Traveling with Lewis and Clark
It has been several months since we left St. Louis. Before we left, I said goodbye to my family and told them it would be at least a year before I came back. I was going on a great journey to the ocean with Lewis and Clark.
If I had known then how difficult the trip would be, I would have stayed home. Every day we woke up early, and then we would row and row up the river. We only traveled about three miles a day. We were going hundreds of miles.
The first week of the trip was exhilarating. I thought it would be such an adventure. I fell off the boat, but luckily the other men helped me climb back up. After that I was very careful. But it still was exciting.
We had brought food with us, but we reached the end of our provision rather quickly. We needed more food, so we had to stop to get it. There were no stores along the way, though. We had to hunt and fish to get the food. Then we would make a fire to cook it. At night we slept on the ground. It was getting so cold that I worried.
Lewis and Clark told us we would camp here for the winter. They said that the snow and ice would make it too hard to travel. That was weeks ago. We made a camp with tents, and then we hunted to get more food. We met some Native Americans who helped us. They showed us where to hunt and they even gave us some of their crops.
We are all so very cold. We go to get wood every day so we can keep the fire burning. Thankfully, we have enough water. That is the one thing we can get without any distress because we have camped along the river, so we are near water.
They say it will be a few more weeks before we move. After that, it will be time to travel once again. I wish I could turn back. I want to go home to my family, but I made a promise. I said I would do this job. But I would like to leave.
When I do return home, I will stay there. I never will travel this far again. I will get a job so that I will no longer need to hunt and fish to get food. I will buy it at the store. I will never have to camp outside again.
