not knowing if they would survive the journey, lewis and clark used the winter to compile their descriptions of tributaries of the missouri river, their observations about the native nations encountered, and their descriptions of plant and mineral specimens which they had collected; all were compiled into a manuscript which they called the "mandan miscellany". in the spring the captains sent a copy of the manuscript to government officials in st. louis via their large keelboat. the boat would return before their expected arrival at the mandan area in 1806.