 Article
From River Life, Volume 6, No 02, August 19, 2004
Up The River
With Lewis and Clark
Part 5, August 6, 1804-August 19, 1804
By Bill Markley
It was August 6, 1804. The
Corps of Discovery had traveled up the Missouri River beyond present-day
Omaha, Nebraska. A few days before, they had met with chiefs of the Oto
and Missouri Tribes. On a negative note, two members of the Corps were
now missing.
A violent storm had hit
the campsite at midnight. That morning the Corps of Discovery “Set out
early & proceeded on.” They made over twenty miles on this day. Lewis
and Clark believed the French engage, La Liberté, had become lost; but
they were beginning to suspect Moses Reed had deserted. He had asked to
go back to Council Bluffs to retrieve a knife and should have caught up
with the Corps by now.
Again there was another
violent windstorm during the night. William Clark wrote, “mosquitors
more troublesome last night than I ever Saw them.”
At 1:00 p.m., Lewis and
Clark sent George Drouillard, Rubin Field, William Bratton, and Francois
Labiche to find, La Liberté and Reed. They were ordered if Reed “did not
give up Peaceibly to put him to Death.” They were also to go back to the
Oto town and invite the Otos and Missouris to the upstream Omaha town to
make peace among them, the Omahas, and other tribes.
The Corps traveled
eighteen miles upstream this day.
August 8, William Clark
took a walk along the riverbank with John Collins as the Corps continued
upriver. Remember John? He was the one who had sampled the whiskey keg
when he was supposed to be guarding it. They came upon some elk. John
fired and killed his elk. Clark fired four times at his elk, but could
not find him. The ever-present mosquitoes were so bad Clark wrote, “I
could not keep them out of my eyes.”
The Corps passed the mouth
of the Little Sioux River in present-day Iowa and came to an island
covered with uncountable pelicans. Meriwether Lewis shot and killed one.
He then took detailed measurements of the pelican to the extent that he
poured water into the pelican’s sack and measured that it could hold
five gallons.
Clark and Collins rejoined
the Corps sixteen miles upriver as they made camp.
The next morning, fog
detained the Corps from leaving until 7:00 a.m. They shot and killed a
turkey during the day and saw lots of beaver sign. The Corps traveled
seventeen miles that day. In the evening Clark wrote, “Musquetors worse
this evening than ever I have Seen them.” Clark wrote in his journal
almost every night how bad the mosquitoes were and it seems in each
journal entry they were worse than the last time.
August 10, the Corps of
Discovery made over twenty-two miles this day. Clark must have been
tired; he only recorded course and distance entries.
The next morning there
was a hard wind followed by rain. The Corps later landed at a large hill
three hundred feet high on top of which was the grave of the Omaha
chief, Black Bird, who had been a strong leader who took care of his
enemies by poisoning them. Black Bird died along with four hundred of
his people in the 1802 smallpox epidemic. The gravesite offered a
spectacular view of the surrounding countryside and the Missouri River
winding through it. The Corps traveled over seventeen miles.
On August 12, the Corps of
Discovery came to an area where the river was wider than usual. At 5:00
p.m., Lewis and Clark went on shore to shoot a “Prairie wolf which was
barking at us as we passed.” It was a coyote. They shot at it; but the
coyote got away. The men saw lots of beaver and caught a very large
catfish. They made twenty miles that day and spent the evening putting
together packages of presents for the Omahas.
They made seventeen miles
on August 13 and made camp in present-day Dakota County, Nebraska. Lewis
and Clark sent Sergeant John Ordway, Pierre Cruzatte, and three other
men to the Omaha town located west of the Missouri River. They took a
flag and tobacco as gifts with an invitation for the Omahas to visit
camp and talk.
Ordway and his men had a
difficult time hiking to the town. At times they had to break a trail
through grass and thistles ten feet high. When they reached the town,
they found that it was deserted. The Omahas were out buffalo hunting. It
was late in the day so Ordway and the men made camp for the night about
five miles from the Corps of Discovery camp. Next day, they reported
back to Lewis and Clark that they had found the town deserted.
August 15, Clark took ten
men to a beaver dam constructed across a creek. The men made a “Brush
Drag” which they pulled across the pond and caught 318 fish—“Pike, Samon,
Bass, Pirch, Red horse, Small Cat, & … Silverfish.” Clark also wrote he
caught a shrimp but some think he meant a crayfish. He also recorded the
creek had extensive beds of mussels.
Meanwhile back at camp,
the men spotted a large prairie fire to the north on the east side of
the Missouri River. Lewis sent Pierre Dorion, who had lived with the
Yanktons, and a small party of men to investigate the fire. When they
arrived at the site of the fire, they found it had been made by a small
group of people. The fire had been left to burn itself out; but had
gotten out of control. No one was there.
On August 16, Lewis and
twelve men returned to the beaver pond and used the brush drag to catch
eight hundred fish. In the evening the wind blew from the southeast
cooling things down and blowing away the “Musquitors.”
At 6:00 p.m., Francois
Labiche, who was part of the search party, returned to camp. He told
Lewis and Clark the others were following. Three Oto chiefs and their
warriors, the French trader Faufon, and Moses Reed were with them. They
had also caught La Liberté, but he tricked them and escaped. The Oto
chiefs were willing to make peace with the Omaha through Lewis and
Clark. The Corps set fire to the prairie to signal the Omaha and any
other tribes who might be in the area to come to camp for a meeting.
August 18, George
Drouillard and the others accompanied Moses Reed, Fuafon, the Otos
chiefs and their warriors into the Corps of Discovery’s camp about
mid-afternoon. After a short talk with the chiefs and providing everyone
a meal, Lewis and Clark tried Reed for desertion to which he confessed.
Reed was sentenced to run the gauntlet four times and would no longer be
considered part of the permanent party. The men formed two lines and
each man held nine switches in his hands to strike Reed. When the three
Oto chiefs learned what was to happen to Reed, they asked that Reed be
pardoned; but Lewis and Clark explained to them that it was necessary to
do this to keep discipline. Reed then had to run between the two lines
of men four times at they beat him with sticks.
Lewis and Clark then met
with the chiefs, Little Thief and Big Horse, and asked the reason for
the war between them and the Omahas. They said two Missouris who lived
with the Otos had tried to steal Omaha horses but were killed in the
attempt, the Otos and Missouris then sought revenge and the situation
escalated from there.
That evening Lewis and
Clark gave everyone an extra gill of whisky and they had a dance that
lasted until 11:00 p.m.
At 10:00 a.m., on August
19, Lewis and Clark met with the Otos and Missouris. They delivered the
same basic speech that they had given earlier at Council Bluffs that the
government had changed to the United States, that they came in peace,
and that they wanted the tribes to live in peace with their neighbors.
The chiefs spoke and said that they were willing to make peace with
neighboring tribes, but they needed gifts to give their young men so
they would keep the peace. Lewis and Clark gave peace medals to the
chiefs and a paper commission to the warriors.
One warrior, Big Blue
Eyes, gave his commission back which angered Lewis and Clark. The Otos
apologized then asked that the paper be given back to Big Blue Eyes
after he apologized. Lewis and Clark gave it to the chiefs to give to
him.
At the end, the chiefs had
asked for a drink of whisky which Lewis and Clark gave them. The Corps
of Discovery made ready to leave; but the chiefs asked them to stay the
night which they agreed to do.
Sergeant Charles Floyd
became violently ill with “Beliose Cholick.” All the men tried to help
Floyd. The person who stayed with Floyd and attended him the most was
York. York was Clark’s slave. He was about the same age as Clark and had
been his constant companion since childhood. Everyone was concerned for
Charles Floyd’s life threatening condition.
Up The River With Lewis and Clark
Part 6, August 20, 1804-September 6, 1804
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