John's Birthday

March 29th 1805

Dear Journal,

I hope that John had a good birthday, today was probably they worst day to have a birthday considering the troubles that are happening even as I'm writing this. But still, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to John, happy birthday to you.

I don't like what's happening, I don't think anyone does. Ice chunks rush by in the Missouri, and on both sides the prairies blaze with fires the Indians have set. Were all scared, helpless and just want to be safe! Poor John, he's one of our leaders and is probably having the hardest time out of all of us and on his birthday! I wish that his birthday would get "postponed" till tomorrow in hopes that this fire will go away!

Bad luck is just part of life. Even though it happened today, on Johns birthday, we all are going to get through this and I just hope that everyone will be okay. 

Michael's Birthday

March 24th 1805

Dear Journal,

Its finally Michael's birthday! I say this because Michael hasn't stopped talking about his birthday since the beginning of March..... W-O-W! Well we are all thankful that it finally came! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Michael, happy birthday to you.

Today everyone was just mainly focused on the imminent departure, including Indian visitors who drop by Fort Mandan. Overhead, swans and geese are flying north and we have seen a lot of them lately!

Even though we all were just mainly focused on the imminent departure we didn't forget about Michael. He seemed to have had a long and tiring day but always kept a posotive attitude! Now he just has to wait for next year till his birthday comes around once again [:

Joe's Birthday

February 28th 1805

Dear Journal,

It's been awhile since we've had a birthday, about a month I'd say! Well things are about to change because today just happens to be Joe's birthday! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Joe, happy birthday to you!

Today seemed like a pretty good day. Sixteen people were sent upstream to find trees suitable for making canoes, and they returned late in the day reporting much success! Arriving from the Arikaras is French trader Gravelines. His news is that the Arikaras are still friendly towards the Corps, Mandans, and Hidatsas, but the Teton Sioux plan to kill all whites they see, and are planning raids on the Mandan and Hidatsas villages. Chief Black Buffalo's Sioux favor the Corps and peace. 

So we learned some not so great news today but that didn't put our spirits down for all that we cared about today was making sure Joe had a great birthday [:

Sarah's Birthday

January 21st 1805

Dear Journal,

Today was like a relaxing day. Lucky for Sarah it's her birthday today so she probably had a very easy and calm day! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Sarah, happy birthday to you.

To us 8 degrees is a high temperature, well that's how "hot" it was today. There was a clear sky also, it was a fine day, according to Clark. Other than having many Indian visitors its a quiet day at Fort Mandan. Everyone took advantage of today because it would be a very rare to not have to do any hard work! Sarah was probably in paradise!

Well today was nice while it lasted cause tomorrow, who knows what will happen! We all like days like this, and like I said before lucky for Sarah it's her birthday today, we all hope she really enjoyed it. I better be getting some sleep now because we will all be waking up early tomorrow :]

Harrison's Birthday

January 11, 1805

Dear Journal,

Weather's been good so far we haven't had any more recent snow storms! This is good because today is Harrison's birthday! Yipeee! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Harrison, happy birthday to you. I don't know how old he is turning, I should though... when i find out I'll be sure to write it down!

Anyways today was a good day. Three men of the Corps were sent out to join three others hunting and they had a very successful hunt and came back with a lot of great food! Harrison had fun making us a great meal since he loves to cook! Chiefs Black Cat and Coal come to visit, and are staying overnight. Some of us also are going to Mitutanka to witness what Clark calls a, "war dance" since we are so into dancing ourselves! Tonight we also had some great corn bread that Harrison and friends made, we all made Harrison's birthday be super fun :]

Second birthday of 1805! Wow I cant believe thats were in a new year, hope it turns out good for all :] Well i'm tired and its late, so once again happy birthday Harrison!

Camelicious's Birthday

January 2nd 1805

Dear Journal,

We've entered a new year.... 1805!! Yippee!! To top it off it's Cameron's birthday today. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Cam, happy birthday to you. I think that Cam had a memorable birthday.

Since yesterday was the first day of the new year, we had a celebration and let's just say we did someone seriously skilled dancing! With yesterdays dancing then being a success, we all decided to go to preform in Chief Black Cat's lodge at Ruptare. Cam was the star in this performance for we all know how much he likes to dance! We didn't really have a choice on what to do because it was -8 degrees outside! Were still having not good luck on good weather though.

What better way to spend your birthday then to be with your friends and just having a good time :] Well I think that Cameron was lucky to be celebrating his birthday on a day like this even if it is just horrid weather! Happy birthday once again Camelicious.

Sophie's Birthday

November 26th 1804

Dear Journal,

It has been a very long day today! One of the things is that it was Sophie's birthday! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Sophie, happy birthday to you! Personally, I would not like to have my birthday be on today because it seemed like we had quite a lot of bad luck.

It started out nice, partly cloudy and a nice warm temperature. Then, just before dawn the weather switches from warm, to freezing cold! Wind, clouds, and threatening snow! We all got little done because of they low temperature and it was not a fun experience!

Even though today was cold, frustrating, and hard working, Sophie obviously had to of enjoyed it because it was still her birthday :] We all hope she had a great day!

Heather's Birthday

October 11th 1804

Dear Journal,

It's hard to believe that we have only been on this trip for 5 months! So much has happened so far and I am so curious to see what other interesting things will come about on the rest of our journey. Speaking of fun events, we seem to have another one that happened today which was.... Heather's birthday!! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Heather, happy birthday to you.

The three Arikara chiefs responded to the speech's our captains had sent to them about trading with the Americans. They responded saying how glad they will be to trade with the Americans, and let them pass on the river. They agree to let our captains try to make peace between the Arikaras and the Mandans. Generous hosts, the chiefs serve a meal featuring boiled corn and beans, with bread made from ground corn and beans, and give the Corps bushels of corn, beans, and squash to take along, it was considered a birthday gift to Heather from them.

Seems to me like Heather had an amazing birthday! Her birthday was a lucky day for all of us even! We got a wonderful feast that we all loved, and the Arikara chiefs like us... a lot, which is a good think! I hope that Heather had a great birthday :]

Chris's Birthday

June 24th 1804

Dear Journal,

On our journey so far we've celebrated 3 birthdays, mine and Sam's. Well it's time to make the 3 people because today is Chris Platt's birthday! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Chris, happy birthday to you :]

It was perfect weather today! Woke up at 6 to find that the sun was shining with not a cloud in sight. What could be better? We met Clark who realized that he was 6 miles ahead of the boats we met up with him today. Haha! On the bright side he came with two deer and a bear that Chris helped him find, looks like we are going to be feasting tonight! The boats came to a narrow channel between two sandbars, where we all had to lift the keelboat 8" to get it over. This gave us a little delay. It was hard work and made us very tired and sore. That night though we ate the animal the Clark brought for everyone and they were DELICIOUS! Chris ate so much of the food though and we all got kinda annoyed, but it was his birthday so we didn't do anything about it he deserved everything.

Chris seemed to have a great birthday which made us all happy. We sang to him before we ate as he made us all laugh with his incredible dancing skills. Oh Chris what would we do without you! Happy birthday once again to him :]

Sam's Birthday

June 13th 1804

Dear Journal,

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Sam, happy birthday to you! Today (as you have probably realized) is Sam's birthday! Sam seemed to enjoy his birthday, for it was a nice and calm day today.

We set out quite early this morning, 6'o clock to be precise. First we passed the Creek of the praries which had very excellent land! We next passed a site near the mouth of the Grand River where 300 Missouri Indians were killed by their enemies, the Sauk and Fox. Our captains that night stayed up past 11 p.m. to take lunar observations for use in future map-making. Sounds super fun!

Oh I almost forgot! Since it was Sam's birthday he was allowed to stay up late with the captains to do what they were doing. It's not often that any of us are allowed to do that, but of course Sam would have an exception!

I hope that Sam had a great day, he should anyways...... it's his birthday lets not forget :]

Christina's Birthday

May 28th 1804

Dear Journal,

Guess what today is? You should know because it is a very special day for me. Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Christina, happy birthday to me :] Yippee! I was very happy that today was my birthday but the day was not as fun as I wished it was.

In simple words we just had bad luck today! After a long rainy night by the mouth of the Gasconade River, the cargo in the red pirogue- which carries 9 tons plus 14- men is wet. Just our luck! So we all stepped in and helped to unload it and spread everything out to dry. The sooner everything drys the faster we can move on! Since we can't travel, some of the men volunteered to go out to hunt and explore the area on a wet and cloudy day like today. They came back with one deer, so we all had small helpings for dinner.

Even though today was a rainy, cloudy, and took a lot of hard work and patience, in the end it was fun because everyone wished me a happy birthday and they gave me the biggest helping of the deer! I was glad that I got to spend my birthday with my friends on this "fun" day :]

The Corps of ReDiscovery 2002

Summer 2002

It's hard to believe this is really happening to me. 4 months, 5000 miles.... whoa! Surely I'll miss my family, how will i live without them? Home cooked meals, someone to clean your room, do your laundry, I hope I learned a few things from them cause I'll need it! Now I personally am not a huge fan of planes but this one was different. While we were flying I didn't even think about all the scary possibilities that could happen on a plane, the only thing that crossed my mind was as I looked out the window was that I am going to be biking back that way.

Were in Washington D.C and went to a bike shop called Chain Reaction. We learned how to fix parts of the bike and ride safely. Very important for us to know! From there we proceeded on with a walking tour of DC which then led to where we would start our biking tour, on the Capitol Steps. We also got to stop by the Lincoln Memorial.

Ben's Chili Bowl....... yummy. I got a lot of food as you can imagine, and it was not disappointing! After our successful meal we happened to come across the mayor as we were walking out sitting at a table with his two bodyguards. Were special because we got to take a picture with him :]