George Catlin
by William Fisk (1796–1872)
Oil on canvas, height: 1,588 mm (62.51 in); width: 1,334 mm (52.51 in). Courtesy National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the Smithsonian American Art Museum; gift of Miss May C. Kinney, Ernest C. Kinney and Bradford.
His curiosity sparked by Lewis and Clark artifacts displayed at Peale’s Museum in Philadelphia, George Catlin (1796–1872) began painting American Indians with a trip up the Mississippi with General William Clark in 1830. He expanded his travels creating over 500 paintings. He also wrote a series of ‘letters’ of his travels, providing an early ethnographic record of many Native nations and tribes: Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians, Volumes 1 and 2.
Pages with Works by George Catlin
October 8, 1804
Arikara village Sawa-haini
Near present Mobridge, South Dakota, Pvt. Frazer is promoted to the permanent party and assigned to Sgt. Gass. Camp is near Sawa-haini—an Arikara village where the interpreter Joseph Gravelines is found.
October 27, 1804
Ruptáre
At the second Mandan village—Ruptáre—they hire free trader René Jusseaume as an interpreter. They camp opposite Mahawaha, the Awaxawi Hidatsa village at the mouth of the Knife River.
December 23, 1803
Mr. Morrison's corn
At Wood River, work continues building huts, Mr. Morrison’s corn arrives, and a Lenape Delaware man known to Clark visits. Near this date, Lewis observes the current system of slavery in Louisiana.
December 15, 1804
Tchung-kee
Sgt. Ordway and two others visit two Mandan villages to trade for corn. They see men playing Tchung-kee—a game involving rolling a stone and sliding sticks across a large ice field.
April 27, 1805
Entering Montana
The captains make separate recommendations to locate a fort or trading post at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. By midday, the expedition enters present Montana and encamps near Snowden Bridge.
January 5, 1805
The Buffalo Dance
At Fort Mandan below the Knife River Villages, Clark works on his map of the west using information gathered from traders and Indians. He also describes the Mandan Nation’s Buffalo Dance ceremony.
April 5, 1804
A speech for the Iowas
At Camp River Dubois, Clark and Lewis write speeches for the Iowa and Yanktonai People. They send the speeches—along with Jefferson’s questions, vocabulary, and invitation to visit Washington City.
October 29, 1804
Mandan and Hidatsa council
Opposite the Knife River, Mandan and Hidatsa chiefs come from each village to council with the captains. A long speech is given, and the captains ask them to smoke the pipe of peace with an Arikara chief.
They didn’t get credit for it, but Lewis and Clark were the first to describe these wily canine predators.
March 23, 1804
Kickapoo update
At winter camp across the Mississippi above St. Louis, the man sent up the river to check the status of a Kickapoo war party returns with a letter from François Saucier, the commander of Portage des Sioux.
April 13, 1803
Of vast importance
In Washington City, Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin asks Thomas Jefferson to include a report on the fertility of the soil and species of trees his list of questions for Meriwether Lewis.
March 18, 1804
Questions about Indian amusements
Wood River Camp, IL The day reaches 50° for the first time this year—a signal that the expedition may soon be able to head up the Missouri River. During this period, Clark lists questions about Indian amusements.
December 6, 1804
Frostbitten hunters
At Fort Mandan, work is delayed due to the cold, and a Mandan man visits wearing only leggings and a buffalo robe. Clark and sixteen buffalo hunters have a good day, but several men are frostbitten.
September 9, 1804
Gangs of buffalo
Approaching present Whetstone Bay in South Dakota, progress is slowed by countless sandbars. Clark and York hunt for pronghorn and mule deer. Finding none, Clark has York kill a bison instead.
Wild Horses
by Joseph A. Mussulman
On 14 August 1805, Meriwether Lewis commented on the Shoshones’ herds: “Most of them are fine horses…. I saw several with Spanish brands on them, and some mules which they informed me that they had also obtained from the Spaniards.”
August 21, 1804
Big Sioux country
As the battle strong winds heading up the Missouri, trader Pierre Dorion informs the captains about the Big Sioux country including their red pipestone quarry. They camp near present Ponca, Nebraska.
Floyd’s grave became a conspicuous point and a historic shrine on the Lewis and Clark trail almost immediately after the expedition was over. The American artist George Catlin painted Floyd’s Bluff in 1832, with the original cedar marker still in place.
February 15, 1803
Pressing Indian affairs
In Washington City, President Jefferson urges the War Department to negotiate for Native Nation lands in the Illinois and Mississippi Territories before France assumes control of New Orleans and Louisiana.
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 cooperation and funding from the following organizations:
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Montana Committee for the Humanities
- Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee
- The Capital Gallery (Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation)
- Yellowstone Public Radio
Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).