I have been reading this wonderful book on Lewis and Clark by John Bakeless. The first few chapters were a little boring—with a lot of background stuff. But once I got into the reading of the expedition it was quite good. I am thrilled with all their adventures. Every day they are faced with a new challenge. But they were prepared for most of it. They kind of knew what they would face with the Indians, the Missouri river, and the wild animals. So, they brought along many things to trade with the Indians; and they recruited a few expert hunters. They were always well fed with fresh meat—buffalo and deer, and other small animals.

I was so impressed with Lewis, with his knowledge of the wild—how he knew of all the natural berries and herbs to use for eating and health. Several times he used wild herbs and berries (choke cherries) to restore health to those who got sick.

I am about half-way through the book now. I just finished reading about how they encountered grizzly bears when they were in the area of present Montana. They were especially ferocious, and big—some up to 1,000 pounds. They commented that since the grizzlies had never experienced the loud and deadly rifle shots, they did not fear them. And their hides were so tuff that it took 5 or 6 shots to kill them.

I was amazed in my reading of the bravery of the men, how they continued on even after being chased by huge wounded bears for miles. And it was amazing, miraculous that no one was killed by the bears. In fact, in the entire expedition there was only one death; they were well prepared and very good survivors.

When I say “they,” there were more of them than I originally thought. It wasn’t just the two men. There were about 30 or 40 of them—most were soldiers in the army. And there were also a couple Indian squaws, including the famous Sacagawea who was the best interpreter, and also very helpful with many things.

Well, that’s all I will write today. I’m gonna do some more reading of this book and drink more coffee at my favorite hangout. Good day to you!