Hi everyone,
welcome back to another episode of
Fridays with a Ranger.
I'm Ranger Shannon with Lewis and Clark
National Historic Trail
in beautiful Omaha, Nebraska, and thanks
so much for joining me once again.
I'm back at the kitchen table in my
apartment, ready to dive into another
interesting topic from the Lewis and
Clark Expedition of 1803 to 1806.
For today's video, I'm going to be
discussing what I believe to be one of
the more
interesting feats that the Corps of
Discovery accomplished while spending
the winter of 1805 to 1806
at Fort Clatsop in present-day Astoria,
Oregon.
Shown is a recent photo taken of the
Fort Clatsop replica.
The photo is taken from about 20 feet
outside the fort's entrance.
The wooden gate that connects the two
small, single-story log barracks together
is open.
Both of Fort Clatsop's barracks are
equal in size and face one another.
They have several chimneys spaced apart
on their roofs as well as several front
windows and doors.
The roofs are angled slanting higher
towards the back of each building.
The fort is surrounded by greenery,
including various trees,
bushes, shrubs, and grasses.
They spent much of their time there
preparing food and supplies for the
journey back to St.
Louis, Missouri. Most of their clothing
and shoes completely
rotted during their travels to the
Pacific Ocean, so they knew they needed
to be prepared,
especially in terms of shoes. They mostly
wore moccasins during the journey,
made from deer, elk, or buffalo hide
turned into leather. Shown is a photo of
three different-sized moccasins.
On the far left is a child's moccasin, in
the middle is a woman's moccasin,
and on the far right is a man's moccasin.
Both the woman and child's moccasins
have a rounded toe,
while the man's moccasin has a pointed
toe. All three are made of a lightly
tanned animal hide,
go up to the ankle, and have slits around
the top where the laces are wrapped and
tied at the front.
Buffalo hide proved to be the thickest,
so it's likely that they used this for
the soles
and deer or elk for the tops of the shoes.
The crew went through two to three pairs
of moccasins a day
as they trekked through treacherous
terrain for hours on end.
Shown is an illustration of five Corps of
Discovery members portaging a pirogue over
a rocky,
shrub-covered hill. The pirogue is
positioned over two sets of wooden
wheels, with one at the back
and one at the front. A man pulls the
front set of wheels with a rope to
maneuver the pirogue forward while another
holds the back steady.
The three other men stand on both sides
of the boat and push it forward.
Prior to the start of the expedition,
Captain Lewis only purchased 20 pairs of
leather shoes,
which was definitely not enough. Had he
followed the U.S. Army standards for
outfitting a two-year expedition,
he would have purchased eight pairs of
shoes per member.
That's 240 pairs for 30 people.
Why he didn't do this is probably
because he assumed most of the journey
would be made by boat
or he'd already intended for the crew to
make moccasins for the return journey
during their trip. Fortunately, Captain
Lewis did purchase enough sewing
supplies for the crew to turn
tanned hides into new footwear. Shown is a
photo
of a whole bison hide and several beaver
hides drying in the sun on the grass.
One beaver hide is sewn together.
To survive the return journey home with
their feet intact,
the crew made 358 pairs of moccasins
while at Fort Clatsop.
That's a crazy number of shoes, right? How
many deer,
elk, and buffalo hides do you think they
needed? Can you think of a time where you
had to adapt to new conditions that you
weren't used to?
What did you change and how did it go?
Write about your experience in the
comments section below.
Thanks so much for tuning in to another
episode of Fridays with a Ranger.
I'm Ranger Shannon with Lewis and Clark
National Historic Trail.
Stay safe, bye!
