April 1805

Farewell, Fort Mandan

Explorers were happy to be on the river again after the long winter at Fort Mandan. All were "in excellent health and spirits," Lewis noted, "Not a whisper or murmur of discontent to be heard among them, but all act in unison and with the most perfect harmony." Sacagawea was returning to her homeland with hopes for a happy reunion with her people. She had been taken from her family when the Hidatsas had raided her village. She had never dreamed she'd be returning on a voyage such as this one. Lewis’s dog, Seaman, was glad to be out again. He walked along the shore with Lewis, sniffing the fresh smells of spring.

New grass covered the prairie. Thousands of geese stopped to feed on the tender shoots. Clark found a hard cloaked half in his coat of winter white and half in summer gray. Lewis noted the croaking choruses of frogs.

With the spring weather came strong winds. Windblown sand was everyone’s hair, eyes, and food. Their small boats tossed in the river's high waves. On some days they made no progress at all against the heavy winds. On those days they gave up and made camp. When the wind was with them, they raised sails to hurry the boats along.

On most days, paddling and pulling from dawn to dark, the expedition advanced 15 or 20 miles. At night the men slept under the stars after a hearty meal provided by the hunters. The captains shared a tipi with York, Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and Pomp.

They saw many buffalo that had drowned in the high waters of the river. Lewis inspected enormous tracks near them. They were the tracks of the "white bear." The Indians had told them about these animals. Lewis was anxious to meet one of these giant bears, in spite of the Indians' stories of its strength and ferocity.

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When the Indians prepared to hunt this animal, they painted themselves as if going on the warpath against a respected enemy.

Bald eagles flew overhead in large numbers. Lewis noted swans and owls. One day Clark saw a bird with a six-inch curved beak that whistled its name at him – “curlew, curlew.” White whooping cranes, their black-tipped wings spreading seven feet across, flew overhead with long, slow beats.

The Corps saw beaver dens everywhere and at night, when the camp became quiet, they heard the beavers’ tails slapping the water. One night Lewis wrote about a buffalo calf that was afraid of Seaman and attached itself to Lewis, following close to his heels all day. When Lewis climbed above the river's high bluffs, he looked over green rolling hills and saw immense herds