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Survival

Fresh Water

Spring

Fresh water was needed for drinking, cooking and cleaning. One of the reasons they located Fort Clatsop where they did was that there was a spring nearby. 

Men would go out the back gate and walk about 200 yards to get to the spring.   There they could fill buckets of water to bring back to the fort.

Gathering Firewood

Chimney

The men had to find wood that was dry enough to burn.  They needed fire for:

• warmth
• cooking
• smoking meat
• making salt
  

Saltworks

Campfire

Salt was needed to season and preserve meat.  It was also an important part of their diet.

About fifteen miles to the southwest of camp they built a saltworks.  There they began the tiring process gathering sea water and boiling away the water until all that was left was the salt. By this process they were about to get about three and a half quarts of salt a day.  They needed to produce enough salt to last them through the winter and for their journey home.

"The salt makers had made a neat, close camp, convenient to wood, salt water, and the fresh water of the Clatsop river, which at this place was l within 100 paces of the oceans."

Hunting

Air gun

On Christmas their "...Diner concisted of pore Elk, so much Spoiled that we eate it thro' mear necessity, Some Spoiled pounded fish and a flew roots." I was important not only to obtain fresh meat, but they needed enough to last the winter.  They hunted elk and deer. 

Hunting provided the men with the food they needed, but it also provided them with clothing.  They were able to make clothes and over 350 pairs of moccasins from the 131 elk and 20 deer they shot.

Yet, there was another necessity for which they were able to use the elk and deer.

"This evening we finished curing the meat. No occurrence worthy of relation took place today. We have a plenty of elk beef for the present, and a little salt. Our houses dry and comfortable."

Candle Making

Candle Making

Elk and deer fat was used to make candles.  Candles were important because they provided light during the long, dark winter so that Lewis and Clark could work on their maps and journals. 

Fortunately, Meriwether Lewis had anticipated the importance of candles and made sure that candle molds were on the supply list.  Candle making provided for a source of light other than the fires in the rooms.

Storage

Storage

To survive the winter, they needed to be able to store some of the meat and other supplies.  They tried to smoke the meat so that it would not spoil.  They only met with some success and still had problems with meat rotting in the damp, coastal climate.