Eureka - The Ocean

On November 7, 1805 Clark recorded in his journal "Great joy in camp, we are in view of the ocean, this great Pacific Ocean which we have been so anxious to see!"  Not exactly though...as they were still deep within the Columbia river's broad estuary.  A week later they did indeed arrive on the Pacific coast, their journey of discovery complete.  On the border between Washington and Oregon they built Fort Clatsop (now Lewis and Clark National Park in Oregon) and spent a soggy, uncomfortable winter there.

The next spring they turned homeward along much the same route they had blazed. In  July 1806 they split into two parties - Clark's party explored the Yellowstone River and followed it to the Missouri.  Lewis' path included an encounter with a band of Blackfoot Indians in which two Indians were killed.  The two parties reunited at the Yellowstone and Missouri River for the last leg of the journey.  They arrived back in St. Louis on September 23, 1806. 

Lewis had recorded at the end of the journey "We were now about to penetrate a country at least 2000 miles in width on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden, the good or evil it had in store for us was for experiment yet to determine."  What an adventure it must have been!

Next time...Treason in the air
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Today in Pioneer History: On this day in 1785, the older of the two Grimm brothers, Jacob, is born in Hanau, Germany. The two brothers assisted some friends with research for an important collection of folk lyrics. One of the authors, impressed by the brothers’ work, suggested they publish some of the oral folktales they’d collected. The collection appeared as Children’s and Household Tales, later known as Grimm’s Fairy Tales, in several volumes between 1812 and 1822.

Across the Mountains to the Sea

On August 30, 1805,  Lewis and Clark set out northward once more to find the waterway to the Pacific, using pack horses obtained from the Shoshone. They went through narrow, rocky crevices where both men and horses struggled constantly - up 7500 feet on ridges in snow, hail, sleet, rain and hunger.  There was not a single game to be found.

After 10 days they emerged in a valley - the home of the Flathead Indians.  The Indians were friendly and helped guide the explorers to a westward flowing river, the Clearwater River, navigable but difficult.

Lewis and Clark set out on October 7 and three days later they ran into dangerous rapids on the Snake River. The peril of the river seemed far more expedient than the prospect of winter spent in the mountains!

On October 16, the Snake River took them to the Columbia, the legendary river of Oregon Territory.  This was their main objective of the whole expedition but they were too exhausted to celebrate - actually they barely noticed it!  Ahead lay more days of running rapids and a final journey around the upper and lower Cascade Mountains.  Add bouts of seasickness to it...all in all a really fun journey! :)

Next time...Eureka! The Pacific
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On This Day in Pioneer History: "On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders aboard. On Christmas Eve, the astronauts entered into orbit around the moon, the first manned spacecraft ever to do so.

Sacajawea Quells Trouble

On April 7, 1805, the Corps of Discovery set out downstream on the Missouri River with reports and collections of natural specimens for the President. Part of the group went west in the canoes.  By June they reached the Great Falls of Missouri, beyond which lay 18 miles of white water rapids. To by-pass the rapids they had to make a 25 day journey over land in gale force winds and unseasonably hot, burning sun.  A month later when they reached the foothills of the Rockies, the Missouri had become a mountain stream.

Sacajawea was near home country now, and pointed out landmarks to the expedition party.  Lewis led a party following an Indian trail through the Beaverhead Range across the Continental Divide at the Lemhi Pass.  There they met a Shoshone hunting band.  The Shoshone were edgy and confrontational until Sacajawea appeared.  The leader just happened to be her brother - and shouts of joy at their reunion calmed the tension.  What luck :)

The Indians became delighted with the white men and anxious to offer their support (firearms) against the Blackfoot.  The Shoshone described the mountains ahead as impassable for the Corps, but they could not be dissuaded.  The river to the Pacific that they were searching for was no where nearby.  Instead the trip west would be rugged mountain travel before even a navigable river could even be found.

Next time...Through the mountains to the sea
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On December 17, 1843, Charles Dickens’ classic story “A Christmas Carol” is published. Dickens was born in 1812 and attended school in Portsmouth. His father, a clerk in the navy pay office, was thrown into debtors’ prison in 1824, and 12-year-old Charles was sent to work in a factory. The miserable treatment of children and the institution of the debtors’ jail became topics of several of Dickens’ novels.

Clash of the Tetons

The Teton Indian tribers were fierce warriors, expert hunters, horsemen, and the terrorists of the Great Plains at this point in American history.  They would demand payment in exchange for safe passage from the French and Spanish fur traders who passed through the plains region.  No surprise that they should demand the same from the Corps of Discovery expedition.

After a council from the keelboat with Lewis and Clark, the Indians surrounded the men, drawing their arrows.  Captain Clark drew his sword in anger while the rest of the exploration party cocked their rifles.  Seeing their disadvantage the Teton withdrew.  News of their weakness spread throughout the Plains, earning Lewis and Clark respect and making their passage through the area much easier and safer.

The Corps of Discovery wintered in North Dakota among the Mandan Indians.  Although frozen in for five months, the Indians were hospitable.  They met a French fur trader while there named Toussant Charbonneau.  Charbonneau had a wife named Sacajawea, a Shoshone from the west, taken captive in 1800 and sent back east.  The couple offered to join the Corps expedition and serves as guides and interpreters. 

Mr. Charbonneau proved to be a lazy man and totally not useful, but Sacajawea would prove to be of great value as the expedition goes on.

Next time ..Sacajawea quells disturbances
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On this Day in Pioneer History: "On December 14,1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen becomes the first explorer to reach the South Pole.  Amundsen, born in Borge, near Oslo, in 1872, planned to be the first man to the North Pole, and he was about to embark in 1909 when he learned that the American Robert Peary had achieved the feat. Amundsen sailed instead for Antarctica.

What's Out There?

For 28 months Meriwether Lewis and William Clark searched for a water route across the unchartered American west.  They endured months of cold, weeks of hunger and fatigue from days of backbreaking labor on the prairie.  Their party of 26 soldiers and one civilian were harassed by Indians all along the way.

The Corps of Discovery, as they were called, trained for months for survival in the wilderness.  They lost only one man to probable appendicitis.

On May 14, 1804 Lewis began from Camp Dubois, outside of St. Louis.  Clark joined him at St. Charles days later.  With a 55 foot long keelboat and 2 pirogues (long canoes), they left civilization behind to travel up the Missouri River. It proved to be a nightmare of sandbars, obstacles, changing currents and changing river banks.

Clark was the navigator, Lewis the journalist.  By July they had arrived at Council Bluffs and had their first Indian encounter.  Ottos, Omahas, and Missouri were given medals from President Jefferson and urged to live in peace with the white man.  President Jefferson was known as the "Great White Father in Washington".

Next time...clash with the Tetons.
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Today in Pioneer History: " On December 10, 1830, Emily Dickinson is born in Amherst, Massachusetts. Dickinson was a witty and popular student but was viewed as somewhat unconventional. She rarely left Amherst,  preferring her home, her stern lawyer father, invalid mother, spinster sister, and domineering brother as her family life. Dickinson had only one romance that is known about today, with Judge Otis Lord. who people thought she might marry but the romance ended."

The Great Unknown Purchase

No one seemed to know what this complete mystery we just bought was like! France refused to specify the southern or western boundary, leaving it to the United States to deal with Spain.  Talleyrand said, "You have made the best possible terms for yourselves and I suppose you will make the most of it."

What was known of the resources, terrain, and climate of the new purchase was as vague as the boundaries.  The few Europeans who had explored the area had only explored narrow, long pieces of land, chiefly along major rivers.  Other than that information, the United States had no idea what lay to the west.  They had borrowed a great deal of money for something they had no idea what it was!

Jefferson's answer to this problem was to enlist the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore just what the United States had just purchased.  Jefferson also wanted to strengthen the US claims to Oregon Country and find a water route to the Pacific Ocean if there was one. 

Next time... the men who set out into the great unknown
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Today in Pioneer History: On December 3, 1818,  Illinois achieves full statehood. Though Illinois presented unique challenges to immigrants unaccustomed to the soil and vegetation of the area, it grew to become a bustling and densely populated state.