Lewis & Clark Trivia

·Thinkers of the day thought huge volcanoes were in the middle of the continent, a mountain of salt (180*45 miles), Northwest passage, all water route to the Western Sea, all rivers had headwaters near each other, a plateau in the center of the continent, a range of shining mountains no bigger than the Appalachians and that there was a great river called Orugen (Oregon).

·People think the expedition only cost $2500. The real cost was $38,722.25

·When the expedition left St. Louis they knew three geographic points: St. Louis, Mandan Earth Lodges, and The mouth of the Columbia River.

·Only one man died, Sgt. Charles Floyd, most likely of a burst appendix for which at the time nothing could have been done.

·The men ate 9-12 pounds of meat a day per man while staying at Fort Mandan in order to stay warm.

·The most important thing about the winter that Lewis and Clark spent with the Mandan/Hidatsa was the information that they received about the geography ahead.

·The permanent expedition party was made up of 33 men, the interpreter, his wife and baby and one Newfoundland dog.

·A live Prairie Dog was sent back to President Jefferson.

·Lewis and Clark were the first to record a North Dakota winter at 20-30 below zero.

·In what is now North Dakota Lewis and Clark encountered and recorded 29 birds and 23 mammals.

·The expedition spent the most amount of time in what is now North Dakota.

·Sakakawea provided her native skills (i.e. Root gathering, making footwear and clothing, etc.), interpretation and pointed out landmarks that she knew (she did not guide). She was also a walking white flag no war party would take along a mother and child.

·On April 22, 1805, the expedition passes by where Williston is today. They name the now Little Missouri, the White Earth River. Of course the wind is blowing and the party had to stop.

·On April 26, 1805 Lewis reaches the confluence. On April 27,1805 Clark and the rest of the party reach “This long wished for spot” the confluence.

·Lewis and Clark are the first recorded whites to see the mouth of the Yellowstone. They say it would be a good place for a fort.

·Near present day Culbertson is where the expedition kills its first grizzly bear.

·In 1805 grizzly bears give the party much harassment around the great falls.

·Another problem around the great falls was the plentiful cactus due to overgrazing by buffalo.

·The Shoshone band that Lewis and Clark meet happen to be the same band that Sakakawea was taken from, Cameahwait was her brother.

·While the party is hungry they eat candles and horse and dog meat but never eat Seaman, Lewis’s Newfoundland.

·Lewis and Clark were the first white men that the Nez Perze see, but they already had trade goods that had been passed along the trading network.

·Women were an important part of the expedition. Watkuweis helped the expedition by convincing the Nez Perce not to kill the party. She does this because she had once been married to a kind white man who was working for the Hudson Bay Company.

·Nez Perce boys catch York while he is gathering water and try to rub off his color with rocks.

·One of the tomahawks that Lewis and Clark had made at Fort Mandan beat them to the West coast.

·Once on the West coast there came the problem of where to spend the winter. The Captains chose to let the entire expedition vote on the matter. This is often cited as a great Democratic achievement and the best of the expedition.

·Clark’s distance that he estimated from the mouth of the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean 3,736 miles.

·Of the 112 days spent at Fort Clatsop 106 of them had some form of moisture. The clothes rotted right of the expedition. The Lydia (an American brig) was near the mouth of the Columbia at the time Lewis and Clark were there. Neither knew of the other’s presence.

·Seaman was stolen twice.

·On the return trip Clark was supposed to wait at the confluence but had to move on due to mosquitoes.

·Near Lewis and Clark state park is where Pierre Cruzatte shot Lewis in the rear on the return trip.

·When Pomp was old enough he went and lived with Clark and was well educated. He spoke five languages and traveled to Germany.

·Meriwether Lewis committed suicide on October 11, 1809 at Grinder’s Stand.

·Patrick Gass outlived all of the expedition members. He died in 1870 at the age of 99. He saw the day when the continent was spanned by a train from coast to coast. He volunteered for service at the age of 89 but was turned down.

·Clark noted on the cover of his account book in 1825-28 that 16 of the 32 members of the expedition were dead.

·Jefferson thought that it would take 100 generations to fill up the Louisiana Purchase; Americans did it in 5.

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