· Oseph & Merry Weather's adventure --- Gass descendant's grave discovered Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation I www.lewisandclark.org May 2011 Volume 37, No. 2 THE L&C EXPEDITION'S ''MACKENZIE CONNECTION'' - RA01sSON AND GROSSEILLJERs · (1905), av FREDERICK REMINGTON T HE C ORPS OF DISCOVERY AND THE A RTICLES OF WAR FuRTWANGLER ON J ouRNAL C OPYING AT T RAVELER'S R EST Contents Letters: Gass grandson's grave found 2 President's Message: Busy winter, promising spring 4 Trail Notes: Simple questions, complicated answers 5 Voyages from Montreal 6 How Alexander Mackenzie's 1793 trans-Canada crossing influenced the Lewis and Clark Expedition By H. Cad Camp Journal Copying at Travelers· Rest 14 Comparing the journals of Gass, Ordway, and Whitehouse with those of Lewis and Clark reveals many similarities-and some important differences By Alburt Furtwangler Mackenzie, p. 7 Lewis & Clark and the Articles of War 21 Out of necessity, the captains developed their own harsh but effective system of military justice By William M. Gadin Kids' Corner 28 Oseph of the Corps of Discovery By Betty Bauer ' L&CRoundup 31 N.D. interpretive center; Undaunted Angl~i;s _ :. "\ < Profile . 32 Isaiah Lukens: Mechanical Genius By Michael Carrick Ordway, p. 15 On the cover This majestic painting by Frederick Remington depicts the French explorers Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636-1710) and his brother-in-law Medard des Grosseilliers {1618-1696) plying wilderness waters1n a canot du maitre ("master's canoe"), the workhorse of the Canadian fur trade. In J. 793, more than a century after Radisson and Grosseilliers and 10 years before Lewis and Clark, the Scottish explorer and fur trader Alexander Mackenzie made use of a canot du maitre in his crossing of the continent. Lewis's design of his iron-framed boat may well have been influenced by Mackenzie's description of a canot du maitre in the intrepid Scotsman's account of his crossing, Voyages from Montreal, a book read by both Meriwether Lewis and Thomas Jefferson read. For more on Mackenzie's influence on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, see H. Carl Camp's article beginning on page 6. Remington's Radisson and Grosseilliers is reprinted courtesy the Buffalo Bill Historical Center I Whitney Gallery of Art, Cody, Wyoming; gift of Mrs. Karl Frank. Flogging, p. 23 Letters Gass grandson's grave found May 2011 •Volume 37, Number 2 We Proceeded On is the official publication Readers of WPO may be interested in Gass. George's father was Benjamin 0£ the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage the following about a descendant of Brierley, born in England in 1805, and Foundation, Inc. Its name derives from Sergeant Patrick Gass, the longest his mother was Mary Dowling. a phrase that appears repeatedly in the surviving member of the Lewis and Clark Rachel Maria Gass, born March 30, collective journals of the expedition. © 2011 Expedition. 1848, in Pierce's Run, West Virginia, was E. G. Chuinard, M.D., Founder In a lonely, forgotten gravesite in the youngest child of Sergeant Patrick ISSN 02275-6706 the unendowed section of Greenwood McLain Gass, born June 12, 1771. Gass Cemetery in Spokane, Washington, lie died in 1870, in his 99th year. A bachelor I nterim Editor the remains of Gass's grandson Benjamin most of his life, at 58 he married the much J. LMerritt Patrick Brierley. I learned this several younger Maria Hamilton. They had three [email protected] years ago from my friends David and sons and three daughters. Volunteer Proofreaders Judy Peelgren. They discovered Brierley's Patrick and Maria's younger daughter, H. Carl Camp• Jerry Garrett grave by accident. The flat gravestone was Rachel Maria, married George Joshua covered with brush and vegetation, and Brierley on August 4, 1873, in Washington Printed by Advan ced Litho when they cleared the debris they were County, Pennsylvania. They had four Great Falls, Mont. surprised to read this inscription: children: Sarah Ann ("Sally"), Benjamin EDITORIAL ADVISORYB OARD Patrick, Rachel, and Robert Hamilton Benjamin Patrick Brierley ("Burt" or perhaps "Bert"), all born in James J. Holmberg, chairman 1877-1935 Brooke County. Louisville, Ken. Grandson ofSerg't Gass The 1880 U.S. census listed George Dr. H. Carl Camp Dr. Jay Buckley of L&C. Expedition Brierley, age 32, as a farmer in Cross Omaha, Neb. Provo, Utah Creek, Brooke County, West Virginia. Barb Kubik Robert C. Carriker After doing some research, I found His son Benjamin, the subject of my Vancouver, Wash. Spokane, Wash. more about Brierley: investigation, married Margaret Green Dr. Robert Moore, Jr. Glen Lindeman His gravesite is located at Lawn 26, lot on August 7, 1905, in Galesburg, Illinois. St. L ouis, Mo. Pullman, Wash. 18, Space 17. He died on January 4, 1935, At some point he moved to Des Moines, David Nicandri just shy of his 58th birthday, and was Iowa. He registered for the draft on Tacoma, Wash. buried on January 11. Records found in September 12, 1918, at age 41. (The U.S. the Smith Funeral Home say he died of had entered World War I the previous Membership Information acute alcoholism, although information I year.) On the draft form he listed his discovered later call this into question. occupation as "traveling salesman for Membership in the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Jnc. is open to the The death certificate, found at the the Chicago Copy Company." He was public. Information and applications are Spokane County Courthouse, confirms 5 '4 ", 150 pounds, had blue eyes, and available by writing Membership Coordinator, that he died at the Pennington Hotel, was "gray bald." He listed his mother, Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, where he'd lived since the previous P.O. Box 3434, Great Falls, MT 59403. December 22. T. E. Barnhart, the county We Proceeded On, the quarterly magazine coroner, stated that Benjamin died at of the Foundation, is mailed to current 11 p.m. His death certificate also states members in February, May, Au gust, and that Benjamin was born on February 3, November. Articles appearing in t his journal 1877, in Wellsburg, West Virginia, and are abstracted and indexed in HISTORICAL that his age at the time of death was 57 ABSTRACTS and AMERICA: HISTORYANO LIFE. years, 11 months, and 1 day. His father, Annual Membership Categories: George Brierley, was born in Wilmington, Student: $30 Delaware, and his mother, Rachel Gass, Benjamin Patrick Brierley's headstone Individual: $49 was born in Wellsburg, West Virginia. Individual 3-Year: $133 Benjamin was "male, white and single," Rachel Brierley of Avella, Pennsylvania, Family/International: $65 according to coroner's witness W. B. as next-of-kin. Trail Partner: $200 Using the Internet, Donna located Heritage Club: $100 Thurtell, who lived at the American Explorer Club: $150 Hotel. Eugene Gass Painter, a great-grnndson of Jefferson Club: $250 Pursuing the story further, I got in Patrick Gass and a nephew of Benjamin's, Discovery Club: $500 touch with genealogist Donna Potter, living in Washington, Pennsylvania. From Lifetime: $995, $2,500 and $5,000 who uncovered more information. him she learned that Benjamin and his The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc. From Donna I learned that Benjamin brother Robert were traveling salesmen is a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation. Individual Brierley was the second child and for a photo company based in Chicago. membership dues are not tax deductible. The portion first son of George Joshua Brierley For years they would leave the family of premium dues over $40 is tax deductible. and his wife, born Rachel Maria home in Independence, Ohio, about the 2 ~ We Proceeded On May 2011 Advertise your first of the year and head for Chicago, • the company headquarters. As Painter L&C products recalled, "Then they would travel all over the United States selling photograph restoration, copies of photographs, and and services framing. In the early days they traveled by train, and then by car, and in 1932 in WPO! acquired a Model A Ford Convertible .. which I remembered riding in." He said that every year Benjamin and Robert AD RATES would come home to Independence to spend the holidays with their mother, Inside black & w hite: Rachel Maria, and the rest of the family. Full pg.: (7.25 X 9.25): $400 WE PROCEEDED ON When their mother became too frail (she 116 2/3 vert. (4.75 X 9.5 in.): $300 died in 1926) they would stay with the 1/2 horiz. (7.25 X 4.625 in.): $250 (Back issues, 1974 - current) family of their sister Rachel Brierley 1/ 3 vert. (2.25 X 9.5 in.): $150 All back issues of our quarterly Painter, Eugene Gass Painter's mother, historical journal are available. Some and her husband, Asa Painter. 1/ 3 sq. (4.75 X 4.625 in.): $150 1/ 6 vert. (2.25 X 4.625 in.): $75 of the older issues are copier Eugene Gass Painter added that his reproductions. Orders for a collection aunt Sally (Sarah Brierley) married John of all back issues receive a 30 percent Color: Buxton and that they had a son, Owen discount. Order your missing issues Buxton. Also, he recalled that his uncle Full pg., back cover: $600 to complete your set. Benjamin had been married, although he Full pg., inside cover: $500 Call 1-888-701-3434 ororder and his wife "weren't together very long" Double spread, inside: $800 online at [email protected]. and no one in the family remembered much about her. $5 copier reproductions He said that in early January 1935 the Address inquiries to: $10 originals family learned that Benjamin had been [email protected] $4 shipping & handling killed by a hit-and-run driver in Spokane.