two hundred years ago today
Jul. 27th, 2006 05:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacOn this day, July 27, 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition consisted of five separate parties scattered across what is now Montana. I've always been taken by this moment, because the confidence to scatter their forces in the wilderness and be sure they could get back together again, and the trust that the captains had in their three resourceful sergeants and the rest of their men, speak volumes for the skills they'd honed in the nearly three years they'd been together.
Lewis and Clark had separated on July 3rd near present-day Missoula. The river route they'd gone up the previous year in western Montana had turned out to be too arduous and circuitous. Captain Meriwether Lewis was to take one body of men and go over a short-cut pass directly to Great Falls, where they'd portaged the previous year. Then he and three picked hunters would reconnitor up the Marias River, an intriguing tributary they hadn't had time to explore on the way out. Sgt. Patrick Gass and his men would keep Lewis's base camp at Great Falls and wait for ...
Meanwhile, Captain William Clark and his men would retrace the previous year's route as far as the spot they'd cached their canoes at on the Beaverhead (an upper Missouri tributary), not far from present-day Dillon. Then Sgt. John Ordway and a few men would take those canoes downriver, meet up with Gass, portage around Great Falls, and go a few miles downstream to meet up with Lewis at the mouth of the Marias.
Clark and the rest would have their own river journey: first crossing over by land to the Yellowstone River (for which Sacagawea, who'd grown up in the area, would be a useful guide), to build their own canoes and head downstream, and seeing off the last party, Sgt. Nathaniel Pryor and a couple men, who would lead Clark's horses overland to North Dakota where they could be sold to friendly Indians.
It didn't work out quite as they'd planned, but it came out all right in the end. Here's what they're doing on July 27th.
Lewis and his hunters, after some ten days of exploring the Marias, spent last night in an uneasy encampment with some Blackfeet they'd run into, about 20 miles west of present-day Shelby. Learning that the US government would trade not only with the Blackfeet but their enemies as well, the disappointed Indians try to steal the guns and horses at first light today. Lewis and his men surprise them in the act, two Indians are shot, and the whites spend the whole day riding desperately down the Marias, hoping the Indians won't catch up with them. They won't stop until 2 A.M. tonight.
Ordway and his canoes had floated into Gass's portage camp three days after Lewis had left. The sergeants and their combined forces spent last week hauling the canoes and supplies around Great Falls, and finished yesterday. Now Ordway and his men are taking the canoes down the river to the mouth of the Marias while Gass and his men have the horses on an overland route. They'll camp separately this evening. Lewis will run into Ordway on the river tomorrow morning, and Gass will catch up to them in the afternoon.
As for Clark, he and Sacagawea and his men are on their fourth day of paddling down the Yellowstone. Two days ago he carved his name and the date into the rock of Pompeys Pillar, the one on-site physical relic of the journey that may still be seen 200 years later. Now they're having a fine time moseying downstream through present-day Treasure County.
Pryor and his men are not having such a great time, but they are being resourceful in an emergency. Like Lewis, they too have had a problem with Indians, but they hadn't seen them. Somewhere near present-day Hardin last night, some Crows snuck up in the dark and stole all the horses, every one. So what is Pryor doing today? He and his men hitch up their baggage and hike back to the river. Finding no suitable trees (and canoe-carving would take several days anyway), they make bull-boats from bison skins and set off tomorrow hoping to catch up Clark, which they will two weeks from now near the mouth of the Yellowstone, where Clark will be moving around trying to find a mosquito-free location (good luck: I've been in Montana and North Dakota in the summer) to camp while he waits for Lewis, who with Ordway, Gass and co. will show up four days after that.
On many occasions during the expedition one of the captains would take some men off on a special side journey for a week or more, or send one of the sergeants or some hunters out on a task that might take several days. But this was the only moment that all five parties were off separately at once in the deepest of wilderness. And they all got back together again and headed home successfully to St. Louis.
Lewis and Clark had separated on July 3rd near present-day Missoula. The river route they'd gone up the previous year in western Montana had turned out to be too arduous and circuitous. Captain Meriwether Lewis was to take one body of men and go over a short-cut pass directly to Great Falls, where they'd portaged the previous year. Then he and three picked hunters would reconnitor up the Marias River, an intriguing tributary they hadn't had time to explore on the way out. Sgt. Patrick Gass and his men would keep Lewis's base camp at Great Falls and wait for ...
Meanwhile, Captain William Clark and his men would retrace the previous year's route as far as the spot they'd cached their canoes at on the Beaverhead (an upper Missouri tributary), not far from present-day Dillon. Then Sgt. John Ordway and a few men would take those canoes downriver, meet up with Gass, portage around Great Falls, and go a few miles downstream to meet up with Lewis at the mouth of the Marias.
Clark and the rest would have their own river journey: first crossing over by land to the Yellowstone River (for which Sacagawea, who'd grown up in the area, would be a useful guide), to build their own canoes and head downstream, and seeing off the last party, Sgt. Nathaniel Pryor and a couple men, who would lead Clark's horses overland to North Dakota where they could be sold to friendly Indians.
It didn't work out quite as they'd planned, but it came out all right in the end. Here's what they're doing on July 27th.
Lewis and his hunters, after some ten days of exploring the Marias, spent last night in an uneasy encampment with some Blackfeet they'd run into, about 20 miles west of present-day Shelby. Learning that the US government would trade not only with the Blackfeet but their enemies as well, the disappointed Indians try to steal the guns and horses at first light today. Lewis and his men surprise them in the act, two Indians are shot, and the whites spend the whole day riding desperately down the Marias, hoping the Indians won't catch up with them. They won't stop until 2 A.M. tonight.
Ordway and his canoes had floated into Gass's portage camp three days after Lewis had left. The sergeants and their combined forces spent last week hauling the canoes and supplies around Great Falls, and finished yesterday. Now Ordway and his men are taking the canoes down the river to the mouth of the Marias while Gass and his men have the horses on an overland route. They'll camp separately this evening. Lewis will run into Ordway on the river tomorrow morning, and Gass will catch up to them in the afternoon.
As for Clark, he and Sacagawea and his men are on their fourth day of paddling down the Yellowstone. Two days ago he carved his name and the date into the rock of Pompeys Pillar, the one on-site physical relic of the journey that may still be seen 200 years later. Now they're having a fine time moseying downstream through present-day Treasure County.
Pryor and his men are not having such a great time, but they are being resourceful in an emergency. Like Lewis, they too have had a problem with Indians, but they hadn't seen them. Somewhere near present-day Hardin last night, some Crows snuck up in the dark and stole all the horses, every one. So what is Pryor doing today? He and his men hitch up their baggage and hike back to the river. Finding no suitable trees (and canoe-carving would take several days anyway), they make bull-boats from bison skins and set off tomorrow hoping to catch up Clark, which they will two weeks from now near the mouth of the Yellowstone, where Clark will be moving around trying to find a mosquito-free location (good luck: I've been in Montana and North Dakota in the summer) to camp while he waits for Lewis, who with Ordway, Gass and co. will show up four days after that.
On many occasions during the expedition one of the captains would take some men off on a special side journey for a week or more, or send one of the sergeants or some hunters out on a task that might take several days. But this was the only moment that all five parties were off separately at once in the deepest of wilderness. And they all got back together again and headed home successfully to St. Louis.
