Lewis and Clark Expedition

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) was the first United States expedition to the Pacific coast and back, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark of the United States Army. It is also known as the Corps of Discovery. These American heroes faced harsh conditions, incredible distances, unknown people, and unexplored lands to secure a place in history as two of the greatest explorers ever known.

Background

Thomas Jefferson had long considered such an expedition. When he was Minister to France following the American Revolutionary War from 1785-1789, he had heard numerous plans to explore the Pacific Northwest. In 1785, Jefferson learned that King Louis XVI of France planned to send a mission there, reportedly as a scientific expedition. Jefferson found that doubtful, and evidence provided by the former commander of the fledgling United States Navy and later admiral of the Russian Navy, John Paul Jones, confirmed these doubts. In either event, the mission was destroyed by bad weather after leaving Botany Bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1788. In 1786 John Ledyard, whose adventures had caused his impressed service into the British Royal Marines sailed with Captain James Cook to the Pacific Northwest on Cook's third and final voyage, told Jefferson that he planned to walk across Siberia, ride a Russian fur-trade vessel to cross the Pacific Ocean, and then walk all the way across North America to the American capitol. Ledyard who had partnered with John Paul Jones in a business venture to trade American furs for Chinese silks and porcelains, had made it as far as Siberia when Czarina Catherine the Great had him arrested and deported back to Poland.

In a message to Congress, Jefferson wrote

The river Missouri, and Indians inhabiting it, are not as well known as rendered desirable by their connection with the Mississippi, and consequently with us. ... An intelligent officer, with ten or twelve chosen men ... might explore the whole line, even to the Western Ocean ...

In a letter dated June 20, 1803, Jefferson wrote to Lewis

The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, and such principal stream of it as by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce.

Louisiana Purchase and a western expedition

In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase sparked interest in expansion to the west coast. A few weeks after the purchase, President Jefferson, an advocate of western expansion, had the Congress appropriate twenty five hundred dollars, "to send intelligent officers with ten or twelve men, to explore even to the Western ocean". They were to study the Indian tribes, botany, geology, Western terrain and wildlife in the region, as well as evaluate the potential interference of British and French Canadian hunters and trappers who were already well established in the area. The expedition was not the first to cross North America but was roughly a decade after the expedition of Alexander MacKenzie, the first European to cross north of Mexico (almost) to the Pacific Ocean, in 1793.

Jefferson selected Captain Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition, afterward known as the Corps of Discovery; Lewis selected William Clark as his partner. Because of bureaucratic delays in the United States Army, Clark officially only held the rank of Second Lieutenant at the time, but Lewis concealed this from the men and shared the leadership of the expedition, always referring to Clark as "Captain". [1].

Journey

File:LewisClarkMeetingStatue.jpg

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark meeting at the falls of the Ohio River; statue at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Indiana

Clark made most of the preparations, by way of letters to Jefferson. He brought two large buckets and five smaller buckets of salt, a ton of dried pork, and medicines.

The group, initially consisting of thirty three members, departed from Camp Dubois, near present day Hartford, Illinois, and began their historic journey on May 14, 1804. They soon met-up with Lewis in Saint Charles, Missouri, and the approximately forty men followed the Missouri River westward. Soon they passed La Charrette, the last white settlement on the Missouri River. The expedition followed the Missouri through what is now Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. On August 20, 1804, the Corps of Discovery suffered its only death when Sergeant Charles Floyd died, apparently from acute appendicitis. He was buried at Floyd's Bluff, near what is now Sioux City, Iowa. During the final week of August, Lewis and Clark had reached the edge of the Great Plains, a place abounding with elk, deer, buffalo, and beavers. They were also entering Sioux territory.

The first tribe of Sioux they met, the Yankton Sioux, were more peaceful than their neighbors further west along the Missouri River, the Teton Sioux, also known as the Lakota. The Yankton Sioux were disappointed by the gifts they received from Lewis and Clark— five medals—and gave the explorers a warning about the upriver Teton Sioux. The Teton Sioux received their gifts with ill-disguised hostility. One chief demanded a boat from Lewis and Clark as the price to be paid for passage through their territory. As the Indians became more dangerous, Lewis and Clark prepared to fight back. At the last moment before fighting began, the two sides fell back. The Americans quickly continued westward (upriver) until winter stopped them at the Mandan tribe's territory.

In the winter of 1804–05, the party built Fort Mandan, near present-day Washburn, North Dakota. There, the group found themselves trapped in their shelter without food during a violent rainstorm. The Shoshone/Hidatsa native woman Sacagawea and her husband, French Canadian Toussaint Charbonneau, joined the group, and saved the corp group's lives by bringing the starving men fish. Unfortunately, the men were not used to the fish, and became ill. However, the group recovered. Sacagawea enabled the group to talk to her Shoshone tribe from further west (she was the chief's sister), and to trade food for gold and jewelry. (As was common during those times, she was taken as a slave by the Hidatsa at a young age, and reunited with her brother on the journey.) She was able to aid them in translation, and she had some familiarity with the native tribes as they moved further west. The inclusion of a woman with a young baby (Sacagawea's son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was born in the winter of 1804-05) helped to soften tribal relations since no war-party would include a woman and baby.

In April 1805, some members of the expedition were sent back home from Mandan in the 'return party'. Along with them went a report about what Lewis and Clark had discovered, one hundred eight botanical specimens (including some living animals), sixty eight mineral specimens, and Clark's map of the United States. Other specimens were sent back to Jefferson periodically, including a prairie dog which Jefferson received alive in a box.

Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia by C.M. Russell

The expedition continued to follow the Missouri to its headwaters and over the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass via horses. In canoes, they descended the mountains by the Clearwater River, the Snake River, and the Columbia River, past Celilo Falls and past what is now Portland, Oregon. At this point, Lewis spotted Mt. Hood, a mountain close to the ocean. On a big pine, Clark carved

"William Clark December 3rd 1805. By land from the U.States in 1804 & 1805"

Clark had written in his journal, "Ocian [sic] in view! O! The Joy!". One journal entry is captioned "Cape Disappointment" at the Entrance of the Columbia River into the Great South Sea or Pacific Ocean". By that time the expedition faced its second bitter winter during the trip, so the group decided to vote on whether to camp on the north or south side of the Columbia River. The party agreed to camp on the south side of the river (modern Astoria, Oregon), building Fort Clatsop as their winter quarters. While wintering at the fort, the men prepared for the trip home by boiling salt from the ocean, hunting elk and other wildlife, and interacting with the native tribes. The 1805-06 winter was very rainy, and the men had a hard time finding suitable meat. Surprisingly, they never consumed much Pacific salmon.

The explorers started their journey home on March 23, 1806. On the way home, Lewis and Clark used four dugout canoes they bought from the Native Americans, plus one that they stole [2] in "retaliation" for a previous theft. Less than a month after leaving Fort Clatsop, they abandoned their canoes because portaging around all the falls proved too difficult.

On July 3, after crossing the Continental Divide, the Corps split into two teams so Lewis could explore the Marias River. Lewis' group of four met some Blackfeet Indians. Their meeting was cordial, but during the night, the Blackfeet tried to steal their weapons. In the struggle, two Indians were killed, the only native deaths attributable to the expedition. The group of four—Lewis, Drouillard, and the Field brothers—fled over one hundred miles in a day before they camped again. Clark, meanwhile, had entered Crow territory. The Crow tribe were known as horse thieves. At night, half of Clark's horses were gone, but not a single Crow was seen. Lewis and Clark stayed separated until they reached the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers on August 11. Clark's team had floated down the rivers in bull boats. While reuniting, one of Clark's hunters, Pierre Cruzatte, blind in one eye and nearsighted in the other, mistook Lewis for an elk and fired, injuring Lewis in the thigh. From there, the groups were reunited and able to quickly return home by the Missouri River. They reached St. Louis on September 23, 1806.

The Corps of Discovery returned with important information about the new United States territory and the people who lived in it, as well as its rivers and mountains, plants and animals. The expedition made a major contribution to mapping the North American continent.

Spanish reaction

On December 8, 1803, Lewis met with the Spanish lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana, Colonel Carlos Dehault Delassus. Since France had never formally taken control of the territory, it was still governed by Spaniards. Delassus refused to let Lewis go up the Missouri until France formally took control of the territory, at which time France would formally give the territory to the United States. Lewis had intended to spend the winter in St. Louis since he needed to gain provisions for the trip and it was too late in the year to sensibly continue on the Missouri. Despite Lewis’ claims that the Expedition was solely a scientific one that would only travel the Missouri territory, Delassus wrote to his superiors that Lewis would undoubtedly go as far as the Pacific coast, citing that Lewis was far too competent for a lesser mission.

While in Cincinnati, Ohio, Lewis had written to Jefferson about going to Santa Fe. This was done for political concerns; Lewis wanted "to give his party a winning issue" in the 1804 expedition. Jefferson was willing for Lewis to wait the winter in St. Louis rather than continue up the Missouri; Lewis could gain valuable information in St. Louis and draw from Army supplies rather than the Expedition’s. Jefferson knew how sensitive the Spanish were about their gold and silver mines and issued a direct order to Lewis not to go to Santa Fe. This also led Jefferson to question Lewis’ judgment. Jefferson’s concern was for naught; Lewis had already decided he had enough to do during the winter to get the Expedition ready for spring than to spend time traveling to Santa Fe.

The fact that the Expedition would travel as much as it could on the Missouri River was done for political reasons. For one, it was imperative to stay out of Spanish territory. Jefferson had told Lewis not to go into Spanish territory. By staying in higher latitudes, the Expedition would avoid crossing into Spanish territory. However, this meant that the Expedition could not use the best mountain passes; just the ones more politically expedient. Lolo Pass, which the Expedition used, would never see a wagon use it and even today it is a rough way to cross the Rockies.—>

Spain had ceded Louisiana to France under the condition that France would not give it to a third party. Spain gave France the territory because Napoleon had put his brother in charge of Spain, and Napoleon’s brother gave Napoleon Louisiana in exchanged for the kingdom of Etruria in Northern Italy. Spain wanted to keep the territory as an empty buffer between the United States and the many mineral mines in northern Mexico. After the start of the expedition, Spain sent at least four different missions to stop Lewis and Clark. During the Expedition’s stay in the Shoshone’s camps, the expedition was told they were ten days away from Spanish settlements. This warning helped Lewis and Clark stay away from the Spanish, but they never knew the Spanish had sent missions to stop them until after they returned from the journey.

The Spanish sent these expeditions because of the intelligence they gained from an American traitor turned Spanish spy. General James Wilkinson was the commanding general of the United States Army. He was also in the employ of the Spanish government. In March 1804, he sent a message to Madrid telling the Spanish government that the purpose of the Expedition was to journey as far as the Pacific..

Achievements

Black Tailed Prairie Dog

• The U.S. gained an extensive knowledge of the geography of the American West in the form of maps of major rivers and mountain ranges
• Observed and described 178 plants and 122 species and subspecies of animals
• Encouraged Euro-American fur trade in the West
• Opened Euro-American diplomatic relations with the Indians
• Established a precedent for Army exploration of the West
• Strengthened the U.S. claim to Oregon Territory
• Focused U.S. and media attention on the West
• Produced a large body of literature about the West (the Lewis and Clark diaries)

Expedition members

File:Lewis-and-clark-statue.jpg

Statue of Lewis and Clark in Seaside, Oregon, near the expedition's end

• Captain Meriwether Lewis—private secretary to President Thomas Jefferson and leader of the Expedition.
• Captain William Clark—shared command of the Expedition.
• York—Clark's black manservant; he shared the dangers of the journey, but not the rewards.
• Sergeant Charles Floyd—the Expedition's quartermaster; died early in the trip. He was the only person who died during the Expedition.
• Sergeant Patrick Gass —chief carpenter, promoted to Sergeant after Floyd's death.
• Sergeant John Ordway —responsible for issuing provisions, appointing guard duties, and keeping records for the Expedition.
• Sergeant Nathaniel Hale Pryor —leader of the 1st Squad; he presided over the court martial of privates John Collins and Hugh Hall.
• Corporal Richard Warfington—conducted the return party to St. Louis in 1805.
• Private John Boley—disciplined at Camp Dubois and was assigned to the return party.
• Private William E. Bratton—served as hunter and blacksmith.
• Private John Collins—had frequent disciplinary problems; he was court-martialed for stealing whiskey which he had been assigned to guard.
• Private John Colter —charged with mutiny early in the trip, he later proved useful as a hunter; he earned his fame after the journey.
• Private Pierre Cruzatte —a one-eyed French fiddle-player and a skilled boatman.
• Private John Dame
• Private Joseph Field—a woodsman and skilled hunter, brother of Reubin.
• Private Reubin Field —a woodsman and skilled hunter, brother of Joseph.
• Private Robert Frazer —kept a journal that was never published.
• Private George Gibson —a fiddle-player and a good hunter; he served as an interpreter (probably via sign language).
• Private Silas Goodrich—the main fisherman of the expedition.
• Private Hugh Hall —court-martialed with John Collins for stealing whiskey.
• Private Thomas Proctor Howard—court-martialed for setting a "pernicious example" to the Indians by showing them that the wall at Fort Mandan was easily scaled.
• Private François Labiche—French fur trader who served as an interpreter and boatman.
• Private Hugh McNeal—the first white explorer to stand astride the headwaters of the Missouri River on the Continental Divide.
• Private John Newman—court-martialed and confined for "having uttered repeated expressions of a highly criminal and mutinous nature."
• Private John Potts—German immigrant and a miller.
• Private Moses B. Reed—attempted to desert in August 1804; convicted of desertion and expelled from the party.
• Private John Robertson—member of the Corps for a very short time.
• Private George Shannon—was lost twice during the expedition, once for sixteen days.
• Private John Shields—blacksmith, gunsmith, and a skilled carpenter; with John Colter, he was court-martialed for mutiny.
• Private John B. Thompson—may have had some experience as a surveyor.
• Private Howard Tunn—hunter and navigator.
• Private Ebenezer Tuttle—may have been the man sent back on June 12, 1804; otherwise, he was with the return party from Fort Mandan in 1805.
• Private Peter M. Weiser—had some minor disciplinary problems at River Dubois; he was made a permanent member of the party.
• Private William Werner—convicted of being absent without leave at St. Charles, Missouri, at the start of the expedition.
• Private Isaac White—may have been the man sent back on June 12, 1804; otherwise, he was with the return party from Fort Mandan in 1805.
• Private Joseph Whitehouse—often acted as a tailor for the other men; he kept a journal which extended the Expedition narrative by almost five months.
• Private Alexander Hamilton Willard—blacksmith; assisted John Shields. He was convicted on July 12, 1804, of sleeping while on sentry duty and given one hundred lashes.
• Private Richard Windsor—often assigned duty as a hunter.
• Interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau—Sacagawea's husband; served as a translator and often as a cook.
• Interpreter Sacagawea—Charbonneau's wife; translated Shoshone to Hidatsa for Charbonneau and was a valued member of the expedition.
  • Jean Baptiste Charbonneau—Charbonneau and Sacagawea's son, born February 11, 1805; his presence helped dispel any notion that the expedition was a war party, smoothing the way in Indian lands.
• Interpreter George Drouillard—skilled with Indian sign language; the best hunter on the expedition.
• "Seaman", Lewis' black Newfoundland dog.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Ronda, James P Lewis and Clark Among the Indians, Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1984 ISBN
• Ambrose, Stephen Undaunted Courage, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997 ISBN 0-684-82697-6
• Schmidt, Thomas National Geographic Guide to the Lewis & Clark Trail, Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2002 - ISBN 0-7922-6471-1
• Moulton, Gary E (ed) The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003 ISBN 0-8032-2950-X
• Moulton, Gary E (ed) The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 13-Volume Set, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002 ISBN 0-8032-2948-8
• The complete text of the Lewis and Clark Journals online, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (in progress)
• Betts, Robert B In Search of York: The Slave Who Went to the Pacific With Lewis and Clark, Boulder: University Press of Colorado : Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, 2002 ISBN 0-87081-714-0
• Online text of the Expedition's Journal at Project Gutenberg
• Burns, Ken Lewis & Clark: An Illustrated History , New York: Knopf, 1997 ISBN 0-679-45450-0

Notable fiction

These popular fictionalized historical novels have varying degrees of historical accuracy, which is unfortunate as they shaped much of the popular American understanding of the expedition.

• The Conquest, Eva Emery Dye, 1902 - out of print
• Sacagawea, Grace Hebard, 1933 - out of print
• Sacagawea, Anna Lee Waldo, 1984 - ISBN 0-380-84293-9
• I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company, Brian Hall, 2003 - ISBN 0-670-03189-5
• From Sea to Shining Sea, James Alexander Thom, 1986 - ISBN 0-345-33451-5
• New Found Land, Allan Wolf, 2004
• To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark, Frances Hunter, 2006 - ISBN 0-9777636-2-5

External links

• "Lewis and Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition",Missouri Historical Society, observed February 25, 2007.
• "Corps of Discovery", Lewis and Clark, Mapping the West Smithsonian Institution, observed February 25, 2007.
• "Lewis and Clark Interactive Journey Log", National Geographic, observed February 25, 2007.
• "The Journey of the Corp of Discovery",pbs.org, observed February 25, 2007.
• Trip's Journal Entry - Search Engine
• Discovering Lewis and Clark
• Lewis and Clark by Air - A book with a perspective of L&C from the air
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail - United States National Park Service
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center in Great Falls, Montana
• Back to School with Lewis and Clark
• A 21st Century pictorial of the original route
• USGS satellite imagery of major stops along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
• C-SPAN American Writers, Lewis&Clark in three parts, realvideo, 2001
• Lewis and Clark in Kentucky
• Lewis and Clark Expedition
• Journal kept by the Corps of Discovery
• View the Lewis and Clark Map of 1814 in Google Earth

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