Robert B. Betts - Lewis & Clark Research Database https://lewisandclarkresearch.org/contributor/robert-b-betts/ A digital archive of treaties, documents, artwork, and 360° trail panoramas from the Corps of Discovery Wed, 11 Feb 2026 01:27:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 York of the Corps of Discovery https://lewisandclarkresearch.org/research-articles/york-of-the-corps-of-discovery/ Wed, 11 Feb 2026 01:27:40 +0000 https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/research-articles/york-of-the-corps-of-discovery/ A groundbreaking study of York, the enslaved African American who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, examining his contributions, treatment, and the contested accounts of his later life.

The post York of the Corps of Discovery appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> Betts provides one of the first serious scholarly studies of York, the enslaved man owned by William Clark who became a full participant in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The article documents York’s significant contributions to the journey, including his role as hunter, laborer, and cultural intermediary — many Native nations had never encountered a Black person, and York became a figure of intense curiosity and, in some cases, reverence. Betts examines the remarkable moment when York was allowed to vote in the democratic decision about winter camp location in November 1805, an act without precedent for an enslaved person. The article then traces the troubling aftermath, as Clark refused York’s repeated requests for freedom following the expedition, eventually hiring him out and possibly separating him from his wife. Betts evaluates the conflicting accounts of York’s ultimate fate, including Clark’s 1832 claim that York had been freed but died of cholera.

The post York of the Corps of Discovery appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> The Experiment on the Missouri: The Keelboat and Lewis and Clark https://lewisandclarkresearch.org/research-articles/the-experiment-on-the-missouri-the-keelboat-and-lewis-and-clark/ Wed, 11 Feb 2026 01:27:39 +0000 https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/research-articles/the-experiment-on-the-missouri-the-keelboat-and-lewis-and-clark/ A detailed study of the keelboat used by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on the Missouri River, examining its design, construction, and critical role in transporting the expedition's supplies.

The post The Experiment on the Missouri: The Keelboat and Lewis and Clark appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> Betts provides a comprehensive examination of the 55-foot keelboat that served as the expedition’s primary vessel during the ascent of the Missouri River from Camp Dubois to Fort Mandan in 1804. The article traces the boat’s construction in Pittsburgh in the summer of 1803, drawing on Lewis’s frustrated correspondence about delays and cost overruns with the boat builder. Betts analyzes the vessel’s design features, including its storage lockers that could be raised as defensive shields, its sail, oars, and setting poles, and the modifications made during the journey. The article details the extraordinary physical demands of moving the keelboat upstream against the Missouri’s powerful current and the various methods employed — rowing, poling, cordelling (towing with ropes), and sailing. Betts also discusses the keelboat’s return journey to St. Louis in spring 1805, carrying specimens, maps, and reports to President Jefferson.

The post The Experiment on the Missouri: The Keelboat and Lewis and Clark appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]>