Please write a discussion post, no less than 25 words (and it does not need to be very lengthy) on an American explorer of your choice from the list on the pdf. Introduce yourself and write about why your expedition was important. Then, say which of the explorers listed was most important and why. Resources provided. Have any questions, please let me know. Thank you so much.
Discussion Question #1 Resources:
Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506)
Christopher Columbus
Known as ‘the man who discovered America’, Columbus was in fact trying to find a westward sea
passage to the Orient when he landed in the New World in 1492. This unintentional discovery
was to change the course of world history.
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa between August and October 1451. His father was a
weaver and small-time merchant. As a teenager, Christopher went to sea, travelled extensively
and eventually made Portugal his base. It was here that he initially attempted to gain royal
patronage for a westward voyage to the Orient – his ‘enterprise of the Indies’.
When this failed, and appeals to the French and English courts were also rejected, Columbus
found himself in Spain, still struggling to win backing for his project. Finally, King Ferdinand
and Queen Isabella agreed to sponsor the expedition, and on 3 August 1492, Columbus and his
fleet of three ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Niña, set sail across the Atlantic.
Ten weeks later, land was sighted. On 12 October, Columbus and a group of his men set foot on
an island in what later became known as the Bahamas. Believing that they had reached the
Indies, the newcomers dubbed the natives ‘Indians’. Initial encounters were friendly, but
indigenous populations all over the New World were soon to be devastated by their contact with
Europeans. Columbus landed on a number of other islands in the Caribbean, including Cuba and
Hispaniola, and returned to Spain in triumph. He was made ‘admiral of the Seven Seas’ and
viceroy of the Indies, and within a few months, set off on a second and larger voyage. More
territory was covered, but the Asian lands that Columbus was aiming for remained elusive.
Indeed, others began to dispute whether this was in fact the Orient or a completely ‘new’ world.
Columbus made two further voyages to the newfound territories, but suffered defeat and
humiliation along the way. A great navigator, Columbus was less successful as an administrator
and was accused of mismanagement. He died on 20 May 1506 a wealthy but disappointed man.
The Life of Christopher Columbus
Introduction
We know that In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But what did he actually discover?
Christopher Columbus (also known as (Cristoforo Colombo [Italian]; Cristóbal Colón [Spanish])
was an Italian explorer credited with the “discovery” of the America’s. The purpose for his
voyages was to find a passage to Asia by sailing west. Never actually accomplishing this
mission, his explorations mostly included the Caribbean and parts of Central and South America,
all of which were already inhabited by Native groups.
Biography
Early Life
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, part of present-day Italy, in 1451. His parents’ names
were Dominico Colombo and Susanna Fontanarossa. He had three brothers: Bartholomew,
Giovanni, and Giacomo; and a sister named Bianchinetta. Christopher became an apprentice in
his father’s wool weaving business, but he also studied mapmaking and sailing as well. He
eventually left his father’s business to join the Genoese fleet and sail on the Mediterranean Sea.1
After one of his ships wrecked off the coast of Portugal, he decided to remain there with his
younger brother Bartholomew where he worked as a cartographer (mapmaker) and bookseller.
Here, he married Doña Felipa Perestrello e Moniz and had two sons Diego and Fernando.
Christopher Columbus owned a copy of Marco Polo’s famous book, and it gave him a love for
exploration. In the mid 15th century, Portugal was desperately trying to find a faster trade route
to Asia. Exotic goods such as spices, ivory, silk, and gems were popular items of trade. However,
Europeans often had to travel through the Middle East to reach Asia. At this time, Muslim
nations imposed high taxes on European travels crossing through.2 This made it both difficult
and expensive to reach Asia. There were rumors from other sailors that Asia could be reached by
sailing west. Hearing this, Christopher Columbus decided to try and make this revolutionary
journey himself. First, he needed ships and supplies, which required money that he did not have.
He went to King John of Portugal who turned him down. He then went to the rulers of England,
and France. Each declined his request for funding. After seven years of trying, he was finally
sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.
Voyages
Principal Voyage
Columbus’ voyage departed in August of 1492 with 87 men sailing on three ships: the Niña, the
Pinta, and the Santa María. Columbus commanded the Santa María, while the Niña was led by
Vicente Yanez Pinzon and the Pinta by Martin Pinzon.3 This was the first of his four trips. He
headed west from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean. On October 12 land was sighted. He gave the
first island he landed on the name San Salvador, although the native population called it
Guanahani.4 Columbus believed that he was in Asia, but was actually in the Caribbean. He even
proposed that the island of Cuba was a part of China. Since he thought he was in the Indies, he
called the native people “Indians.” In several letters he wrote back to Spain, he described the
landscape and his encounters with the natives. He continued sailing throughout the Caribbean
and named many islands he encountered after his ship, king, and queen: La Isla de Santa María
de Concepción, Fernandina, and Isabella.
It is hard to determine specifically which islands Columbus visited on this voyage. His
descriptions of the native peoples, geography, and plant life do give us some clues though. One
place we do know he stopped was in present-day Haiti. He named the island Hispaniola.
Hispaniola today includes both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In January of 1493,
Columbus sailed back to Europe to report what he found. Due to rough seas, he was forced to
land in Portugal, an unfortunate event for Columbus. With relations between Spain and Portugal
strained during this time, Ferdinand and Isabella suspected that Columbus was taking valuable
information or maybe goods to Portugal, the country he had lived in for several years. Those who
stood against Columbus would later use this as an argument against him. Eventually, Columbus
was allowed to return to Spain bringing with him tobacco, turkey, and some new spices. He also
brought with him several natives of the islands, of whom Queen Isabella grew very fond.
Subsequent Voyages
Columbus took three other similar trips to this region. His second voyage in 1493 carried a large
fleet with the intention of conquering the native populations and establishing colonies. At one
point, the natives attacked and killed the settlers left at Fort Navidad. Over time the colonists
enslaved many of the natives, sending some to Europe and using many to mine gold for the
Spanish settlers in the Caribbean. The third trip was to explore more of the islands and mainland
South America further. Columbus was appointed the governor of Hispaniola, but the colonists,
upset with Columbus’ leadership appealed to the rulers of Spain, who sent a new governor:
Francisco de Bobadilla. Columbus was taken prisoner on board a ship and sent back to Spain.
On his fourth and final journey west in 1502 Columbus’s goal was to find the “Strait of
Malacca,” to try to find India. But a hurricane, then being denied entrance to Hispaniola, and
then another storm made this an unfortunate trip. His ship was so badly damaged that he and his
crew were stranded on Jamaica for two years until help from Hispaniola finally arrived. In 1504,
Columbus and his men were taken back to Spain.
Later Years and Death
Columbus reached Spain in November 1504. He was not in good health. He spent much of the
last of his life writing letters to obtain the percentage of wealth overdue to be paid to him, and
trying to re-attain his governorship status, but was continually denied both. Columbus died at
Valladolid on May 20, 1506, due to illness and old age. Even until death, he still firmly believing
that he had traveled to the eastern part of Asia.
Legacy
Columbus never made it to Asia, nor did he truly discover America. His “re-discovery,”
however, inspired a new era of exploration of the American continents by Europeans. Perhaps
his greatest contribution was that his voyages opened an exchange of goods between Europe and
the Americas both during and long after his journeys.5 Despite modern criticism of his treatment
of the native peoples there is no denying that his expeditions changed both Europe and America.
Columbus day was made a federal holiday in 1971. It is recognized on the second Monday of
October.
The Life of John Cabot
John Cabot was born around 1450, most likely in Genoa, Italy. His Father was Guilo Caboto, a
spice merchant. Cabot was known in his youth as Giovani Caboto. By 1471 Cabot moved to
Venice, where he became a member of the religious fraternity of St. John the Evangelist. He later
became engaged in trade. In 1484 he married a Venetian woman named Mattea. They had three
children.
Cabot moved from Venice in 1488, probably after getting into financial difficulties. He found his
way to Seville. There he tried to gain support for a voyage across the North Atlantic. When he
failed to get support he needed, Cabot moved to England in 1495. Cabot received some financial
backing from Italians living in England. That support translated into a commission from King
Henry VII to explore.
Cabot’s first voyage ended in failure. He ran in to bad weather and was forced to return to
England. His second voyage was more successful. He left England on the “Mathew”, a small
ship. Over the course of his second journey Cabot explored the Northern Coast of North
America– between Maine and New Foundland.
The exact locations of Cabot’s exploration remain in doubt. After exploring the area and landing
once, Cabot claimed the land for England. Then he returned to England. He returned to England
as a minor hero, receiving a modest prize from the King.
Two years later, in February 1498, the King commissioned him to explore once again. This time
Cabot left with a fleet of five ships in May 1498. One of the ships was forced to return to Ireland,
but the other four ships continued on their way. Nothing was ever heard from the fleet again. The
fate of Cabot and his shipmates remains one of the mysteries of history.
THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION
In 1795, Thomas Pinckney negotiated a treaty with Spain ensuring American use of the
Mississippi and the ‘Queen City’ of its delta, New Orleans. Then, on October 1, 1800, Spain
ceded the riches of the Louisiana Territory to France. Now President Jefferson and the United
States confronted across the wide face of the Mississippi not the declining power of Spain, but
the bristling might of the strongest realm in Europe under the brilliant warrior Napoleon.
Just when things seemed like they could only get worse, help came from a totally unexpected
quarter–Napoleon himself. Needing money to feed his hungry war machine, Napoleon agreed to
sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million.
After the pact was signed by American treaty negotiators James Monroe and Robert Livingston,
Livingston spoke for Jefferson when he proclaimed, ‘Today the United States takes their place
among the powers of the first rank’ in the world. Yet as Jefferson would find out, buying the
Louisiana Territory was one thing–claiming and occupying it would be another matter,
altogether.
With both the British in Canada and the Spanish in Texas and the Southwest already casting
covetous eyes toward Louisiana and inciting Indians to resist American attempts to penetrate the
region, there was only one way that Jefferson could assert national claims to the land: by force of
arms. To do this, he turned to the U.S. Army.
In 1804, the entire Army numbered approximately 3,300 officers and men. There were only two
regiments of infantry and hardly any cavalry, a crippling handicap in policing the wide plains of
Louisiana. There was only one regiment of artillery and just 17 engineer officers and cadets.
Nevertheless, it was to this tiny military establishment that Jefferson looked to stake America’s
claim to the Louisiana Territory for two critical reasons: The force was composed entirely of
volunteer professionals, and it included probably the largest trained body of engineers and
surveyors in the nation.
Against this military background, in May 1804, Meriwether Lewis, now Jefferson’s private
secretary and previously a captain in the 1st Infantry, and William Clark, now a second lieutenant
in the artillery, set out with an army expedition to assert American claims to Louisiana and, if
possible, to march to the Pacific Ocean, which Jefferson hoped would one day see the American
flag. Jefferson’s instructions dealt mainly with the geography and the Indians Lewis and Clark
would meet on the way–a primary objective was ‘to explore… the most direct and practicable
water communication across the continent, for the purpose of commerce.’ But Jefferson also
hoped to assert the United States’ ownership of Louisiana, by use of military force if necessary.
When Lewis and Clark marched out of St. Louis on their western advance, it was after a year’s
intensive preparation. Only 14 enlisted men out of hundreds of anxious volunteers were finally
selected for the grueling march ahead; another seven soldiers would accompany them at least
part of the way. Clark also brought his personal slave, York, who would serve so well along the
way that he would be given his freedom at journey’s end. The members of the expedition were
the product of a rigorous selection process and also were armed with the most sophisticated
weapon the United States had yet produced, the Model 1803 .54-caliber flintlock musket, just
issued to the Army. In mid-March 1803, Lewis had personally chosen 15 of these firearms for
the soldiers of the party while on a special visit to the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va.
Thus, as the journal of the trek recorded, ‘all the preparations being completed, we left our camp
on Monday, May 14, 1804,’ and a total of 45 people (including interpreters) headed off into the
unknown. With Lewis and Clark went Jefferson’s instructions concerning the military character
of their journey: ‘Your numbers will be sufficient to secure you against the unauthorized
opposition of individuals, or of small parties; but if a superior force, authorized or not authorized
by a nation, should be arrayed against your further passage, and inflexibly determined to arrest it,
you must decline its further pursuit and return.’
Jefferson had secured agreements from the ambassadors of England, France and Spain that their
countries would not try to interfere with the expedition, but he was not taking any chances. To
underscore Jefferson’s concern that other powers might try to interfere with the expedition’s
progress, the president admonished that they should ‘avail yourselves… to communicate to us, at
seasonable intervals, a copy of your journal, notes, and observations of every kind, putting into
cipher whatever might do injury if betrayed.’
Thus the self-styled ‘Corps of Discovery’ began its epic voyage of exploration, sailing up the
Missouri River in three boats–a keelboat and two flat-bottomed pirogues. The keelboat carried a
small-bore cannon and two large blunderbusses, while the pirogues each had a single
blunderbuss. Lewis himself did not join the Corps until May 21 at St. Charles, having been
detained by business at St. Louis.
Throughout the voyage upriver, strict military discipline was observed. On the keelboat, the
expedition’s main vessel, one sergeant kept watch in the bow, another in the center and a third in
the stern. Whenever they would stop onshore for provisions, sentinels would reconnoiter 150
yards around each stopping place. At night, the boats were closely guarded. There was cause for
such alertness: On June 1, they met Osage Indians, who boasted ‘between 1,200 and 1,300
warriors,’ but the Indians were peaceful.
At St. Charles the Corps had its first taste of the military discipline–harsh by modern
standards–that would ensure its survival in the months ahead. Three enlisted men were punished
because of excesses during their shore leave in the town, on the north side of the river. After a
court-martial aboard the keelboat, Pathfinder, Privates William Werner and Hugh Hall were
sentenced to ‘twenty-five lashes on their naked backs,’ while Private John Collins received 50
blows.
The discipline exacted at such a high price to the three soldiers would, nevertheless, prove its
worth. For unknown to Lewis and Clark, the Spanish had reneged on the promise of safe conduct
given to Jefferson by the Spanish ambassador, the Marques de Yrujo. As early as March, Yrujo
had warned of ‘the hasty and gigantic steps which our [American] neighbors are taking towards
the South Sea,’ the Pacific Ocean. He urged Don Nemesio Salcedo, the commandant-general of
the Internal Provinces of the Viceroyalty of New Spain [Mexico], to arrest ‘Captain Merry
(Meriwether Lewis) and his followers’ and to seize all ‘papers and instruments that may be
found on them.’ More than that, the grim Salcedo encouraged the fierce Comanches, now allied
to Spain, to attack Lewis and Clark. Fortunately, the Indians never found them.
As dark clouds of intrigue were settling over the Corps of Discovery, the hardy troops continued
their journey up the Missouri. Summer found them approaching the land of the Lakotas or Sioux,
even then acknowledged to be the warrior kings of the Great Plains. Before the expedition had
set out, Jefferson had written of the Lakotas, ‘On that nation we wish most particularly to make a
friendly impression because of their immense power.’
Just as the encounter with the Lakotas was about to take place, another incident occurred that
served to reinforce military discipline just as it would be needed the most. On August 4, a
trooper named Moses Reed deserted reportedly ‘under pretense of recovering a knife which he
had dropped a short distance behind!’ This was no time to allow control to grow slack.
Therefore, according to the journal of Patrick Gass, ‘Four of our people were dispatched to the
Oro nation of Indians [whom the men had just visited]’ to hunt for the deserter Reed.
Fortunately for Reed, he was apprehended without offering any resistance. Clark noted we ‘only
sentenced him to run the gauntlet four times through the party,’ after which Reed was expelled
from the Corps and put to work as a laborer on the pirogues.
At the end of a hot August, the meeting with Lakotas took place in modern-day Knox County,
Neb. The Lakotas had been invited to the council by Sergeant Nathaniel Pryor and Pierre Dorion,
a French Canadian interpreter who had lived for many years among them. On August 30, the
chiefs and their warriors arrived at 12 o’clock, under a large oak tree, near which flew the flag of
the United States.
After a speech by Lewis, the two commanders acknowledged the chiefs by giving the grand
chief, Weucha, or Shake Hand, a flag, a medal, a certificate and a string of wampum. To
emphasize the American military presence, they also bestowed on Weucha a richly laced uniform
of the US. artillery corps, with a cocked hat and red feather, to replace the military emblems of
officer rank that the British had previously given to such chieftains. The height of the ceremony
came when the leaders smoked the long-stemmed peace pipe, or calumet. So impressed were
Lewis and Clark that they christened the spot Calumet Bluffs.
The first meeting with the Lakotas had gone exceedingly well for the soldierexplorers. One
reason, recalled Private Joseph Whitehouse, was the fact that Lewis gave a demonstration of
their experimental air gun, which was fired by air stored under pressure in the gun’s butt.
Although the conference with the Lakotas had been a success, more meetings with Lakota
clans–and other tribes as well–would lie ahead of them. One month later, the Corps of Discovery
encountered a clan of Lakotas who had an unsavory reputation of menacing parties of traders.
Interpreter Pierre Dorion had been one such trader, so the soldiers knew what to expect. On
September 25, in the wilderness of what is now South Dakota, near the capital of Pierre, they met
Tortohonga, the chief known as the Partisan.
After the usual opening pleasantries, the partisans follower suddenly turned on the whites on the
banks of the Bad River. As the journal retold the incident, ‘They at last accompanied Captain
Clark on shore in a pirogue with five men; but it seems they had formed a design to stop us; for
no sooner had the party landed than three of the Indians seized the cable of the pirogue, and one
of the [warriors] of the chief put his arms around the mast. The second chief, who affected
intoxication, then said that we should not go on, that they had not received presents enough from
us. Captain Clark told them that we would not be prevented from going on; that we were not
squaws, but warriors; that we were sent by our great father, who could in a moment exterminate
them.’
The chief replied that he, too, had warriors, and proceeded to threaten personal violence to Clark,
who immediately drew his sword and made a signal to the boat to prepare for action. The
troopers, who had donned their military uniforms to overawe the Indians, found themselves in
the middle of danger. The Indians who surrounded Clark drew their arrows from their quivers
and were bending their bows when the swivel gun in the boat was pointed toward them, and 12
determined men jumped into the pirogue to join Clark.
The gaping, loaded mouth of the swivel gun and the resolute action of the men suddenly cooled
the Lakotas’ appetite for combat. Tortohonga hastily ordered the young men away from the
pirogue. The crisis had passed.
After the showdown on the banks of the Bad River, peace was made with the duly impressed
Lakotas, who regaled the men with a feast and a dance. The Corps then continued its epic
journey. By the time they reached the site of future Bismarck, N.D., the men had traversed 1,610
miles with only one fatality, Charles Floyd, dead of natural causes back in Iowa. Now, however,
the days of fall were getting shorter, and the first bite of winter was in the air. Accordingly, by
November, the expedition made plans to spend the season among the Mandan Indians along the
Missouri River.
For protection, in true military fashion, they constructed Fort Mandan. Each wall of the V-shaped
defensive work was 56 feet long and about 7 feet tall, with the opening of the ‘V’ barred by a
stout wall.
Through the frigid winter–at least 40 days between December and March the thermometer sank
to a bone-rattling zero–Fort Mandan stood as an impressive symbol of American power for the
Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara, as well as the Lakotas. The Mandans were also awed by the black
skin of York, Clark’s trusted slave. For the British-run North West Fur Company, the Americans’
presence signaled an end to its monopoly of the beaver trade and the debut of a new ruler. The
only contact with the hostile Lakotas came on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1805, when four
men were sent out to bring up meat that had been collected by hunters. More than 100 Lakotas
rushed them, cut the traces of the sleds, and made off with two of the horses while an Indian with
the soldiers gave them another. This horsestealing raid, more a test of Lakota courage than a
provocation to the Corps, was the only challenge the mighty tribe made against Fort Mandan and
its garrison.
When spring came and the ice on the Missouri melted, the Corps made preparations to continue
its journey. The group left the fort on April 7. Here came an historic parting of the ways for the
members of the expedition: Some would continue the voyage to the ocean, while others would
return downstream to St. Louis with the information they had gathered thus far.
Pennsylvania-born Gass noted this date in his diary, ‘Thirty-one men and a woman went upriver
and thirteen returned down it in the boat.’ The woman, who had joined the troops at Fort
Mandan, was Sacagawea, whose name from then on would be linked with Lewis and Clark.
Through country rich with wildlife, the party traveled onto the Yellowstone River, tributary to
the all-powerful Missouri. Herds of buffalo, elk and antelope, which had not yet learned to fear
the hand of man or his weapons, ‘were so gentle we pass near them without appearing to excite
any alarm, and when we attract their attention they approach more nearly to see what we are.’
Another trial soon faced the wearying advance scouts of the American empire. They reached the
Great Falls of the Missouri, where the men were forced to undergo the most grueling rite of
passage in all of Western sojourning: a portage. The troops and laborers had to carry all their
equipment, plus the boats, on their backs until the next navigable stretch of water was finally
attained. By June 23, some of the men were limping from sore feet; others were scarcely able to
stand for more than a few minutes from heat and fatigue.
River-borne again on July 15, the trekkers soon entered the extraordinary range of rocks called
the Gates of the Rocky Mountains, whose foothills, the Sawtooth Range in Montana, Lewis had
climbed on May 26. Sacagawea, who had been a Shoshone maiden of 10 when captured by a
raiding party of Hidatsa in 1800, knew she was returning to the hunting grounds of her people,
the Shoshones, ‘Lords of the Rocky Mountains.’
Pushing ahead with a forward party, Lewis crossed the Continental Divide by way of Lemhi Pass
into Idaho. On Sunday, August 11, 1805, he caught sight of the first Shoshone warrior, ‘armed
with a bow and a quiver of arrows, and mounted on an elegant horse without a saddle; a small
string attached to the under jaw answered as a bridle.’
Meeting the Shoshone, the expedition found itself in a tense situation, much as with the Lakotas.
The Shoshone chief, Cameahwait, told Lewis ‘that some foolish person had suggested that he
was in league’ with a hostile tribe ‘and had come only to draw them into an [ambush]; but that he
himself did not believe it.’
The tense impasse evaporated when, on August 17, Clark, in command of the rear detachment,
came up with Sacagawea. The Shoshone, Gass wrote, ‘were transported with joy’ at seeing that
Lewis had told the truth that all the Americans had come in peace, ‘and the chief, in the warmth
of his satisfaction, renewed his embrace to Captain Lewis, who was quite as much delighted as
the Indians themselves.’ Sacagawea embraced the chief, who was himself moved by the reunion,
for Sacagawea was his long-lost sister.
When the two American leaders sat down in council with Chief Cameahwait, they kindly but
firmly made known to the Shoshone their dependence on the will of the government for their
future comfort and defense. Cameahwait took this declaration of American sovereignty in good
spirits and declared his willingness to help the expedition. With the happy conclusion of the
pow-wow, Lewis and Clark set their sights on their ultimate goal–reaching the Pacific shores.
Throughout August and September, the explorers pressed on through some of the most
unforgiving terrain on the continent. They backtracked into Montana by way of the north fork of
the Salmon River, only to cross over back into Idaho by the Bitterroot Range. On September 16,
even the stoical Gass moaned that this trip was through ‘the most terrible mountains I ever
beheld.’ All Shoshones except Old Toby and his son left. The only bright spot in their
backbreaking nightmare came on the 4th of September, when they met some Flathead Indians,
who smoked the peace pipe with them at Ross’ Hole and provided some badly needed horses.
Throughout October, the Corps persevered through Idaho and into Washington, braving the wild
Snake and Clearwater rivers, whose rapids ranked among the fiercest white water in North
America. On October 8, Gass recorded: ‘In passing through a rapid, I had my canoe stove and
she sunk. Fortunately the water was not more than waist deep, so our lives and baggage were
saved, though the latter was wet.’ Two days later, the official journal declared of one cataract,
This was worse than any of them, being a very hazardous ripple strewed with rocks.’ Yet the
military discipline ingrained in them won the battle of the rivers without losing one life. On
October 9, however, Old Toby and his son fled, fearful of confronting any more rapids.
On October 16, they reached the Columbia River, which would be their riverine path to the
Pacific. On the 23rd, one of their Nez Perce guides told Lewis and Clark he had overheard that
the Indians below intended to attack as they went down the river. The ominous news had little
effect on the Corps of Discovery. ‘Being at all times ready for any attempt of that sort, we were
not under greater apprehensions than usual… we therefore only reexamined our arms, and
increased the ammunition.’ Any plan to assault the vigilant Lewis and Clark was promptly
abandoned.
With the concern over hostile Indian attack passed, the Corps concentrated on the final leg of the
journey to the Pacific. They ran through nine turbulent miles of the Dalles branch of the
Columbia, which had proved a similar trial for the North West Fur Company’s master explorer
David Thompson a generation before. Still another test of strength awaited them with coastal
Indians on their way to the Western sea. While smoking the peace pipe with the Skilloot Nation,
warriors’stole the pipe with which they were smoking, and the greatcoat of one of the men.’
Not wishing to be taken advantage of by the more numerous Indians, Lewis and Clark had the
Indians searched at gunpoint. Although the missing calumet was not found, the Skilloots learned
the white warriors were men to be reckoned with. Finally, three days later, the Corps reached the
object of their dreams–the broad waters of the Pacific. The journal recorded, ‘We enjoyed the
delightful prospect of the oceanthat ocean, the object of all our labors, the reward of all our
anxieties,’ at the tidal mouth of the great Columbia.
After spending nearly a month exploring the coastal plain and the Indians who dwelt along the
Pacific rim, the time came to plan once more for winter quarters, although the Northwestern
climate freed them from the snows of the cold season experienced at Fort Mandan. Called Fort
Clatsop, after the tribe with whom the Corps now lived, the outpost was designed to be a fitting
reminder of American power, even on the shores of the Pacific. The fortification would be a
square construction, measuring 50 feet to a side. Building the fort commenced on December 8. It
was completed in time to celebrate Christmas, which was saluted at daylight by a discharge of
firearms, followed by a song from the men.
The sighting of the Pacific and the claim to the coast that Fort Clatsop so strongly represented
marked the climax of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Now it was time for the Corps to begin
the long march home. On March 23, 1806, the journal noted, ‘The canoes were loaded, and at
one o’clock in the afternoon we took final leave of Fort Clatsop.’
On the return journey, Indians who had been friendly on the way out had become sullen, almost
hostile, perhaps due to action by agents of the British North West Fur Company.
Passing with rifles in hand through a gantlet of hostile tribes, the Corps reached the friendly
people they had encountered on the way out the year before, the Walla Wallas and Nez Perce.
(The Walla Wallas they would cherish as ‘the most hospitable, honest, and sincere people that
we… met with’ on their journeying.) In early May, Lewis and Clark again met Twisted Hair, a
Nez Perce chief who had been a guide on the western trek and who had guarded their horses
during the winter.
On June 15, the Corps ascended again the arching peaks of the Bitterroots. Bidding adieu to the
snow of the mountain passes, on June 29 the men bathed in Montana’s Lolo Hot Springs, so
steaming that Lewis could with difficulty remain in it for only 19 minutes. Then, near present
day Missoula, Mont., Lewis and Clark made the momentous decision to split their forces. Lewis
would explore to the north, gauging the chances of fur trapping into Canada, while Clark would
hew to the 1805 trail back East. On July 3, Lewis wrote, ‘I took leave of my worthy friend and
companion Captain Clark:’ Lewis then added, in a fearful afterthought, ‘I could not avoid feeling
much concern on this occasion although I hope this separation was only momentary.’
On July 26, reconnoitering north of the Missouri, Lewis’ detachment met for the first time the
Piegan clan of the Blackfoot Indians, a tribe that seemed to be fighting a feud with all the tribes
of the Plains. Lewis’ tribe would be no exception. For once-and almost fatally-Lewis let down
his guard. On the morning of July 27, Lewis’ men were still in bed when Piegans strode into
their camp. The practiced eyes of the Indian raiders noticed that both guns and horses were
unattended. Without warning, the Piegans struck.
Joseph Fields ‘turned about to look for his gun and saw [a Piegan] just running off with it. He
called to his brother [Reuben] who instantly jumped up and pursued… him, and Reuben Fields,
as he seized his gun, stabbed the Indian to the heart!’ George Drouillard wrestled his firearm
from the Blackfoot who had snatched it. Lewis himself quickly drew his big-mouthed .54-caliber
flintlock pistol on the thief who had his musket and ordered him to drop it. The Piegans fled,
with Lewis and his men capturing some of the Indians’ horses instead of the Blackfeet running
off all the Americans’ mounts.
After the skirmish with the Blackfeet, Lewis, lest he be outnumbered by the warlike people,
turned around to meet up again with Clark. Lewis made good time (covering as much as 83 miles
in one day) paddling downstream on the Missouri, and on August 7 he reached the mouth of the
Yellowstone. There the men found a note from Captain Clark, informing them of his intention of
waiting for them a few miles below. Finally, after Lewis survived being shot by Pierre Cruzatte
by accident while out hunting elk on the 11th, Lewis’ party rejoined Clark’s detachment on
August 12, 1806.
After reuniting on the Missouri, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, together once more, set out on
the final leg of the journey. On August 30 they became soldiers again when Clark, acting on
behalf of the recuperating Lewis, berated the unruly Lakotas for breaking the peace with the
Mandan tribe. After Clark returned from haranguing the Lakotas, all the men prepared their
weapons in case of an attack–an attack that never materialized.
The land now became familiar, almost homelike, to the Corps. They had a happy meeting with
the other Lakotas and passed again the sad site of the final resting place of Sergeant Floyd.
Sailing by St. Charles, the Corps descended the Mississippi to St. Louis, where it arrived at noon
on September 23, 1806, and received a hearty welcome from the whole town. The long march of
Lewis and Clark was over.
JED SMITH: A BIOGRAPHY
Born in Jericho, New York (which has now been renamed Bainbridge) on January 6, 1799, Jed
Smith had grown up hunting and trapping in the forests of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
He had also learned to read and write, skills that not all had mastered on the American frontier.
Aside from his Bible, which he usually carried wherever he went, Jed had also read about the
Lewis and Clark Expedition. He dreamed about blazing new trails and exploring the unmapped
lands in the West.
In 1822, Jed’s dreams became reality thanks to a newspaper advertisement from St. Louis.
William Ashley was hiring one hundred men to go up the Missouri River to trap beaver in the
new territory. Jed set out for St. Louise, realized this was an opportunity he couldn’t pass by
which would not only fulfill his desires to explore, but also produce a good income he could
share with his struggling family in Ohio. Experienced in frontier skills, this 6 foot-3 inch,
powerfully built twenty-three year old was just what Ashley needed. He hired Jed on the spot to
be a hunter for his party.
On the morning of May 8, 1822, Jed and the rest of the men loaded supplies on the keelboat,
named the Enterprise and started their journey up the Missouri River. Three hundred miles up the
river, the boat sank, and the men had to wait several weeks for another boat to arrive before they
could continue their trip.
The boat was pulled upstream against the current by a long rope called a “cordelle”. The men
walked on the bank, waded along the shore, all the time dragging the boat. Sometimes oars or
poles could also be used to move the boat along. Or if the wind was strong enough, a sail could
be raised that would help provide power. It was hard work, and the progress was slow. The only
advantage was that they did not have to fight with Indians as the tribes along the river let them
pass without interference, in peace. Because of his skill as a hunter, Jed spent most of his time
ashore bringing fresh meat to the camp to feed the hungry men.
It was October when they finally arrived at their small fort on the Yellowstone River above the
Missouri. Ashley separated the men into small groups to trap the valuable beaver pelts. He then
returned to St. Louis for more supplies. Jed’s party went farther up the Missouri River; and set up
camp on the Musselshell River (in today’s Montana).
During this first winter in the Rockies, the need for additional horses arose after several of their
scattered trapping parties were attacked by unfriendly Blackfoot Indians. In June, Jed was sent
downriver to find Ashley and tell him about the missing horses. He met Ashley near the Arikara
Indian village, which was a fortunate meeting place to acquire horses, but due to recent
hostilities of this tribe, Ashley and his men had to take special precautions. These Indians had
extra horses and were willing to trade. Jed and a few men spent the night on the riverbank to
keep a close watch on the newly purchased horses. However, just before dawn the Indians began
shooting at the trappers from inside the walled village. Soon the only cover Jed and the men had,
were their dead horses. To escape this dangerous situation Jed and the men dove into the river
and swam to safety. In the battle, twelve men had been killed and ten were wounded.
When Ashley asked for a volunteer to go to the fort on the Yellowstone for help, Jed went and
soon returned with reinforcements. While he was gone, Ashley had rounded up a party of Sioux
warriors and a U.S. Army troop. Together, they formed a force large enough to defeat the
Arikaras. The Indians agreed to repay Ashley for the horses and supplies the trappers had lost.
Instead, during the night the Indians left their village and escaped without paying anything.
Before Ashley returned to St. Louis to obtain more supplies, he appointed Jed to be Captain as a
reward for his leadership and bravery in the conflict with the Arikaras. Jed had proven his skill
and trustworthiness. The new Captain led his men deeper into the Rockies in search of the wealth
that the beaver pelts would bring to the company.
Along the Cheyenne River, as the men were pushing their way through the thick brush, a huge
Grizzly bear attacked the party. The Grizzly, the most ferocious and dangerous animal in the
West, could break a horse’s back with one swipe of its giant paw. It was on Jed in an instant. The
trappers watched in horror as their Captain fought the bear. Before Jed could fire his gun, the
animal clawed him. It ripped open his side; breaking several ribs and then the bear’s huge jaws
closed on his head. The Grizzly suddenly bolted back into the brush. The men gathered around
their leader, sickened by the sight of blood that covered his body. Jed’s left ear dangled from his
head. His scalp had been torn and his forehead gashed by the teeth of the bear. He fought to keep
his wits about him. Then ordered the men to get water, clean his wounds and sew up the cuts on
his head. The trappers also bound up his broken ribs and repaired his ear as best they could sew.
Ten days later he was out checking his traps; his wounds had healed quickly, but he had terrible
scars for the rest of his life.
That winter Jedediah took his men into Wyoming, where they stayed with a friendly tribe of
Crows. These Indians told the men that to the southwest there was a gap in the mountains that
would allow them to cross easily. Jed knew that such a pass would make east-west travel much
easier, especially by wagon. By February they were on their way to find it. The party went
without food for several days because there were few animals to hunt in the deep snow. For over
two weeks, their only water came from melting snow. Their southwest journey finally took them
to a broad, level pass. Jed made a map and added notes so that he would be able to find it again.
This discovery would be known to the history of the West as South Pass. It became the single
most important factor in the transcontinental movement of the United States to the Pacific Coast.
The gap served as the passage through the Rockies for the Oregon, California, and Mormon
Trails.
That spring Jed and his men trapped streams that no white man had seen, and made a huge catch
of furs. In June Jed returned to the fort to report their discoveries to Ashley and to get fresh
supplies. It was at this point in time that his career was to make another change. Ashley’s
partner was quitting the business, and Jed was asked to take his place. Within a year Ashley also
quit the business, and sold the company to Jed and two other men, named Sublette and Jackson.
The new partners decided to split up the duties of running the company into three jobs. Jed was
to search for new beaver streams in the West. In August of 1826 Jed led seventeen trappers on a
trip that would last over two years. This trip would open California and Oregon to the trade and
also to future American pioneers.
The party left from rendezvous in Cache Valley, riding southwest into the valley of the Great Salt
Lake, making their way south through deep canyons, towering peaks, and rushing streams and
rivers. They crossed the Colorado River near the southern tip of what is now Nevada. Here they
met a tribe of Mohave Indians and rested with them along the river several days. From these
Indians they bought food, some horses and learned about the dry region, the Mohave Desert that
lay westward of them. By the time they reached the mountain ridge on the border of this desert,
the men were thirsty and blistered. On the other side of the ridge, however, was the San
Bernardino Valley. They had been the first white men to travel from the United States to
California overland!
In 1826, California was part of Mexico, and that government did not want Americans entering
their country over an overland route. The Mexicans were afraid that they would lose control if
too many foreigners moved into the country. They did not have enough soldiers and money to
keep the Mexican government in control. So Jed’s arrival was not a cause for celebration. The
Mexican governor thought he was an American spy and told Jed that he had to leave the way he
had come in and not to go north.
Jedediah did not want to face the desert hardships again. He wanted to search for beaver streams
to the north. Complying with the governor’s orders, Jed and his men left the way they entered
but upon passing through the rage of mountains separating the two, the San Gabriel Mountains,
he resumed his journey north along the backside of this range. At this period of time, most felt
that Mexican California was a territory narrowly defined as “the settled belt along the coastal
plain” therefore Jed felt free to proceed with his plans and proceeded up through and along the
eastside of the Central Valley. Although winter came on, the weather in California was mild.
They were able to trap as they moved northward. In the spring they had a good catch of fur and
it was their desire to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains and return to their rendezvous which
was located east of the Great Salt Lake at Bear Lake. Realized the impossibility of doing this
due to high peaks and heavy snows, they continue north. Upon reaching the vicinity of the
present day capital of California, Sacramento, an attempt to cross the Sierra’s was implemented
utilizing the American River but with disastrous results. Loosing horses and equipment and
fearing for the life of his men, Jedediah returned to the valley floor and headed back to the
Stanislaus River that he had previously visited. There he left most of his men in safe camp.
Taking only two men, he headed east across the mountains towards the unknown lands across
Nevada. The snow was still very deep and it was very cold. Some days they could move only
two miles through the deep snow drifts. Upon crossing, they found more deserts but there was no
choice. They now had to deal with the opposite type of weather conditions of hot and dry,
traveling many miles over sandy hills with few plants and fewer waterholes. One hot, miserable
day followed the next. For six hundred miles the men stumbled through the desert wasteland.
They ran out of food, and grew weak from hunger, eating their horses as they fell and perished
on the desert floor. One of the men gave up – too weak to go any farther. Jed and the other man
struggled on another two miles. Finding water, they returned to revive their companion. They
eventually came upon the Great Salt Lake and in early July, 1827, the three finally reached the
camp and rendezvous site along the shore of the Bear Lake.
After ten days rest, Jed began his return trip to California with eighteen men and the needed
supplies. He decided to follow the original southern route, but upon reaching the Colorado River
and the Mojave’s village, these Indians hid their true intentions of hostility and appeared to be
friendly as before. Unbeknown to Jed, other trappers out of Taos (New Mexico) had previously
visited this tribe, causing problems and killing tribal members and know these Indians were
intent on revenge. After Jed and a few men reached the California side of the river, they realized
that their companions had come under attack. Greatly outnumbered, the nine trappers were
quickly clubbed or stabbed to death by the angry Mohave.
The ten survivors gathered what supplies they could and headed west. Without horses or water
and very little food it was again a struggle. Traveling at night, Jed could keep his men out of the
killer sun and keep a watchful eye for any Indians that might be following. Ten tormenting days
later they found themselves once again in the San Bernardino Valley. After resting, they headed
north following again their previous route along the eastside of the Central Valley to the
encampment of his men that had remained on the Stanislaus River.
Since the supplies had been lost, Jed took a few men and headed to Mission San Jose to replenish
some of those needed items. Upon his arrival, they were immediately imprisoned and Jed sent to
Monterey where he was quickly arrested by the suspicious Mexican officials. The same Mexican
Governor that Jed had dealed with in San Diego was now residing in Monterey and he again had
to confront this indecisive government official. After much futile discourse over a three month
period, masters of several vessels in port along with an American resident living in Monterey
devised a plan that released the Governor of all responsibility. A bond was issued that
guaranteed the good conduct and expedient departure of Jedediah and his men from Mexican
territory. Selling is beaver pelts and purchasing supplies, horses and mules which he knew would
sell quite well back at the upcoming rendezvous, Jedediah slipping away to the Great Central
Valley in a northern direction towards the quickest way he knew would get him there.
It was the Buenaventura (Sacramento) River he was heading for. All the current maps of that
period showed that this river turned to the east above what is now the city of Sacramento, and
headed right toward the Great Salt Lake. Driving his valuable horse and mule herd up the
Buenaventura became quite difficult due to the spring snow melt that had flooded the valley.
Reaching the north end of the (Sacramento) valley he realized that this river would not swing
east and that it would be impossible to cross the high snowcapped mountains that blocked his
way. On observing a gap in the mountains to his west, his only alternative was to head that way
to the coast in hopes of traveling up it to the Columbia River back to the Rocky Mountains.
With much difficulty and the loss of several horses and mules, they reach the Pacific Coast and
began to move northward. The coast was rugged and wild, populated by friendly as well as
unfriendly native peoples that were often warlike. Up the coast in southern Oregon, the party had
an encounter with one of these warlike tribes near the Umpqua River. When a member of the
Kelawatset Tribe walked off with an ax from the expedition, a mandatory tool that was necessary
to cut their way through the thick coastal vegetation, he was apprehended and held until the item
was returned. Several days later another incident with another member of this tribe, a chief, who
mounted one of the trappers horses without permission and was affronted to dismount. The next
day, while Jed and two men were off scouting the route north, the Indians, having sworn revenge
for the insults inflicted on them, entered and destroyed the camp. Their raid killed all but one
man who cheated death by his brute strength and fast running. The Indians took all of the horses,
supplies and fur pelts.
Separated, the four survivors struggled over one hundred fifty miles north to the British
Hudson’s Bay Fur Company post at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River, arriving one day
apart from each other. The United States and Britain had agreed in 1818 that they would both
occupy Oregon. The British were not hostile to the American fur traders. Even though they were
competitors, they treated the Americans kindly and even agreed to return to the Umpqua River to
try to recover the goods from the Indians. Hudson’s Bay people were able to recover only a
small portion of the stolen supplies. In the spring Jed and only one of his men, the others
desiring to stay, left the northwest and headed back to the Rocky Mountains. Since many there
had given the party up for dead, the sudden appearance of the men was cause for great
celebration.
For the next year Jed worked the Bighorn Basin along the Wind River in Wyoming to the
Musselshell River in Montana. It had been a successful trapping year. Jed decided that it was
time to get out of the fur business. So in 1830 he and his two business partners sold their interest
in the company to some of their trapping companions who had just formed the Rocky Mountain
Fur Company and set out with loaded wagons with the furs taken that season for their final return
to St. Louise.
While in St. Louis his brothers joined him and wanted to start in the trapping and trading
business. Jed discouraged them from entering into trapping, knowing the dangers and the
declining market of beaver pelts. He encouraged them participate in the Santa Fe trade which his
old partners were planning to enter. He help his brothers by setting them up in this new venture
by adding several of his own wagons full of materials for trade to the already forming caravan
and decided to go along with them to help. Around mid-April of 1831 the wagons departed for
Santa Fe and by the middle of the following month they were in the middle of a dry stretch of
sandy hills and desert called Cimarron Cutoff. It was a severely dry year and they had been
without water for three scorching days. The animals were dying because of the lack of water. A
last desperate effort was made to find water and men were sent out in various directions. Jed
rode to the south toward the Cimarron River in search of water. That was the last that his
brothers and friends ever saw of him. Later, his brothers discovered his rifle and pistols for sale
in the streets of Santa Fe and Mexican traders told the tragic story of Jed’s death at the hands of
Comanche Indians. While checking out a small water hole along the river, he was surrounded by
unfriendly Indians who had secreted themselves in hopes of procuring buffalo that might come in
for a drink. Spooking his horse, they were able to get off an injurious gun shot to Jed’s shoulder.
Still mounted, he spun around and was able to get off several deadly shots, one of them to the
chief, before they came in with their long spears and ended Jedediah Smith life.
Jedediah Smith’s accomplishments during his short nine years in the fur trade and trapping
business certainly earned him an uppermost rank as explorer in this period of United States
history. He led the first overland party from the east to California. He was the first to cross the
Sierra Nevada Mountains going east. First to traverse the entire length of California overland, up
through Oregon to the Columbia River. Discovered the South Pass from the east and was the
first to bring to the public’s attention that wagons could easily utilize it to access the west which
later encouraged the Oregon and California Trail wagons to follow his exploit. His travels were
over twice the distance of Lewis and Clark and covered a broader territory. He had covered both
a southern route and a central route to the west coast. Also from Great Salt Lake east to the
Missouri River and from southern Colorado to northern Montana had been viewed by his eyes
and journaled by his pen. While his maps and oral stories were shared with many people,
unfortunately he did not live long enough to have his journals and maps published.
Discussion Question #1:
You are to become one of the following explorers in this discussion: Your choices are
Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Lewis and Clark- one explorer team, and Jed Smith. You are
going to tell about yourself and your exploration and then why you felt it was an important
expedition. Do this in diary form, for example, “My name is Christopher Columbus and …”
introduce yourself, where you are from, your background, education.
Finally, tell us which of these (listed above) early American Explorers was the most important
and why.
Requires:
– No less than 25 sentences a post
– No plagiarism
– Cite any quotes used from resources