbar Return
Also on this day, the Hunter and Dunbar Expedition returns to Natchez, the home of William Dunbar:
FebY. 2nd. Saturday Set out again at sun rise & rowed for three or 4 miles when the course of the river changing were enabled to set our Sail & went against the current at a smart rate & arrived at Natchez about midday.
—George Hunter
Weather Diary
State of the Ther. at rise
Weather Wind at Thermt. at 4 oCk. P.M. Weather Wind at 4 oCk. P.M. River 12 [below 0] fair N W 3 [above 0] fair S. fall 1 in. —Meriwether Lewis[3]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “State of the River at
Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Plan a trip related to February 2, 1805:
Fort Mandan is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The North Dakota Department of Parks and Recreation manages a modern reconstruction and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center located at US Hwy 83 and ND Hwy 200A.
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. A unit of the National Park System, the site is located at 564 County Road 37, one-half mile north of Stanton, North Dakota. It has exhibits, trails, and a visitor center.
Notes
| ↑1 | Originally aired weekdays by Yellowstone Public Radio during the Bicentennial observance of 2003-2006. Narrated by Hal Hansen. Scripts by Whit Hansen and Ed Jacobson. Produced by Leni Holliman. © 2003 by Yellowstone Public Radio. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | 30 January 1805, W. Raymond Wood and Thomas D. Thiessen, Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains: Canadian Traders among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians, 1738–1818 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985), 151–152. |
| ↑3 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “State of the River at rise” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations. |
