On August 8, 1806, as the Corps of Discovery neared what is now Lewis and Clark State Park on their return trip, Captain Meriwether Lewis wrote that his men had not had leisure since leaving the west side of the Rocky Mountains to dress skins or make clothes, and that most of them were therefore extremely bare, so he decided to halt until the pirogue and canoe could be repaired and the men could dress skins and make the necessary clothing. The expedition had begun with the men in military uniforms, but as their clothing wore out they turned to making buckskin garments such as shirts, leggings, breechcloths, and moccasins. Moccasins wore out quickly and had to be constantly repaired or replaced, making them a tedious and time-consuming necessity. The steel needles used to sew clothing had been brought along as trade items. In time, the men found elk hides preferable to deer hides because elk were larger and actually easier to hunt. Their brown buckskin clothing may also have had an unintended consequence, as it may have led to Meriwether Lewis being shot after being mistaken for an elk.