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The Journey Begins
The journey begins at Camp Dubois. 40-50 men are part of the expedition. They sailed up the Missouri River in a large keelboat. -
Charles Floyd
The single casualty along the trip was Sergeant Charles Floyd. He had most likely burst his appendix. The hill that he is buried on is named Floyd's Bluff. He died near present-day Sioux City. -
Sioux Encounter
The journeyers have a friendly meeting with the Sioux. There were about 70 of the Sioux people. The natives are described by Clark as being "Verry much deckerated with Paint Porcupin quils & feathers, large leagins & mockersons, all with Buffalow roabes with the black hair turned back over their necks & Shoulders". The men gave the natives some gifts, and the natives danced around the fires. -
Building and Moving into Fort Mandan
The team of explorers built Fort Mandan in North Dakota. They moved in to the fort on Christmas Eve. The significance of the 17th is that a temperature of -45 degrees was recorded. John Ordway said it was "colder...than I ever knew it be in the States." -
Trade with the Squars
The adventurers trade with the Squars. These Indians trade the exploring party corn, mockasins, and beans for buttons, old shirts, knives, awls, etc. Ordway writes "they wanted of us...articles pleasing to the Eye." The natives seemed to be happy with the trades that they made. -
Frostbite
At this point, the group is with the Mandan natives. They were hunting buffalo and the temperature was -21 degrees. Two of the Mandan men froze to death while hunting, and Lewis had to amputate the toes of an Indian boy whose toes were frost-bitten. Two others went out hunting and one got lost and the other was hurt from the cold. -
Jean Baptiste
Jean Baptiste is born to Sacagawea. Lewis gives Sacagawea a drink to speed up the delivery process. The drink was made using crushed rings from the rattle of a rattlesnake. -
Grizzly Bear
While in the modern-day state of Montana, the explorers ran into lots of wildlife. They found animals that they could use for food, and even saw buffalo in herds of 10,000 at the most. Near Yellowstone River, a giant grizzly bear is slain by a hunter and Lewis. The adventurers saw and were chased by many grizzly bears. -
Shoshone Experience
The expedition is led by Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman. She notices landmarks that are familiar to her, and on the 17th, the group encounters a Shoshone village. Lewis obtains horses from the natives to cross the mountains. -
Entrance and Escape from the Bitterroot Mountains
The group started the travel over the Bitterroot Mountains on September 11th. They ran out of food and had to eat one of their horses. Snow fell, and the end never seemed to be near. They made it out of the mountains 11 days later in present-day Idaho. -
The Friendly Nez Percé
After leaving the Bitterroot Mountains, the group comes into the lands of the Nez Percé Indians. These natives become friends of the adventurers. A chief shows the group the art of hollowing pine trees with fire in order to make canoes. -
Sickness
Although the morning was nice, many of the men became sick. Meriwether Lewis was also very sick. On a positive note, a lost horse was found and a deer was killed for food. -
Christmas at Fort Clatsop
Fort Clatsop, built by the adventurers, was named after a nearby tribe of natives. The adventurers spent Christmas there. Handkerchiefs and tobacco were given as gifts. -
Crab-Tree Tobacco
The explorers had run out of whiskey, and now they ran out of tobacco. There were 33 people in the exploring party, and 26 of them used tobacco. To substitute, they were able to use Crab-Tree bark. -
Blackfeet
On the way back to Missouri, some Blackfeet warriors are spotted. They are caught trying to steal the explorers horses, and a fight breaks out. Two of the Blackfeet are killed in the battle. A peace medal is left on one of the corpses, in order that the other Blackfeet would know who was there.
