Book Reviews • Sex and the Single Explorer • The Natchez Trace and Andrew Jackson, 1815

Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation August 2015 Volume 41, No. 3 Updating Clark’s “Error of the Southwest”

Plus The Curious Afterlife of Clark’s 1798–1801 Notebook the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Journal

voluMe 9 - 2015

The Mystery of Alfred Jacob Miller’s Portrait of Captain Joseph Reddeford Walker by Vic Nathan Barkin Questioning the identity of the person whose portrait Miller painted, the image of Joe Walker may not be him at all.

Wolverines in the Fur Trade by Fred Poyner IV Though the beaver was the most sought after animal during the fur trade era, many other creatures were trapped.

The 1808 Murder Trial of George Drouillard by Melissa Tiffie An in-depth look at an early St. Louis legal case, examining frontier justice using actual court documents.

Exploring Rocky Mountain Trapper Productivity by Jim Hardee Attempts to quantify beaver trapping, searching to discover how many pelts a mountaineer might reasonably expect to harvest in a twelve month period.

Informative, fun, and inspiring to read! Blackfeet Peacemaker: The Search for Nicholas Small Robe by George Capps The search for the Piegan man who urged peaceful trade with neighboring tribes as well as with trappers. A peer-reviewed scholarly publication from the Museum of the Mountain Man and Jim Bridger Challenges the HBC in the post-Rendezvous Era Sublette County Historical Society by Jerry Enzler A study of fur trade competition in the 1840s, utilizing Full Color Paperback, 8 x 11 important documents recently discovered in the Hudson’s ISBN: 978-0-9768113-9-1 Bay Company Archives.

Archibald Pelton, Mad Man of the Mountains To order visit our website at by Larry E. Morris www.mmmuseum.com The tragic tale of a young mountaineer and contemporary of or call 307-367-4101 or 1-877-686-6266 Andrew Henry, Manuel Lisa, and Wilson Price Hunt.

MuseuM of the Mountain Man sublette County Historical society-a Foundation

P.O. Box 909, 700 E. Hennick St., Pinedale, Wyoming 82941 tel 307-367-4101 fax 307-367-6768 [email protected] www.mmmuseum.com Contents

Message from the President 3

L & C Roundup 4

Letters 7

Hiding in Plain Sight: The Curious Afterlife of 10 William Clark’s 1798–1801 Notebook By Jo Ann Trogdon Meriwether Lewis Clark, p. 10 Updating William Clark’s “Error of the Southwest” 15 By John C. Jackson

Sex and the Single Explorer: A Response to William 26 Benemann’s “My Friend and Companion: The Intimate Journey of Lewis and Clark” By Alicia DeMaio

Reviews: Gloomy Terrors and Hidden Fires, by Glen W. Lindeman; 30 Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, by Bob Gatten

The Natchez Trace and Andrew Jackson inside back cover Detail of Clark’s map, p. 18

On the cover: Carol Grende’s bronze statue titled “Sacajawea’s Arduous ­Journey” is framed by aspens at the U.S. District Court Building in Great Falls, Montana, in this photo by incom- ing president of the Lewis and Clark Foundation Steve Lee. Chickasaw Elder Robert Perry, inside back cover

We Proceeded On welcomes submissions of articles, proposals, inquiries, and letters.­ Writer’s guidelines are available by request and can be found on our website (www.lewisandclark.org). Submissions may be sent to Robert Clark, WSU Press, P.O. Box 645910, Pullman, WA 99164-5910, or by email to [email protected]. The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc.

P.O. Box 3434, Great Falls, MT 59403 406-454-1234 / 1-888-701-3434 Fax: 406-727-3158 www.lewisandclark.org Our mission: As Keepers of the Story ~ May 2015 • Volume 41, Number 2 Stewards of the Trail, the Lewis and Clark Membership Information Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc. We Proceeded On is the official publication Membership in the Lewis and Clark Trail provides national leadership in of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Founda- Heritage Foundation, Inc. is open to the maintaining the integrity of the Trail tion, Inc. Its name derives from a phrase that public. Information and applications are and its story through stewardship, appears repeatedly in the collective journals of available by writing Membership Coordina- scholarship, education, partnership the expedition. © 2015 tor, Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Founda- and cultural inclusiveness. E. G. Chuinard, M.D., tion, P. O. Box 3434, Great Falls, MT 59403 Founder, We Proceeded On or on our website, www.lewisandclark.org. Officers ISSN 02275-6706 We Proceeded On, the quarterly journal of President Editor the Foundation, is mailed to current mem­ Margaret Gorski Robert A. Clark bers in February, May, August, and November. Stevensville, MT Washington State University Press Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted Vice-President Steve Lee Volunteer Proofreaders and indexed in Historical Abstracts and H. Carl Camp and Jerry Garrett ­America: History and Life. Clarkston, WA Annual Membership Categories: Immediate Past-President Publisher Clay Smith Washington State University Press Student: $30 Port Townsend, WA Pullman, Washington Basic: $49 Basic 3-Year: $133 Secretary Editorial Advisory Board Philippa Newfield Family: $65 Wendy Raney, Chair Barbara Kubik Heritage: $100 San Francisco, CA Pullman, WA Vancouver, WA Explorer: $150 Treasurer Jay H. Buckley Glen Lindeman Jefferson: $250 John Toenyes Provo, UT Pullman, WA Discovery: $500 Great Falls, MT H. Carl Camp J.I. Merritt Lifetime: Directors at large Omaha, NE Pennington, NJ Steward: $995 Della Bauer, Omaha, NE Robert C. Carriker Robert Moore, Jr. Captain: $2,500 President: $5,000 Sue Buchel, Garden City, ID Spokane, WA St. Louis, MO Lynn Davis, Spirit Lake, IA Carolyn Gilman Gary E. Moulton The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Founda- Dick Fichtler, Florence, MT Washington, DC Lincoln, NE tion, Inc. is a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation. Ella Mae Howard, Great Falls, MT James Holmberg Philippa Newfield A portion of your dues may be tax deductible. Barbara Kubik, Vancouver, WA Lousville, KY San Francisco, CA Donations are fully deductible. Mark Nelezen, Oshkosh, WI Kris Townsend, Spokane, WA Jerry Wilson, Versailles, IN Mark Weekley (ex-officio-NPS), Omaha, NE We Proceeded On Staff (Back issues, 1974–current) Lindy Hatcher, Executive Director Don Peterson, Administrative Assistant All back issues of our quarterly historical Shelly Kath, Library Assistant Lora Helman, journal are available. Some of the older Bookkeeper Rebecca McClellan, Ad Sales Manager issues are copier reproductions. Orders We Proceeded On is published four times a year for a collection of all back issues receive in February, May, August, and November by a 30 percent discount. Order your miss- Washington State University Press in Pullman,­ Washington, for the Lewis and Clark Trail ing issues to complete your set. Call ­Heritage Foundation, 4201 Giant Springs Rd., 1-888-701-3434, mail your request to Great Falls, Montana 59405. Current issue: August 2015, volume 41, No. 3. ISSN P.O. Box 3434, Great Falls, MT 59403, 02275-6706 or order at [email protected]. Incorporated in 1969 under $10 originals or cds Missouri General Not-For-Profit Corporation act. IRS Exemption $4 shipping & handling Certificate No. 501(c)3, Identification No. 510187715.

2 We Proceeded On  August 2015 President’s Message

A Message from the President

Buchel; thanks go to Kris Townsend the Lewis and Clark story around the and Dan Sturdevant for making our world by expanding our presence on website robust and populated with the Internet and in social media. We many new nuggets like chapter events need to strengthen our partnership and all the past editions of We Proceeded with the National Park Service and On; our Trail Stewardship Grant pro- the Partnership for the National Trail gram is stronger than ever because of System. What can we do collabora- the very thoughtful committee of Mike tively to expand our capacity to help Loesch, Steve Lee, Jane Henley, Rob each other accomplish our respec- Heacock, and Dee Roche; and Lynn tive missions? How can we get “more Davis has been an inspiration as our boots on the ground” across the trail membership watchdog, always think- to continue the work of implement- ing about how to recruit and provide ing the direction spelled out so clearly better service to our members. With in the Trails Act that established the This is my last President’s Message to Barb Kubik’s leadership, we now have National Historic Trail in 1978? How my friends and colleagues of the Lewis an educational grant program about to can we build more capacity to be a and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. be launched for the Burroughs’s Fund; better advocate to protect the Trail As I reflected on what I should say, I Philippa Newfield has worked won- from increasing threats so future gen- couldn’t help but wonder what our ders with our annual meeting commit- erations can have the same opportu- esteemed captains and their loyal corps tee, lining up an exciting pipeline of nities we have enjoyed walking in the might have been thinking in 1806 as annual meetings; and Executive Direc- footsteps of Lewis and Clark and the they quickly floated down the Mis- tor Lindy Hatcher and loyal office Corps of Discovery? How can we dis- souri, back to their homes and loved greeter Don Peterson have been ever tribute We Proceeded On to a global ones. I’m sure they experienced a flood diligent in efforts to improve commu- audience? of emotions thinking about their jour- nications and relationships with our These are some of the questions ney of a lifetime and what lay ahead— chapters, our federal agency partners, foremost in my mind as I leave the a mix of elation that the journey was and the Partnership for the National president’s post and that I pose to you, over, gratitude for the good memories, Trails System. Running an office in our loyal members as we plan for our relief they had survived, and excite- Great Falls, Montana, for a national Fiftieth Anniversary. I have challenged ment for new adventures to come. organization with such diverse views, our Fiftieth Anniversary Committee Although my tenure piloting the opinions, and membership needs is to think of ways we can celebrate our Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foun- very challenging indeed. As always, I watershed year, address some of these dation was not nearly as dramatic or had hoped to accomplish more, but I questions, and lay the groundwork to death defying, it certainly was an enjoy- am pleased with the progress we have build a solid footing for the next fifty able experience. I wish to thank all of made in important aspects of our orga- years. you who journeyed with me. I met nization and feel confident that we are In closing, my appreciation goes out interesting new people in the Lewis stronger than ever. to all who have helped me in these last and Clark family and gained many With that said, there remains much two years. I am humbled to have been good memories to add to my library to be done to address changing times given this opportunity to stand in a of Lewis and Clark stories. As I look and changing membership needs. We long line of dedicated Lewis and Clark back on my two years as president, I continue to be challenged by new enthusiasts who have led this organiza- am proud of what our active members, member recruitment. We need to tion. Thank you and I look forward to staff, and board have accomplished. develop programs to target new demo- many more adventures with you in the To name a few highlights: the Wil- graphics and mission-similar organiza- years to come. liam P. Sherman Library and Archives tions in order to grow the next genera- Margaret Gorski have been well tended by staff Shelly tion of members to actively carry out Kath and outgoing board member Sue our mission. We need to better share

August 2015  We Proceeded On 3 L & C Roundup

the Cascade Mountains where Native Clackamas, Oregon, Americans had lived for centuries? Cabin Could Pre- Olson and Hayden don’t know. But they do have theories, stacks of date Lewis and Clark research, and dating methods that lead Expedition them to believe the structure may have been built between 1795 and 1810. Hayden and Olson’s almost two- hundred-page treatise, titled “Molalla The 25-foot-long Douglas fir logs, Log House–Fox Granary, Theory of stacked 17 high, originally fit together the Origins of a Potential Surviving so tightly there was no need to add Relic of a 1790s Russian Occupation chinking to fill in gaps. Fine wood- of the Oregon Country,” tracks their working, similar to making a cabinet exhaustive study of architectural his- rather than a settler’s cabin, joined the tory, archaeology, dendrochronology, floor, walls, and roof so well that no and historic preservation. The Portland Oregonian of April 6, nails were needed until a century later. Restore Oregon, the National Trust 2015, included a report on a myste- In 1892 the whole building was taken for Historic Preservation, Clacka- rious log dwelling some believe may apart, moved on a wagon from its orig- mas County Cultural Coalition, and prompt a rewrite of Oregon’s long- inal site, and reconstructed by crafts- Molalla Area Historical Society have held history. The article, by Janet East- men perhaps with lesser skills than the supported the restoration and preser- man, tells of a structure now protected original builders. vation efforts. The Kinsman Founda- inside a workshop hidden among In 2008 the deteriorating structure, tion’s grants funded much of the work. Clackamas County farmland. which had been a house, animal shel- “The unique construction and If experts’ theories pan out, the ter, machine shed, and the Fox Gra- extraordinary craftsmanship of the 18-foot-wide structure—called the nary, was disassembled and moved Molalla Log House offer fascinat- Molalla Log House—predates the start again to a storage facility. Here, it has ing clues to a mystery that we didn’t of Lewis and Clark’s 1804 expedition been analyzed, preserved, and restored. even know existed about the earli- by a decade. The current thinking is Gregg Olson of Historic Building est white exploration and settlement that the large, innovative log building Repair, who has saved several of Ore- of the Pacific Northwest,” says Peggy could have been handmade by Russian gon’s oldest log buildings, has been Moretti, executive director of Restore farmers and craftsmen sent by Cath- using antique hand tools to recreate­ Oregon, a nonprofit organization with erine the Great to settle in the Willa- pieces too fragile to reuse in the rebuilt preservation efforts that span from the mette Valley. Growing wheat and gath- structure. Each original piece has been pioneer-era to midcentury modern ering beaver and elk pelts in Oregon carefully saved and documented. buildings. could have aided the tsarina’s strug- “It’s interesting, whatever it is and The project team needs help to find gling Alaskan fur trade. whoever built it,” says Olson, who has out the complete story of what could That the log cabin was made by been working painstakingly for seven be Oregon’s oldest structure: Who foreigners is clear. It is unlike pioneer years with architectural historian Pam built it and why? Anyone with knowl- construction seen in Oregon. Some Hayden to unearth the origins of the edge of eighteenth-century Euro- doubters conjecture the structure is a dwelling. pean construc­tion and Oregon history mid-nineteenth century fort, a smoke Renegade Russian fur trappers? who has information should contact house, or even a sauna, with building Optimistic colonists? Adventurous Hayden at [email protected]. characteristics similar to other Finnish Europeans allowed to briefly stake a structures in the American Midwest. small claim in the western foothills of

4 We Proceeded On  August 2015 raised to the sky remains today at the But then one night in March 1997, The Story of Two Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and his Sacajawea vanished from the garden. Sacajaweas Angel Moroni sits atop the Mormon The statue was so solidly attached to Temple in Salt Lake City. The Cheney the base that the thieves had to saw By Stephanie Pettit Normal School students couldn’t afford through it just above the feet in order Reprinted from the Spokesman Review, the bronze version of Sacajawea, so they to remove it. A campus police officer May 7, 2015 opted for the plaster statue. came upon the site while on patrol— The image of the Shoshone woman there was the statue’s base and the stat- This is a story about the two Sacajaweas heroically pointing the way forward was ue’s feet, but no statue. at Eastern Washington University in supposed to be installed on the main An investigation began into what Cheney, Washington—one being the floor of the administration building appeared to be a prank. University larger-than-life plaster in time for commence- police were sure that someone would statue that came to East- ment ceremonies, but it brag about the deed and word would ern in 1916; the other a arrived late; installation get out—but that never happened. smaller bronze statue was held later, on June When Stephen M. Jordan became that arrived in 1960, 9, 1916. Over the years, president of Eastern in 1998, he only to be stolen in the Mutschler said, people en­cour­aged the institution to exam- dark of night in 1997. came to pose for pictures ine as well as embrace its own past When the state Nor- with Sacajawea in the and took interest in the old Sacajawea mal School at Cheney, administration building, statue. A conservator was hired to which would later which in 1940 had been repair and refurbish the statue—with become EWU, opened renamed Showalter Hall, particular attention to strengthening in 1882, its mission was and the statue began to the outstretched arm—and the orig- to prepare people— look weathered. And inal Dallin figure of Sacajawea was mostly women—for that outstretched arm returned to Showalter Hall in 2001. careers in the classroom, also proved too tempting To ensure Sacajawea would remain CHARLES MUTSCHLER CHARLES one of the few profes- to resist—luring many safe, two years ago it was surrounded sions available to women in those days. to hang from it or do chin-ups. by a Plexiglas case. When a new administration build- Plaster is soft and fragile, Mutschler There is a postscript to the tale of ing was built in 1915, the graduating said, so sometime in the the two Sacajaweas. In class of 1916 chose to give a gift to the 1950s, the arm broke off. 2006, when the univer- school—a statue of Sacajawea. In 1960 a student fund sity’s alumni magazine Sacajawea was chosen because the drive raised enough money ran a little story about Lemhi Shoshone woman who served for Spokane sculptor Har- the stolen statue, Tom as a guide and interpreter for the Corps old Balasz to create a cop- McGill, EWU police of Discovery expedition in 1805–06 per and brass version of a chief at the time, offered appealed to the class as an ideal rep- smaller and more subdued amnesty for information resentation of what they themselves Sacajawea, which was leading to its recovery, were embarking to do—be leaders and placed in Showalter Hall. and tips came in—many teachers of others, reported Charles The battered plaster statue suggesting that the statue Mutschler, university archivist. was moved into storage in was dumped off the dock They purchased a six-foot-tall statue the basement of nearby into Fish Lake. created by American sculptor Cyrus Hargreaves Hall. The Bal- Volunteer Spokane Edwin Dallin, noted for creating stat- asz statue was later relo- County Sheriff divers ues of American Indians and other his- cated outdoors to the rose even went in to look, but toric American figures. His “Appeal garden in front of Senior no statue was found— to the Great Spirit” statue of a Native Hall, in 1986, where it was then or ever. Its where-

American on horseback with arms firmly fixed to a stone base. UNIVERSITY WASHISNGTON EASTERN MAGAZINE , EASTERN abouts remain a mystery.

August 2015  We Proceeded On 5 Beth Merrick had training and experi- An Airport’s Secret ence with this need. The list is near the opening area. In 2011 the Headwaters Chapter of the Every five years a party will be held. Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foun- For example, Party #2 will be held dation prepared a seventy-four-year in Bozeman, Montana, in February “Plan of Work.” The plan outlines 2020. The theme is “Clark’s Return an ongoing commemoration of the though the Bozeman area on his way Lewis and Clark Expedition, includ- to the Yellowstone River in 1806.” ing a series of fifteen parties scheduled A small book has been written to every five years, beginning August 2, 2011 with the hope that future lovers call continuing attention to the cache. 2015, and ending August 2, 2085, the of history and the Corps of Discov- It is called An Airport’s Secret: A Sur- hundredth anniversary of the found- ery will use the memorabilia to learn, prise for August 2, 2085, by Jim Sar- ing of the Headwaters Chapter. A dif- have fun, and appreciate this import- gent and beautifully illustrated by his ferent aspect of the expedition will be ant part of our nation’s history. nephew, Gary Little. Consisting of emphasized at each party. Included are small items, like pins three parts, it offers highlight inci- In seventy years, on August 2, and badges, as well as larger, unique dents from the expedition, the story 2085, those who gather at the Boze- individual items such as costumes, of a family traveling the Lewis and man Yellowstone International Airport plaques, and rare books. Clark Trail during the Bicentennial, will open a large cache of Lewis and Special efforts were made to pro- and a concluding section that explains Clark memorabilia—over four thou- tect the cache articles in case a sprink­ the 2085 cache. Books are available sand items—that have been stored and ler system comes on sometime over from the author. Cost is $10 plus $5 sealed in preparation for the Tercen- the next seventy years. Arrangement for shipping and handling. Write him tennial of the Lewis and Clark Expe- and cataloging of the items have been at 222 S. 14th, Bozeman, MT 59715. dition in 2103-2106. done to help explain context and use- Phone 406.586.6198. Email: jfs19@ Members and friends of Head­ fulness of the items to those in 2085. bresnan.net. waters Chapter sealed the cache in Luckily, Headwaters Chapter member

In memory of… Fay Fortin Mr. and Mrs. George McCabe, Great Falls, Montana G.R. Sam and Rosalie McCormick, Three Forks, Montana

Darlene Fassler Jerry B. Garrett, St. Louis, Missouri

Jane Randol Jackson George Drouillard Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation

Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation Memorials and honors can be made at www.lewisandclark.org, by mail to PO Box 3434, Great Falls, MT 59403, or call 1-888-701-3434 Photograph of Weippe Prairie courtesy of Steve Lee

6 We Proceeded On  August 2015 Letters

Dear editor and Editorial Advisory that he was either too busy with other Dear Editor; Board, daily duties or they are simply lost to Just received my copy of the Febru- My sincere hope was to be submit- history. A photocopy of the quill-trad- ary issue of We Proceeded On. ting a thoroughly-researched, well- ing letter to Jefferson from Fort Man- I find the article “My Friend and written article (as I comb through dan would have helped the author Companion: The Intimate Journey of resources from the Sherman Library illustrate how this contrived narra- Lewis and Clark” by William Bene- and elsewhere) to you and the editorial tive played out. Furthermore, I believe mann, to be something one would find advisory board instead of an assertive- Jefferson could have cared less about in some sensational type tabloid at the ly-toned “Letter to the Editor.” As was Clark’s grammar and spelling. Sub- checkout line at a grocery store...pure the case of the Iron Boat on the Expe- sequent correspondence between the crap and BS! dition, plans change… two after the Expedition expound on WPO is no place for such writings. Being an avid reader of We Pro- this. I use this tamest of examples from While I go along with free speech, ceeded On and someone who makes a the many other bizarre and outlandish there’s a time and place for such the- career out of interpreting the world of theories stated by the author to show ories as Mr. Benemann proclaims— Lewis & Clark, I was exceedingly dis- what constitutes enjoyably sensible theories by the way that he hasn’t pro- mayed and disappointed in reading reading and what should be relegated vided any proof to back them up. the February 2015 feature article, My on the shelf next to the fictional novel, In my opinion WPO has hit rock Friend and Companion: The Intimate Sacajawea. bottom with the publishing of this On the subject matter itself, I pose Journey of Lewis and Clark. How this piece of junk. lf you intend to print the one question for the author and read- second half next time around then you could pass as something to be printed ership of WPO at large. How could can kiss my membership in the WPO nationally in a highly-regarded, schol- homosexuality between Lewis and goodby! arly publication as We Proceeded On Clark be kept a secret for 200 plus defies comprehension. The first time years? Granted, one could keep the John L. Stoner I read it, I almost thought I might official military rank of Clark a secret Townsend, Montana be reading some tabloid exposé that just by not writing or talking about it, luridly beckoned from the supermar- but to try and carry out physical inti- ket check-out line. Then I read it again macy between them within a close-knit To the editor: to see if I was missing a larger picture. group for over two years in the wilder- As a member of the editorial advi- I believe not. ness without getting caught is absurd. sory committee and a past editor of Putting the controversial subject Then, not have a single surviving anec- WPO, I strongly urged Bob Clark to matter aside for a moment, the unsub- dote within the past centuries to draw publish this article—knowing that it stantiated claims the author repeatedly from? It seems beyond farfetched to would generate controversy, not to say puts forth should have outright ruled me. Besides, however intriguing the backlash, on the part of some of our the article out of publication. Here sexual situations are within the Lewis members. We live in the 21st century, we find the somewhat benign asser- and Clark Expedition, there is a line as not the 19th, and the subject of sex- tions hefted upon Lewis such as “black to what is too personal and what con- uality shouldn’t be off limits. Those spells of clinical depression,” “a life- text it could be published. The line was who complain that the article is largely long struggle to separate himself from crossed by having this article printed speculative have a valid point, but his domineering mother” and his over- in We Proceeded On. WPO has published many articles over whelming life-long obsession to define In closing, I will (with full knowl- the years that could be similarly char- his “friendship” with Clark without edge) erroneously quote Dr. Sigmund acterized—e.g., those concerning the further reference. Freud: “sometimes a cigar is just a mind-set of Meriwether Lewis in 1809 This morphs into a series of outra- cigar.” and how depression may have led to his geous theories anybody (L & C buff probable suicide. As for Benemann’s or not) could validly and rationally Your humble and obedient servant, bona fides, he is in fact a credentialed explain a dozen other ways. In explain- Darian Kath scholar with several books to his credit ing Lewis’s missing journals, I reason Great Falls, MT exploring homoeroticism in early

August 2015  We Proceeded On 7 American history, most notably Men in I oppose blatant censorship or dis- Cheers, Eden: William Drummond Stewart and crimination. I expect the same quali- Harlan Seyfer Same-Sex Desire in the Rocky Moun- fications for articles of accuracy from Plattsmouth National Historic tain Fur Trade (University of Nebraska WPO be given the lay contributor as District Historian Press, 2012), in which, among other one by a trained professional. And, I Plattsmouth, Nebraska 68048 subjects, he argues that Jean-Baptiste ask that we be sensitive with known Charbonneau, Sacagawea’s son, may truths, and avoid non truths when Dear editor, have been gay. Personally, based on dealing with the personal ‘heart and Please do not publish Part Two everything I know about Meriwether soul’ of another fellow human. of William Benemann’s article, “My Lewis and William Clark, it’s hard for The author is not the first modern Friend and Companion.” me to imagine them being anything historian fascinated with the amaz- After glancing at Part One I saw other than robustly heterosexual, but ing personality and accomplishments words, phrases, and explicit details that shouldn’t preclude discussion to of Meriwether Lewis, who does not rarely used in polite conversation and the contrary. seem to understand his character. They did not read it. From what I could appear to me to feel they must dissect ascertain, there was some conjecture, Jim Merritt and interpret every word he uttered, insinuation and speculation about Past editor, WPO and every deed he did to create their an historic adventure happening two own Lewis to satisfy an apparent frus- hundred years ago (subtext in the tration for not being able to under- Journals?). To: Robert Clark, editor, and Editorial standing him to fit their expectations. This article was entirely inappropri- Advisory Board ate for WPO. Perhaps one should read The author of “My Friend and Com- Respectfully Submitted, the “profile” of the author before read- panion,” has credentials for male-male Evelyn Orr ing any article. It is a certainty for Wil- sexual studies, and meets WPO’s quali- Omaha Nebraska. liam Benemann. fications for new subject matter. How- Mouth of the Platte Chapter, LCTHF Thank you. ever, I feel the article does not meet Sincerely, high standards for using facts that Mary Jo Havlicek support speculation for dissecting fel- Dear Editor: Member, Mouth of the Platte Chapter low humans, who are not here to help I am heterosexual (why do I feel set the record straight. No facts from compelled to say that?), a veteran (hon- the journal quotes told us that Lewis orably discharged), and am NOT con- Dear editor, or Clark did what was suggested. The vinced by Mr. Benemann’s reasoning. Congratulations for the courage other sources in the article are taken However, I applaud Editor Clark’s and broad mindedness you showed in from other authors, and do not reveal courage in publishing an article he publishing the Benemann article. if they are facts or speculation. knew would be controversial. And Why is it that we want our heroes Bennemann’s point was made I am grateful for the perspective Mr. to be PERFECT? To be exactly what early in this unusually long article. It Benemann brings to the topic—how- our personal standards, personal and became boring with situation after sit- ever he has gained his point of view. social, dictate for our lives. Isn’t it uation taken from the journals that He asks a question worth asking, if much more interesting and encourag- seemed to be often stretched to fit his for no other reason than the thought ing of the human condition to know expert views of sexual behavior that and discussion it invokes. But I hope that someone with a seriously flawed occur in some males. I was surprised that response is carefully considered, nature, horrible childhood, genetic WPO felt there is more new data for reasoned, and made public without proclivities, traumatic experiences, us. If there are solid documents to be emotion. sexual leanings that we can’t encom- revealed, that could give unquestion- Thank you, WPO, for publish- pass, has done something as monu- able reason for another issue that will ing the second half of the article. I mental as be one of the leaders of the end speculating, we may learn some- wanted to read it, even if I do not agree geographical awakening that was the thing new from a second article. with Mr. Benemann’s conclusion. Expedition of Lewis and Clark? And isn’t it even MORE reason to admire

8 We Proceeded On  August 2015 this—or any other—tortured individ- Lewis obviously went through, is sim- Dear editor, ual for doing something for which we ply absurd. Margaret Gorski’s column in the celebrate him or her as a HERO? May 2015 issue of We Proceeded On As I read, especially the second seg- Sincerely yours, was right on target. It is the responsi- ment of Dr. Benneman’s article, I feel Judith Edwards LICSW bility of academic journals to publish great sadness for Meriwether Lewis, thoughtful, well-researched articles and huge admiration that Lewis rec- that fall within their lines of inquiry, ognized his need for a strong partner Dear editor, even if the interpretation is controver- to keep him on task, to help his confi- A few years ago I spent a delight- sial. I’m reminded of the uproar that dence, to just BE. And he DID. ful winter reading the Lewis and Clark ensued in geology when Wegener pro- What a shame that things fell apart Journals from beginning to end, and I posed continental drift theory. He was when, once more his supportive father remember thinking then “I bet Capt. virtually banished from the profession figure went on with his life...which is, L. was gay.” All I can say now is “So?” and his theory was scorned for years— I believe, what happened. Instead of recoiling in horror at the until, of course, it was proved to be Do I have caveats with the article? thought of these two “Heroes” hav- true. Yes. I believe that starting off with ing sex with each other, let’s stop for I must admit that the letters to Clark and Lewis as “intimates” of a a moment and consider Capt. Lewis. the editor were slightly disappoint- sexual kind, is speculative, and not He was a man who loved and hated ing. Although I tried to give the writ- necessary. No one can tell, at this point intensely. This can be rather scary to ers the benefit of the doubt, most of in time, the exact nature of their rela- others who also love and hate, but not them came across as curmudgeonly tionship, but to intimate that it was with every fiber of their being. diatribes from people whose preferred ALSO sexual in nature is really beside I think Capt. Clark loved Lewis in perception of the captains (manly the point. Clearly Lewis depended on his own way, but not as much as Lewis heroes adventuring into the unknown, Clark, needed him, loved him. loved him. If they actually did have sex bravely facing perils to help the young Clark came back and married, on the expedition, again, So? It’s taken nation reach its manifest destiny—all started a family, and did the best he for granted now by most historians of which is true) brooks no reimagin- could to get the journals published that Melville probably had sex with ing. And while I finished the articles and to manage, while being appalled men when he was a sailor, and that undecided about the captains’ sexu- at what was happening to them, the he might have made a pass at Haw- ality, the research made them human growing incursion that the expedition thorne when they summered together in a way that is important for realis- brought forth into Indian lands. They in the Berkshires. Does this make him tic understanding. No hero fits the were good friends. Real friends. Clark a degenerate? Of course not. Melville admirer’s expectations perfectly. Just cried at his loss. Have any of you lost a was a man with deep emotional needs ask Odysseus. very dear friend? It is often worse than no one seemed to be able to meet, but Hats off to WPO for these articles. losing a partner. it didn’t stop him from trying to find At least one L&C enthusiast is thrilled I have been a member of WPO for that one person who could. to see boundary-pushing interpre- many years, being the instigator and Let’s have some pity for both Lewis tations being published in the pre- first editor of our middle school cur- and Clark: for Lewis who was so emo- eminent journal of Lewis and Clark riculum guide as education direc- tionally dependent upon Clark he scholarship. tor on the board. I’ve written three couldn’t function without him; for books for young people on the Expe- Clark who did the best he could, but Lauren Danner dition, and presented all over the East was unable to give Lewis everything Olympia, Washington on Lewis and Clark. I’m not touting a he needed. And let’s remember the sad cause here - as a happy grandmother of picture of Lewis sitting on the porch at seven and writing now on other sub- Grinder’s Station, waiting for his dear- jects. Lewis and Clark DID what they est friend, who never came. did. And they were who they were. To Thank you. deny them the humanity they deserve, and not feel even more admiration for Yvonne P. Divak the addictions and tortures of self that Johnstown, NY

August 2015  We Proceeded On 9 Hiding in Plain Sight

The Curious Afterlife of William Clark’s 1798–1801 Notebook

by Jo Ann Trogdon

y all accounts, William ers Hancock Clark, and Jeffer- B Clark was a loving hus- son Kearny Clark. We can only band and a devoted father. He surmise how those brothers was also a prolific writer. Most of divided their father’s writings his journals, letters, and records among themselves; there seems stand as models of objectiv- to be no clear evidence on that ity, relating the bare facts of his point.2 experiences, yet seldom convey- Some of William Clark’s ing his own feelings or impres- journals and papers later turned sions. Late in life he executed his up in unexpected places: last will and testament; through • In 1883, twenty-nine vol- it he would leave to his children umes of St. Louis Indian (wives Julia Hancock Clark and superintendency records, Harriet Kennerly Radford Clark most of them kept by Clark, having predeceased him) what were offered for sale as scrap he termed his “worldly estate.” paper in Lawrence, Kan- Nine days after his death on sas. A friend of the Kan- September 1, 1838, the probate sas State Historical Society MISSOURI HISTORY MUSEUM, ST. LOUIS ST. MUSEUM, HISTORY MISSOURI court of St. Louis filed his will. Meriwether Lewis Clark promptly paid pulp value— Remarkably equitable to Clark’s thirty-three dollars—for the heirs—four sons, one of whom books, to prevent their de- would die in 1840—the will was his last public record.1 struction and moved them to the society in Through painstaking detail, the will achieves an Topeka where they remain today, one of its most impartial division of assets such as slaves, land, and valued collections.3 cash, yet it fails to mention any of Clark’s journals or • In 1903, Reuben Gold Thwaites of the State papers; certainly neither he nor his heirs could have Historical Society of Wisconsin, while searching foreseen the tremendous upsurge of interest that, more for the journal of Sergeant John Ordway of the than a century later, would cause the value of such 1804–1806 Corps of Discovery, learned of five things to soar. Although the surviving correspondence logbooks Clark had kept for himself after relin- of Clark’s children says little about his logbooks or doc- quishing to the federal government his other uments, letters of his grandchildren prove that at least chronicles of the western expedition. Finding the some of those items eventually came into the posses- journals in the keeping of Clark’s granddaugh- sion of his sons Meriwether Lewis Clark, George Rog- ter, Julia Clark Voorhis, Thwaites drew national

10 We Proceeded On  August 2015 attention to them in his The instances noted above are only four of a larger eight-volume Original number; the Newberry Library in Chicago and the Journals of the Lewis Cincinnati Museum Center also possess Clark’s writ-

and Clark Expedi- ings which at some point after his death were appar-

S

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L

.

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S

,

M 1904 and 1905. tions. In addition, there is no telling how many Clark

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M After Julia’s death journals or documents are privately owned, nor any

Y

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IS in 1922, her exec- way to know how many were considered worthless H

RI

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O S utor donated those and destroyed. In Dear Brother, Holmberg describes S I

M

Clark journals and such an occurrence; it took place in the 1930s, when

hundreds of other “Minoma”—a once-stately St. Louis County mansion

documents and arti- Jefferson Kearny Clark had built in the early 1850s on

facts of William acreage inherited from his father—was cleared of what Julia Clark Voorhis Clark and his brother a subsequent owner considered “junk.”7 George Rogers Clark How did it happen that one of William Clark’s most to the Missouri Historical Society (now the Mis- distinctive journals, one nearly forgotten for almost a souri History Museum) in St. Louis. Named in century, came to light as if out of nowhere, and was honor of Julia’s late daughter, Eleanor Glasgow passed to a venerable historical society that confirms its Voorhis, the collection is surely the most compre- authenticity? For several decades thereafter this jour- hensive aggregation of Clark documents and arti- nal detailing Clark’s activities between 1798 and 1801, facts anywhere.4 remained all but unknown, and until now has been less • In 1953, field notes Clark had scrawled from than poorly understood. How could a vivid, first-hand 1803 to 1805 on dozens of sheets of paper were account of Clark’s pre-Corps of Discovery formative discovered in St. Paul, Minnesota, tucked inside journey lie virtually undisturbed and ignored for so an antique desk in a house once belonging to many years? General John Henry Hammond. As a post-Civil Such has been the peculiar fate of William Clark’s War inspector of western Indian Bureau agen- 1798–1801 Notebook, the primary source of informa- cies, he may have acquired the documents in the tion for a new book, The Unknown Travels and Dubious course of his duties. Edited by Ernest S. Osgood Pursuits of William Clark. This and a succeeding arti- and published as The Field Notes of Captain Wil- cle in We Proceeded On call attention to that crucially liam Clark, 1803–1805, those writings were sold important resource, one arguably more revealing of to collector Frederick W. Beinecke who, in 1960, Clark as a three-dimensional individual than anything donated them to his alma mater, Yale University. else he ever wrote. First we will examine why this log- They now are in the Beinecke Library on the Yale book remained in the shadows for so long.8 campus.5 • In 1988, forty-seven of Clark’s letters to his  brother Jonathan and other relatives were found On Tuesday, May 15, 1923, in a trunk kept in the attic of a Louisville, Ken- William Clark Breck- tucky, house once owned by the widow of Tem- enridge (no relation to ple Bodley, Jonathan Clark’s great-grandson. William Clark), a tall, Edited by James Holmberg and published in his balding, sixty-year-old wid- Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jona- ower who lived in St. Louis than Clark, those missives—and­­ four later ones and who had for the pre- discovered in the same trunk—comprise one of vious decade immersed The Filson Historical Society’s most significant himself in researching and THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI OF SOCIETY HISTORICAL STATE THE collections.6 William Clark Breckenridge. C 2530 collecting historical items,

August 2015  We Proceeded On 11 purchased five journals more than a century old.9 Those Delaware River, and his overland journey back to books—which would become the rarest, most valuable Kentucky by way of Virginia. This logbook is the components of his already impressive collection—con- subject of the previously mentioned new book on sisted of: Clark.14 • a volume bearing on the cover a hand-drawn As William Clark Breckenridge must have noticed, image of a hunting scene but consisting inside of affixed to each cover of four of these volumes is an old- thirty-two pages of astronomical data prepared style gummed label filled with minute, nearly illegible for Meriwether Lewis by Robert Patterson—pro- writing in pencil. The cover of the 1826-1831 book, fessor of mathematics and a friend of Thomas Jef- however, bears a discolored patch the size of the other ferson—before the great western expedition;10 labels that appears to have carried a now-lost label. • a slim journal of public accounts dating from Scattered within the four journals of Clark—but not in 1819 to 1825 kept by William Clark;11 Lewis’s Astronomy Notebook—are meticulously pen- • a handwritten book containing rules for Indian ciled notes, some of them signed “MLC,” the initials agents and 134 drafts for payment compiled from both of Clark’s eldest son, Meriwether Lewis Clark, 1826 to 1831 by William Clark. “W. CLARK” is and one of his sons. Clearly, these books had spent time tooled on the front cover;12 with at least one of his descendants.15 • a seventy-four-page volume William Clark wrote Breckenridge was a retired business manager of a in 1809. Among the many entries between its St. Louis sawmill. He was also an honorary member of marbled boards are his notes concerning the the Missouri Historical Society (in St. Louis), a trustee death that October of Meriwether Lewis;13 and of the State Historical Society of Missouri (in Colum- • A half-leather, eighty-eight-page logbook William bia), and a man determined to preserve as many wor- Clark kept, mainly in 1798 and 1801. With blot- thy documents concerning the history of Missouri as ting sheets sewn between writing sheets, most of he could find. No record identifying the seller has yet this journal concerns his 1798 travels to Spanish been discovered. Even so, Breckenridge was renowned New Orleans, his ocean voyage from there to the for his methodical record-keeping. Not long after pur- THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI OF SOCIETY HISTORICAL STATE THE

Front cover of William Clark’s 1798–1801 Notebook. C1075

12 We Proceeded On  August 2015 chasing the five books, he prepared for each of them an Breckenridge heirs had forbidden any media attention index card describing its contents and noting the price before the transfer took place. Few people realized the he’d paid. importance of those resources. 19 By twenty-first century standards those amounts Through Shoemaker the society thereafter acquired are astonishing: The Astronomy Notebook cost him a Breckenridge’s accession records of the collection but nickel. The two journals covering the years from 1819 was still unable to afford the rest of his historic items. to 1831 set him back twenty-five cents apiece, and the Due at least in part to financial constraints caused by 1809 journal cost fifty cents. So did the 1798–1801 the Great Depression and then by the Second World Notebook—arguably the journal more important to War, the society delayed giving attention to many of an understanding of William Clark than any other. the 1,031 items in the Breckenridge collection, includ- For that same half dollar, Breckenridge could have pur- ing the five Clark and Lewis journals. After the war chased a pound of coffee or a gallon of milk.16 ended, few people, even in Missouri, were aware of Despite being aware of the importance of Lewis and those books.20 Clark to American exploration and expansion, Breck- It is therefore not surprising that in 1953, when enridge, it seems, nevertheless believed he’d bought lit- graduate student John Louis Loos presented his disser- tle of real worth. Therefore he gave scant attention to tation, “A Biography of William Clark, 1770–1813,” the five volumes, apparently valuing them according to to the history department at Washington University in what he paid for them. They evidently joined the five St. Louis, he cited local sources and ones beyond Mis- thousand other books and pamphlets on the shelves of souri while failing to mention the Clark records 125 his residence at 4123 Enright Avenue (a point roughly miles away in Columbia. Apparently unaware of the midway between the city residence and the country 1798–1801 Notebook, Loos had little to say about acres of William Clark, land that would become the Clark’s activities during those crucial years.21 site of Minoma). Breckenridge steadfastly maintained, In 1964, the National Union Catalog of Manuscript as did his colleagues at the State Historical Society, that Collections (NUCMC) (at that time an annual, printed the gems of his collection were his scrapbooks of news- publication of the Library of Congress) introduced paper clippings, and ephemera such as play tickets and the five journals in the Breckenridge collection to the programs, and sheet music dating from the 1850s.17 scholarly world. For unknown reasons, however, the Shortly after a tornado destroyed a portion of NUCMC says little about the 1798–1801 Notebook Breckenridge’s residence in September 1927, he moved beyond giving a deceptively bare description of its con- an unspecified portion of his historical items to at least tents. Even so, that information, combined with more two other locations in St. Louis. He died on Decem- accurate descriptions of the other four journals, began ber 23, 1927. His will directed the executor to sell his to attract limited scholarly interest.22 “remaining books, autographs, manuscripts and jour- John Logan Allen was among the first authors to nals” for the benefit his heirs.18 draw on those resources. In 1975, his Passage Through In January 1928, Floyd Shoemaker, secretary of the Garden: Lewis and Clark and the Image of the Amer- the State Historical Society of Missouri, traveled from ican Northwest included a reproduction of a map Meri- Columbia to St. Louis to see the Breckenridge collec- wether Lewis sketched in the Astronomy Notebook. tion. Describing the entire lot as possessed of a “wonder- In 1977, Jerome Steffen’s biography of Clark first drew ful character,” Shoemaker offered two thousand dollars published attention to the 1798-1801 Notebook by for it. He was refused; the heirs insisted on five thou- quoting from some of Clark’s undated philosophical sand dollars. After extensive negotiations, Shoemaker observations. In 1978, Donald Jackson’s second edition bought for the society 1,031 items—the four Clark of the Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition alerted journals and Lewis’s Astronomy Notebook among readers to Clark’s 1809 journal (a subject Jackson ini- them—for an average price of $1.04 apiece. Later that tially wrote about in 1972), and also to Lewis’s Astro- year the collection moved to Columbia, to a portion of nomy Notebook. Jay Buckley’s William Clark: Indian the main library of the University of Missouri, as the Diplomat (2008) made use of all four Breckenridge

August 2015  We Proceeded On 13 journals originating with Clark, paying special atten- 7. Holmberg, Dear Brother, 26-27. tion to the pair of books covering the years of his super- 8. Jo Ann Trogdon, The Unknown Travels and Dubious Pursuits of Wil- intendency from 1819 to 1831.23 liam Clark (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2015). 9. Biographical details about Breckenridge are in Alexander N. Clark’s recent biographers have made judicious use DeMenil, “Memoirs of Deceased Members of the Society,” Missouri of his carefully chosen words in the 1798–1801 Note- Historical Society Collections 6 (October 1928): 124-27. book, especially those concerning his extensive travels 10. Item C1074, William Clark Breckenridge (WCB) Papers, State of 1798. For reasons to be explained in a future arti- Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO). cle, from 1797 to the first years of the nineteenth cen- 11. Item C1077, WCB Papers, SHSMO. tury, Clark may well have had motives not to commit 12. Item C1078, WCB Papers, SHSMO. to paper the full story of what he was doing, especially 13. Item C1076, WCB Papers, SHSMO. during his river descent from Louisville to New Orle- 14. Item C1075, WCB Papers, SHSMO. ans and for weeks thereafter until he departed Spanish 15. Items C1074-1078, WCB Papers, SHSMO. territory.24  16. DeMenil, “Memoirs of Deceased Members of the Society,” 124- 27; accession records of WCB for items C1074-1078, WCB Papers, SHSMO. Jo Ann Trogdon is the author of The Unknown Travels 17. DeMenil, “Memoirs of Deceased Members of the Society,” 124- and Dubious Pursuits of William Clark 27; Floyd Shoemaker to George A. Mahan, 8 February 1928, WCB (University of Papers, SHSMO. Missouri Press, 2015). A practicing lawyer, she lives in 18. DeMenil, “Memoirs of Deceased Members of the Society,” 124- Columbia, Missouri. As Jo Ann Brown she has previously 27; Last Will and Testament of William Clark Breckenridge, WCB written for We Proceeded On: “New Light on Some of Papers, SHSMO. the Expedition Engages” (August 1996), and “George Drouillard 19. Floyd Shoemaker to George A. Mahan, 8 February 1928; Petition and Fort Massac” (November 1999). for Order of Partial Distribution, WCB Papers, SHSMO. 20. James M. Breckenridge to Floyd Shoemaker, 13 November, 1933; NOTES Floyd Shoemaker to James M. Breckenridge, 15 November, 1933. Both are in WCB Papers, SHSMO. 1. Peter J. Kastor, William Clark’s World: Describing America in an Age of Unknowns (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011), 251-52; 21. John Louis Loos, “A Biography of William Clark, 1770-1813” William Clark, 1838, file no. 1416. Probate records, St. Louis City, (PhD Diss., Washington University, St. Louis, 1953), 60-63. Missouri, http://stlcourtrecords.wustl.edu/about-clark-probate.php. 22. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, 1964, 87-88. Accessed June 19, 2015. 23. John Logan Allen, Passage Through the Garden: Lewis and Clark 2. William Clark, 1838, file no. 1416. Probate records, St. Louis City, and the Image of the American Northwest (Urbana: University of Illi- Missouri, http://stlcourtrecords.wustl.edu/about-clark-probate.php; nois Press, 1975), 340; Jerome O. Steffen, William Clark: Jeffersonian William Hancock Clark to Eva Emory Dye, 13 April, 14 April, 13 Man on the Frontier (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1977), July, 1901, 10 May 1905, Eva Emory Dye Papers, Oregon Historical 3-4, 11, 15; Donald D. Jackson, Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expe- Society; Frances H. Stadler, “Letters from Minoma,” Bulletin of the dition with Related Documents, 1783-1854, 2 vols. (Urbana: Univer- Missouri Historical Society 16 (April 1960): 237-59. sity of Illinois Press, 1978), 2:724-26, 738 and “A Footnote to the 3. Jay H. Buckley, “The Price of Used Paper,” We Proceeded On (Feb- Lewis and Clark Expedition,” Manuscripts 24 (Winter 1972): 2-21; ruary, 2001): 7-9. Jay H. Buckley, William Clark: Indian Diplomat (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008),39-40, 82-83, 147. 4. Paul Russell Cutright, A History of the Lewis and Clark Journals (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976), 117-21, 124-26. 24. William E. Foley, Wilderness Journey: The Life of William Clark (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2004); Landon Y. Jones, 5. Buckley, “Price of Used Paper,” 7; Cutright, History of the Lewis and William Clark and the Shaping of the West (New York: Hill and Wang, Clark Journals, 145-47, 163. 2004); Kastor, William Clark’s World. 6. James J. Holmberg, Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jona- than Clark (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002) 1-2, 12.

14 We Proceeded On  August 2015 Updating William Clark’s “Error of the Southwest” by John C. Jackson

he “Passage through the Garden” of the Corps of The geographical information the two leaders had T Discovery commanded by Captain Meriwether relied on to get as far up the Missouri as their win- Lewis and 2nd Lieutenant William Clark yielded a tering place near the Mandan/Hidatsa villages was not great map of the West which Clark turned over for entirely new. In ascending from St. Louis they had the copying and engraving in December 1810. Sometime prior experience of several French citizens of Span- later, the cartographer Samuel Lewis made a copy that ish Louisiana who traveled upstream as Indian traders was engraved by Samuel Harrison. Because this map and explorers, and left descriptions or maps. They also was not published until 1814, someone had time to had published observations and maps of British trad- make additions, which included traces of travelers’ ers who pushed their business to the headwaters of the trails in 1811 that had not been noted when it was first Saskatchewan River and who were planning to extend submitted. The 27⅝" x 11⅞" map was published as a trade to the Pacific Slope.2 foldout tipped into the first edited version of the trip A continental vision had always interested for- journals. Printers solved the problem of dealing with mer Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, and it took a large, almost square map by truncating the south- on new importance when he became president. Three ern portion at approximately 38 degrees north lati- years later the Jefferson administration shouldered into tude, a shape that fitted handily inside the covers of continental politics by acquiring the Louisiana Terri- the 9.05" x 5.51" (23 x 14 centimeters) book. This tory and the potential of enlarging prior claims of dis- somewhat abbreviated map became the standard refer- covery to the drainage of the Columbia River. ence for armchair geographers and western visionaries. The vast new acquisition certainly required defini- Despite the additions made between 1810 and 1814, tion. President Jefferson affirmed this in his instruc- which should have improved the accuracy of the map, tions to his secretary Captain Meriwether Lewis, when the published version contained a monumental error he stated that Lewis was “to explore the Missouri River which misled at least a generation of those interested in & such principal stream of it as by its course and the American West.1 communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, The history of the map began in April 1805 as the whether the Columbia, Oregan, Colorado or any other Corps of Discovery prepared to leave the area of the river may offer the most direct & practicable water Mandan/Hidatsa river villages where they had spent communication across this continent for the purposes the winter. To assure sponsors progress was being made, of commerce.”3 the two leaders of the expedition submitted their first Following the suggestion of Secretary of State James cooperative attempt to foresee the western geographical Madison, commerce was the operative justification questions they hoped to resolve. They planned to fol- President Jefferson used to obtain congressional fund- low the Missouri River to its source and to find a west- ing. Additionally, the leaders would make observations ward-draining water connection to the Pacific Ocean. of latitude and longitude to be entered on a map to be

August 2015  We Proceeded On 15 prepared for the war department, along with support- branch of the Missouri. Their informant may have ing notes. Ever the tinkerer, Jefferson suggested both been the twenty-seven-year-old­ Hidatsa war leader, should be written “on the paper of the birch, as less lia- Seeing (Fearing) Snake who described the “Stinking ble to injury from damp than common paper.”4 Cabbin Creek” as about 175 miles from the mouth During the howling cold of an upper Missouri win- of the Yellowstone.10 If he was trying to locate the ter, William Clark found birch in short supply. As an later Stinking Water (Shoshone River) hot springs aid to the explorers, Secretary of the Treasury Albert near present Cody, Wyoming, it was an indication Gallatin arranged for the Washington City surveyor the Hidatsa ranged in the Big Horn Country. There is Nicholas King to provide a template of the known pure wonder in the description of the divide separat- geography, one that left most of the interior continent ing (in Lewis’s words, not the Hidatsa’s) the waters of blank and labeled conjecturally.5 It was up to Lewis and the Atlantic from the Pacific and proof in the picture Clark to fill in the blank area on the map to the best of of “an open & level plains…with a number of barren their abilities. knobs.” Seeing Snake described the Snake River plain According to speculative notions of the era that with landmark barren knobs, the Three Buttes, rising subscribed to the theory of “symmetrical geography,” eighty miles away.11 the central continent was like a great blanket with a In a “Summary view of the River and Creeks” that high point somewhere in the central mountains from accompanied the map, Meriwether Lewis explained which all North American waters descended. When where their direct observations stopped and where geographer John Logan Allen examined the King tem- the descriptions of Indians began. After comparing plate, he noted the suggestion of several major streams: Indian statements, the two captains only used data the Rio Norte or Rio Grande, the mythical Rio des in which there was a general agreement. Lewis wrote los Apostolos, and the Rio Colorado flowing south- that the Yellowstone “takes its rise in the Rocky Moun- ward; the Kansas and two branches of the Platte flow- tains with the waters of a river on which the Span- ing eastward. The River Oregon (which fur trader Peter iards reside: but whether this stream be the N. River or Pond’s Indian informants told him twenty years before the waters of the Gulph of California our information was known as the Naberkiskagon) flowed west to the does not enable us to determine.” He wrote a lengthy Pacific Ocean.6 description of the Mee-ah-zah as the Mandans called As the Corps of Discovery prepared to continue the Yellowstone, including its navigability at all sea- up the Missouri River in the spring of 1805, the lead- sons of the year for boats or pirogues to the foot of the ers sent back their first “unrefined” reports. Clark used Rocky Mountains, near which place it is said to be no King’s template to make a composite describing their more than twenty miles distant from the most south- observations thus far. For what lay ahead he might have erly of the three forks of the Missouri “which last is benefited from an interview with “old Menard,” the also navigable to that point.”12 Frenchman who had resided with the Hidatsa for many In their summary of the rivers and creeks above the years and traveled far enough up the Yellowstone with mouth of Knife River, Lewis and Clark based estimates them to be aware of the falls near its head. But Assini- of distances on the average daily travel of a moving boine had recently rubbed out Menard as he traveled tribe,13 which Clark believed to be about twenty-five between the Missouri and the Assiniboine Rivers on miles. An experienced historian and horseman once behalf of the Hudson’s Bay Company.7 told me that on the average overland travelers made In guessing what lay ahead, Clark had John Evans’s about twenty miles a day, whether walking, riding, map of 1796–97 and descriptions from Indians,8 but or driving a wagon. But a moving Indian camp with the information provided by the Mandan chief She- families might only travel ten. When the British clerk heke only carried a bit beyond the mouth of the Big Francois Antoine Larocque traveled with the Crow in Horn.9 They also relied on a description “in his own 1805, there were eleven days when he mentioned dis- way” from a remarkable Hidatsa traveler who had tances only averaging 9.3 miles a day, and it took them raided as far west as the headwaters of the Jefferson a month to reach the Tongue River.14

16 We Proceeded On  August 2015 Problems crept into Lewis and Clark’s speculations with the Multnomah and those the main Southerly branch of Lewis’s river while it’s Easterly branches head when resetting the expedition chronometer by celestial with those of Clark’s R. the bighorn and River Platte and observation resulted in an error later calculated to make may be said to water the middle portion of the Rocky a difference of an hour. A visiting North West Company Mountains from NW to SE. for several hundred miles. the indians inform us, that a good road passes up this clerk noted the Americans calculated the longitude of river to it’s extreem source from whence it is but a short Fort Mandan too westerly when compared to the previ- distance to the Spanish settlements.18 ous observations of David Thompson.15 Even after descending the Yellowstone, Clark con- But it is problems of speculative latitude that con- tinued to believe his old guess about the close relation cern this study. According to President Jefferson’s of the Yellowstone to more southern streams. As the instructions, the thrust of the exploration was to be Corps of Discovery proceeded west, they met a Sho- longitudinal in the search for a passage across the con- shone on the upper Jefferson Fork of the Missouri tinent to the Pacific. That narrowed lateral geographic River who told Captain Lewis that his people “could questions to speculation instead of observation, and pass to the Spaniards by the way of the Yellowstone the map Clark drew during the winter of 1804-05 River in 10 days.”19 depended upon information extracted from Mandan The latitudinal error seemed reinforced by the two and Hidatsa western travelers. What they knew about explorations during the winter 1807–08 by George the geography ahead depended on descriptions or dia- Drouillard, the former hunter for the Corps of Dis- grams drawn in the sand by obliging tribesmen who covery. He first followed the Yellowstone to its con- traveled west by way of the Yellowstone River rather fluence with the Big Horn, the location of Manuel than the upper Missouri.16 Lisa’s Fort Remon, and turned south on Clark’s River, When Clark transcribed those descriptions on the where Drouillard found a winter camp of the Crow. map he sent back to the president in the spring of 1805, Cutting overland he came to the Shoshone (Stinking he overextended the southern drainage of the Yellow- Water) River in the vicinity of the Spirit Mountain stone and its major tributary the Grosse Horn (Big near present Cody, Wyoming. Crow Indians told him Horn) by three hundred miles. In his speculative geog- that they could follow the Salt Fork to a Salt Cave at raphy, those streams rose so far south that the headwa- its head in fourteen days and from there travel eight ters seemed to interlock with those of the Platte, Rio days to the Spanish settlements.20 Carefully noting his Grande, Colorado, and Snake Rivers, all descending nightly camping places, Drouillard then followed the from what seemed to be the mythic high fountain of Shoshone to the Big Horn. He must have heard about western waters. His map included the north and south the geography higher on the Big Horn because it seems branches of the Platte River but had the North Branch almost certain that he would have commented on the “nearly 70 miles too far north and 200 miles too far thermal mineral springs at present Thermopolis or the west.”17 spectacular canyon through the Owl Creek Mountains. Clark drew the Yellowstone gradually bending His informants described the Mule River and beyond, south until the imagined headwaters of the Big Horn outposts of the Spanish settlements that they traveled fell between 38 and 39 degrees north latitude, almost to with families in eighteen days.21 An upper tributary intermingled with the heads of a river believed to pass of the Platte known as Wolf Chief River was just to the near Santa Fe. Even after descending the Yellowstone in east. It took Drouillard about three days to return to 1806 William Clark had not changed his mind. Sitting the Yellowstone by following Pryor’s River downstream. among mosquitoes while waiting for Lewis to catch up, The observations of Drouillard were a remarkable Clark ended his Yellowstone River journal with a sum- addition to vaguely understood geography. Unfortu- mation of the geography. nately they were badly distorted on Clark’s great map This delighfull river from indian information has it’s in order to fit into his persistent concept of distances. extreem sources with the North river [Rio Grande] in the Rocky mountains on the confines of New Mexico. That data should have recalculated three-year-old it also most probably has it’s westerly sources connected guesswork. Instead Clark seems to have dismissed this

August 2015  We Proceeded On 17 A Map of Lewis and Clark’s Track, Across the Western Portion of North America From the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean; By Order of the Executive of the United States, in 1804, 5 & 6. Copied by Samuel Lewis from the Original Drawing of Wm. Clark. Engraved by Samuel Harrison. From David Rumsey Map Col- lection, www.davidrumsey.com. Accessed 5/19/2015. Originally published in Paul Allen and Nicholas Biddle, History Of The Expedition Under The Command Of Captains Lewis And Clark, To The Sources Of The Missouri, Thence Across The Rocky Mountains And Down The River Columbia To The Pacific Ocean. Performed During The Years 1804-5-6. By order of the Government Of The United States. Prepared For The Press By Paul Allen, Esquire. In Two Volumes. Philadelphia: Bradford and Inskeep, 1814. 70 x 30 cm. information and relied on a less trustworthy source. As included completing the narrative describing their National Park Service historian Bob Moore suggests, trans-continental exploration that Lewis failed to write. Clark stubbornly refused to accept an eyewitness and The best Clark could do was to assign the writing to verifiable account in order to conform to his preformed a hired editor and provide a map. As the book moved notion of what the West looked like.22 toward publication, Clark had to come up with a final The difficult year 1810 was wearing on William version of his comprehensive manuscript map of the Clark. The previous October he had lost his best friend West for inclusion in the narrative. Meriwether Lewis and inherited the responsibility By late spring 1810 Clark received another descrip- for administrating that tangled estate.23 Those duties tion of the same region from the recently returned for-

18 We Proceeded On  August 2015 DAVID RAMSEY MAP COLLECTION MAP RAMSEY DAVID

mer corpsman John Colter, who had been in the moun- to be a bad investment, it is possible to imagine that tains for the past four years.24 Colter returned from the the cartographer of the West was losing his enthusiasm Three Forks of the Missouri River with a report that the for that part of the world. St. Louis Missouri Fur Company had suffered attacks ...the unfavorable prospects of the Missouri Company by hostile Blackfeet. Actually it was Kainaa (Bloods) is a little discourageing, they have Sent down no fur and and Atsiina (Gros Ventre) who struck the Missouri Fur I am Called on for money for the Goods purchased of Company hunters when they began trapping along the Manuel $2400 my Share. it is too late to repint of my bargain when thing[s] are going on badly. it is then time Jefferson Fork.25 to Scuffle and try to get out of the dificuelty.27 These were dark times for William Clark who was on tender terms with Osage Indian Agent Pierre Chou- To revise his map for publication, Clark had his teau and had no confidence in acting governor Freder- own observations descending the Yellowstone, Drouil- ick Bates, who tried to discredit Governor Lewis and lard’s verbal information converted into two sketch Indian Agent Clark behind their backs.26 Given the maps, and what John Colter added during their Missouri Fur Company casualty list and what appeared interviews. During the same winter of 1807-08 that

August 2015  We Proceeded On 19 DAVID RAMSEY MAP COLLECTION MAP RAMSEY DAVID A detail of Clark’s map showing the central portion and stretch of the Big Horn and Yellowstone.

­Drouillard made his explorations, Colter professed to nied by a map that had been reconstructed from Pike’s have explored five hundred miles or more from the post battered traverse table field notes.29 When Lt. Pike was at the mouth of the Big Horn, perhaps even crossing having the maps of his southwest expedition prepared the Owl Creek and Wind River Ranges to the head- in 1809–1810, he relied on General James Wilkinson’s waters of a tributary of the Rio Grande, which Clark favorite cartographer, Sergeant Antoine Nau. Nau pre- gave Colter’s name. Drouillard’s Mule River and Wolf viously made a surreptitious copy of Baron Alexan- Chief River dropped off the map. When Clark incor- der von Humboldt’s map of “the interior provinces of porated this new geographical data into his great map, New Spain,” which Wilkinson brought with him to St. Drouillard was dead and there was no way of checking Louis and used to prepare Pike for his southwest expe- Colter’s veracity. dition.30 Because Nau helped prepare the maps of Pike’s To fill in the geography south of the Big Horn, earlier exploration of the upper Mississippi, he was just Clark resorted to Lt. Zebulon Pike’s recently pub- the man to devise a second set of maps. That was not lished account of his explorations on the upper Arkan- easy because Spanish authorities had confiscated much sas River. Pike’s report on his southwest expedition was of Pike’s field notes. For the second sheet of “A Chart published in 1810.28 The 509-page book may have of the Internal Part of Louisiana, including all the hith- been as turgid as its lengthy title but it was accompa- erto unexplored Countries lying between the River La

20 We Proceeded On  August 2015 Platte of the Missouri on the North and the Red River It was Lieutenant Pike, blundering around in the of the Mississippi,” Nau had to interpret Pike’s traverse canyons and crags at the head of the Arkansas River, tables.31 who compressed nearly six hundred miles between the From a height near the head of the Arkansas River, Yellowstone and Santa Fe.36 But that fit nicely with Pike believed he had seen the Platte River, and distantly William Clark’s outdated guesses about the location of beyond, the Yellowstone.32 So Nau drew a “stylized and the headwaters of the Big Horn tributary of the Yel- imaginary Platte…based on no data whatever” and lowstone. Clark appropriated the northwest corner of placed the Yellowstone near the sources of the Arkansas Pike’s map and the puzzle fitted together. Both men to confirm Pike’s claim he had seen the Yellowstone.33 still failed to grasp the missing distance and the “error Exact courses were lacking but the creative Nau invented of the southwest” would continue to misdirect think- a distinctive “squiggle” on the upper Platte. ing about the central continent for another quarter of When Clark expanded his great map of the West a century.37 by incorporating Pike’s findings from Nau’s less than They were two explorers trying to fill in the “con- trustworthy published map, he carefully reproduced jectural” parts of Nicholas King’s 1803 map. On the Nau’s conjectural placement of the Yellowstone. This speculative map Clark drew two years later, he took a “creative” addition represented the great rift where pretty good shot at filling in those blanks. King must unknowns came together, where William Clark’s over- have taken some satisfaction in making four copies of estimate of the length of the Yellowstone drainage Clark’s 1805 map for the edification of Congress, the meshed with Zebulon Pike’s faith in the “fountain war department, and the president. of waters” myth of symmetrical geography. But what After the adventure-filled journals of the Corps of Pike actually saw was the South Branch of the Platte. Discovery were finally published in 1814, readers failed In failing to realize that from Pike’s “hill in Darien,” to grasp that the lateral distance had been eliminated he had actually seen the South Platte, Clark dropped on the foldout map that accompanied the book. Years seventy miles of lateral distance that added to what later, that omission became yet another burr under the became known as “the error of the southwest.” That desk chair of the curmudgeonly western historian Ber- was a deliberate omission because Clark had shown nard Devoto and others who labeled it “Clark’s Error of two streams on his 1805 map. The dedicated historian the Southwest”: of the Zackery Perch enigma, J. Neilson Barry, wrote… ...Lewis presently wrote a summary from Clark’s notes [of his descent of the Yellowstone]. It could be called The the map of 1814 is not “a” map. It is a mosaic. Sam- Error of the Southwest. The Yellowstone, said the sum- uel Lewis [who prepared the finished copy] ...copied the mary, rose on the border of New Mexico, whence a short, square sheets sent by Clark in spaces between the lines good road led to the Spanish settlements. (These unseen for all degrees. He had inadequate data for latitudes and settlements were always Santa Fe.) Its source was adja- longitudes, or for the areas of the sheets. Consequently cent to those of the Willamette, the Snake, the Platte, he put too large areas into too small spaces and too small the Bitterroot (!), and the Big Horn. Pirogues would be areas in too large spaces. Therefore EVERY spot west of the best craft for the Yellowstone but even “batteaux,” modern Dakota is misplaced.34 big boats, could go all the way to the mountains. (There must have been a lot of water in the river that year too.) The Big Horn and Clark’s Fork must be navigable for William Clark, the theoretical cartographer, and a considerable distance. (Entirely wrong.) Besides the Zebulon Pike, the explorer of the Spanish borderlands, Big Horn, the mouth of Clark’s Fork would be a good were locked in the theory of a continental fountain of site for a trading post, for it would be fairly safe from the Blackfeet. This last suggestion seems, temporarily, to waters, which the maps they produced seemed to prove. undercut the promise to the Snakes, the Nez Perces, and All Pike had to go on to believe he had seen the Yellow- various Columbia River tribes that the American trade 38 stone in the distance was the probability that he had would seek them out. But only temporarily. seen a copy of Clark’s 1805 map. But that showed two In time this cartographical hiccup was corrected forks of the Platte, which should have precluded imag- by others who developed greater familiarity with west- ining the distant Yellowstone just across from what was ern realities. William Clark’s rightfully earned reputa- taken as the North Platte.35 tion as the primary map maker of the West remained

August 2015  We Proceeded On 21 intact. But the acceptance of the map without too Bypassing the Big Horn as unnavigable, McClallen much question­ allowed interesting parallel narratives reached the mouth of the Clark River by July 1807.41 to be overlooked and generally ignored. In an intrigu- He was more fortunate than his predecessor in meeting ing coincidence, the contributions of another mili- Crow Indians who revealed the lateral distance between tary explorer fell out of what should be a panoramic there and Santa Fe was considerably longer than he account of the years between 1805 and 1810. believed. Needing pack horses and reliable guides, the Actually the error may have been detected as early frustrated entrepreneur made another major revision of as July 1807 when the enigmatic entrepreneur, former his deteriorating scheme and headed west of the Rocky Captain of Artillery John McClallen, was frustrated in Mountains to obtain the livestock he needed to con- his attempt to open an overland trade to Santa Fe. Cap- tinue the mercantile adventure next spring. McClal- tain McClallen had a typical company grade officer’s len disproved Clark’s miscalculation of lateral distance career in the tiny army of the United States until 1805 before the cartographer inked in his Yellowstone discov- when he was reassigned to defend the new Louisiana eries. He was the only western traveler who might have frontier. His association with General James Wilkin- suffered from the error of the Southwest, but an unkind son led him to resign his commission, obtain an out- fate and unforgiving Bloods and Atsiina ended his life fit of trade goods specific to the New Mexican market before he could return with that geographical insight.42 and set out in August 1806 to open an overland trail to Clark cannot be faulted for wanting to make his Santa Fe. This private enterprise closely followed and magnum opus more complete. He had extended longi­ was meant to parallel the exploration of Pike. tudinal understanding of the continent. But that was As McClallen’s boat party proceeded toward a from the narrow perspective of an explorer bound to planned jumping off point at the mouth of the Platte rivers and dependent upon poorly translated hearsay to River, they encountered the returning Corps of Dis- extend lateral horizons. Modern travelers like to think covery. Pleased to meet a brother officer, the explorers that we know the country by whizzing along the inter- shared a good deal of their western explorations with state, but that is only a fleeting glance of a few miles on McClallen. In return it is very possible the entrepre- either side. neur showed them the thick copy of the reports they Cartographic errors were nothing new as the new had sent back from Fort Mandan in spring 1805, world was revealed through sometimes preposterous which had been published by Congress. He may have guesses. Clark and Pike tried to add lateral depth to shared his impressions of one of the four copies of what developed as a longitudinal western thrust. Their Clark’s map, which he had been privileged to inspect errors did not inconvenience the beaver trappers and while in the East preparing for his mercantile adven- traders who were soon wandering around in the moun- ture.39 All this was exciting stuff on the leading edge of tains and did not need maps to follow (as they liked to exploration. say) by the way “their stick floated.” Unfortunately McClallen’s plan was soon frustrated. By the end of December 1810 when Clark shipped Upon reaching the camps of the Pawnee on the Republi- his manuscript map to the publisher, men actually on can Branch of the Kansas River, Pike learned that a large the ground had already disproved his theorizing. After Spanish expedition had visited the tribe and intimi- being driven away from the Three Forks by hostile Indi- dated them into denying Americans passage southward. ans, Clark’s partner Andrew Henry led determined In early October, Pike warned McClallen he could not trappers up the Madison Fork that former corps mem- depend on the assistance of the Pawnee who were essen- ber Peter Weiser had explored, and across the divide to tial to his plan.40 Instead of returning to St. Louis and what would thereafter be known as Henry’s Fork of the potential bankruptcy, McClallen wintered with coop- Snake. During the winter of 1810–1811 Andrew Hen- erative Indians and continued up the Missouri in the ry’s men appear to have ranged as far as the headwaters spring. By following the Yellowstone to a convenient of the Green River, which was believed to be a tributary river leading southward, he could sidestep the Spanish of the “real Spanish River” (Rio Grande) but turned out blockade and enter Santa Fe by the backdoor. to be the Colorado.

22 We Proceeded On  August 2015 Clark continued to tinker with the map even after been there (wherever there might be) he could remem- it was in the hands of the engraver. The 1811 overland ber the landmarks he needed to get back again. expedition of Astor’s Pacific Fur Company followed the Exploring is putting one foot in front of the other Wind River to the south branch of the Snake. In 1812– and seeing where it takes you. William Clark became 13, Robert Stuart’s party followed the Platte back to the stuck with the idea of a central fountain of waters based Missouri. A digitally re-mastered edition of Clark’s great on what Meriwether Lewis told him of President Jef- map shows Robert Stuart crossed South Pass from west ferson’s expectations. He tried to reconcile that specu- to east.43 How did that information get into Clark’s map? lative geography with what the two captains learned As Stuart returned from the Columbia River, he kept a from Indian informants during the winter 1804–05. detailed narrative of his travels as well as an understand- They had been no farther west than the Mandan vil- ing of Wilson Price Hunt’s route west. Stuart arrived in lages but Clark set the template he could never, even St. Louis on May 8, 1813, gave interviews to the Mis- in the face of contradictory evidence, change. That souri Gazette, and rode on to report to Astor in New obstinate refusal to give up a belief became a dogmatic York.44 Clark left St. Louis before May 4 so there was no rationalization­ that bent corrective data to fit. opportunity to compare findings.45 The tribes of the northern plains and central moun- Clark returned to St. Louis on the first of July after tains knew how long it took in sleeps to travel to the spending some time at his brother’s home near Lou- frontier outposts and poorly guarded corrals of the Span- isville. It is uncertain when Stuart delivered his dis- ish Interior Provinces, but, through the veils of language patches to Astor but it was reported on October 18 and culture, they could not communicate it clearly. that he had given his journals to President Madison. It Maps are easy, going places can be confusing. The gull- is possible Clark and Stuart met somewhere on the trail ibility and later indignation of armchair geographers but the only clue is the Astorian’s belief that the Platte over “Clark’s Error of the Southwest” needs to be tem- “takes its rise in the Big Horn Mountains,” a geograph- pered by the notion that understanding North America ical error his own travels disproved, but which Clark was a learning process and the good men who blundered continued to maintain on his great map.46 around trying to sort it out did the best they could.  Before Clark left Washington he reclaimed his great map from cartographer Samuel Lewis who made For most of his 84 years John C. Jackson of Olympia, Washing- “sundry alterations” to the plates at some point before ton, has been spinning a wide history loop; from cowboys and the end of March 1813, which Clark inspected and Indians to fur traders and explorers, from great men to neglected approved before leaving for St. Louis.47 Clark retained heroes, while trying to stay out of the bight. He still believes it his great map through his tenure as Governor of Mis- is possible to get at the one true thing that happened, no matter how many others saw it otherwise. souri Territory and later as Superintendent of Indian Affairs, a post he held until his death in 1838 when the Notes map or maps passed to his son George Rogers Hancock 1. A good deal of what follows owes a debt to two indispensable Clark.48 resources: The published and online versions of Gary E. Moulton, ed., The Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, 13 vols. (Lincoln: The aura that history wrapped around William University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001), and John Logan Allen, Clark, and to a lesser degree Zebulon Pike, created Passage Through the Garden: Lewis and Clark and the Image of the an iconic image of two men who were just trying to American Northwest (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975). fathom the mysteries of western geography. They were 2. In 1793 an ambitious fur trader, Alexander Mackenzie, reached salt water at Bella Coola in present British Columbia, but that route doing their best to unravel the unknown, using tools was a barren discovery of no value to his company. The businessmen of the time and vague instructions. The interlocking of the North West Company had only token obligations to the Brit- ish Empire when the ambitious Mackenzie published a narrative of mosaic they produced brought together mistakes that his journey in 1801. See Alexander Mackenzie, Voyages from Montreal compounded an error of conjectural geography with- on the River St. Laurence through the Continent of North America to out doing harm to those who were infiltrating the West the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in the years 1789 and 1793 with a pre- liminary account of the Rise, Progress and Present State of the Fur Trade river by river, beaver pond by beaver pond, and who of That Country. (London: R. Noble, 1801; facsimile reprint Readex had no real need for a map. Once a frontiersman had Microprint, 1966).

August 2015  We Proceeded On 23 3. Jefferson’s Instructions to Lewis, June 20, 1803; Donald Jackson, 21. Governor Meriwether Lewis made a note on George Drouillard’s Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents, sketch map of the Big Horn basin that from a trading post at the 1783-1854, 2d ed., 2 vols. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, mouth of the Big Horn River, “a man on horseback can travel to the 1978), 1:61-66. Spanish country in 8 days.” On another copy of Drouillard’s map 4. Ibid. in the Library of Congress, John Logan Allen noticed that someone altered the figure “8” by adding a “1” before it, making the trip 18 5. The very best geographical data known to the Americans at that days. Both copies are in Carl I. Wheat, Mapping the Trans-Mississippi time was included in the maps brought along by the expedition. This West, 5 vols (San Francisco: Institute of Historical Geography, 1957- included data from Captain James Cook’s charts of the Pacific coast, 67), 2: maps 189 and 190. the map illustrating Alexander Mackenzie’s 1793 northern track to the Pacific and David Thompson’s 1798 survey of the Mandan vil- 22. Electronic exchange, June 3, 2009, with Dr. Robert J. Moore lages. The best by far was London cartographer Aaron Arrowsmith’s Jr., Historian, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis, 1802 revision of his 1795 map of the northern continent. Missouri. 6. Allen, Passage Through the Garden, 97-103. The Pond map is on 23. Clark returned to St. Louis on July 7, 1810, after being away from pages 24-25. Although he had read the book by Jonathan Carver his duties as United States Agent of Western Indians for nine months. that used the name “Ouragan,” Pond relied on what northern plains 24. Stallo Vinton published a biography of Colter in 1926 which tribesmen told him. Burton Harris updated and enlarged in 1952 under the title John Col- 7. Entries of 14 September, October 20 and November 14, 1804, ter: His Years in the Rockies. (1952; reprinted Lincoln and London: Brandon House Journal 1804/05, Hudson Bay Company Archives University of Nebraska Press, 1993). For a recent analysis of Colter’s (hereafter HBCA), B22/a/12, 5d, 7, 7d. experience see John C. Jackson, “Revisiting the Colter legend,” Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Journal, Vol. III. (2009). 8. Moulton, ed., Journals (Atlas), 1: map 30; map 24 in Allen, Passage Through the Garden, 126. 25. Menard to Pierre Chouteau, Three Forks of the Missouri, April 21, 1810 in Hiram Martin Chittenden, The American Fur Trade 9. Moulton, ed., Journals (Atlas), 1:8-9, 12, maps 31a, 31b. of the Far West, 1902, appendix A; Reuben Lewis to Dr. Brother, 3 10. Note 27 in Fort Mandan Miscellany, Moulton, ed, Journals, 3:383. Forks of the Missouri Apr. 21st [1810] in Lewis Collection, Missouri 11. Fort Mandan Miscellany, near the end of Lewis’s summary. But Historical Society, a copy in L.R. Frick, Courageous Colter and Com- Lewis was wrong in believing there were no buffalo west of the moun- panions (Washington, Missouri: L.R. Frick, 1997), 106-07. tains or that Flatheads (Salish) lived principally on large fish. In 26. Clark to Jonathan Clark, St. Louis, July 16, 1808, in James J. scattered references in the expedition journals he also observed that Holmberg, ed., Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan salmon were unable to ascend the Clark Fork where the Salish lived. Clark (New Haven and London; Yale University Press, 2002), 248 12. Lewis’s treatise on the Missouri River to complement Clark’s map, 27. In a letter to his brothers John H. and Edmund Clark, William Fort Mandan Miscellany, Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition added a postscript that he had sent “Sundery packs of Beaver to be On-line website, notes 25 and 27. http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl. delivered to Mr. Smith of Lexington,” which must have represented edu/. Accessed June 19, 2015. returns of the MFCo., although they traveled up the Ohio with those 13. See Moulton, Fort Mandan Miscellany, note 25. of the Indian Trade Factory system. Clark to Dear Brother, St. Louis, 3 September 1810, in Holmberg, Dear Brother, 288, n. 5. 14. Francois-Antoine Larocque’s “Missouri Journal,” in W. Raymond Wood and Thomas D. Thiessen, eds., Early Fur Trade on the North- 28. Z. M. Pike, An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi, ern Plains: Canadian Traders Among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indi- and Through the Western Parts of Louisiana, to the Sources of the Arkan- ans, 1738-1818 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985). saw, Kans, La Platte, and Pierre Jaun, Rivers; Performed by Order of the The experienced horseman informant was the journalist William Government of the United States during the Years 1805, 1806, and 1807, Cochrane McGaw. and a Tour through the Interior Parts of New Spain, when Conducted through These Provinces, by Order of the Captain General, in the Year 15. Larocque’s “Missouri Journal,” 151-52. 1807 (Philadelphia: Published by C. & A. Conrad, & Co.; Somervell 16. James Ronda restates this problem in his Lewis and Clark Among & Conrad; Bonsal, Conrad and Co.; and Fielding Lucas, Jr., 1810). the Indians (Lincoln and London; University of Nebraska Press, 29. The map is reproduced between pages 388 and 389 of Donald 1984), 128. Jackson, ed. The Journals of Zebulon Montgomery Pike with Letters and 17. Allen, Passage Through the Garden, 237, 239, 244. Related Documents. 2 Vols. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 18. Moulton, ed., Journals, 8:277. 1966), 19. Lewis’s entry for August 14, 1805 relayed information he heard 30. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin had Baron Von Hum- regarding a description of the Snake and Owyhee Rivers to the south, boldt’s map of Mexico from June 9, 1804, until it was returned on which he guessed ran into the “gulph of California,” corrected by the June 27. During that time General Wilkinson had Nau make a copy editor in note 13. Also included was the information that Shoshones of the northern provinces adjoining Louisiana, which he carried to could pass from the Yellowstone to the Spaniards in ten days but could St. Louis in mid-1805 and reported a correction to Secretary of War not obtain firearms from them. See note 14 in Moulton, ed.,Journals. Henry Dearborn on August 25. The distance of a direct route from From the vicinity of the upper Salmon River, the distance is around the Platte to Santa Fe was 690 miles based on the experience of three 975 miles. In his retelling of The Journals of Lewis and Clark, Bernard traders who made the trip in 1797. The copy of Humboldt’s map DeVoto transposed this information to August 20. must have been available to Pike as he prepared for his second expedi- tion. Jackson, ed., Pike’s Journals, 2:368-69, 452. 20. On the Lewis and Clark sketch maps of Drouillard’s description, following the Big Horn from the mouth of the Shoshone to the Span- 31. “A chart of the internal part of Louisiana including all the hith- ish settlements was initially recorded as a trip of eight days, but this erto unexplored Countries, lying between the River La Platte of the was later amended to eighteen days. Missouri on the N. and the Red River on the S. the Mississippi East

24 We Proceeded On  August 2015 and the Mountains of Mexico West; with a Part of New Mexico & the 40. This was carried by the courier Charlo who started on 6 October. Province of Texas by Z.M. Pike, Capt. U.S.I. (Plate II) Reduced and There is the suggestion that McClallen received Pike’s dispatches, and laid down on a Scale of 40 miles to the Inch by Anthony Nau.” From lacking the means of forwarding them, held the packet until he sent enclosures in Elliott Coues, ed., The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgom- his boat back the following spring. After assuming charge of western ery Pike, 2 volumes (1895: Reprinted, New York: Dover Publications, Indian affairs at St. Louis in May 1807, about the time boats were 1987), in volume 2. arriving from upriver, William Clark paid $20 to “Charlo, an express” sent by Pike from the Pawnee village, per Pike’s certificate dated 6 32. Jackson, ed. Pike’s Journals, 1: plate 60 and Appendix, 455-58. October 1806. Jackson, ed., Pike’s Journals, 2:143 n.2. 33. Ibid. 452-58. 41. Atsiina and Blood Indian statements to James Bird, January 22, 34. Mss 1, Box 26, Folder 22, J. Neilson Barry Collection, Boise State 1808, HBCA B60/a/7, fol.22; Lt. The only copy of the letter is in the University Library. After evidence was uncovered in British archives Edmonton House Journal, January 22, 1808, HBCA B60/a/7, fol. of the presence of a party of forty-two Americans west of the Rocky 12. Lt. James Roseman and Capt. Zachery Perch to British trader, Mountains during the winter 1807–08, Rev. Barry and others made ­Yellow River, Columbia, July 10, 1807. efforts to determine the identity of the leader who signed his letters 42. A fuller investigation of Capt. John McClallen’s plunge into west- with the alias, Captain Zackery Perch. ern development close on the heels of Lewis and Clark is examined in 35. Allen, Passage Through the Garden, 237-39, 244. Allen states that John C. Jackson, By Honor and Right: How One Man Boldly Defined the Clark’s version of the headwaters of the North Platte and its rela- Destiny of a Nation (Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2010). tionship to “other western rivers verged on the fantastic.” Clark had 43. The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Lewis & Clark’s the North Platte 200 miles too long and 70 miles too far north. The West: William Clark’s 1810 Master Map of the American West (New extension of the Yellowstone drainage pushed nearly 300 miles too far Haven: Yale University, 2004). south on Clark’s map. 44. Philip Ashton Rollins, ed. The Discovery of the Oregon Trail: Robert 36. Donald Jackson, “The Question Is: How Lost was Zebulon Pike?” Stuart’s Narratives (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1935), 259-61. American Heritage, 16:2 (February 1965). 45. The date of Clark’s departure before May 4, 1813, can be approx- 37. For discussion of Pike’s error see Jackson, ed., Pike’s Journals, imated in a letter from Pierre Chouteau to the Secretary of War. Clark 1:365-66 n. 161, 460-61. was in Louisville on May 19, apparently visiting his brother, and back 38. DeVoto, Course of Empire, 519-20. DeVoto repeated the state- in St. Louis by the end of July. ment the following year in his publication of The Journals of Lewis 46. Rollins, Discovery of the Oregon Trail, 256. and Clark. 47. Landon W. Jones, William Clark and the Shaping of the West (New 39. Smith to Jefferson, Baltimore, January 20, 1806, Thomas Jeffer- York; Hill and Wang, 2004), 212. Clark’s account with Bradford & son Papers, Series 1, General Correspondence. 1651-1827, Image Inskeep, 29 March 1813 in Jackson, Letters of Lewis and Clark, 600. 315, Library of Congress American Memory. Smith was president pro 48. Introductory notes to William Clark’s 1810 Master Map of the tempore of the Senate. American West give the provenance of Clark’s map.

August 2015  We Proceeded On 25 Sex and the Single Explorer

A Response to William Benemann’s “My Friend and Companion: The Intimate Journey of Lewis and Clark” by Alicia DeMaio

At a glance, one sentence buried in need to make the disclaimer that there know to establish context for our his- the final chapter of David Freeman was “no reason to imagine sexual over- torical question. Hawke’s narrative of the Lewis and tones in the close bond”? Clearly he There are three aspects of Bene- Clark Expedition, These Tremendous had thought about it before dismissing mann’s argument in particular that I Mountains, may seem inconsequen- the idea out of hand. Similarly, Jenkin- find puzzling, all of which I think can tial. It reads, “There is no reason to son presents a very romantic picture of be addressed by the use of historical imagine sexual overtones in the close the two sleeping under the stars before context. First, Benemann has under- bond between them, yet the relation- rejecting the notion of the two being taken the difficult task of reading an ship did resemble that of a successful physically intimate. archival silence—Lewis’s lack of jour- marriage where the partners accom- William Benemann takes a stab at nals from May 14, 1804 to April 6, modated themselves without attempt- addressing this issue in his two-part 1805—as proof for his argument. It is, ing to change one another.”1 Clay Jen- article “My Friend and Compan- of course, possible to interpret archi- kinson quotes this sentence in the final ion: The Intimate Journey of Lewis val silences, but the use of historical chapter of his character study of Meri- and Clark,” published in the Febru- context is crucial for doing so. Ben- wether Lewis and adds: ary and May 2015 issues of We Pro- emann attempts to argue that Lewis Lewis and Clark had literally slept ceeded On. Benemann does not embed and Clark destroyed Lewis’s jour- in close proximity for many years: his argument in historical context, and nal because it contained some sort of in their quarters at Fort Mandan, in instead restricts himself to using the information about the men’s relation- the tipi that Charbonneau sold to slim archival record surrounding Lewis ship Clark did not want read by other them, in their quarters at Fort Clat- and Clark, searching for fragments on people. Far from being the univer- sop, and under the stars at innu- which to build his case. He has cho- sal solution Benemann suggests, this merable campsites up and down the sen an arduous path, since there is explanation is unsatisfactory consider- Missouri and Columbia Rivers…. no “smoking gun” that will decisively ing what we know about the nature of No responsible historian has ever sug- answer the question of the nuances of the texts Lewis, Clark, and the other gested that Lewis and Clark were lov- Lewis and Clark’s relationship. The ers, but they clearly loved each other members of the expedition were pro- and had developed a deep intimacy, question of proof and evidence is a ducing. These journals were not pri- born of friendship and a magnifi- fraught one in the field of history in vate diaries, keepers of the men’s inner- cent shared adventure. Through their general, but especially so in the his- most thoughts. They were government shared sense of mission and sustained tory of sexuality. Writing the history documents, intended to record objec- physical proximity, they had devel- of something that is usually relegated tive scientific observations (there is, of oped a familiarity that few modern to the most private part of one’s pri- course, the question of whether sci- unmarried Americans ever achieve…. vate life can be difficult; people tend entific observations in the eighteenth In some genuine sense of the term, to leave very few written records detail- century were really “objective,” but Lewis and Clark broke up when Clark ing their sex lives. Because there are that is a debate for another time). married Julia Hancock.2 many evidentiary gaps in the histori- The journals also contain a performa- My question is, why “no responsible cal record, historians have developed tive element, particularly Lewis’s, in historian has ever suggested that Lewis techniques to uphold empiricism as which he writes to fill the character of and Clark were lovers”? Indeed, the best we can while also trying to under- the explorer as dictated to him by the suggestion seems to be the “elephant stand aspects of the past that have left precedent of eighteenth century travel in the room,” if these quotes are any slimmer bases of evidence. One of the narratives.3 Interpreting both histori- indication. Why did Hawke feel the ways we do this is by using what we do cal texts and historical silences are the

26 We Proceeded On  August 2015 most meaningful and most impactful concepts that did not exist during their ton student named James Gibson. In when couched in the context of the time, despite the fact that their behav- his diary, Mifflin recorded intimately time in which they were produced. ior may resemble what we would today embracing his friends, sleeping repeat- Benemann’s argument could have call “gay” or “lesbian.” edly in the same bed with them—and been strengthened had he considered Third, Benemann has problemat- his pointed references to these times, this wider context. ically based his case on the fact that I would argue, signifies that they were Second, I find Benemann’s use of Lewis had trouble defining his rela- different from sharing a bed out of terms discomfiting at times. He fre- tionship with Clark. He writes, “In a necessity, as was often done in the quently uses “heterosexual” or “sex- society that held back from discuss- eighteenth century—swearing fealty ual orientation” despite the fact that ing male-male intimacy, there was no to them, and referring to their bond these terms are anachronistic to the way of labeling this thing that had so as one of love.9 Therefore, when Lewis time in which Lewis and Clark lived. intensely developed between them and Clark referred to one another as In the first decade of the nineteenth during the brief six months they had “my friend” and “my companion,” century, there were no “homosexual” served together.”7 On the contrary, they could have easily been expressing people. There were no “heterosex- Meriwether Lewis lived in a soci- the same kind of bond that Mifflin felt ual” people, for that matter. The con- ety that did have a category that per- with his intimate friends, a bond that cept of a sexual orientation, of sexual fectly described his relationship with was not only socially accepted, but also attraction being part of one’s identity, Clark—a type of relationship that encouraged. only begins to emerge in the 1890s, in scholars today refer to as a “roman- If there is anything that Lewis the writings of sexologists Havelock tic friendship,” but what Lewis would and Clark’s written archival record is Ellis and Richard von Krafft-Ebing.4 have merely called a “friendship.” Ben- unequivocal about, it is the fact that Because the heterosexual vs. homosex- emann is certainly familiar with this Meriwether Lewis and William Clark ual binary has become so entrenched concept, as he’s written a book entitled loved each other very much. “If there- in our society, it is hard to imagine a Male-Male Intimacy in Early America: fore there is anything under those cir- society that could exist without this Beyond Romantic Friendships. Men and cumstances, in this enterprise, which divide. In the late eighteenth century women tended to live gender-segre- would induce you to participate with and early nineteenth century, perform- gated lives in the late eighteenth and me in it’s fatiegues, it’s dangers, and ing a sexual act with someone of the nineteenth centuries, and would form it’s honors, believe me there is no man same gender was just that—an act, and close, intimate bonds with a member on earth with whom I should feel not a declaration of personhood. In a of the same gender, often expressed equal pleasure in sharing them as with society organized around the estab- in very erotic ways, or ways that read yourself,” Lewis wrote to Clark when lishment of patriarchal households erotically to our modern eyes. Scholars he invited him to join him on the that would govern the members of the today call these relationships “roman- adventure of a lifetime. “I should be households (and which mirrored the tic friendships” to distinguish them extremely happy in your company.”10 government of the state in the colonial from what we think of as the typical Clark drafted two letters in response. era), marriage was not only expected “friendship” bond; in the eighteenth In one, he wrote, “This is an undertak- but also necessary for society to prop- century, the term “friendship” encom- ing fraited with many difeculties, but erly function.5 Marriage did not nec- passed all types of friendships, from My friend I do assure you that no man essarily correlate to personal desire— the casual acquaintance to a much on earth lives with whome I would and there were people who recognized closer relationship. Because the con- perfur to undertake Such a Trip &c. (or were recognized by their society as cept of homosexuality did not exist, as your self.”11 In the other, he wrote, having) a propensity to desire the same scholars such as E. Anthony Rotundo “My friend I join you with hand & gender. A seventeenth-century exam- have argued that men and women felt Heart.”12 That line, and the paragraph ple of this is Nicholas Sension, whose freer to express their affections and it is in, has been crossed out—perhaps neighbors acknowledged his predilec- emotions to one another.8 Romantic Clark thought it was too effusive, or tion for men in the midst of his fre- friendships were not necessarily lim- perhaps a later hand censored the let- quent trials for sodomy.6 Contempo- ited to two people. Richard Godbeer ter. When contemplating his impend- rary to Lewis and Clark is Anne Lister, has written about John Mifflin, a Phil- ing separation from his “worthy friend an English gentlewoman who kept a adelphian in the early republic who and companion,” Lewis wrote on diary recording her love specifically had at least two friends with whom he July 3, 1806, “I could not avoid feel- and only for women. Yet, I would still was especially close: Isaac Norris and, ing much concern on this occasion hesitate to refer to these people with after Norris went to Europe, a Prince- although I hoped this seperation was

August 2015  We Proceeded On 27 only momentary.”13 Clark named his Lewis’s desire to marry. Similarly, any ings of the sperit, the changes which first child after Meriwether Lewis, an sex between them would not create any have taken place in my dispositions, act that, according to Clay Jenkinson, conflict with paternity claims made and that I am now so much unlike indicated that Clark “wanted to per- by Native Americans. All of these sex- my former self, that I speak of those petuate Lewis in his own DNA some- ual possibilities could (and did) exist bewitching gipsies as a secondary con- how.”14 People do not want to perpet- simultaneously. sideration.”20 What “changes…have uate people they do not love in their The question of Lewis possibly taken place” in Lewis’s “dispositions”? bloodline. being in some form of unrequited love Presumably he is referring to the expe- Lewis and Clark, like John Mif- with Clark, which Benemann argues dition—what else could have caused flin and his friends, loved each other is part of what prevented Lewis’s mar- such changes to Lewis’s “former self,” very much. The question is how they riage and helped cause his death, is a who Dickerson knew in Philadelphia loved one another. Did these intimate separate issue. Again, this is certainly prior to the journey? friendships have a sexual component? possible, but it is important to remem- We must remember that, in a cul- That is something we cannot pos- ber that loving Clark and not get- ture where sexual orientation did not sibly answer. Considering the eroti- ting married would not preclude any exist, Lewis could easily have been cally charged ways in which men and attraction to women on Lewis’s part. emotionally attached to his rela- women wrote to their friends of the Lewis has an odd track record when it tionship with Clark while also being same gender, it is not impossible that comes to his comments about women. attracted to women. Despite this some of these couples expressed their He famously said of the Indian women attraction, his failure to marry could intimacy in a sexual way.15 There were who lived on the Pacific coast, “I think still be attributed to intense resid- certainly opportunities to do so; there the most disgusting sight I have ever ual feelings for Clark. Perhaps he did are plenty of instances of men forming beheld is these dirty naked wenches,” not want to legally commit himself sexual relationships with one another but this could be out of some sort of to someone else while still holding in exclusively male spaces such as long prejudice against Indian women spe- such feelings. Perhaps his other per- ship voyages, as well as the beds peo- cifically and not women in general.17 sonal problems crowded out any desire ple commonly shared. If such sexual After the expedition, Lewis wrote to to get married. Perhaps his personal expressions were not going to throw his friend Mahlon Dickerson and problems, in part, stemmed from see- one into an identity crisis, as it might cheerfully gossiped about “the girls” ing someone he cared for so much for someone today, what was stop- in their acquaintance. When reflect- be happy with someone who was not ping these couples from taking their ing on his failure “to get a wife,” he him. Perhaps. There are a number of erotic effusions from a rhetorical to a wrote to Dickerson—a fellow bache- possible interpretations, which is the physical level? Citing religious beliefs lor who never married—“I feel all that beauty of history. All we know for is an ineffective argument—religious restlessness, that inquietude, that cer- sure is that Lewis wanted to live with restrictions against premarital sex did tain indescribable something common Clark and Julia after they married, that not stop one-third of late eighteenth to old bachelors, which I cannot avoid Lewis never married himself, and that century brides from being pregnant, thinking my dear fellow, proceeds, he wrote a mysterious letter to Clark or from babies being born out of from that void in our hearts, which that somehow explained his death for wedlock.16 might, or ought to be better filled.”18 Clark. Finally, we know that in the With this historical context in mind, What did Lewis mean by “the void in last hours of his life, Lewis thought I tentatively suggest that maybe, per- our hearts…ought to be better filled”? Clark was coming to help him in his haps maybe, Lewis and Clark were lov- Lewis is clearly expecting marriage to time of need. Lewis clearly still loved ers—in the sense they expressed their fill some sort of void that both he and Clark at the end of his life, as Clark affection for one another in sexual Dickerson as single men felt (bachelor loved Lewis. Whether that love inter- ways—at some point in their relation- did not yet have the homosexual con- fered with his ability to live his life is ship, and I consider myself a “respon- notations that it did in later periods).19 something we will never be able to say sible historian.” Who are we to say that But Lewis’s use of the phrase “ought for sure. they were not? They lived in a world to” implies that something is there, in If—and I cannot stress enough that defined relationships very differ- his heart—perhaps he is speaking of the tentative nature of my claim— ently than we do now. Any sexual activ- the friendship bonds he has formed Lewis and Clark were, at some point, ity Lewis and Clark may have engaged with Clark and Dickerson. Even more lovers in a sexual sense, one ques- in would have created no cognitive dis- puzzling, he continued with, “You tion remains: why do we care? What sonance with Clark’s later marriage and see already from certain innate work- does it matter? On the one hand, it

28 We Proceeded On  August 2015 does not really matter. The fact that Notes 12. Clark to Lewis, July 24, 1803, LLCE, Lewis and Clark may or may not have 112. 1. David Freeman Hawke, Those Tremendous had sex does not make them any less Mountains: The Story of the Lewis and Clark 13. Meriwether Lewis, July 3, 1806, in Gary “manly” or “heroic.” It does not make Expedition (New York: Norton, 1980), 250. E. Moulton, ed., The Journals of the Lewis them “proto-gay” in any sense. While and Clark Expedition, 13 vols. (Lincoln: 2. Clay Jenkinson, The Character of Meri- University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001), some scholars believe that looking for wether Lewis: Explorer in the Wilderness 8:83. Hereafter cited as JLCE. examples of same-sex expression in (Washburn, ND: Dakota Institute Press, 2009), 339. 14. Landon Y. Jones, William Clark and the past helps to establish a history the Shaping of the West (New York: Hill and that validates the existence and iden- 3. For further analysis on the travel narra- Wang, 2004), 171; The Thomas Jefferson tity of homosexual people today, I tive genre and performance in the jour- Hour, Show 966, “Lewis Book Part 1,” air- think that tracing a “homosexual” past nals, see Thomas Slaughter, Exploring date April 8, 2012. While people in early Lewis and Clark: Reflections on Men and America frequently named babies after polit- prior to the 1890s, when the concept Wilderness (New York: Knopf, 2003), and originates, is meaningless. There have ical leaders (such as George Washington), I Peter Kastor and Conevery Bolton Valen- would argue that this situation—in which always been people who have engaged cius, “Sacagawea’s ‘Cold:’ Pregnancy and Clark named his child not after a leader but in sex with people of the same gender. the Written Record of the Lewis and Clark after his best friend—is somewhat different. There is evidence for this in erotica Expedition,” Bulletin of the History of Medi- cine 82.2 (2008), 288-89. 15. For more information on such relation- stretching back to the ancient world, ships and their erotic potential, particularly among other places. Whether Lewis 4. Kathy Peiss, editor, Major Problems in in early America, see Godbeer, The Overflow- and Clark had sex or not does not add the History of American Sexuality (Boston: ing of Friendship and Rachel Hope Cleves, Houghton Mifflin, 2002), 337. anything meaningful to this knowl- Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America (New York: Oxford University edge. On the other hand, a debate over 5. See, for example, Mary Beth Norton, Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Press, 2014). the sexual lives of Lewis and Clark is Power and the Forming of American Society 16. For more information about male-­ meaningful because it reminds us that, (New York: Knopf, 2006) and Rhys Isaac, female sexual behavior in early America, see as L.P. Hartley once quipped, “the past Landon Carter’s Uneasy Kingdom: Revolution Richard Godbeer, The Sexual Revolution in is a foreign country; they do things dif- and Rebellion on a Virginia Plantation (New Early America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins ferently there.”21 Everything has a his- York: Oxford University Press, 2004). University Press, 2002) and Clare Lyons, tory, and it is important to remem- 6. Richard Godbeer, “‘The Cry of Sodom:’ Sex Among the Rabble: An Intimate History of ber that social constructs that we take Discourse, Intercourse, and Desire in Colo- Gender and Power in the Age of Revolution, nial New England,” William and Mary Philadelphia, 1730-1830 (Chapel Hill: Uni- for granted have not always been in Quarterly 52.2 (April 1995), 275-76. versity of North Carolina Press for the Omo- place. Remembering where they came 7. William Benemann, “My Friend and hundro Institute of Early American History from helps us better understand how Companion: The Intimate Journey of Lewis of Culture, 2006). An example of a discus- our society is ordered today, and helps and Clark, We Proceeded On 41:1 (February sion of sodomy in homosocial environments us to better understand the world in 2015): 8. can be found in Marcus Rediker, Villains of which Lewis and Clark lived, which in All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age 8. E. Anthony Rotundo, American Man- (Boston: Beacon Press, 2004), 74. turn enriches our understanding of the hood: Transformations in Masculinity from Corps of Discovery. the Revolution to the Modern Era (New York: 17. Meriwether Lewis, March 19, 1806, Basic Books, 1993), 84. JLCE, 6:436. Alicia DeMaio is a graduate student 9. “‘The Friend of My Bosom’: A Philadel- 18. Meriwether Lewis to Mahlon Dickerson, November 3, 1807, LLCE, 720. in the department of history at Har- phia Love Story,” in Richard Godbeer, The vard University. She has previously pub- Overflowing of Friendship: Love Between Men 19. John Gilbert McCurdy, Citizen Bache- and the Creation of the American Republic lors: Manhood and the Creation of the United lished “The Lewis and Clark Expedition (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, States (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, and the Partisan Debate over Western 2009). 2009), 9. Expansion” in the February 2013 issue 10. Lewis to Clark, June 19, 1803, Donald 20. Meriwether Lewis to Mahlon Dickerson, of We Proceeded On. She graduated in Jackson, ed., Letters of the Lewis and Clark November 3, 1807, LLCE, 720. Expedition (Urbana,: University of Illinois 2013 from the University of Pennsylva- 21. L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between (1953, Press, 1978), 60. Hereafter cited as LLCE nia with honors in history, having com- reprinted New York: The New York Review pleted the thesis, “‘All the Success Which 11. Clark to Lewis, July 18, 1803, LLCE, of Books, 2002), 17. Could Be Expected:’ Contemporary 110. Responses to the Lewis and Clark Expe- dition, 1803-1817.”

August 2015  We Proceeded On 29 Reviews

The main title derives from a quote Colter already accompanied Meri- by Washington Irving, author of Asto- wether Lewis’s keelboat party when ria (1836) and The Adventures of Cap- they arrived at Louisville cannot be tain Bonneville (1837). These books substantiated. were based on contemporary fur hunt- • Colter’s initial exploration of ers’ accounts, documents, and inter- the Yellowstone Park area likely views largely arranged for Irving by fur occurred in fall 1806 and/or spring trade magnate John Jacob Astor, and 1807, while a solitary free trapper. by Captain Bonneville as well. These This was months before he attached widely popular books first presented himself to Manuel Lisa’s fur trading the Far West’s fur-trade story and venture to the Yellowstone River in some of John Colter’s adventures to a the summer of 1807. Thus, Col- broad American and European audi- ter’s Yellowstone Park exploration ence. Irving’s “gloomy terrors, its hid- occurred earlier than assumed by den fires” in describing “Colter’s Hell” nearly all previous researchers and near today’s Cody, Wyoming, are just authors (who concluded that Lisa Ronald M. Anglin and Larry E. Morris,­ two of the notable quotes Irving left sent him there in late 1807). On Gloomy Terrors and Hidden Fires: The to later generations, including among this excursion, it appears that Col- Mystery of John Colter and Yellowstone others, “spirit of the west,” and “fear- ter never saw the Teton Valley, Jack- (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & less class of men.” son Hole, or Jackson Lake. Rather, Littlefield, October 2014). 243 pp., Anglin and Morris’ revelations he traversed the Wind River area chronology, documents history, maps, and conclusions are many and often and the Two Ocean Plateau of the illus., notes, biblio., index. $35.00, ground breaking. Here are some of southeast Yellowstone Park locality. hardcover; $34.95, ebook. the most prominent and thought He definitely visited the park’s Yel- provoking: lowstone Lake (“Lake Eustis”) and Long-term, indefatigable research • Colter’s birth date, parents’ names, Lamar Valley. On the other hand, efforts by Ronald M. Anglin and Larry and early location of residence Colter’s “Lake Biddle,” which many E. Morris give us an incomparable tell- remain undetermined. This despite have assumed was Jackson Lake, ing of the John Colter story. By empha- decades-long efforts by capable almost certainly is the much smaller sizing “substantiated facts” about Yel- investigators, historians, and mod- Brooks Lake at the Wind River lowstone’s discoverer, Anglin and ern-day Colter descendants, who headwaters. His first exploration of Morris largely make obsolete a legion have tried to unveil these facts the Greater Yellowstone country (as of previous accounts by researchers in courthouse vaults, regional depicted on William Clark’s maps) and authors who had a propensity to archives, government documents, may have been in a counter-clock- introduce considerable conjecture in probate proceedings, land records, wise direction, rather than clock- the Colter story. Indeed, there are con- promissory notes, journals, let- wise as most previous researchers tradictions as well as large time gaps in ters, and reminiscences. There is no have assumed. the original sources, often months at a confirmation that Colter was born • Speculation that Colter utilized time, regarding Colter’s activities and and raised in Virginia, as many snowshoes, as stated by many whereabouts after leaving the Corps have stated, or that he served with authors and even appearing in art- of Discovery on August 17, 1806, and Simon Kenton’s rangers. When work, cannot be substantiated and his early death in 1812. This naturally Colter first walked into recorded is unlikely. The primary documents led previous investigators to introduce history by enlisting in the Lewis give no indication whatsoever that much speculation about the explor- and Clark Expedition on October Colter and his companions (Lewis er’s life in the Rockies, and finally as 15, 1803, all that is known for sure and Clark Expedition, 1803-06; a settler on the lower Missouri. Anglin is that he obviously was a capable Hancock and Dickson, 1806-07; and Morris, however, have largely and Kentucky frontiersman, and per- and the Lisa/Missouri Fur Co. men, admirably avoided this tendency in haps his young son, Hiram, had 1807-10) ever used them. their thoroughly investigated and rea- been born by this date (mother’s • In addition to his initial Yellow- soned conclusions. name unknown). The claim that stone Park exploration, Colter­

30 We Proceeded On  August 2015 probably trekked through the valuable main text, Anglin and Mor- Theodore Roosevelt and the partial northern part of the park at least ris include a concise Chronology (four financial support of J. P. Morgan, Cur- another five times, when traveling pages), and a unique and thorough tis produced a masterwork of twenty singly or guiding pelt-hunting com- Documents History (sixteen pages), of large volumes, The North American panions between Manuel Lisa’s post Colter’s life. Indian (1907-1930).1 at the Yellowstone/Big Horn junc- Glen W. Lindeman Egan’s book is a lively, engaging tion and the fur hunters’ goal, the Retired Editor-in-Chief, WSU Press account of Curtis’s life and work. The Three Forks of the Missouri. From reader comes to understand how a east to west, this route crossed safer person can become obsessed with an Crow Indian country in the upper idea, and how he or she can pursue it Clarks Fork area, passed through to the detriment of his family (Curtis’s Yellowstone Park’s Lamar Valley wife divorced him) and financial well and near Mammoth Hot Springs, being (Curtis never made a cent from and crossed over the Gallatin Range his work, and died in poverty). But toward Three Forks. It avoided Egan makes clear how Curtis created the more dangerous Bozeman Pass a remarkable record of the Indians of area, located 50-miles to the north the West, living mostly as they had for and frequented by hostile Black- ages, before dramatic change dissolved feet raiders. Following his famous the old ways. “Race for Life” from the Blackfeet Egan is a highly skilled writer; at Three Forks in 1808, it appears he won a National Book Award for Colter escaped via this practicable his 2006 The Worst Hard Time: The northern Yellowstone Park route to Untold Story of Those Who Survived Lisa’s fort on the Great Plains. Timothy Egan, Short Nights of the the Great American Dust Bowl and the • Colter’s death occurred on May 7, Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and 2013 Chautauqua Prize and the 2013 1812, and not in 1813 as many Immortal Photographs of Edward Cur- Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excel- have previously stated. tis (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton lence in Nonfiction, forShort Nights Anglin and Morris, of course, do Mifflin Harcourt, 2012). 370 pp., illus., of the Shadow Catcher. This book will confirm a number of substantiated sources, index. $28.00, hardcover. be of great interest to those who know conclusions made by reliable previ- the ethnographic work completed one ous researchers. For example: Colter’s The Indians he photographed called hundred years earlier by Lewis and reports (and George Drouillard’s, too) him “Shadow Catcher.” We remem- Clark. One cannot read this thought- of the existence of Colter’s Hell and ber him mostly for his iconic, haunt- ful biography without admiring what the Stinking Water River (Shoshone ing images of Native Americans liv- Curtis achieved by extremely hard River) were not ridiculed by their fur ing a century ago, photos of a people work and single-minded purpose. His trade contemporaries. Early on, in fact, then believed to be turning to shad- contributions to the understanding the fur hunters became quite familiar ows themselves. But Edward Sheriff and acceptance of the First People of with Colter’s Hell. Also, its locality was Curtis (1868-1952) was much more North America during first half of the never confused with Yellowstone Park’s than photographer of American Indi- twentieth century were immense. thermal features, located sixty miles ans: he lived with them, gained their Bob Gatten and more to the west of Cody, Wyo- trust, viewed and participated in their Past President LCTHF (1994-1996) ming. Also, Anglin and Morris con- sacred ceremonies, and recorded their firm that the “Colter Stone,” found in ways of life. the Teton Valley in 1931, almost cer- Curtis spent thirty years almost 1. Full title: The North American Indian: tainly is a hoax. solely devoted to his obsessive drive being a series of volumes picturing and describ- The authors are highly commended to create a representation, in photo- ing the Indians of the United States, and for bringing the greatest amount of graphs and words, of people who “still Alaska / written, illustrated, and published by Edward S. Curtis; edited by Frederick Webb clarity as possible to the Colter story, retained to a considerable degree their Hodge; foreword by Theodore Roosevelt; field for which a number of mysteries will primitive customs and traditions” research conducted under the patronage of J. always remain. In addition to their (Curtis’s words). With the backing of Pierpont Morgan.

August 2015  We Proceeded On 31 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI PRESS 113 HEINKEL BUILDING u 201 SOUTH 7TH STREET u COLUMBIA, MISSOURI u 65211

“Imaginative historical detection and good writing will make this a widely read and much discussed book. Trogdon’s surprising discoveries point to Clark’s ap- parent involvement in a tangled web of conspiracy involving a foreign power. This thought-provoking book illustrates the potential rewards of curiosity and painstaking research in out-of-the-way places.”—William E. Foley, author of Wilderness Journey: The Life of William Clark

In this vivid history, Jo Ann Trogdon reveals William Clark’s highly questionable activities during the years before his famous journey west of the Mississippi. Delving into the details of Clark’s diary and ledger entries, Trogdon investigates evidence linking Clark to a series of plots—often called the Spanish Conspira- cy—in which corrupt officials sought to line their pockets with Spanish money and to separate Kentucky from the United States. The Unknown Travels and Dubious Pursuits of William Clark gives readers a more complex portrait of the American icon than has been previously written.

Attorney Jo Ann Trogdon lives in Columbia, Missouri, the same city where the 1798-1801 journal of William Clark has been housed, virtually overlooked, in the State Historical Society of Missouri since 1928. She was led to the journal by her research in Spanish archives for her book, St. Charles Borromeo: 200 Years of Faith. Her articles on history have appeared in publications including Arizona Highways and We Proceed On, a publication of the Lewis and Clark Trail 978-0-8262-7350-5 Price: $36.95 – Sale price: $30 Heritage Foundation.

USE PROMOTIONAL CODE PHONE ORDERS: 800.621.2736 LCHF15 AT CHECKOUT UPRESS.MISSOURI.EDU

978-0-8262-1766-0 978-0-8262-1663-2 978-0-8262-1415-7 978-0-8262-1473-7 Price: $45.00 • Sale price: $36 Price: $24.95 • Sale price: $20 Price: $19.95 • Sale price: $16 Price: $70.00 • Sale price: $56

32 We Proceeded On  August 2015 The Natchez Trace and Andrew Jackson, 1815

pants two hundred years to the day after the general’s oration on the site. Local historian and raconteur Smokye Joe Frank guided participants on a bus ride along historic trails, retelling old tales as they wended their way through the woods toward downtown Natchez. There the group toured the Texada House (c.1792), the oldest extant brick house in Natchez. The group waited out a rain shower in the King’s Tavern, the oldest structure in Natchez (1789). After this brief respite, the NTPA drummer and accompanying fifer kept time as the reenactors marched through the streets and assembled to hear General Jackson address the Natchez citizenry, including newspaper and TV camera- men, from a gazebo in Bluff Park. The

PHOTO BY LOU RITTEN LOU BY PHOTO group then dispersed, most heading into The reenactors in front of Meadvilla Plantation. Bowie’s Tavern across the street. Once a cotton warehouse, the tavern boasts that The ancient pathway known as the On the first day, NTPA members vis- its relocated mahogany bar, dating from ­Natchez Trace runs between today’s Nat- ited Meadvilla Plantation House, called around 1880 and signed by Kit Car- chez, Mississippi, and Nashville, Tennes- Washington Tavern in 1815. Here Jack- son, was once “the largest bar west of the see. In 1809 Meriwether Lewis died at son and his men held a victory party on Mississippi.” Grinder’s Stand on the Trace while trav- their way home. The current owners The next morning, in the West Wing eling to the nation’s capital. Originally a invited the NTPA to hold a picnic on the Parlor of Jefferson College, Chickasaw Native American path connecting indig- lawn and tour the interior. Grant Hardin, Elder Robert Perry talked about his tribe enous settlements in the area, by the portraying Jackson, spoke to the partici- and the role his ancestors played at the early nineteenth century it was increas- college. Event organizer and LCTHF ingly used by Euro-Americans, and saw member Tony Turnbow introduced sev- improvements sponsored, in part, by the eral speakers who addressed the theme, new United States government. During “The Role of Adams and Jefferson Coun- the War of 1812 it was used by troops ties in the Celebration of the American under General Andrew Jackson. Spirit.” The closing event took place in In April 2015 the Natchez Trace Park- the West Wing Dining Hall of Jefferson way Association (NTPA) sponsored a College. General Jackson and his wife reenactment of Jackson’s return via the Rachel, portrayed by LCTHF member Natchez Trace to his home in Tennessee Jeanne Anderson, arrived by carriage and after his decisive victory at the Battle of invited those in attendance to join in the New Orleans on January 8, 1815. Grand Ball. Men and women in period Historic Jefferson College in Wash- dress danced by candlelight to music ington, Mississippi, the territorial capital performed by the Booneslick Strings. located a few miles up the Trace from its Martin Aubuchon called the dances terminus in Natchez, served as home base and assisted participants in keeping the for a living history encampment. Led by proper steps. Exhausting but exhilarat- Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Founda- ing, the dancing proved a fitting conclu- tion (LCTHF) member Bryant Boswell, sion to the NTPA’s whirlwind Natchez some twenty-four costumed reenactors Trace commemorative activities.

encamped for three nights, interacting RITTEN LOU BY PHOTO with school groups and visitors. Chickasaw Elder Robert Perry. Lou Ritten Lewis and Clark Trail NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE Heritage Foundation, Inc. PAID PO Box 3434 PULLMAN, WA Great Falls, MT 59403 PERMIT NO. 1

“This book offers an original perspective on two of the best-known, least-understood women in American history.” Landon Y. Jones Pocahontas and Sacagawea author of William Clark and the Shaping of the West Interwoven Legacies in American History Pocahontas and Sacagawea Author Cyndi Berck offers a 21st century interpretation of the exploration and settlement of America.

Pocahontas and Sacagawea • Interwoven Legacies in American History A Non-Fiction Narrative ISBN: 978-0-9909592-5-0 (Paperback) Size: 6"x9"/Pages: 282 Images/Maps: 24 (Black and White) Published by Commonwealth Books of Virginia (CBOV) Distributed nationally by Casemate Distribution Services Available at selected bookstores, online, and from CBOV at www.commonwealthbooks.org Cyndi Spindell Berck Retail Price: $19.95