by KRISTEN LOKEMOEN
When
Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1803-04 in the St.
Louis area, there was no gleaming silver Arch marking the
city as the "Gateway to the West." However, while the
little town on the bluff had just over a thousand
inhabitants at the time, it was already playing that role.
St. Louis' location at the confluence of the Mississippi
and Missouri Rivers made it the natural "jumping off" point
for anyone headed into the western frontier. Prior to the
Lewis and Clark Expedition, virtually everyone going west
was a fur trapper or a trader. Boats would depart with
trade goods and return to St. Louis loaded down with furs
for the European market.
But things were about to change. In the spring of 1804 the
Louisiana territory would become American land and would-be
settlers were chomping at the bit to move into Missouri.
The outfitters in St. Louis welcomed a steady stream of
customers. One of them was Meriwether Lewis.
The Captain spent most of the winter in St. Louis, residing
at the home of Auguste Chouteau. It was Auguste who in
1864, at the tender age of 14, had laid out the original
grid for St. Louis on a site chosen by his stepfather,
Pierre Laclede. By 1803 Auguste and his brother, Pierre,
were among the leading citizens and merchants of the town.
Lewis had left the east with supplies for 15 men. However,
the Corps of Discovery had grown much larger. Obviously,
that blank check Lewis had been given by Congress would be
needed. The Choteau brothers and a competing entrepreneur,
Manuel Lisa, provided the expedition with trade goods, gun
powder and bullets, barrels of salt, boxes of candles,
knives, blankets and many other items.
However, Lewis was in need of more than just merchandise
and the Choteaus were able to assist in other ways as well.
They provided information on the tribes of Native Americans
the expedition would encounter along the lower Missouri,
tribes such as the Osage. They also gave Lewis cuttings
from an Osage orange tree which he sent on to Jefferson.
Trees from these slips still grow in Philadelphia and on
the campus of the University of Virginia.
While Lewis spent most of his time with the gentry in St.
Louis, William Clark and the rest of the men were at Camp
Wood on the Illinois side of the river making their own
preparations for the journey. Clark, concerned about the
tribes they would meet, modified the keelboat so that it
would be both easier to defend and to maneuver.
On March 9, 1804 at Government House in St. Louis, the
Spanish flag was taken down and replaced by the Tricolor of
the French. As most of the city's residents were of that
nationality, emotions ran high, and they requested that the
American representative, Capt. Amos Stoddard, allow the
French flag to fly over the city for one day. This was
done.
The French Tricolor was lowered on March 10 and the stars
and stripes of the American flag were raised. Both Lewis
and Clark were in attendance for the ceremony marking the
transfer of the Louisiana Territory to the United States.
When Clark returned to camp a few days later, he found that
the disciplinary situation had worsened. Both John Shields
and John Colter had threatened to shoot Ordway for issuing
orders to them. The Captains held a trial late in March,
charging the two young men with mutiny. Shields and Colter
asked for forgiveness, promised to do better and were made
part of the permanent party. Both would become valuable
members of it.
As the dogwood started to bloom, the time for departure
drew closer. Lewis and Clark set up three squads, with
cousins Charles Floyd and Nathaniel Pryor joining Ordway as
sergeants. Corporal Richard Warfington was chosen to lead a
group of five men who would accompany the Corps to the
Mandan Villages, then return to St. Louis on the keelboat
in 1805.
The
permanent party, those who would travel all the way to the
Pacific, consisted of 25 enlisted men, Clark's slave York,
George Drouillard, Seaman (Lewis' dog) and, of course, the
two captains. However, only one of the men actually held
that rank during the expedition - Meriwether
Lewis.
Finally, at 4:00 in the afternoon of May 14, 1804, Clark
and the men set off in the three boats. They made four
miles that afternoon before camping on an island up the
Missouri River. The journey had finally begun.
Kristen
Lokemen is a staff writer and travel specialist for Show-Me
Missouri. She assisted in conducting several tours of the
Lewis and Clark Trail from Missouri to the Oregon
coast.