12 December: Daybreak at seven o’clock. Early, it was not cold where the wind did not reach, but [it] blew out of the south east [——], bitterly cold. Sky very cloudy, very foggy, seemed to contain snow. All plants and objects, especially the stalks on the prairie, were covered with heavy hoarfrost. At seven thirty, 20 1/2°F [−6.4°C]. We saw a prairie wolf early that ran around near the Indian village. At the riverbank it was close enough for me to shoot; unfortunately, I had no gun. Dreidoppel went after it and, far down on the prairie, hid in a ditch. The wolf approached when Dreidoppel mimicked the voice of the rabbit. Suddenly he looked around, and two big wolves stood near him, only 60 paces distant. He hit one of them, which immediately defecated and urinated; therefore it certainly had been hit.

Mató-Tópe left before breakfast. He [planned] to go buffalo hunting soon. At nine o’clock I went to my mousetrap at the second creek. A wolf had picked it up and taken it a good 20 paces and then dropped it. I went far on top of the hills and saw a schähä́ckä on the way back. Soon after, I saw Dreidoppel, who had followed the wolf he had hit. On top of the hills, he came across an Indian, who had just then driven a wolf up from farther down near the hills. However, it did not come toward me. Afterward, I talked to the Mandan and followed the creek home, where I arrived shortly before twelve o’clock. I had seen no birds other than crows, a large flock of snow buntings, and a small flock of Fringilla linaria; among them I saw an old male with a magnificent red breast. At twelve thirty, 25°F [−3.9°C]. It had snowed for two hours, abated, and [then] started again. Charbonneau came back from the lower Mandan village. Dreidoppel had been several hours distant and brought back a nice white rabbit he had just shot [in] the hills.

About evening we saw a large wolf trotting on the prairie. An Indian ran after it, stalked it at the creek, and shot it. He brought it to the fort, and we saw that it was a very large male wolf, unlike any we had had before. His head and neck were very thick, his ears short. We saw right away that this wolf was different from the European species. The wind abated toward evening. It was moderately cold.

Some Yanktonai (Dacota) women arrived here late; [they] brought two horses as replacements for the Mandan horses shot by members of their tribe. In the village there are supposed to be twelve to thirteen Yanktonans (Yanktonais in French). In the evening Kipp told me the story of the building of Fort Clark, which I wrote down. Charbonneau filled the rest of the evening with tales of his various adventures. In the night, severe wind.