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Lewis and Clark Start Their Journey
After gathering troops and going to ceremonies the expedition set off on its adventure. "They travel[ed] in [a] big keelboat...and two smaller boats called pirogues." Their travels included twelve dozen men, two captains, and one dog. -
Sergeant bursts his appendix
Three months had past since the expedition left St. Louis and the first causality has happened. Sergeant Charles Floyd dies of a burst appendix. The hill he was buried on is called Floyd's Bluff and the nearby stream is called Floyd's River which was named after the one and only person that died on the expedition. -
Prairie Dog Drowning
Many animals were discovered during the expedition but that day was especially exciting. The captains wanted prairie dog fur to be sent back to the President to let him know how they were doing. The men were employed to drown the prairie dogs out of their holes, kill them, and dry their fur. -
A Sioux Encounter
The second tribe of Sioux that the expedition came upon was the Teton Sioux. This encounter was not as friendly as the other tribe. They required one boat as a toll for going forward. -
Fort Mandan is Built
The expedition comes upon two Indian villages (Mandan and Hidatsa). In both of these villages combined lived "...4,500 people..." It is on this land where the expedition decides to build a fort and stay until they get proper supplies. -
Hires Sacagawea and Her Husband
The captains hired Toussaint Charbonneau as an interpreter. His wife (Sacagawea) was a Shoshone girl that had been taken from her home when she was young. While Sacagawea was on the expedition acting as a guide, she carried and delivered a baby. -
Jean Baptiste is Born
Sacagawea had her baby on February 11, 1805. Since Captain Lewis wanted the delivery to be speedy, he gave Sacagawea a potion that was made from rattle rings of a rattlesnake. The baby was named Jean Baptiste. -
Dealing with the Weather
The expedition faced many hardships and one of the most difficult things to deal with was the weather. They had to deal with boiling heat and no shade to hide from. They also had to deal with rain and snow. -
Thinking They Reached the End
On the Lemhi Pass right on the Montana and Idaho boarder they finally felt they had made it. That right beyond the pass, they would see the Pacific Ocean. As soon as Lewis reaches the summit, all he really does see are more mountains. -
Bargaining for Horses
The expedition needed horses. The Indian tribe they stumbled upon happened to be the Shoshone tribe which was the tribe that Sacajawea had been taken from when she was a little girl. The tribe's leader happened to be her brother and he gladly helped the expedition to thank them for bringing his sister back. -
A Successful Trade
After staying with the Indians for quite some time the Shoshone tribe gave them horses. The expedition recognized that they could not go over a mountain with boats. They needed horses to do such a thing. -
Camas Root
Camas Root is a type of root that Indians used for food. First the root must be harvested. Then it must be dried. Sometimes it is beaten into powder or cooked. The Indians gave this to the expedition because their supplies had run low and they were very hungry. -
A Man Gets Sick
After going through the Bitteroot Mountains, it was a relief to the expedition to meet another Indian tribe called the Nez Pierce. The chief decided that the Indian tribe should welcome them. The expedition was on the brink of starvation. The Nez Pierce gave them salmon and camas root. One man was so hungry that he ate too much and got sick. -
A Safe Haven for Christmas
On December 25,1805 Fort Clatsop was made. Voting had taken place a month before to see if the expedition should press on or stay put. The majority of the vote said to press forward and to make a winter quarters on the other side of the mountain. -
Horse Thieves
While on their trip back, the expedition happened upon a tribe of Blackfoot Indians. They camped a safe distance away to respect their space. In the morning they woke up to the Blackfoot stealing their horses. This leads to the death of two Blackfoot Indians.
