Lewis, Clark, and the Osage and Mandan delegates[1]For the delegations traveling with Lewis and Clark on this day, see The Osage Delegations and Sheheke’s Delegation. travel along the Buffalo Trace. On or near this day, they cross the Blue River and travel through the Barrens.
In New York, Clark’s letter that he wrote in St. Louis on 23 September is published in the New-York Evening Post.
Boone Creek Barrens (Indiana)
Generated from an original photo by Denise Vaughn, Hoosier National Forest. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC-BY-SA 2.0) license.
Above: The Boone Creek Barrens have been restored by prescribed burns starting in 2003. For more, see Oak Woodlands & Forests Fire Consortium, oakfirescience.com/.
Through the Barrens
William Clark knew the Barrens—a unique eco-system with widely spaced, fire-dependent trees, primarily of oak. Four days out of Vincennes, he had traveled through these barrens as a soldier in Captain Hardin’s militia:
4th Day we Traveled through Barrons for 15 miles the land in those Barrons are bad and no water
—William Clark, August 1789[2]Journal of Hardin’s Campaign, 5 Aug 1789–5 Mar 1790, William Clark Papers, Missouri Historical Society.
New-York Evening Post
Tuesday, November 4, 1806
New York Evening News
FRANKFORT, (Kentucky,) Oct 9.
By the mail of this morning we have received . . . from capt. Clark to his brother, general Clark, near Louisville.
St. Louis, 23d September, 1806.
Dear Brother
We arrived at this place at 12 o’clock today, from the Pacific Ocean, where we remained during the last winter, near the entrance of the Columbia river.
. . . . .
On the 17th of November we reached to ocean, where various considerations induced us to spend the winter; we therefore search for an eligible situation for that purpose, and selected a spot on the south side of a little river, called by the natives Netal.
I am. &c,
Your affectionate brother,WM. Clark.[3]The New-York Evening Post, 4 November 1806, page 3. For Clark’s original letter, see Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783–1854, ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | For the delegations traveling with Lewis and Clark on this day, see The Osage Delegations and Sheheke’s Delegation. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Journal of Hardin’s Campaign, 5 Aug 1789–5 Mar 1790, William Clark Papers, Missouri Historical Society. |
| ↑3 | The New-York Evening Post, 4 November 1806, page 3. For Clark’s original letter, see Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783–1854, ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 1:325–330. Lewis’s draft that Clark likely copied can be read on pages 1:330–335. |
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.
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