Charles Fritz
Near Lolo Pass
From Complete Collection: 100 Paintings Illustrating the Journals of Lewis and Clark.
Of his work, the artist Charles Fritz explains:
Historical accuracy is paramount, but there is another obvious component: the art itself . . . . In 100 Paintings Illustrating the Journals of Lewis and Clark, I sought to communicate the storyline accurately. I also wanted the paintings to be well designed, luminous, and painted with the brushwork and enthusiasm of an artist who is working from life—outside, in the presence of the actual scene.
—Complete Collection: 100 Paintings Illustrating the Journals of Lewis and Clark
Featured Works
September 16, 1805
Most terrible mountains
Lonesome Cove Camp, Lolo Trail, ID Fresh snow makes for a miserable day in the “most terrible mountains” Sgt. Gass ever beheld. Clark moves ahead to make warming fires and another colt is killed for dinner.
July 25, 1806
Pompy's Tower (Pompeys Pillar)
Clark names Pompy’s Tower and then carves his name into it. At Camp Disappointment, Lewis waits one more day. At the Great Falls, the portage route is muddy. Sgt. Pryor herds horses south of the Yellowstone.
June 28, 1805
The final stage begins
Everyone at the lower camp joins the final stage of the portage around the Great Falls of the Missouri. At the upper camp, work on the iron-framed boat continues and grizzly bears threaten.
April 13, 1805
The white pirogue's near miss
Below present Van Hook Arm, North Dakota, a sudden gust of wind hits the white pirogue with Charbonneau at the helm. In his panic, he turns the boat sideways to the wind and nearly turns it over.
November 10, 1805
Small nitch encampment
Small Nitch near Knappton, WA The paddlers make about ten miles along the Columbia River shoreline, but eventually are stopped by wind and waves. At their small nitch encampment, they try their best to dry out.
November 5, 1805
River crowded with Indians
Near Prescott, OR After a night made sleepless by noisy waterfowl, the expedition heads down the Columbia. They pass the large village known today as Cathlapotle and encounter various Indians. In eastern Colorado, a Spanish force trying to stop the expedition is attacked.
September 21, 1804
Camp washes away
Below Joe Creek Bay, SD During the night, the men barely escape as the sandbar they are camping on washes into the river. Lewis preserves several plant specimens.
November 3, 1804
Personnel changes
Fort Mandan, ND The fort’s foundation is completed, the engagés are discharged, and Jean-Baptiste Lepage and René Jusseaume are hired. A dram of whiskey revives the men during the cold night.
August 13, 1805
Shoshone diplomacy
Shoshone Village, ID and Clark’s Lookout, MT In the Lemhi River valley, Shoshone diplomacy includes greetings, a flag presentation, a pipe ceremony, and revelry late into the night. Back on the Beaverhead River, Clark takes bearings from Clark’s Lookout, and several men fish.
August 1, 1806
Waiting for buffalo
Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, MT On the Yellowstone, Clark waits for a large herd of buffalo to cross. On the Missouri, Lewis passes the Musselshell River and stops to dry bighorn sheep skins. Pryor’s group paddles bull boats somewhere behind Clark. Everybody is slowed by the weather.
March 17, 1805
Charbonneau moves back
Fort Mandan, ND Toussaint Charbonneau apologizes to the captains, agrees to their terms of employment, and moves his things into a leather tent outside Fort Mandan.
August 24, 1805
Leaving Fortunate Camp
Salmon River, ID and Shoshone Cove, MT Lewis barters for three horses and a mule, and Charbonneau buys a horse for Sacagawea. With the help of Shoshone women, they start carrying baggage over the continental divide. Clark considers three alternate plans for reaching the Pacific Ocean.
April 5, 1805
Loading the small boats
The men load the red and white pirogues and six new dugout canoes. Sgt. Patrick Gass recalls the Indian sexual practices experienced during his stay at Fort Mandan amongst the Knife River Villages.
November 12, 1805
A dismal nitch
Dismal Nitch near Knappton, WA At 3 a.m., a storm with high waves and rolling logs threatens camp. During low tide, they are able to move into a cove which would become known as “The Dismal Nitch.” Despite the miserable conditions, the day ends well.
July 28, 1805
Sacagawea's capture
At the headwaters of the Missouri, the expedition takes a rest day. The captains learn of Sacagawea‘s capture as a young child, and Lewis remarks on how she “would be perfectly content anywhere”.
September 9, 1805
Reaching Travelers' Rest
Travelers’ Rest, MT The expedition continues its northern route up the Bitterroot River reaching Travelers’ Rest, a well-used camping area on present-day Lolo Creek. Their Indian guide, Toby, tells them of a good pass leading to the Missouri River, and Spanish officials devise another plan to stop the expedition.
May 14, 1805
Two close calls
In present Eastern Montana, hunters take flight from a wounded grizzly and the white pirogue, steered by Toussaint Charbonneau, tips over. The captains call it a day and issue a ration of consoling grog.
August 29, 1804
Seventy Yanktons arrive
Yankton, SD Clark delegates numerous tasks to the men and works on his Indian speech. Pryor and ‘Old’ Dorion bring in a large delegation of Yankton Sioux, and Pryor tells about his time at their village.
May 18, 1805
Hills and headwinds
The men tow the boats against a headwind in the present-day Fort Peck Reservoir area of Eastern Montana. Clark kills four deer and notes that the men are using the hides to make leggings and moccasins.
June 21, 1805
The portage begins
The portage of the Great Falls of the Missouri begins when they cart a dugout up the slope at Belt Creek. They load it with the iron-framed boat and items needed to establish a camp above the falls.
September 17, 1805
High knobs and drains
Indian Grave Meadow, Lolo Trail, ID By the time the scattered horses are found, snow is falling and the day is half over. The pack train passes over high knobs and a “Sinque hole” before they kill another colt for supper.
September 26, 1804
Teton Sioux ceremony
Pierre, SD Clark and Lewis are ceremoniously carried into a Lakota Sioux village where they are feted with food and music. Clark sees several recently-captured Omaha prisoners and asks for their return.
March 25, 1805
The spring break-up
At Fort Mandan among the Knife River Indian Villages, the river ice begins breaking up, and the new canoes are endangered as they travel to the fort. Two men make a new steering oar for the barge.
January 2, 1805
A frolic at Ruptáre
Fort Mandan, ND Lewis takes a large group to Black Cat’s village, Ruptáre, and New Year’s celebrations continue. At the fort, several Indians bring corn to pay the blacksmiths.
February 4, 1805
Clark goes hunting
Fort Mandan, ND The meat supply at Fort Mandan and the Knife River villages is nearly out, so Clark leaves with half the enlisted men on an eight-day hunting trip.
December 7, 1804
Hunting buffalo
Fort Mandan, ND Some Mandans tell the captains that there is a large buffalo herd nearby, and Lewis organizes a group of hunters. Gass is impressed with the ability of the Indian hunters and their well-trained horses.
Mouth of the Yellowstone
When Captain Lewis arrived at the mouth of the great river in late April 1805, he saw a “rich, delightful land, broken into valleys and meadows, and well supplied with wood and water.”
October 20, 1804
Pursuits and escapes
Heart River, ND Clark finds a Mandan village abandoned because of Sioux attacks. Pierre Cruzatte wounds a grizzly bear and a buffalo cow, and he is chased by both.
Labiche performed all the regular duties of an army private, but also performed well as a French and English interpreter. He would continue serving as an escort with Lewis for Chief Sheheke’s delegation to Washington City.
September 23, 1806
St. Louis homecoming
St. Louis, MO Around noon, the “corps of volunteers for North West Discovery” celebrates their St. Louis homecoming. Sgt. John Ordway finishes his journal, and the captains work on letters to President Jefferson, Illinois Governor Harrison, and Jonathan Clark.
January 8, 1806
A night at Ecola
Fort Clatsop and Ecola Creek, OR From Clark’s Point of View, the travelers see the “grandest and most pleasing prospects.” At Ecola, Tillamook Indians trade a little blubber. In the evening, McNeal’s life is threatened.
September 13, 1805
Lolo Hot Springs to Packer Meadows
Packer Meadows, Lolo Trail, ID The party stops at a hot spring, and then after some difficulty finding the right trail, climbs to a divide between the Bitterroot and Lochsa River drainages. They cross Packer Meadows and encamp on Glade Creek.
July 27, 1804
Leaving White Catfish Camp
At White Catfish Camp, the boats are loaded, and they proceed to present Lewis and Clark Landing in Omaha, Nebraska. A knee is cut, mosquitoes rage, and Lewis adds several plants to his collection.
September 8, 1805
Mountains to the left and right
Bitterroot River Valley, MT The expedition proceeds north through the broad Bitterroot valley with the snow-capped Bitterroot Mountains to the west and the mostly barren Sapphire mountains to the east. They find two Indian horses and a colt and also find a new pest, brittle prickly pear.
June 24, 1805
Sailing on dry land
Severe weather passes over everybody, and a sail is employed as they portage two more dugout canoes around the Great Falls of the Missouri. Below the falls, the last canoe is taken out of the water.
December 23, 1805
Clatstop traders
Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR Work on the cabins continues, and the captains move into their unfinished quarters. Clatsop traders sell their food, mats, bags, and a panther hide for fishhooks, an old file, and spoiled salmon. In St. Louis, General Wilkinson writes about Arikara chief Too Né.
October 8, 1805
A canoe accident
Potlatch River, ID (Colters Creek) The Clearwater River has many rapids, stretches of calm, and islands inhabited by Nez Perce fishers. Travel stops after a canoe accident. In St. Louis, General Wilkinson tells of sick Indian delegates and the value of interpreter Pierre Dorion.
March 4, 1806
Sumptuous living
Fort Clatsop, OR The captains describe the Indian methods of preserving and cooking eulachon and sturgeon. Lewis discusses meadowlarks and jays.
May 31, 1805
Scenes of visionary enchantment
The day brings endless “seens of visionary inchantment” as they struggle to move through the white cliffs area of the Upper Missouri River Breaks. They pass landmarks Citadel Rock and Grand Natural Wall.
October 1, 1805
Burning out the canoes
Clearwater Canoe Camp, ID The men employ the Indian method of hollowing out logs with fire. Clark prepares goods to trade for food, and Lewis preserves a plant specimen.
May 30, 1805
The White Cliffs
The men find that towing the boats among the white cliffs of the Upper Missouri River Breaks is harder than usual. Lewis tests the humidity, and Pvt. Whitehouse describes an empty Atsina camp.
December 31, 1804
Looking for a canoe camp
Fort Mandan, ND The wind makes hills of snow and sand. The blacksmiths continue to trade their work for corn, and three men look for a suitable place to make canoes.
January 22, 1805
Boats gripped in ice
Fort Mandan, ND An unsuccessful attempt is made to cut the ice from around the boats. They find two layers of ice nearly four feet thick.
November 7, 1805
Ocean in view?
Pillar Rock, WA In heavy fog, the expedition paddles around numerous islands stopping to trade with local Indians. They reach Pillar Rock and mistakenly exclaim ‘Ocean in view! O! the joy’.
January 7, 1805
Maps from Indian information
Fort Mandan, ND Chief Sheheke brings a sketch of the Yellowstone River country and provides information which Clark uses to draw a map of that river system.
Ignorant of plains politics, Lewis and Clark barely averted disaster in their encounter with Black Buffalo’s people—an article by James P. Ronda from a keynote address to the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Pierre, South Dakota, August 2002.
July 27, 1806
Fight with the Blackfeet
Lewis has a fatal fight with the Blackfeet, Ordway paddles down the Missouri, Gass takes horses to the Teton River, Clark paddles through the Yellowstone Badlands, and Pryor is stranded without horses.
September 9, 1803
Leaving Wheeling
Below Wheeling, WV When Dr. Patterson fails to appear by 3pm, so Lewis decides to head down the Ohio without him. Fellow river traveler Thomas Rodney is there to say goodbye. During the night, it rains so hard that Lewis is unable to keep the cargo dry.
June 1, 1804
Mouth of the Osage
After a hard day, the expedition stops at the mouth of Osage River where the captains make celestial observations late into the night. Lewis also collects a specimen of wild ginger, Asarum canadense.
January 1, 1804
New Year's shooting contest
Winter Camp at Wood River, IL Clark stages a shooting contest with the locals and notes that two men (perhaps Reed and Windsor) were drunk. He meets with a new washer woman, and a visitor tells him about the Mandan Indians and their country. The captains begin their weather diaries.
July 16, 1806
Off to the Marias
Lewis heads to the Marias River while Gass prepares wagon trucks above the Great Falls. Clark moves down the Yellowstone River by horse and Ordway paddles through the Gates of the Mountains.
December 20, 1805
Not enough roofing
Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR The men install plank roofing using boards they had previously split and planks taken from an old Clatsop lodge. There is not enough roofing to cover all the cabins. Clark complains about the high price of food.
May 21, 1804
Leaving St. Charles
Late in the afternoon, the swivel gun is fired, three cheers are raised, and the expedition leaves St. Charles bound for the Western Sea. Facing a strong wind, the three boats move only 3¼ miles.
Two years after the conclusion of the historic Lewis and Clark expedition, York and his enslaver, the Virginia-born patrician William Clark, were at odds.
March 1, 1805
Making a canoe camp
Fort Mandan, ND Several of the enlisted men make rope, charcoal, hides, and clothes. They also cure meat and forge Indian war axes. The canoe builders leave with sharpened tools and provisions.
October 28, 1805
Superior Chinookan canoes
Crates Point, The Dalles, OR The expedition sets out from Fort Rock but are soon stopped by headwinds. The captains visit nearby Indians where Lewis takes an Indian vocabulary. Clark sees goods acquired from British traders and superior Chinookan canoes.
October 25, 1805
A "bad whorl & Suck"
Fort Rock, The Dalles, OR The enlisted men carry the most valuable cargo past the Long Narrows, and then the paddlers run the rapids. They continue down the rapid river and set up camp on a high basalt outcrop which they would call Fort Rock Camp.
October 23, 1805
Lining Horseshoe Bend
Celilo Falls, WA-OR While the men are lining the Horseshoe Bend of Celilo Falls, Lewis buys a Chinook canoe trading the smallest dugout, a hatchet, and a few trinkets.
October 24, 1805
Running the Short Narrows
Columbia Hills State Park, WA After running the Short Narrows, the expedition encounters Chinookan-speaking Indians, and the two Nez Perce chiefs want to leave. In the evening, Cruzatte plays the fiddle.
July 21, 1806
A spate of missing horses
On the Yellowstone, half of Clark’s horses appear to be stolen by Crow Indians. Above the Falls of the Missouri, missing horses delay the portage. On the Marias, Lewis turns up Cut Bank Creek.
