1893.] Ol [Coues. 



first one, occupjing the remaiuing 2^ folios, or 5 pages. (2) A letter, 

 fragmentary, without signature or addres?, presumably intended for the 

 President, in Lewis' hand, misdated St. Louis, Sept. 21 (probably meant, 

 for 24), 1806, and proceeding to give a general account of the Expedition, 

 till it breaks off in the middle of a sentence at bottom of p. 16. It an- 

 nounces the discovery of the Yellow Rock or "Roghejone " liver — that is, 

 of the Yellowstone or Roche jaune. 



Codex T. — Fragment. No record or identification. One folio, 2 pages, 

 apparently Clark's hand, but '' Capt. Clark " spoken of in the third per- 

 feon. It is a half sheet of notepaper, not from any one ot the bound 

 books, and a mere excerpt, witliout proper beginning or end, speaking of 

 some geographical and other matters of no special consequence. 



Note to Codices A-T. — The four small marble cover codices, and the 

 brown codex, were actually penned in the field, day by day, as the Expe- 

 dition proceeded. So were some of the fragmentary codices, notably the 

 "Pass Codex." But this cannot have been the case with the red books, 

 nor w'iih those of the fragmentary codices which are on paper of the same 

 size, shape and quality as that of the red books. The covers are too fresh 

 and bright, the paper too clean and sound, for these books to have ever 

 been through the wear and tear of such a journey. The handwritings 

 are too good, and too uniform, for either of the explorers to have executed 

 them in the vicissitudes of the camp. The red books were certainly writ- 

 ten after the return of the Expedition, and before Lewis' death in October, 

 1809— that is, in 1806-9. They were certainly put in Mr. Biddle's hands 

 very early in 1810, and were probably written at St. Louis. I suppose the 

 explorers bought a stock of these blank books, and proceeded to copy into 

 them their Journals and Notes, from rough field-books like the marble ones 

 and the brown one. They appear to have agreed upon a fair division of the 

 work of authorship— each to write certain portions of tlie narrative, eacli 

 in the first person singular speaking of the other in the third person, and 

 each drawing what lie wished from the rough field-books of both. They 

 evidently intended to become the joint authors of their own Travels, 

 though each should write certain portions himself. This design was frus- 

 trated by Lewis' untimely and tragic death ; upon which Clark at once 

 secured Mr. Biddle's invaluable services as editor and virtual author. 

 But in making this explanation concerning the red books, I must not be 

 misread as saying that they are not "original " manuscripts of Lewis and 

 of Clark ; simply that they are not books whicli were written in the field. 

 Every word of them all is in the handwriting of one or the other of the 

 explorers ; they are original, they are genuine, and they are authentic. 



With the foregoing codices, all "Lewis and Clark," are certain papers 

 which need not be codified therewith, but wiiich may be mentioned liere. 

 These are : 



Paper 1. — Letter of Nicholas Biddle, in his handwriting, dated Phila- 

 delphia, April 6, 1818, addressed to Hon. William Tilghman, Chairman of 



