People
The success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was due to its many members and the people they met, including politicians, Eastern gentleman scientists, traders, and the many people already living in the American west.
On the Trail
September 26, 1803
Settlements and ferries
On or near this date, Lewis and his crew move down the Ohio River in the stretch between Augusta, Kentucky and New Richmond, Ohio. While here, Thomas Rodney describes settlements, a ferry crossing, and treats a sickly settler with mercury pills.
September 26, 1804
Lakota ceremony
After yesterday's heated standoff, Clark and Lewis are carried into a Lakota encampment and given a ceremony with music and a feast including pemmican, breadroot, and dog. Clark sees several recently captured Omaha prisoners and asks for their release.
September 26, 1805
The Clearwater Canoe Camp
The expedition moves a few miles down the Clearwater River to set up a canoe camp near the Nez Perce village of Ahsahka. Several of the enlisted men are sick, and Clark finds that their axes are not the right type for building canoes.
September 26, 1806
Writing commences
In St. Louis, the Lewis and Clark expedition has ended, and in his concluding journal entry, Clark says that the captains have 'commenced writing'. Later in Washington City, President Jefferson receives Lewis's letter and gives the story to "The National Intelligencer".
Down the Ohio
31 August–13 November 1803
On 31 August 1803, after months of preparation, Lewis and his crew finally head down the Ohio River. Unfortunately, the water is so low that they must frequently unload and tow the overloaded barge with horses and oxen.
At the request of President Jefferson, Lewis disembarks at Cincinnati and travels overland to gather fossils at Big Bone Lick. He meets the boats, and together they continue to the Falls of the Ohio to pick up William Clark and several new recruits.
The expedition arrives at Fort Massac near the mouth of the Ohio on 11 November. There, they meet George Drouillard and immediately hire him as an interpreter. His first mission is to find the missing army recruits from Fort Southwest Point in Tennessee.
Day-by-Day Pages In-depth Articles
Crossing the Lakotas
9 September–25 Oct 1804
Moving the flotilla of boats up the Missouri in the present states of South and North Dakota, the expedition encounters several nations with limited experience with St. Louis-based traders.
Soon after going around the Big Bend of the Missouri, they meet the Lakota Sioux, and a multi-day encounter goes badly for both peoples. They proceed on to some Arikara villages where they hold a council and invite Too Né (Eagle Feather) to travel with them. He provides useful information and would eventually visit Washington City.
In late October, they reach the Knife River Villages—a complex of Hidatsa and Mandan villages. With winter quickly approaching, they must act fast to establish winter quarters.
Day-by-Day Pages In-depth Articles
Among the Nez Perce
20 September–17 October 1805
Fatigued and physically sick after crossing the Bitterroot Mountains, the expedition is aided by the Nez Perce. With their help, they find a location on the Clearwater River to build five dugout canoes and employ the Nez Perce method of burning out the Ponderosa pine logs.
The Nez Perce agree to take care of the expedition’s horses while they continue to the Pacific Ocean. Two Nez Perce chiefs volunteer to guide them down the Clearwater and Snake to the Columbia. The guides help scout the rapids and introduce the expedition to the various Nez Perce and Palouse bands fishing in the many rapids.
On 16 October 1805, they negotiate the last Snake River rapid and arrive at the Columbia River where many Yakamas and Wanapums are gathered. About two hundred men approach, singing and beating their drums.
Day-by-Day Pages In-depth Articles
The Final Leg
11 August–26 September 1806
While hunting on the Missouri River below present Williston, North Dakota, Lewis is accidentally shot through the flesh of his buttocks. The next day, they catch up to Clark’s party at Reunion Bay. As one united force, they are ready to sprint down the river to St. Louis.
At the Knife River Villages, they drop off the Charbonneau family and pick up Chief Sheheke and interpreter René Jusseaume who will visit Washington City.
The faithful paddlers meet several traders and receive flour, whiskey, woven shirts, and most importantly, news of the United States.
On 23 September 1806, the citizens of St. Louis—having given them up for dead—provide a boisterous welcome. The captains commence writing.
Day-by-Day Pages In-depth Articles
Featured Members
Hugh McNeal
Private
Lewis wrote that “McNeal had exultingly stood with a foot on each side of this little rivulet and thanked his god that he had lived to bestride the mighty & heretofore deemed endless Missouri.”
Charles Floyd
Sergeant
Floyd began his journal on 14 May, the day of the expedition’s departure from Camp Dubois. On August 18th Floyd wrote his last entry. Shortly after noon on the 20th, Charles Floyd died “with a great deal of composure.”
Toussaint Charbonneau
Interpreter
The fur trade had put Charbonneau in place to meet the captains and join their expedition. He was the oldest expedition member would outlive most of his fellows as he followed the rigorous life of a fur trader, guide, and interpreter.
Quick Links
Meriwether Lewis William Clark Sacagawea York Jean Baptiste Charbonneau Seaman All Members
Native Nations Encountered
Northwest Coast
Plateau / Southwest
Northeast
Featured Artist: Steve Ludeman
Final Inspection
Falls of the Ohio
Unloading the Red Pirogue at Camp River Dubois
In the words of artist Steve Ludeman, “I am fascinated with the geology, archeology, natural history, and cultural history of our country.” For years, he has specialized in landscapes and seascapes of the Pacific Northwest, but he also interprets the Eastern Legacy of Lewis and Clark. This is the 1803-04 journey of the Lewis and Clark Expedition from the Eastern seaboard, down the Ohio, up the Mississippi, to their winter camp at River Dubois (Wood River) across from St. Louis. These focus areas combine his love of history and outdoor adventures with a love of painting. For him, the journey of painting is a joyful one.
More
Synopsis of the Expedition
by Harry W. Fritz
Medicine on the Trail
From major crisis such as the death of Sgt. Floyd, Lewis’s gunshot wound, and the illness of Sacagawea to minor events such as sexually transmitted diseases, mosquito-born illnesses, and deep cuts, the medical aspects of the Lewis and Clark Expedition provide an interesting topic of study.
Language
From clichés and colorful sayings of the time to Native American languages, these pages feature the art of language.
Calendar
Expedition Calendar
Links to every day-by-day page in a calendar format spanning 31 August 1803 to 26 September 1806. A page every day!
The Trail
Starting with its genesis in Jefferson’s Monticello, Lewis’s training and preparations in Philadelphia, and the barge’s excursion down the Ohio River, the route they took, often called the Lewis and Clark Trail, crosses the continent weaving an epic tale of western exploration treasured by many today.
The Fur Trade
Given President Jefferson’s directive to establish commerce, the captains worked extensively within a long-established network of North American fur trade. Part of their mission was to help establish the United States of America’s position within that industry.
Trail Diplomacy
Lewis and Clark left behind among many Indians a legacy of nonviolent contact. Those who came later enjoyed that legacy and too often betrayed it.
Scientific Explorations
Their work in the emerging fields of botany, ethnography, geography, geology, and zoology are now considered classics of early American scientific literature.
A Military Corps
Throughout the expedition the soldiers were expected to conform to the rules and routines of the frontier soldier of 1803.
The Arts
Because of the literate journalists, historians and visual artists can tell the Expedition’s story. When they celebrated with song and dance, we too can share in the experience.
Expedition Members
Horse Travel
To cross the Rocky Mountains, the Lewis and Clark Expedition needed horses and the skills to manage them. Despite their seemingly constant struggle to find missing and stolen horses, as a kind of calvary unit, they left hoof prints on approximately 1,500 miles of western terrain.
Louisiana’s Purchase
The President’s representatives in Paris had bargained successfully with Napoleon’s bureaucrats not only to buy the port of New Orleans, then the keystone of the continent, but also to acquire, at three cents an acre, an area extending from the Mississippi River to . . . where? No one knew until Meriwether Lewis stood at the crest of the Rocky Mountains at a place known today as Lemhi Pass, on 12 August 1805.
Tools and Techniques
Legacies
Legacy is a very slippery sort of term. If we could erase our myth concepts of Lewis and Clark … it might reawaken something really extraordinary in our national consciousness.
Hunting and Fishing
Although hunting and fishing were often considered a ‘gentleman’s sport’ especially in Europe, hunting and fishing for Native Americans and Americans alike were a matter of survival. The success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition depended on the success of its hunters.
Native American Nations
The Lewis and Clark Expedition benefited from the Indians’ knowledge and support. Maps, route information, food, horses, open-handed friendship—all gave the Corps of Discovery the edge that spelled the difference between success and failure.
The Boats
Starting at Pittsburgh, traveling to the Pacific Ocean, and then returning to St. Louis, the Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled approximately 10,600 miles. Of that, 85%—over 9,000 miles—was by boat. To understand travel in the early 1800 American West is to understand the boats and challenges of river navigation.
Related Explorers
Lewis and Clark were among several significant explorers of North America both before and after the expedition.
Other Topics
Other topics include music, holidays, High Potential Historic Sites, and an index of articles from We Proceeded On.
Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
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Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
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