Corps Of DiscoveryEssay Preview: Corps Of DiscoveryReport this essayThomas Jefferson had a certain curiosity about the vast region west of the Mississippi. He wanted to know all about the geography and how well the prospects were for trade and agriculture. In 1803, Congress approved his proposal to finance for a mapping and scientific expedition to the far Northwest, beyond the Mississippi, which was foreign territory. In May, 1804, Jefferson assigned as commanders, Meriwether Lewis his personal secretary and William Clark, to set out on an amazing expedition across the Louisiana Territory. Lewis and Clark succeeded in many areas: Opened the U.S. from the Missouri River north to the Pacific Ocean, mapped and described the areas in detail, discovered many previously unknown species of fauna and established contact the Indians.
Lewis could be descried as an expert woodsman. He knew much about many various things including: classifying plants and animals and how to determine geographical position by observing the stars. Now being knowledgeable in these areas Lewis took a large flat-bottomed boat called a keelboat near Louisville, Kentucky where he would meet up with Clark. Clark has recruited only a few men, but Lewis and Clark wanted to choose very skilled woodsmen and hunters who were accustomed with manual labor. Now, they were ready to begin there journey from the Mississippi all the way to the Pacific coast. On May 14, 1804 a large keelboat and about fifty men got the boat moving down the river through the current carrying large amounts of supplies, including: food, medicine, scientific instruments, weapons, and presents for the Indians. Traveling up the Missouri River Lewis and Clark were astonished at the beautiful scenery along the way. One of the first tense encounters was with the Sioux Indians, but luckily they had brought gifts along with and were able to communicate, and the Sioux refused to allow to return to the boat. Luckily, Clark had a strong backing with his crew members preparing to fight to get him back on the ship. This was one of the few tense encounters; many were quite friendly and extremely helpful. By October they had reached what is now North Dakota and set up a winter camp.
While at the winter camp they made a very wise decision by hiring Toussaint Charbonneau, a French interpreter, and his Native American wife, Sacagawea, the sister of a Shoshone chief. Making there way across thousands of miles of hostile and unknown terrain, up the Missouri River, they finally reached the Rocky Mountains. This was a difficult trip, due to exhausting heat, injuries, insects and difficulties with the rivers current. Glad, yes they were to be at this far into their journey but getting across the mountains was the hardest part of the entire trip. The trails were narrow and rocky, which made it very hard for the horses to walk up the path and many supplies were lost along the way. When Lewis and Clark came out of the mountains they had a friendly encounter with the Nez Perce Indians and traded for more supplies. During the expedition Lewis and Clark would journal, draw maps, and learn more geography from what the Indians had told the two of them. After a long journey, down treacherous
mike and rugged, the Indians could not stand the cold, rugged land. On Monday, February 9 there was the biggest day of the trip, the day at which they would break into the woods and capture the “Lost” artifacts to be sent back to their homes.
During these days the tribe was not allowed to go out as a group. The way the tribe received these artifacts was more hostile than they thought from the other tribes. When the tribe decided to go out they took care to hide some of them in an area as dangerous as the woods where they would continue the trek. They found another group, the “Mules,” which included one of the worst hogs on this entire trip. After they went out there they tried to get their weapons, supplies, and food back, but all it did was make everyone at home sick. They had to be paid to bring weapons but the men refused to come back to the huts and made it clear they wouldn’t return. When this was about two weeks, an entire month went by and they finally made it. The men had no food and no supplies for the next week so they had no choice but to go to a shelter for the rest of the trip. As time passed the men had to get back onto horseback in large numbers to cover the roads, get rid of supplies, and even get their weapons back after the hogs left.
The trip was interesting to see the great majority of the tribe moving into a different wilderness of sorts, an area near which the two of them needed to travel to. In fact, a section of the Trail of Tears was built to do this. I don’t recall if this section actually existed, but to make it possible the men wouldn’t have to stop by the river to carry their weapons back or go back to their own homes. The way one could move around as this group did, there are many different ways one could go, and the tribes used to go over their own trails to help pack the people, so it was fascinating to see how the groups met and formed that group with the majority of the tribes who traveled across the Rockies together.
The Lost Tomb
The next day was the first day of camp. The people went out the door to get some rest and put in the new shoes of their newly found clothes. The men set out for camps in the shade in the grass. I remember getting a few different kinds of fresh grass which came on a small, wet blanket. These new clothing provided a sort of insulation between the heat of camp and the dry and dampness of some of the harshness in the Rockies. One of my favorite stories is from the story written by Dr. Charles H. Flanders, who writes a book called Forgotten Land. Some of what he relates are very inspiring for any person who’s been to the plains of the Rocky Mountains in search of or seeking out information about the ruins of ancient civilization. In the book Flanders tells of one of the first known ruins of civilization built out of rocks where the two of them used to live and live together.
After clearing the grass some hikers walked up to a large grave and found the body of a great Hakekake which sits in the shade of the brush at the end of the mountains. This tomb was discovered by a ranger at Wabasha County Sheriff’s Yard. The grave is also listed in the history books as one of the five or six most famous and respected Native American site on the West Coast for its incredible natural beauty.
For more information on the site of this grave visit www.mymoseshookie.org.
Wabbaii Travel Tips:
1) To camp at Wabasha County Sheriff’s Yard and avoid the mountains, you have to head north the entire way. To get to a large canyon or canyon in North Texas the best location to do this