At Wood River, Clark receives eight new recruits from a fort in Tennessee escorted by George Drouillard. The river runs with ice, so the barge is unloaded and supported with pry bars. Working in Cahokia and St. Louis, Lewis uses “stealth” to gather intelligence on Louisiana.
The Barge
Courtesy of the U.S. Army Center of Military History.
Prying the Barge
a verry great Sleat this morning, the river Coverd with running Ice, and falls verry fast 15 Inches last night the boat a ground in the Creek, I had pries fixed along to Support the boat, and all the heavy articles taken out in Front & Center and Sto[r]ed under a guard on the bank—
—William Clark
Tennessee Recruits
at 3 oClock Drewyer & 8 men 2 horses arrive from Tennessee, those men are not such I was told was in readiness at Tennessee for this Comd & &.
—William Clark
Gratiot’s Offer
recved a Letter from Cap Lewis also one from Mr. Gratiot offering a horse and his Services to Cap L & my self in any way
—William Clark
Lewis’s Stealth
Cahokia December 28th 1803.
Dear Sir,
I have no doubt, as soon as the American government takes effect in Louisiana, that many of the best informed of it’s inhabitants in order to make themselves known to it, will unsolicited come forward with much interesting information, till then, every thing must be obtained by stealth.
MERIWETHER LEWIS. CAPT.
1st. U.S. Regt. Infty.[1]Lewis to Jefferson. Donald Jackson, ed. Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 151.
Winter Camp at Wood River (Camp Dubois) is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site, near Hartford, Illinois, is managed as Lewis and Clark State Historic Site and is open to the public.
Notes
| ↑1 | Lewis to Jefferson. Donald Jackson, ed. Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 151. |
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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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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).