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St Louis Missouri, starting point
The expedition begins their voyage with about four dozen men, a dog and a big keelboat 55 feet long, 8 feet wide and capable of carrying 10 tons of supplies. They also had two smaller boats. They traveled about 14 miles a day. -
Sergeant Charles Floyd died
Sargent Charles Floyd was the only person to die on the expedition. The doctors today, after reading the journals, think that the seargent had a ruptuered appendix. Everyone on the expedition was very sad when Floyd died. -
Meeting the Sioux Tribe
While with the Sioux the men saw the dogs and travouis and thought that they were realy neat. "While I was at the Indian camp yesterday they yoked a dog to a kind of car, which they have to haul their baggage from one camp to another; the nation having no settled place or village, but are always moving about. The dogs are not large, much resemble a wolfe, and will haul about 70 pounds each." Patrick Gass -
Experience at Fort Mandon
While at Fort Mandon, where the expedition wintered, Lewis hired a french man named Toussaint Charbonneau and his wife, Sacagawea, a Shoshone indian. They were hired as guides and interpreters. -
Sacagawea gives birth to a son
On Febuary 11,1805, while at Fort Mandon, Sacagawea gave birth to a son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. She carried her child to the Pacific Ocean and back on a cradleboard. Clark nicknamed the child Pomp. -
Prickly Pear Cactuses slow the expediton
"this evening the men repaired their mockersons, and put on double souls to protect their feet from the prickley pears." (lewis) the men had to walk through cactuses all day without heavy boots. The spines realy hurt their feet. This is while they are portaging around the Great Falls. -
The wind helps
"the wind was considerable assitance to us in the course of the day, as we were drawing the canoes the wind being Sufficently hard at times to move the canoe on the Trucks. this is Saleing on dry land in everry Sence of the word." (John Ordway) The expediton was very lucky that the wind was at their back and in their favor and not in front slowing them down. -
Problems with the bears
Grizizles were a trouble to the hunters that were trying to get meat. "Another went up the river to look for elk. When he had gone about three miles, he was attacked by 3 brown bears, that were near devouring him; but he made his escape by running down a steep bank into the water. In this adventure he fell, injured his gun, and hurt one of his hands; therefore returned to camp. (Patrick Gass) -
Sacagawea meets her brother
The Expedition mandaged to find the Shoshone indians. They traded for horses and Sacagawea visits with her people, the Shashones. "Capt. Clark arrived with the Interpreter Charbono, and the Indian woman, who proved to be a sister of the Chief Cameahwait. the meeting of those people was really affecting," (Lewis) -
A frendly exchange and a great help frome the Shoshones
The corps exchanged goods for horses "I soon obtained three very good horses. for which I gave an uniform coat, a pair of legings, a few handkerchiefs, three knives and some other small articles the whole of which did not cost more than about 20$ in the U' States. the Indians seemed quite as well pleased with their bargin as I was. (Lewis) This helped the expediton a great deal. If the indians would not have traded horses for goods then the expedition wouldn't have made it over the Bitteroots. -
Fort Clatsop
"at day light this morning we we[re] awoke by the discharge of the fire arm[s] of all our party & a Selute, Shouts and a Song which the whole party joined in under our windows." "The day proved Showerey wet and disagreeable."(Clark) On Christmas day they excanged presents and moved into their new head quarters, wich they had built. -
Crossing the Rocky Mountians
The expedition had a hard time crosing the Rocky Mountians becouse their was to much snow. "We encamped for the night having traveled 28 miles over these mountains without releiving the horses from their packs or their having any food our meat being exhausted we issued a pint of bears oil to a mess which with their boiled roots made an agreeable dish." lewis -
Trouble with the Piegans
When Lewis was exploring the Marios River with three of his men they met a group of eight Piegan Indians. They camped together peacefully, but in the morning the indians stole all of their rifles and horses. One man stabbed and killed an indian while Lewis went after the rest of the indians with his pistol and got the horses and guns back.
