August 12, 1803
New Orleans attitudes
Meriwether Lewis is in Pittsburgh having a military barge built prior to departing down the Ohio River. Elsewhere, a diplomat, U.S. Senator, and President Jefferson discuss the cession of Louisiana.
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August 10, 1803
Reflections on Louisiana
Meriwether Lewis is in Pittsburgh having a military barge built. In Williamsburg, Virginia, St. George Tucker writes his Reflections . . . supporting the Louisiana Treaty and Conventions.
August 5, 1803
Ohio River boatmen
Lewis is in Pittsburgh having a military barge built prior to departing down the Ohio River. The Ohio river boatmen he would have seen are described by François André Michaux and Timothy Flint.
August 4, 1803
Ohio River market
Meriwether Lewis is in Pittsburgh having a military barge built prior to departing down the Ohio River. The region’s market was described by François André Michaux after his 1802 visit.
August 3, 1803
Thanks to Clark
From Pittsburgh, Lewis writes a letter thanking Clark for joining the Western Expedition. He asks Clark to find interpreter John Conner, and to stop engaging recruits until he arrives in Louisville.
August 1, 1803
The Field brothers enlist
At Louisville, the Field brothers begin their enlistment as privates in the United States Army. Meriwether Lewis is in Pittsburgh having a military barge built prior to departing down the Ohio River.
Fur Trade after the Expedition
by W. Raymond Wood
The Louisiana Purchase and the lure of its beaver population led to a veritable flood of traders and trappers moving toward the Upper Missouri and the Northern Rocky Mountains and the slow abandonment of the overland trade in the United States by Canadian and British interests.
Assessing the Legacy of Lewis and Clark
by Clay S. Jenkinson
The author proposes a few metaphors for the Lewis and Clark story, not in any definitive way, but merely to help us all think about the legacy of the expedition.
The Canoes: Appendix
A compendium of canoes in the journals
by William W. Bevis
The author lists every incident in all the journals, yielding information about the expedition’s boats and boating, especially concerning the canoes.
White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
by Joseph A. Mussulman
Lewis had no reason to write about the common or fallow deer of the East Coast, although in using it for the purpose of comparison, he gave quite a clear picture of it. John Godman’s 1828 description relied partly on Lewis and Clark’s journals.
Manuel Lisa
by W. Raymond Wood
After founding the Missouri Fur Company (1807-1814) Lisa made four trips up the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers to exploit the richness of the northern Rockies, and he dominated the upriver trade until 1820, two years before his death.
Buffaloberry
Shepherdia argentea
by Kristopher K. Townsend
Lewis collected buffaloberry specimens which were new to science and Clark had them in a delightful tart. Native Americans had been eating the bright red berries for generations.
John Shields
(1769–1809), Private
During the damp winter at Fort Clatsop and throughout 1806, the journals speak more and more often about Shields’ life-sustaining work as gunsmith. Certainly the guns had seen hard use.
September 23, 1806
St. Louis homecoming
Around noon, the expedition celebrates its St. Louis homecoming. The captains work on letters to President Jefferson and Clark’s brother Jonathan telling of their findings.
July 6, 1805
Hail delays progress
Above the Great Falls of the Missouri, rain and hail wet the shell of the iron-framed boat delaying progress. In New Orleans, the Louisiana governor receives Lewis’s specimens shipped from Fort Mandan.
September 22, 1804
Fort aux Cedres
The expedition passes the abandoned Fort aux Cedres, a fur trading post built by Régis Loisel in present South Dakota. The hunters complain that the soils of the plains wear out their moccasins.
September 4, 1804
Shannon still missing
They pass an old Ponca village and make eight miles before stopping at the Niobrara River to explore, hunt, and look for signs of Pvt. Shannon who has been missing several days.
May 31, 1804
Osage disbelief
Strong winds force the expedition to remain near present-day Chamois, Missouri. Some traders heading down report that the Osage People do not believe that their homeland is now part of the United States.
May 19, 1804
Pay day in St. Charles
Drouillard returns to St. Charles with cash and a letter from Lewis. Clark pays some of the men in lieu of clothing and rations. Local citizens visit the boats and invite the men to socialize in town.
May 18, 1804
Shifting the cargo
Based on what was learned coming up the Missouri, Clark shifts weight to the front of the boats. Drouillard leaves for St. Louis where Lewis is working. Some of the men dance with St. Charles ladies.
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).