At Fort Clatsop, the captains wrote in their books. 
They wrote about all they had seen coming to the Pacific. 
They wrote about things near Fort Clatsop. 
They made maps of the land near the Missouri River, in the Rocky
Mountains, and on the banks of the Columbia. 
Some of the men hunted. 
They made the skins of animals into clothes and moccasins. 
They made between three and four hundred pairs of moccasins. 
They saved these to wear on the way home. 
Five soldiers were sent down to the ocean beach to make salt. 
Each had a big kettle. 
They filled the kettles with ocean water. 
They burned a fire under the kettles day and night. 
In time, the water all boiled away. 
A crust of salt was left on the inside of the kettles. 
The soldiers gathered this salt into wooden kegs. 
It took seven weeks to make enough salt for their journey home. 
Captain Lewis wrote, “This salt was a great treat to many of the party.” 
He liked salt very much. 
Captain Clark wrote that he did not care if he had salt or not.

hand ker chief      un der wear      wea sel
mer ry              wak en           wel come

On Christmas Day, 1805, the soldiers got up without making any noise. 
They fired their guns all at one time to waken the captains. 
Then they sang an old Christmas song. 
Then they wished the captains “Merry Christmas.” 
They gave each other presents. 
Captain Clark wrote that he had twelve weasel tails, some underwear,
some moccasins, and an Indian blanket for his Christmas presents. 
He gave a handkerchief or some little present to each man. 
There was no snow and no ice, but there was much rain. 
The soldiers had to stay in their log fort all day. 
They had only poor elk, poor roots, and some bad dried salmon for
dinner. 
But they were cheerful. 
They danced and sang into the night. 
On New Year’s Day, they fired their guns to welcome in the New Year. 
They had more to eat than on Christmas Day. 
The captains wrote, “Our greatest pleasure to-day is thinking about
New Year’s, 1807.  Then we shall be home.”

game or der let ters stol en

THE START HOME.

In March, the elk left the woods near Fort Clatsop. 
The soldiers could not get enough to eat. 
The captains said, “It is time to start home.” 
They bought a canoe with a soldier-coat and some little things. 
They took another canoe from the Clatsops for some elk meat that the
Indians had stolen. 
They had not many things left to get food and horses with on the way
home. 
But their guns were in good order. 
They had good powder and balls. 
They could kill game on the way. 
They cut up their big flag into five robes. 
They could sell them robes for food. 
The captains gave the Clatsops letters to give to