The Official Publication of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. Inc. Vol. 24, No. 3 August 1998 THE LEWIS AND CLARK TRAIL In this issue- HERITAGE FOUNDATION, INC. Incorporated 1969 under Missouri General Not-For-Profit Corporation Act IRS Page 4- Exemption Certificate No. 501 (C}(3}-ldentification No. 51-0187715 Pronghorns As Documented by the 1804--06 Lewis and Clark Expedition OFFICERS ACTIVE PAST PRESIDENTS President Irving W. Anderson Ken Walcheck James M. Peterson Portland. Ol'egon Page 10- 503 Poplar Avenue Robert K Doerl1, Jr. lt Felt Like They Were There Vermillion. SD 57069 Cheyenne. Wyoming President Elect Martin Erickson James R. Fazio David Borlaug Moscow. Ida/10 Box 492 Page 14- Washburn, ND 58577 Robert E. Gatten, Jr. George Armstrong Custer and the Vice President G>'eensbol'o. North Carn/ina Mandan I ndians Cindy Orlando H. John Montague Tracy Potter Box 604-FC Portland. Oregon Astoria, OR 97103 Donald F. Nell Page 15- Secretary Bozeman. Moncana Building Partnerships Ludd Trozpek 41 41 Via Padova William P. Sherman Martin Erickson Portland. Oregon Claremont. CA 9 I 71 I Page 16- Treasurer L. Edwin Wang Jerry Garrett Minneapolis. Minnesota The Grand Expedition of the I 0174 Sakura Drive Wilbur P. Werner Lewis and Clark Expedition St. Louis. MO 63128 Mesa, Arizona as Seen C.M. Russell Immediate Past President by Clyde G. .. Sid" Huggins Stuart E. Knapp Bozeman, MT 59715 Page 20- Mandeville, LA David B. Weaver Would Have a Executive Director Sammye Meadows Monument Page 28- DIRECTORS KI LARGE Andrew Ellicot-Astronomer .. . Jane Henley Robert Weir Barbara Kubik Philip C. Althen Charfouesville. Virginia Scranton. Pennsylvania Kennewick, Washington Srevensville, Moncana Mathematician ... Surveyor Robert Shattuck Frank Muhly James Holmberg Dark Rain Thom Nancy M. Davis Grass Valley. California Ph iladelphia. Pennsylvania Loi1isvilfe. Kentticky Bloomington. Indiana Page 33- Jane Schmoyer-Weber Great Falls. Monrana News Update

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2 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 by Jam es M. Peterson Greetings to the Lewis and Clarkers! Clark Interpretive Center at Great Falls. This is a real Nearly a year has passed since our last annual milestone and should be of immediate and telling meeting. As the president's term of office nears an value to the foundation. Those attending the annual end, it is appropriate to note some of the more sig­ meeting at Great Falls will have an opportunity to nificant developments which have occurred in the meet Sammye Meadows and view the new office. foundation's annals. It has been a busy (even hectic) Well underway as this is written is an undertaking year with changes of marked significance for the which typifies the sort of thing which perhaps best foundation. characterizes the foundation's work. This the "fea­ Our membership has increased substantially. We ture article" project. Feature articles (and some now have about 2,200 members and the growth others) are being extracted from We Proceeded On continues. This can be attributed to three principal and will be published in book form. What better way factors: the continuing robust sales of Dr. Ambrose's to bring the history of the expedition to life-and to "Undaunted Courage," the airing of Ken Burns' our members and others drawn to the story. The "Lewis and Clark: The journey of the Corps of Dis­ work is being done by a former editor of WPO and covery," and the burgeoning interest in the expedi­ former president of the foundation, Bob Saindon. tion as its bicentennial nears. With respect to this project, I would be remiss in my A truly pressing need was met with the hiring of a duties if I did not acknowledge and commend Don full time executive director and her occupancy of our Nell for his assiduous efforts to get this project going. new office in the U.S. Forest Service's new Lewis and Thanks, Don!

(President's Message continued on page 39)

A fresh start, new ideas, that is what we are look­ involved with the chapter and the foundation, Nancy ing at. (It is okay these days to end a sentence with a Davis and others brought humor into their chapter preposition.) promotional brochures. They didn't stop there. Start­ With an expanded WPO, with new features, new ing with this issue of WPO, we will be looking at the horizons have opened for us. I'm shooting for more men who trained Meriwether Lewis in the things he color in the magazine, starting with the November needed to know such as medicine, astronomy, etc. issue. We will probably have two or more pages in The first person that Nancy Davis wrote about is An­ the middle splashed with color photos. It would have drew Ellicot. You will find him on page 28. The se­ been great to have the pictures of the new interpre­ ries will be featured periodically between now and tive center in the May WPO in color (they started out 2003 when the bicentennial gets underway. as color slides), but looking towards October I am The Travelers Rest Chapter in Missoula, Montana, thinki!lg green fi elds, fields filled with flowers as has started a daily newspaper feature on the Corps Lewis and Clark may have seen them on their jour­ of Discovery. Look in the News Update section for ney. their great idea to catch peoples' attention. A fresh start and new ideas are popping up all The Portage Route Chapter in Great Falls will be over the place. presenting its brand new Lewis and Clark. Montana In Philadelphia, Frank Muhly and others are using vests (for sale) at the annual foundation meeting in unique approaches to tell the Lewis and Clark story. Great Falls. Faced with the problem of how to get more people (Editor 's Note continued on page 3 9)

ON THE COVER-Circular depressions up to 40 feet in diameter are silent testimony of the 50 or more earthlodges which stood in the Awatixa Village on the west bank of the Knife River in North Dakota.

AUGUST 1998 W E PROCEEDED ON 3 by Ken Walcheck falo wallows, and dissected bad­ curred on September 3, 1804, in lands. present day Bon Homme County, hen the Corps of Dis­ For some expedition members, South Dakota: "Several wild Goats covery entered the the sheer, limitless openness of the Seen in the Plains they are wild & smooth undulating prairie country must have occupied fleet." ' On September 14, near the W sweep of the mid-conti­ stage-center in their memory vicinity of Bull Creek, Lyman nental prairie of North America on banks fixing attention with a tena­ County, South Dakota, Clark was their outward 1804 journey, the cious magnetism of awe and won­ the first member of the expedition rolling grasslands and its colorlul der that can be felt but never flilly to bag a "Buck goat" which we vistas linked with a myriad of pre­ understood, that sureness of pris­ now recognize as the pronghorn, viously undiscovered plants and tine wilderness. Other members Antilocapra americana. On this animals must have surely ap­ may have viewed it as an alien date, he provided the scientific peared to the explorers as striking land, not only in physical appear­ community with the first descrip­ in appearance, exhilarating in ex­ ance but also in its harsh rejection ti on of the strikingly colored prairie tent, graceful in outline, and of infi­ of familiar patterns, customs, and speedster: "I walked on shore to nite complexity and diversity. in stitutions. Even so, they could find an old Volcanoe .. .in my walk I The uncharted prairies whi ch not deny the uniqueness of its fl o­ killed a Buck Goat of this Countrey, had been molded by climatic and ral and fauna! composition that about the height of the Grown hi storic geological forces for eons had been molded by the historic Deer, its body Shorter the Horns had not yet been subjected to the forces of geology, climate, and evo­ which is not very hard and forks invasion of European cultural ac­ lution; forces which at this early 2/3 up one prong Short the other tivities. Selective outdoor theaters timeframe could not be compre­ round & Sharp arched, and is im­ consisted of early spring courtship hended by Meriwether Lewis or mediately above its eyes the displays of excited dancing male the scientific community. Because Colour is a light gray with black be­ sharptail grouse and prairie chick­ of the far-reaching visibility on the hind its ears down the neck, and ens on their traditional dancing­ prairie, animal adaptations and be­ its face white round its neck, its booming grounds, and the fighting havioral traits adjusted accordingly. sides and its rump round tail which arenas of rutting wapiti and bison Adaptations in structure, physiol­ is Short & white; Verry actively who battled time after time with ogy, and behavior were shaped made, has only a pair of hoofs to rival males. Prairie art galleries and reshaped through centuries of each foot, his brains on the back of consisted of a variegated spatter­ natural selection to fit, more or less his head, his Norstrals large, his ing of prairie flowers in broad closely, a combination of the physi­ eyes li ke a Sheep he is more li ke cal and biotic characteristics of its the Antilope or Gazelle of Africa painted fi elds embraced by a run­ 2 ning spread of cloud shadow and prairie environment. In the case of than any other Species of Goat. " sun. Musical amphitheaters con­ the pronghorn, natural selection On the same date, Lewis re­ sisted of prairie birds singing on processes molded their visual acu­ corded six body measurements of the wing and westerly winds rus­ ity, respiratory and circulatory sys­ Clark's estimated 65 pound "wild 3 tling prairie grasses, their musical tems, fused specific leg bones for goat. " notes ri sing and falling with sooth­ additional strength, and improved "Such an animal was never yet ing sighs and whispers. Architec­ other subtle features which pro­ known it in U.S. States," concluded 4 tural landscape creations consisted vided for a survival plasticity to Sergeant Ordway. It's true that in­ of a remarkable diversity of rolling cope with environmental hazards habitants of the eastern seaboard grasslands, hills, meandering river associated with the prairie. had no knowledge of the existence bottoms bordered by deciduous The first pronghorn observation of the prairie pronghorn, but other woodlands, bluffs and ravines, buf- recorded by Willi am Clark oc- early explorers such as Narvaez

4 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 -

and Cabeza de Vaca in 1528-36, open prairie country from eastern trip in the vicinity of the Teton De Soto in 1539-42, Coronado in Washington to Nebraska and from River in Choteau County, Montana, 1540-42, Verendrye and sons in the Canadian prairie provinces to on July 27: "the wolves in packs 17 42 undoubtedly observed Baja California and northern occasinally hunt these goats, which pronghorns but left no records Mexico. are to swift to be run down and concerning the prairies and their Population estimates by wildlife taken by a single wolf. The wolves plant and animal inhabitants. As authorities indicate there were having fixed upon their intended naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton about 35 million pronghorns in prey and taken their stations, a noted: "Coronado and his contem­ North America prior to the arrival part of the pack commence the poraries, when they discovered the of European explorers. Ernest Th­ chase, and running it in a circle, antelope, were too busy adding to ompson Seton estimated 100 mil­ are at certain intervals relieved by the Spiritual Kingdom of their lion. Montana wildlife biologist, others. In this manner they are masters ... to bestow a second James Beer, concluded from able to run a goat down. At the thought on this wonderfiil wild Seton's estimates that Montana's falls where the wolves are plenty, I thing. It remained for Lewis & pronghorn population was about had an opportunity of seeing one Clark, 270 years later to give the 2,500,000.9 of these hunts.'"2 To a given prong­ world detailed information about When one closely examines the horn, death may appear in many the pronghorn of the plains. "5 Lewis and Clark Journals and sifts forms. It may pounce suddently The pronghorn discovery of the through the 253 pronghorn notes 10 w ith red fangs, or it may creep in only North American mammal recorded by the painstaking slowly and agonizingly in the form having horns that consist of a per­ chroniclers, one can clearly see the of a bactierial infection, a dwin­ manent, laterally flattened bone particular niche that pronghorns dling food supply, a hunter's gun, core covered with a keratinous fill in the prairie environment. or a w ind-driven prairie fire. What­ sheath that is shed annually after Bison and pronghorns were ever guise death may take, it each breeding season, was placed sympatric species, mutually serves an effective agent in regulat­ in a new and separate taxonomic complementary in their forage re­ ing population numbers. family (Antilocapridae) meaning quirements. Ranking second in Adverse weather plays a major antelope-goat, and was technically numbers to bison, pronghorn were role in regulating pronghorn popu­ classified as Antilope americana in the most numerous inhabitants of lation density. We now know from 6 1815 by zoologist George Ord. In the rolling sagebrush-grasslands. years of accumulated weather data 1818, Ord reclassified the generic Occupying a niche between wan­ that last year's weather in plains name to Antilocapra. 7 In both of dering grazing bison and the sed­ country will tell you very little entary prairie dog, there was no his classifications, he relied upon about this year's. Prai rie weather is the materials and diary notes fur­ serious competition for forage with highly unpredictable and when nished by the expedition. Clark's either associated species. The properly primed can move tem­ use of the words goat and the pronghorn, a browser and grazer, peratures violently up and down, Spanish word capra plus a variety relied on sagebrush (Lewis's wild sometimes producing devastating of other spellings such as cabrie hysop), forbs, grasses, and other havoc. and cabberrie had some merit as plants. Despi te the fact that pronghorns pronghorns do have some features W ith observant eye and active endure temperature extremes of the goat family including a vari­ pen, Lewis was the first to report ranging from blistering summer ety of scent glands and a gall blad­ on predator-prey interactions be­ heat and brutally cold below zero der. Clark's comment, "None of tween wolves and pronghorns. On these Goats has any beard .. . "8 per­ April 29, 1805, somewhere be­ temperatures in some of the most haps persuaded some expedition tween Li ttle and Big Muddy Creek shelterless wildlife habitat in the members that the term goat was in Roosevelt County, Montana, m id-continent, mortality does oc­ not an appropriate name for this Lewis wrote: "We have frequently cur, sometimes with disasterous animal that was so "keenly" made. seen the wolves in pursuit of the results. The danger comes from Lewis, in contrast to Clark, favored Antelope in the plains; they appear deep snows followed by periods of the term antelope and was consis­ to decoy a single one from a flock, thaw and refreezing which crusts tent in its use. That name remains and then pursue it, alturnately re­ the snow into a concrete-like hard­ firmly entrenched and is widely lieving each other until they take pan making forage difficult to ob­ used by hunters as well as the gen­ it." II tain. Follow this up with howling eral public. Patrick Gass reported a similar ground blizzards driven by 50-70 Pronghorns originally occupied hunting technique on the return m ph winds that build 10-20 foot

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 5 drifts and drive the wind chill fac­ there was a pack which they had ber as there are discrepancies in the tor to 80- t 00 degrees below zero, formed of timber and brush, for j ournals on kill dates and numbers you then have a sure-fire recipe for the purpose of taking the cabrie or of pronghorns taken. In some in­ pronghorn losses. Antelope. It was constructed in the stances, kills are reported but no From Lewis's weather table di­ following manner. A strong pound numbers are provided. While at Ft. ary, we recognize that the 1804-05 was first made of timbers, on one Clatsop, Lewis listed the native ani­ winter at Ft. Mandan was bitterly side of which there was a sm all mals encountered, including ante­ cold and accompanied by deep apparture, sufficiently large to ad­ lope, from the Rocky Mountains to snows. On December 12, Lewis mit Antelope; from each side of the Pacific Ocean. For the prong­ recorded a temperature of -38°. this apparture, a curtain was ex­ horn he wrote, "the Antelope is On December 17, it fell to -45 °. tended to a considerable distance found in the great plains of Colum­ For an eleven-day stretch from De­ widening as they reached from the bia and are the same of those on cember 7 to December 18, tem­ pound." -Clark'4 the Missouri found in every part of peratures hovered between -1 ° to Oct. 16, 1804 (Emmons Co. that untimbered country. " 16 -45°F. Lewis was informed by the SD)-"Saw great numbers of goats No pronghorns were killed in the Mandans that the resident prong­ or Antelope on Shore Capt Lewis Columbia Basin by the explorers, horn herd failed to migrate to the one man & the Ricara Chief and only two observations were re­ Black Hills as they norm ally did walked on Shore, in the evening I corded on the return trip, in each year. Cold weather and deep discovered a number of Indians on Klickitat County and the second in snows continued through January each Side and goats on the river or Benton County, Washington. with a low of -40° recorded on Swimming & on Sans banks, when Surprisingly, no information was January 10. Interestingly enough, I came near Saw the boys in the recorded by either Lewis or Clark the journals report only three water swiming amongst the goats on territorial disputes occurring be­ pronghorns were harvested by the & Killing them with Sticks ... ! saw tween dominant male pronghorns explorers during the October 27- 58 killed in this way"- Clark 15 and other subordinate males. Op­ April 7 stay at the Mandan villages. Prior to the expedition's depar­ portunities to view such disputes, Despite the remarkable plasticity ture on the outward journey from undoubtedly, were there. Even of pronghorns to cope with envi­ Camp Dubois, it was clearly under­ though an understanding of the ronmental hazards, this particular stood that they would be partially function of territorial ownership harsh winter undoubtedly culled a living off the land. Little did they was not fully understood by scien­ fair number of animals. Numerous realize that pronghorns would pro­ tists in the early t 9th century, the remarks by the captains to the vide part of their requirements for concept of territoriality goes back in "poreness" of bison, elk, deer, and fresh meat. During the westward history at least as far as Aristotle antelope suggests one tough w in­ trek, 64 pronghorns were killed in (ca. 350 B.C.) who wrote "Each pair ter for both wildlife and humans. South Dakota, North Dakota, and of eagles needs a large territory and The Lewis and Clark Journals Montana. One the return trip, 19 one that allows no other eagle to provide us with the first informa­ were harvested in Montana and settle in the neighborhood." 17 tion on how various Indian tribes North Dakota. Most of the prong­ Typically, when a territorial male employed a variety of capture horn' kills occurred in Montana spots a rival, he first stares at the techniques to harvest large num- with 38 being bagged in 1805 and intruder which is considered to be 1 bers of pronghorns. 18 taken on the return 1806 trip. aggressive behavior, and the avoid­ Nov. 5, 1804 (Fort Mandan)-"A Twenty nine percent of the Mon­ ance of a stare is considered sub­ camp of the Mandans, a few miles tana pronghorn kills occurred in missive. If the rival pronghorn holds below us Cought within two days Cascade County. Fo r a summary of his ground, there may be loud vo­ 100 Goats, by driving them in a the harvest data for the entire calization, an aggressive chase, and Strong pen, derected by a bush 1804-06 trip, see Table 1 (pp. 8-9). occasionally a fight. fence w idening from the pen ... and How accurate is the harvest In retrospect, Clark, perhaps, felt are then at the mercy of the hunt­ data? The figures may be regarded that his brief comment on ers." - Clark'3 as fa irly reliable as game animals "Antilopes ruting" 18 was sufficient April 15, 1805 (Mountrail Co., harvested by hunters were usually enough. Even if Lewis did have ND)- " ! saw the remains of several mentioned in the various diaries. some insight on the territory con­ camps of the Assinniboins; near Pronghorn kills, however, should cept, higher priorities were first in one of which in a small revene, be regarded as a minimum num- order.

6 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST I 998 - The Wind Drinker hunters eventually do, that a com­ serving energy. Equipped with a Lewis's diary entry for Septem­ bination of open, limitless space large heart and a large diameter ber I 7, 1804. mentions the "Agility and the pronghorn's superb archi­ trachea, pronghorns run with an and supeior fleetness" of tectural design serves as its key for open mouth drinking in excessive pronghorns after attempting to survival. Pronghorns have phe­ amounts of air to supply the lungs. stalk them while hunting. After fu­ nomenal running endurance in ad­ It's a little surprising that expedi­ tile attempts to approach w ithin dition to their speed. They rank tion recorders failed to take notice shooting range, he was quite number one as the swiftest hooved of the pronghorns method of alert­ amazed at how fast and how far terrestrial mammal in North ing other pron ghorns of imminent his quarry could move in a rela­ America. Cruising speed averages danger. When alarmed, a prong­ tively short period of time. He con­ about 30 miles/hr and maximum horn will erect the hairs of its ro­ cluded his entry with " ... I beheld speeds have been clocked at 54 sette white rump patch, a the rapidity of their flight along the miles/hr. Fast, accelerated runs of conspicuous warning to other ridge before me it appeared 3-4 miles are common, but then pronghorns who in turn see the reather the rappid flight of birds exhaustion occurs rapidly. On long, flashing of the "heliograph" and than the motion of quadrupeds. I slender laminated leg bones with pass the warning on to other think I can safely venture the as­ large skeletal muscle attachment nearby pronghorns. sertion that the speed of this and cartilaginous shock-absorbing If there is any weakness in the anamel is equal if not superior to two-digit hoofs. the prairie speed­ pronghorn's packet of survival that of the finest blooded ster effortlessly runs in a linear traits, it's a behavioral curiosity courser."' 9 straight-out line with no up and trait. In Lewis's Ap ril 30, 1805, Lewis learned, as all pronghorn down movements, thereby con- dairy entry, he mentions how the

-~-gjl . . . c';.:,"'' , , •.. " ANTELOPE HUNTING IN THE WEST" Harpers Weekly. May 23. 1873 ~.~' · -a .

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 7 "fleet and quick-sighted animal" the Peale Museum which con­ cal specimens can fully appreciate often becomes the victim because tained approximately 200 mam­ the extent of this loss. of its own curiosity. A hunter, Lewis mals. It resided here until 1828, Fortunately, the journals were explains, that lies down on the and at this point the trail becomes retained which provided natural ground and raises his arm or feet a littly murky. The natural history history scientists with a window of in a straight-up vertical position museum collection changed loca­ opportunity to better understand can sometimes entice a pronghorn tions twice and according to Paul the light-filled wilderness and its into shooting range. He further Russell Cutright, who did a superb inhabitants. Whereas the North elaborated on how wolves would job of tracking the "Lewis and American Steppe had been an area capitalize on this technique in de­ Clark Booty, "21 the natural history of mystery, rumor, and specula­ coying pronghorns in for the kill. 20 collection remained intact until tion, Lewis and Clark provided a just prior to the Corps of 1850. Due to a decline in revenue, clearer focus freeing natural histo­ Discovery's departure from Ft. the museum collection was sold rians of certain dogma, breaking Mandan on April 7, 1805, to the that year with PT. Barnum pur­ old institutions, and shaping new west and the misty mouth of the chasing one-half of the collection ones to fit the land. The proper Columbia, male and female prong­ and Moses Kimball of the Boston groundwork was laid for a surge of horn hides, and "skelitons" were Museum the other half. Barnum's new knowledge and stirring dis­ packaged and boxed on April 3 , acquisition and his American Mu­ coveries about the prairie environ­ along with other articles and speci­ seum was destroyed in 1865 by ment that would unfold in later mens, for transport by keelboat to fire. At this point, the trail seems to years. St. Louis and eventually by other disappear. Was the pronghorn transportation to the Atlantic sea­ mount destroyed in the American About the author... board where a museum mount Museum fire? Was it sold at auc­ Foundation member Ken Walcheck was prepared, presumably by tion? What did happen? Only those is a retired information officer for Charles Willson Peale, and dis­ researchers familiar with the scar­ the Montana Department of Fish, played in the Quadruped Room of city of early 19th century zoologi- Wildlife and Parks.

Table 1. Pronghorn Harvest Data (1804-1806).

Date Location Kill(s) Volume and Page Number 9/14/04 Lyman Co., SD 1 3:70-72 9/1 7/04 LymanCo.,SD 1 3:82 9/20/04 Lyman Co., SD 2 3:93-94 9/23/04 Hughes Co., SD 3:106 1015104 Dewey Co., SD 4 3:144 10/16/04 Emmons Co., SD 3 3:176-177 10/18/04 Morton Co., SD 4 3: 182-183 10/20/04 Burleigh Co., ND 3 3:188 2/6/05 McLean Co., ND 3 3:488 4/13/05 McLeanCo.,ND 2 4:31-33 4/16/05 Mountrail Co., ND 1 4:46 4/25/05 McKenzieCo. ,ND 3 11: 139 5/1 /05 Roosevelt Co., MT 1 4:96 5/16/05 GarfieldCo.,MT 2 4:157-158 6/6/05 Chouteau Co., MT 2 9:163 6/8/05 Chouteau Co., MT 2 4:266 6/12/05 CascadeCo.,MT 4:280 6/24/05 Cascade Co., MT 3 9: 172-173 712105 CascadeCo., MT 9:178

8 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 - Date Location Kill(s) Volume and Page Number 7/3/05 Cascade Co., MT 2 4:356 7/5/05 Cascade Co., MT 3 4:363 7/7/05 Cascade Co., MT 9:181 7/8/05 Cascade Co., MT 2 4:366 7/11 /05 Cascade Co., MT 4:374-375 7/19/05 Lewis & Clark Co., MT 4:402 7/23/05 BroadwaterCo. ,MT 10:16 7/24/05 Broadwater Co., MT 4:423 7/25/05 Broadwater Co., MT 1 4:426 7/27/05 Gallatin Co., MT 3 9:190 8/6/05 Madison Co., MT 5:55 8/8/05 Madison Co., MT 5:59 8/9/05 Madison Co., MT 2 5:63 8/11105 BeaverheadCo. ,MT 5:72 8/12/05 Beaverhead Co., MT 11 :266 8/14/05 Beaverhead Co., MT 1 5:93-94 8116105 . Beaverhead Co., MT 1 5: 104 8117105 Beaverhead Co., MT 2 9:204 715106 Missoula Co., MT 8:90 7/7/06 Beaverhead Co., MT 9:333 7/8/06 Lewis & Clark Co., MT 1 10:251 7/9/06 Liberty Co.,MT 2 8: 11 6 7/13/06 Broadwater Co., MT 9:335 7/15/06 Broadwater Co., MT 9:336 7/19/06 Stillwater Co., MT 8:204 7/22/06 Cascade Co., MT 9:342 7/27/06 Chouteau Co., MT 10:258 7/28/06 Rosebud Co., MT 8:245 7/28/06 Chouteau Co., MT 7 9:342 8/10/06 Williams Co., ND 1 8:287 *Harvest. observation dates, and page numbers from Gary E. Moulton, Ed. , journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Volumes 3,4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11 .

-FOOTNOTES- 8Moulton, op. cit 3:93-94. 15lbid,3: 176- 177. 9Beer, Jam es. Distribution and status of the 16fbid,6:3 I 3. 1Moulton, Gary E., Ed., The journals of the 7 pronghorn antelope in Montana. }our ' Nice, M. M. The earliest m ention of terri­ Lewis and Clark Expedition, Vol.3 (Lincoln: Mamm. 25:43-46, 1944. tory. Condor, 55:316-317, 1953. University of Nebraska Press. 1996, p.142.) 10The j ournals of the Lewis and Clark Expe­ 18Moulton, op. cit., 3:131. 2 /bid,3:70-72. dition, Gary E. Moulton, Ed., list 120 journal 19Jbid,3:8 1-82. ' Ibid,3 :72. entries on pronghorns in volumes 3, 4, 5, 6, 20coues, Elliot, Ed. History of the Expedition %id,9:59: 7, 8; 54 in Vol.9 Qournals of j ohn Ordway), under the command of Lewis and Clark. New 5 Seton, Ernest Thompson. The Life Histories 32 in Vol. to Qournals of Patrick Gass); and York: Dover Ed., reprint of 1893 Francis P. of Northern Animals. 2 vols. Charles 47 in Vol.11 Qournals of Joseph Harper Vol.1: 291, 1965. Scribner's Sons, New York, 1909. Whitehouse). 21Cutright, Paul Russell. Lewis and Clark: 6 Gutherie's Geog. 2nd Ed., Vol. 11 ., pp.292- 11 Moulton, op. cit. 4:87. Pioneering Naturalists. Urbana: Univ. of 308, 1815. 12Jbid, 10:258. Illinois Press, 1969 (reprinted by University 7 Bull. De la Societe Philomathique, p. 146, IJJbid, 3:229·30. of Nebraska. 1 989). 1818. 14 lbid, 4:42-44.

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 9 It f'elt Like They Wer'e Ther'e

by Martin Erickson

Larry Zabel used to go hunting along the Missouri River in north central Montana "It felt like Lewis and Clark were there," the Mon­ tana artist says. Zabel has been a commercial artist and now concentrates on western art. In the summer of 1 997 he took a float trip through the White Cliffs area of the Mis­ souri River with Larry and Bonnie Cook of Missouri River Outfitters and a group of Lewis and Clark en­ thusiasts. As he describes it, he photographed the White Cliffs at all hours of the day and evening. "I shot a whole series of tele­ photo photos and then recon­ structed the scenes in paintings," he says. The award winning artist turned those telephoto shots into a series of Lewis and Clark and Native American paintings. One of them, "Legend of the Falls," won the People's Choice Award at the C.M. Russell Auction of Original Western Larry Zabel andfriend. Art in Great Falls in March 1998 (see February 1998 WPO News Up­ date). It sold for $10,000. At the officer saw his paintings and asked ernment and go full-time as an art­ same auction his Quick Draw, an him to go to Vietnam . ist. By then he had a two year acrylic painting of a buffalo on a He was a combat artist in Viet­ backlog of commissions. shield, brought the top price of nam for the Naval Weapons Cen­ Larry and his family moved to $2,800. ter. During two tours in Vietnam in Ennis. Montana in 1987. A native of Deer Creek, Minne­ 1967 and 1970. he shot documen­ "We had no ties. We came to sota, Zabel has painted all his life, tary films. He flew 26 combat mis­ visit and stayed. You can paint first as a commercial artist for sions shooting slides and films. where you want. Montana is a Douglas Aircraft then for the fed­ "The pilots took me places they good place to be creative. Double eral government. He has a wouldn't go by themselves," he for me. I just moved in with the bachelor's degree in art from Cal notes. From those flights he has 16 cowboys and Indians. My models State-Long Beach. paintings in the naval historical col­ were my friends. We had two small In 1957 he worked for Douglas lection. "It was similar to Lewis places and two horses, two buffalo, painting pictures for flight hand­ and Clark. We and they were un­ two dogs and three cats. We books. These were used in docu­ der fire in both cases." needed a proper environment for mentary films. At the same time As his backlog of commissions the buffalo. I know everybody in he started doing fine art paintings for fine art paintings grew, he de­ the valley. I eventually got rid of on weekends. A navy public affairs cided to quit working for the gov- the buffalo but still have two

10 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 ·on the Trail of Lewis and Clark Art Shows· Steve Zabel is gathering as many Lewis and Clark paintings as he can find for an art show and sale during the "Week ofDis­ covery" in Great Falls. In his words: "Person­ ally enthralled with this journey, I began to seek out the art that depicts ei­ ther the people, wildlife or Lewis and Clark at Stonewall Creek landscapes encountered along the Lewis and Clark Trail. Unfortunately, not many artists to date have created works about this historical event. Don Nell, founder of the Headwaters Chapter and past presi.- dent of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foun­ dation has assembled a list of all the known note­ worthy paintings that di­ rectly depict a portion of the expedition or its mem­ bers. This list consists of Lewis and Clark at the White Cliffs approximately sixty art­ ists including such greats as Benton, Bodmer, Catlin, horses. I went right into cowboys Lake (California) Naval Air Test Sta­ Clymer, Delano, Lovell, and Indians as subjects. tion. Morgan, Paxson, Ralston, "The first thing I painted was the Larry Zabel works closely with Remington, Russell, Selt­ Montana Centen nial Wago n Train the Elk Foundation. He was the zer and others. I think the in 1989. l did a painting of the To­ first artist to be honored by the timing is right to add to bacco Root Mountains. It was the foundation as Artist of the Year in the list! It is in this spirit first painting I entered in the C.M. 1996. that Montana Trails Gal­ Russell Auction in I 991 . Been in "My prices for my elk paintings the auction ever si nce. My first auc­ went up every year. I now have a lery will host the opening tion sale of a painting went for half dozen rolls of film and lots of reception/or "On the Trail $2200. Now they sell for up to ideas from my elk trips." of Lewis & Clark" Art $22,000. I've been fortunate Larry's son Steve who owns Show & Sale July 2-4 dur­ enough to win the People's Choice Montana Trails Gallery in ing the Lewis & Clark Award three times. The auction has Bozeman, Montana, and is Larry's Heritage Week in Great been good to me. I sold out 500 business manager and general co­ Falls. The exhibition will copies each of 20 western and ordinator behind the scene says he continue at Montana wildlife paintings." has made an interesting discovery Trails Gallery through the Along the way he also got a about Larry. He has evolved into a month ofJuly. " com m iss ion to do four paintings western ranch painter and it has for the 50th anniversary of China further evolved into a series. A cur-

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON I I Brandings are 90 percent men who brand with regular irons not elec­ tric irons." Larry is working with long-time foundation member Don Nell on a painting of Clark's return to the Three Forks. Don is researching to see how many horses were Appal­ oosa. The artist is also looking at doing a Sacagawea painting. "I was interested in Lewis and Clark before the float trip. I w ill Legend of the Falls continue to paint Lewis and Clark stuff as long as I paint. They did the things I like to paint and in the rent commission is to do a series says, is that they "keep me from places I like to paint." on a working 340,000 acre cattle becoming flaky and self serving. ranch in Wyoming. Larry says he My product is my service. I have thrives on such assignments. "Ev­ learned to handle success and ery one is an adventure." scheduling. They try hard to keep How did Larry become so suc­ me from having failures and keep Home Front Chapter cessful as an artist? me on a marketable track. For ex­ " In my business, " he says, "I ample, in hunting paintings I don't Members Encouraged have a good production and advi­ show blood on the snow. In Gary to Adopt a Book sory crew. My wife, Sharon, knows Carter's elk series his hunters are the standards. Steve has a pulse on always stalking, never killing. At a recent meeting, the board the art world and can speak for the "Cowboys are more marketable of directors of the Home Front art publishing voice and fine art than cowgirls. The myth of the Chapter (Virginia) enthusiastically originals. Our daughter, Becca, West is cowboy. What people want endorsed the idea of donating cop­ works for Steve at his gallery and to see is not the real world of cow­ ies of new educational resources to handles sales." boys wearing baseball caps. I paint area schools. Their main service to Larry, he them wearing cowboy hats. Lewis and Clark, a workbook by Bonnie Sachatello Sawyer, pub­ lished by Scholastic, is a collection of background information, activi­ DISCOVERING LEWIS AND CLARK EARNS KUDOS ties, and a poster for grades 4-8. Discovering Lewis and Clark shaped by many peoples and un­ The books sell for $9.95. opened on the World Wide Web on derstandable only through many Because of the great expense of February 2, at http://www.lewis­ perspectives." donating copies to local schools for clark. org, and quickly gained criti­ Discovering Lewis and Clark looks use in the fifth grade (where cal approval, reports foundation back through the intervening 200 Virginia's Standards of Learning member Joe Mussulman, w ho is years, to view the land and the include the Lewis & Clark Expedi­ the producer and principal writer people as they are, and as they tion), members are encouraged to for the non-profit sponsor, VIAs, were, and inks in some of the lines fo llow the lead of board members Inc. connecting them. "It's essentially and "Adopt a Book" -donate the The noted western historian, interactive, and definitely non-lin­ cost of a book. Elliott West, of the University of ear," says Mussulman, "sort of like A sample book will be on dis­ Arkansas, is among those who 3-D Scrabble." play at the May 19 Annual Meet­ have applauded the new web site. The site is to be enhanced w ith ing. "It manages to respect the fact that a major interpretive episode once The chapter hopes to have the the expedition was by any mea­ each month for the next three materials in the hands of teachers sure an extraordinary story," he years. Early enhancements have early in the 1998 -99 school year. writes, "while still recognizing that included collections of video inter- Jean Myers heads the chapter's it was only one event in a country (Kudos continued on page 38) Educational Outreach Committee.

12 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 t Gathering

The nearly 200 participants in Foundation, which maintains both American element in our program the National Lewis and Clark Bi­ the interpretive center and Fort next year." centennial Council Workshop in Mandan. Meeting attendees will find the Bismarck this past April were given "And you can't tell the story of usual strong, scholarly schedule of a sneak preview of what to expect Lewis and Clark in North Dakota programs, plus exciting field trips, from the Lewis and Clark Trail without a strong emphasis on their all less than an hour away from the Heritage Foundation's annual relationship with the Mandan and headquarters hotel, the Radisson meeting in 1999, with visits to the Hidatsa Indians," Borlaug contin­ Inn of Bismarck (phone 701-258- new North Dakota Lewis and Clark ued, "so expect a strong Native 7700, special rates are available).

The reconstructed Fort Mandan. Chopping away at the dugout canoe for the North Dakota Lewis and Clark Interpretive Centei:

Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan at Washburn; and a pro­ gram staged by members of the Three Affiliated Tribes at the Knife R.iver Indian Villages National His­ toric Site at Stanton. Those three Lewis and Clark Trail sites, plus Fort Abraham Lin­ coln and the North Dakota Heri­ tage Center, are all features of next year's meeting, set for July 31 through August 4 in Bismarck and Washburn. "With Fort Mandan as our cen­ terpiece, North Dakota will show­ case itself as a premier host on the Lewis and Clark Trail," said David Borlaug, chairman of the North Da­ kota Lewis and Clark Bicentennial A Mandan earthlodge at the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site.

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 13 GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER o411d the cma11da11 ~11dia11"

by Tracy Potter peered, and broadcast it to the Call (701) 663-4758 for more infor- Director. Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation world, setting in motion a flood of mation. (More on North Dakota on p. 39) Before there was a United States, illegal immigration to the Black the Mandan Indian nation num­ Hills. bered perhaps 15,000. They called When President Grant and his themselves the Nu'eta. In one of military advisors determined that their golden ages, from about 1650 1876 would be the year to drive all to 1 781 , they lived in 10 or 1 2 forti­ the free bands of Indians united fied earth lodgecities from which with Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull they farmed many miles of Mis­ onto reservations, Custer's 7th Cav­ souri River bottomland. The "heart" alry marched to Montana. On June of their culture was a smaller vil­ 25, 1876, the 7th suffered total de­ lage, maybe 1,000 population, feat. Custer and his closest friends where the Heart River meets the and relatives at Fort Lincoln were Missouri. We call the village "On-a­ among the 265 men killed. slant." The fort and village have been A new city was formed a few partially reconstructed within Fort hundred yards and not quite a hun­ Lincoln State Park. The park is open dred years away. This was fabled year-round. Hours of operation for Fort Abraham Lincoln, home to the historic attractions including the George Armstrong Custer and the Custer House, 7th Cavalry Barracks, 7th Cavalry. Custer inherited, in park museum and Mandan 1873, an infantry post built in 1872 earthlodges, are 9 am to 7 p.m., on the bluffs above On-a-Slant. The daily in the summer. Tours are avail­ cavalry built on a broad flat along able on a reduced schedule, daily the Missouri. With room for six from April 1 to November 11 , and A corner (above) of the Custer house companies of men in three bar­ by appointment the rest of the year. at Fort Lincoln. A view (below) of racks, seven officers' quarters, Custer's study stables, granaries, commissaries, and quarters for Arikara Indian scouts and the fort's laundresses, the post also housed about 1 ,000 persons. The inhabitants were a colorful mix. !rish and German immigrant soldiers served side-by-side with Civil War veterans. Arikara scouts served along side an African-Ameri­ can scout who spoke Lakota Sioux. Officers' proper Victorian wives shared the protection of the fort with women not of their class. The fort was headquarters for a string of posts in what became North Dakota. With Fort Lincoln as a base, Custer led surveying expedi­ tions into the Yellowstone country and the Black Hills, the sacred Paha Sapa of the Lakota and Cheyenne. Custer's men found gold, as ex-

14 W E PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 "ff it wasn't for the mosquitoes ... "

Building Partnerships STORY & PHOTOS by Martin Erickson

fit wasn't for the mosqui­ $250,000 appropriation in the Na­ toes, Reunion Bay (North tional Park Service budget to be j) Dakota) would not be a his­ used on the Lewis and Clark expe­ toric site," North Dakota gov­ rience. ernor Edward Schaefer, told the 'Tm so delighted with what's assembled audience. Lewis and been happening," he said. "It's not Clark were to rejoin forces at the an enterprise of the U.S. Congress. confluence of the Missouri and This is an enterprise of the people. Yellowstone Rivers on their return I'm so excited we can share this trip in 1806. Great idea, but Clark with the rest of the world." who got there first fou nd the mos­ With those words of enthusiasm quitoes were so bad he moved on (Partnership continued on page 24) down the Missouri to a better spot. Governor Schaefer was the opening speaker at the Third An­ nual Planning Wo rkshop spon­ sored by The National Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Council and hosted by the North Dakota Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Foundation and the Lewis and Clark Interpre­ tive Center in Washburn, North Da­ kota. The workshop, held in Bismarck, North Dakota, April 26- 28, was attended by 180 partici­ pants from trail states, federal agencies, sovereign nations and dozens of other states. The gover­ nor set the tone for the workshop by using the mosquito plague to urge the council to work with only the best ideas. Don't waste all your energy fighting mosquitoes, find a better place to stay. Keynote speaker U.S. Senator Bryan Dorgan (ND), commented that being in the top five of a high school graduating class of nine i ~ qualified him to be a U.S. Senator. A~-r \'=>- Dorgan introduced bicentennial --- / \ '­ / \ bills in Congress and also a bill to finance the Mandan Vi ll age resto­ ration. He called the Lewis and Clark Expedition "a remarkable hu­ man event". North Dakota Gov. Schaefer (top) welcomes the participants. The senator also played a highly The unique entrance to the Knife River Indian Villages influential role in securing a Museum (center). Indian dancers and drummers (above) at the Knife River Villages.

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 15 A Sampling of. .. The Grand Expedition of Lewis and Clark An exhibition of the paintings and pen and ink sketches from befo re to after the expedition.

La Verendryes Discover the Rocky Mountains. c. 1922, pen and ink, 14" x 22114'' 1961.128. Courcesy of Amon Carter Museum. Fort Worth, Texas.

(• ..;JI-· -- : ' , .._:;--:. -:. .. :_.-., ..: ~~~:-:·-: ..;:.._ , •'

Captain Gray Making Gifts to the Indians at the Mouth of the Columbia River, 1922, pen and ink, 14" X 22 ", 81. 40. Courtesy of Henry Art Galleiy. University of Wasl1ington, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Allen.

16 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 As Seen by C.M. Russell

' -:.. ) i "\. \.. \ '\ • "\. f· - ......

A Mandan Village, c. 1922. pen and ink. 1961.131. Courresy of Amon Career Musei.im

... . ·-

/.;

Lewis and Clark at Maria's River (mistitled). August 12, 1805 ... On This Day Lewis and Clark Crossed the Rocky Mountains. From "Blazed Trails of the Old Frontier" by Agnes Laut. 1926. Counes of the Montana Room. Great Falls Publlc Librar

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON I 7 Discoruy of tht Gnat F•/11 of tlit Minourl hy Lewis ;mt/ Clar }t , 1805

Believing this to be a very opportune time to display Great Falls and Cascade county before the gaze of hundreds of home seekers and investors throughout the eastern states: The Tribune has taken upon itself to compile an illustrated, historical edition setting before the world the many great advantages of this section of the state. This edition will contain much historical matter relative to early times and all of the great industries will be entertainingly described and an honest effort will be made to strikingly picture the natural resources. One of the very attractive features will be the many and varied illustrations with which the edition will abound. Mr. Charles Russell has been engaged to make especially for this edition, a large pen and ink drawing, illustrating the discovery of this section by Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, which will appear on the front cover and will add much to the beauty and general attractiveness of the edition.

The Tribune, Great Falls, MT 1898. Courtesy of the Montana Room, Great Falls Public Library. Great Falls, Montana and the Great Falls Tribune.

18 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 1 Colter's Race for Life, c. 1922, pen and ink, 14" x 22 /4", 1961.129. CourresyofAmonCanerMuseum.

'~ ,::· ....

1 The Last of the Tonquin. c. 1922. pen and ink. 14/16" x 22", 81.39. Caurtesy of Henry Art Gallery. University of Washington, Gift of Mr, and Mrs. William Allen.

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 19 ~·~' ..... ~= David B. Weaver Would Have Monument ~ Erected to .Memory of Patrick Gass; f" Sketch 0 f the Life ofthe 11.mous Explorer

Editor's Note: The following the war with Mexico he yet lived go into Patrick Gass' biography. article is from the Fergus County five years after the close of our The romance of Gass and his Argus, Lewistown, Montana. Civil war. good wife surely deserves men­ tion. Mrs. Brierly told this story Since the newspaper didn't have Was With Lewis and Clark a date on it, the nearest date we to The Gazette Times' correspon­ His chief fame comes from his can figure is early April 1924. dent in 191 9: service with Lewis and Clark in Darlene Fassler of Great Falls, a "When over 60 he married; 15 that wonderful expedition of the direct descendant of Patrick years later his wife died, leaving small band of intrepid men, 46 in Gass, loaned us the article. him with six small children. At number, who crossed the North 75, had these children been his American continent in 1804-06. grandchildren there would have With the exception of President been nothing extraordinary Jefferson's message to Congress, about the fact, but a widower so Gass gave to the world the first encumbered at that advanced published account of that expedi­ age is unusual surely. The com­ tion in a small book, entitled "The bined span of his life and that of Gass Journal" first printed in Pitts­ his surviving children 153 years burgh by Zadok Cramer in 1807, after his birth, is sufficient to call and reprinted in Philadelphia in forth notice aside from the recital 1812. of his exploits on field and in j.G. Jacobs, for 50 years editor of fort. We are justified in believing the Wellburg Herald, published in that a parallel case cannot be Wellsburg, in 1859 a book, entitled found in our country. "The Life and Times of Patrick century. "Patrick Gass, who was sup­ Gass." etc. Both of these works are posed to be a confirmed bach­ now rare. Almost a centenarian, elor, married in 1831 . His wife ass, who was a resident Patrick Gass was older than the Re­ was Miss Maria Hamilton and of Wellsburg, W Va., public when he passed away. It is her home [was] near Wellsburg. died there in 1870, aged fitting that he should be remem­ The event created surprise in the q 99. He was born in what bered and appropriately com­ is now Perry County, Pa., community. People remarked: memorated. 'Strange that this old hero of so in l 771. We are to notice here The Gazette Times story referred many adventures should be now that he lived in an eventful cen­ to below, which is accessible in the tury. Had he been close enough, taken captive by one of the op­ files of the paper in the Reference posite sex."' his infantile ears could have Room of the Carnegie Library, tells It may be remarked inciden­ heard the shots at Lexington and the salient events of his life. These tally that for many years past, Concord. He was old enough to were brought out by the writer of elopements have caused no ex­ remember the surrender of the story to Mr. Gass' daughter, citement in Wellsburg. Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va. We who resides at present in the vil­ "Mrs. Brierly relates the cir­ are to remember also that he lage of Independence, Washington cumstances of her parents' love was a contemporary of Napoleon county, Pa. , who is the wife of affair as follows: Bonaparte. Gass was a soldier in George Brierly, formerly a rural "'My father had learned the the small Regular Army of the mail carrier, and now retired. United States previous to the Sec­ carpenter trade and was working ond War with Great Britain Gass' Romance on a building that my Grandfa­ (1812); too old to serve during There will not be room today to ther Hamilton was having

20 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 • ~~ 7"'" •

f 'jf:rected, and while thus en­ her of many events in his long life ian." The stranger announced ~ gaged fell in love with my and especially those occurring dur­ himself as David R. Weaver of ri mother, who was an only ing his journey across the unknown Saxton, Bedford County, Pa. H:_ l @)~ daughter and then a young plains. His thrilling stories impressed asked the city editor how he ®li woman in her teens. She themselves on her youthful memory could get to Burgettstown, reciprocated and the result was and she has retained them almost Pa., as he wanted to see Miss i· a runaway match for my grand­ verbatim. She says he recounted to Scott and interview her, and also arents objected seriously on ac­ her many times the hardships he to meet Mrs. Rachel Brierly, of In­ count of the disparity of the ages endured on the Lewis and Clark ex­ dependence Washington county, tof the lovers. They walked many pedition from cold and lack of Pa., a daughter of Patrick Gass. miles over the hills to Squire proper food . Mr. Weaver was not aware that In­ Plummer, who married them."' Thrilling Story dependence is 18 miles southwest As Told By Biographer The history of the Lewis and Clark of Burgettstown, and he did not Gass' biographer, Editor Jacobs, expedition has been told at various have Miss Scott's address correctly. refers to the story thus: lengths and in various volumes, and Monument Movements "'He had taken his place in the has never lost interest. It is one of When she was in correspon­ innumerable army of old bach­ the thrilling stories in our country's dence with The Gazette Times in elors and was deemed incorrigible history, so today those who are not 1919, she resided at Hanlin's Sta­ by his acquaintances and the gen­ fully informed can find recourse to tion. The weather was severe, but tler sex. He who had fought the these works in our libraries. Natu­ that did not deter the rugged pio­ wild animals of the mountains, rally Mrs. Brierly has some carefully neer of the Montana Rockies, who slept with the buffalo, on the preserved relics of the expedition forthwith took passage on the plains, swam the Mississippi River, brought back by her father which no auto-bus and landed at the home who ate unseasoned meat, even money can buy. One is the hatchet of the Brierly's where he was most dog meat, faced the British at which he carried with him a ll hospitably received and he ob­ Lundy's Lane and Fort Erie, and through the long journey. Another tained from Mrs. Brierly a succinct fought his way through blood and memento is a small wooden razor account of her father's life, took a flame, it was little thought would box presented to him by an Indian number of pictures at the Brierly ever surrender to weak woman's princess of the Mandan tribe. It re­ home, and obtained a picture of smiles or winning ways, but sembles in size an ordinary school her father in his extreme old age people misjudged him or they pencil box and looks as bright and and also one of his unmarked were ignorant of human nature. At new as if it had been made recently. grave in the Brooke cemetery at this time Hamilton had to cheer It reminds one of the boxes country Wellsburg, W.Va. him a pretty daughter, whom he school boys carve out of wood with Mr. Weaver may tell his own called Maria. She was blooming a groove for the lid to slide in." story of his pilgrimage to the into womanhood, and thrown into Patrick Gass' life story has been Brierly home as he has written it the society of our hero, a mutual brought into view again in what we in a recent letter to the writer feeling spring up between the two may call a peculiar way and the hereof and by solicitation has sent and gradually doubtless wooed credit for this must be given to a the writer hereof many newspaper her with "tales of hair-breadth es­ man whose own life story is extraor­ accounts of his own eventful life capes and of perils by sea and dinary; a man long past the allotted and has detailed his plans to have land" and as she listened she period of life; a hardy man with an the National Government erect a doubtless breathed the wish as . active interest in the history of Mon­ monument over the unmarked maidens often do, "that heaven tana, where he spent some eventful grave of Patrick Gass, to which end had made her such a man."' years and has not been forgotten there is now pending a bill in Con­ "Shortly after the birth of Mrs. there as will appear from extracts of gress to which reference will be Brierly her mother died and as her Montana newspapers. made further on in this story. father was then well advanced in · Several weeks ago an aged man Now we are not to understand years and no longer able to care came into the editorial rooms of The that Patrick Gass lies iri an un­ for his family the children were Gazette Times with a copy of the pa­ known, or neglected grave. What put in other homes so she did not per of June 1, 1919, which con­ Mr. Weaver means is a grave not have an opportunity to talk with tained a story of Miss Frances E. properly marked. Mr. Weaver's her father of the events of his life Scott, a former school teacher of fear is that there may come a day except when he came to visit her. Washington county, entitled "Patrick when the graves will be lost, a fear She remembers well of his telling Gass, journalist- Tales of Centenar- shared by others. This will be

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 21 \ ,i ! apparent in the reading of this marked grave' of Patrick Gass, hero a letter recently received by \ 1 . story. of the battle of Lundy's Lane and The News from David B. ~ 1 ( The extraordinary manner the last survivor of the Lewis and Weaver, pioneer prospector in ' ' @} ~ in which Mr. Weaver has re- Clark Exploring Expedition of 1804- the early days in Emigrant @)® ~vived interest in Patrick Gass 5-6." gulch, now living at Saxton, - i. ,_and has undertaken to have Now we come to the mention of Pennsylvania, last survivor of - him venerated in a practical and Mr. Weaver's endeavor to have the pioneering days, made famous ,· nduring monument, will become national government put up a by such men as James and \ impressed upon our readers as monument to Patrick Gass. This is Granville Stuart, David R. twe proceed to read his own ac- best told by publishing verbatim the Shorthill, Thomas Adams, Rezin count of it. following official copy: Anderson, john White, William Weaver's Letter 68th CONGRESS, Gibson, Colonel McLean, William Mr. Weaver writes: 1st Session. S. 2893 Fairweather, Henry Edgar and I will state that my visit to Mrs. IN THE SENATE OF THE Frank Garret. Mr. Weaver is now Brierly was to have an interview UNITED STATES engaged in a campaign to interest with her and secure pictures of March 21, 1924 United States senators in the pas­ herself and the relics mentioned Mr. Elkins introduced the follow­ sage of a bill to erect a national in Miss Scott's story; to illustrate ing bill: which was read twice and monument over the unmarked stories quoted for the Newspaper referred to the Committee on the grave of Patrick Gass, one of the Association of Montana with Library. three sergeants with the Lewis and headquarters at Great Falls. This Clarke expedition in 1804-5-6. association numbers over a hun­ A BILL "Of interest to Livingston resi­ dred Montana weeklies. I got that Providing for the erection of monu­ dents is the following extract from copy of The Gazette Times con­ ment over the grave of Patrick Gass, Mr. Weaver's letter: taining Miss Scott's interview with at Brooke Cemetery, Wellsburg, West "'On the Fourth of July, 1806, Mrs. Brierly soon after it was is­ Virginia, a soldier of the War of 1813, Captain Clarke divided his party at sued and put it in 'storage' hoping and the last surviving member of the the three forks of the Missouri, that I too might have a talk with Lewis and Clark Expedition. leaving Sergeant Patrick Gass to Mrs. Brierly. I had waited six years Be it enacted by the Senate and descend the river below the falls, when the opportunity had arrived, House of Representatives of the and to meet Captain Lewis at that so armed with that copy of The United States of America in Congress place Captain Clarke, guided by Gazette Times I went to the news­ assembled. That there be erected, un­ Sacajawea, what is now known as paper office in Pittsburgh and was der the supervision of David B. the Bozeman Pass, across the di­ most cheerfully given the informa­ Weaver, Colonel Samuel W Miller. vide, and down to near where the tion I desired. When I learned that United States Army, retired, and Mrs. city of Livingston now stands and I had 18 miles to go to Indepen­ Milda Kyle, who shall serve without encamped. That was on the 15th dence I got aboard the auto-bus at pay, other than incidental expenses in day of July, 1806. Fifty-eight years Burgettstown and two others in connection therewith, a monument later, and 60 years ago this sum­ turn before I reached my destina­ over the grave of Patrick Gass, located mer, the writer of this letter tion. at Brooke Cemetery, Wellsburg, West camped on that same historic spot. Virginia, a soldier of the War of 1812 '"There are at this writing, but Credits The Gazette Times and the last surviving member of the two livi ng relatives of Patrick Gass, "When I went to Mrs. Brierly's Lewis and Clarke Expedition, and who died in West Virginia in 1870, home I did not know that her there is appropriated therefor. out of 54 years ago, and who now lies in father's remains rested in an un­ any moneys in the Treasury not other­ an unmarked grave. They are his marked grave. In our conversation wise appropriated, the sum of $2,500. two daughters, one living in Cali­ she expressed the regret that Mr. Weaver was already given fornia and the other, Mrs. Rachel when she would be called from publicity to his monument plans in Brierly, in Independence, Pa. this world that her father's grave the state of Montana, as the follow­ '"I went to see Mrs. Brierly last would be lost forever to posterity. ing clipping from the Park County fall and told her that I had So stick a pin in right here and say News of March 14 last, printed at camped on the same places her that it was that copy of The Ga­ Livingston, Mont., evinces: father did when l was in Montana zette Times that I have kept for six "Proof of the fact that the few 60 years ago, and that I desired to years, and The Gazette Times that survivors of pioneering days in Mon­ have any Kodak pictures she has started the movement to have tana are still interested in the west, might have of her father as well as a monument erected over the 'un- particularly Montana, is contained in any relics brought back from

22 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 · -' ~

this trip to Oregon. These she last survivor of the Lewis and Clark like other boys, I delighted in cheerfully granted me. I found expedition. The monument matter reading of the Indians, bears f f ~her a fine and pleasant will soon be noticed in the Associ­ and buffalo and of the great l ' ~~ talker. She told me that her ated Press dispatches and when the West. So greatly was I im- @)\0 only regret was that when bill is on the congressional calendar pressed with these stories that _, i. she should be called from this it w ill receive editorial comment I resolved that when I got big _ world by death, her parents' and you should lay claim to the fact and had money enough I would raves, being unmarked. would be that The Gazette Times was the be­ try to see the country traveled over Jost to friends and posterity. I ginning of the monument; and, if by Patrick Gass when with Lewis ~to ld her that I would endeavor to the bill becomes a law there will be and Clark. After working in the coal get funds by means of a bill a widespread inquiry about Patrick mines of Broad Top and saving through congress. If that failed Gass and it will enlighten the public enough money, the year 1864 then I would take the matter up greatly if you reprint or rewrite Miss found my face looking westward to with the DAR. This seemed to Scott's story; if so, I shall want a the Rocky Mountains." please her very much. number of copies of the paper con­ "'With that interview in mind, I taining such an article. " Crossed the Plains have communicated with several Mr. Weaver is a native of United States senators during the Movement Furthered Huntingdon county and in his Mr. Weaver has been in corre­ past few months, particularly with youth was a coal miner by occu­ spondence with Senator Elkins of Senator B.K. Wheeler of Montana pation. With David R. Shorthill he Wes t Virginia and Senator Wheeler and Senator Davis Elkins of West traveled to Iowa City, Iowa, where of Montana. Senator Elkins named Virginia, with the promise of their they outfitted w ith ox teams and the commission mentioned in the aid in the matter of introducing a crossed the plains to Montana. bill at Mr. Weaver's suggestion. Col. bill in congress providing for the Here Mr. Weaver remained for two Miller and Mrs. Kyle, the latter a erection of a monument over the years, and then went to San Fran­ resident of East Pittsburgh. Col. unmarked grave of one whom I cisco and later to Contra Costa Miller is a retired officer of the consider a known hero."' county, California, where he United States Army. Mrs. Kyle was The repetition of what Mrs. worked in the coal mines of Brierly said is allowable because it formerly a school teacher in Mount Diablo, but in short time shows that the Montana people Huntingdon county, Pa. Senator returned to Pennsylvania. He has have been informed to Mrs. Elkins named Mr. Weaver first on made several trips to Montana in Brierly's one great desire. Mr. the commission. Mr. Weaver states recent years to attend meetings of that he has known Col. Miller since Weaver made a trip to New York the Montana Society of Pioneers. city last week and called on the his cadet days at West Point and He has gone down into the history editor of the New York Times and that the Colonel readily accepted of that state with his pals as the showed him the pictures he had the appointment. Mr. Weaver is opti­ discoverers of the fi fth placer obtained w hile at Mrs. Brierly's mistic. He has great faith in the suc­ mine in the state. These were in and also the copy of the issue of cess of his project. In his letter of Emigrant gulch, Yellowstone Val­ The Gazette Times of June 1. March 18th from New York he says: ley, where gold was found in pay­ 1919, containing Miss Scott's "If all things 'pan out' all right there ing quantities by Shorthill, Weaver story. The editor retained these w ill be a big time at the unveiling of and Frank Garret on the thirtieth and promised to publish a story this monument and, of course, be­ day of August, 1864, being 45 and thus further the Gass monu­ ing a national matter, the entire days after Last Chance discovery. ment project. press of the United States will note These were the first widely sepa­ Writing to The Gazette Times the news. I know the Pittsburgh Ga­ rated and distinct mining camps, historian under date of March 14 zette Times w ill not be remiss in giv­ and not local to each other, where 1st, Mr. Weaver inquires, " If it had ing the public all the news relating to gold was discovered before Sep­ not been for a copy of The Gazette the subject that I have written tember I, 1864. Times of June 1, 1919, w ith Miss about." The Last Chance discovery was Scott's story, falling into my To the question how he became so on the creek of that name, July hands, how, long would the 'un­ greatly interested in the life story of 15, 1864. marked grave' of Patrick Gass Patrick Gass, Mr. Weaver replied: Of the 23 men concerned in have remained unmarked?" "When I was a schoolboy in discovering gold in five placer "Yes, The Gazette Times has Huntingdon county, Pa., my grandfa­ mines between May, 1858, and been the real 'starter' to have a ther had a copy of the original edi­ September, 1864, Mr. Weaver is monument over the grave of the tion of Patrick Gass' 'journal' and, the last survivor.

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 23 ·~ · ~:.

PARTNERSHIPS Cont.from p. 15 to guide them, the workshop par­ ticipants broke into small focus group of states, government repre­ sentatives, tribal representatives, economic development and tour­ ism groups and others, to share re­ sources, identify projects and priorities. I joined the sovereign nations group for the focus on tribes. Their focus was how to tell the Native American side of the Lewis and Clark story. Equal partners with all the other participants was their goal. Pointing out that Lewis and "We had an escort to the Knife River Villages. " Clark were equal participants with the tribes, they noted that Sacagawea is North Dakota's best Lewis and Clark trails in both two new Lewis and Clark chapters known citizen. states, group tours are planned being started on the west and In a later workshop, Allen along the trail, the Missouri Histori­ southern sides of Missouri. Pinkham, a Nez Perce, a member cal Society has been tracking down One item that was not in the re­ of the Bicentennial council's board all the Lewis and Clark exhibits port, but which I received notice of and Forest Service tribal liaison; around the U.S. and will have an today was that a group was head­ Calvin Grinnell, a member of the exhibit, the replicas of Lewis and ing out (late May) to a hill north of Three Affiliated Tribes of North Da­ Clark boats will be finished and on Jefferson City, Missouri to check kota and the North Dakota Bicen­ the river, and the St. Louis Arch out a report of a newly discovered tennial Council; and Jeanne Eder, (J efferson Memorial) w ill have a Lewis and Clark site. also a member of the Bicentennial special exhibit. Also, the Tavern One thing that Dave Borlaug, Council's board, a Dakota and Cave development and interpreta­ the chair of the North Dakota member of the Montana Bicenten­ tion are underway, four expedition Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Foun­ nial Committee urged people to member gravesites are in Missouri dation at Washburn and host of include Indian voices in their plan­ (Clark, Colter, Shannon and the workshop, and those wonder­ ning and told of the Indian efforts Frazier), the Katy Trail is being re­ ful North Dakotans do is plan good fo r reconciliation (see News Up­ built along the Missouri, the Lewis tours. We spent a late afternoon date on page 33). and Clark State Park at Arrow and an evening touring the year­ One of the most exciting parts Rock, Missouri is being refur­ old North Dakota Lewis and Clark of the entire program was heqrjpg bished, a new interpretive center is Interpretive Center, Fort Mandan reports from the various state~;, re­ going to be built on the Missouri and the Knife River Indian Village gional groups, tribes and federal side of the Missouri River overlook­ National Historic Site and enjoyed organizations about bicentennial ing the confluence of the Missouri a sumptuous dinner served by the projects planned, underway and and Mississippi Rivers and inter­ ladies of the Stanton Civic Club as­ completed. pretive signs are being placed sisted by the Boy Scouts. Picking one at random from across midwest states. Ohio will The last event at the workshop notes I took at a luncheon, Darold have a bicentennial newsletter in was a luncheon featuring Steve Jackson, reporting on the midwest 2003, the St. Charles (MO) inter­ Ambrose as the speaker. He talked states of Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, pretive center is gearing up and a about the importance of the Native Ohio and Michigan, said a $4 mil­ 1 4 foot statue of Lewis, Clark and American involvement during the lion ren ovation of the Camp Wood Sacagawea is being dedicated in expedition and said, "Look around Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Frontier Park in St. Charles as I with awareness, don't look back in is underway, Illinois and Missouri write this. And, public interest in anger." are working on a plan to connect the bicentennial is growing with He cautioned the planners to be

24 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 aware of the tremendous chal­ strated there is nothing men lenge of crowd control and ad­ cannot do if they get together equate rest facilities during the and cooperate and then he reit­ bicentennial. "Everybody is going erated the importance of to want to be on the trail," he friendship. noted. "You're going to have to At the conclusion of his re­ rent a lot of porta-potties and marks he was presented with a have police and emergency ser­ pair of handmade beaded vice ready. Imagine 10,000 white moccasins as a gift from people at Lemhi Pass on the the Three Affiliated Tribes, Fourth of July. Be prepared." symbolic of the same gift given Ambrose talked about his envy to William Clark nearly 200 of Meriwether Lewis, who took years ago. the greatest camping trip of all Stephen and Moira Ambrose received several Earlier keynote speaker time, and dined alone with Tho­ gifts from a representative of the Three Senator Bryan Dorgan had mas Jefferson who was his pri­ Affiliated Tribes following his luncheon given another view of the vate tutor. Lewis was the first address. changes since the time of the literate person to hear a meadow Lewis and Clark Expedition. lark sing and first to step over the "It is hard today in America to Continental Divide. Ambrose en­ Lewis "pushed hard" for equal have heroes," he said. "Lewis and vies him most for his friendship treatment for Clark. He was the Clark are true heroes. If they tried w ith William Clark. Lewis gave first to refer to the expedition as today to get an appropriation to Clark "an invitation to greatness". the Lewis and Clark Expedition. At buy whiskey for an expedition ... if They were equals and nowhere in Clark's wedding to Julia Hancock, they sought a $2500 secret fund the journals is it recorded that they Lewis gave Julia a complete set of to explore an unknown waste­ argued or criticized each other. Af­ Shakespeare. Ambrose closed by land, Congress would probably ter the expedition was finished saying Lewis and Clark demon- start an investigation."

The Wild and Scenic Missouri River ••• The Degradation of a National Treasure To whom it may concern: come overused and frequently over­ nals. While some factors in this I am writing this letter with a crowded, diminishing the experi­ tragedy are not easily controlled by sense of urgency on behalf of ence for all river travelers. Sites that the BLM, the agency has a mandate Montana's Upper Missouri Wild and would be otherwise desirable are to control the leading cause: hot Scenic River (UMWSR). With the repelling because they are exten­ season grazing. Extensive hot sea­ upcoming Lewis and Clark Bicen­ sively grazed in the hot season. If son grazing is devastating riparian tennial rapidly approaching, visita­ campers try to use these areas they ecosystems on the UMWSR. There tions on the river are growing at an inherit bare dirt, fresh manure, and can be no question that the riparian alarming rate. It is likely that visitor flies. Fencing cattle out of six or areas on the river have deteriorated days doubled between the 1996 eight additional campsites of from beyond the limits of acceptability. and 1997 river seasons. Visitation six acres to a quarter section would I do not oppose responsible live­ will certainly continue to increase help alleviate this critical, immedi­ stock grazing in the UMWSR corri­ again in 1998 and in future years. ate problem. dor. Working ranches dependent on In what was not an isolated inci­ The riparian areas of the river BLM grazing permits are an impor­ dent, the Bureau of Land Manage­ have deteriorated to a critical condi­ tant part of the local economy and ment (BLM) counted 138 canoes on tion. Within twenty years long culture. Many of the ranchers are to one portion of the river in a single stretches of the river will become a be praised for their conservation afternoon this past season. The treeless, shadeless, near desert en­ efforts and good neighbor policies. BLM needs to control overcrowding vironment. Future generations of What I do oppose is grazing that of this historical resource. river travelers will not be able to en­ degrades the health of riparian ar­ As river use has multiplied, exist­ joy the cottonwoods they read eas on the river, grazing that makes ing desirable campsites have be- about in the Lewis and Clark Jour- (Wild and Scenic continued on page 26)

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 25 WILD AND SCENIC MISSOURI We have suddenly arrived at a criti­ not taken we are risking everything Cont. from p. 25 cal time for the future of the wild Mis­ we love about this national treasure. souri. With uncontrolled acceleration Fortunately, a window of opportu­ it hard for a reasonable number of of river use, overcrowded and nity exists to preserve and enhance people to enjoy traveling on to river, overgazed campsites, mass destruc­ the UMWSR in a quality condition for grazing that does not conform with tion of riparian habitat, and the omi­ our children's children. if we act now the management plans for the river nous threat of future subdivisions; it the crown jewel of the National Lewis corridor, and grazing that does not is painfully obvious that the Bureau of and Clark Trail can be preserved for comply with the terms of an allotment Land Management (BLM) needs to posteri ty. holders permit. There is room on the make Montana's Wild and Scenic Missouri River Regards UMWSR for a variety of interest River a high priority in its manage­ Larry ]. Cook groups, but all of these groups must ment plans. If immediate action is Missouri River Outfitters be responsible stewards of the land. Pioneers Honored at Western Historic Trails Center On October 5, 1997, the West­ period, 1841-1866. The Western groups who participated intention­ ern Historic Trails Center in Coun­ Historic Trails Center is both a his­ ally and unintentionally; willingly cil Bluffs, Iowa opened its doors as torically and geographically signifi­ and unwillingly in the western trails an educational reminder of those cant location. movement. The trails are about w ho pioneered the West and how Visiting the center is an experi­ people. Historical human figures the westward trails they traversed ence families will not soon forget . and their environments are dis­ relate to travel today. Nestled and blending into the Mis­ played through hand-cut, oil Out of the true and simple souri River levee, the building is painted polychrome aluminum records [of their] lives upon the preluded by a "Path of Names," a sculptures created by New York art­ 1tail may come something that granite structure etched w ith the ist Timothy Woodman. Historical Sites Coordinator Steve will help the youth of this and names of pioneers and Native Ohrn calls the center a sophisti­ other generations to appreciate Americans who crossed the plains. cated interpretive encounter. "We the making of America. Flanking the path of hand-cut stones that leads to the Center is a want people to think of the trails -Ezra Meeker. 1906 75-foot-long granite sculpture de­ center as a menu," said Ohrn. "A The Western Historic Trails Cen­ picting a cross-section of North main purpose of the si te is to act as ter hosts a collection of resources America from the Mississippi River a catalyst for people to see our his­ capturing accounts of the western to the Pacific Ocean. A lobby wall is tory in new light ... and we will en­ migration along the Lewis and adorned w ith postcards sent by courage tourists to stick around and see other sights in the area." Clark, Mormon, Oregon and Califor­ modern-day adventurers who have nia trails with interactive photo­ traveled the trails in recent years. Also available in the facility, as part of the Iowa Welcome Center graph and video exhibits, sculptures The first exhibit at the trails cen­ information area, are trail maps and film detailing the pioneer trav­ ter show a large wooden map of the and brochures from many other elers and Indian tribes across the United States w ith the fo ur historic southwestern Iowa towns and his­ Great Plains, the experiences these trails marked and the exhibit allows torical sites. travelers endured, sacrifices made a guest to press buttons and have The Western Historic Trails Cen­ and legacies they left behind. the entire trail light up or a portion ter is operated by the State Histori­ While there were many points of the trail lit. On each side of this cal Society of Iowa, and is along the Missouri River where trav­ map are copies of four historic en­ located at 3434 S. 34th Street (Rich­ elers left for the great westward m i­ gravings- one on each of the four ard Downey Ave.), just off the South grations to Oregon, California, Utah, trails. 24th Street exit of 1-80 in Council Colorado and to other future west­ Another area of the exhibit hall Bluffs, Iowa. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ern states and territories, the north­ of the Western Historic Trails Center daily except Thanksgiving, Christ­ ernmost point covering the Council is called "People and Their Experi­ mas and New Year's Day. Admis­ Bluffs, Omaha, and Bellevue area ences." This area houses 10 differ­ sion is free. For more information was the most important during the ent historical scenes which give on the Western Historic Trails Cen­ overall covered wagon migration perspective of individuals and ter, call (7 12) 366-4900.

26 W E PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 ; . R '

"Then and Now 11 chapters cover the Corps of Discovery from St. Louis out and hack, alon3 with today's expedi­ tion interpretive sites-andnearhy puh!t'c andf rivate accommodations and attractions.

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AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 27 This is the first in a series of ar­ Then he fell in love, and at the age ticles the Philadelphia Chapter of of 2 1, in 1775, Ellicott married Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Sarah Brown of Newtown, Pennsyl­ Foundation is planning on the vania. and the couple moved to mentors of Meriwether Lewis in Ellicott Upper Mills in the Philadelphia area. Maryland. 4 They by Nancy M. Davis n his lifetime, Andrew Ellicott earned a reputation !) as a man of integrity and ability. The man who loved the stars and science was known for his "honesty of purpose," a trait highly valued by those who com­ missioned him to survey the boundaries of states and countries. The accuracy of his work is dem­ onstrated today by the lines themselves which in almost every instance remain unchanged. Add Andrew Ellicott (from a miniature to this the difficulty posed by the painted in New Orleans in 1799), inaccuracy of the instruments of from Catherine Mathews, Andrew the time and one must admire Ellicott, His Life and Letters, both the m an and his methodol­ Grafton Press, 1908, with ogy. ' permission from the American He was trusted by George Philosophical Society Washington to survey the bound­ Sarah Ellicott, from Catherine ary between the US and Florida and uncles bought a "large tract of Mathews, Andrew Ellicott. His Li fe and at the same time spy on one wild land on the Patapsco Ri ver" and Letters, Grafton Press, 1908, with of his own generals. Thomas and in 177 4 founded the town of permission from the American Jefferson knew that Ellicott had run Ellicott Mills, now Ellicott City, Philosophical Society. the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Maryland.3 Ellicott had a minimal Ellicott had surveyed the nearly education, but as a youth he would have ten ch ildren together, uninhabited w ilderness of western showed mechanical talents, and nine surviving to adulthood ... His Pennsylvania, had dealt with eventually studied in Philadelphia many letters to her throughout native Americans. and knew what with Robert Patterson. The level of their lives unabashedly reveal his it meant to take observations in , his mechanical abilities must have love and concern for her, as well as difficult circumstances. Here was a been apparent early in life for by his willingness and need to entrust worthy advisor for Meriwether the time he was fifteen his father her with his true thoughts and Lewis. allowed him to assist in the con­ feelings, especially when politics Like Lewis, Ellico tt was an oldest struction of a musical clock, one made it imprudent to reveal them son. He was born on January 24, that played several melodies fo r to others. His letters show his 1754, to Joseph and Judith the enjoyment of the Ellicott capaci ty for wit and sarcasm, and (Bleaker) Ellicott, of Dutch and family. In his teens, Ellico tt had reveal a cultured man, a philo­ Quaker lineage. 2 In 1770 his father taken to hand making transits. sophical man, one who could read

28 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 Andrew Ellicott's Diaiy,from Catherine Mathews. Andrew Ellicott, His Life and Letters. Grafton Press. 1908, with permissionjrom the American Philosophical Society.

and speak French effortlessly5 . slavery was a moral wrong and family to Baltimore. He taught When Ellicott was 44 he said that personally condemned it. mathematics at the Academy of art, literature and science were the After the war, he returned to Baltimore. Jn I 786, he served a very foundation of civilization and Fountainvale. the family home in term in the Maryland legislature without them a man was fated to a Ellicott Upper Mills, and published and in the same year, was ap­ life of ignorance and barbarism.6 a series of almanacs, 'The United pointed a member of the Pennsyl­ He was also a man of contradic­ States Almanack.' (The earliest vania commissions to run the west tion. Though raised in the Society known copy is dated 1782.)8 In and north boundaries of Pennsyl­ of Friends, Ellicott enlisted in the 1784 , he was appointed as the Vir­ vania. The commission to run the Maryland militia shortly after his ginia member of the group of sur­ west boundary included David marriage, serving during the Revo­ veyors to continue the Mason Rittenhouse and Andrew Porter as lutionary War. He attained the rank Dixon line from the point where it fellow Pennsylvania commission­ of m ajor, 7 a title many used to ad­ was dropped in 1767. 9 This area ers. The commission for the north dress or speak of him throughout was still largely uninhabited w ilder­ boundary included a visit to Phila­ his life. He seems to have always ness. As a youth, studying science delphia to meet New York commis­ been content with his decision to and practical mechanics in Phila­ sioners General James Clinton and serve in the military even though delphia, Ellicott had been im­ Sim eon DeWitt. Ellicott observed such service is not in keeping with pressed by Mason and Dixon, the the general to be "a thoughtfull old Quaker philosophy. Perhaps more two English mathematicians who Gentleman" and DeWitt to be disturbing to Ellicott was that had been sent to draw the long quite talented and observant for sometimes on surveys he would be contested boundary between his years. 11 His visits to Philadel­ fo rced to hire slaves because there Pennsylvania and Maryland. 10 phia included calls on Rittenhouse was no other labor available, a dif­ After the death of his second and Benjamin Franklin and ficult decision for he believed that son, in 1785 , Ellicott moved his through them he m et other mem-

AUGUST 1998 W E PROCEEDED ON 29 bers of the Philosophical Society. around Philadelphia could no more with Spanish Commissioners." In In 1 788, he was appointed to sur­ be comPennsylvaniared to the land May of 1 799, he saw the transit of vey the islands in the Ohio and the for the new capitol than a "crane to Mercury and on November 12, at Allegheny Rivers within Pennsylva­ a stall-fed ox." 16 Key Largo, he was awestruck as he nia boundaries. Serving under Superintendent witnessed hours of shooting stars, In 1789, the Ellicotts moved to I..:Enfant as principal surveyor, he from 2 a.m. until daylight. He said Philadelphia. Ellicott enlisted the surveyed the land, and eventually the stars lit up the sky and flew in aid of Franklin to receive a position laid out the streets and building every direction. He hired a sloop with the new federal government sites. After Jefferson dismissed back to Philadelphia and ended up and George Washington appointed I..:Enfant, Ellicott redrew the plan having to assist the instrument-shy him to survey the land lying be­ for the engraver incorporating captain with his own. 21 tween Pennsylvania and Lake Jefferson's revisions and this plan In 1800 he submitted his report Erie. 12 The survey would determine became known as the Ellicott of the U.S./Florida survey to the whether the site of the present city Plan. 17 Adams administration,22 but he of Erie, Pennsylvania was then lo­ In 1 792 he was appointed Sur­ was never compensated, and later cated in western New York or in veyor General of the United the administration refused him ac­ the territory of the United States. States18 and in 1794, Governor cess to the charts he had made To determine the line, Ellicott used Mifflin of Pennsylvania appointed when Ellicott was publishing his a transit and equal altitude instru­ him one of the commissioners to journals. Thomas Jefferson would ment that he himself had made lay out the town of Presqu'lsle later release the charts to Ellicott. 23 and the resulting state boundary (Erie). He spent the next 2 years In 1803 he published his journals line was very accurate. The instru­ plotting out a road through the of the U.S./Florida survey with ment was then often used in im­ wildest part of Pennsylvania, from maps and observations. (The Jour­ portant cases.13 While there he Reading to Presqu'Isle. The next nal of Andrew Ellicott, Late Com­ made the first topographical study year, 1 795, Ellicott was made su­ missioner on Behalf of the United of the Niagara River and Falls, and perintendent of the building of Fort States ... 1 796 ... 1800).24 In the pub­ in a letter to Benjamin Rush, de­ Erie, and was employed in laying lication, he states a case in favor of scribed the falls. His were the ac­ out the towns of Erie, Franklin and the Louisiana Purchase as a knowledged measurements in Warren. He dealt with the native method of keeping the western books describing the falls for the Americans in the area and made states as part of the US. It is the next 80 years. 14 recommendations to Governor maps of the Mississippi that were These first commissions pro­ Mifflin as to the possibilities of the included in this publication that vided him with the society of area for settlement. 19 Secretary of the Treasury Gallatin Franklin, Rittenhouse and other George Washington commis­ advised Nicholas King to use in members of the Philosophical Soci­ sioned him to survey the border making his new map of North ety. But it would be the survey at between the U.S. and Florida in America commissioned for the Lake Erie that would establish his 1 796. He traveled via the Missis­ Lewis and Clark Expedition. reputation, a reputation for accu­ sippi and Ohio Rivers with a mili­ Two other events occurred in racy that would lead him to Wash­ tary escort. Although Spain Ellicott's life in 1803. Governor ington, DC to survey the land managed to delay the commission McKean of Pennsylvania appointed ceded by Virginia and Maryland for one year, Ellicott proved to be him Secretary of the Pennsylvania the new capitol. In February, he be­ competent diplomat. In 1798 , Land Office25 requiring the Ellicott gan the survey of the 1O square while on the U.S./Florida survey, family to move to Lancaster, Penn­ mile area designated as the new Ellicott sent a coded letter to the sylvania. And Thomas Jefferson location for the federal seat of gov­ State Department describing infor­ consulted Ellicott for advice in ernment. 15 Ellicott had not agreed mation he had secretly received planning the Lewis and Clark with the choice of location for the regarding the receipt by four Expedition. Ellicott responded to city, preferring Philadelphia, espe­ Americans of annual stipends from Jefferson with preliminary recom­ cially as he tramped through the Spain. One of the four Americans mendations of equipment to be last area to be surveyed for the was General James Wilkinson. 20 used on the expedition. new capitol. Not wanting to let Ellicott's actions would later affect Andrew Ellicott was 49 when he President Washington know his his own career. In 1 799, he made accepted Jefferson's request to in­ true feelings, he instead wrote to the observation of the Florida struct Lewis in the taking of field his wife and told her that the land coast by boat and "located the line and celestial observations. He

30 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 made equipment recommenda­ der me every aid in his power. .. " 28 of the Pennsylvania Land Office he tions to Jefferson while he was Ellicott taught Lewis how to use a had sent to London to be repaired. planning the expedition. He sextant and octant and take obser­ He writes in a letter "On its being trained Lewis, regulated the vations. By the month of May, returned it was set up and made expedition's chronometer and 1803, both Ellicott and Robert use of both for making astronomi­ oversaw the construction of a sex­ Patterson had become convinced cal observations and to gratify the tant and portable horizon. In an that the theodolite would be too curiosity of such members of the effort to facilitate the expedition's fragile for the expedition and legislature as had a desire to view ability to take accurate readings in would actually be more inaccurate the stars and planets But when Mr. difficult terrain, he developed a in obtaining longitude that the sex­ Snyder became governor the scene new type of artificial horizon for tant. To Lewis they additionally was changed, science and litera­ the sextant. recommended two sextants, two ture became obnoxious to men On March 6th 1803 Ellicott artificial horizons, one good whose uncultivated minds could wrote to Jefferson, happily agree­ Arnold's chronometer, one not comprehend their use to soci­ ing to see and train Meriwether surveyor's compass, with a ball ety. So thought and so acted the Lewis in the art of celestial and and socket and two pole chain and goths and vandals when they first field observations. He recom­ one set plotting instruments. invaded Italy ... The telescope of the mended an Arnold chronometer Ellicott continued to serve as the commonwealth is now useless and for the expedition and explained secretary of the Pennsylvania Land being in the hands of ignorant in­ that for Lewis practice was most Office until 1808 when he was re­ competent persons who neither important in developing the skill of m oved by incoming Governor know its use nor how to.manage it deftly taking observations. He Snyder whose political party was a when set up, will if science should noted that the calculations would supporter of General Wilkinson. ever again be revived in Pennsylva­ be made after the return of the ex­ His removal from office is perhaps nia, have once more to be sent to pedition and that this was not an not surprising since, in the late Europe to be repaired. Fortunately unusual practice. He went on to 1790's, Ellicott had submitted evi­ having an accromatic telescope of discuss artificial horizons and dence to the State Department of my own my observations have not methodologies for determining ac­ Wilkinson's intrigues with Spain in been entirely suspended." When curate latitude and longitude.26 the southern territory. Ellicott was friends in Philadelphia planned to Ellicott corresponded with angry enough about his removal build an observatory as an exten­ Jefferson on April 18th that al­ from office to anonymously pub­ sion to the University and Philo­ though an order for a sextant and lish criticisms of Governor Snyder sophical Society on State House portable horizon had come to him and his supporters in the newspa­ land, with Ellicott as director, the from someone else, he sensed it per.29 lower State House proposed a reso­ was in fact for Captain Lewis and In the winter of 1810 to 1811 , lution to sell the property. The plan had arranged for the instrument to Ellicott spent much time in Wash­ was abandoned. 30 be made locally with his supervi­ ington on 'Wilkinson's business' Jn 1811 he was commissioned to sion. In this letter Ellicott re ferred and Ellicott wrote to his brother run the line of Georgia's northern to publishing his journal from the " ... Mr. and Mrs. Madison treated boundary. He left in July and re­ Florida survey and went on to de­ me with the greatest respect, and turned in May of 1812.3 1 During scribe plans to publish "a small attention, and consulted me confi­ the survey he and his team slept treatise on practical astronomy as dentially on some very important on the ground, even in winter. On connected with geography for the points. I am convinced Mr. Madi­ Christmas Day they cleared timber. use of such persons as may be ex­ son, would oblige me with plea­ When they climbed the Chatoga ploring our extensive western re­ sure, and is only deterred from the m ountain their clothes and skin gions ... " 27 fear of offending the present ruling were torn by briars until, as Ellicott On April 20, 1803, Meriwether power in this state, whose animos­ says "the blood trickled off the Lewis wrote Jefferson that he had ity appears to know no bounds." ends of all my fi ngers." When the arrived in Lancaster, had called That sp ring, Snyder's administra­ survey was finished Ellicott, at the upon Ellicott, and had begun tak­ tion continued to harass him age of 57, walked almost 200 ing observations with Ellicott's when, by formal resolution, they miles on foot to meet w ith the Gov­ guidance. Lewis described Ellicott denied him the use of the ernor of Georgia. Throughout his as "extremely friendly and commonwealth's telescope which career, Ellicott experienced difficul­ attentive ... and is disposed to ren- when entrusted to him as secretary ties in collecting his salary and ex-

AUGUST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 3 1 penses for surveys. For all his re­ -FOOTNOTES- 22Dictionary of American Biography. p. 90. 2'The American Family History, p. 161. nown, he often had to endure fi­ 1Mathews, Catherine Van Cortlandt. An­ 24Dictionary of American Biography, p. 90. drew Ellicott His Life and Letters. New York: nancial embarrassment. The 25Appleton 's Cyclopedia of American Biogra­ The Grafton Press, 1908, pp. 245-246. phy, pp. 327-328. Georgia survey was no different. 2 "Andrew Ellicott," Dictionary of American 26jackson, Donald, editor. Letters of the When Ellicott's survey determined Biography, Vol. VI, 1937 ed., p. 89. Lewis and Clark Expedition. with Related that the state's northern boundary 3"Andrew Ellicott," Appleton's Cyclopedia of documents, 1783-1854. Urbana. Illinois: American Biography, Vol. II, 1887 ed., p had been set 18 miles too far to the University of Illinois Press, 1962, pp. 23- 327. 24. north, the governor and the State of 4 Dictionary of American Biography, p. 89. 27jackson, pp. 36-37. Georgia only managed to render 5Mathews, p. 21 6. 28Ibid, pp. 39-40. 0 The American Family History, courtesy of enough money to cover personal 29Mathews, pp. 214-21 5. The Historic Preservation Trust of expenses, never compensating 30Ibid, pp. 2 17-219. Lancaster County, p. 163. 31 Ibid, pp. 219, 255-226. Ellicott with the contracted amount 7 The American Family Hist01y, p. 163. 32 32Ibid, pp. 225-226. of three thousand dollars. 8Dictionary of American Biography, p. 89. 33 The American Family History, p. 162. Not long after, in 1813, Ellicott •rbid. 34 IO[bid. "Andrew Ellicott," Biographical Dictionary moved to New York State, having of American Science. The Seventeenth 11Mathews, p. 57. accepted a position at the relatively 12Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biogra­ Through the Nineteenth Centuries, ed. Clark Elliott, Greenwood Press, 1979, p. 84. new West Point Academy as profes­ phy, p. 327. 5 ' The American Family History, p. 163. 33 13 The American Family History, p. 157. sor of mathematics. He had con­ 36lbid, p. 1 56. 14Mathews, pp. 78-79. fessed to his brother in a letter a 5 ' Dictionary of American Biography, p. 89. 6 few years earlier that he felt more ' Mathews, p. 89. attached to his home in Lancaster 17Dictionary ofAmerican Biography, p. 89. About the author. .. 8 than any other. He loved his gar­ ' Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biogra­ Foundation member Nancy Davis is phy, p. 327. an interior designer for large den, and was proud of the grape 19Mathews, p. 116. vines and fruit trees, especially the ""//Ji(/. commercial projects. peaches, that he had worked so : i The American Family Hisro1y. p. I b0- 1b I . hard to encourage. In 1817, he trav­ eled to Montreal, Canada to make astronomical observations to fulfill requirements of the Treaty of Ghent. 34 Wfq;~~~~ The end of his life came sud­ denly. He had shown no sign of ill ~TitlJ]U~~ health or slowing down. But at the age of 66, Ellicott was stricken with LEWIS AND CLAR apoplexy on August 25th, 1820, af­ ter a visit to New York to see his C OE A VB ID rq, daughter and son-in-law, the olfers fully-guided (and geared up!) Griffiths. He died at home in West Point three days later, August 28, five-daycanoetripsonthe 1820. He was survived by his wife National Wild and Scenic and nine children.35 A friend said of him that he "was always looking up at the stars. "36 Astronomy was the love of Ellicott's B00K YOUR PLACE life excluding his very obvious af­ fection for Sarah. The quality of his IN HISTORYTODAY1 survey work raised the level of American surveying and cartogra­ For a fee brochure call phy. More important was the accu­ racy of his work and the integrity of -91 1 his character to the formation and - B - stability of a young, growing nation. or visit our website at www.Iewisandclarkguide.com

32 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 U-P-D-A-T-E by Martin Erickson

"Almost Heroes," a slapstick comedy about two Washington, because they would not sign a treaty. explorers who try to beat Lewis and Clark to the To heal themselves. the Nez Perce have been hold­ West Coast, opened in theaters May 29th. It stars ing healing ceremonies along the Nez Perce Trail and the late comedian Chris Farley and "Friends'" at Fort Vancouver. Non-Indians are included in the Matthew Perry. Any volunteers for reviews? ceremonies. As a reason why the Nez Perce should be involved University of Montana honors author in the bicentennial. Pinkham said, "This is our Ambrose with degree homeland, as well as our neighbors' homeland. Stephen Ambrose was in good company indeed For the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara people, it is important that their contributions to the expedition when he was recently awarded an honorary Doctor are acknowledged, Calvin Grinnel, a member of the of Letters degree from the University of Montana. Three Affiliated Tribes and of the North Dakota Bi­ Pulitzer Prize-w inning Montana journalist Mel Ruder, centennial Council, said. former owner of the Hungry Horse (Mont.) News. also received the same honorary degree. Ruder won A member of the Assiniboilie and Sioux Reserva­ tion in Montana and a member of the Montana the 1 965 Pulitzer for his coverage of the devastating Governor's Bicentennial Commission for Lew is and 1964 floods. He also co-founded the Montana News­ paper Hall of Fame. Ambrose, who has written more Clark, Jeanne Eder, urged people to include Indian voices in their planning. Eder. who portrays than 20 books. became a best-seller w ith "Un­ daunted Courage" and continued with "Citizen Sol­ Sacagawea and other historical Indian women char­ acters. talked about the importance of oral histories. diers". - Great Falis (MT) 'Itibune "If the young people would ask," she said, "the old people would remember." -Bismarck (ND) Tribune Reconciliation comes first, Indians say Bad relations between Indian people and the United States government, years after the Lewis and Interpretive Center Opens Clark Expedition, can't be ignored as the nation pre­ After years of dreaming, planning, lobbying, fund pares to acknowledge the bicentennial of the Ameri­ raising. designing and building, the Lewis and Clark can Odyssey. Interpretive Center opened at 9 a.m. on May 5th. There is a need for ceremonies of reconciliation The community has been working for more than and native people need to be consulted on planning a dozen years to develop the center. The idea was for the bicentennial, three Indian speakers told par­ suggested by the late Bob Bivens in a goal-setting ticipants at the National Bicentennial Council meet­ session during the city's centennial in 1984. ing in Bismarck, North Dakota in May. (See article Center Director Jane Weber had no idea what kind page 15 ). of crowds to expect, but booked two groups of stu­ "Some of our people say, 'Why get involved? dents for early morning and early afternoon tours What good did it (the Lewis and Clark Expedition) most weekdays in May. do?" Nez Perce and member of the national bicen­ The center has 5,500 square feet of exhibits that tennial council, Allen Pinkham, said. track the Lew is and Clark's 1804-1806 trek from St. Between 1805, when the explorers first met the Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back, a j ourney which Nez Perce. and 1855, there were relatively good rela­ captured the nation's imagination and was respon­ tions between the U.S. government and the tribe but sible for opening the American West. the Nez Perce War of 1877 put and end to that, he Indians were crucial to the success of the expedi­ said. In that war. a 32-member band under Chief tion, and the center has major exhibits on the Red Heart was put in prison in Fort Vancouver. Mandans, the Shoshone and the Nez Perce.

MAY 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 33 The center, near Giant Springs Heritage State Park, the Eye of the Needle. The scenic sandstone arch in is built low to the ground in block forms that re­ the White Cliffs area of the Missouri River, which semble chunks of sandstone. Its exterior is done in was noted by Lewis and Clark, was destroyed by muted striations of sage, green and light tan. colors vandals last year. The corporation may also earm ark that seem to blend from a distance with the sur­ as much as S1 million to finance education and anti­ rounding prairie grasses. It is built into a cliff above vandalism efforts to prevent similar vandalism of na­ the Missouri River, providing a spectacular view. tional treasures. -Great Falls (MT) Tribun e The BLM decided in September l 997 to build a replica because of the cost of res toring the remote Professor has big role m explorer's fete original and other facto rs. A quarry for the needed Robert Weir Jr. grew up in Chambersburg, Penn­ sandstone has been located. The several-ton replica sylvania, the hometown of Patrick Gass, the oldest will be life-size- l 1 feet tall and I 5 feet wide. It will person to go on the Lewis and Clark expedition. The be located on a 25-foot foundation on the bank of University of Scranton professor has had a lifelong the Missouri River across from the swimming pool in interest in the two explorers and now he is chairman Fort Benton- 56 miles away from the site of the of the of the bicentennial committee of the Lewis original. and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation and sits on the It is also not out of the question that the original foundation board. eye could be restored even if the replica is built, ac­ Dr Weir, the chairman of the university's graduate cording to the BLM and a private committee working education program, said a traveling museum of on the cause. Lewis and Clark artifacts and photographic studies of Five experts will be brought in to examine the cre­ the explorer's route w ill be displayed at the univer­ ation when it is finished, probably by the end of the sity before they go on a nationwide tour next year. summer. If it is not near perfect or looks fake, Otto Many of the items are part of his collection from the said, the BLM will res tore the original eye. Lewis and Clark centennial. The Committee to Restore the Eye of the Needle, As part of the bicentennial, Dr. Weir said the foun­ a Fort Benton- based group, still wants to restore the dation is seeking a congressional resolution granting original whether or not the replica is good enough. It William Clark his captain's commission. Lewis had will help the BLM select the experts to examine the promised Clark that President Jefferson would grant replica, and it is accepting donations for restoring him a captain's commission, salary, pension and the original. land for his service on the expedition. It never hap­ -Great Falls (M1) Tribune pened. Dr. Weir explained that the law needed to be written such a way that Clark's heirs can't use the Thomas Jefferson was so fond of salads he raised commission to make a claim against the Treasury for 19 varieties of lettuce at Monticello. back pay, pension or land. The foundation also is seeking to clear Lewis' Interpretive center's designer faced tall order name of allegations of misspending. Letters show "It was like a Chinese puzzle to start in the lobby, Jefferson gave Lewis and Clark a virtual blank check in Philadelphia, where Meriwether Lewis got his sci­ to cover their expenses, Dr. Weir said. entific training, and to get all the way to the Wes t The foundation is also asking national recognition Coast and back in the right spots in the building," for Sacagawea and York, Captain Clark's slave who said Chris Wilson, a senior designer with Deaton remained enslaved after the expedition was com­ Museum Services of Minneapolis. "We considered pleted. more than 100 floor plans." Dr. Weir lauded the role of the native tribes in the Wilson and his co-workers essentially fleshed out expedition, He said that without Native American the ideas of local Lewis and Clark buffs and a pre­ guides, their supplies and, in some cases, their deci­ liminary designer to come up with the final interior sion to spare the white explorer's lives, the entire ex­ design for the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at pedition would have perished. Great Falls. -The Scra nton (PA) Ti mes The strik ing center piece, a diorama of five expe­ Corporation to pay for "eye" replica dition members hauling a dugout canoe up a steep Bureau of Land Management Area Manager Chuck ravine. has been a part of the plans for sometime. Otto says an out-of-state corporation has agreed to With a more than a little imagination and a lot of in­ pay the $44,000 construction cost for a replica of tense work, Wilson was able to put the diorama in

34 WE PROCEEDED ON MAY 1998 the proper chronological order in the most striking Center honoring Sacajawea, Lewis, Clark position imaginable with maximum exposure proposed against a two-story glass view of the Missouri River. A $3 million Sacajawea and Lewis and Clark Inter­ Wilson said he struggled with ways to show visi­ pretive Center in Fort Hall (Idaho) would attract the tors casually passing through how grueling the trip scores of people driving between Salt Lake City and was. Yellowstone National Park, its supporter says. "We couldn't bake people in the sun, or have Lynn Leasure, who is helping develop the Oregon them haul boats up a freezing river," the designer Trail Interpretive Center in Montpelier (Idaho), said said. "Then in the middle of the night, I came up the center would benefit all of eastern Idaho. He said with the idea of letting people tug on a rope to turn a he has researched the Shoshone tribe and gauge to give an indication how many miles they Sacajawea, the most notable American Indian might have made paddling, poling and driving heavy woman in history. He noted that about 3,000 bus canoes upstream for months." tours travel from Salt Lake City to Montpelier and Wilson is off on other projects now, but he called then on to Wyoming and Yellowstone Park each the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center "a labor of year. If the Sacajawea exhibit were in Fort Hall, those love". tours would go down Interstate 15 to the spot, he "I really like the Lewis and Clark story," he said. "I said. like Montana and I really enjoyed working with the Lewis and Clark people here. And, the project site The center would include a theater in which visi­ right above the Missouri River provided a $1 million tors could watch a movie about Sacajawea being kid­ view." napped by another tribe, taken to the Missouri River Many of the exhibits and artifacts are touchable. and sold into slavery. Museums tend to have more things behind glass, Leasure said Sacajawea carried an infant with her while interpretive centers are full of tactile and inter­ as she guided Lewis and Clark to the Idaho Pan­ active exhibits. handle and met her long-lost brother, a Shoshone From his perspective, Wilson said he will consider chief who helped the explorers for their journey to the interpretive center a success if a typical visitor the coast. comes away with four or five broad ideas about the The center would also have a replica of a Corps of Discovery, such as: Shoshone village. • Despite difficult terrain and strenuous work - Lewiston (ID) Morning Tribune conditions, almost everybody made it back. Lewis and Clark is essay topic • Lewis and Clark saw and recorded an amazing The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Fo~ndation , variety of people, animals and plants. the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpre­ • They faced some difficult decisions and anxious tive Center, and the Portage Route Chapter are times, such as which was the tributary and sponsoring an essay contest for Montana students in which was the main Missouri where the spring­ grades 7-9 and 10-12. swollen Marias River entered. Essay entries for 1998 must address why the • They met many Indian tribes with a variety of Lewis and Clark Expedition was successful. life-styles. Most helped the explorers. "Now is the time to bring to the attention of all Wilson added, "When the interpretive center first Montanans the upcoming National Bicentennial opens it may be kind of crowded. My advice is for observance of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and people to scan the exhibit descriptions the first time the historic activities that occurred in what is now and read those that particularly interest them. They Montana," Racicot said. can back and learn more when things calm down." The top three essays in each group will receive -Great Falls (MT) Tribune scholarships of $1 ,250, $1,000 or $750, respectively, The Great Falls (MT) Tribune has started a series and a plaque. of daily maps of Montana showing where Lewis The winning applicant this year in each group will and Clark were on the particular date and includ­ receive his or her award at a reception in Great Falls ing a quote from one of the journals of expedition on July 3 as part of the grand opening of the Lewis members. The source for the information is sup­ and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center. plied by the Travelers Rest Chapter (Missoula, MT) --Great Falls (MT) Tribune of the foundation.

MAY 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 35 Following the Lewis and Clark Trail, A Vacation since he retired in 1982, stopping for Lewis and Guide for Campers, by Doten Warner, Perserverance Clark festivals and visiting with Lewis and Clark Publishing, 1511 6 15th Street, Lutz, Florida, 33549, people (and others) along the way. They note, for ex­ 1998 , 110 pages, b&w photos, maps, softcover, ample, that in St Charles, Missouri, there is a reen­ $11.95 actment each May that commemorates the transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from Spain and France to A review by Martin Erickson the United States. They comment that there is a Doten and Lena Warner first crossed the Lewis good campground in St. Charles and also a Lewis and Clark Trail in 1982. They were on their up the and Clark Museum, run By Mimi Jackson, who can Pacific Coast to Alaska when they saw a sign point­ answer any question about the Lewis and Clark ing to Fort Clatsop, the spot where Lewis and Clark story. They also note she gave courses on Lewis and stayed during the winter of 1805-06. The stop, Clark to 11,000 school children last year. piqued their interest and since then they have spent Climb a high mound in Atchison, Kansas, as Lewis many days and traveled many miles on the Lewis did and Doten and Lena did, and you can see and Clark Trail. Although they have visited other his­ Amelia Earhart's home. toric sites and traveled other historic trails "we like Commenting later on about Clark's doctoring the Lewis and Clark Trail best because it is certainly skills, Warner says, "Today they could have got him not depressing like some of the others, but uplifting. for practicing medicine without a license." We can read from the Corps of Discovery journals as Near what is now Chamberlain, South Dakota, we go along, and realize what it all looked like in its Meriwether Lewis reported seeing a grove of plum primeval condition, and rediscover it for ourselves." trees. Doten and Lena camped in a grove of plum In his introduction to his sprightly campers guide, trees there. Warner says, "It is interesting t6, contrast the record At Fort Lincoln State Park, near Mandan, North of this expedition with the records of other expedi­ Dakota, when you buy your ticket for the "hilarious" tions; the Oregon, Santa Fe, Gila, Old Spanish, Cali­ play on life in the fort in the 1870's, you are given a fornia and El Camino Real trails. Death on those bag of peanuts to throw at the villains when they trails was expected, and realized in sad quantities. misbehave. No other leaders, except perhaps Fathers Kino, In eastern Montana Doten notes there are no Garces and Serra, leaders of the southern trails, had highways along the Missouri River from Fort Peck to such loving and caring control over their men as Fort Benton a distance of some hundreds of river Lewis and Clark had. The Santa Fe Trail, mainly used miles. He asks, where else in the country is it so re­ for freight, had travelers bent on making money, mote for so far? while the Oregon Trail had travelers whose main The Warner's adventure driving up Lemhi Pass purpose was getting to the other end in one season. from the Idaho side made Doten wonder if he was They formed a group mainly for security reasons. having fun. The drive back down wasn't any better. This lack of mutual support may be why the trail On one of their trips along the trail they decided was littered with graves. On the Lewis and Clark ex­ to only go as far west as Lewiston, Idaho. While pedition, no one was ever left behind, for their sick camped there, Doten noticed on a map that they were carried and doctored as they went. During hun­ were halfway between their home in Florida and Ha­ ger times the hunger was mutually shared. waii so they caught a plane and had a great time in "The Lewis and Clark story is not one which has Hawaii. He says the nice part of that arrangement one dramatic climax at the end; rather it has many was they left their van in the Lewiston airport park­ climaxes. In 28 months they reached different goals ing lot for a week free while in Hawaii. and each one had its climax." He climbed up 800 feet to the top of Beacon Rock Doten and Lena have traveled the trail leisurely along the Columbia River in Washington and

36 WE PROCEEDED ON MAY 1998 scrambled through the brush and trees at Cape Dis­ tions of the details of the trip, but these supplemen­ appointment on the Washington coast to take pic­ tary journals of the enlisted men add further details tures of the jetties at the mouth of the Columbia. His to the record. Lewis suggested that any of the men comment at the Cape was that Lewis and Clark in addition to the sergeants who could write should might have named it Cape Satisfaction if it had not keep a journal if they wished. At least one of the pri­ already been named. vates, Joseph Whitehouse, kept a fairly complete Doten Warner gives you his view of the Lewis and record. Two other privates (P ryor and Frazer) are Clark Trail using insight and humor He is not afraid suspected to have kept journals, but their writings to get out and do things rather than just seeing the have never been located. In 1805, Lewis wrote that trail from the van although he says Lena is braver seven men were keeping journals, but one way or than he is. another a considerable portion of the record appears While reading about their adventures, I could pic­ to have been lost, perhaps forever. ture myself in the same spots along the trail and I The first of the sergeants, John Ordway, kept a wondered how I would interpret them, what I would journal during almost the entire expedition from 14 take the time to see that was off the beaten path. I May 1804 to its conclusion on 23 September 1806. decided I would have fit in comfortably with Doten It is the most extensive of the enlisted mens' and Lena on their trips along the trail. records. Lewis had made Ordway the first of the ser­ geants when the party wintered at Camp Dubois during the winter of 1803-1804, and on several occasions, left him in charge of the party while both the captains were away on necessary business in St. The journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition: Louis. He was, in effect, the senior of all the ser­ The journals ofjohn Ordway, May 14, 1804-Sep­ geants. He was the only member of the party never tember 23, 1806, and Charles Floyd, May 14-Au­ to miss a day in his journal. On several occasions, gust 18, 1804: Volume 9; The journals of the Lewis even Captain Clark found it necessary to refer to & Clark Expedition: The journal ofPatrick Gass, Ordway's journal, and for several entries, his is the May 14, 1804-September 23, 1806: Volume 10; and only known account. Ordway's journal was first pub­ The Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition: The lished by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in journals ofJoseph Whitehouse, May 14, 1804- their Collections, Volume XXJI in 1916, along with a April 2, 1806: Volume 11. Edited by Gary E. portion of Captain Lewis's 1803 journal, but it has Moulton. (Lincoln: 1995, xix + 419 pp., 1996, xviii never been published with the other records of the + 300 pp., and 1997, xvii + 459 pp. Illustrations, journey. maps, tables, notes, bibliography, index. $55.00, Unfortunately, Sergeant Charles Floyd was only $45.00, and $55.00.) able to keep his journal from 14 May to 18 August Reprinted from The Western Historical Quarterly 1804, when he died from the "bilious colic" on the with permission. upper Missouri near present-day Sioux City, Iowa. A review by George H Tweney Had he lived, the existing portion of his journal indi­ cates that his would have been a most valuable It is now several years since we last reviewed Vol­ contribution to the story of the expedition. Floyd ume 8 of Gary Moulton's scholarly editing of the was the only member of the corps to have died dur­ journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the ing the entire journey. pages of WHQ. At that time the expedition had been With the demise of Charles Floyd, Captains Lewis safely returned to St. Louis, and presumably the saga and Clark held an election among the men to choose would have been completed. his successor, and Patrick Gass received the most However, in his wisdom, Thomas Jefferson had votes. (Was this the first democratic election in the not only directed both captains to keep detailed jour­ wilderness west of the Mississippi?) On 26 August nals of their own, but to delegate several men of the 1804, Clark notes in his journal that Gass had re­ corps to copy the captains' journals as the journey ceived his promotion to sergeant. progressed. Both Lewis and Clark fo und this to be Gass was one of the oldest men to join the Corps, rather unsatisfactory soon after the journey got un­ having been born in 1771. He was a carpenter by derway, and they delegated the sergeants in the trade, and had already spent several years in the crew to start keeping journals of their own. Even army, so he had considerable experience that would without any additional journal keepers, the captains' be useful to the corps. He was a tough, resilient fron­ journals alone would have been wonderful compila- tiersman of Irish extraction, and could not only take,

MAY 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 37 but could give, orders. He was responsible for the expedition, and he is one of the least known of the building of Camp Dubois, and Forts Mandan and expedition crew. Following the expedition he had a Clatsop, and also carved many of the canoes re­ checkered army career and seems to have disap­ quired by the corps during the course of the journey. peared after 181 7. Whitehouse's original journal When he returned from the journey, Gass turned ends at 6 November 1805. By one of those fortu­ his journal over to a Pittsburgh book-seller, publisher, itous strokes of fortune a paraphrased copy of the and erstwhile school teacher named David Whitehouse journal was discovered in a Philadelphia M'Keehan,to prepare it for publication. It came out book shop in February 1966. By an unknown hand in 1807 and was the first reliable account of the ex­ (that had obviously had access to the original) it ex­ pedition, albeit refined by M'Keehan's editing into tended the Whitehouse journal to 2 April 1806. This more elegant prose. By 1814, it had appeared in six constitutes the end of Whitehouse's known journal editions in various parts of the world, and it has writing. Where is the final section of his journal lead­ been printed several times in recent years. There has ing to the return of the expedition to St. Louis on 26 been li ttle danger of the Gass account ever being September 1806? lost, but alas, his original manuscript journal has These three volumes are a massive contribution to never been found. Some time ago, the rare book the final literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. dealer Ernest Wessen of Mansfield, Ohio, spent al­ Moulton has embell ished them all with copious foot­ most ten years in a concerted search for the original notes, bibliographies, and editorial comments. There Gass journal, but it has never been found. are still two volumes forthcoming to complete the Gass married a young woman of twenty when he series, but we now have in hand all the journal mate­ was 60 years old and fathered six children. He lived rials relating to the expedition. Moulton has done a to the venerable age of 99 and in 1870 was the last yeoman's chore: This is rhe first time all the journal of the expedition members to pass away. materials have been brought together in one place. The third of this triumvirate of journals of the ex­ pedition covers that of Joseph Whitehouse from 14 About the reviewer... May 1804 to 2 April 1 806. His journal is the only Foundation member George Tweney is a professor surviving account written by an army private on the emeritus at Highline College in Seattle, Washington.

KUDOS Cont. from p. 12 views with environmental historian Dan Flores, grizzly bear specialist Charles Jonke!, and former Salish­ Kootenai Tribal Council Chairman Ron Therriault. In the fall of 2001 the University of Oklahoma Press will publish Dis­ covering Lewis and Clark on CD­ ROM or DVD . To date, the project has received funding from the National Endow­ ment for the Humanities, the Mon­ tana Committee for the Humani­ ties, the Oregon Council for the Hu­ manities, and the Montana Cultural Trust. Current plans call for the raising of an additional $300,000 to continue the work done so far. David Cree Medicine uses an air compressor to dust the sculpture prominent To receive regular updates to the western sculptor Bob Scriver donated to the new Lewis and Clark Interpretive site via email, contact Joe Center in Great Falls. Cree Medicine is Scriver 's foundry foreman. The sculpture Mussulman at jmuss@lewis­ is Scriver's housewarming gift to the center. ft combines figures from two of clark.org. Scriver's most prominent outdoor statues into one. From the statue at Overlook The web site is dedicated to the Park in Great Falls came Lewis and Clark, Clark's slave York, and Lewis' dog memory of Arlen j. Large and V. Seaman. Sacagawea and her baby came from a statue in Fort Benton. Photo by Stuart White. courtesy Great Falls Tribune Strode Hinds.

38 WE PROCEEDED ON AUGUST 1998 NORTH DAKOTA Cont.jromp. 14 EDITOR'S DESK Cont. from p.3 North Dakota Heritage Center New or potential Lewis and Located in Bismarck Clark chapters are being formed or being looked at in New Hampshire, The largest museum in the state, Plains Women highlights this deco­ Chester, Montana; Helena, Mon­ the North Dakota Heritage Center rative technique used by the Plains tana; Kentucky (includes five state is also home of the State Historical Indians from prehistoric times to area), North Carolina, Southern Society of North Dakota. the present day. This is will be a California, Missouri and Phoenix, Located on the capitol grounds unique opportunity to view this re­ Arizona. Ron Laycock is the person in Bismarck, the heritage center markable aspect of life among the who is helping these new chapters has an outstanding collection of Indians that Lewis and Clark en­ get started. Plains Indians artifacts and inter­ countered during their stay at Fort And, not to be outdone, your old pretive exhibits that feature North Mandan. editor is using money from a very Dakota's varied American Jndian, The Glass Box Museum Store generous Steve Ambrose to do military and agricultural history. features original hand-crafted some traveling along the trail. I A stunning, once-in-a-lifetime items and a premier selection of took a drive over to Bismarck, exhibit, celebrating the traditional regional books. North Dakota, recently to attend a craft of quillwork decoration, will For more information, call (701) foundation board meeting and na­ be featured at the museum during 328-2666 or visit the State Histori­ tional bicentennial council meet­ the annual meeting of the Lewis cal Society of North Dakota's web ing. Although the council has been and Clark Trail Heritage Founda­ site, www.state.nd.us/hist. in business for a couple of years, I tion. Sacred Beauty: Quillwork of have not had the funds to travel to meetings. Thinking of new ap­ proaches to old ideas, I decided to PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE cont.from p.3 look not so much at what the Yet another milestone was a year as long as the sales of "Un­ council is doing, but how they are reached when your board of direc­ daunted Courage" generate ad­ doing it and who is doing it. I will tors held its first mid-year meeting. equate revenue. Our warmest write that article tomorrow, so Traditionally, the board met only at thanks to him for such care and we'll see how it comes out. I also the time of the annual meeting. At concern for the foundation and its traveled to McAllister, Montana, to the 1997 annual meeting at mission. have a chat with artist Steve Zabel. Stevenson, Washington, the board As this will be my last "Message I already wrote that one and it agreed to meet twice a year. Thus, from the President," I want to came out pretty good. You will find the board met April 25, 1998 at thank you for your interest in the it on page 10. Bismarck, North Dakota, immedi­ story of Lewis and Clark and your Ahl The lure of the open road! ately before the annual meeting of support of the foundation and its Sounds sort of like Lewis and the Bicentennial Council. Our mission. I must also give my Clark, doesn't it ? More on that in meeting was well attended and thanks to you for your support, aid this column in the November WPO. fruitful. (For a report on the Bicen­ and assistance during my term as tennial Council's meeting, see edi­ your president. I have never tor Marty Erickson's article worked with a finer group of elsewhere in this issue.) Bismarck, people. Jt has been not only a incidentally, did a fine job of host­ privilege, but a pleasure to have ing our board and the council. I am served you. sure we can really look forward to I hope to see you in Great Falls. an outstanding reception for our 1 999 meeting there. Of truly major import to the BIG NUMBERS FOR "LEWIS AND CLARK" foundation are the $10,000 gifts KSPS-7 in Spokane had excellent ratings for Ken Burns' "Lewis & Clark: made to the foundation by Dr. The journey of the Corps of Discovery. " It scored an 11 rating and an 18 Ambrose. He most generously share, which are huge numbers for a PBS show. In fact, it beat three out of promised the foundation $10,000 the four major network shows it was up against at the time.

AUG UST 1998 WE PROCEEDED ON 39 Capt. Wm . Clark I 27th of October Satturday 1804

we Set our arly Came too at this Village on the L.S. this village is Situated on an eminance of about 50 feet above the Water in a handson Plain it Containes houses in a kind of Picket work. the houses are round and Verry large Containing Several families, as also their horses which is tied on one Side of the enterance, a Discription of those houses will be given hereafter.

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