From Ste. Geneviéve, Clark takes the boats nineteen miles up the Mississippi. At old Fort de Chartres, he describes the changing river. Lewis orders $136 of goods from Kaskaskia merchant William Morrison.
Fort de Chartres Powder Magazine
From Natalia Maree Belting, Kaskaskia Under the French Regime (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1948), 28.
The original powder magazine walls support the roof which was restored in the early 20th century. The site is now a National Historic Landmark and Illinois state park.
Ste. Geneviéve
at the mouth of this Creek is the landing place for the Tradeing Boats of St Genevieve, a Small town Situated on the Spurs of the high land at ½ of a mile distant nearly South This Village contains (as I am informed) about 120 families, principally French,—
—William Clark
Fort de Chartres
Thomas Hutchins, citing a 1771 census reports that 208 French and 80 Negroes were at St. Geneviéve, second only to St. Louis with 415 French and 40 Negroes. He also explains why Fort de Chartres was abandoned:
[O]n the banks of the Missisippi flood [is] Fort Chartres. It was abandoned in the year 1772, as it was rendered untenable by the constant washings of the River Missisippi in high floods.—
—Thomas Hutchins[1]Thomas Hutchins, A Topographical Description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina, 1778, edited by Frederick Charles Hicks, (Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers Company, 1904), … Continue reading
Changing River
The chanel which forms the Island next to the fort is intirely dry, and appears to be filling up with Sand and mud, the River at this place is wide, and remarkably Streight washing the base of the clifts of the high land of about 250 feet above the surfice of the River
—William Clark
Kaskaskia Purchases
Decr. 4th [1803]
this day drew in favour of William Morrison or the Secretary of War draught dated Jany 1st 1804 payable 3 days after sight for $136—
—Meriwether Lewis
Notes
| ↑1 | Thomas Hutchins, A Topographical Description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina, 1778, edited by Frederick Charles Hicks, (Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers Company, 1904), 110–11. |
|---|
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).