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May 14, 1804

"Set out from camp River a Dubois at 4 oClock PM and proceed up the Missouris under Sail to the first Island in the Missouri and Camped on the upper point opposit a Creek on the South Side below a ledge of limestone rock called Colewater*  made 4 1/2 miles,  the party consited of 2, Self one frenchman and 22 men in the boat of 20 ores, 1 Serjt. & 7 french in a large Perogue, a Corp and 6 soldiers in a large Perogue, men in high spirits .  I determined to go as far as St. Charles a french village 7 Leags.*** up the Missourie, and wait at that place untill Cap. Lewis Could finish the business in which he was obliged to attend to at St. Louis and join me by land from that place 24 miles; by this movement I calculated that if any alterations in the loading of the Vestles or other changes necessary, that they might be made at St. Charles."   Clark

Colewater* - Probably the St. Louis limestone of middle Mississippian age.

7 Leags** - A league is a variable measure of about three miles.  That must have been Clark's usage since mileage tables show St. Charles as being twenty-one miles above St. Louis. 

May 15, 1804

"It rained during the greater part of last night and continued untill 7  Ock, AM after which the Party proceeded, passed two Islands* and incamped on the Stard. shore at Mr. Pipers' landing ** oppostie an Island.  the boat run on Logs three times to day, owning her being too heavyly loaded a sturn."  Clark

two Islands* - One of the two islands may be Pelican Island

Mr. Pipers' landing ** - Probably James Piper, who was in Missouri by 1798 and owned land in the St. Charles district on the Missouri River. 

May 16, 1804

"we arrived opposit  St. Charles* at 12 oClock , this Village is at the foot of a Hill from which it takes its real name Peeteite Coete or the little hill, it contains about 100 indefferent houses, and abot 450 Inhabetents principally frinch.  Dined with the Comdr ** & Mr.
Ducetts family ***  this gentleman was once a merchant from Canadia from misfortunes aded to the loss of a Cargo Sold to the late Judge Turner**** he has become somewhat reduced."


St. Charles* - St Charles was the earliest white settlement west of the Mississippi and north of the Missouri.  As Clark notes, the place was first called Les Petites Cotes (the Little Hills).  In 1887, Auguste Chouteau surveyed the settlement, and soon after the district of St. Charles was established.  The parish Church, and hence the settlement, was named for St. Charles Borromeo.  TO the Spanish it was San Carlos del Misuri.  By the time of the Louisiana Purchase, the French inhabitants of the town were surrounded by American settlers in the countryside, including Daniel Boone and his family who had settled in the area in the late 1790's.

Comdr **- The commandant at St. Charles was Charles, or Don Carlos, Tayon, of French-Canadian extraction and one of the original settlers of St. Louis.  He entered the Spanish military service in 1770, fought the British and their Indian allies in the Revolutionary War, and as a reward was given a regular rank as a sublieutenant.  He became commandant at St. Charles in 1793.

Mr. Ducetts family *** -  Francois Duquette, a Canadian, after residing for a time at Ste. Genevieve, came to St. Charles in 1796.  He set  up a windmill for grinding grain and was one of the little community's most prosperous citizens before the misfortune Clark alludes to.

Judge Turner****  - George Turner was a federal judge in the Northwest Territory, his circuit including Kaskaskia, in the 1790's.

May 17, 1804

"3 men confined for misconduct, I had a Court martial*& punishment.  som aplicasions**.   Clark

 Court martial* - The first Court-martial; Hall, Werner & Collins.

som aplicasions** - Perhaps applications to join the expedition

 

May 18, 1804

"had the Boat & pierogue reloded so as to cause them to be heavyer in bow than asturn.    receved of Mr. Lyon*  136 lb. tobacco on act of Mr. Choteau**.  Gave out tin Cups & 3 knives to the French hands.  I sent George Drewyer with Mr. Lauriesmus*** to St Louis & wrote to Cap Lewis.  Two Keel Boats arrive from Kentucky to day loaded with whiskey Hats .  "  Clark

Mr. Lyon*  - Probably Matthew Lyon, who at this period was a resident of Kentucky and had a contract for army supplies.  An Irish immigrant, Lyon gained fame in the 1790's as a Republican congressman and journalist from Vermont who stoutly opposed the Federalists, President John Adams, and the Alien and Sedition Acts, even to the point of going to jail.

Mr. Choteau** - Both Auguste and Pierre Chouteau were later reimbursed for expenditures of about this date.  Lewis's Account (August 5, 1807).

Mr. Lauriesmus***- Louis Lorimier was born near Montreal.  He and his father established "Laramie's Station" to trade with the Indians in Ohio.  As a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War, Lorimier led raiding parties of Indians into Kentucky; George Rogers Clark burned Lorimier's establishment as an enemy base in 1782.  Within a few years he had moved to Spanish Louisiana and received a large land grant to establish a settlement for Indians, partly as a defense against possible American invasion.   In spite of these indications of anti-American attitudes, he became an Indian agent for the United States after the Louisiana Purchase. 
 

May 19, 1806

"A violent wind last night accompanied with rain.  Cleared away this monr'g at 8 oClock,  I am invited to a ball in the Village, let several of the men go.   George Drewyer return from St Louis and brought 99 dollars, he lost a letter from Cap Lewis to me, Seven Ladies visit me to day."  Clark
 

May 20, 1804

"Set forward to that village in order to join my friend companion and fellow labourer Capt. William Clark, who had previously arrived at that place with the party destined for the discovery of the interior of the continent of North America."   Lewis