Had It Not Been For These Men And One Woman…We Would Not Be English Speaking Americans
Even with modern day fast moving automobiles and an interstate freeway system, if a single family was to make a trip from the Pacific seacoast to the Atlantic and return, spending two years in the making of such a journey,…$2,500 would be an extremely small sum to cover all of the related expenses,…would it not? And yet that is the exact amount that our Congress appropriated for complete funding of the Lewis and Clark Expedition which began in May 1804. Larger than the average family,…45 men and their equipment,…began their epic journey of discovery across the American Continent. They launched the Expedition from St. Louis Missouri by traveling up the Missouri River in keelboats. The first leg of the journey ended for the winter at the Mandan Indian Village in North Dakota. From there on across the land mass to the shores of the Pacific Ocean and back to their initial starting point, only 32 men comprised the compliment of explorers. All this,…for 32 to 45 men and all of their expenses, for a two year journey,…for only $2,500. All of the Congressional funding was to take care of all expenses, including the purchase of trade goods for barter with the Indians.
The original budget as established by President Thomas Jefferson was thought to be ample as it included sufficient funding for only a dozen men. The members, to be hand selected by the two leaders of this entourage, were expected to sustain themselves principally by hunting and fishing. It was also intended that these chosen men were to be sworn as enlisted men in the army and as such not to be paid any wages until the end of their journey. Captain Meriwether Lewis drew up a list of needs for the Corps of Discovery and it just happened to sum to $2,500. Of course, when the men returned to Washington D.C. they were paid their salaries and given additional land grants as bonuses.
President Jefferson had known the young man, called Meriwether Lewis, from babyhood. The young Virginian was born and grew up very near Jefferson’s home at Monticello. Thomas Jefferson took Lewis, as a young man, into his official family as his personal secretary. For many years, the President groomed Lewis for the big expedition which he had in his mind.
Jefferson sent Lewis to Philadelphia to take an intensive scientific course in the things needed for the planned journey across the ever expanding Continent of America. Because of the great possibility of serious injury or even accidental death to the Commander, President Jefferson instructed Lewis to hand pick some other most capable person to accompany him who would be able to take charge of the expedition if anything befell Lewis that might jeopardize the completion of their successful journey. Meriwether Lewis selected his long-time intimate friend, William Clark. Lewis was given a commission as captain in the army, while Clark received appointment as a second lieutenant. From all accounts, ranging from the very beginning of the expedition to its conclusion, both men shared command equally.
As a very interesting side note, in their individual likes, dislikes, education, reasoning, and manner of living these two men were wholly dissimilar,…almost complete opposites. But it took just such a combination to make a success of the undertaking.
Friction striking type matches were not available to the general population until 1805, a year after the Corps of Discovery departed St. Louis, Missouri. A different chemical type match was furnished to Captain Lewis by Dr. Saugrain, a French physician and chemist, practicing in St. Louis. This fact means that the wilds of central Idaho saw the use of matches before the highly civilized centers of eastern culture even knew of their existence.
After departing Washington D.C., the Corps spent it’s first winter near the mouth of the Missouri River near St. Louis, Missouri. They departed on their journey to the Pacific Ocean the following spring in May 1804. They spent their second winter at the end of 1804 at Mandan, North Dakota where they had built a fort in which to live for the winter months.
An interpreter and cook, Toussaint Charbonneau was hired and he took along with him his young slave-wife, Sacajawea. By mid-summer they reached the Three Forks of the Missouri River (where the so-named Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers come together) in south-central Montana. The advice of the Indian guides and interpreters took the explorers up the Jefferson River and then branching off to the west at the junction of the Jefferson and Beaverhead Rivers. Headed in a southerly course, they poled and pulled their boats up the Beaverhead River to what is now known as Armstead, Montana. From this point on there was insufficient water flow to afford use of their boats.
Captain Lewis had taken three men and started in a much more westwardly direction toward a big rift in the mountains which today is known as Lemhi Pass. He was scouting in advance to contact the Indian tribe of which Sacajawea was a member. This entire area near Lemhi Pass was what Sacajawea had told them was her tribal homeland. From the summit of Lemhi Pass, Meriwether Lewis and his three companions now had seen further west than any white men had ever seen before. They observed the eastern slope and grandeur of the frighteningly rugged Rocky Mountains. The waters from which eventually found their way to the Pacific Ocean.
As Captain Lewis advanced over Lemhi Pass, they encountered three female indians who were of the Shoshone Tribe. The self same tribe as was Sacajawea. Once realizing they were in no danger from the white men, these three Shoshone women escorted the explorers to their village. It was on August 14, 1805 that the four members of the Corps of Discovery joined up with the entire shoshone nation encamped at the bottom of Lemhi Pass near the banks of the westward flowing Lemhi River. This meeting of the people of two nations occurred approximately 17 miles upstream from what is now called Salmon City, Idaho.
Captain Lewis convinced the Indians, whose chief was called Cameahwait, and who happened to be Sacajawea’s brother, to accompany him and his men all on horseback and assist them in packing over the mountain pass all of the supplies which had been left in their boats under the command of Lieutenant William Clark…which they happily did.
The Indians quickly advised the explorers that the Lemhi River was not navigable for canoes, nor was the Salmon River into which it flowed. Nor was there any timber along the banks of the streams suitable for making boats. Captain Clark with the help of Indian guides took an 80 mile trip down the rivers to investigate their situation for himself. The scouting trip convinced him that the Indians were correct and that the Salmon River could not be safely navigated.
Once the Corps of Discovery had all reassembled at their camp, arrangements were made with the Indians for horses with the idea that the journey must be resumed overland. From their camp, the expedition traversed down the Lemhi River to the Salmon River and thence down river to the confluence of the North Fork of the Salmon River. Turning north up this new much smaller fork of the Salmon River, they scaled up an unnamed mountain pass west of what is now called Gibbons Pass,… to the summit of the Mountains and then on down into the Bitterroot Valley to where a band of Flathead Indians were encamped. Continuing northward down the Bitterroot River, the explorers reached the mouth of Lolo Creek. This very location (site) would later become known as the “Traveler’s Rest.”
Turning due west/southwest they struggled up Lolo Creek to the summit, across today’s Lolo Pass and then down the Clearwater River slope to present day Orofino, Idaho.
This leg of their trip constitutes one of the most heart-breaking experiences of their entire journey. The explorers nearly starved or froze to death during their crossing of these “terrible mountains.” Had it not been for the Nez Perce Indians coming to the aid of the Corps, the expedition would have perished in the Clearwater River Mountains. As a reader follows the published journals of the expedition in detail,…the wonder is that any member of the Corps lived to tell the tale of the Lolo Trail hardships. The previous Blogs of the this website fully describe in great detail the actual struggles experienced and efforts expended by the explorers as they crossed the Lolo Trail.
Four miles below Orofino, Idaho, across the river from a small Indian settlement called Ahsahka, which is located at the mouth of the North Fork of the Clearwater River, hard manual labor was begun. Trees were felled, canoes hollowed out, and their journey then continued by water down the westward flowing Clearwater River. The expedition camped at the confluence of the Clearwater River with what is now called the Snake River. They camped on the north bank of the Clearwater River just across the river from what is now called Lewiston, Idaho on October 10, 1805. It was here at this camp that the explorers had their first taste of dog meat. They liked it so much that forever afterward, these and other early settlers always traveled up and down the rivers of the northwest with ample numbers of dogs to accompany them. The explorers recorded that they preferred stewed dog meat to that of fish. Interestingly, Sacajawea, however, true to her training and prejudices, would not eat dog meat. There were so many times that she went hungry, while all her friends feasted sumptuously. After a short rest the explorers continued down the Snake River all the way to its confluence with the Columbia River, near present day Tri-Cities, Washington. From there they floated on down to the sea, making a portage around the ancient fishing site at Celilo Falls just upstream from present day The Dalles, Oregon.
Near the mouth of the Columbia River the party wintered, in a stockade, which they called Fort Clatsop, in honor of a tribe of Indians of that same name living in the vicinity.
The following spring, the Corps of Discovery prepared for their homeward return journey. The start was made on March 23, 1806. They continued up the Columbia River to the mouth of the Walla Walla River not far downstream from the mouth of the Snake River. From there they traveled cross country up the Walla Walla River and overland to Lewiston, Idaho. The party struck the Snake River seven and one-half miles below Lewiston,
Idaho which would have brought them down to the river at the Indian site of Alpowa. From Lewiston it was up the Clearwater River to the Indian settlement of Kamiah where they delayed for sometime waiting for the snow in the high mountains and across the Lolo Trail to melt.
Back in the Bitterroot River Valley the expedition was divided. Captain Lewis and nine companions continued down the Bitterroot River to what is now called Missoula, Montana. They then traveled up the Hell Gate River (Now known as the Clark Fork River) and on over the mountains to the Great Falls of the Missouri River. (Now known as Great Falls, Montana). Thence, down the Missouri River to the mouth of the Yellowstone River where they would later be joined by Captain Clark. On the return trip, Captain Lewis was accidentally wounded through the hips by one of his own men, but recovered without serious consequences.
Captain Clark and the remaining 20 men ascended the Bitterroot River, crossed the mountains to the east into the Big Hole Basin, through Gibbons Pass, down the Wisdom River and on southward to the place where their original boats had been cached a year before just below Lemhi Pass. On this return trip, as later on from Three Forks to Bozeman Pass, Sacajawea was the mainstay of Captain Clark as a guide. The journey was routine from the headwaters of the Jefferson River all the way to Three Forks. At Three Forks, the boats were turned over to Sergeant Ordway and nine men, with instructions to continue down the Missouri River, while Captain Clark and the remainder of the party ascended the Gallatin River to Bozeman Pass. Nine miles beyond the pass the Yellowstone River was encountered. The party then continued down the banks of the Yellowstone for several days, eventually building boats and continuing their down stream travel by water. On August 14, 1806, from the mouth of the Yellowstone River, the united party returned to the Mandan Village in North Dakota. After a few days rest, the party continued down the Missouri River. At the Mandan Village a farewell was said to Sacajawea and her husband Charbonneau. One of the men of the Corps, John Colter, also asked for his discharge at the time, which was granted. He immediately set out for a trapping trip back up the Missouri River and beyond. Much has been recorded about the travels and experiences of Mr. Colter. He is said to be the first white man to ever experience what is today called Yellowstone National Park.
One of the most remarkable things about the journey of Lewis and Clark was the accuracy with which they estimated distances. For instance, the explorers estimated the distance from the mouth of the Missouri River to the Three Forks of that same river as 2,849 miles. It is actually by the standards of today’s measuring devices 2,549 miles. That is a mere 300 miles difference, only a 5 % over statement! Across central Idaho (from Traveler’s Rest, Montana to Lewiston, Idaho) in many cases the estimated distances as compared to the actual modern day measured distances are uncannily near the same.
The Lewis & Clark Expedition landed in St. Louis, Missouri on September 23, 1806. On the entire journey only one man died and he died before the journey had barely begun. The man was Sergeant Floyd, who passed away near what is now known as Sioux City, Iowa.
So the nation called America was now claimed by the act of discovery as all of it had now been either surveyed, partially mapped, or physically observed from sea to shinning sea.
Peace And Love to All of You………………..Poppa Bear