Kristopher Townsend
From the Pacific Northwest Living Historians at Lewis and Clark National Historic Park, Fort Clatsop.
Since 2016, Kristopher K. Townsend has been the webmaster and editor of this site, Discovering Lewis & Clark®. He has been actively photo-documenting the Lewis and Clark Trail since 1995. He attempts as closely as possible to re-create scenes as described in the journals including the same time of year, natural state, location, and weather. He has contributed numerous photos throughout the Discovering Lewis & Clark website.
Kris taught several years as a tenured instructor at Spokane Falls Community College. His courses included Internet programming and other information technology and computer science courses. During that time, he was also the series editor and an author of a popular college textbook series on Office Technology.
Shortly after the advent of the World Wide Web, he managed a web server featuring digital photos, digital video, and articles created by his Glenwood Heights Primary students. Topics included historical sites of Clark County (Washington State), wildflowers and birds of Clark County, and how-to videos for school’s physical education program.
Contributions to this Site
The Teninos
by Kristopher K. Townsend
At the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Teninos lived on the north side of the Columbia River and controlled key fishing areas on the river’s south side. Tenino was a small village at Five Mile Rapids above The Dalles of the Columbia.
The Kickapoos
Always on the move
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Perhaps more than any North American people, the Kickapoo exemplify the transitory nature of the native nations encountered during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1803, there was at least one village near Ste. Genevieve on the Mississippi River.
Indian Tobacco
Nicotiana quadrivalvis
by James L. Reveal, Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend
Lewis mentioned two species of tobacco, possibly Nicotiana quadrivalvis and N. rustica—a Mexican species called Aztec tobacco—that the Arikara cultivated.
The Apsáalooke (Crows)
The Raven Nation
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Mountain Apsáalooke and Awatixa Hidatsa share a common ancestry as do the River Apsáalooke with the Hidatsa proper. During the expedition, no one would see any Crow People, but those people certainly noticed the expedition passing through stealing all the horses Clark had with him.
Currants and Gooseberries
Eight Ribes species
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Of the dozens of currants and gooseberries along the Trail, Lewis likely preserved specimens of eight different species. Four of them reside in herbariums and four are lost.
The Umatillas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
After emerging from the Wallula Gap on 19 October 1805, Clark came across some Umatillas hiding in their lodges, and he committed a serious faux pas by entering without permission.
The Illinois Tribes
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The expedition set up camp near a town named after the Cahokia, one the Illinois tribes. The captains reported that Missourias, the Illinois, Cahokias, Kaskaskias, and Piorias were nearly destroyed by the Sauks and Foxes.
Jerking Meat
Preserving meat without refrigeration
by Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend
What did the captains mean when they say they stopped to jerk their meat? At the time of the expedition “jerk” simply stood for “dried meat.” This article includes a recipe.
Making Candles
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Early in 1806 while wintering at Fort Clatsop, the last candles burned down, and Lewis described how they would make new candles out of tallow rendered from elk fat. This is the process.
The Potawatomis
by Kristopher K. Townsend
By 1800, the Potawatomi had successful traded with the French to the north and the Spanish in St. Louis. They resided in a large region surrounding the southern half of Lake Michigan between the Mississippi River and Lake Erie and extending south to the mouth of the Illinois River.
Jean Baptiste, Mountain Man
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Jean Baptiste’s 17-year career as a mountain man comes from a scattering of writings from some of the most notable trappers of the era.
The Watlalas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Watlala was the name of a key Upper Chinookan village at the Cascades of the Columbia. The name has been extended by many to mean the tribe more often called the Cascades. The captains called them the Shahala, meaning ‘those upriver.’ The natural constriction of the river provided the people with a fishery and a good measure of control over those who traveled up and down the river. As a result, the Cascade Clahclellah village which the expedition visited on 31 October 1805 and 9 April 1806 was a major trade center before and during white contact.
Black Chokecherry
Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa
by Kristopher K. Townsend
This variety of the common chokecherry gave Lewis his decoction of simples and was the subject of his botanical scrutiny.
Peace Medals
Tools of diplomacy and trade
by Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend
One of the tasks assigned to the expedition was to replace the French, Spanish, and English peace medals previously gifted to North American Indians with those from the United States. The gifts symbolized mutual loyalty in trade and, at least to the Indians, military protection.
The Kathlamets
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The expedition journalists recorded several encounters with the Kathlamets, or Cathlamets, during their stay at the Pacific coast during the 1805–06 winter. On 11 November 1805, while hunkered down in a “dismal nitch” on the north side of the Columbia, a canoe “loaded with fish of Salmon Spes. Called Red Charr” pulled to shore. After buying 13 sockeye, Clark marveled.
Jean Baptiste in California
by Kristopher K. Townsend
After a brief service as Alcalde of San Luis Rey, Jean Baptiste moved to the gold fields around Auburn, California where he lived for 19 years.
The Skilloots
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Skilloot were an Upper Chinookan group that spoke the Clackamas dialect of the Chinookan language. They were located on both sides of the Columbia River above and below the mouth of the Cowlitz. At first, the captains applied the name over a much wider area, perhaps misinterpreting a similar expression meaning ‘look at him!’. Cape Horn, a few miles east of Washougal, was named sqúlips, and could be the origin of the tribe’s name.
The Kansas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Known in the journals as Kanzas, Kansas, Kansias, Kansies, Kar sea, and Kah they are popularly called the ‘People of the South Wind’. At the mouth of the Kansas River, the captains ordered a defensive wall built, but no Kansa warriors appeared.
Jean Baptiste in the Journals
Baby on board
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The captains’ journals give us a small glimpse into the experiences of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau as he traveled with the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Echinacea
Prairie coneflower, E. angustifolia
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Justified by the ethnobotanical record, the captains went to unusual lengths to preserve and document echinacea. Most—if not all—the Tribal Nations encountered along the Missouri River used the plant to treat snakebites in the manner described by the two captains.
The Cheyennes
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Many, including the expedition members, misheard the people’s name as ‘chien’—French for ‘dog’. Their name actually comes from the Sioux exonym shahíyena, perhaps meaning ‘people of alien speech’. The captains thought that they might make good trading partners.
The Yakamas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Yakama’s first Euro-American contact was the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805. The captains named the people Chim’-nah-pum’ which was the name of the village at the mouth of the Yakima River.
Jean Baptiste in Europe
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Jean Baptiste’s European experiences with Duke Paul of Württemberg were the capstone of an education that started in a Hidatsa village and developed in St. Louis under the sponsorship of William Clark.
Pin Cherry
Prunus pensylvanica
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Before signing off in his last journal entry, Lewis had to botanize one last time. He concludes with an accurate description of the pin cherry, Prunus pensylvanica.
Manuel Lisa
by Kristopher K. Townsend, W. Raymond Wood
After founding the Missouri Fur Company (1807-1814) Lisa made four trips up the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers to exploit the richness of the northern Rockies, and he dominated the upriver trade until 1820, two years before his death.
The Chilluckittequaws
White Salmon and Smock-shops
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Wind Mountain was at the western extent of a series of Upper Chinookan villages called by Lewis and Clark the “Chilluckkittequaw nation.” Apparently, when asked for a tribal name, the captains were given the word for ‘he pointed at me’. Chilluckittequaw was adopted as their name a century later by early ethnographer Frederick Hodge. Between Wind Mountain and Hood River, nine villages have been identified, some overlapping with Klickitats
The Iowas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Iowa culture blended lifeways and customs of their neighbors: Horticulture and a well-defined, patrilineal class system was learned from the Sioux, a clan system was adapted from Algonquian-speaking neighbors, and like the Plains culture, they practiced the summer village method of hunting the American bison.
Western Sweet Cicely
Osmorhiza occidentalis
by Kristopher K. Townsend
At Long Camp in 1806, Sacagawea gathered roots of Western sweet cicely which the captains found palatable and nourishing. It also alleviated their gas pains.
The Coeur d’Alenes
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Skitswish, or Coeur d’Alenes, often visited the Nez Perces on the Clearwater River. Three met the captains at the mouth of Colter’s Creek.
The Wanapums
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Lewis and Clark called them “Sokulks” but they were ‘river people’ from the Sahaptin wána (river) and pam (people). Wanapam is an alternate spelling.
The Lenape Delawares
by Kristopher K. Townsend
About 1784, a small group of Shawnee and Delaware migrated from Illinois to southeastern Missouri. Ten years later, the Spanish encouraged members in Illinois to migrate the Cape Girardeau area as a way to protect their own settlements from the Osage.
Bitter Cherry
Prunus emarginata
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Lewis collected a specimen of bitter cherry, Prunus emarginata, while at Long Camp on 29 May 1806 and described it on 7 June 1806. He wrote that “the natives count it a good fruit”.
Educating Jean Baptiste
Knife River and St. Louis
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau’s education began in a Hidatsa village. In St. Louis at the age of five or six, his classical education began under the guardianship of William Clark.
The Cayuses
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Clark’s name for the Cayuse, the Ye-E-al-po Nation, may have been his phonetic spelling of the Nez Perce name for them—Waiilatpu. The people are noted for their namesake horses and the 1847 murders at the Whitman Mission.
François Saucier
by Kristopher K. TownsendFrançois Saucier established a settlement at Portage des Sioux, a strategic part of the St. Charles district.
The Wahkiakums
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Wahkiakums exemplify the complexities encountered when trying to classify Chinookan peoples. Linguistically, they spoke the Upper Chinookan Clackamas dialect. Culturally, they were related to the Lower Chinookan Clatsops and Chinooks proper. They resided primarily along the north side of the Columbia between Grays Bay and Cathlamet, Washington.
Clarkia
Clarkia pulchella
by James L. Reveal, Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend
The plant’s common names include elkhorn, ragged robin, pink fairy, and deerhorn. In the spring of 1807 Lewis turned over his plant specimens to Frederick Pursh, who gave this flower the scientific name Clarkia pulchella
The Poncas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
On 5 September 1804, the captains sent John Shields and George Gibson to the Ponca villages. The privates reported that the people were away hunting buffalo and that they had not planted their gardens.
Cottonwoods
Populus sp.
by Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend, Mark Behan
During the Expedition, they encountered four species of cottonwood trees as they moved across North America. One wonders how they would have managed without them.
The Pawnees
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Although Clark referred to the Pawnee often and included them in the Estimate of the Eastern Indians, the journals do not document any face-to-face encounters.
Buffaloberry
Shepherdia argentea
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Lewis collected buffaloberry specimens which were new to science and Clark had them in a delightful tart. Native Americans had been eating the bright red berries for generations.
The Lakotas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Presently known as the Lakota people, Lewis and Clark most often called them the Tetons. There were three main groups: Oglala, Brule, and Saone. The bands typically lived separately, hunted freely within each other’s territory, and came together for community events.
The Flathead Salish
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The first whites to encounter the Salish in person were the Lewis and Clark Expedition at Ross’ Hole. Although the journalists had much to say about the encounter, the Salish have said far more.
Making Pemmican
by Kristopher K. Townsend
This staple Indian food was adopted by northern explorer Alexander Mackenzie, Lewis and Clark, and the North American fur trade. This article explains how it was made, why it worked well for travelers, and how it was made and eaten. Recipe included.
The Tillamooks
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Tillamook Indians, cordial hosts and friends to the visiting Americans in 1806, may have numbered about 2,200 persons at that time.
Bulrushes (Tules)
Schoenoplectus sp.
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Lewis did not collect or describe bulrushes, nor does it appear he ever learned how they were used as a food source. The journalists did mention lodges covered with bulrush mats among the Plateau Nations from Lawyer’s Canyon in Kamiah, Idaho to The Dalles, Oregon.
Indian Breadroot
Pediomelum esculentum
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The day Sacagawea gathered Indian breadroot, Lewis wrote a detailed ethnobotanical description. The specimen he prepared a year prior is now used as the primary identifier of the species.
The Walla Wallas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Walla Wallas, sometimes Waluulapam and sometimes on this site as Walula, are a Sahaptin-speaking indigenous people that lived primarily along their namesake river. There has been disagreement among historians regarding the nation’s etymology.
Chinookan Head Flattening
A most remarkable trait
by Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend
The most remarkable trait in the Clatsop Indian physiognomy, Lewis wrote on 19 March 1806, was the flatness and width of their foreheads, which they artificially created by compressing the heads of their infants, particularly girls, between two boards.
Sunflowers
Helianthus annuus
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The common sunflower as a staple food among the Mandans and Lemhi Shoshones did not escape the attention of the journalists. Includes two traditional Hidatsa recipes.
Siouan Peoples
by Kristopher K. Townsend
On 31 August 1804, Clark, frustrated in his attempt to draw a clear picture of the Sioux, summarized what he did know. “This Nation is Divided into 20 Tribes possessing Seperate interests . . . .”
The Mandans
by Kristopher K. Townsend
After the 1781 smallpox epidemic, the Mandan had moved into to a more defensible position in two villages immediately south of the Hidatsa at the Knife River. The Mandan-Hidatsa alliance had developed many years prior, and the two tribes previously shared their large hunting territory to the west.
The Cowlitz
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Cowlitz proper were Southwestern Coast Salish peoples living mainly along the Cowlitz River. The people were blenders. Those living among the Chinookan Skilloots intermarried and may have been indistinguishable when the expedition passed the “Cow-e-lis’-kee” River.
The Sauks and Foxes
by Kristopher K. Townsend
To outsiders in 1803, the Sauk and Fox people living on the Mississippi River in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin were seen as one people. Both peoples spoke the Sauk-Fox-Kickapoo dialect of Algonquian and had similar cultures and economies.
Sacagawea In the Journals
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Sacagawea, also known as Sacajawea or Sakakawea, was a vital member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, serving as an interpreter, diplomat, guide, and food gatherer. Her—and her child’s—presence symbolized peace among many of the Natives they encountered. The expedition journals document her life, tribal background, and key contributions.
The Otoes and Missourias
by Kristopher K. Townsend
At the time of the expedition, the nation from which the Missouri River derived its name were so reduced by smallpox and attacks that they had abandoned their villages and merged with other tribes—Kansas, Osages, but primarily, the Otoes.
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
The youngest member
by Kristopher K. Townsend
This 9-page series examines the life of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau—the infant son of Sacagawea who traveled across the continent with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He was educated in St. Louis and Europe, a mountain man, military guide, and California miner.
Wild Cherries
by Kristopher K. Townsend
As the expedition moved across the Northern American continent, Lewis took particular notice of the changes he saw in the wild cherries. For a deeper dive into the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s encounters with wild cherries, see these four articles.
John Evans
Mapping the way
by Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend
John Evans provided maps of the Missouri River and Rocky Mountains, the most significant outcome of the Mackay-Evans Expedition.
The Blackfeet
by Kristopher K. Townsend
They commonly called themselves saokí•tap•ksi meaning ‘prairie people.’ The meaning ‘people with black feet’ comes from exonymns—the names given by other, external tribes. Historically, several related groups comprise the Blackfoot or Blackfeet people.
The Nez Perce
by Kristopher K. Townsend
First encountered September 1805 when John Colter met them on Lolo Creek near Travelers’ Rest, they would remain with the expedition in one way or another until 25 October 1805 saying their goodbyes at Rock Fort at The Dalles of the Columbia River. They were together again between 23 April 1806 and 4 July 1806, the expedition’s longest period of contact with any Native American Nation.
The Shawnees
by Kristopher K. Townsend
As soon as the expedition boats arrived at the Mississippi River, the captains began counting Shawnee people. The Estimate of the Eastern Indians reports that 600 “Shawonies” were living on the “apple River near Cape Gerardeau.”
Jean Baptiste, Military Guide
With the Mormon Battalion
by Kristopher K. Townsend
As a military guide in the U.S.-Mexican War, Jean Baptiste and the Mormon Battalion were involved in a defining moment in the American Southwest.
The Multnomahs
by Kristopher K. Townsend
When interviewing William Clark and George Shannon to prepare his condensation of the expedition journals, Nicholas Biddle wrote in his notes that “The Multnomah nation is placed on the Wappatoe Island opposite the mouth of the Multh. river and the inlet which forms the island. . . . the neighbors speak of the Multnomah nations as great &c.”
The Yankton Sioux
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Yankton along with the Yanktonai make up the Western Dakota division of the Dakota People. Although the Yankton and Yanktonai sometimes considered themselves to be one people, their separate locations resulted in a unique history for each.
The Lower Chehalis
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Lewis and Clark Expedition encountered the Lower Chehalis mainly during their stay at Station Camp on Baker Bay. In the journals, the people’s name is spelled Chieltz and Chiltch.
The Engagés
A French connection
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Whether they be boatmen, interpreters, traders, privates in the U.S. Army, diplomats, or cultural guides, the contribution of the French men already living in the Illinois and Louisiana region was “mission critical.”
The Osages
by Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend
The Osage were experienced traders, exchanging horses and Indian slaves for French guns, knives, axes, kettles, and other metal objects. After the 1760s, the Osage adopted a new economic system of planting gardens in permanent villages, summer hunts in the plains, and fur-trapping in the winter.
The Clackamases
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Clackamas people had about twelve villages south of the Columbia River, along the Clackamas River, and at Willamette Falls in what is now Portland and Oregon City. They spoke the Clackamas dialect as did nearby Multnomahs and Skilloots. On 2 April 1806, two young Clackamas men came to “Provision Camp” near present-day Washougal and sketched a map of the Willamette River, the mouth of which the expedition captains had failed to find.
The Arikaras
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Spelled variously in the expedition journals, Clark sometimes called the Arikara people Pawnee due to their similar linguistic origins—both were Caddoan-speaking people. Weakened by smallpox and Sioux attacks, they would have significant impact on American fur trade interests on the Upper Missouri and affect the lives of several expedition members.
The Assiniboines
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The Assiniboines were nomadic hunter-gatherers roaming primarily along the rivers in Saskatchewan and western Manitoba. They often dropped south into present-day Montana and North Dakota, especially in their role as middle-men between the English trading companies and the Hidatsas to the south.
Common Chokecherry
Prunus virginiana
by Kristopher K. Townsend
As they traveled up the Missouri in the summer of 1804, the journalists took note of a wild cherry different than the wild cherry of their homes. It was the common chokecherry, which grew on bushes instead of trees.
Salishan Peoples
by Barbara Fifer, Kristopher K. Townsend
Two widely separated branches of Salishan languages developed prior to 1800, Coastal and Interior. Lewis and Clark encountered several nations from both of these branches.
The Final Journey of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
The trail's end
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Perhaps he was seeking new gold fields, maybe California was getting too crowded, or maybe he simply wanted to see the mountains and prairies of his mountain man days. After a long life, the journey would be his last.
Serviceberry
Amelanchier alnifolia
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Everybody liked the abundant serviceberry fruit—the Lemhi Shoshones were living on them, the enlisted men “regaled themselves,” and Lewis was the first to collect a specimen for science.
La Véndrye’s Golden Sands
His visit to Spirit Mound
by Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend
La Vérendrye’s 1728 name for Spirit Mound contains several puzzling statements. Pako’s reference to that “very fine gold-coloured sand,” suggests the “little mountain” was located in a fabulous land, an Eldorado, of precious natural riches.
Lewis’s Suet Dumplings
by Kristopher K. Townsend
When making suet dumplings during the portage around the falls of the Missouri, Lewis demonstrated a unique and magnanimous act of leadership. This article includes a recipe.
Lewis’s Estimate of Expenses
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Prior to Jefferson’s annual message to Congress on 15 December 1802, Lewis prepared a roughly itemized estimate of $2500 as the cost of the expedition.
The Chinooks
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Today, Chinook often refers to the politically united Lower Chinook, Clatsops, Willapas, Wahkiakums, and Kathlamets. To Lewis and Clark, the Chinook were the people living on the north side of the Columbia River’s estuary. When Lewis and Clark met them, the people of Baker Bay had been trading with European ships for more than a decade.
Bee Balm (Horsemint)
Monarda fistulosa
by Kristopher K. Townsend
When Pvt. Bratton’s “tedious illness” left him unable to walk at Long Camp, they sweated him, dunked him in cold water, and had him drink ‘copious’ amounts of horsemint tea.
Smoking
Smoking on the expedition
by Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend
The captains would have to ration their dwindling supplies, and the smokers would have to extend their tobacco with leaves and inner bark from local plants and trees. The captains would also learn the endless variety of ceremonies practiced when sharing a pipe the People they met.
The Omahas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The captains appeared eager to meet with the Omaha. They tried to find them at their two biggest villages and planted a flag at the gravesite of the chief who for many years had controlled trade in the region, the infamous Blackbird.
The Hidatsas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Prior to the expedition, the Hidatsa had settled in three villages just north of two Mandan villages in a complex now called the Knife River Villages. There, they practiced horticulture and hunting in the manner of the Plains Village tradition.
Jerusalem Artichokes
Helianthus tuberosus
by Joseph A. Mussulman, Kristopher K. Townsend
The French explorer Samuel de Champlain found the vegetable growing in Indian gardens along the Saint Lawrence seaway and carried specimens of it back to France in 1603, where its root soon became a staple food for humans.
Peter Fidler
Early mapmaker
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Peter Fidler (1769–1822) was a trader, surveyor, and ethnographer who played a pivotal role in mapping the Canadian Rockies and the Missouri River watershed. Employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1791 to 1822, Fidler ventured into remote regions of North America. His efforts contributed significantly to the understanding of the continent’s vast and largely uncharted landscapes prior to the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Sagebrush
Artemisia tridentata and Artemisia cana
by Kristopher K. Townsend
On 14 April 1805—a week after leaving Fort Mandan—near Bear Den Creek, North Dakota, the journalists mention aromatic sages. These were primarily the big sagebrush and silver sagebrush—both icons of the American West.
The Clatsops
by Kristopher K. Townsend
The creek where Coyote built his legendary house—today’s Neacoxie Creek—flows north to south bisecting nearly the length of the Clatsop Plain. A village at the estuary created by the ocean, Neacoxie Creek and the larger Necanicum River is Ne-ah-coxie Village. Nearby were three other Clatsop villages, and for a short time, a salt works built by soldiers from the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The Palouses
by Kristopher K. Townsend
At the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Palouses had coalesced around four primary villages on the lower Snake River: Penewawa, Almota, Wawaiwai, and Palus. Lewis and Clark estimated their population as 2,300 which included Northern Nez Perce.
The Atsinas
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Today, they are called the Atsina or Gros Ventre, but their names in the historical literature—Big Bellies, Gros Ventre and Minnetares—cause confusion even to this day. The expedition never met them, but their presence affected the expedition in several ways.
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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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