Understanding The Boats of Lewis and Clark
In Pittsburgh, Lewis oversaw the construction of the expedition's largest boat, the Keelboat, which would be taken as far as their second winter camp (1804), at Fort Mandan in North Dakota, and returned to St. Louis in the spring of 1805, loaded with species and artifacts for Jefferson. The Keelboat, as sketched by Clark in his journal, was 55 feet long and 8 feet wide, with a 3- to 4-foot draft, 32-foot sailing mast, 22 oars, a cabin, a rudder and tiller for steering, a swivel cannon on the bow, two smaller guns called blunderbusses near the cabin, lockers for storage that also served as walkways for poling, and a total carrying capacity of 12 to 14 tons. The boatbuilder liked his liquor, delaying construction until the end of August, as the Ohio River continued to drop to the lowest level ever recorded. Immediately Lewis knew that additional boats would be needed, as the Keelboat stuck repeatedly on the Ohio's gravel and mud bars.
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Lewis apparently purchased some type of 'canoe' in Pittsburgh and proceeded down the Ohio to somewhere near Wheeling, West Virginia, where he purchased the first of two pirogues. Thought to be the Red Pirogue, it was a flat-bottomed plank craft with a square stern, about 41 feet long and 9 feet wide, with a carrying capacity of about nine tons. It also had seven oars, a rudder, and a mast (all boats had masts for sailing). It was the larger of the pirogues and was taken as far as the Marias River.
By mid-October, the crew (about 12 men) made it to the Falls of the Ohio River in Clarksville, Indiana Territory, where they met with William Clark, younger brother of General George Rogers Clark, who resided there. Lewis had previously asked William Clark, who was his commander in the army, to co-lead the Expedition. Clark was an excellent boatman and cartographer, as well as having been a captain in the army. Clark had been recruiting crew members, including his slave, York, who made the entire out-and-back trip. Another recruit, Charles Floyd, was the only crew member who died, apparently of appendicitis.
The crew continued down the Ohio River, with a brief stop at Fort Massac in Illinois, and proceeded to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers by November. Shortly after they arrived on the Mississippi, Lewis knew they needed additional men and another boat to negotiate these lumbering craft upriver. The expedition stopped at Fort Kaskaskia and picked up the White Pirogue and additional military crew members. The White Pirogue was slightly smaller and more stable than the Red Pirogue, so it carried the most important cargo (journals, medical supplies, sextant).
When the expedition made it to St. Louis, the Spanish commander, who had not received formal notice of the transfer of the Louisiana Territory, stopped it. As winter approached, the crew made its first winter camp at Wood River (Camp DuBois), across from the Missouri River. Lewis spent most of the winter in St. Louis securing additional supplies, obtaining information about what lay ahead, and hiring a group of French engages (experienced boatmen), who assisted the crew in getting the boats to Fort Mandan. Meanwhile, Clark attempted to mold a group of undisciplined frontiersmen into a military unit.
In early May, about 40 to 45 men with the Keelboat, two pirogues, and perhaps a canoe proceeded up the mighty Missouri during spring runoff. The boats constantly hit 'sawyers' (trees underneath the water) and mud-bank slides while rounding river bends. One of the pirogues nearly overturned, tumbling two crew members into the river. Covering 10 miles was a good day. On some days with a stiff headwind, only two miles were made. Sailing, cordelling (walking along the shoreline and pulling a boat with ropes), paddling, and poling--in any combination--were employed in moving the heavily laden craft up the river. Lewis noted in his journal that the men were so exhausted that they ate nine pounds of meat a day and still did not gain weight.
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