Henry Warre (c. 1860)
Unknown photographer, William Francis Gordon, copyist. From Te Papa Museum of New Zealand. Image is in the public domain.
As a defensive measure in a possible war with America at the end of 1844, Sir George Simpson suggested a military reconnaissance of the Oregon Territory. Lt. Henry Warre (1819–1898) and Lt. Vavasour were selected, and the two officers traveled from Montreal to Fort Vancouver on a “sporting expedition” led by Peter Skene Ogden. As part of his secretive instructions, Warre made sketches documenting indigenous people of that era.[1]Henry Warre, Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory (Barre, Massachusetts: Imprint Society, 1970), 7–8).
Pages with the Artist’s Works
December 9, 1805
The Necanicum Clatsop Village
Looking for a place to make salt, Clark meets three Necanicum Clatsops who take his group to their village at present Seaside, Oregon. At the Fort Clatsop site, construction begins on a “small fort”.
November 28, 1805
"O! how Tremendious"
On the small isthmus of present Tongue Point, the party has no way to keep dry, the hunters have no success, and in the afternoon a “Tremendious” windstorm arrives. Clark calls it a disagreeable situation.
March 30, 1806
Prospects for a settlement
As they paddle through an area dense with Multnomah and Watlala villages, they see Cascade Mountain snow peaks, fertile land, and the best prospect for a large settlement west of the Rocky Mountains.
“the Ocian is imedeately in front and gives us an extensive view of it from Cape disapointment to Point addams,” reported William Clark on 15 November 1805. But he saw no ships at anchor. Nothing.
After trading for horses with Sacagawea’s people, the expedition turned north and then west, on what would indisputably be the most exhausting and debilitating segment of the entire journey, the passage across the Bitterroot Mountains.
The life and times of these three explorers intertwined in a number of odd and interesting ways, often brought together by far-reaching hand of Thomas Jefferson. Tracing these connections opens a window onto every conceivable aspect of the period.
Notes
| ↑1 | Henry Warre, Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory (Barre, Massachusetts: Imprint Society, 1970), 7–8). |
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Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).