This manuscript is a close hand-written transcript of the Lewis and Clark journals. The transcript (“an exact copy, word for word, letter for letter, and point for point”) was begun around December 1892 by “expert copyist” Mary Anderson at the request of Elliott Coues (Cutright, History 89), and was completed in 1893. Elliott Coues had been hired by Francis Harper to annotate the 1814 Biddle/Allen narrative of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. During his research, Coues became aware of the publication potential of Lewis and Clark's original journals, and as a result decided to have this copy made.
Although Coues never succeeded in bringing the complete journals to publication, he did begin work on the project by writing footnotes on the backs of some of the pages. Additionally, Coues made marks on the original journals, and in some cases this copy provides a check against these blemishes in the originals.
The transcript was acquired by George Tweney in the spring of 1970 from Douglas Parsonage, a New York book dealer, who had recently taken over from Lathrop Harper, the brother of the late Francis Harper (Tweney, Elliott Coues). In 2000, Tweney sold the manuscript to Lewis & Clark College.
This manuscript, made by an expert coppyist, includes the complete journal text's kept by Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806, as they explored the Louisiana Purchase and crossed North America to the Pacific Ocean by land. The manuscript also includes copies of maps and images exactly as they appeared in the original journals.
The thirty codices are arranged into sixteen boxes (codices O and P are housed together, as are codices Q, R, S, and T), a total of 2798 pages, according to the original order of the Lewis and Clark Journals, which is roughly chronological. Each codex is paginated seperately. This finding aid is arranged according to this original codex order.
This collection has no restrictions and is open for research.
Permission to publish, exhibit, broadcast, or quote from materials in the Watzek Library Archives & Special Collections requires written permission of the Head of Archives & Special Collections.
The Coues-Anderson Manuscript, OLPb017COU, Lewis & Clark College Aubrey Watzek Library Archives & Special Collections, Portland, Oregon.
This manuscript copy of the journals was made by Elliot Coues's secretary Mary Anderson, and used by Coues while he was editing the Biddle/Allen narrative for Francis Harper. After Coues's death the manuscript remained in the possession of Francis Harper in New York. In 1970 the Seattle book dealer, George Tweney, purchased the manuscript from Douglas Parsonage, an employee of Lathrop Harper, Inc.
In 2000, Lewis & Clark College purchased the manuscript from George Tweney.
Processed in 2000. Papers left in original order in custom made archival boxes, and scanned for preservation purposes in 2003.
For more information about the Elliott Coues and this manuscript see:
See Lewis and Clark College Special Collections for related collections, http://www.lclark.edu/~archives/specialcollections
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
The quoted notations below are the summaries of each codex by copyist Mary Anderson, with additional comments by Elliott Coues. Abbreviations accompanying figures: A34, etc.: original codex letter with page number; C-A23, etc.: Coues-Anderson MS, with page number; M2, 278, 280, etc: Moulton Journals, with volume and page number(s), and with figure names from Moulton. Title pages are not included in the page counts.
“Lewis and Clark. Codex A. Journal, complete, May 13—Aug. 14, 1804, By William Clark. 92 leaves = 184 pages of the original MS., making folios 1-120 of this copy, By Mary B. Anderson, 1893. N.B. Figures in circles, thus, 116 [circled], indicate pagination of the original. All penciling is my memoranda of places, distances, etc., foreign to the inked text. Elliott Coues. 1893.”
Figure: Manitou on a rock, June 5, 1804 (A34; C-A23; M2, 278, 280).
“Lewis and Clark. Codex A.a. A fragment, May 20 and May 15, 1804. By Meriwether Lewis. copied By Mary B. Anderson, folios 1-6, Dec. 1892. Compared with the original MS. Elliott Coues.”
“Lewis and Clark. Codex B. Journal, complete, Aug 15—Oct. 3, 1804. By William Clark. 90 leaves = 180 pages of the orig. MS., making folios 1-87 of this copy. By Mary B. Anderson, 1893.”
“Lewis and Clark. Codex Ba. A fragment, (“the Antelope”) Sept. 16 and 17, 1804. By Meriwether Lewis. Copied By Mary B. Anderson, folios 1-8, Dec. 1892. Compared with original MS. Elliott Coues.”
“Lewis and Clark. Codex C. “The Brown Book,” being the Mandan Journal, Oct 1, 1804—Apr. 7, 1805. Mainly By William Clark— Feb. 3—13 By Meriwether Lewis— Invoices, etc. by another hand. Orig. leaves 137 = 274 pages, copied in folios 1-201 By Mary B. Anderson 1893.”
Figures: War hatchet, January 28, 1805 (C158; C-A98; M3, 280); Battle ax, February 5, 1805 (C165; C-A104; M3, 287); Mississippi River and Tributaries in Present Minnesota, undated, winter 1804/5 (C255; C-A182: M3, 366).
“Lewis and Clark. Codex D. Journal, complete, Apr. 7—May 23, 1805. By Meriwether Lewis. Copied in folios 1-157, By Mary B. Anderson, 1983.”
Page 155 completes the May 23, 1805 entry. Pages 156 and 157 represent the final page (140) of the original, headed “Remarks for June 1805.” The upper part of Anderson’s 156 is torn away, and is supplied in photocopy from microfilm of the original MS. (See also M4, 347-8, for a variant text of this material.)
“Lewis and Clark. Codex E. Journal, complete, May 24—July 16, 1805. Missouri R. from North Mountain Cr. to the ‘Gates of the Rocky Mts.’ By Meriwether Lewis. Copied in folios 1-206 By Mary B. Anderson, 1983.”
Figure: Falls and Portage of the Missouri River, ca. July 4, 1805 (E132/133; C-A 173/174; M4, 360).
“Lewis and Clark. Codex F. Journal complete, July 17—Aug. 22, 1805. From the ‘Gates of the Rocky Mts.’ To the Shoshone Indians. By Meriwether Lewis. Copied in folios 1-207 By Mary B. Anderson, 1983. [See with Codex F—Codices Fa, Fb, Fc, Fd, Fe.]” Figures: Shoshone Smoking-pipe (F99; C-A132; M5, 82); Shoshone Fish Weir, August 21, 1805 (F147; C-A 198; M5, 136).
“Lewis and Clark. Codex Fb. Fragment of Journal, Aug. 23—26, 1805, The Shoshone Indians, By Meriwether Lewis. orig. folios 13, written to 25 1/4 pages Copied in folios 1-27. By Mary B. Anderson, Dec. 1892. Compared with original—Elliott Coues. [Follows Codex Fa—both go with Codex F.]”
“Lewis and Clark. Codex Fc. Fragment of Journal, Sept. 9 and 10, 1805. ‘Traveller’s Rest.’ By Meriwether Lewis. Copied in folios 1-4, By Mary B. Anderson, Dec. 1892. Compared with original, Elliott Coues. [Follows Codex Fb]”
“Lewis and Clark. Codex Fd. Fragment of Journal, Sept. 18—22, 1805. Bitter-root Mts. By Meriwether Lewis. Orig. folios 4 = 8 pages, copied in folios 1-9, By Mary B. Anderson, Dec. 1892. Compared with original, Elliott Coues. [Follows Codex Fc.]”
“Two Fragments 1. Weather Diary, Lewis, Apr—June, 1805. 2. Weather Diary, Lewis, July—September 1805. See Explanations on 2 following folios. Copied by Mary B. Anderson, Dec. 1892.” [12 pages.]
“Text of ‘remarks’ copied, without tabulated figures by M. B. A., Dec. 1892.”
“NB. This Meteorological Register consists of two parts, here united as Codex Fe, the dates being continuous. Apr. May, June 1805. Part first, five leaves of the original, here nine leaves, is part of Lewis Codex D. This belongs at end of Codex D, from which it was torn out; and remarks for June 1805 are on p. 140 of Codex D. Part Second, for July, Aug., Sept., 1805, being three leaves of the original, here six leaves, is similarly a part of a Lewis(?) Codex. Note. In making this copy the tabular figures of the original (thermometer etc. ) are omitted: but all the text, of ‘remarks’ apposite these tables, and further ‘remarks’ on separate pages, is given. Elliott Coues. (Dec. 1892)”
“Lewis and Clark. Codex G. Journal, complete, July 2d—Oct. 10, 1805. Great Falls of Missouri R. To the Columbia R. By William Clark, Copied By Mary B. Anderson, 1893.” [152 pages.]
“Lewis and Clark. Codex H. Journal, complete, Oct. 11—Nov. 19, 1805. Down the Columbia. By William Clark. Copied By Mary B. Anderson, 1893.” [146 pages.] Transcript complete as originally numbered. It lacks three pages of maps, at the start of the original MS. These are described in Anderson’s transcript of Biddle’s fly leaf note, but the maps were either not completed, or were removed before the pages were numbered by Coues/Anderson. Facsimiles of the equivalent maps in the original journals have been laid in the box.
Figure: Confluence of Snake and Columbia Rivers, Washington (H33; C-A30; M5, 297).
“Lewis and Clark. Codex I. Miscellaneous, as follows: 1. Itinerary, Ft. Mandan to the Pacific. 2. Weather Diary, April 1805—Jan 1806. 3. Journal, Nov. 19, 1805—Jan. 21, 1806. 4..Estimate of the Western Indians. By William Clark. Copied By Mary B Anderson, 1893.” [166 pages.]
Figures: Tongue Point, Oregon, Winter 1805-6 (I11;C-A12; M6, 460); Conic Hat, December 29, 1805 (I80; C-A86; M6, 143); Arrow, January 15, 1806 (I119; C-A127; M6, 209); Bone Fishhook and Line, January 16, 1806 (I122; C-A129; M6, 213); Digging Instrument, January 23, 1806 (I135;C-A143; M6, 232); Conic Hat, January 29, 1806 (I144; C-A152; M6, 247); Double-edged Knife, January 29, 1806 (I144; C-A153; M6, 247). The chart of the Mouth of the Columbia River (I152, M6, 52) is omitted in the Anderson copy, with no break in page numbering.
“Lewis and Clark. Codex Ia. Fragment, Journal Nov. 29—Dec.1, 1805. The Netul River. By Meriwether Lewis. 2 copies follow—see explanation inside Copied by E. C. and M. B. A. Dec. 1892.” “Following is 5 leaves torn out of one of the small oblong Note-books, written 8 pages full of Lewis’ manuscript, back of one leaf blank but for a slight sketch of Point Adams, front of another leaf written across lengthwise in another hand ‘Capt. Lewis rough notes, when he left Capt. Clark near the mouth of Columbia for a few days to examine the S.W. side.’ Copied by me v. l. p.[verbatim litteratim punctuatim] Dec. 12 ’92—E. C.” The Coues copy is four pages, Anderson’s copy is six pages plus the sketch of Point Adams. Total of both copies: eleven pages plus three title pages.
Figure: Point Adams, Oregon, ca. December 1, 1805 (Ia7; C-A8, Anderson; M6, 102).
“Lewis and Clark. Codex J. The Clatsop Journal, Jan. 1—Mar. 20, 1806. By Meriwether Lewis. Copied by Mary B. Anderson, 1893.” 193 pages.
Figures: Two Swords, a Bludgeon and a Paddle, January 1, 1806 (J1; C-A1; M6, 152); Arrow, January 15, 1806 (J25; C-A29; M6, 207); Bone Fishhook and Line, January 16, 1806 (J28; C-A32; M6, 212); Digging Instrument, January 24, 1806 (J40; C-A48; M6, 234); Conic Hat and Double-edged Knife, January 30, 1806 (J48; C-A59; M6, 250); Paddle, Small Canoe, February 1, 1806 (J52; C-A64; M6, 264); Canoe with High Bow and Most Common Canoe, February 1, 1806 (J52; C-A65; M6, 264); Canoe with Carved Images, February 1, 1806 (J53; C-A66; M6, 266); Fir Leaf (Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga taxifolia), February 9, 1806 (J65; C-A82; M6, 291); Maple Leaf (vine maple, Acer circinatum), February 10, 1806 (J66; C-A84; M6, 294); Fern Leaf (Christmas fern, Polystichum munitum), February 13, 1806 (J71; C-A90; M6, 304); Head of a vulture (California condor, Gymnogyps californianus), February 17, 1806 (J80; C-A100; M6, 323); Pine Cone (Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis), February 18, 1806 (J83; C-A104; M6, 326); Eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus), February 24, 1806 (J93; C-A118; M6, 343); Head of Cock of the Plains (sage grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus), March 2, 1806 (J107; C-A135; M6, 369); Head of a White gull (northern fulmar, Fulmaris glacialis), March 7, 1806 (J115; C-A146; M6, 389); Head of a Brant (greater white-fronted goose, Anser albifrons), March 15, 1806 (J131; C-A167; M6, 417); White Salmon Trout (coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch), March 16, 1806 (J133; C-A169; M6, 422).
“Lewis and Clark. Journal K. Journal, Fort Clatsop to Camp Chopunnish, Mar. 21—May 23, 1806. By Meriwether Lewis. Copied by Mary B. Anderson, 1893.” [194 pages.]
Figures: Iron Scimitar, March 29, 1806 (K14, C-A18, M7, 29); Confluence of Willamette and Columbia Rivers, April 3, 1806 (K28/29; C-A36; M7, 63); Two Views of a Canoe, April 6, 1806 (K33; C-A42; M7, 80); Plan of Chinookan House, April 6, 1806 (K39; C-A49; M7, 85); Bone Fishhook, April 26, 1806 (K83; C-A105, M7, 170); Fish Net, May 18, 1806 (K139; C-A176; M7, 270).
“Lewis and Clark. Codex L. Journal, complete, May 24—Aug. 8, 1806. with Weather Diaries, &c. Exploration of Maria’s River, etc. By Meriwether Lewis. Copied by Mary B. Anderson, 1893. Codices La and Lb belong to this Codex, at pages 81 and 144 respectively. Pages 45-150 (3 folios), which were torn out, I have reinserted, making orig. folios 150. Elliott Coues.” [169 pages.]
“Lewis and Clark. Codex La. Fragment, Journal, July 3—15, 1806. (“Pass Codex,” being discovery of L. and C. Pass. Belongs in Codex L., at orig. page 81.) By Meriwether Lewis. Copied by Mary B. Anderson, Dec. 1892.” [18 pages.] The small sketch of Monture (Seaman’s) Creek, Powell County, Montana (La4, M8, 91) is not copied by Anderson.
“Lewis and Clark. Codex Lb. Fragment, Journal, Aug.9—12, 1806. “Cruzatte’s Shot.” By Meriwether Lewis. (his last) Copied by M. B. Anderson. Dec 1892.” “. . . A Fragment, belonging with Codex L, at p.144 Shooting of Lewis by Cruzatte. . . . E. C.” [7 pages.]
“Lewis and Clark. Codex M. Journal, complete June 7—Aug. 14, 1806. The Yellowstone River. By William Clark. Copied by Mary B. Anderson, 1983.” [188 pages.]
Figure: Snake and Missouri rivers and their Connections, May 29—31, 1806 (M1/2; C-A2; M7, 316/317).
“Lewis and Clark. Codex N. Journal, complete, Aug. 15—Sept. 225, 1806. With various other matters. By William Clark. Copied by Mary B. Anderson. 1893.” [128 pages.]
Figures: Bon Homme Island on the Missouri River, Bon Homme County, South Dakota and Knox County, Nebraska, September 1, 1806 (N81, C-A84; M8, 339); Bon Homme Island on the Missouri River, Bon Homme County, South Dakota and Knox County, Nebraska, September 1, 1806 (N82, C-A85; M8, 340); Lewis’s Route from Traveler’s rest to the Missouri River, ca. July 3—11, 1806 (N149/150; C-A122/123; M8, 105).
“Lewis and Clark. Codex O. Astronomical Observations, May 18, 1804—Mar. 30, 1805. Geographical Notes, No dates. Copied by Mary B. Anderson, 1893.” [109 pages.]
“Lewis and Clark. Codex P. Natural History Notes, &c., &c. April 9, 1805—February 17, 1806. Not in handwriting of L. or C. Collate with Codices D to N. Copied by Mary B. Anderson, 1893.” [112 pages.]
Figure: Digging Instrument, January 23, 1806 (P92; C-A73; M6, 232, (note 4). (This figure is copied from I135 / C-A143 above.)
“Lewis and Clark. Codex Q. Miscellaneous Natural History, 1804—1806. By Lewis, Clark, and another hand. Copied by Mary B. Anderson, 1893.” [70 pages.]
Figure: Iron Scimitar, March 29, 1806 (Q88; C-A34; M7, 29 and 31, note 13). (This figure is copied from K14 / C-A18 above.)
“Lewis and Clark. Codex R. Miscellaneous Natural History, May 1804—Mar. 1806. By Lewis, Clark, and another hand. Copied by Mary B. Anderson. 1893.” [62 pages.]
Figure: Large “convolvalist” leaf (hedge bindweed, Convolvulus sepium L.), July 17, 1804 (R37; C-A14; M3, 459, 467).
“Lewis and Clark. Codex S Two Letters, By Meriwether Lewis. Copied by Elliott Coues, Dec. 10. 1892.
a) Sept. 23 1806, Rough Draft of letter announcing return of the Expedition to President Jefferson.
b) Fragment of a letter, Sept. 1806, on discovery of the Yellowstone, etc.” [19 pages.]
“Lewis and Clark. Codex T. unidentified fragment, not in Clark's hand, one loose sheet. Copied by Elliott Coues [Dec. 12, 1892], copied again by Mary B. Anderson, Dec. 1892.” Total of both copies, three pages, with three title pages. (See M8, 414f., note 1.)
Figure: Large “convolvalist” leaf (hedge bindweed, Convolvulus sepium L.), July 17, 1804 (R37; C-A14; M3, 459, 467).