Moving up the Missouri, the barge hits several sandbars and must be towed. They only make eight miles for the day camping near Greenwood, South Dakota. Pvt. Colter returns without Pvt. Shannon who has been missing for many days.
In present Nebraska, Pedro Vial reaches a Pawnee village with the intention of eventually arresting Meriwether Lewis. He asks the Pawnees to stay loyal to Spain.
Colter—At Last!—Returns
by Yellowstone Public Radio[1]Originally aired weekdays by Yellowstone Public Radio during the Bicentennial observance of 2003-2006. Narrated by Hal Hansen. Scripts by Whit Hansen and Ed Jacobson. Produced by Leni Holliman. © … Continue reading
Towing the Barge
Missouri River Sandbars
Near the Vermillion River. Courtesy U.S. National Park Service, Missouri National Recreational River.
We Set off eairly, got fast Several times on the Sand bars. could not make Much headway with the oars nor poles & were oblidged to cross over on N. S. & make use of the Towing line.—
—John Ordway
Still No Shannon
[Colter] had not found Shannon nor the horses But had killed one Buffelow, one Elk 3 Deer one wolf 5 Turkies & one Goose—
—John Ordway
Spanish Countermeasures
Having left Santa Fe on 1 August, Pedro Vial and José Jarvet—intent on arresting the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the name of Spain—reach a Pawnee village in Central Nebraska. There, Vial gives them the following warning:
. . . I learned how the Americans had taken over the government. . . . in every village they pass, large gifts are made to all chiefs and principal men and said chiefs are induced to surrender [peace] medals and patents [commissions] in their possession, given by the Spanish government. I have charged the aforementioned chiefs of the country not to give up the medals or patents, telling them they still do not know the Americans but in the future they will.
—Pedro Vial[2]Diario de Dn. Pedro Vial a la nación Panama, Santa Fe, 23 November 1804, Archivo Histórico Nacional, Madrid Spain (Audiencia de Guadalajara. 398), fol. 3v-4, author translated in Warren L. Cook, … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | Originally aired weekdays by Yellowstone Public Radio during the Bicentennial observance of 2003-2006. Narrated by Hal Hansen. Scripts by Whit Hansen and Ed Jacobson. Produced by Leni Holliman. © 2003 by Yellowstone Public Radio. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Diario de Dn. Pedro Vial a la nación Panama, Santa Fe, 23 November 1804, Archivo Histórico Nacional, Madrid Spain (Audiencia de Guadalajara. 398), fol. 3v-4, author translated in Warren L. Cook, Flood Tide of Empire: Spain and the Pacific Northwest, 1543–1819 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973), 463. |
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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
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- 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).