What did Lewis and Clark call the black tailed prairie dog?

Lewis and Clark didn't have a specific name for the black-tailed prairie dog. They referred to them as "barking squirrels" or simply "squirrels".

They described their appearance and behavior in their journals, but they didn't use the term "prairie dog" which was coined later.

It's interesting to note that the term "prairie dog" likely came from the sounds they made, which reminded people of the barking of a dog.