VickieB
2013-09-23 11:31:07 UTC
"It was on [Sept. 23] in 1806 that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
returned to St. Louis, Missouri, after a journey that had lasted almost
two and a half years and covered 8,000 miles. Lewis, Clark, and their
crew had traveled all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back, exploring
the new territory that Thomas Jefferson had added to the nation through
the Louisiana Purchase.
Lewis and Clark each kept detailed journals, which is why we know so
much about their trip. During the expedition itself, however, they had
very limited communication with anyone back home. They left St. Louis in
the spring of 1804 and spent their first winter at an encampment on the
Missouri River in what is now North Dakota.
In May of 1805, they set off west from their encampment into unknown
territory. They were worried that they wouldn't survive and Jefferson
would never receive any findings from the trip. So in April of 1805,
they sent a large keelboat back down the river to St. Louis —
accompanied by the least helpful of the expedition's members. They
included some private letters to friends and family, but mostly reports
for Jefferson. They wrote extensively about the new plants, animals,
landscapes, and people that they encountered. They were especially
amazed by some of the animals — grizzly bears, antelope, and endless
herds of buffalo. Along with descriptions, maps, weather data,
accounting records, and journals, the keelboat included all sorts of
objects. There were skeletons and skins, antlers, dried plants and
rocks. There were Native American artifacts, including a cooking pot, a
bow and arrows, corn, and a buffalo skin beautifully painted with a
battle scene. And there were live animals: four magpies, a sharp-tailed
grouse, and a prairie dog that the men had captured the summer before in
South Dakota and kept alive in a cage for months.
The keelboat traveled down the Missouri River to St. Louis, at which
point everything was transferred to another boat and taken down the
Mississippi to New Orleans, and from there put on a ship in the Gulf of
Mexico and taken up to Washington, D.C. The reports and specimens
reached Jefferson in August, by which point Lewis and Clark were at the
present-day border of Idaho and Montana. It was the last news that
anyone would hear of the expedition until their return to St. Louis.
So when Lewis and Clark did return, everyone was astonished. Two days
earlier they had arrived in St. Charles, Missouri; expedition member
Sergeant John Ordway wrote in his journal: "Towards evening we arrived
at St. Charles fired three rounds and Camped at the lower end of the
Town. The people of the Town gathered on the bank and could hardly
believe that it was us for they had heard and had believed that we were
all dead and were forgotten."
When they returned to St. Louis on this day in 1806, Lewis wrote a
letter to tell Jefferson the news; it took almost a month to reach the
president. Lewis wrote: "It is with pleasure that I announce to you the
safe arrival of myself and party ... In obedience to your orders we have
penetrated the Continent of North America to the Pacific Ocean, and
sufficiently explored the interior of the country to affirm with
confidence that we have discovered the most practicable rout which dose
exist across the continent by means of the navigable branches of the
Missouri and Columbia Rivers."
After some time in St. Louis, the explorers made their way eastward.
They stopped at the home of Clark's sister in Louisville, where the
citizens threw a banquet and bonfire in their honor. Lewis continued on
to Monticello, Jefferson's home in Virginia, to report on the
expedition. In late October, Jefferson wrote to Lewis: "I received, my
dear sir, with unspeakable joy your letter of Sep. 23 announcing the
return of yourself, Capt. Clarke & your party in good health to St.
Louis. The unknown scenes in which you were engaged, & the length of
time without hearing of you had begun to be felt awfully. Your letter
having been 31 days coming, this cannot find you at Louisville & I
therefore think it safe to lodge it at Charlottesville. Its only object
is to assure you of what you already know my constant affection for you
& the joy with which all your friends here will receive you."
(Writer's Almanac)
v .. the astronauts of their day
returned to St. Louis, Missouri, after a journey that had lasted almost
two and a half years and covered 8,000 miles. Lewis, Clark, and their
crew had traveled all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back, exploring
the new territory that Thomas Jefferson had added to the nation through
the Louisiana Purchase.
Lewis and Clark each kept detailed journals, which is why we know so
much about their trip. During the expedition itself, however, they had
very limited communication with anyone back home. They left St. Louis in
the spring of 1804 and spent their first winter at an encampment on the
Missouri River in what is now North Dakota.
In May of 1805, they set off west from their encampment into unknown
territory. They were worried that they wouldn't survive and Jefferson
would never receive any findings from the trip. So in April of 1805,
they sent a large keelboat back down the river to St. Louis —
accompanied by the least helpful of the expedition's members. They
included some private letters to friends and family, but mostly reports
for Jefferson. They wrote extensively about the new plants, animals,
landscapes, and people that they encountered. They were especially
amazed by some of the animals — grizzly bears, antelope, and endless
herds of buffalo. Along with descriptions, maps, weather data,
accounting records, and journals, the keelboat included all sorts of
objects. There were skeletons and skins, antlers, dried plants and
rocks. There were Native American artifacts, including a cooking pot, a
bow and arrows, corn, and a buffalo skin beautifully painted with a
battle scene. And there were live animals: four magpies, a sharp-tailed
grouse, and a prairie dog that the men had captured the summer before in
South Dakota and kept alive in a cage for months.
The keelboat traveled down the Missouri River to St. Louis, at which
point everything was transferred to another boat and taken down the
Mississippi to New Orleans, and from there put on a ship in the Gulf of
Mexico and taken up to Washington, D.C. The reports and specimens
reached Jefferson in August, by which point Lewis and Clark were at the
present-day border of Idaho and Montana. It was the last news that
anyone would hear of the expedition until their return to St. Louis.
So when Lewis and Clark did return, everyone was astonished. Two days
earlier they had arrived in St. Charles, Missouri; expedition member
Sergeant John Ordway wrote in his journal: "Towards evening we arrived
at St. Charles fired three rounds and Camped at the lower end of the
Town. The people of the Town gathered on the bank and could hardly
believe that it was us for they had heard and had believed that we were
all dead and were forgotten."
When they returned to St. Louis on this day in 1806, Lewis wrote a
letter to tell Jefferson the news; it took almost a month to reach the
president. Lewis wrote: "It is with pleasure that I announce to you the
safe arrival of myself and party ... In obedience to your orders we have
penetrated the Continent of North America to the Pacific Ocean, and
sufficiently explored the interior of the country to affirm with
confidence that we have discovered the most practicable rout which dose
exist across the continent by means of the navigable branches of the
Missouri and Columbia Rivers."
After some time in St. Louis, the explorers made their way eastward.
They stopped at the home of Clark's sister in Louisville, where the
citizens threw a banquet and bonfire in their honor. Lewis continued on
to Monticello, Jefferson's home in Virginia, to report on the
expedition. In late October, Jefferson wrote to Lewis: "I received, my
dear sir, with unspeakable joy your letter of Sep. 23 announcing the
return of yourself, Capt. Clarke & your party in good health to St.
Louis. The unknown scenes in which you were engaged, & the length of
time without hearing of you had begun to be felt awfully. Your letter
having been 31 days coming, this cannot find you at Louisville & I
therefore think it safe to lodge it at Charlottesville. Its only object
is to assure you of what you already know my constant affection for you
& the joy with which all your friends here will receive you."
(Writer's Almanac)
v .. the astronauts of their day