On this day with Lewis & Clark

October 15, 1803

Piloting the Falls of the Ohio

Likely on this or the previous day, the expedition boats were emptied of cargo and navigated down the rapids at the Falls of the Ohio by court-appointed pilots. Also on this day, John Colter enlists.

October 15, 1804

Arikara exchanges

As the expedition travels near present Fort Yates, North Dakota, they pass various Arikara hunting camps. A young Indian girl travels with the boats, and York is “the Greatest Curiousity to them”.

October 15, 1805

Snake River rapids

The first half of the day is spent drying items while the hunters and Lewis explore the high plains above the Snake River. They continue through several difficult rapids and camp above yet another rapid.

Featured Trail Segments

The barge leaves the Pittsburgh dock

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.

Read more ↓

Day-by-Day Pages In-depth Articles


The boats pass up the river

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.

Read more ↓

Day-by-Day Pages In-depth Articles


Men carve and burn out logs to make canoes

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.

Read more ↓

Day-by-Day Pages In-depth Articles


Featured Artist Charles Fritz

A winter fire lights the men and a tepee

The Discussion

Painting of men towing a large red boat up the river

Cordelling the Red Pirogue

Clark and Sacagawea view the ocean

Pacific Ocean from Point of Clark’s View

Bio and Index

More

    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 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.

     

    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 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.

     

    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 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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

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.

Logo: Lewis and Clark.travel

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.