final

               spring 1806

Dear Mr. Jefferson

The journey was the corps at its best.  The journey was America at its best.  The journey that we embarked on in 1803 was a great success but we did not find the northwest passage as you were expecting.  The three years that we were on this journey was amazing finding many different plant and animals and meeting a lot of Indian tribes along the way.  We have made good friends of the natives living in the land that we traveled though we have mad some enemies too.  I believe that this land is perfect to expand our great nation. The corps almost got eliminated many time but with only one casualty we pushed on.

Connor Elmore

P.S  For my weekly labors ... and all my endeavors I have brought to this journey.  I believe I should be paid as a grade of an A-.

White Sturgeon

November 11, 1805, at Cape Disappointment

Today I saw many of the White Sturgeon fish on the banks of Cape Disappointment.  The white Surgeon is a nice change from eating salmon but it is still fish and not nearly as good as Elk or Buffalo.  The natives seem to enjoy eating this fish as well as any other fish.

Western Common Crow

November 29, 1805

The Western Common Crow is very annoying because when we are trading during the day we always seem to hear that occasionally caw-caw-caw of the crow.  It is also very annoying if we accidentally stumble along one of their nests and start attacking us.

Roosevelt Elk

December 2, 1805

The Shoshone call this large mammal the Wapiti which means white in their language.  The Roosevelt Elk is very true to the name the Shoshone gave it and it is the white elk or deer that I have ever seen.  It is a good game for the corps because it greatly satisfies the men's hunger for meat it is also very easy to shoot and kill.

Harbor Seal

October 23, 1805, in the narrows of Columbia River

We thought that the Harbor Seal was a see otter when we saw them on the columbia.  When we saw the Natives on the coast we soon found out that they were Harbor Seals.  There are great masses of the harbor seals and other seal on the coast because they are so close to the ocean.

Sea Otter

November 20, 1805

The first time we saw a otter fur we did not know about the otter because you don't see them on the east coast.  The otter fur is softer and more valuable then the common beaver and we some of them to take back across the country.

Steller's Jay

September 20, 1805

The Steller's jay is getting very annoying because it has been following us for many miles and keeps making a shack-shack-shack sound. I would shoot at it with my rifle if I had more ammunition.

Blue Catfish

August 25, 1804

We saw a Blue Catfish today and it was one of the biggest freshwater fish I have ever seen. It is larger then the Channel Catfish but is still mistaken for it a lot. We see a lot of them on the clear rivers.

Mountain Goat

August 24, 1805

We saw a Mountain goat to day. Even though we were far away we could saw how this animal has no fear of heights. Even the young were playing amung the rocky slopes.