8 December: (Sunday) Early in the morning, bright sky, beautiful weather; the snow [was] frozen, and it crunched. At seven thirty, 17°F [−8.3°C], calm. Snow buntings [were] around the fort. With the exception of crows, no living animal was visible on the cold prairie covered with snow. At nine o’clock the sun [shone] strongly, the snow melted on the roofs, and the weather was incomparably beautiful. Mr. Dougherty went on his sled to the lower Mandan village to Durand. Mr. Kipp had his so-called cariole (a two or three-seat sled) hitched and drove to the Hidatsa villages, because he no longer had any meat and tallow. The latter was very necessary for candles. We were already burning only one candle in the evening, and this was made from such brown, bad fat that we could hardly write by it.

Péhriska-Rúhpa visited us. However, when we talked about drawing, he left right away. Síh-Chidä was here again with his wife and had his picture drawn. Charbonneau had gone with Kipp. About noon a cold wind rose out of west hora 7 north. Several well-dressed Mandan Indians came into the fort, and women [were] constantly arriving with their travois, on which they brought corn or other items forsale for sale. There was still an open channel in the river opposite and farther down from the fort, close to the opposite bank. The Indians came, a long way on the ice, from their village across the river.

The snow in the surrounding area was crisscrossed with tracks of dogs and wolves. At the creeks [and] in bushes or small brush [on] the banks and hills, we saw tracks of foxes and mice everywhere, for which we [planned to] set traps. Dreidoppel skinned the wolf, emaciated to a skeleton, bought yesterday afternoon for two sticks of tobacco (worth about 25 cents). It had a good skin.

At twelve o’clock, 30°F [−1.1°C]. Mató-Tópe visited us at this time. The drawing of Síh-Chidä was mainly completed. We gave him paper, pencil, and colors, and he returned with his wife to the village. Several other very interesting, well-dressed Mandans visited us—among them a handsome man who did not want to have his picture drawn. Bodmer and Dreidoppel went out later with the gun. A wolf ran around in the fields, [and] I attempted to drive [it] toward them, but in vain. Later I heard them shoot twice. Mr. Dougherty had lunch with us and then drove home quickly. The hunters came back at dusk. [They] had seen several wolves and shot at one of them, but it was too far away. It turned cold toward evening. Today the Mandans shot two game animals (Cervus virginianus) in their forest near the village. The night was dark today. Síh-Chidä had shot a prairie hen.