Katie Jo

Research Report on the people

of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

March 26, 2001

The People of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

            All along Montana, Idaho, Washington, and North and South Dakota, people today are traveling, sleeping, talking, and living.  People are farming the land, and rafting down rivers.  All along the Rocky Mountains, people are climbing, skiing, and taking in the scenery.  People of  Native American descent are talking and living with people of European descent.  The Lewis and Clark expedition made all of these things possible.  The Missouri river was explored and charted.  The Rocky Mountains were crossed.  The land was viewed and rivers recorded.  Friendly relations with Native Americans were established.  The Lewis and Clark expedition covered and explored the land that would later make up Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, as well as North and South Dakota.  This expedition was vital to the expansion of the United States of America.  There were four main people who were the leaders and necessary for the trip.  They were Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Sacagawea, and York.  Their journey is filled with stories of their courage, bravery, hardship, as well as joy, excitement and adventure.  Their journey really begins with the Louisiana Purchase and Thomas Jefferson.

            As Mr. Shipman said in his lecture and notes, Napoleon gained control and ownership of the Louisiana Territory out of a secret treaty with the owner at the time, Spain, on October 1, 1800.  Thomas Jefferson wanted to own New Orleans because he knew whoever owned New Orleans would have control of the Mississippi River, and if a country gained control of the Mississippi River, then you would also have control of the Louisiana Territory.  Thomas Jefferson sent Robert Livingston and James Monroe to try and buy New Orleans from the French.  On April 30, 1803, they ended up buying the whole Louisiana Territory, for $15,000,000, around $.04 an acre, because Napoleon needed money for a war.  This Louisiana Purchase “doubled the size of the United States.”

            Jefferson now needed his newly acquired territory explored so that he could know if the land was livable, if the climate was agreeable, and if the wildlife was bountiful.  Jefferson gave these instructions to the Corps of Discovery:  1). Explore the Missouri River and find the “…most direct and practicable water communication across the continent…”  2). Discover the “character and customs of the Indian Tribes, commercial opportunities, plant and animal life, geography, mineral productions of every kind, climate as characterized by the thermometer, by the proportion of rainy, cloudy, and clear days, by lightning, hail, snow, ice, etc.”  3).  He instructed the captains to keep journals, 4).  Find the headwaters of the Missouri, and most importantly, 5).  Find out if the land contained a Northwest Passage, a navigable water route in which trade, commerce, and exploration could take place.  (Shipman, notes).

            Thomas Jefferson needed a leader for his expedition.   He needed someone who was an outdoorsman, as well as someone who was familiar with geography, Indian languages and customs,  “brave, and prudent.”  Jefferson thought of his secretary, Meriwether Lewis.  Lewis had grown up near Monticello, Jefferson’s home, and was friends with Jefferson, as well as being his personal secretary since 1801.

            Meriwether Lewis was born in Albermarle County, Virginia on August 18, 1774.  He was the second child with an older sister and a younger sibling.  His father died when he was 5, but his mother remarried quickly to a man named Captain John Marks.  He lived on a 1,000 acre plantation, only about 10 miles from Monticello.  Jefferson and Lewis became fast friends, even though Jefferson was older.  Lewis enjoyed being outdoors, where he was good at recognizing plants.  His mother, Lucy, was “a noted herb doctor” who encouraged her son in his plant finding skills.

            Lewis joined the army in 1794 and served under William Clark for a while.  He was promoted to captain in 1800.  In 1801, Jefferson asked Lewis to be his personal secretary.  In 1803, Lewis was asked to lead the expedition up the Missouri, to find the headwaters, and to make friendly relations from the Indians.  He knew that this was too much for him to take on by himself, so he asked his good friend, and former commanding officer in the army above Lewis, Mr. William Clark.  He asked Clark to join him and be his co-captain.  Clark quickly agreed.  In the letter he sent back, he said, “My friend, I assure you no man lives with whom I would perfur to undertake such a trip…” They started planning for the expedition.

            Lewis was a great man to select to be the leader because, as the author says in “Captain Meriwether Lewis”, Lewis was in great physical condition, six feet tall, and skinny.  He was “loyal, disciplined, and flexible, yet was also prone to being moody, speculative and melancholic.”  Lewis had some mental problems, and suffered from depression.  At times, he thought himself worth very little.  Sometimes he didn’t think that he was worth anything at all.  Lewis portrayed his role as the leader very well.  He was strong and rarely made bad decisions.  Only two times on the whole trip did he make a mistake.   He was strong for the other men, and they respected him for it.  He kept a very detailed journal that was filled with new plant and animal life that he discovered.  He was very observant.  Lewis was the trip’s naturalist and he also collected “plant, animal, and mineral specimens.”  He was the leader in giving speeches as well as presenting “certificates” to the various Native American tribes.  Along the voyage, Lewis used the “discipline and leadership” he had learned in the army to act as a leader and show that he was in charge.  Sometimes he cooked for the men.  He had knowledge of “natural history and geographic properties” that he often had to use to make important decisions.

            Some of his duties before the trip included finding men that they would take on their expedition.  These men had to know about the upper Missouri and the Indians around that area.  They had to be unmarried and skilled in being an outdoorsman.  An additional duty was this.  Many Indian leaders would come into St. Louis.  These Indian leaders would meet with Lewis, and Lewis would try to convince these leaders to be friendly with the white men.  He told them that the white men were very powerful, and if the Indians cooperated, were peaceful with the whites, they would be able to have goods brought inland by the white men for them to trade and do business with (“Captain Meriwether Lewis”).

            Lewis had minor health problems along the trip.  One time, at Tavern Cave, he was climbing with Clark and slipped and fell about 20 feet, catching himself with his knife.  Another time, he accidentally poisoned himself; another, he was accidentally shot in the leg by Pierre Cruzatte.  Thankfully, he recovered from all of these accidents.  Lewis was also mentally depressed as well as had some alcohol problems.  I don’t know of any problems along the trip, but I do know that after the trip when he became depressed, he would look to drinking as part of a solution. 

            As a reward for leading the expedition, Lewis received $1,228, 1,600 acres of land, and the appointment to become Governor of the Territory of Upper Louisiana (“Captain Meriwether Lewis”).

            Lewis sadly died by committing suicide, in most people’s opinions, when he was only thirty-five years old, only three years after the expedition, sometime in 1809.  Jefferson thought that Lewis killed himself from mental depression, perhaps caused by never marrying, not fulfilling his job as Governor of the Louisiana Territory very well, as well as being put down and becoming extremely unpopular with the citizens of the United States.  He was having his integrity questioned, and was heading east to answer charges about his friends, when he did it.  Another factor in the death of Captain Meriwether Lewis was probably his addiction to alcohol (Rhonda Blumberg, 127-128).

Lewis’ co-captain, William Clark, was born near the Rappanhonnock River in Virginia, on August 1, 1770.  He had three older sisters, five older brothers, and one younger sibling.  All of Clark’s brothers fought in the Revolutionary War.  After the war, Clark’s family moved to ‘Mulberry Hill’ in Kentucky.  While there, he learned to be the outdoorsman that he was.  As “The Lewis and Clark Expedition” explains, preachers taught Clark when he was young.  Clark also joined the army, as did Lewis, at a young age.  He joined the Kentucky Militia when he was 19 years old.  After a short time, he joined the regular army and was made a lieutenant.  During his army years, he “learned how to build forts, draw maps, lead pack trains through enemy territory and fight the Indians on their ground.”  These things helped Clark on the expedition.  Eventually, Clark would be made captain.  Lewis served under Clark for an amount of time, and they became friends (“Captain William Clark”).

Lewis asked Clark to help him along the expedition and be his co-captain, to share the duties equally, and to lead the other men along the journey.  Congress had to approve of the decision for Clark to become a captain.  Clark was told that he was to be “Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Artillerists” instead of Captain.  Lewis and Clark paid no attention to this heading, but were treated equally by sharing the responsibility and leadership.  None of the other men knew any differently that Clark wasn’t an actual “captain”.

William Clark was in great physical condition.  He was over six feet tall, very strong, with bright red hair.  The only physical ‘ailment’ that Clark suffered from was a “digestive ailment”.   He was an outgoing person who always got along well with the Indians.  He was able to get plenty of information from them (“Captain William Clark”).

Along the trip, Clark was the cartographer.  He was very good at “dead reckoning”.  His maps were very detailed and only a few miles off from the real proportions.  Many of his maps were used and needed for settling the west in the years after the expedition.  One of these maps was a map that he made for the Missouri River’s Great Falls.  Besides measuring and recording height, length and elevation, he also made notes on the plant and animal life around the area.  All of his maps were well detailed and had notes and illustrations of plants and animals that he found along the way.  These maps were very useful in years to come for the people that came to settle the Louisiana Territory and also important for fur traders.

Williams Clark’s pay for the expedition was much like Lewis’.  He received $1,228, “double appointment as Brigadier General of Militia and Superintendent of Indian affairs for the Territory of Upper Louisiana”, and 1,600 acres of land (“Captain William Clark”).

As Rhonda Blumberg says in her book, The Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark, after the expedition, Clark moved to St. Louis and took his job as “Brigadier General”.  Besides being a general, Clark received the honor of being named “Superintendent of Indian Affairs” for life.  Clark was always very nice to the Indians, who trusted, respected, and loved him.  Clark was one man who helped to convince the Indians to be on the United States side for the war of 1812.  He was governor of the Missouri Territory, and kept his position until it was named as a state in 1820 (Blumberg, 128-129).

“On January 5, 1808, he married Julia Hancock in Fincastle, Virginia”(“Captain William Clark”).  He ended up having five children as well being a guardian of two Indian children (Blumberg, 128-129).  Clark died in St. Louis on September first, 1838 from natural causes (Captain William Clark”).

Stephan E. Ambrose Tells us that William Clark owned a slave from the day he was born, who was his lifetime companion.  His name was York.  York was given to Clark by his father, whose companion and slave was York’s father.  York was very big and very dark skinned.  Clark brought York along on the expedition.  York amazed all of the Indians.  They thought that he was a miracle.  “The Arikaras had never seen a Blackman and couldn’t make out if he was a man, beast, or spirit being.”  York would play with all of the Indian children and York would tell them that “he was a wild beast, caught and tamed by Captain Clark.”  In December of 1805, York was sick with “cholick and gripeing”.  Many of the other men were ill or injured as well (Ambrose, 118, 180, 278, 318).

York helped row Clark’s boat and canoe.  York hunted for him and made his fires.  He crossed the continent for Clark and was willing to give up his life for Clark.  After all of these things, York still couldn’t enjoy freedom.  He felt that he should be free because of all of the things that he did for the expedition and Clark.  He missed his wife because someone else owned her in Louisville, Kentucky, and he wanted to see her and be free to be with her.  Clark wouldn’t let him be free, but allowed York to visit her for a short visit.  York wanted to hire himself out to where his wife was (Ambrose, 457-8).

Finally, York was given his freedom sometime before 1832.  Clark was kind enough to start him into a business of hauling freight and gave him a wagon and horses.  York eventually died of cholera (Blumberg 129).

The final important member of the expedition was Sacagawea.  She was called “Bird Woman”(Voyages of discovery, essays on Lewis and Clark Expedition).  Alana J. White tells us of the sixteen year old with an infant who traveled 6,000 miles along with the Lewis and Clark expedition.  She was probably born around 1789.  She lived near Three Forks, Montana.  Sacagawea was a Shoshone Indian.  She was kidnapped from her people when she was about 12 years old.  The Hidatsa warriors kidnapped her and called her “Bird Woman”.  Toussaint Charbonneau bought her or won her and she was made one of his husbands.  Toussaint was a fur trader as well as an interpreter.  Lewis and Clark hired Charbonneau to be an interpreter.  Many historians believe that they hired Charbonneau so that Sacagawea would come too.  They knew that she could translate, and that she was a Shoshone.  They were hoping to trade for horses with them.  They knew that they needed Sacagawea (White 5-9).

Charbonneau and Sacagawea moved into Fort Mandan before the expedition.  Jean Baptiste was born there on February 11, 1805.  Lewis records in his journal that her labor was very long and hurt her quite a bit.

York and Sacagawea weren’t talked about much together in the journals of Lewis and Clark, but they do share a bond.  They were both the only people on the expedition “who were considered the property of another person”(White 26-27).

White explained the many contributions of Sacagawea to the expedition.  Her first to the trip was just two days into it.  She dug up some edible roots for the men.  Once, when Charbonneau lost control of the boat they were on, Sacagawea was able to save many things from going overboard.  Books, microscopes, and clothing, along with Lewis and Clark’s journals were saved.  She recognized the country where she was born, and on August 17, 1805, she found her people, the Shoshones.  The chief was called Cameahwait.  He ended up being Sacagawea’s brother, so she talked to him and was able to get the 29 horses that the men needed to get across the Rocky Mountains.  She also made grease and found lots of food, including potatoes, for the men.  She was a peace symbol.  She put the men into peaceful moods, and showed other Indian tribes that her party was peaceful.  Many times Sacagawea was able to find the right trails.

After the expedition was over, Sacagawea stayed in the Mandan Village with Charbonneau and Jean Baptiste.  There are many stories about how Sacagawea spent her life from then on.  One is that she died of fever when she was only twenty-five years old.  Another opinion is that she left Charbonneau, became a wanderer, found Baptiste and nephew Bazil, and lived to be almost 100.  This story says that she died on April 9, 1889, at Wind River reservation in Wyoming (White 100-111).

The captains thought that Sacagawea was very special and said that she was “calm, courageous, and uncomplaining”.

This expedition was incredible.  It tells us of exceptionally brave men and woman who did such an amazing thing for their country.  They helped America to be expanded to almost double its size, and they gathered tremendous amounts of information about rivers, land, animals, and plants.  They opened up the west to years of fur traders, missionaries, miners, and eventually settlers.  They created friendly relations with the Indians, which helped in years to come, such as during the War of 1812, and so on.  The Lewis and Clark expedition was a very amazing feat in itself.  They accomplished the unbelievable.  They were able to bring a country together and have a “nation that now stretched from coast to coast”(“Captain William Clark”).