Page 70 - All About History 48 - 2017 UK

masters – a difficult conversation they hoped in early September. It was here that the natural
would be smoothed over with gifts, including a history aspect of the mission really began, as never-
specially minted coin and some demonstrations of before-seen animals roamed. Beasts that seem
superior firepower. Clark’s experience as a soldier archetypally American today (elk, bison, coyotes
and frontiersman combined with Lewis’s strong and antelope, for example) were a new discovery
leadership and diplomacy made them the perfect by these awe-struck men from the east. But the
match, and he readily agreed. animals weren’t the only ones who called this
Lewis sailed the newly constructed narrowboat land home, and the expedition was about to be
from Pittsburgh down the Ohio River, and he met reminded that, to some, they were trespassing.
with Clark near Louisville, Kentucky, before setting Although every encounter with Native American
up their winter training camp on Wood River. tribes had been peaceful so far, tensions quickly
There would be 33 core members of the Corps of ran high when they met the Teton Sioux (now
Discovery, which would finally set out on 14 May known as the Lakota Sioux) near what is now
1804 on the Missouri River. South Dakota, in September. The travellers had
The voyage did not get off to the best start. been warned that this tribe could be unfriendly,
Discipline was occasionally poor, and on 17 May, and it seemed that conflict was inevitable following
three men were court-martialled for being absent a series of difficult meetings and demands for
without leave. Meanwhile, Lewis was given his one of their boats. Crisis was averted thanks to
own warning on 23 May, when he fell six the intervention of their chief, Black Buffalo,
metres from a cliff before managing although Clark’s diaries show that all was
to stop his fall with his knife, not forgiven, referring to them as, “vile
just barely saving his own miscreants of the savage race.”
life. There was no margin They travelled on northwards, The Corps of Discovery meets the Chinook
people on the Columbia River in October 1805
for error, and the brooding, reaching the Mandan settlements
solitary Lewis was reminded (a heavily populated area with
that wandering alone was a more people calling it home than Having sent a small group back to St Louis with
dangerous habit. Of course, Washington DC at the time) at samples of their findings, the Corps of Discovery
that would not stop him. the end of October. Quickly, they set out again on 7 April. They made excellent
The weather was fine, but Lewis,Clarkandtheirguide, began work on their winter camp, time through unexplored country, and it became
it was hard going, with the Sacagawea, in the Bitterroot Fort Mandan, as the cold weather clear that bringing Sacagawea was a wise decision
Mountains (present-
fierce Missouri River frequently day Idaho) bit harder than the men had ever indeed. Not only did she help them to forage,
needing to be cleared to allow the experienced. It was here that they made showing them what was edible and what wasn’t,
boats free passage, and mosquitoes, ticks one of the most important decisions of their she also had the presence of mind to rescue
and illness proving to be a growing problem. It was voyage. They hired the French-Canadian Toussaint important papers when a boat capsized.
during this summer that the expedition suffered Charbonneau, a fur trader, and his 16-year-old Then, at the start of June, everything nearly
its only fatality, when Sergeant Charles Floyd died Shoshone wife Sacagawea as interpreters. Lewis fell apart. They had reached a fork in the Missouri
of appendicitis. However, Lewis’s journeys into the and Clark were heading to the mountains, and River, and Lewis and Clark had to make a choice. If
woods provided them with an abundance of new although they had no idea quite how colossal the they chose poorly, they would be taken completely
discoveries. A meeting with the Oto and Missouri range was, they knew they would need horses. off course, and it was an incredible relief when
Native Americans on 3 August went very well, Native speakers would be invaluable for trade as they reached the waterfalls they had been told they
with speeches and exchanges of gifts getting the well as safe passage. Sacagawea gave birth to her would find if they were on the right track. However,
reception Lewis and Clark had hoped for. son, Jean Baptiste (nicknamed Pomp by Clark), the right track was not an easy path to take, and
Another successful meeting was held on 30 during the winter, and many credit this woman the Great Falls were another colossal challenge.
August, this time with the Yankton Sioux, and the and her child accompanying the travellers with There was a constant threat from bears and
CorpsofDiscoveryenteredtheGreatPlains being the reason they were treated so hospitably by rattlesnakes, and several crewmembers were ill.
They would have to go the long way around,
29 kilometres over difficult terrain, carrying
everything that they needed. There was no way
back. Incredibly, the crew pulled together and
accomplished this amazing feat. It’s a testament
Lewis and Clark’s journey
westward would lead them along
to the spirit of these men, their awareness of the
the Missouri River
importance of their mission and the leadership of
Lewis and Clark that the only thing lost on this
brutal detour was time, and the dream of Lewis’s
iron-framed boat, which simply did not work.
Time, of course, was of the essence. Despite
making the right choice at a second set of forks,
winter was coming and there were still mountains
to climb. They needed to reach the Shoshone tribe
and trade for horses if they were to have any hope
of reaching their goal, and as they grew closer,
Sacagawea helped to navigate through the territory
of her youth. However, finding the tribe proved to
be difficult, and Lewis and a scout broke off from