Lewis and Clark - the Corps of Discovery Expedition

[Bill Peckham]

I'm spending a long weekend on the Oregon Coast with my Mom; today we went up to Fort Clatsop, where the expedition spent a very wet and hungry winter. There are so many amazing things about this expedition it's hard to know where to start but one thing I didn't know until today was that through the 1800s the expedition was little noted or remarked upon. Really it wasn't until the second half of the 20th century that the expedition really became famous, receiving it's just recognition as a singular American achievement.

The museum and fort reconstruction at the Fort Clatsop National Historical Park is definitely worth a stop if you're in the area of Astoria Oregon - one surprise is that dogs are welcome on the trails (just not in the buildings of the reconstructed fort), usually in National Parks dogs are confined to paved areas. I don't know if this is because Oregon is so dog friendly or the policy is a salute to SeaMan Lewis's dog, a Newfoundland, that made the whole trip.

Living and traveling in the west I have seen many Lewis and Clark historical markers but haven't paid that much attention, seeing Fort Clatsop makes me want to learn more and follow the whole journey from St. Louis to the coast and back.

One of the most amazing things about it is that everyone but one person (a sergeant who is thought to have had an appendicitis early in the trip) who started the trip made it back to St Louis. Amazing.

There is a tangent connection between the expedition to my own family history. John Ledyard (my middle name is Ledyard, we are vaguely connected on my mother's side) was the first best selling author in the US, publishing an account of Captain Cook's third voyage shortly after the revolutionary war. As a follow up he intended to walk around the world - yes you read that right - he planned to walk around the world with only the most basic provisions, relying on the hospitality of the people he met. He was in Paris in the 1790s and ended up in Thomas Jefferson's circle. Jefferson encouraged him to go west starting in the US, but John Ledyard was nothing if not bullheaded and kept with his plans to go east. In the event he nearly made it to the Pacific before being kicked out of Russia by Catherine the Great (after walking across lapland in the winter!). If he had only listened to Jefferson things could have turned out much better but I believe John Ledyard planted the seed that later blossomed into the Corps of Discovery.

Any other Lewis and Clark fans on IHD?

[Hemodoc]

Actually like dialysis, this is an area that we can find quite a bit of agreement which might be fun for a change.

History has been one of my interests for quite while. I almost got a minor in history in college but didn't realize that two of my required courses were actually considered history courses. I took two other history courses as electives and it was too late for a third before I found out about that.

Lewis and Clark are in part fascinating because of how they had to deal with Ursus arctos horribilis, otherwise known commonly as the grizzly bear.

http://lewisandclarktrail.com/grizzlies.htm

I also live in a town with a history of Lewis and Clark with companies and other entities named after them even though we are a bit north of their exploration route by a couple hours drive today.  Here is a video talking about the route through the Clearwater wilderness areas. I haven't been down south of us in that region, but it looks pretty much like the areas in Idaho we hang out and go camping.

[Bill Peckham]

Actually like dialysis, this is an area that we can find quite a bit of agreement which might be fun for a change.

History has been one of my interests for quite while. I almost got a minor in history in college but didn't realize that two of my required courses were actually considered history courses. I took two other history courses as electives and it was too late for a third before I found out about that.

Lewis and Clark are in part fascinating because of how they had to deal with Ursus arctos horribilis, otherwise known commonly as the grizzly bear.

http://lewisandclarktrail.com/grizzlies.htm

I also live in a town with a history of Lewis and Clark with companies and other entities named after them even though we are a bit north of their exploration route by a couple hours drive today.  Here is a video talking about the route through the Clearwater wilderness areas. I haven't been down south of us in that region, but it looks pretty much like the areas in Idaho we hang out and go camping.

I don't know which would scare me more - grizzlys or canoeing down the uncharted/undamed Snake and Columbia.

[Hemodoc]

Actually like dialysis, this is an area that we can find quite a bit of agreement which might be fun for a change.

History has been one of my interests for quite while. I almost got a minor in history in college but didn't realize that two of my required courses were actually considered history courses. I took two other history courses as electives and it was too late for a third before I found out about that.

Lewis and Clark are in part fascinating because of how they had to deal with Ursus arctos horribilis, otherwise known commonly as the grizzly bear.

http://lewisandclarktrail.com/grizzlies.htm

I also live in a town with a history of Lewis and Clark with companies and other entities named after them even though we are a bit north of their exploration route by a couple hours drive today.  Here is a video talking about the route through the Clearwater wilderness areas. I haven't been down south of us in that region, but it looks pretty much like the areas in Idaho we hang out and go camping.

I don't know which would scare me more - grizzlys or canoeing down the uncharted/undamed Snake and Columbia.

I had a lot more exploration bug in me when I was a kid growing up in Alaska, but no, I wouldn't want to face a grizzly with a one shot primitive rifle that they had, nor would I want to float down the Colombia or Snake river in a birchbark canoe. Yikes!!

[Bill Peckham]

This book is online. I've just skimmed the first bit of Lewis and Clark edited by Kris Fresonke, Mark David Spence but it looks promising.

[Willis]

I'm a real history buff and the story of Lewis and Clark is one of my favorites. When I was about ten I read a book about the expedition and have been hooked on history ever since. I've been fortunate to see (and camp in) a significant part of the frontier that they explored. Most modern city people would be amazed that in a lot of places the wilderness Lewis and Clark explored hasn't changed much. The prairie deserts of the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana, and the lands of Idaho, eastern Oregon and Washington (and even British Columbia and Alberta) that lay between the Rockies and the Cascades is hot, dry and barren.

My favorite anecdote about the Lewis and Clark expedition was their epic struggle to cross the Rockies. Having survived the mountains and discovering the headwaters of the Columbia River they found themselves in the "Great American Desert." The expedition was in great peril due to the harsh conditions. When they finally managed their way down river and reached the Pacific Coast they had great celebrations having met their primary objective and having rid themselves of the burdens of both the mountains and deserts. Oregon was such a beautiful and bountiful place!

But oh the irony when this "paradise" turned on them. After a few months of rain, rain, and more rain their weapons rusted and their food staples turned to mold. They were wet and cold and they couldn't wait to get out of there even though they faced a difficult return trip. They found that things aren't always as they appear!

 

[Bill Peckham]

Willis the charm and horror of the NW's weather is still true today. 


I read that the expedition was making 70 - 80 miles a day early - they outpaced a Spanish force assigned to stop them - how many miles a day did they make in the rockies? I can't imagine dragging myself let alone canoes over the continental divide.

[Hemodoc]

Willis the charm and horror of the NW's weather is still true today. 


I read that the expedition was making 70 - 80 miles a day early - they outpaced a Spanish force assigned to stop them - how many miles a day did they make in the rockies? I can't imagine dragging myself let alone canoes over the continental divide.

Yes, you are right about the weather and I wish you would quit sending your left over weather from Seattle my way to Idaho!!