I never knew whether this picture belonged in Chapter 5, Journal Keeping, or in Chapter 7, Rainy Nights, where I cast about desperately for astronomical entertainment under soggy skies. Nevermind... it didn't run in either chapter, so I'll run it here.

In the foreground is Meriwether Lewis's journal entry for a frosty January night in 1805 -- the Captains were staying up at Fort Mandan in order to time a lunar eclipse, the better to fix the longitude of their winter encampment. In the background is the screen of a computer running "SkyGlobe" to reproduce that morning's skies as seen from central North Dakota. (The book is one of the magnificent volumes of Gary Moulton's new edition of the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, available from the University of Nebraska Press.)

Keeping your own journal is the real theme of Chapter 5, so such obtuse connections are not as comfortable there as one might wish.

Other Lewis and Clark photos on this site:


Clark's Signature in Stone
Featured on this page is a digital restoration of the Captain's autograph in the sandstone of Pompey's Pillar. It frames up nicely at 11x14.



Lewis and Clark's Mandan Moon
In January 2000, the circumstances of the total lunar eclipse Lewis and Clark used to fix the location the Mandan Villages were almost repeated. Here's a decent photograph of the sight the Captains enjoyed from Montana and the story of using the eclipse and Lewis's methods to fix the location of Cajah's Mountain, North Carolina.



TrailShots
Tehabi Press invited me to submit some of my work from the Lewis and Clark Trail for use in their lavish survey of America's westward expansion. See some of the photos I provided at this link: (sorry, give me a few days to get them posted). Check back soon.