Understanding The Boats of Lewis and Clark
The expedition started homeward on March 23, 1806, with their six boats: three Ponderosa dugouts, two purchased native canoes, and the stolen Clatsop canoe. While they were pushing up the Columbia, one dugout was lost, and two additional native canoes were purchased. Near the Dalles, Lewis made a decision to go landward again. The two dugouts and one native canoe were burned, and two native canoes sold.
On horseback, the expedition made it back to the Nez Perce, where they waited a month for the snow to melt in order to cross the Bitterroots. After the crossing, the expedition split into four groups. Lewis and four crew members headed east via land to explore the upper reaches of the Marias River, where they encountered a Blackfoot hunting party. A conflict ensued and two Blackfoot were killed.
Sergeant Ordway and other crew members returned to Camp Fortunate, retrieved the sunken dugouts, and made their way back to the Great Falls and retrieved the White Pirogue and cached supplies. Meanwhile, Clark and other crew members headed for the Yellowstone River, where they fashioned two slender dugouts into a catamaran and paddled downriver. Sergeant Pryor and three crew members were traveling by land when their horses were stolen, forcing them to make two bullboats that were put on the Yellowstone behind Clark. Eventually, all four groups reunited on the Missouri River, and arrived back at the Mandan villages in mid-August 1806.
Sacagawea, Charbonneau, and another crew member, Colter, left the crew at Fort Mandan, and the remaining crew and additional passengers then sped down the Missouri River, covering more than 80 miles in a day. They ditched the catamaran near the Osage River and arrived in St. Louis on September 23, 1806, with the White Pirogue and the five dugout canoes. So ended the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Willie Johnson is a freelance photographer/writer specializing in natural and cultural history.
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