The Discovery Gazette
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March 1, 1804 Our Commanding Officer has pushed this journey forth. We will be leaving in a couple days. I thought I’d be scared...more so than I am… but this journey has been planed for so long that I am just ready to go out and explore. Persons have brought to me that there are 7-foot-tall beavers and unicorns, maybe even some buffaloes twice our size. I, myself, have no idea what to expect. I just hope our crew stays healthy and dedicated to make it a success. I am curious so know what is out there…what the rest of America is like. What could be diffrent.. Will the persons along the trip be nice? Will we all survive? I sure hope so. Our commanding Officer is depending on us to come back with all the information he wants. Will he be disappointed in us.. or will we be heros. I have mixed feelings about this. that is all. Joe Merian March 1, 1804 Today I was at the black smiths and got a letter from my cousin Virgil and he told me about a journey to the ocean and back. Tomorrow I will meet him at the courthouse and go and meet the crew that I will be with for the next two years. The only reason I have decided to go is for the adventure and a chance to be apart of something. In the morning I must purchase three rifles so that I allways have a gun handy the next two years. My cousin wrote me and told me about some things that we might face along the way, their might be 10ft bears and equally as big beavers. One thing no one is sure of is the volcanoes and the indian tribes along the way. Tomorrow is making me nervous to leave my safe town for the wilderness. Tyler John Crocket March 1st 1804 By: John James Tomorrow we start the big journey out west to discover a lost land. I will be leaving with my close buddies and brother Alexander, Clark, Merriweather, and Rueben. We are traveling a very dangerous journey and battle against 7-foot tall beavers and hairy mastodons. I am feeling very nervous about starting the journey into the unknown west territory. We will be traveling by boat and horse. Hopefully discovering new plant and animal life. Along the way we will be encountering many Native Americans. The terrain will most likely be very rough. We will be crossing many rivers including the Missouri River and cross many mountains including the Rockies and Bitterroots. I hope that this vigorous journey goes well. Hopefully we return safely. This will be a long journey with my brother Alexander and my partners. We pray that everything goes as planned. March 1, 1804 March 1, 1804 It is the night before our big journey. We are really scared and very excited all in one. It is a weird feeling. I have heard rumors of unicorns, seven foot beavers, and mountains too. These beavers scare me much. I hear of Indians too. The fear I have excites me. I have hopes and questions that I need answered. I wonder what landscapes there are and how nice the Indians our. I hear of mosquitoes which bight hard and hurt. The rumors scare me a little. I wonder how long this trip will take us and if I will survive to tell about it. I have already said goodbye to my wife and kids. They cried. They said that they would miss me too. Well the other men are leaving so I better go. Walter Hambrick
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July, 15 I am writing again for a great accomplishment we have reached the Missouri river. It was a incredible felling there were animals all over deer, bison, and many birds. The rest of our trip will deal greatly with the river and our success to the pacific ocean. I am very excited to leave on the Missouri tomorrow. July 15th 1804 The journey is going well, we are about to cross the Missouri River. We are seeing various species of animal and plant life. For example we are seeing different flowers and grass we have never seen before. We are also seeing various types of animals like wolfes, birds, foxs, mooses, and we last nite we herd the call of a wild wolf. He gave us quite a frite. Some of the men are sick and could possibly die from the deadly diseases that the have contracted. We have met the Indiens and they have agreed to let the sickly men stay with them until they are better. We hope that they will be better with the Indiens help. The indiens have agreed to lets us have a few of their horses to get across the ruff terrain. we hope that our expedition continues to go well. March 15, 1804 Well, not too much has happened on this journey since I last wrote anything. We did however, encounter a group of Indians. Thankfully, they were peaceful and didn't want to fight. They traded us two horses for a cow. That I say was pretty fair trade. One of the members of our crew as taken ill. We think that it is just something related with allergies, and he should be able to start helping us out again in a day or so. Our moral is good, and our spirits are high. Let's just hope things stay that way. The temperatures are hot, the days are long, and the nights short, but all is well with everyone here. July 24, 1804 It is our first day on the river and I have never seen any thing like it. It looks very strong and powerful and will be hard to cross. Our boats are slow and very heavy so it looks like we won't have a very fun trip up. I like all of the vegetation and the animals. I think that it will produce a lot of food for us with all of the fish and the deer and bears drinking from it. Well the boat is ready so I will write again later. August 13, 1804 What a sight we saw today. The big river...the one we will be journeying on...The big ole Missouri. It looks huge and strong. It will be tough to get across it let alone getting upriver. The scenery is quite a sight though. Plants growing along the shore and animals roaming around. The rest of this expedition will rely on how this river treats us. The current looks strong so all of us men have a long journey ahead of us. I will write more later.
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