A Slight Breeze

Journal 2006 08 05
A Slight Breeze

“…the Misquetors was So noumerous that I could not keep them off my gun long enough to take Sight and by thair means missed.” William Clark. The day before Clark recorded “The Child of Shabono has been So much bitten by the Musquetor that his face is much puffed up & Swelled.” I’ve spent a fair amount of time recording trouble with mosquitoes. The men recorded more. This was the second day Clark reported having trouble taking aim with his rifle because the mosquitoes were so thick. Every time he mentions the young Mr. Shabono (Charbonneau) I can’t help but smile and wonder of the affection and attention directed toward this youngest of explorers the world has ever known. Did his mother always have him or did he spend much of his day in the care of some of the men? Did he receive the best of provisions the men had to offer? My guess is he was treated then as any young infant would be today, with great care and affection by most.

Records are kept of the great amounts of animals seen and the basics of daily life. But in reality a good part of the day for Clark and his party is spent trying to find a “more favorable” camp where the location allows for less bugs and any breeze to help carry them away. They do accomplish that. Before he left the junction of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers he leaves a note on a stick for Lewis as he has done many times over the past two years. Both parties report relief from a thunderstorm and the accompanying breezes that blow the bugs away.

The parties are still about one hundred and twenty miles apart as the crow flies. But they are on the same road, or waterway. Only they won’t be assured of that until they see one another.

“God is the one who made the mountains and created the winds. He makes his thoughts known to people; he changes day into night. He walks on the heights of the earth. This is his name: the LORD God Almighty!” (Amos 4:13 GNB)

A slight wind is a breeze and brings relief and safe travel to ships of sail. A mighty wind is a storm and threatens destruction. Tonight, the men enjoyed relief from a soft wind that took away their torment.

Proceed on.