#corpsofdiscovery

Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806) was a US military expedition of exploration, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, whose goal was to explore the newly acquired western lands that comprised the Louisiana Purchase and to reach the Pacific Ocean. The journey, which covered about 8,000 miles (13,000 km), was a major step toward the westward expansion of the United States.

Lewis, Clark, and their men – known as the Corps of Discovery – embarked on their journey on 14 May 1804. They moved up the Missouri River, crossed over the Rocky Mountains, and paddled down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. After spending the winter of 1805-06 in present-day Oregon, the expedition began its return journey, arriving back in St. Louis on 23 September 1806, two years and four months after having first set out. The expedition succeeded in exploring the newly acquired western lands and giving the United States a better claim to the Oregon Country. They made around 140 detailed maps, marking out significant mountain ranges, rivers, and plains. The expedition also identified 178 types of plants and 122 animal species and subspecies that had previously been unknown to Euro-Americans.

Additionally, the Corps of Discovery encountered over two dozen Native American nations, some of whom had never encountered White people before. Most of the nations proved hospitable, some of them providing invaluable aid without which the expedition likely never would have succeeded. Sacagawea, a teenage Shoshone woman who had joined the expedition with her husband, acted as an interpreter between the explorers and native peoples they encountered, with her presence helping to assure the Native Americans that the expedition was not a threat. Lewis and Clark learned much about the languages and customs of the Native Americans they met, bringing many artifacts back with them.

Origins & Preparation

President Thomas Jefferson had long been fascinated with the American West. Though he would never travel further west than the Blue Ridge Mountains himself, he had always visualized this region as a land of vast untamed wilderness, where liberty and republicanism could thrive in spite of the corruption in the urbanizing East. Like many Americans before and after him, Jefferson believed the United States was destined to expand westward, to forge a so-called 'empire of liberty' that would one day encompass the entirety of the continent. As the American Revolutionary War was won in 1783, Jefferson was already trying to persuade famed war hero George Rogers Clark to lead a privately funded expedition into the West. Though Clark declined, Jefferson never gave up on his dream of a westward expedition.

After his election to the presidency in 1801, Jefferson finally had the opportunity to realize this ambition. By 1802, he had begun to plan the venture and appointed his private secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead it. Lewis was a 28-year-old Virginian, who had served in the militia during the suppression of the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion. He was just as enthusiastic as Jefferson about the West, and although Lewis lacked much formal education, Jefferson was confident in his abilities, writing that "Capt. Lewis is brave, prudent, habituated to the woods & familiar with Indian manners & customs" (Wood, 377). To better prepare the young man for leadership, Jefferson sent Lewis off to Philadelphia to study astronomy, medicine, cartography, ethnology, botany, lunar navigation, and other relevant subjects under the tutelage of some of the most renowned scientific experts in the country. While in Pennsylvania, Lewis purchased a Newfoundland dog named Seaman, who would remain his constant companion for the expedition.

Meriwether Lewis

Charles Willson Peale (Public Domain)

Initially, Jefferson presented the expedition as a merely scientific endeavor, to avoid arousing the suspicions of France, Spain, and Britain, who controlled the western lands that the president hoped to explore. This would change after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, when France sold the entirety of the Louisiana Territory – some 828,000 square miles (2,145,000 km²) – to the United States. Now, Jefferson could be more open about his exploratory intentions, instructing Lewis to detail and map out as much of the newly acquired western lands as possible, and establish a viable route of travel across the continent. Still, the president hoped the expedition could continue across the Louisiana Territory to the Pacific Northwest, thereby establishing an American presence in the region before the European nations could settle it in earnest. Jefferson also hoped that they could find the fabled Northwest Passage, that was supposed to cut across the continent and link to the Pacific. The expedition still had scientific and anthropological purposes, of course, but the goal of laying claim to the entire northwest came first and foremost.

In the months leading up to the expedition, Lewis decided that he needed a co-commander, someone more experienced with military leadership. In July 1803, he invited William Clark, a 33-year-old army veteran and the younger brother of George Rogers Clark, to share the command. The US secretary of war denied Lewis' request to elevate Clark to the rank of captain and instead commissioned him as a lieutenant, since the concept of joint leadership violated the army's ideas of chain of command. Lewis nevertheless treated Clark as his equal during the expedition, and always referred to him as 'captain' to keep his lower rank a secret from the men. This proved to be a prudent decision. As historian Gordon Wood describes their joint command:

Lewis and Clark seem never to have quarreled and only rarely disagreed with one another. They complimented each other beautifully. Clark had been a company commander and had explored the Mississippi. He knew how to handle enlisted men and was a better surveyor, map-maker, and waterman than Lewis. Where Lewis was apt to be moody and sometimes wander off alone, Clark was always tough, steady, and reliable. Best of all, the two captains were writers: they wrote continually, describing in often vivid and sharp prose much of what they encountered – plants, animals, people, weather, geography, and unusual experiences.

(378)

So, with Clark onboard, Lewis went to the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, to procure weapons while Clark went to Kentucky to enlist men for the expedition, which was now referred to as the Corps of Discovery. By December, the Corps consisted of 45 men, including officers, enlisted men, civilian volunteers, and York, an enslaved African American man owned by Clark. The Corps established Camp Dubois at the mouth of the Missouri River, 18 miles (29 km) away from St. Louis, where they spent the winter gathering supplies and training.

William Clark

Charles Willson Peale (Public Domain)

Lemhi Pass

We're atop the pass that the Corp of Discovery used back in 1805. [The Shoshone had used it, crossing on horseback, but for not as long as I would have thought.] While this point now represents the Idaho/Montana border, it was then that between the United States (Louisiana Purchase) and land claimed by the British.

I was working west to east here and the photographs are in the order in which I took them...

The first image was made looking westward: Agency Creek emanates from this spot and flows first to the Lemhi River and then to the Salmon River, Snake, and Columbia Rivers. Lewis hoped this would be their route to the Pacific—but it was not to be.

The second image was made at the peak: there is plenty of interpretive signage here, well worth the drive up (from either direction) using gravel roads. Since this is the land of the Shoshone, there is a memorial area set aside for Sacagawea who helped guide the Corp of Discovery through this area on their way to the Pacific.

The third image was made looking eastward: it shows the approach Meriwether Lewis and three others from the party first made a scouting trip over the Great Divide. They would return to Camp Fortunate to parlay with Shoshone, gather up Clark and the others (including Sacagawea), and cross over again two weeks later.

6/16-18/2014 – The weather coming into Idaho was as bad as when I left. Every route threatened rain and thunderstorms. I looked at possibilities for one more night in a hotel before heading north and the best solution turned out to be a Best Western near the airport that would only cost me rewards points. It was a nice place but close to nothing but an Albertson’s for “cheap chicken Monday” and chocolate milk. It was all the energy I had left after my city hike and all the ambition I had left, thanks to the weather.

The next day I left Boise on Highway 55, a road I hadn’t taken in years, but certainly not a road less travelled. Still, the traffic wasn’t too bad and the weather made for some interesting scenery on the lakes and mountains. I also took a path new to me at one point. The old highway 95 to Whitebird Summit is narrow and winding, slow but deserted. Even with the clouds, the scenery was incredible, looking back over the valley where, in 1877, a war began. What I didn’t know at the time was that I was looking over the sight of the first battle of the Nez Perce War-the Battle of White Bird Canyon-on the anniversary of the fight, June 17th. In 1805, the Nez Perce saved a starving band of explorers who had gotten lost in the snowy Bitterroot Mountains, coming into their land after eating horses and shoes. The leaders spoke of killing them and taking their supplies-guns, powder, and lead were not in use by Nez Perce or their enemies and would help them dominate the region and take more game to feed the people. At the centennial of the nation the Nez Perce helped establish by saving Lewis and Clark and The Corps of Discovery, the government wanted their land in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Bands led by Joseph, White Bird, Looking Glass, and others refused to accept another treaty-an 1855 agreement guaranteed the lands. As they began retreating north, a group of 100 volunteers clashed with the Nez Perce and lost. So began a series of battles and retreats across present day Idaho, Wyoming-including the newly designated Yellowstone National Park-and Montana, where Joseph, the remaining chief, surrendered to save what was left of his people. Looking Glass, who led many of the battles, was killed during the last, only 40 miles from Canada. The namesake of Whitebird escaped to Canada with 100 followers, was welcomed by Sitting Bull of the same Sioux Nation who helped track the Nez Perce, and lived there until murdered in 1892 by one of his people. Joseph was sent to prison in Kansas and Oklahoma, finally being settled on the Colville Reservation in northeast Washington dying there in 1902. The government swore he would not get to live in his homeland and not with other Nez Perce other than his family.

11/3/13-I managed to roll out and walk down to Calvary Episcopal Church for their 8 am service. As usual, the priest and people were welcoming, and I got a special treat, as Don Johnson was visiting. No, not that one, but Don Johnson, Bishop of the Diocese of West Tennessee. Shortly after, I said goodbye to Memphis-for now.

My next stop seemed like one that some of my travels have been leading me to for years. I can’t remember when I first got interested in The Corps of Discovery, but I have been to expedition sites in Missouri, North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. I often think about what it would be like to travel without a map, truly discovering the country, making ten miles a day instead of ten miles in eight or nine minutes. I really don’t think I could be that brave.

As a boy, Meriwether Lewis lost his Father, hunted alone with his dog, and studied under some brilliant scholars. As a young man, he volunteered for the Virginia militia and the US Army, was assigned to the frontier (Ohio!), and at 26 was asked by President Thomas Jefferson to become his aide and private secretary. The following year, Jefferson asked him to begin studying to prepare for an epic journey. At 29, he was given command of the Corps and humbly asked his friend William Clark to join him as co-commander. Along the way, he acted as leader, doctor, negotiator, trade rep, writer, artist, and naturalist of the expedition. At 33, he was appointed Governor of the Louisiana Territory he had explored. Some say it proved too much for him. What I didn’t know about this American hero until just a few years ago-and why I was on this road-was how and where he died.

Lewis was traveling from St Louis to Washington to answer some accusations about his duties and possibly questions about why had not compiled Corps of Discovery journals for publishing. Along the way, he had reportedly tried to jump off his boat into the Mississippi River and was in an unstable state when he stopped at a crossroads inn on the Natchez Trace near Hohenwald, Tennessee.  Early on October 11, 1809, witnesses heard gunshots and found a wounded and dying Meriwether Lewis in his room. For reasons we will never know, but can guess, one of our greatest Americans had taken his own life.

On a fall day, the site was beautiful. Small groups of tourists traveled the Natchez Trace Parkway, and a few even stopped to see the grave and memorial. Seems our attitudes about suicide haven’t changed in two centuries. Lewis’ grave was originally unmarked, then unkept. The memorial was not funded or built by a grateful nation, but by a private organization and the State of Tennessee in the 1840’s. Federal troops during the Civil War reportedly used iron from a barrier fence for horseshoes. No offense to local and MUCH later federal efforts, but this hero’s remains should be at Arlington.