Closed Captions

A Dakota/Lakota speaker reflects on Native American responses to early European contact, contrasting historical narratives with oral traditions. He discusses Sacagawea's role in the expedition, contemporary lessons about welcoming newcomers, and the importance of teaching children harmony with the land and each other through stories, songs, and cultural practices.

Transcript

0:05 they're gone and we're covered still standing there and that's what I had in my hand so I took my saw I cut that fence post in half and I looked inside I need a solid piece of wood as we need a solid heart in all of us and I took my tools and I carved between those nail holes and I placed those two pieces back together and I shaped
0:28 it and I started thinking this is much like our elders cuz when they got old they throw them away they put them away today in homes and different things in our way we take our elders into our homes and we keep them there to help with the children as the mother and father work how many of you grandfathers and grandmothers have talked to your grandchildren and tell them about the life here in America when you were young
0:52 told them about the time of Lewis and Clark told them about the time of the pilgrims because it was my people the Native Americans as were called who greeted those first pilgrims with our Hands Held High and they did not understand us they took their sticks of fire and thunder and they scared us away and we watch from the rocks and the Trees of that first year as they walked over the food and the medicine that
1:15 could give them strength and heal them we listened to them as they cried through the winter and their children died we saw them lay the bodies in the snow we thought if we can just be their friends but they saw something someone who is different they saw someone who spoke differently they saw someone different and so we watched from trees and in the spring as they buried
1:39 their dead once again it was our children who went forward and it was a young woman who came out and said my name is Pocahontas and she greeted those men Pocahontas was not the little girl you see the young woman you see on the movie and Captain Smith was not that handsome young man you cannot always believe what was written but we believe what we have been told because our words have been
2:03 true and passed down she was a little girl and he was an old man and they had respect for one another and today that little boat never sank today that little boat flies through the air today that boat is made of iron steel sometimes that little boat is an Ender tube coming here and it's you the new Native Americans who must
2:28 greet them from chesa Bosnia from the Middle East now from China it's up to you to greet them to show them the way of this land to share with them the things that we have always shared with one another we had popcorn before oral Redenbacher ever got here and we like to share that thing this thing called food and this thing called medicine called
2:52 friendship because as long as we look inside and we see what's familiar does not matter what you look like on the outside but we learn from our elders how to be and what are you teaching your children are you teaching your children how to point a finger and see what's different or are you teaching your children to open a hand and to feel what's the
3:16 same cuz you know hunger and you know death you know laughter and you know pain but we all need each other to be a Native American is an honor people are dying to come here to be what you have so their children can have what you were given and these things were shared by the people who
3:39 lived here we call ourselves n the people we call ourselves in the southwest Denay the people we call ourselves a part of this land we have always welcomed those from different places cuz you have new songs and you have new things and it's the Warriors those who have gone out in respect and
4:02 honor as I stand here in a warrior shirt I have done things humbly for my friends and my relatives they have given me the right to stand here under this feather dressed as I am named as I am cuz as you hear these stories and you hear these words you've heard them before I'm just a new way to see them but if you feel these words you will
4:26 feel your grandmothers and your grandfathers and if you listen to this song maybe you will find that Warrior Spirit within you also and this song is
4:36 for us as Native [Music]
4:59 Americans [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] [Applause]
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5:29 oh
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7:30 [Music] at home I live in a place called dragswolf Village and dragswolf Village is built
7:54 in a place where my grandmother my mother's mother lived I wrote horseback over those Hills and I dug turnup in those Hills and I picked mint down by the river to make tea my grandmother sang good songs and had a beautiful garden and she told me that someday when I was a man I might be able to find a
8:18 good woman and I've been fortunate but like I said I had to make sure that we weren't related because my father is a Dakota soue from Montana but he has relatives is on Standing Rock my wife is from cheyen River on the Standing Rock reservation so I had to talk to her mother and her uncles are you related to and do you know so and so well how about
8:42 this one do you know that one and we're not related so I have a very beautiful wife and she is who I think about when I travel down the road and so as I come home from Journeys long Journeys short Journeys I sing songs she is one of those songs in my heart and so I made this song for my
9:06 wife her name is nap it's goodand woman she's one of the best quill workers porcupine quill workers in this country she was asked to reproduce some of the things that you will see there in monello legance of the man and moccasins of the man and I'm very honored that she has given me a good
9:28 life very honored that I can find this song that she put there and share it with you today and so This song is called when I come [Applause]
9:52 [Music] home [Applause] [Music]
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10:54 H I'm coming home High H when I get there I hope that you be waiting for me honey wa oh when I get home we'll be singing we'll be dancing we'll make love all
11:16 night long when I get home we'll be singing we'll be dancing we'll make love all night long wa don't you know that I love you
11:39 I good hand woman don't you know that I love you [Music] I [Applause]
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12:47 [Applause] [Laughter] [Applause] do this flute was given to me by a gentleman who writes a magazine and I was very humbled and I
13:11 took it as a challenge because I have a hard time playing one flute and this is three but it's a lot like us as human beings cuz like myself I like to talk and we all have a friend who likes to talk and that's what this one does we have a friend or somebody who always just nods our head and takes us in stride they're just one monotone thing there then we have somebody who's always
13:36 kind of like oh yeah oh yeah oh you know they kind of make one or two noises and whether we like it or not they'll agree with us and that's what friends are about and that's what this country is about that's what this whole Lewis and Clark Journey was about cuz when those men came up the river we never expected them like tourists some of them were
14:00 lost following the first tourist he was lost you remember that guy Columbus he was looking for another place where they have elephants didn't stop and ask directions and he said look what I found when we landed in the airplane on Monday look what I found Richmond ho yeah you guys are going to have to move I'm going
14:23 to bring my relatives out here but you know when we learn those men had men with them who were half black and half white they had one who was all black they had some who were half black and half Indian and half Indian and half white and we thought they were all Half Crazy coming up that River and we spent the winter with us and they took out their sticks and they
14:48 rubbed them together and made the dogs cry and made them jump around too and they said it was dancing didn't look like much dancing but then That's How rock and roll is too is it doesn't look like much it doesn't sound like much and I'm makes me cry but that's what they said about the Beatles and Alvis Presley too wasn't it see music comes from the heart and those
15:11 young men they gave their hearts to Lewis and Clark men that they trusted Warriors trusted by our leader of our country who was your country then coming into our country and we welcomed them with our hands open and they slept with us and they ate with us and we gave them food and medicine and directions cuz they
15:34 asked so they went there on a great journey when they came back our young sister a girl that we had stolen not to make her a slave but to make her our keep our blood clean and that girl with Saga she lived in the lodge of Chief Bullseye and Bullseye is a clan relative of mine so I have that small claim to her as a relative to
15:56 kaguya and so like those men and that woman when they came back they talked about things we had never seen she said in the Summer She said I walked through the hills and there was snow there I said oh yeah she said I came to a river with no other side really she said I even walked inside a
16:19 fish the first fish story we ever heard must have come from one of them white guys you know but she saw mountains and she she saw an ocean and she walked inside of a whale and she came home and told us these things and they took her back here to the East and then she came home again she said there were lodges with lodges
16:42 on top and they had stars on the walls to give them light we said boy those people must have some strange medicine she said she saw Lodgers Moving On Wheels we thought she was crazy but she was was very respectful and she worked in harmony with those men and that's what we have
17:05 to do we have to believe in our leaders we have to believe in those that we choose we have to give our children the strength and the confidence to go out there and to face the unknown because the unknown is out there now sometimes it's just around the corner what do you know about your neighbors what do you know about your own families I can trace my family eight
17:28 greates back and I know who I am I can show you where we lived and where we died your people came from across the water what did they do over there what did they eat over there and why did they come here are you thankful because it's up to you now to greet those who are lost and hurt looking for a new home and when they
17:51 come here we as the new Native Americans must greet them and teach them how to live in harmony with the Earth with the land the sky and the water cuz if we don't respect these things how can we feed our children we must learn how to live in harmony and so this last song I want to give you is what I call Walking In Harmony and I want to say ma
18:16 thank you very much for being here taking time out of your life to come here and to share what was shared in this country 200 years ago a dream and I hope that when you leave here you will be a part of my reflection the Northern Lights cuz the words that I have given you are only reflection of my family my clan My Tribe next week when I
18:39 stand in Switzerland I will be representing you and so I hope that I do a good job and I hope that we can learn how to live and walk in [Music]
18:58 harmony [Applause] [Laughter]
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22:51 Mr Keith bear thank you so much and now we do have a core of engineers lower Connecticut River Basin office at Tully Lake in royalston he is the Lewis and Clark Vice Centennial coordinator for New England also now we wish to take you
23:13 back the time is October 20th 1803 earlier this year the size of the territory of the United States doubled with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon Ohio has just become the 17th state Thomas Jefferson of Virginia has been president for 2 and 1/2 years he
23:37 and many of the 5 million Americans who are are burning with curiosity as to what wonders lie west of the Mississippi River you have come to hear a representative of the US Army who is recruiting men for an important but Dangerous Mission into these new lands
23:59 Abner Davis first Infantry Regiment will explain the qualifications and some of the plans for the core of volunteers of the Northwestern Discovery please welcome from casasia in the Indiana territory private Abner [Music]
24:23 Davis well thank you everyone ladies and gentlemen I have here a broadside in my papers which I thought I had pulled out earlier I don't see it now so we'll have to go by memory here it is now seeking young men seeking Adventure must be strong and healthy for
24:46 arduous Expedition the United States Army is looking for young men of good character exceptional fortitude and possessing a variety of useful skills to accompany captain M Lewis us infantry on a voyage of Discovery to find the Northwest Passage between the Missouri River and the Oregon
25:08 Country get to some of the other skills and qualifications later but how many out there are interested perhaps in joining the Army to to join this core of Discovery is there any potential volunteers very good a few of you oh wait I've already joined you have you're wearing a funny uniform
25:31 sir I I think I need another division another division uh I'll have to get back with you okay of those of you who are interested are any of you gentlemen's sons are you gentlemen Sons sir no sir I'm back here are you a gentleman's son I I there's a no okay does anybody hear a gentleman's
25:55 son sorry you're not qualified we could have used you as an interpreter too the the the captain has instructed that no gentleman's Sons would be allowed along because they're not used to labor hard labor so we will leave them behind in [Music] Virginia uh let me think now what other
26:19 qualifications would there be we would seeking exceptional fortitude hard labor I bet you're wondering what the renumeration will be is this true back there yes usually that's one of the first questions what's the pay well as a private such as I you earn the princely sum of $5 a
26:42 month the sergeant he gets $15 a month a Corporal 10 but we lowly privates get $5 a month however Captain Lewis has indicated that there will be double pay for those successfully completing this Mission when they return so double pay also you get a clothing allowance you get a uniform just like mine one one uniform for every
27:05 year you're enlisted in the service so when you're in for four years you have four sets of clothes or you have the remains of four sets of clothes because they wear out in that time but you get clothing also of course food board get whatever you can shoot and uh you get to sleep in a tent or in
27:30 more uh what would be the word better better quarters during the winter than a tent all right let's see uh I have here in my in my notes some of the captain's other qualifications and rumary oh I forgot one of the most important parts of the
27:54 renumeration of course should you die in service your next to Kin will be notified and you'll get a proper funeral I'm sure that'll make everyone happy on the best part besides the funeral of course is the president has indicated to Captain Lewis that the those who volunteer and complete this
28:17 Mission should receive a land grant that will be equal to the land grant of the volunteers from the late War so that will be in the new territories that's a very good inducement to come in I W get back to qualifications here uh the captains have indicated they want to reject the weak ignorant and unmanageable for the strong
28:41 the skillful and eager volunteers back here are you still an eager volunteer who are the volunteers back there this this seems to be a bright sun coming through over here changed your mind for $5 a month but it's double pay sir you'll get 10 if she should live yes
29:04 there can you come up please right what's your name Edward Edward you say you're not a gentleman's son you're still eager to go on this Expedition very good um let's see do you
29:27 have any special skills well are you a good Hunter kind of you're either good or you're kind kind of how about good Woodsman not sure throw hatch what's that you can throw a hatchet you can throw a hatchet you're good with the
29:51 tomahawk perhaps you're that was an indication that you'd be a good Hunter good Woodsman we might sign you up how old are you 11 that's you're supposed to lie when you want to get into the army so w you might be a little bit young but we'll see what we can do let's see so what part of being a recruit do
30:13 you like the best do you have any other special skills can I know can you write that's a special skill you can write this is why would we want to be able to write most men in the Army aren't very good at writing make a a log you mean those things that you're using your Tomah Haw
30:36 on to chop up oh oh a journal yes yes so you can you can write a journal in fact as probably everybody in here knows the it it's supposed to be a secret mission but I found in this town everybody already knows about this secret mission the president has instructed that a journal a log as you say of what they
30:57 find on this core of Discovery should be kept so you can help do that all right do you know anybody else back there who's maybe shy who wants to be a recruit all right well well thank you for coming up any other special skills out there that might be useful for this Expedition you sir look like you might
31:21 be an Outdoorsman do you have any other skills you can make things out of wood iron make knives do you possess blacksmith skills by chance now that is a valuable skill blacksmith so we we would need blacksmith on this
31:46 Expedition uh any Carpenters out there no Carpenters any lawyers that's that's good we don't need any of those yes see I knew somehow I knew that when you said you could make things if we were a little more specific we'd find out so we need we need uh artificers or blacksmiths we need
32:09 Carpenters uh any fishermen out there we need we probably need a good fisherman yes I knew there was somebody else back there just dying to enlist in this Expedition uh let me think now so any other skills anybody can think of another skill we'll need for this Expedition we can't expect every man to
32:33 do everything so we're going to have to PE find people with special qualifications to join the Expedition what's thatth health health and Medicine actually I believe Captain Lewis will be doing that himself because he's an herbalist he's well that's that's true I hope he thinks of that but the president has sent him
32:57 this past past year to Philadelphia to study with Dr Benjamin Rush have you heard of Dr Benjamin Rush he's a very famous doctor in Philadelphia and and Captain Lewis has learned some medicine from him uh one reason I'm not going is because I've heard of Dr Rush's Thunder pills so I think it's time for me to leave the Army rather than to take that treatment
33:20 but any other so we have medicine any other skills that you can think of cooking cooking this is the Army why would anyone want to know how to cook I've wondered that myself it would be nice if we had some good Cooks out on the frontier in these Army units anything else boat build boat building and and just being able to
33:45 operate a boat boats boatsmen this is a good qualification if we can't find enough men with this qualification to enlist in the Army I believe the captains will sign some anges to go along when they're in the um St Louis area yes sir sewing is a very good skill I it would be nice if there was a tailor
34:10 along also to repair the uniforms and make new uniforms as as these wear out as they're sure to do in on an expedition that's expected to last maybe two years give or take a sewing anything else anyone can think of uh how about you would you be interested
34:32 in volunteering have you any special skills that would be useful paddle also do you ride a horse somehow I knew that you would be be a good Horsemen so we need we need Horsemen as well as all
34:55 these other skills she mentioned so she's she's you are did I say she you wouldn't be qualified then but anyway you would be otherwise well qualified anyone here married if you're married I'm sorry the captains will not take any married people along they want single men so that they'll work harder and not
35:18 be not be too distracted by what's what they're leaving behind yes musicians the the this person up here is wondering if if perhaps we should bring some musicians along and I believe that's a good idea I'm only a lowly private but I believe the captains are thinking along those lines it's perhaps possible that some of the anges these Frenchmen in the
35:43 St Louis area I bet there's some musicians amongst them plus a lot of men in the in the forts like Fort Massa casasia they also have well I don't want to say talent but they uh they do like music small instruments and singing and dancing and so forth be nice if there were some better musicians
36:07 along let me um back up for a minute does everyone know the reason that the president is sending this Expedition out there and is there any question about that of course as I said it is a secret mission so I can't tell you too much or I'd have to kill you but but the president does sent this Expedition out and it's to be a
36:31 diplomatic mission to meet the Indians so it' be good to have translators it's also to be a scientific Expedition so we want men who have have a curious mind it's to be a a discovery Mission so mapping surveying are good skills to have anybody think of anything else I'll look
36:55 on this broadside here and see if there's anything else the captain have WR written recruits are sought with previous military training that's always good this is an army Expedition after all curiosity and one or more of the following skills artificer blacksmith boatsman Carpenter cook fisherman gunsmith did I mention gunsmith it would be good to have a
37:18 gunsmith along perhaps I'll talk about the guns here in a moment herbalist Horsemen Hunters surveyors tailor Trapper and handw writing skills I think we hit most of them duration the Expedition is expected to last 2 years commencing in the spring of this coming spring 184 and if you are interested you can
37:42 see me later or you can apply directly to Captain Lewis at camp duah for an examination I thought I thought I'd mention the the firearm this is you'll have to if you're not already familiar with with it you'll have to learn to use it I'm not a very good soldier so I won't go through the drill but this is a
38:06 1794 contract rifle but Captain Lewis has had special modifications made at Harper's Ferry to the lock this is the latest technology this Harper Ferry lock and they're interchangeable so that if one breaks they can take the parts out of another want to fix it rather than having to each individually be worked on
38:29 it's from Harper's Ferry yes it's something that that Captain Lewis has worked out with the superintendent of the Harper Ferry Arsenal in Virginia but it's a 1794 trade contract rifle it might be it would be
38:53 rifled uh are there any questions for any of the potential recruits or the the families of the potential recruits because the family members are always very curious of what their sons are getting into before they leave there any questions
39:14 yes an artificer an artificer is a member of the military with a special skill in blacksmithing and now I will step out of character if you don't mind so I can answer that a little better artificer from my my reading is similar to a modern warrant officer there was couple of blacksmiths
39:39 along on the Expedition and Willard was termed as an artificer but for the purpose of the Expedition he was treated just as a private so M made the paper the paper trail easier or something but artificer was another word for a blacksmith and they were uh special qualification he would Willard was a member of the artillery Corps he was the
40:04 only member of the artillery Corps besides Captain Clark himself who went all the way to the Pacific and back there were several on the return Journey from the artillery Corp and I'm wearing the uniform of the Infantry most of the members were enlisted from the Infantry when you see the guys in uniforms around here if they they're proper or the pictures on the wall outside you can tell the difference
40:26 between because the Infantry has white metal the officers would have silver buttons and we enlisted men would have peor and the artillery core would have yellow metal brass or gold trim and buttons so any other questions I like asking an answering questions rather than just being up here and talking because it's more fun for me and I think
40:51 more fun for you any questions back there for my my potential recruits yes you always dress like that do I always dress like this want me to go back in the character no okay um this was an Army Expedition and they dressed in army uniforms this is what they had in fact
41:15 there was a big problem in the Army in those days of desertion so they made sure when they came into the army they had no civilian clothing so that deserters could be discovered very easily by the funny clothes they wear the um when they left on the Expedition as you can see from Gary Lucy and and Michael Haynes paintings around here this week and they've been working with
41:38 the historians to do these work they were in uniform they would get in the dress uniform with all the fancy hat and so forth when they met an Indian tribe to do to do their um their welcoming ceremonies and and show the drill and so forth their normal fatigues would be to shed shed the coat shed the roach but keep the Hat on gentlemen in those days
42:03 always went wore a hat that wasn't until President Kennedy came along that men stopped wearing hats I believe but they they wore the uniforms until they wore out and the journals say that they took the uniforms took them apart and used those for patterns for the buck skin clothing that they had so if you look at the St menim portrait of
42:26 Lewis very closely you can see that it's it's leather but it's military cut it even has the welt down the side which in the original being infantry would have been blue but it's its leather with the way it's way it's cut is all very military and talking to Steve Ali this week from the frontier History Museum he said that some of the captains were rather pardon
42:51 the modern term anal but they would make the men take their pants apart periodically and bleach them and then sew them back together again so they were used to taking apart and putting together clothing something I wouldn't want to do the other funny thing is that I've noticed is the pants at the time were white the regulation after Lewis and Clark got changed so they went back
43:16 to blue pants I'd like to think that somebody talked to the quartermaster General after going across the country and back and said whoever came up with the idea of blue pants on I mean white pants for the the Army is nuts cuz it's very hard keep these things clean and if you're trying to show off every time you meet a new Indian nation and you I'm sure they had
43:38 to um keep their clothing clean in fact the the regulation of the time was that they had to clean up every 3 days I'm not a very good soldier and uh I still have my beard but if I if I were to march with Steve Ali's crew I would have to to shave because he insists and Bob Moore now from the park service insists that the the men of the Expedition were
44:03 clean shaven the men in those days whether they were in the army or not were clean shaven they did not go bearded that came later in the 19th century
44:26 yesal is this place bugged I'm with you I I enjoy having this argument with some of the his army historians yes I would I would think that after uh being away from civilization for two years certain things wore R like the razors and certain things also wore out like adherence to the
44:50 regulations but at times they fell back upon them if they needed them it was a way of ensuring the success of the mission they it was we we would say that the Army values from today they didn't articulate them in those days but they had them loyalty Duty those kinds of things and because
45:14 they had those kinds of values it helped ensure the success of the mission President Jefferson had tried to send several other non-military Expeditions before and they had all failed of course it's a failure when You' send somebody who turns out to be a spy for the span Spanish anyway
45:32 but they were a
45:54 failure there was um we okay the qu the question is how many how many people went and um I work for the engineers I don't have the head for the numbers person said it was 40 then I heard that 30 I heard only one person died with depend there is some controversy over the numbers but
46:17 generally speaking about 50 total left Fort uh St Louis and went up the river when they got the first winner at Fort Mandan and now more North Dakota SE many of the men were sent back they never were intended to go the whole way they were to take the keelboat back with the things they had collected
46:40 journals letters from the first year and also a couple of the the soldiers that washed out couple men who had deserted been recaptured and uh they were sent back so counting sakagawa and Tousan shano who were picked up at Fort Mandan there was 30 one who went to and and slave York Clark slave York 31
47:04 total um and one died one one man Sergeant Floyd died on the way up in what's today Iowa right I have I don't H that one's missing too no here we go when uh here's a good story I like telling
47:28 when Lewis was in Philadelphia he was picking up uniform Parts cuz the regular army soldiers that he recruited would already have their uniforms but he was planning on getting some recruits Captain Clark in the Louisville area picked up several recruits which we now call the nine young men from Kentucky and not being already in the army they didn't already have
47:52 clothes so Captain Lewis I'll this is too small for most of you to see but you can look at it later he had special coats made in Philadelphia now the story is is this coat here the regular issue Army coat cost 80 cents to make in those days the way it worked was every year the quartermaster General would put out
48:16 a contract saying we want coats made blue wool here's the specs and the contractors in New York and Philadelphia knew that in certain time we're going to get this call for making coats and so they would go out and they'd buy up all the blue wool they could find in the United States Jack the price up and the price and then when the contract came out they say well gee we have to charge it $2.50 per
48:40 coat quartermaster General got smart so he went out earlier in the year bought up all the blue wool then he issued the contract in two parts one was to provide the wool the other was to S them together same thing happened the guys come back the contract bids came in and and said well provide it but you know we can't find blue wool it's going to be expensive and he says no I already have the blue wool you just make the coats so
49:04 that's why this one was 80 cents when Lewis decided to make special coats he got this fine wool which is called drab not the color but we call this drab as a color now but that's the finest English wool and he had a a tailor make him it cost $2.50 I believe per coat just for the
49:26 Tailoring and it was something like $5 a yard for the material which in 1803 is a lot of money so so that's why some of the men wore this uniform some wore and some wore this uniform they had the blue coveralls which came out of the stocks that were left over from previous when the Army built up during President Adams
49:49 days so there were 31 and they were dressed in various different ways but they were wearing uniforms cuz one of the reasons they wore the uniform was to impress the Indians that these weren't just another bunch of fur Trappers going up the river yes can you tell me when you were gathering your recruits and they were talking amongst each other kind of planning what would be going on
50:13 what would they have been talking about U that they thought they would see as they got to the West what did they think they would see now this is all supposition but I'm not a lawyer I can do that right uh well one thing one thing as we know from from the letters at least the officers thought they might find
50:37 Mastadon or Mammoth some of these giant elephant things that they'd seen bones in Indiana Ohio area so that's one thing one thing they did not expect to see were great shining mountains they expected that once they got near the Pacific they'd find another Mountain Ridge very similar to this one over here piece of cake they did not expect to see
51:00 the Rocky Mountains and I'm sure they did not expect to see great herds of bison and uh all this other Wildlife that they did see as we heard from Kay jenkinson the other night they had that theory that everything was balanced so I would extend that on that they just would expect more to see more of what's
51:25 already there we do that our eles until we get to a new place we sort of our expectations are based on what we already know so I until we get there you either don't know what to expect or it's just more of the same so there would have been a lot of surprises I'm sure they expected to find lots of Indians I don't think they expected the variety of
51:50 Indians they did they were used to Eastern Indians and then they get to see all these different cultures and how different each tribe is one from another and uh as a returned Peace Corp volunteer I'm my reading is there was a lot of culture shock going on they they one reason they were anxious to get back was there was a lot of culture shock they they had gone gone native so to
52:13 speak but they want to get back to civilization they that's a good question you have any ideas I guess I was just thinking that uh pretty much what you said about the mastadons thinking that um wasn't there also like a lost tribe of Jewish people that they anticipated finding over there oh yes there actually two things they were looking for one is
52:36 the Lost tribe of Israel and the other is the Lost tribe of the Welsh the U did even up to our modern day certain people in this country think that there some Indian tribe out there descended from the Lost tribe of Israel but um also there was a a a
52:59 story that had gone around that a prince of Wales in the 13th century I believe had led many of his people when the English were coming into Wales he led them away in ships to the new world where they disappeared but the Europeans had this belief that they were still out here as a group as a tribe somewhere and um there's some people who believe the
53:23 mandans are descended from the Welch and and Jefferson had this idea that some of these tribes that he had heard about out west might have been descended from the Welch and that's one reason he asked Lewis to find out as much as he could about the Indians he actually had a questionnaire that he for each tribe
53:46 they were to fill out an included words they were to go in and do the vocabulary English to Mandan English to Shon and uh and so that the linguist back back in the United States and Europe could take these words and see if they were related to Welch or or any other language I don't think that's been followed up that well at least it wasn't
54:10 then but but it one of the if you've ever get a chance to read ronda's book about Lewis and Clark among the Indians he goes into that quite a bit it's pretty I think it's fascinating another question up here to run with the mic oh okay well this isn't so much about the Expedition but but come to the present and and as far as in the future uh you
54:33 know with the B Centennial of the L and Clark expedition is it actually starting here I mean right here at U in charville and this is it I mean it didn't start before we're starting right in this you know locality this I think I'm losing the mic that's all right with all the history and everything going over it the the bicentennial itself officially begins
54:57 tomorrow up on the mountain but this whole week of events is the kickoff event for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial when when when uh Jefferson sent the official letter was it to Congress yes okay yes that's why this is all secret you know it was an official letter to Congress saying I'm going to send this Expedition please appropriate
55:19 $2500 have you heard of cost overruns and by the way we plan on taking 12 12 men remember I said they took 50 or 51 they're still arguing about a couple of the guys so the original plan Jefferson and Lewis were talking about is I think we can do this with 12 when Clark came in the picture he said well we're going to need carpenters and boatsmen and you know all these people we talked about earlier
55:44 with these special skills and the numbers went up was it uh May the 14th as far as the next year 1804 is that when they started oh we're going to get in some this is good we'll get in some controversy here um from those of us in the you right after you know the letter
56:08 and it depends on where you're from where it started okay if you're from Louisville Clarksville area it started what was it October 180 August 1803 when it ever they going to do their signature event later this year if you're from St Louis area it didn't start until May of
56:30 1904 it's a matter of opinion well how come people differ Lewis wrote in his journal when he left Pittsburgh my journal my Journey Begins here so there's Pittsburgh's claim the the the whole event started here when Jefferson wrote the letter to Congress Lewis and Clark came together
56:54 first met in in in the Clarksville Louisville area the Great Falls of the Ohio so there's their argument some of the men a few of the men Lewis brought with him from Pittsburgh many of the men joined in the with Clark others were recruited out of fort massic fort casc one thing I didn't mention this
57:16 character I portray as a recruiter of course is fictional I usually do this in New England several of the men of the Expedition came from New England so I try to bring in the fact that there are ties from New England to this whole thing George drer who's somebody been around roaming around here earlier today but he was sent from casasia down to Southwest fort in Tennessee to recruit
57:40 other men so there were recruiters sent out so these men all finally came together and and um trained at Camp Wood or Camp du now in Illinois across from the mouth of the Missouri River so you could say the Expedition started in St Louis those of us from the East look on the map and say Where's the Line from Pittsburgh on the map but the park service by
58:04 legislation their Trail so to speak starts in St Louis and goes west although now it has certain spots that are part of the trail in the East like Louisville and uh monello I believe I there's a couple spots yes the young lady here with with the horses okay what is your opinion about ls's death oh
58:28 we're really getting into controversy do you have an opinion well first of all are you from Tennessee is there anybody here from Tennessee oh I got to be careful then you don't have an opinion does everybody know the story of Lewis's death or do I have to repeat that right Lewis died in 189 after he became governor of of the upper
58:51 Louisiana Territory he was in he was in trouble because he had certain political enemies remember I said there were cost overruns from his expedition new Administration came are you pointing to this tent reach you can't re right right you know it it I I'm from Massachusetts anybody here heard of the big dig that would be the modern equivalent of lwis
59:15 and Clark's cost overrun you know it's fun to be out of character it's a little more efficient isn't it being out of character you you don't have to pretend not to know right well actually this is my usual character being cynical so we'll get into what was the question oh Lewis's death and for those of you who may not be familiar with it Lewis died he was going from St
59:39 Louis back to Washington to explain some of these bills that were still coming in from his expedition and probably some of his bills from being governor in St Louis also former President Jefferson was still saying where's the journals we you promised you get them published so he was feeling under the weather and Lewis had other other problems he had a hard time readjusting back to
1:00:04 civilization I understand when he got to a place in Tennessee called amongst other things grinder stand a gunshot rang out and he was found dying and soon died he was despondent there is a certain element of people mostly who live in Tennessee who believe he was
1:00:27 murdered I believe every historian in the world who isn't based in Tennessee believes he committed suicide his good friend and as it turned out executive William Clark believed he committed suicide because he was he suffered from Melancholy all his life that's another way what we would say depression uh I've talked to people who
1:00:51 say yes my wife I haven't talked to the psychologist myself but secondhand I that the psychologist say he had all the all the symptoms of someone who had commit suicide President Jefferson believed he committed suicide and but people who commit suicide lack by definition good moral character and you cannot name a county after someone who lacks moral character
1:01:15 so a couple decades later when the state of Tennessee decided to rename the county he died in Lewis County according to historians I've read that's when the story of him being murdered for his money which he didn't have anyway um came up so did was I diplomatic enough and and what I think happened to Captain were there others that were on the trip
1:01:40 that had the same kind of problem re adjusting to life after the Expedition everybody heard the question I had a gentleman that today when I was wearing the other my other uniform here came up to me and it said he his last name is goodr there was a gentleman on the Party by the name of silus goodr and um this gentleman says I'm trying to find out if I'm related to him
1:02:04 but I can't can what can you tell me and he proceeded to tell me everything he knew about Silas Goodrich which was exactly everything I know about silus Goodrich because it's everything that's in Clark's book the men of Lewis and Clark expedition written what in the 1960s and uh it's ALS

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Keith Bear on Native American Hospitality and the Lewis & Clark Expedition

Keith Bear

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Keith Bear on Native American Hospitality and the Lewis & Clark Expedition

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