Lewis and Clark at Fort Clatsop: a Winter of Environmental Discomfort and Cultural Misunderstandings
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Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 7-9-1997 Lewis and Clark at Fort Clatsop: A winter of Environmental Discomfort and Cultural Misunderstandings Kirk Alan Garrison Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Diplomatic History Commons, and the United States History Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Garrison, Kirk Alan, "Lewis and Clark at Fort Clatsop: A winter of Environmental Discomfort and Cultural Misunderstandings" (1997). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 5394. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.7267 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. THESIS APPROVAL The abstract and thesis of Kirk Alan Garrison for the Master of Arts in History were presented July 9, 1997, and accepted by the thesis committee and the department. COMMITTEE APPROVALS: r DEPARTMENT APPROVAL: Go~do~ B. Dodds, Chair Department of History ********************************************************************* ACCEPTED FOR PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY BY THE LIBRARY on L?/M;< ABSTRACT An abstract of the thesis of Kirk Alan Garrison for the Master of Arts in History, presented 9 July 1997. Title: Lewis and Clark at Fort Clatsop: A Winter of Environmental Discomfort and Cultural Misunderstandings. I\1embers of the Lewis and Clark expedition did not like the 1805-1806 winter they spent at Fort Clatsop near the mouth of the Columbia River among the Lower Chinookan Indians, for two reasons. First, the environment west of the Rocky Mountains was unlike anything they had ever experienced or imagined, and it had such a powerful effect on the whites as to negatively influence their attitudes regarding the western landscape, and to prejudice the explorers against the peoples living in that environment. Second, the cultures of the Lower Chinook Indians and the whites were so different that often neither group comprehended the motives and actions of the other, resulting in mutual resentment and dislike. Lewis and Clark often portray these Indians as thieves, price-gouging traders, and physically unattractive, but an examination of Chinookan culture gives another viewpoint: the Indians felt they were acting in legitimate and reasonable ways, and that it was the white visitors who were strange and unpredictable. To comprehend Lower Chinookan culture I rely on the records left by the earliest visitors to the Columbia River (mainly fur traders), as well as more recent anthropological studies of those Indians. For an understanding of expedition attitudes, I depend mainly on The Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, eleven volumes of expedition writing edited by Gary Moulton. A close examination of these party journals reveals two related trends. In the early part of their stay, expedition members often complain about the environment on the lower Columbia, but these protests gradually die out early in 1806. But, conversely, complaints about the Lower Chinookan Indians gradually grow stronger, continuing even after the expedition has left the coast. This suggests that the explorers gradually shifted their complaints away from what they could not control, the environment, to what they felt they could do something about, the Indians living in that environment. All of these attitudes and opinions resulted in a disagreeable winter for the explorers, and probably for the Chinook Indians as well. 2 LEWIS AND CLARK AT FORT CLATSOP: A WINTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOMFORT AND CULTURAL MISUNDERSTANDINGS by KIRK ALAN GARRISON A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in HISTORY Portland State University 1997 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1 • The Le\\is and Clark Expedition • The Journal-Keeping Methods of Lewis and Clark • The Lower Chinook • Traders and Explorers: Other Sources PART I: THE EXPLORERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT ON THE LOWER COLUMBIA 2. A DIFFERENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ............................................ 17 • Fleas and Other Bothersome Creatures • The Ch·erpowering Elements PART II: THE EXPLORERS AND THE INDIANS ON THE LOWER COLUMBIA 3. STEALING, OR ~cGA TIVE RECIPROCITY. .................................. .42 • Stealing: Social Distance and Simple Greed • Stealing to Recoup Losses • Stealing and Harassment in Lieu of Gifts 4. BALANCED RECIPROCITY ....................................................... 79 • Clark and Cus-ka-lah • The Captains and Shah-Mr-war-cap • Comowool. the Captains· Farnrite • Tah-cum and Lewis· Diatribe 5. THE LO\VER COLUMBIA MARKET SOCIETY ............................... 93 • The Expedition. the Chinook. and the Canoe: Different Conceptions of Trade 6. CHINOOK.AN CUSTOMS AND APPEARANCE .............................. 109 • Tattooing and Ankle Binding • Head Deformation • General Chinookan Appearance 7. CONCLUSION ....................................................................... 125 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................... 129 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The Lewis and Clark Expedition met with and described many different groups of Indians on their journey to the Pacific. After all, that was one of the purposes of their trip, since President Thomas Jefferson had instructed Lewis that "the commerce which may be carried on with the people inhabiting the line you will pursue [i.e., the Indians in the West]. renders a knolege [sic] of these people important."1 Both captains did observe and record much about the various tribes they encountered, but their meetings were usually so brief it is hard to tell how expedition members really felt about these Native Americans, with two exceptions. The party first spent considerable time with the Mandans, whom they wintered among in present day North Dakota from 1'\ovember of 1804 to early April of 1805, and as a result, the explorers left extensive records detailing their interaction with these Missouri tribes. The second group of Indians Lewis and Clark spent a good deal of time among were the various Chinookan tribes on the Pacific Coast, where the party stayed for about four and one half months the following winter, and here we also have much written about contacts between these Indians and the white explorers. 1 Jcffcrson·s instructions to Meriwether Lewis. written 20 June 1803. Printed in DaYid LaYender. The H·~r to the Western ,\'ea: Lewis and Clark Across the Continent (New York: Anchor Books. 1988). 390. Expedition members thought highly of the Mandans, frequently hunting with and visiting them, and the Indians, in turn, were regular guests at Fort Mandan. Lewis even became good friends with "the black-Cat the principal chief of the Roop-tar-he, or upper Mandane Vilage." He writes "this man possesses more integrety, firmness, inteligence or perspicuety of mind than any indian I have met with in this quarter .... "2 But the party did not feel the same way about the Chinook Indians, and the time they spent on the Pacific Coast. James Ronda notes the contrast between "the excitement and anticipation that had run through life . at Fort Mandan" and "the predictable procession of wind, storm, and fog" as well as "mildew, spoiled meat, and numbing boredom" that "'a season at Fort Clatsop seemed to promise."3 Party members enjoyed their visits with the Mandans, but they did not like their time among the Chinooks. In this work I will look at why this is so. Specifically, I will show that there are two reasons the white explorers disliked the winter they spent with the West Coast Indians. First, the environment was unlike anything they had ever experienced or even imagined. As William Lang has argued regarding this subject, "an inherent power in the western landscape was among the most important factors in the Lewis and Clark expedition," and "how the leaders reacted to the environment significantly influenced their perceptions of people and place ...." 4 As we will see, Lewis and Clark often reacted negatively to the Northwest environment and, by extension, the coastal Indians. = Gary E. Moulton. editor. The Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. 11 Yolumes (Lincoln. Nebraska: Uniyersitv of Nebraska Press. 1990), 3:289. 3 James Ronda. Lewfs and Clark Among the Indians (Lincoln. Nebraska: UniYersity of Nebraska Press. 1984 ). 181. 2 Second, members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition did not enjoy their time on the Pacific Coast because of cultural misunderstandings with the Indians they stayed among, the Lower Chinook. The captains' journals portray these natives as habitual thieves, price gouging traders, and squat, ugly, and dirty in appearance, and these characterizations became more and more negative throughout the winter. But in such a situation where two cultures come together, "the experience of the indigenous society is as significant as the experience of the intrusive one,"5 and a careful examination of Lower Chinookan culture, and a closer look at the explorers' entries, gives another side to this story. Often, when the whites felt the natives were stealing from them and taking advantage of their need for supplies, the Chinook were doing nothing of the kind, but the two cultures were so different that neither group comprehended the motives of the