As the expedition’s flotilla of boats approach the Grand Tower of the Mississippi, Lewis learns of the ritual held the first time a boatman passes it. He also describes coal mines and the Apple River Shawnees living in that area.
Grand Tower of the Mississippi River
© 2021 by Robert Heacock. Used by permission.
Large Shawnee Village
The Apple River extends a considerable distance back in the country say 40 or 50 miles & heads with the waters of the St. Francis’s River. on this stream about 7 miles from it’s mouth, is a settlement of Shawnees, which more than any other in this quarter deserves the name of a villiage
—Meriwether Lewis
Coal Mining
there are many fine mines of pitt Coal on this stream [Big Muddy River], and one not far from its mouth whence boats asscend in common and high tide are loaded with and transport it the Saline on W. of mississippi and to Kaskaskias & elsewhere for the use of the blacksmiths and other artizans—
—Meriwether Lewis
Grand Tower Ritual
Arrived at the Grand Tower a little before sunset, passed above it and came too on the Lard. shore for the night. This seems among the watermen of the mississippi to be what the tropics or Equanoxial line is with regard to the Sailors; those who have never passed it before are always compelled to pay or furnish some sperits to drink or be ducked
—Meriwether Lewis
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 page was funded in part by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, U.S. National Park Service.
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).