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.
On the Trail
August 19, 1803
Pittsburgh rivers
While overseeing construction of the expedition's barge, Lewis likely found time to explore the rivers and hills surrounding Pittsburgh. There, the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers merge to form the Ohio River. He likely noticed their changing flows and turbidity levels.
August 19, 1804
Sgt. Floyd taken ill
During a council with some Otoes near present Homer, Nebraska, speeches and gifts are exchanged, but the Otoes appear dissatisfied with their gifts. Sgt. Floyd becomes seriously ill and requires urgent care.
August 19, 1805
Sacagawea's first betrothed
At Fortunate Camp at the end of the Beaverhead River, Lewis starts a multi-day treatise describing Lemhi Shoshone lifeways and manners. Sacagawea's previously betrothed husband successfully extracts payment from Charbonneau, and some fishermen catch several trout and longnose suckers—a fish new to Lewis. Clark's group and several Shoshones cross the Continental Divide. He trades for a mule and camps on [...]
August 19, 1806
Jusseaume's leather lodge
The day is "dark, windy & cold," and because the waves are too high to paddle their dugouts safely, hunters are sent out. In the late afternoon, they finally head down the Missouri making only ten miles for the day. At evening camp near present Huff, North Dakota, interpreter René Jusseaume offers Clark space in his leather lodge, and Lewis [...]
Eastern Beginnings
10 January–30 August 1803
The Lewis and Clark Expedition ostensibly began in February 1801 when President Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Army commander General James Wilkinson requesting that Lieutenant Meriwether Lewis become the President’s personal secretary. Exploration of North America’s western half had long been a goal of the president, and now he had a young protégé who might lead such an expedition.
On 18 January 1803, Lewis hand-delivers to the U.S. Congress the President’s request to fund what would become known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The President works in Washington City and Monticello to craft instructions and line up the best talent to assist Lewis. In France, three diplomats negotiate with Napoleon Bonaparte to purchase the Louisiana Territory.
Meriwether receives training, supplies and equipment in Philadelphia and avails himself of armaments and specialized equipment—including a collapsable iron-framed boat—at the Schuylkill and Harpers Ferry arsenals. By July 1803, everything is at Fort Fayette in Pittsburgh. All Lewis needs is a large boat to carry everything down the Ohio. He also needs to know if William Clark will accept his invitation to join him.
Day-by-Day Pages In-depth Articles
Past the Omahas
21 July–20 August 1804
Following the Missouri River north along the present Nebraska-Iowa border, the expedition passes the homelands of the Otoes and Omahas. The captains pay their respects to the late Omaha Chief Blackbird and conduct their first two councils, one with the Otoes and another with the Omaha.
Strong currents, heat, sandbars, sawyers, and masses of driftwood make hard days for the enlisted men and engagés, and Pvt. Moses Reed and an engagé desert.
Shortly after the council with the Omahas, Sgt. Charles Floyd becomes ill, and passes away. He is buried “with all the honors of War” on a bluff overlooking the river in present Sioux City, Iowa.
Day-by-Day Pages In-depth Articles
Down the Western Valleys
11 August–10 September 1805
Having reached the end of the navigable Missouri, the captains—aided by Lemhi Shoshone Chief Cameahwait, Sacagawea‘s brother—begin acquiring horses, making pack saddles, and caching supplies they can no longer take with them.
With the help of the Lemhi Shoshones, everything is carried across the Continental Divide. Clark and their new guide they call Toby, scout the Salmon River and find it is not navigable.
After nearly three weeks with the Shoshones, the expedition moves down the Lemhi River valley and heads up the North Fork Salmon River. The captains ignore Toby’s advice to follow the Indian Road, and they are forced to spend a snowy night near the summit of Lost Trail Pass.
Dropping down from Lost Trail Pass, the Flathead Salish give them a warm welcome and sell them some horses. The expedition then proceeds down the Bitterroot River Valley to Travelers’ Rest where they have yet to cross the Bitterroot Mountains.
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
Sacagawea
Interpreter
Speaking Hidatsa and Shoshone, she was an interpreter beyond value yet never on the payroll. Still, Sacagawea remains the third most famous member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Hugh Hall
Private
As if to confirm the captains’ poor evaluation of the new arrivals from Fort Southwest Point, a scant nine days after his arrival, Hall was among a group of six or seven men who got drunk on New Year’s Eve.
York
Enslaved Afrikan Adventurer
Two years after the conclusion of the historic Lewis and Clark expedition, York and his enslaver, the Virginia-born patrician William Clark, were at odds.
Quick Links
Meriwether Lewis William Clark Sacagawea York Jean Baptiste Charbonneau Seaman All Members
Native Nations Encountered
Northwest Coast
Plateau / Southwest
Northeast
Featured Artist: Alfred Jacob Miller
Pierre and the Buffalo in Jean Baptiste, Mountain Man.
Snake Indian Camp in August 19, 1805.
Blackfeet on the Warpath in The Blackfeet Confederacy
Miller’s reputation rests on his single Green River Rendezvous trip from which he transformed his original sketches and notes into a lifetime of images. His work preserves details of clothing, equipment, camps, transport, and performance. At the same time, his images were made for patrons who valued romance and spectacle. For that reason, Miller should be read carefully.
More
Expedition Members
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.
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.
Tools and Techniques
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.
Language
From clichés and colorful sayings of the time to Native American languages, these pages feature the art of language.
Other Topics
Other topics include music, holidays, High Potential Historic Sites, and an index of articles from We Proceeded On.
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.
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.
Related Explorers
Lewis and Clark were among several significant explorers of North America both before and after the expedition.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Scientific Explorations
Their work in the emerging fields of botany, ethnography, geography, geology, and zoology are now considered classics of early American scientific literature.
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.
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.
Synopsis of the Expedition
by Harry W. Fritz
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.
This site is provided as a public service by the
Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
with additional funding from the following:
