October 2, 1806

Stop the Press!

We stop the press to announce, with sincere pleasure the following
HIGHLY INTERESTING INTELLIGENCE.

—St. Louis, Sept. 23, 1806.

Dear Sir,

Captains Lewis and Clark just arrived, all in very good health. They left the Pacific Ocean the 23d of March last—they wintered there—They arrived there in last November: there was some American vessels there just before their arrival. They had to pack one hundred and sixty miles from the head of the Missouri to the Columbia river. One of the hands, an intelligent man, tells me the Indians are as numerous on the Columbia as the whites are in any part of the United States. They brought but one family of Indians, of the Mandan nation. They have brought several curiosities with them from the Ocean. The Indians are represented as being very peaceable! The winter was very mild on the Pacific.

I am yours, &c.

John Mullanphy.

P.S. They left St. Charles May 20th, 1804 and returned there Sept. 21st 1806.

J. M.^[1]The Palladium, Frankfort, Kentucky, 2 October 1806, page 3.

John Mullanphy (Abt. 1758–29 August 1833)—an Irish immigrant—lived in Frankfort, Kentucky where he owned a store and for a brief time, a sailing ship that traded with the West Indies. In 1804, Charles Gratiot talked Mullanphy into moving to St. Louis where he became a wealthy merchant and philanthropist.^[2]“John Mullanphy”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mullanphy accessed 29 December 2025.