On this day with Lewis & Clark

April 1, 1804

Squads and messes

At the Wood River across from the mouth of the Missouri, a boat with provisions arrives and mayapple blossoms appear. The captains divide the men into squads and messes and gives Sgt. Ordway the duty roster.

April 1, 1805

Testing the boats

Because they will soon be leaving Fort Mandan at the Knife River Villages, the men put the two pirogues, six dugout canoes, and the barge into the Missouri River. Boxes for holding specimens are built.

April 1, 1806

Exploring the 'Quicksand' River

At Provision Camp, Pryor’s detachment explores the Quicksand River—the present Sandy in Oregon. Visiting Indians of various Nations warn of no food upriver, and no salmon for another month.

Featured Trail Segments

Two army officers at Harpers Ferry ponder an iron frame in the shape of a large canoe

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.

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The red pirogue is loaded on a snowy day at Wood River

Winter at Wood River

12 December 1803–13 May 1804

In mid-December 1803, construction of winter quarters begins. In accordance with the wishes of the Spanish Governor, Lewis could work in St. Louis and the soldiers could build a garrison in Illinois across from the mouth of the Missouri. The Wood river cantonment is known today as Camp River Dubois.

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Fort Mandan surrounded by snow and ice

Winter at Fort Mandan

26 October 1804–6 April 1805

On 2 November 1804 below the Knife River Villages, work begins on the expedition’s winter fortification. The men’s quarters, storage rooms, and the 16-foot pickets, are designed for defense against hostile Indians, especially the Sioux, who would be quite troublesome, although they never attacked the fort directly. “This place we have named Fort Mandan,” Lewis recorded, “in honour of our Neighbours”—their kind and congenial Mandan Indians. Here they celebrate their second Christmas and New Year’s Day.

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Two dugout canoes on the Columbia River shore

Return to the Clearwater

23 March–9 June 1806

The desire to return to St. Louis motivates the paddlers as they head up the Columbia River. Across from the Sandy River, they stop to hunt and dry meat. They explore the Willamette and Sandy hoping that one of them is the fabled river that comes from California.

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Featured Artist Michael Haynes

painting of the night guard looking at blue and green Aurora Borealis rings in the sky with the uncompleted Fort Mandan in the background

Northern Lights at Fort Mandan

The men push and pull the dugout canoe across the plain

Portage of the Great Falls

Two canoes lashed together meet the keelboat

Three French Traders

Michael Haynes’ artwork has been enjoyed by even the most casual Lewis and Clark fan in publications, museum displays, historical re-enactments, and hundreds of interpretive signs along the historic trail. His 2003 collaboration with Robert J. Moore, Jr., Lewis & Clark: Tailor Made, Trail Worn, the Army Life Clothing, & Weapons of the Corps of Discovery changed the trajectory of expedition interpretation from fur traders to professional soldiers in the 1803 American frontier. The book remains the standard reference used by historical re-enactors and museum displays.

Artist’s Index

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    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

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.

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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.