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The Expedition, inlcuding about four dozen men and Capt. Clark set out from Camp Dubois. A few days later, they met up with William Clark in St. Louis. They start their journey by traveling up the Missouri River, gaining about 14 miles on the first day.
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Near modern-day Sioux City, Iowa, Sergeant Charles Floyd was the first casualty of the Expedition. He died of a burst appendix. He was buried on the hilltop Floyd's Bluff, near the stream called Floyd's River.
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The Expedition holds a council with the Yankton Sioux. Yankton oral tradition says that there was a baby born while the Expedtion was there, and Lewis wrapped him up in a U.S. state flag and called him "an American." Despite all this, the council didn't go very well, but the Sioux did accept an invitation to come to Washington and discuss trade with Pres. Jefferson.
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The Expedition hopes to establish peace between the Mandan Indians and the Arikiaras, but also to settle nearby for the winter. The Mandans accepted, but the peace talks failed. However, the Mandans and the Corps were very friendly towards each other and kept up a steady trade through the winter months.
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Sacagawea gives birth to her son. Lewis helped make the delivery go faster by giving her a potion. The baby boy is named Jean Baptiste.
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Lewis and another hunter kill an enormous bear. Because they had never seen a grizzly bear before this event, they had assumed all the stories about them had been greatly exaggerated. However, they quickly grew to respect them after encountering them several times.
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The Expedition had originally planned only half a day to travel around the Great Falls of the Missouri they encountered. However, they ran into problems with major heat waves, hail storms, prickly plants, and lots of other things. So the journey took them a whole month.
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The Expedition, with Sacagawea translating, tries to negotiate with the Shoshone Tribe. Amazingly, the Shoshone chief is actually Sacagawea's brother Cameahwait. This spot is named Camp Fortunate.
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Sometime in the late September, the Expedition got sick. After they had been nearly starving, the got really excited at the sight of food when they visited the Nez Perce again. So, of course, they ate too much salmon and camas root.
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The Expedition meet a Nez Perce Tribe. The people welcome the explorerers with warm friendship, and the group stayed there for a while. During their stay, the tribe helped them prepare for their departure, and then saw them off.
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The Expedition celebrates Christmas in their new winter quarters (near what is now Astoria, Oregon) which they name Fort Clatsop. They named it Fort Clatsop after a nearby Indian tribe. In celebration, they handed our handkerchiefs and the last of their tobacco stock.
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So, the group had already run out of whiskey, and now they've run out of tobacco. Instead of tryinto to stop chewing, they decide to try something else. They use crab tree bark as a stubstitute.
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Sometime in May/late June, the Expedition group meet up with the Nez Perce again. As they wait for the snow on the Bitterroots to melt, the two groups play a game of "base". And during this time, the Indians provide them with food.
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The previous night they had met a group of Blackfeet warriors. They camped together that night, but this morning, they catch the Blackfeet warriors trying to steal their horses and guns. In the fight that erupts, two Blackfeet warriors are killed.
