The expedition used buffalo for food, clothing, blankets, tents, saddle pads, and moccasins for both men and horses.
Where the Buffalo Roam
Anthem of the American West
by Joseph A. Mussulman
For more than a hundred years the American bison has been enshrined as a symbol of the American West in the first line of a song known around the world, “Home on the Range.”
Bison Gallery
Art featuring the iconic buffalo
Buffalo: Pioneer Uses
L&C to present-day
by Joseph A. Mussulman
To some extent, the Corps of Discovery used buffalo much as the Indians did–for clothing, blankets, tents, saddle pads, and moccasins for both men and horses. After railroads, demand for buffalo robes soared, the iconic animal’s downfall was swift.
Bison Encounters
Bison in the journals
A synopsis of the Expedition’s encounters with the American Bison including 17 key journal entries and commentary.
Bison in Decline
An interview with Dan Flores
by Dan Flores, Joseph A. Mussulman
In this interview, Dan Flores, A.B. Hammond Professor of History at The University of Montana, sets the scene at the time of Lewis and Clark, and then discusses some of those circumstances which brought the American bison to the brink of extinction.
Boudin Blanc
Charbonneau's chef d'ouvre
by Joseph A. Mussulman
Meriwether Lewis’s recitation of Charbonneau’s recipe for buffalo sausage, known as “white pudding,” serves not only as documentation of a unique frontier cuisine, but also as an example of the captain’s own brand of satire.
Buffalo: Native Uses
An Indian commisary
by Joseph A. Mussulman
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.
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Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
with additional funding from the following:
