Phase 5: Post-Expedition (1806-1812) Archives - Lewis & Clark Research Database

Meriwether Lewis’s Survey at Cumberland Gap

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:14:16 +0000

The expedition is usually said to have ended when the Corps of Discovery reached St. Louis on September 23, 1806 — but Lorna Hainesworth documents a little-known coda. Traveling east to brief President Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis went ahead of William Clark through the Cumberland Gap, the great pass where Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee meet. There, on November 23, 1806, local gentlemen asked him to determine whether Dr. Thomas Walker’s old line — by then the Kentucky–Tennessee boundary — actually lay where it was supposed to.

The paper reconstructs the return party (Sheheke, or Big White, and his family; the Pierre Chouteau–led Osage delegation; Clark’s man York; privates Labiche and Frazier; and sergeants Gass and Ordway), the post roads they followed, and the long history of the Gap from Walker’s 1750 sighting through Daniel Boone’s Wilderness Road. It is a window onto Lewis the trained surveyor still at work, weeks after the journey west was over.

This summary is provided for reference on the Lewis and Clark Research archive; the full article by Lorna Hainesworth is available at the source link.

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The Corps in the War of 1812

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:14:16 +0000

The Corps of Discovery disbanded in 1806, but its members walked straight into the run-up to the War of 1812. Lorna Hainesworth gathers brief biographies of more than thirty expedition veterans and associates and traces what each did during the conflict. The sketches are organized into three groups: Corps military members (William Clark, John Colter, Patrick Gass, John Ordway, Nathaniel Pryor, George Shannon, William Bratton, Joseph Whitehouse, and others), Corps non-military figures (the Charbonneau family, Sacagawea, Jean Baptiste, and York), and associates ranging from Thomas Jefferson and Albert Gallatin to Pierre Chouteau, Manuel Lisa, Zebulon Pike, and William Henry Harrison.

Framing the sketches is a concise narrative of the war’s origins — from the embargo years through the treaties of 1815 — along with an appendix on the presidents involved. It is a useful group portrait of where the expedition’s people landed in the decade after the journey home.

This summary is provided for reference on the Lewis and Clark Research archive; the full compilation by Lorna Hainesworth is available at the source link.

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Shannon and Labiche Return with Three Elk

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:45:50 +0000

hunters Shannon & Labuche came to the fort had killed three
Elk.

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Canoe Retrieves Elk Amid Storm and High Winds

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:45:50 +0000

canoe after the Elk meat, a hard Storm of rain and verry high
wind, we had a disagreeable time of it. three of the hunters
Stayed out to hunt.

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Men Sent to Retrieve Salt Supply

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:45:50 +0000

night 2 men set out to go over to the Salt Camps after Some
Salt, high wind &C.

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Fragmentary Entry; Details Unrecorded

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:45:49 +0000

we Soon found it again.

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Blank Entry; No Events Recorded

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:45:49 +0000

usal.

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Three Elk Killed While Waiting for Straggling Hunters

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:43:42 +0000

4 hunters not having come in we left a canoe, with
directions to wait till 12 o’clock for them ; and pro:
ceeded on. ‘About 9 o’clock we met with our hun- —
ters, but they had not killed any suOBs ; andat 11:
halted to hunt and wait for the canoe. In : “short
time we killed three elk and brought. in the meat 5.
and the canoe having come up we proceeded OD,
– and at sunset encamped. The musquitoes are aP* sO! ce W
i ~ troublesome as they were some time ago. — To
«Monday 81k. We again had a pleasant morning, 5 ee
Me and, proceeded on early; at 10 o’clock we passed —
– council bluffs where we held the first council with —
‘the Ottos on the Ist, 2nd, and Ssrd of August 1804, as z
‘ pend) in the evening encamped on a smail island, has
te owe ieee on a y awell during the day. iat
a ee
t=
or ee ae, JOURNAL.

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Fifteen Elk Killed on Small Island

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:43:42 +0000

a tinued at intervals to rain hard ;about 10. oclock we
se – saw.a great gang of elk on a small island, where we
” halted and ina short time killed fifteen of the:a. W 4
— * go0k the skins and the best parts of the meat, and pro~
eek _ eeeded. At noon we halted to dine, and had then a __ %
~-yery heavy shower of rain. We also killed another
of the Large horned animals or niountain sheep.—. |
”
fy We remained here about am hour, them proceeded on,
: and, will ‘soon be clear of this range of high rough
‘country: Jn our way this afternoon, we killed two
and diwelve other deer, and.two beaver. i; Though
afternoon. was wet and Wiis. cal oy 18
eo oe beg ORs ee cate.
i x 5
plok caren.
¢ en
a Le
os: eS
oP See ie
oe wet. Nib ea Seccgtils ‘morn and in a short time
“saw a large brown or ger mig bear swimming inthe _
river, whith we killed, and took on board ; fe a
the | ine st sm Muscle Bical river ; z_ and at noon halted ie
to dine at sc Pi ee hip cits a
a dred of it aiviseable to stay hens’ ‘
and dry thetnyby a fire in are old
Bets OM
ps amas api er a
5 Todges : and so
E. _ > “bout an hour after we landed here, a large bie ar
so close to our camp, that one of the me
killed it from our fire.
“was s cloudy. with some rain ; ; and having made a fire |
> ear: and ‘put the skins: to dry. with two”men to attend – im weit
: sine made our arrangements for the night. °°
ee CPt i 2nd. This was a a He clear suorsing, and
nae Wet. ws hunters were sent of in a canoe to hunt 5 3 e
and in the. course of –
and ready to set out the next Gabenine: he.
– Sunday 3rd. We had a fine morning, and at 6 ee
o’clock got ‘under way and pre ceeded on. Having —
gone ten miles we came up with the hunters whe —
» «had killed twenty four deer, We went on very rapid-
_ ly and saw great gangs o ‘elk feeding on the shores, —
but few buffaloe.. At sunset we encamped | Erne Bee
-gone 73 miles. i ” Sa
_ Monday 4th. This was shother pleasant day ; a
| proceeded. on early. One of the small canoes
two hunters did not come up last night. W
(2 @tother. ‘small canoe with some hunters bebit
nee ae _ proceeded” on. We went very rapidly, an
Ae 1 killed a buffaloe, an elk and some deer.
TS. nok ‘we passed the mouth of Milk river,
hone oe Sioned oa am the current ou hae Pi: ing
248 : | JOURNAL. aot). ne
eh his 5th, Last night. was. ions taeeeiae : ‘ 4
was heard at a distance. About midnight the small 4
canoe we left yesterday came floating down with the
-current,and would have passsd usifour centinelhadnot
hailed it: the hunters in it killeda bear and twodeer. 7 q
This Taorning was also cloudy, and we halted here — a
a neon in ae aes that ei other canoe © woul .
oi noon we ee Hees way. xg bers went on Wey 4
ey
K Hed a a very fat buffaloe and some deer 5 _ and i
nters. who | et on ahead i in the morning g killed | to |
ahd at dark OG Molent gust of wine aa rain came en
with thunder and lightening, which lasted about are
hour; after which we hada fine clear PA ee
i Wednesdny 6th. We embarked early, oad ira ews
fine morning, but high wind. :At 12 o’clock the
wind blew so violent that it became dangerous – to go.
on, and we halted; and some of the men went out
and shot a large buck, but not dead and he got into
» theriver; when two of them pursued in a canoe and
caught him. Having remained here three hours, —
we again went on until night and encamped. We
. have yet seen nothing of the two hunters who ped.
been left behind in the small canoe. SE

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Clark's Camp Found Abandoned at Stone River Mouth

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:43:42 +0000

set out early, aftera veRy? heavy shower of rain which.
fell before day light. We proceeded on very well,
o and about A o’clock around at the mouth of the
ae aw. Stone. river. We found that Captain Clarke
had been encamped on the point some time ago, and
iris chad left it. We discovered nothing to ink : :
where he was gone, except a few words wri ten or
a traced if the sand, which were “ W FSi a few miles a
furth: r down on the right hand sid:.? ‘Captain Lewi Sc
on saving left a few lines for the two. men in es canes
rf
w
; ey » ie
JOURNAL. “eae 10 eo
ire still ig hone wee
d our voyage. At night we |
ming above 100 miles ; and tough
# ‘reac at the place of our SEE: be _
a
fa Boe clear sic morning
‘oceeded on early and in a
fi a ain Clarke’ S Se: At
eons we left oe ‘falls of Brae souri. A pal
ty of men went out to bunt | ad killed som me elk ¢
deer ; the rest were emplo yed 1
cabre skins. oe | :
| Saturday 9th. This. was cephee fine dey ‘ a io
Fg most of the men were employed as yesterday; and a
in making small oar’s for ~~ Fang’. . eye them
Ae,

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