On 20 November 1803, after nearly a week encamped at the mouth of the Ohio, the new recruits would be tested while propelling the large boat—known today as the keelboat—against Mississippi River current. They safely navigated around the Grand Tower, but learned at Fort Kaskaskia that the Spanish would not allow them past St. Louis.
The Barge
Barge, keelboat, or just 'the boat'?
by Joseph A. Mussulman
Meriwether Lewis listed a “Keeled Boat” in his pre-expedition shopping list, but after he finally got it, he and the other journalists of the Corps of Discovery simply called it “the boat” (190 times) or, less often, “the barge” (32 times).
Synopsis Part 1
Washington City to Fort Mandan
by Harry W. Fritz
The Corps of Discovery, as it would be called, or the “corps of volunteers for North Western Discovery,” as Lewis put it, epitomized the rising glory of the United States—its sense of limitless possibilities and unparalleled opportunities.
Louisiana’s Political Geography
by Joseph A. Mussulman, Pierce Mullen
On 9 April 1682, René La Salle, claimed “possession of this country of Louisiana.” Thus, without any belligerent confrontations began the decline of one already ancient meta-culture, and the rise of a succession of new empires.
The Mouth of the Ohio
Meeting of the waters
by Joseph A. Mussulman
On the evening of 14 November 1803, Lewis and Clark camped on the point between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. By now they had rowed, poled, dragged, and occasionally sailed their boats a total of 981 miles.
November 20, 1803
Turning up the Mississippi
The expedition leaves the mouth of the Ohio River and turns the boats against the Mississippi current. They make ten or eleven miles and encamp on the Illinois shore within the ‘Grand Bend’.
Tywappity Bottom
Early American settlement
“Arrived oposite three new habitation of some Americans who had settled under the Spanish government,” wrote Lewis on 22 November 1803. “This settlement is on a bottom called, Tywappety.” Major Amos Stoddard described the area in 1812.
November 23, 1803
Louis Lorimier of Cape Girardeau
After arriving at Cape Girardeau, Lewis takes letters of introduction to Louis Lorimier, whose store was burned to the ground by William Clark’s brother—George Rogers Clark—in 1782.
The Grand Tower
Demons
by Joseph A. Mussulman
In 1673 French explorers Père Marquette and Louis Joliet listened to local Indians’ warnings about this place and erected a cross atop the ninety-foot-high rock to disempower the demons said to be lurking in the treacherous whirlpool at its base.
November 26, 1803
Devil's Bake Oven
Moving up the Mississippi, the boats pass through a narrow channel to avoid a dangerous whirlpool near Tower Rock. They camp near present Seventy-Six Conservation Area in Missouri.
Fort Kaskaskia
Preliminary outpost
Archaeological investigations by the author and his students reveal the location of the American Fort Kaskaskia. Extracts from “Bound to the Western Waters: Searching for Lewis and Clark at Fort Kaskaskia, Illinois” by the lead archaeologist.
November 30, 1803
Spain cedes Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana Province Pierre-Clément de Laussat leads a procession of 60 Creoles through the rain to the Cabildo—the city’s seat of government—and signs papers officially transferring Spanish Louisiana to France.
December 1, 1803
Kaskaskia recruits
While at Fort Kaskaskia, Illinois, William Clark and Meriwether Lewis select at least 13 new recruits. Lewis also writes a receipt to Cpt. Amos Stoddard for 75 pounds of gunpowder and a cask.
December 7, 1803
Cahokia arrivals
Lewis travels by land and Clark by river to arrive at Cahokia, Illinois. Lewis meets John Hay and Nicholas Jarrot who help him negotiate with the Spanish Lt. governor of Upper Louisiana.
December 8, 1803
Spanish resistance
On this or the previous day, Lewis meets with Dehault Delassus, the Spanish Lt. Governor of Upper Louisiana, and all agree that the expedition should spend the winter near Cahokia.
St. Louis
Gateway to the west
by Frances H. Stadler
In 1804 and in the presence of the Lewis and Clark expedition the little village, built and designed to be an outpost of the fur trade, shed its ambiguous Spanish-French parentage and took on full American citizenship.
December 11, 1803
St. Louis fanfare
From Cahokia, Clark takes the boats across the Mississippi and arrives in St. Louis under full sails and colors. Many people come to the landing to greet them.
