Narrator: President Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin
Rush, February 28, 1803.
(VOICE OF JEFFERSON)
Dear Sir,
I wish to mention to you in confidence that
I have obtained authority from Congress to
undertake the long desired objective of exploring
the Missouri River and whatever river, heading
with that, leads into the Western ocean. About
10 chosen woodsmen headed by Capt. Lewis my
secretary, will set out on it immediately
& probably accomplish it in two seasons. Capt.
Lewis is brave, prudent, habituated to the
woods, and familiar with Indian manners and
character. He is not regularly educated but
he possesses a great mass of acute observation
on all the subjects of nature which present
themselves.
Narrator: When President Thomas Jefferson
wrote this letter to a prominent Philadelphia
physician, he was in the midst of the greatest
land deal in history, The Louisiana Purchase.
For 15 million dollars, Jefferson had doubled
the size of the United States. His vision
for an empire of democracy extending across
a continent was becoming a reality. But the
lands to the west were shrouded in mystery.
Jefferson needed information, not only to
satisfy his curiosity, but to fulfill the
destiny of his nation. And his instruments
of discovery were two exceptional men, Meriwether
Lewis and William Clark.
AMBROSE: The Journals of Lewis and Clark are
our national poem. It’s epic. It’s our
Iliad and our Odyssey. You can open those
journals anywhere and you start reading those
things aloud and it’s just magic.
DENNY: These two explorers were given the
mission to take a small band of people into
a totally unknown place and travel 8000 miles
to explore this country and they did a magnificent
job. No one could have done it better. If
this is not a great story, then we don’t
have any great stories.
Narrator: Every American owns a bit of the
Lewis and Clark story, but in Missouri we
hold it just a bit tighter. Most of all, this
is the story of our river, the Missouri and
what this country was like before the heavy
hand of settlement. This is the story of Lewis
and Clark in Missouri.
(VOICE OF ORDWAY)
April the 8th, 1804
Honored Parents
I now embrace this opportunity of writing
to you once more to let you know where I am
and were I am going. I am well thank God and
in high spirits. I am now on an expedition
to the westward with Capt. Lewis and Capt.
Clark, who are appointed by the President
of the United States to go on an expedition
through the interior parts of North America.
We are to ascend the Missouri River with a
boat as far as is navigable and then to go
by land to the western ocean...
Narrator: John Ordway wrote these words on
the east bank of the Mississippi looking up
into the mouth of the Missouri River and into
the unknown. Jefferson’s 10 chosen woodsmen
had swelled to over forty; they called themselves
the Corps of Discovery. As Ordway and the
other men prepared for their journey, they
must have reflected on the leaders they were
trusting with their lives. Meriwether Lewis
and William Clark; Two men whose bond of friendship
created one of our country’s greatest adventures.
Meriwether Lewis was 29 years old. William
Clark was four years older. Young men but
experienced, both had served as commissioned
officers in the United States Army. Lewis
had served under Clark on the Indiana frontier.
Now their roles were reversed. Jefferson had
selected Lewis as his personal secretary.
Groomed him, prepared him for this epic journey.
With the mantle of leadership, Lewis turned
to a friend, William Clark.
(VOICE OF LEWIS)
June 19th, 1803
Dear Clark,
If there is anything in this enterprise which
would induce you to participate with me in
its fatigues, it’s dangers, it’s honors,
believe me there is no man on earth with whom
I should feel equal pleasure in sharing them
as with yourself. With sincere affection and
regard. Your humble servant, Meriwether Lewis.
(VOICE OF CLARK)
July 18th, 1803
Dear Lewis
I received by yesterday’s mail your letter
of the 19th. The contents of which I received
with much pleasure. This is an undertaking
fraught with many difficulties, but my friend
I do assure you that no man lives with whom
I would prefer to undertake such a trip as
yourself. With every sincerity and friendship.
Your obedient servant. William Clark
DENNY: One of the most remarkable things about
the Lewis and Clark Expedition is the sheer
fact of joint command. This is something that
is unheard of in military organizations, you
don’t have joint commands. I think obviously
the Secretary of War was extremely skeptical
about it , because in the end, despite Lewis’s
insistence he didn’t make Clark a co-captain
he made him a Lieutenant, and Lewis the captain.
The only people who seemed to be absolutely
certain that this was the way their organization
was going to function and this was the way
they were going to share command were Lewis
& Clark themselves. In this instance it was
the most brilliant partnership, probably in
American history.
Narrator: Neither Clark nor Lewis made mention
of Clark's official subordinate status during
the journey. To the men of the crew and to
each other they were full partners; equals:
Captain’s Lewis & Clark.
It’s Immense, it’s powerful, and in 1804
it was a formidable challenge. As the members
of the expedition looked up into the mouth
of the Missouri, they were looking into the
unknown. There were more than 40 men in the
Corps of Discovery, in two large pirogues
and a fifty-five foot keelboat heavily laden
with supplies. Not only did they face the
enormous challenge of moving this mass of
men and material up the river, they were also
to record their impressions.
STUCKY: Just reading their journals and the
incredible detail of the awesome fish and
wildlife resources, the abundance, the diversity
of these resources just astonishing. And I
like to think that the river they encountered
was perhaps akin to the original Garden of
Eden.
Narrator: So it began, the party set out from
their winter camp on the Mississippi River
and into the history books.
(VOICE OF CLARK)
May 14, 1804
Set out at 4 o’clock and proceeded up the
Missouri under sail to the first island in
the Missouri and camped. Wind from the Northeast.
Men are in high spirits.
Narrator: They lingered a few days in St.
Charles. Lewis’s description of the first
and only European settlement on the Missouri
echoes the clash of cultures between the old
French and their new American administrators.
(VOICE OF LEWIS)
May 20th, 1804
The village contains a chapel, one hundred
dwelling houses, and about 450 inhabitants;
their houses are generally small and but illy
constructed; a great majority of the inhabitants
are miserably poor, illiterate and when at
home excessively lazy, thou they are polite,
hospitable and by no means deficient in point
of natural genius. They live in a perfect
state of harmony among each other.....
(VOICE OF CLARK)
May 21, 1804
Set out from St. Charles at three o’clock
after getting every matter arranged. We proceeded
on under a gentle breeze.
DUNCAN: The most recurrent phrase in all of
those journals are three simple words “We
proceeded on” and I think that was their
way of getting across a broad continent at
about twelve miles a day. Each day they woke
up they didn’t know what the day would bring
them. They didn't know what was around the
next bend in the river. They didn’t know
what was over the next horizon. And they had
to struggle every day. “We proceeded on.”
(VOICE OF CLARK)
May 22, 1804
We proceeded on past several small farms on
the bank, and a large creek called Bon Homme.
This day we passed several islands, and some
high lands on the starboard side. Very hard
water.
DUNCAN: Well the lower Missouri in the spring
of 1804, early summer, was a shakedown cruise.
They’re learning how to manage that keelboat
against the Missouri’s incredible current,
and the sawyers and the snags and overhanging
trees and winds that don’t come at the right
time. Just how do you maneuver against this
beast of a river.
(VOICE OF CLARK )
May 24, 1804
Set out very early passed a very bad part
of the river called the Devils Raceground.
This is where the current set’s against
some projecting rocks.....The swiftness of
the current wheeled the boat, broke our tow
rope and was nearly over setting the boat,
all hands jumped out on the upper side and
bore on that side. We camped about a mile
above where we were so nearly lost. Hard water,
this place the worst I’ve ever saw. I call
it the Retrograde Bend.
DENNY: After the incident at Retrograde Bend
above Tavern Rock where Captain Clark noted
that nothing but...literally a miracle kept
the boat from going down, a similar incident
happened just about a couple of weeks later...
where the boat got hung up on some sand and
started listing it looked like it was going
to capsize, and Clark says that in an instant,
all the men were overboard with a rope and
in another instant they had that keelboat
fixed fast and they were out of danger just
within moments. Everyone knew exactly what
to do. And Clark at that time said that he
would not trade this group of men for any
boatmen on the Mississippi.
Narrator: The previous summer, as Lewis was
preparing to leave Washington for his rendezvous
with Clark, he wrote about the type of men
he was looking for.
(VOICE OF LEWIS)
June 13, 1803
When descending the Ohio it shall be my duty
by enquiry to find out and engage some good
hunters, stout, healthy, unmarried men, accustomed
to the woods, and capable of bearing bodily
fatigue in a considerable degree.
Narrator: They were young men, in their twenties
mostly, hunters from Kentucky, experts with
a long rifle. Boatmen from St. Charles, thoroughly
experienced, thoroughly French. There was
a black man, York, owned by Clark as a slave
but considered one of the crew on the expedition.
Later in the journey they would be accompanied
by an Indian woman and her child. In many
ways, the Corps of Discovery reflected the
population of the Western frontier. Together
they mirrored the energy and determination
of their newly formed nation. Now the Captains
had a crew they could take to the Pacific.
And as the Corps of Discovery set up their
camp on a sand island opposite the Loutre
River, near present day Herman, Missouri,
on May 26, 1804, Lewis wrote his orders of
detachment.
(VOICE OF LEWIS)
May 26, 1804
The commanding officers direct that three
squads under the commands of Sargents Floyd,
Ordway and Pryer heretofore forming two messes
each shall until further orders constitute
three messes only, the same being altered
and organized as follows…
DENNY: The fact that you always have to keep
foremost in your mind is that it was a military
expedition. With strict military discipline,
this was not only involved with making camp
and setting up guard duty and all those things
but, the functions that they did out on the
boat. A person was designated to watch for
creeks, another person was designated to watch
for rafts coming down the river with traders.
They had obviously spent a lot of time thinking
about the way this organization was going
to click and the way in which these people
were going to work together.
(VOICE OF CLARK)
JUNE 1st, 1804
Came to the point of the Osage River on the
left side of the Missouri. This Osage River
very high. We felled all the trees in the
point to make observations. Sat up until 12
o’clock taking observations this night.
AMBROSE: These were men of the enlightenment
and science was the primary objective of one
major part of the expedition, the biggest
objective was to find an all water route to
the Pacific and to explore the Louisiana territory,
and as important, report, tell us what's out
there, tell us about the flora and the fauna,
tell us about what's located where, tell us
about the deposits, tell us what grows, tell
us about the climate, tell us about where
this lines up in the latitude and longitude
and so on.
Narrator: They recorded everything following
Jefferson's instructions to the letter. In
particular, Jefferson wanted to know about
the “people inhabiting the line you are
to pursue.” They were to, “endeavor to
make themselves acquainted, as far as the
diligent pursuit of your journey shall admit,
with the names of their nations and their
numbers.”
(VOICE OF CLARK)
June 5, 1804
Our scout discovered the fresh sign of about
ten Indians. I expect that those Indians are
on their way to war against the Osage nation.
Probably they are Sauk. Passed a projecting
rock called the Manitou. From this devil to
the point on the Larboard side north 23 degrees,
west 7½ degrees.
DENNY: The Manitou Bluffs derive their name
from Native American pictographs of these
Manitou figures they’re sort of half human,
half deer. They have antlers projecting from
them and they represent the great spirit.
And so these spectacular bluffs must held
a special place with the Native Americans
because it’s about the only place that they
saw Native American artwork like this painted
along the bluffs. The neat thing about them
today is in so many places the river is in
a totally different place than it was back
in Lewis and Clark's time but along the Manitou
Bluffs the river is always right along the
base of those bluffs. We see the same view
today that Lewis and Clark saw back in 1804.
(VOICE OF CLARK)
JUNE 13
Passed some charming land, passing the river
Chariton. Beautiful open prairie comes to
the river below its mouth. This is a beautiful
place, the prairie rich and extensive.
Narrator: As the expedition passed the Manitou
Bluffs region they began to see prairies,
vast seas of grass that were unlike anything
in their experience. The men were stunned.
(VOICE OF CLARK)
JUNE 22
We set out and proceeded on under a gentle
breeze from the N. W. Passed some very swift
water crowded with snags, immediately opposite
a large and extensive prairie. This prairie
is beautiful, a high bottom 1½ miles back.
DENNY: The first time that the expedition
encounters prairies must have been a very
interesting one for them. They grew up with
the great eastern woodlands. There was the
old saying that a squirrel could go all the
way from Virginia to the Mississippi River
without every touching the ground because
he was jumping from tree to tree. And the
eastern woodlands extended essentially in
here in Missouri. The eastern woodlands start
giving way to the prairie environment, and
this was an environment that Americans were
very unfamiliar with. Clark seemed to be fascinated
by the prairies he thought they were beautiful,
he thought they were interesting.
Narrator: As the party made its way upriver,
the quantity of wildlife began to increase.
Clark, a diligent journalist, records every
deer taken. The numbers were astounding. A
total of 48 deer were taken by the Corps of
Discover during the Missouri leg of their
outbound journey. As they approached the site
of Kansas City, it was apparent, even to these
seasoned hunters, that they were entering
a region of incredible bounty.
(VOICE OF CLARK)
June 24
Captain Lewis killed a deer and Collins 3,
Dryer 2 today, immense number of deer on both
sides of the river.
(VOICE OF CLARK)
JUNE 25th
The prairies come within a short distance
of the river on each side which contains,
in addition to plumbs, raspberries and vast
quantities of wild crab apples and wildflowers.
great numbers of deer are seen feeding on
young willows and herbage in the banks and
on the sand bars on the river.
(VOICE OF CLARK)
JUNE 30
Immense numbers of deer on the banks, skipping
in every direction. the party killed nine
bucks on the river and the bank today.
AMBROSE: They were able to land on the banks
and set up their camps and it was a Garden
of Eden. It was so full of life, every kind...
flora and fauna everywhere. The numbers of
animals would just be incredible to us today.
Clark said in one place near Kansas City the
deer tracks are as common as hog tracks on
a farm.
Narrator: They proceeded on. They passed Blue
River, and the mouth of the Kansas. Many of
the tributaries had existing names and were
known by the Frenchmen of the crew. Others
were given names as the party passed. Biscuit
Creek was named after their breakfast. Tree
Frog creek, Diamond Island. On July 4th the
Corps stopped at a place they called Independence
Creek, where they celebrated their young country’s
birth by discharging the swivel gun and issuing
an extra ration of whiskey to the men. Later
that evening, Clark reflected in his journal
on the lands they were passing through.
(VOICE OF CLARK)
JULY 4
We camped in the plain, one of the most beautiful
plains I’ve ever seen. Open and beautify
diversified with hills and valleys all presenting
themselves to the river. A handsome creek
runs through. The plains of this country are
covered with a Leek Green Grass, well calculated
for the sweetest and most nourishing hay -- interspersed
with copses of trees spreading their lofty
branches over pools, springs, or brooks of
fine water.
DUNCAN: One of my favorite passages from Lewis
and Clark is Lewis writing back to his mother
in Virginia after he had traveled up the Missouri
River. And he wrote, “This immense river
waters one of the fairest portion of the globe.
Nor do I believe there is, in the universe
a similar extent of country. I mean he’s
talking both from the heart and as someone
who comes from an agricultural upbringing.
He saw as all of them saw, that this was a
paradise of sorts that future generations
could build upon and I think he was absolutely
right.
Narrator: Lewis’ letter to his mother was
written at Fort Mandan in modern day North
Dakota where the party wintered; 1,609 miles
from the mouth of the Missouri. Here again
they had time to reflect on the country they
had passed through, and to look ahead to the
continuation of their great adventure.
(VOICE OF LEWIS)
March 31, 1805
Dear Mother, This immense river so far as
we have yet ascended waters one of the fairest
portions of the globe, nor do I believe that
there is in the universe a similar extent
of country - equally fertile well watered
and intersected by such a number of navigable
streams. Game is very abundant, and seems
to increase as we progress. Our prospect for
starving is therefore consequently small.
On the lower portion of the Missouri, from
its junction with the Mississippi to the entrance
of the Osage River we met with some deer,
bear and turkeys; from thence to the Kansas
River the deer were more abundant, a great
number of black bear, some turkeys, geese,
swans and ducks. The ice in the Missouri has
now nearly disappeared. I shall set out on
my voyage in the course of a few days. The
party are now in good health and excellent
spirits are attached to the enterprise and
are anxious to proceed.
Narrator: On Monday, July 16th, 1804 the Corps
of Discovery moved out of what was to become
the state of Missouri and into legend. Ahead
of them were the Great Plains, grizzly bears,
those terrible mountains, and the Pacific.
Their time in Missouri was formative. They
learned the ways of the river, learned to
work together as a crew. They began the process
of diligent reporting and scientific enquiry
that they would continue all the way to the
western ocean. Most importantly, they left
a record of a land relatively pristine, untouched
by the settlements that were to come. In the
paradise they described we can find a testament
to the richness and diversity that this land
can offer.
STUCKY- There is something uniquely special
about this river. It’s almost mystical,
almost spiritual. It’s my hope that people
will have opportunity to reconnect to this
river and in so doing just be captured by
all this river has to offer.
Narrator: The Missouri River remains, timeless,
dynamic, ever-changing, everlasting.
This great river, our most majestic natural
feature, defines this state: Missouri.
And along its banks you can hear the ghosts
of the past whispering in its waters. Indian
canoes plied these currents. Mountain men
descended, their boats piled with furs.
Steamboats muscled their way upstream, as
did the unceasing tide of western civilization.
Two hundred years ago two young men led a
small group of explorers up this river.
They were confident, exuberant and utterly
determined, mirroring the hopeful promise
of their young nation.
No more fitting monument exists to honor the
spirit of Lewis and Clark than the Missouri
River itself.
From its banks we can glimpse a bit of the
world they discovered.
A pristine continent, a natural paradise filled
with immeasurable bounty.
It’s this river that remains the lasting
legacy of Lewis and Clark.
