In 1807, a year after Lewis and Clark returned from the shores of the Pacific, groups of trappers and hunters began to drift West to tap the rich stocks of beaver and to trade with the Native nations. Colorful and eccentric, bold and adventurous, mountain men such as John Colter, George Drouillard, Hugh Glass, Andrew Henry, and Kit Carson found individual freedom and financial reward in pursuit of pelts. Their knowledge of the country and its inhabitants served the first mapmakers, the army, and the streams of emigrants moving West in ever-greater numbers. The mountain men laid the foundations for their own displacement, as they led the nation on a westward course that ultimately spread the American lands from sea to sea.
The story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition has been told many times. But what became of the thirty-three members of the Corps of Discovery once the expedition was over?
The expedition ended in 1806, and the final member of the corps passed away in 1870. In the intervening decades, members of the corps witnessed the momentous events of the nation they helped to form--from the War of 1812 to the Civil War and the opening of the transcontinental railroad. Some of the expedition members went on to hold public office; two were charged with murder. Many of the explorers could not resist the call of the wild, and continued to adventure forth into America's western frontier.
Engagingly written and based on exhaustive research, The Fate of the Corps chronicles the lives of the fascinating men (and one woman) who opened the American West.
Following orders from President Thomas Jefferson, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out from their wintering camp in Illinois in 1804 to search for a river passage to the Pacific Ocean. In this riveting account, editor Gary E. Moulton blends the narrative highlights of the Lewis and Clark journals so that the voices of the enlisted men and of Native peoples are heard alongside the words of the captains. All their triumphs and terrors are here--the thrill of seeing the vast herds of bison on the plains; the tensions and admiration in the first meetings with Indian peoples; Lewis's rapture at the stunning beauty of the Great Falls; the fear the captains felt when a devastating illness befell their Shoshone interpreter, Sacagawea; the ordeal of crossing the Continental Divide; the kidnapping and rescuing of Lewis's dog, Seaman; miserable days of cold and hunger; and Clark's joy at seeing the Pacific. The cultural differences between the corps and Native Americans make for living drama that at times provokes laughter but more often is poignant and, at least once, tragic.
In 1803, Meriwether Lewis visited the U.S. Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry to obtain guns and hardware. He procured rifles, powder horns, pipe tomahawks, knives, and a collapsible iron-frame boat to supply his transcontinental expedition. This poster was printed to celebrate the 2003 commemoration of Lewis’ visit to Harpers Ferry. The approximate measurements of the poster is 14” x 20”.
In 1803, Meriwether Lewis visited the U.S. Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry to obtain guns and hardware. He procured rifles, powder horns, pipe tomahawks, knives, and a collapsible iron-frame boat to supply his transcontinental expedition. This poster was printed to celebrate the 2003 commemoration of Lewis’ visit to Harpers Ferry. Poster measures 16"x20". Includes a list of the inventory pictured such as tools for repairing the arms, fish gigs, etc.
From 1804-1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark conducted one of the best managed, most successful explorations in history. With President Thomas Jefferson’s instructions to examine the recently bought Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery set out on a peaceful expedition that was unparalleled in the information it brought back to the rest of the United States.Emory Strong and Ruth Beacon Strong have used excerpts from the Reuben Thwaites edition of the Lewis and Clark journals that focus on the native population the Corps of Discovery came in contact with in their journey from the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean. To quote from the Strong’s preface, “the project originated with our interest in learning about the archaeological resources of the Columbia River, for which the journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition are exceedingly useful. The accurate and detailed descriptions of places we know, and the explorers’ marvelous powers of observation under difficult circumstances so impressed us that we found ourselves following the route, taking notes and pictures.” Following their journey from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean, the Strongs supplied this book with over 200 photographs, many of them sites that have been since consumed by geological, riverine or human forces. Paperback 383 pages.