Wednesday 7.  We remained here this morning for the purpose of making some celestial observations, and also in order to refresh the men, and complete the drying of the baggage.  We obtained a meridian altitude which gave the latitude of our camp at north 45 degrees 2’ 48” 8"’.  We were now completely satisfied that the middle branch was the most navigable, and the true continuation of the Jefferson.  The northwest fork seems to be the drain of the melting snows of the mountains, its course cannot be so long as the other branch, and although it contains now as great a quantity of water, yet the water has obviously overflowed the old bed, and spread into channels which leave the low grounds covered with young grass, resembling that of the adjoining lands, which are not inundated; whence we readily infer that the supply is more precarious than that of the other branch, the waters of which though more gentle are more constant.  This northwest fork we called Wisdom river.

As soon as the baggage was dried, it was reloaded on board the boats, but we now found it so much diminished, that we would we able to proceed with one canoe less.  We therefore hauled up the superfluous one into a thicket of brush where we secured her against being swept away by the high tide.  At one o’clock all set out, except captain Lewis who remained till the evening in order to complete the observation of equal altitudes:  we passed several bends of the river both to the right and left, as well as a number of bayous on both sides, and made seven miles by water, though the distance by land is only three.  We then encamped on a creek which rises in a high mountain to the northeast, and after passing through an open plain for several miles, discharges itself on the left, where it is a bold running stream twelve yards wide.  We called it Turf creek, from the number of bogs and the quantity of turf on its waters.  In the course of the afternoon there fell a shower of rain attended with thunder and lightning, which lasted about forty minutes, and the weather remained so cloudy all night that we were unable to take any lunar observations.  Uneasy about Shannon, we sent R. Fields in search of him this morning, but we have as yet no intelligence of either of them.  Our only game to-day was one deer.

Thursday 8.  There was a heavy dew this morning.  Having left one of the canoes, there are now more men to spare for the chace; and four were sent out at an early hour, after which we proceeded.  We made five miles by water along two islands and several bayous, but as the river formed seven different bends towards the left, the distance by land was only two miles south of our encampment.  At the end of that course we reached the upper principal entrance of a stream which we called Philanthropy river.  This river empties itself into the Jefferson on the southeast side, by two channels a short distance from each other:  from its size and its southeastern course, we presume that it rises in the Rocky mountains