8 April: Little wind in the morning; cloudy; not much ice left in the river, which rose about two feet during the night. [At] seven thirty, 50°F [10°C]. Southeast wind. We saw a flock of 26 swans moving upriver in the morning. At twelve o’clock, 60°F [15.6°C], wind from the south. Today the Hidatsas danced the Scalp Dance in the fort. Mató-Tópe and Síh-Chidä visited us.

At one o’clock a huge ice drift started that carried many tree trunks downstream, endangering our boats. The Indians landed much wood. They [also] landed and ate a drowned elk—the hair already gone because of the rot. Our blacksmith fetched some meat from it for himself. The drift ice diminished greatly by evening. Some buffalo swam down and were pursued. A few men who were supposed to go downriver to Picotte now had to stay here.