10 December: In the morning, overcast sky. The clouds and the haze appeared strange; in one spot the sun turned them red. A cold, strong wind out of [the] northwest hora 7. At eight o’clock, 23°F [−5°C]. In the night, the dogs of the fort had barked terribly loudly and were very wild. Wolves must have been close by. At two and three o’clock, we heard the schähä́ckä bark close to the fort. I thought [at] first there were Indians (enemies) nearby.

Mató-Tópe came early and brought me a small weasel in its snow-white winter coat, a very cute animal he had shot with an arrow in his lodge. This little animal is said to turn white every winter. Because of the fog that covered the prairie hills and the forest, all trees were encrusted in magnificent hoarfrost. Even the hair and the heads of the Indians who came into the fort were completely covered with white hoarfrost, especially since they have a lot of false hair. Mató-Tópe stayed a long time with us and looked at drawings, which gave him much pleasure. Today he received several little things, like tin cups for colors, red pencils [or crayons], and gum elastic. At noon, friendly sunshine, wind unchanged; 29 1/2°F [−1.4°C].

Mató-Tópe watched the drawing of the Indians [attentively]. Three of the prairie hens that Dreidoppel skinned were female, one a male. When I looked closer at the little weasel, I found some black hair at the tip of its tail, but I do not believe [that] this weasel belongs to the large species, because its tail is so short. This morning only a few Indians came into the fort. When Mató-Tópe went across the ice of the river to his forest village, I took the gun and roamed the snowy plains of the prairie. I found no birds at all [except] a few crows. Wolves, foxes, and rabbits one could sense in numbers everywhere. However, I did not see anything but a gray wolf trotting 80 paces from me at the creek. I could have shot it with a rifle. The sun set when I came home. The snow froze once again. Charbonneau came in the evening and indicated [that] he had broken with Dougherty and wanted to return to the American Fur Company. He had come across on foot [and] had seen three antelope but had not been able to shoot at them. The Mandans went buffalo hunting today. At one thirty in the night, we had a new moon. Night dark.