By December, Lewis and Clark had decided where to build a fort near the coast. They built Fort Clatsop, named after the local Clatsop people.
This fort was square, unlike triangular Fort Mandan. But it was still small.
Their time at the fort was spent making buckskin clothing, and working on journals and maps. Rain fell constantly.
They could not cross the Rocky Mountains until the snows melted, but if they waited too long, the Missouri would be frozen by the time they arrived, and the expedition would have to suffer yet another winter on the Plains.
