[ANIMAL HOWLS]
Man: IN MANY RESPECTS, THE EXPEDITION WAS LIKE GOING TO THE MOON,
WITH ONE REMARKABLE EXCEPTION
THAT I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE FORGET ABOUT.
THAT IS THAT WHEN APOLLO 13 IS HAVING ITS DIFFICULTY,
THAT THOSE PEOPLE ARE IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH--WITH EARTH.
THEY'RE SPEAKING WITH HOUSTON,
AND THEY'RE GETTING ADVICE ON HOW TO DEAL WITH PROBLEMS.
LEWIS AND CLARK WERE ON THEIR OWN.
Narrator: BY THE SUMMER OF 1805,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY HAD BEEN GONE FOR A YEAR AND A HALF.
THEY HAD ALREADY REACHED THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE,
WHERE THEY EXPECTED TO FIND A SHORT AND EASY PORTAGE
BETWEEN THE MISSOURI AND COLUMBIA RIVERS--
THE GREAT DREAM EXPLORERS HAD PURSUED FOR 3 CENTURIES--
THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE.
INSTEAD, THEY WERE CONFRONTED BY ENDLESS MOUNTAINS.
SOMEHOW, THEY WOULD HAVE TO GET THROUGH THEM BEFORE WINTER
IF THEY WERE TO REACH THE PACIFIC,
ACCOMPLISH THEIR MISSION,
AND NOT DISAPPEAR IN WHAT WAS STILL A GREAT BLANK ON THE MAPS OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN.
Man: NOBODY KNEW WHAT WAS THERE.
EVERY TIME THEY WENT AROUND A BEND IN THE RIVER,
THEY HAD A SURPRISE IN FRONT OF THEM.
EVERY TIME THEY CROSSED A MOUNTAIN PASS,
THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE GONNA SEE ON THE OTHER SIDE.
Narrator: WHILE WILLIAM CLARK AND MOST OF THE EXPEDITION MOVED SLOWLY WESTWARD,
HIS FRIEND AND CO-CAPTAIN MERIWETHER LEWIS WENT ON AHEAD
TO LOOK FOR THE HORSES THEY WOULD NEED
TO CROSS THE MOUNTAINS.
Man: IT IS NOW ALL-IMPORTANT WITH US
TO MEET WITH THE SHOSHONE INDIANS, WHO HAVE HORSES.
IF WE DO NOT FIND THEM,
I FEAR THE SUCCESSFUL ISSUE OF OUR VOYAGE WILL BE VERY DOUBTFUL.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Woman: A GREAT MANY SNOWS PASSED.
WHEN I WAS A CHILD, OUR PEOPLE, THE SHOSHONES,
WERE IN CONTINUAL FEAR OF THE BLACKFEET AND HIDATSAS,
WHO WERE ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF FIREARMS,
OF WHICH WE KNEW NOTHING, SAVE BY THEIR MURDEROUS EFFECTS.
"COME," OUR CHIEF SAID, "LET US FLY TO THE MOUNTAINS.
"LET US SEEK THEIR DEEPEST RECESSES WHERE, UNKNOWN TO OUR DESTROYERS,
"WE MAY HUNT DEER IN THE BIGHORN
AND BRING GLADNESS BACK TO THE HEARTS OF OUR WIVES AND OUR CHILDREN."
FARO, SHOSHONE.
Man: OF ALL THE INDIANS THAT LEWIS AND CLARK MET,
THE LEMHI SHOSHONES WERE THE MOST IN TROUBLE,
LIVED THE MOST PRECARIOUS LIVES--
WHO'D BEEN PUSHED AROUND MORE BY THEIR NEIGHBORS THAN ANYONE ELSE.
THEY'D BEEN RAIDED BY THE BLACKFEET,
RAIDED BY THE ATSINAS.
MANY OF THEIR PEOPLE HAD BEEN CAPTURED BY THE HIDATSAS,
INCLUDING SACAGAWEA.
AND SO THESE WERE FOLKS THAT REALLY LIVED LEAN AND HUNGRY LIVES.
Narrator: ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 13, 1805,
3 SHOSHONE WOMEN OUT GATHERING FOOD A FEW MILES FROM THEIR VILLAGE
LOOKED UP TO SEE A STRANGER APPROACHING.
IT WAS LEWIS WITH A TINY SCOUTING PARTY.
Meriwether Lewis: I INSTANTLY LAID DOWN MY GUN AND ADVANCED TOWARDS THEM.
THEY APPEARED MUCH ALARMED BUT SAW THAT WE WERE TOO NEAR FOR THEM TO ESCAPE BY FLIGHT.
THEY THEREFORE SEATED THEMSELVES ON THE GROUND,
HOLDING DOWN THEIR HEADS AS IF RECONCILED TO DIE,
WHICH THEY EXPECTED NO DOUBT WOULD BE THEIR FATE.
I GAVE THESE WOMEN SOME BEADS, A FEW MOCCASIN AWLS,
SOME PEWTER MIRRORS, AND A LITTLE PAINT.
I NOW PAINTED THEIR TAWNY CHEEKS WITH SOME VERMILION,
WHICH WITH THIS NATION IS EMBLEMATIC OF PEACE.
Narrator: AT THAT MOMENT, 60 MOUNTED SHOSHONE WARRIORS GALLOPED UP,
LED BY A CHIEF NAMED CAMEAHWAIT,
THE ONE WHO NEVER WALKS.
LIKE THE REST OF HIS PEOPLE, HE HAD NEVER SEEN A WHITE MAN.
Man: THEY WERE UNLIKE ANY PEOPLE WE HAD HITHERTO SEEN--
FAIRER THAN OURSELVES AND CLOTHED WITH SKINS UNKNOWN TO US--
AND WE SOON DISCOVERED THAT THEY WERE IN POSSESSION
OF THE IDENTICAL THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
THAT HAD PROVED IN THE HANDS OF OUR ENEMIES SO FATAL TO OUR HAPPINESS.
Meriwether Lewis: I ADVANCED TOWARDS THEM WITH THE FLAG,
LEAVING MY GUN WITH THE PARTY.
THESE MEN THEN ADVANCED AND EMBRACED ME VERY AFFECTIONATELY IN THEIR WAY,
WHICH IS BY PUTTING THEIR LEFT ARM OVER YOUR RIGHT SHOULDER,
CLASPING YOUR BACK WHILE THEY APPLY THEIR LEFT CHEEK TO YOURS
AND FREQUENTLY VOCIFERATE THE WORD AH-HI-E! AH-HI-E!
THAT IS, "I AM MUCH PLEASED. I AM MUCH REJOICED."
BOTH PARTIES NOW ADVANCED,
AND WE WERE ALL CARESSED AND BESMEARED WITH THEIR GREASE AND PAINT
TILL I WAS HEARTILY TIRED OF THE NATIONAL HUG.
Man: THEY GAVE US THINGS LIKE SOLID WATER,
WHICH WERE SOMETIMES BRILLIANT AS THE SUN
AND WHICH SOMETIMES SHOWED US OUR OWN FACES.
WE THOUGHT THEM THE CHILDREN OF THE GREAT SPIRIT.
Narrator: USING SIGN LANGUAGE,
LEWIS EXPLAINED HIS NEED FOR HORSES,
BUT WHEN THE SHOSHONES LEARNED THAT THE 4 WHITE MEN
WERE PART OF A MUCH LARGER GROUP,
THEY SUSPECTED IT WAS A TRAP,
THAT THE STRANGERS WERE IN LEAGUE WITH THEIR ENEMIES.
[SINGING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE]
RELUCTANTLY, CAMEAHWAIT AND A HANDFUL OF HIS PEOPLE
AGREED TO ACCOMPANY LEWIS BACK TO JOIN CLARK AND THE OTHERS.
Man: WHEN CAMEAHWAIT AND LEWIS LEFT THE VILLAGE TO GO MEET THE REST OF THE EXPEDITION,
THE WOMEN IN THE VILLAGE STARTED SINGING A WAILING SONG,
THINKING THAT THEY MIGHT BE BEING LED TO THEIR DEATH--
IT MIGHT BE A TRAP.
BUT EVERYTHING RESTED ON WHETHER YOU COULD CONVINCE THE SHOSHONES
TO TRADE FOR THOSE HORSES,
BECAUSE WITHOUT THE HORSES,
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A LONG, LONG WINTER
IN THE MOUNTAINS OF WHAT'S NOW MONTANA
AND YOU'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT.
[GEESE HONKING]
Narrator: MEANWHILE, 50 MILES AWAY,
CLARK, THE FRENCH-CANADIAN INTERPRETER CHARBONNEAU,
AND THE REST OF THE EXPEDITION
WERE STILL ADVANCING SLOWLY UP THE BEAVERHEAD RIVER,
DRAGGING THEIR DUGOUT CANOES AGAINST THE SWIFT CURRENT
AND ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR ANY SIGN OF LEWIS.
WALKING OUT IN THE LEAD WAS CHARBONNEAU'S WIFE, THE YOUNG INDIAN WOMAN
THE CAPTAINS HAD HIRED THE PREVIOUS WINTER--SACAGAWEA.
Man: BY CARRYING A WOMAN ALONG--
ESPECIALLY A WOMAN WHO WAS CARRYING AN INFANT--
SAID TO TRIBES, "THIS IS NOT A WAR PARTY."
IN WAR PARTIES, YOU DO NOT CARRY A WOMAN WITH AN INFANT.
SO SHE WAS A LIVING WHITE FLAG, SO TO SPEAK,
AS THEY MOVED ALONG.
SHE WAS A SIGN OF PEACE
BETTER THAN ANYTHING THEY COULD HAVE FOUND.
Narrator: ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 17,
CLARK SAW SACAGAWEA STOP, SIGNAL TO HIM,
AND POINT TO A GROUP OF INDIANS APPROACHING ON HORSES.
THEY WERE SHOSHONES, HER OWN PEOPLE.
THEY NOW LED CLARK'S PARTY TO WHERE LEWIS AND CAMEAHWAIT WERE CAMPED.
THE CAPTAINS SAT DOWN TO BEGIN THE CRUCIAL NEGOTIATIONS FOR HORSES.
THEN OCCURRED ONE OF THE GREATEST COINCIDENCES IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
Man: SACAGAWEA WAS SENT FOR.
SHE CAME, SAT DOWN,
AND WAS BEGINNING TO INTERPRET
WHEN, IN THE PERSON OF CAMEAHWAIT,
SHE RECOGNIZED HER BROTHER.
SHE INSTANTLY JUMPED UP AND RAN AND EMBRACED HIM,
THROWING OVER HIM HER BLANKET AND WEEPING PROFUSELY.
WILLIAM CLARK.
YOU WOULDN'T DARE WRITE IT THAT WAY, BUT IT HAPPENED,
AND THERE WERE HUGS,
AND THERE WERE KISSES,
AND THERE WERE EMBRACES,
AND SHE STARTED TO TRANSLATE,
AND SHE WAS SO OVERCOME WITH EMOTION
THAT SHE BROKE DOWN AND COULDN'T DO IT,
AND THEN THEY GOT HER GOING AGAIN,
AND THROUGH HER GOOD OFFICES AND HER TRANSLATING ABILITY--
A VERY COMPLEX TRANSLATION ROUTE,
SHE HAD TO SPEAK SHOSHONE
TO HER BROTHER AND HER FELLOW TRIBESPEOPLE.
THEN SHE WOULD PUT THAT INTO HIDATSA FOR CHARBONNEAU.
CHARBONNEAU WOULD PUT THAT HIDATSA INTO FRENCH FOR LABICHE,
AND PRIVATE LABICHE WOULD PUT IT INTO ENGLISH FOR THE CAPTAINS,
SO IT WAS A VERY COMPLEX TRANSLATION ROUTE,
BUT IT WORKED,
AND VERY FRIENDLY RELATIONS WERE QUICKLY ESTABLISHED,
AND THE TRADING BEGAN.
[DRUMMING AND SINGING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE]
Narrator: BY THE END OF THE DAY,
CAMEAHWAIT AGREED TO SELL THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY ALL THE HORSES THEY NEEDED.
[HORSE WHINNIES]
IN HONOR OF THEIR GOOD FORTUNE,
LEWIS AND CLARK NAMED THE SPOT CAMP FORTUNATE.
THE FOLLOWING DAY, AUGUST 18th,
WAS MERIWETHER LEWIS' 31st BIRTHDAY.
THAT EVENING, LEWIS OPENED HIS JOURNAL.
THE DAY HAD GONE WELL, HE WROTE.
THE SHOSHONES WERE EAGERLY TRADING THEIR HORSES FOR ALMOST ANYTHING.
LEWIS HIMSELF HAD PURCHASED 3 FOR AN OLD UNIFORM COAT,
A FEW HANDKERCHIEFS, AND 3 KNIVES.
THEN HIS THOUGHTS TURNED INWARD.
Meriwether Lewis: THIS DAY I COMPLETED MY 31st YEAR,
THEN CONCEIVED THAT I HAD, IN ALL HUMAN PROBABILITY,
NOW EXISTED ABOUT HALF THE PERIOD WHICH I AM TO REMAIN IN THIS WORLD.
I REFLECTED THAT I HAD AS YET DONE BUT LITTLE, VERY LITTLE INDEED,
TO FURTHER THE HAPPINESS OF THE HUMAN RACE
OR TO ADVANCE THE INFORMATION OF THE SUCCEEDING GENERATION.
Duncan: LEWIS HAD JUST BECOME THE FIRST AMERICAN CITIZEN
TO STAND AT THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.
HE HAD JUST COMPLETED THE NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE HORSES THAT HIS MEN WERE GONNA NEED
TO GET THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS AND SUCCEED ON THEIR EXPEDITION,
AND AS HE SAT DOWN ON THE NIGHT OF HIS 31st BIRTHDAY,
HE STARTS QUESTIONING OF WHETHER HE HAD DONE ENOUGH.
I MEAN, HE'S 31 YEARS OLD.
HAD HE DONE ENOUGH?
MY GOD, WHAT MORE COULD YOU HOPE TO HAVE DONE AT THAT AGE?
BUT THERE'S SOMETHING IN LEWIS, THIS ELEMENT OF HIM,
THAT COULD TAKE A SUPREME MOMENT IN SOMEONE'S LIFE
AND SOMEHOW FIND SOMETHING DARK AND MOODY TO WRITE ABOUT.
Meriwether Lewis: I VIEWED WITH REGRET THE MANY HOURS I HAVE SPENT IN INDOLENCE
AND NOW SORELY FEEL THE WANT OF THAT INFORMATION
WHICH THOSE HOURS WOULD HAVE GIVEN ME HAD THEY BEEN JUDICIOUSLY EXPENDED...
BUT SINCE THEY ARE PASSED AND CANNOT BE RECALLED,
I DASH FROM ME THE GLOOMY THOUGHT
AND RESOLVE TO REDOUBLE MY EXERTIONS,
OR IN FUTURE, TO LIVE FOR MANKIND
AS I HAVE HERETOFORE LIVED FOR MYSELF.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Man: THE GUIDE WHO WAS ENGAGED WITH US TO GO ON TO THE OCEAN
TELLS US THAT THERE IS TWO WAYS TO GO,
BUT THE ONE BEARING SOUTH IS PLAINS
AND A DESERT COUNTRY WITHOUT GAME OR WATER.
THE ROAD TO THE NORTH IS ROUGH AND MOUNTAINOUS,
BUT HE SAID HE COULD TAKE US IN 10 DAYS TO A RIVER THAT WOULD BE NAVIGABLE,
OR IN ABOUT 15 DAYS, WE COULD GO TO WHERE THE TIDE CAME UP IN SALT WATER.
SO WE CONCLUDED TO GO THAT ROAD.
JOHN ORDWAY.
Narrator: ON AUGUST 31, THE EXPEDITION SET OFF ON 29 HORSES AND 1 MULE,
LED BY AN ELDERLY SHOSHONE THE CAPTAINS CALLED OLD TOBY.
THEY CROSSED A STEEP MOUNTAIN PASS
AND DESCENDED INTO THE VALLEY
OF A BEAUTIFUL RIVER NOW CALLED THE BITTERROOT.
SEPTEMBER ARRIVED.
THE DAYS WERE PLEASANT...
BUT ON THE HIGH MOUNTAINS IMMEDIATELY TO THE WEST,
THEY KNEW THAT SNOW WAS ACCUMULATING.
Man: SEPTEMBER 10.
AS OUR ROAD NEXT LEADS OVER A MOUNTAIN TO OUR LEFT,
OUR CAPTAINS CONCLUDE TO STAY HERE THIS DAY TO TAKE OBSERVATIONS
AND FOR THE HUNTERS TO KILL MEAT TO LAST US ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS
AND FOR OUR HORSES TO REST, ET CETERA.
THOUGH THE DAY IS WARM,
THE SNOW DOES NOT MELT ON THE MOUNTAINS A SHORT DISTANCE FROM US.
THE SNOW MAKES THEM LOOK LIKE THE MIDDLE OF WINTER.
JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE.
Narrator: HERE THE INDIANS TOLD THEM SOME STARTLING NEWS.
FROM WHERE THEY STOOD NOW,
THE MISSOURI RIVER NEAR THE GREAT FALLS WAS ONLY 4 DAYS' TRAVEL DUE EAST.
BY FOLLOWING THE MISSOURI TO ITS SOURCE,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY HAD MISSED THIS SHORTCUT.
INSTEAD OF 4 DAYS, IT HAD TAKEN THEM 53.
SUMMER WAS OVER,
AND STILL THEY HAD THE BITTERROOT MOUNTAINS TO CROSS--
"THE MOST TERRIBLE MOUNTAINS," WROTE SERGEANT PATRICK GASS,
"THAT I EVER BEHELD."
William Clark: SEPTEMBER 12, 1805.
A WHITE FROST.
SET OUT AT 7:00.
THE ROAD THROUGH THIS COUNTRY IS MOST INTOLERABLE
ON THE SIDES OF THE STEEP, STONY MOUNTAINS,
THICKLY COVERED WITH UNDERGROWTH AND FALLEN TIMBER.
SOME OF OUR PARTY DO NOT GET UP HERE UNTIL 10 P.M.
OUR HUNTERS KILLED ONLY ONE GROUSE THIS AFTERNOON.
PARTY AND HORSES MUCH FATIGUED.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Man: SEPTEMBER 14.
NONE OF THE HUNTERS KILLED ANYTHING EXCEPT 2 OR 3 PHEASANTS ON WHICH, WITHOUT A MIRACLE,
IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO FEED 30 HUNGRY MEN AND UPWARDS, BESIDES SOME INDIANS.
SO CAPTAIN LEWIS GAVE OUT SOME PORTABLE SOUP WHICH HE HAD ALONG
TO BE USED IN CASES OF NECESSITY.
SOME OF THE MEN DID NOT RELISH THIS SOUP
AND AGREED TO KILL A COLT, WHICH THEY IMMEDIATELY DID, AND SET ABOUT ROASTING IT
AND WHICH APPEARED TO ME TO BE GOOD EATING.
PATRICK GASS.
Narrator: THE INDIANS HAD TOLD THE CAPTAINS THAT CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS
WOULD TAKE ONLY A FEW DAYS OF ROUGH TRAVEL,
BUT OLD TOBY, THE EXPEDITION'S GUIDE, LOST THE TRAIL,
AND FOR TWO DAYS BEFORE THEY REGAINED THEIR BEARINGS,
THEY WANDERED UP AND DOWN MOUNTAINSIDES
PRIVATE JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE CALLED AS STEEP AS THE ROOF OF A HOUSE.
Man: SOME PLACES ARE SO STEEP AND ROCKY THAT SOME OF OUR HORSES FELL BACKWARDS
AND ROLLED 20 OR 30 FEET AMONG THE ROCKS BUT DID NOT KILL THEM.
Narrator: ON THE FIFTH DAY, CLARK CLIMBED TO A VANTAGE POINT.
"FROM THIS MOUNTAIN," HE WROTE,
"I COULD OBSERVE HIGH, RUGGED MOUNTAINS IN EVERY DIRECTION AS FAR AS I COULD SEE."
Joseph Whitehouse: SEPTEMBER 16.
WHEN WE AWOKE THIS MORNING, TO OUR GREAT SURPRISE, WE WERE COVERED WITH SNOW,
WHICH HAD FALLEN ABOUT TWO INCHES THE LATTER PART OF LAST NIGHT,
AND IT CONTINUES A VERY COLD SNOWSTORM.
CAPTAIN CLARK SHOT AT A DEER BUT DID NOT KILL IT.
WE MENDED UP OUR MOCCASINS.
SOME OF THE MEN WITHOUT SOCKS WRAPPED RAGS ON THEIR FEET.
AND WE LOADED UP OUR HORSES AND SET OUT WITHOUT ANYTHING TO EAT AND PROCEEDED ON.
YOU COULD HARDLY SEE THE OLD TRAIL FOR THE SNOW.
William Clark: I HAVE BEEN WET AND AS COLD IN EVERY PART AS I EVER WAS IN MY LIFE.
MEN ALL WET, COLD, AND HUNGRY.
TO DESCRIBE THE ROAD OF THIS DAY WOULD BE A REPETITION OF YESTERDAY,
EXCEPT THE SNOW, WHICH MADE IT MUCH WORSE.
Narrator: THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY PRESSED ON,
AND WITH THEM EVERY STEP OF THE WAY CAME SACAGAWEA.
Woman: SHE'D BEEN HUNGRY A LOT AS A GIRL,
AND WHEN SHE GOT TO THE BITTERROOTS,
I THINK SHE SAID TO HERSELF, "I KNOW THIS.
"I KNOW HOW YOU DO THIS.
YOU GO INSIDE TO OVERCOME THIS."
IT WAS A KIND OF INCREDIBLE WILL AND DETERMINATION
BECAUSE NOT ONLY DID SHE HAVE TO KEEP HERSELF ALIVE,
BUT SHE HAD TO KEEP THIS BABY ALIVE, TOO.
William Clark: ENCAMPED ON A BOLD, RUNNING CREEK WHICH I CALL HUNGRY CREEK,
AS AT THAT PLACE WE HAD NOTHING TO EAT.
Duncan: THEY ATE THEIR CANDLES.
THEY ATE ANYTHING THEY COULD GET THEIR HANDS ON.
THE WHOLE THING IS RIGHT ON THE EDGE.
THEY'RE NEARLY STARVING.
IT WAS THE SCARIEST MOMENT, I THINK, FOR THE EXPEDITION,
IN WHICH IT WAS POSSIBLE THAT THEY MIGHT NOT MAKE IT OUT,
AND IF THEY VANISHED, THEY VANISHED.
NO ONE WOULD KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THEM.
Meriwether Lewis: SEPTEMBER 21.
WE KILLED A FEW GROUSE, AND I KILLED A PRAIRIE WOLF,
WHICH, TOGETHER WITH SOME CRAWFISH WHICH WE OBTAINED IN THE CREEK,
ENABLED US TO MAKE ONE MORE HEARTY MEAL,
NOT KNOWING WHERE THE NEXT WAS TO BE FOUND.
I FIND MYSELF GROWING WEAK FOR THE WANT OF FOOD,
AND MOST OF THE MEN COMPLAIN OF A SIMILAR DEFICIENCY
AND HAVE FALLEN OFF VERY MUCH.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Narrator: WHAT HAD BEGUN AS A SHORT, EASY PASSAGE
HAD BECOME A GRUELING 165-MILE ORDEAL.
11 DAYS AFTER ENTERING THE MOUNTAINS,
THE EXPEDITION FINALLY STUMBLED OUT OF THE BITTERROOTS,
MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE.
THERE ON THE BANKS OF THE CLEARWATER RIVER,
NEAR WHAT IS NOW THE BORDER OF IDAHO AND WASHINGTON,
THEY WERE FOUND BY THE NEZ PERCE.
[SINGING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE]
Man: IN THE BUFFALO DAYS,
A GIRL WAS MISSING FROM A NEZ PERCE HUNTING CAMP,
AND AFTER SNOWS, WHEN SHE CAME BACK TO HER PEOPLE, SHE TOLD HER STORY--
TOLD HOW SHE WAS SOLD BY AN ENEMY PEOPLE
TO A DIFFERENT TRIBE WHERE SHE WAS A SLAVE.
THEN SHE WAS SOLD TO WHITE PEOPLE WHO KEPT HER AS ONE OF THEIR OWN KIND,
BUT THEN SHE ESCAPED TO RETURN TO HER OWN COUNTRY.
SHE WAS GIVEN THE NAME WATKUWEIS,
WHICH MEANS "RETURNED FROM BEING LOST."
SHE TOLD HISTORY ABOUT THE WHITES,
AND EVERY NEZ PERCE LISTENED--
TOLD HOW THE WHITE PEOPLE WERE GOOD TO HER,
TREATED HER WITH KINDNESS.
MANY WOUNDS.
Narrator: THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE NIMIPU, "THE PEOPLE,"
BUT IN SIGN LANGUAGE, THEIR NAME WAS INDICATED
BY A MOTION THAT CLARK WOULD TRANSLATE AS "PIERCED NOSE--"
THE NEZ PERCE.
ALONG THE CLEARWATER AND SNAKE RIVERS,
THEY FISHED FOR SALMON,
HARVESTED THE RICH BULBS OF CAMAS PLANTS IN THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS,
AND ONCE A YEAR DISPATCHED BUFFALO-HUNTING PARTIES EASTWARD
OVER THE SAME MOUNTAIN TRAIL THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY HAD JUST TRAVELED.
LEWIS AND CLARK WERE THE FIRST WHITE MEN EVER TO REACH THEIR HOMELAND.
IN THE VILLAGE OF A CHIEF NAMED TWISTED HAIR,
THE INDIANS DEBATED WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE WEAK AND STARVING STRANGERS
WHO HAD SUDDENLY APPEARED.
Woman: THEY WENT TO TWISTED HAIR'S CAMP AND TOLD HIM,
AND IMMEDIATELY HE SENT OUT HIS RUNNERS TO BRING IN THE REST OF THE LEADERS
OF THE DIFFERENT BANDS THAT WERE THERE.
THEY CAME, AND THEY DECIDED WHAT TO DO.
"LET'S KILL THEM."
"ALL RIGHT. WHAT WILL WE DO WITH THEM?"
WE'LL THROW THEM OVER THAT CLIFF OVER THERE BY THE RIVER."
[HORSE WHINNIES]
Ambrose: AND FOR THE NEZ PERCE, THINK OF THE OPPORTUNITY.
32 SLITS ACROSS THE NECKS OF 32 MEN,
AND THE NEZ PERCE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE RICHEST INDIANS IN AMERICA.
THEY WOULD HAVE HAD THE BIGGEST ARSENAL WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
THEY WOULD HAVE HAD THE BEST RIFLES
IN THAT WHOLE STRETCH OF TERRITORY FROM ST. LOUIS OUT TO THE PACIFIC COAST.
THEY WOULD HAVE HAD A LIFETIME SUPPLY OF AMMUNITION.
THEY WOULD HAVE HAD KETTLES, TELESCOPES, BEADS, TRADE GOODS.
THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN FABULOUSLY RICH,
AND ALL IT TOOK WAS 32 LITTLE SLITS.
Lawyer: AND THEY TALKED ABOUT IT, AND THEY DECIDED, "LET'S KILL THEM."
AND ACROSS THE CAMP NEARLY DIRECTLY FROM WHERE TWISTED HAIR'S CAMP WAS
WAS AN OLD WOMAN.
HER NAME WAS WATKUWEIS,
AND SHE IS THE ONE THAT SENT WORD TO THEM, "BE GOOD TO THEM.
"BE KIND TO THEM BECAUSE THEY WERE GOOD TO ME
WHEN I WAS A CAPTIVE FAR, FAR AWAY FROM HERE."
SO THAT'S HOW THEY WERE GOOD TO THEM.
Narrator: ONCE AGAIN, A WOMAN HAD COME
TO THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY'S AID.
THE NEZ PERCE DECIDED TO BEFRIEND THE STRANGERS.
William Clark: WE CAMPED NEAR THE VILLAGE,
AND THE NATIVES GAVE US SUCH FOOD AS THEY HAD TO EAT,
CONSISTING OF ROOTS OF DIFFERENT KINDS, WHICH WAS SWEET AND GOOD.
THE NATIVES ALSO GAVE US SOME EXCELLENT FAT SALMON TO EAT WITH THE ROOT, OR POTATO BREAD.
CAPTAIN LEWIS AND MYSELF ATE A SUPPER OF ROOTS BOILED
WHICH FILLED US SO FULL OF WIND THAT WE WERE SCARCELY ABLE TO BREATHE ALL NIGHT.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Ambrose: AND THE MEN GORGED THEMSELVES ON THESE ROOTS
AND GOT JUST UNGODLY SICK--
SWOLLEN STOMACHS, DYSENTERY, DIARRHEA--
UNABLE TO MOVE, FLAT ON THEIR BACKS...
Narrator: DESPERATE TO AVOID MORE SALMON AND CAMAS ROOTS,
THE MEN PLEADED FOR PERMISSION TO BUTCHER A HORSE.
"THEY ENJOYED IT," JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE WROTE,
"AS EVER WE DID FAT BEEF IN THE STATES."
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY STAYED AMONG THE NEZ PERCE FOR MORE THAN TWO WEEKS,
GRADUALLY GATHERING THEIR STRENGTH
AND PREPARING TO FOLLOW THE RIVER
THEIR NEW FRIENDS TOLD THEM WOULD LEAD TO THE SEA.
Patrick Gass: ALL THE MEN ARE NOW ABLE TO WORK,
BUT THE GREATER NUMBER ARE VERY WEAK.
TO SAVE THEM FROM HARD LABOR,
WE'VE ADOPTED THE INDIAN METHOD OF BURNING OUT THE CANOES.
Narrator: TWISTED HAIR DIRECTED THEM TO A GROVE OF PONDEROSA PINES
AND AFTER THE MEN CUT SOME DOWN,
SHOWED THEM HOW THE NEZ PERCE USED FIRES
TO HOLLOW OUT THE TREES FOR CANOES.
ON THE AFTERNOON OF OCTOBER 7,
THE EXPLORERS FINALLY PUSHED THEIR 5 NEW DUGOUTS
INTO THE SWIFT WATERS OF THE CLEARWATER.
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE LEAVING ST. LOUIS,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY HAD THE CURRENT AT THEIR BACK.
Duncan: IT MUST HAVE BEEN A SUPREME MOMENT FOR THAT WHOLE EXPEDITION
TO PUSH THESE DUGOUT CANOES OUT ONTO THE CLEARWATER RIVER.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A YEAR AND A HALF OF HARD, HARD LABOR,
THE CURRENT'S WITH THEM.
Narrator: IT PROPELLED THEM DOWN THE CLEARWATER, THEN THE SNAKE
"SWIFTER," ONE MAN WROTE, "THAN ANY HORSE COULD RUN."
ON OCTOBER 16, THEY REACHED THE COLUMBIA--
THE GREAT RIVER OF THE NORTHWEST.
IT FLOWED THROUGH A SEMIDESERT
IN WHAT IS NOW EASTERN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.
GAME WAS SCARCE. SO WAS FIREWOOD.
THEY BOUGHT PROVISIONS FROM THE INDIANS--
YAKIMAS, WANAPAMS, AND WALLA WALLAS--
WHO TURNED OUT ON THE RIVERBANKS TO SEE THE STRANGERS.
AS THEY MOVED DOWN THE COLUMBIA,
EVERYWHERE THE CAPTAINS LOOKED,
THE GREAT RIVER TEEMED WITH FISH.
Duncan: AND THERE'S SALMON BEYOND BELIEF.
CLARK SAW SOME HOUSES WHERE HE THOUGHT
10,000 POUNDS OF DRIED SALMON MUST BE RESTING THERE.
AND INSTEAD, WHAT DID THE MEN WANT TO EAT?
THEY DIDN'T WANT FISH. THEY WANTED MEAT.
THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE USED TO EATING--
9 POUNDS OF MEAT A DAY BACK ON THE PLAINS.
THERE'S NO MEAT TO BE HAD.
SO THEY'D COME INTO AN INDIAN VILLAGE,
AND THEY'D TRADE WHATEVER THEY COULD TO BUY DOGS.
THEY WERE IN THE GREATEST SALMON FISHERY THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN--
THE COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN.
THEY'D BE SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO THE RIVERBANK WHERE THE SALMON ARE SWARMING,
AND THEY'D HAVE DOG FOR DINNER.
William Clark: OCTOBER 18.
SAW A MOUNTAIN BEARING TO THE SOUTHWEST--
CONICAL FORM, COVERED WITH SNOW.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: IT WAS MOUNT HOOD, NAMED 13 YEARS EARLIER, IN 1792, BY A SEA CAPTAIN
WHO HAD GONE 100 MILES UP THE COLUMBIA BEFORE SAILING AWAY.
SEEING THAT MOUNTAIN CONFIRMED TO THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
THAT THEY WERE SLOWLY EMERGING OUT OF UNKNOWN TERRITORY.
THEY WERE BACK ON THE MAP.
NOW THEY PASSED THROUGH A STRETCH OF CASCADES AND RAPIDS--
PLACES, CLARK NOTED, WHERE THE WATER WAS AGITATED IN A MOST SHOCKING MANNER,
"BOILING AND WHIRLING IN EVERY DIRECTION."
Ambrose: THEY WERE SO EAGER TO GET TO THE PACIFIC
THAT THEY TOOK CHANCES THEY WOULDN'T ORDINARILY HAVE TAKEN.
THE INDIANS LIVING ALONG THE BANK,
CERTAIN THEY COULD NEVER MAKE IT THROUGH THESE RAPIDS,
WOULD GATHER AT THE FOOT OF THE RAPIDS TO PICK UP ALL THE WHITE MAN'S EQUIPMENT
AFTER THEIR CANOES CRASHED AND BROKE UP AND THE MEN DROWNED,
BUT THEY MADE IT THROUGH ALL OF THEM WITHOUT ANY LOSS.
Narrator: THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY WAS ONLY 200 MILES FROM THE OCEAN.
NEAR THE END OF OCTOBER,
THEY PASSED INTO THE GREAT GORGE OF THE COLUMBIA
AND ENTERED YET ANOTHER ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WORLD.
HERE, MOIST PACIFIC WINDS DUMPED MORE THAN 5 FEET OF RAINFALL PER YEAR.
MAGNIFICENT TREES, LARGER THAN ANY OF THEM HAD EVER SEEN IN THEIR LIVES,
ROSE IN DENSE FORESTS ON BOTH SIDES.
Duncan: THERE'S FEW PLACES IN THE WORLD, I THINK,
WHERE THE CLIMATE AND TERRAIN CHANGES SO DRAMATICALLY
AS IT DOES WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE.
ON ONE SIDE, IT'S A DESERT,
AND THEN YOU COME THROUGH THIS PLACE THAT TRAPS
ALL THOSE MOIST WINDS OFF OF THE PACIFIC.
THERE'S WATER EVERYWHERE-- WATERFALLS.
IT'S A GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS SPOT THAT THEY WENT THROUGH,
AND IT WAS LIKE THIS THAT THE CLIMATE HAD CHANGED ON THEM.
IT'S, LITERALLY, A RAIN FOREST THAT THEY ENTERED.
Narrator: THE CAPTAINS NOTED THAT THE INDIANS WERE DIFFERENT, TOO.
SOME FLATTENED THEIR CHILDREN'S HEADS BETWEEN BOARDS
AS A MARK OF BEAUTY AND DISTINCTION.
OTHERS WORE CLOTHES MADE FROM CEDAR BARK.
THEY LIVED IN HOUSES MADE OF WOODEN PLANKS--
THE FIRST THE EXPLORERS HAD SEEN SINCE LEAVING ST. LOUIS.
AND THE REGION, THEY MARVELED, SEEMED AS DENSELY POPULATED
AS THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES.
SOME INDIANS WORE BLUE JACKETS AND HATS OBTAINED FROM AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN SHIPS
THAT HAD BEEN TRADING FOR SEA OTTER PELTS FOR MORE THAN A DECADE.
Meriwether Lewis: THE INDIANS INFORM US THEY SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE WITH OURSELVES
AND GIVE US PROOFS OF THEIR VERACITY BY REPEATING MANY WORDS OF ENGLISH
SUCH AS "MUSKET," "POWDER," "SHOT,"
"DAMNED RASCAL," "SON OF A BITCH," ET CETERA.
Joseph Whitehouse: NOVEMBER 3.
TOWARDS EVENING, WE MET SEVERAL INDIANS IN A CANOE WHO WERE GOING UP THE RIVER.
THEY SIGNED TO US THAT IN TWO SLEEPS,
WE SHOULD SEE THE OCEAN VESSELS AND WHITE PEOPLE.
Narrator: THE RIVER WIDENED STILL FURTHER,
AND THE MEN DETECTED SIGNS OF TIDAL MOVEMENT.
Duncan: THEY START TO SMELL SALT AIR.
THE WATER ITSELF HAS A LITTLE BIT OF SALT IN IT.
THE ANTICIPATION MUST HAVE JUST BEEN UNBEARABLE FOR THEM.
ALL THOSE GUYS WERE LEANING INTO THOSE PADDLES,
PUSHING, PUSHING, PUSHING.
THE OCEAN CAN'T BE VERY FAR AWAY,
AND, BOY, THEY WERE PUTTING THEIR BACKS INTO IT ON THAT LAST STRETCH.
William Clark: NOVEMBER 7, 1805.
A CLOUDY, FOGGY MORNING.
SOME RAIN.
WE SET OUT EARLY, THE FOG SO THICK WE COULD NOT SEE ACROSS THE RIVER.
Narrator: THEN, THE FOG LIFTED.
William Clark: OCEAN IN VIEW.
O! THE JOY.
WE ARE IN VIEW OF THE OCEAN, THIS GREAT PACIFIC OCEAN,
WHICH WE HAVE BEEN SO LONG ANXIOUS TO SEE.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: BUT IT WASN'T THE OCEAN.
THEY SOON REALIZED THEY WERE
ACTUALLY IN A HUGE BAY
NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA,
JUST A FEW MILES FROM THE OCEAN
THEY HAD CROSSED A CONTINENT
TO BEHOLD.
[THUNDER]
THEN THE WEATHER TURNED ON THEM
AND TRAPPED THEM THERE FOR NEARLY 3 WEEKS.
Ambrose: CONDITIONS WERE JUST TERRIBLE.
THIS WAS FALL.
THE STORMS WERE ROARING IN FROM THE PACIFIC.
THE LITTLE TINY AREAS TO CAMP IN JUST STREWN WITH ROCKS,
WITH GREAT, HUGE TREES CRASHING DOWN ON THEM.
THEIR CLOTHES, BY THIS TIME, WERE ALL ROTTING AWAY.
THEIR TENTS WERE VIRTUALLY GONE.
"A FEELING PERSON," CLARK WROTE,
"WOULD HAVE TO HAVE THE GREATEST SYMPATHY FOR US IF HE SAW US NOW."
Narrator: FINALLY, ON NOVEMBER 18, 1805,
WILLIAM CLARK SET OUT FROM THE EXPEDITION'S CAMPSITE,
WORKED HIS WAY TO THE TOP OF A HILL,
AND, AT LAST, SAW THE OCEAN.
Heat-Moon: TO HAVE TURNED AROUND
AND WATCHED HIS FACE SEE THAT OCEAN,
THAT WOULD BE TEARS IN THE EYES...
AND I'M SURE THAT WILLIAM CLARK HAD TEARS IN HIS EYES
WHEN HE REACHED THAT MOMENT,
EVEN THOUGH THE JOURNEY STILL HAD THE GREAT,
DIFFICULT RETURN TO MAKE, BUT THEY HAD GOTTEN THERE.
THEY HAD ARRIVED.
William Clark: WE HAVE ARRIVED IN SIGHT OF THE GREAT WESTERN,
FOR I CANNOT SAY PACIFIC, OCEAN,
AS I HAVE NOT SEEN ONE PACIFIC DAY SINCE MY ARRIVAL IN ITS VICINITY.
ITS WATERS ARE FOAMING AND PERPETUALLY BREAK WITH IMMENSE WAVES
ON THE SANDS AND ROCKY COASTS,
TEMPESTUOUS AND HORRIBLE.
Narrator: SCOUTING PARTIES CONTINUED TO SEARCH FOR FOOD,
FOR ANY SIGNS OF A TRADING VESSEL
FROM WHOM THEY COULD BUY SUPPLIES,
OR ANY SIGNS OF OTHER AMERICANS.
Joseph Whitehouse: NOVEMBER 18.
OUR OFFICERS NAMED THIS CAPE "CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT"
ON ACCOUNT OF NOT FINDING VESSELS THERE.
WE ARE NOW OF THE OPINION THAT WE CANNOT GO ANY FURTHER WITH OUR CANOES
AND, AS SOON AS DISCOVERIES NECESSARY ARE MADE,
THAT WE SHALL RETURN A SHORT DISTANCE UP THE RIVER
AND PROVIDE OURSELVES WITH WINTER QUARTERS.
JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE.
Narrator: ON NOVEMBER 24th, THE CAPTAINS CALLED EVERYONE TOGETHER.
THEY HAD COME 4,162 MILES
SINCE LEAVING THE MISSISSIPPI, CLARK ESTIMATED,
BUT NOW A DECISION WAS NEEDED--
WHERE TO SPEND THE WINTER.
STAYING NEAR THE OCEAN MEANT THEY MIGHT YET MEET A SHIP,
GET PROVISIONS, PERHAPS SEND A MAN BACK TO WASHINGTON BY SEA WITH WORD OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENT.
THEY COULD STAY ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE COLUMBIA,
THOUGH THE CHINOOK INDIANS THERE CHARGED
WHAT CLARK CONSIDERED EXTRAVAGANT PRICES FOR EVERYTHING,
THEY COULD STAY ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE COLUMBIA,
WHERE THE CLATSOP INDIANS SAID THERE WAS PLENTY OF ELK FOR FOOD AND CLOTHING,
OR THEY COULD HEAD BACK UPRIVER, TOWARD THE NEZ PERCE,
WHERE THEY COULD COUNT ON DRIER WEATHER.
THEN THE CAPTAINS TOLD THEIR CREW THAT THE ISSUE WOULD BE DECIDED BY A VOTE.
ONE BY ONE, THE NAME OF EACH MEMBER OF THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY WAS CALLED OUT.
Funkhouser: I THINK THE VOTE THAT THEY TAKE AT THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
IS A INCREDIBLY DRAMATIC MOMENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY,
AND I THINK THESE TWO-- FOR ME--BRILLIANT LEADERS
DECIDED TO THROW THE DECISION BACK AT THE DEMOCRATIC UNIT
AND SAY, "WHAT DO WE THINK?"
THAT MOMENT, TO ME, IS A QUINTESSENTIAL AMERICAN MOMENT.
I MEAN, THE CAPTAINS COULD HAVE SAID,
"WE'RE HEADING BACK UP THE RIVER,"
OR "WE'RE CAMPING OVER THERE,"
OR WE'RE DOING THIS OR WE'RE DOING THAT,
AND INSTEAD, THEY DECIDED EACH PERSON
IS GONNA SAY WHAT THEY THINK
IN THE PRESENCE OF EVERYBODY ELSE.
SO ONE BY ONE, THEY HAD THE MEN SAY WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO,
AND THEN THEY LET YORK VOTE.
HE'S A BLACK MAN. HE'S A SLAVE.
IT'S 60, 70 YEARS BEFORE SLAVES WILL BE EMANCIPATED
AND GET TO VOTE.
SACAGAWEA CAST HER VOTE.
SHE'S AN INDIAN AND A WOMAN,
AND IT'S GONNA BE A CENTURY BEFORE INDIANS AND WOMEN
GET TO VOTE IN THE UNITED STATES.
THEY'RE NOT REALLY IN THE UNITED STATES AT THIS MOMENT,
BUT THEY HAD JUMPED OUT AHEAD OF TIME.
IT WAS LEWIS AND CLARK AT THEIR BEST,
WHICH IS AMERICA AT ITS BEST.
Narrator: IN THE END, A MAJORITY DECIDED TO CROSS TO THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE COLUMBIA.
THERE, THEY WOULD SPEND THE WINTER
WITH THE ENTIRE CONTINENT BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND THEIR COUNTRYMEN.
William Clark: CAPTAIN LEWIS BRANDED A TREE WITH HIS NAME, DATE, ET CETERA.
THE PARTY ALL CUT THE FIRST LETTERS OF THEIR NAMES ON DIFFERENT TREES.
I MARKED MY NAME, THE DAY, AND THE YEAR ON AN ALDER TREE.
"CAPTAIN WILLIAM CLARK, BY LAND FROM THE UNITED STATES."
Ambrose: TEAMWORK.
THIS WAS A FAMILY THAT HAD COME TOGETHER AND FORMED A TEAM
FOR THE EXPLORATION OF THE CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA,
AND THEY COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT IF THEY HADN'T BECOME A FAMILY.
EVERY ONE OF THEM COULD RECOGNIZE A COUGH IN THE NIGHT
AND KNOW WHO IT WAS.
THEY COULD HEAR A FOOTSTEP AND KNOW WHO IT WAS.
THEY KNEW WHO LIKED SALT ON THEIR MEAT AND WHO DIDN'T.
THEY KNEW WHO WAS THE BEST SHOT ON THE EXPEDITION,
WHO WAS THE FASTEST RUNNER, WHO WAS THE MAN
WHO COULD GET A FIRE GOING THE QUICKEST ON A RAINY DAY.
THEY KNEW BECAUSE THEY SAT AROUND THE CAMPFIRE,
ABOUT EACH OTHER'S PARENTS AND LOVED ONES, EACH OTHER'S HOPES,
AND THEY HAD COME TO LOVE EACH OTHER
TO THE POINT THAT THEY WOULD SELL THEIR OWN LIVES GLADLY
TO SAVE A COMRADE.
THEY HAD DEVELOPED A BOND.
THEY HAD BECOME A BAND OF BROTHERS,
AND TOGETHER, THEY WERE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH FEATS
THAT WE JUST STAND ASTONISHED AT TODAY WHEN WE LOOK AT THEM.
Narrator: BACK IN THE EAST,
PRESIDENT JEFFERSON WAS WELCOMING A DELEGATION
OF OTO, ARIKARA, AND YANKTON SIOUX CHIEFS
WHO HAD MET LEWIS AND CLARK MORE THAN A YEAR EARLIER.
JEFFERSON THANKED THEM FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE TO LEWIS,
WHOM HE CALLED "OUR BELOVED MAN,"
AND TOLD THEM HIS HOPE WAS "THAT WE MAY ALL LIVE TOGETHER AS ONE HOUSEHOLD."
Man: WE HAVE SEEN THE BELOVED MAN.
WE SHOOK HANDS WITH HIM,
AND WE HEARD THE WORDS YOU PUT IN HIS MOUTH.
WE WISH HIM WELL.
WE HAVE HIM IN OUR HEARTS,
AND WHEN HE WILL RETURN,
WE BELIEVE THAT HE WILL TAKE CARE OF US,
PREVENT OUR WANTS, AND MAKE US HAPPY.
BUT WHEN YOU TELL US THAT YOUR CHILDREN
ON THIS SIDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI HEAR YOUR WORD,
YOU ARE MISTAKEN,
SINCE EVERY DAY, THEY RAISE THEIR TOMAHAWKS OVER OUR HEADS.
TELL YOUR WHITE CHILDREN ON OUR LANDS TO FOLLOW YOUR ORDERS
AND TO DO NOT AS THEY PLEASE... FOR THEY DO NOT KEEP YOUR WORD.
Narrator: LATER, THE PRESIDENT WROTE
A BRIEF NOTE TO LEWIS' BROTHER AND MOTHER,
TELLING THEM HE WAS CONFIDENT
THAT THE EXPEDITION WAS GOING WELL,
BUT TO AN AIDE, JEFFERSON CONFIDED,
"WE HAVE NO CERTAIN INFORMATION OF CAPTAIN LEWIS
SINCE HE LEFT FORT MANDAN."
Ambrose: IT WAS A NATIONAL ENTERPRISE COMPARABLE TO THE ASTRONAUTS OF OUR OWN TIME,
AND THERE WAS INTENSE NATIONAL CONCERN OVER THE FATE OF THE EXPEDITION,
AND PEOPLE WERE BEGINNING TO WORRY.
JEFFERSON--HE HADN'T HEARD FROM THEM SINCE THEY LEFT MANDAN IN APRIL OF 1805.
HE'D HAD NO CONTACT WITH THEM WHATSOEVER,
SO ALL HE COULD DO WAS WORRY.
Duncan: THEY HAD JUST BEEN THROUGH THIS INCREDIBLE YEAR.
1805 WAS THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY FOR LEWIS AND CLARK.
EVERY DAY, EVERY SINGLE DAY, WAS SOMETHING NEW--
PLACES THAT NO WHITE PEOPLE HAD EVER BEEN BEFORE.
IT WAS DISCOVERY AFTER DISCOVERY AFTER DISCOVERY.
AND NOW THEY KNOW IN WAYS
THAT NO AMERICANS COULD KNOW AT THAT TIME
THAT THERE WAS A CONTINENT BETWEEN THEM AND HOME.
Narrator: IN A SPRUCE FOREST NEAR A SMALL RIVER,
SEVERAL MILES FROM THE COAST,
SOUTH OF WHAT IS NOW ASTORIA, OREGON,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY BUILT THEIR WINTER QUARTERS.
John Ordway: DECEMBER 25, 1805.
RAINY AND WET.
DISAGREEABLE WEATHER.
WE ALL MOVED INTO OUR NEW FORT,
WHICH OUR OFFICERS NAMED FORT CLATSOP
AFTER THE NAME OF THE CLATSOP NATION OF INDIANS, WHO LIVE NEAREST TO US.
THE PARTY SALUTED OUR OFFICERS BY EACH MAN FIRING A GUN AT DAYBREAK THIS MORNING.
THEY DIVIDED OUT THE LAST OF THEIR TOBACCO AMONG THE MEN THAT USED IT,
AND THE REST THEY GAVE EACH
A SILK HANDKERCHIEF AS A CHRISTMAS GIFT
TO KEEP US IN REMEMBRANCE OF IT,
AS WE HAVE NO ARDENT SPIRITS.
BUT ALL ARE IN GOOD HEALTH, WHICH WE ESTEEM MORE THAN ALL THE ARDENT SPIRITS IN THE WORLD.
WE HAVE NOTHING TO EAT BUT POOR ELK MEAT
AND NO SALT TO SEASON THAT WITH
BUT STILL KEEP IN GOOD SPIRITS, AS WE EXPECT THIS TO BE
THE LAST WINTER THAT WE WILL HAVE TO PASS IN THIS WAY.
JOHN ORDWAY.
Ambrose: RAINED EVERY DAY.
SOMETIMES JUST A LIGHT DRIZZLE, BUT A CONSTANT RAIN.
THEY WERE ALWAYS WET.
THEY HAD BUILT THIS SMALL FORT FOR THEMSELVES.
THEY HAD A SMOKEHOUSE.
IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO KEEP FIRES GOING
BECAUSE THE WOOD WAS WET ALL THE TIME,
AND THEY HAD NOTHING BUT ELK TO EAT--
ELK FOR BREAKFAST, ELK AT NOON, ELK IN THE EVENING.
Meriwether Lewis: JANUARY 1, 1806.
OUR REPAST OF THIS DAY, THOUGH BETTER THAN THAT OF CHRISTMAS,
CONSISTED PRINCIPALLY IN THE ANTICIPATION OF THE FIRST DAY OF JANUARY, 1807,
WHEN IN THE BOSOM OF OUR FRIENDS, WE HOPE TO ENJOY THE REPAST
WHICH THE HAND OF CIVILIZATION HAS PREPARED FOR US.
AT PRESENT, WE WERE CONTENT WITH EATING OUR BOILED ELK
AND SOLACING OUR THIRST WITH OUR ONLY BEVERAGE--
PURE WATER.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Ambrose: HE HAD BEEN IN THE WHITE HOUSE FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS
AS THE PRESIDENT'S SECRETARY.
HE HAD MET ALL OF THE LEADING PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON AND PHILADELPHIA.
HE HAD BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO DINNER WITH JEFFERSON.
HE HADN'T PREVIOUSLY EVER CONFESSED THIS IN HIS JOURNAL,
BUT ON JANUARY 1, 1806,
IT'S OBVIOUS THAT HE MISSES THE LIFE THAT HE HAD HAD.
Narrator: LIFE IN THEIR NEW WINTER QUARTERS
SOON SETTLED INTO A DREARY ROUTINE.
MEN WERE PUT TO WORK MAKING CANDLES,
BOILING OCEAN WATER FOR SALT,
AND SEWING CLOTHES AND MOCCASINS FROM ELK HIDES
FOR THE RETURN TRIP HOME.
SOME DAYS, THE CLATSOPS VISITED.
IN EXCHANGE FOR THE EXPEDITION'S DWINDLING SUPPLY OF GOODS,
THEY OFFERED FISH AND ROOTS,
WHICH ADDED A LITTLE VARIETY TO THE MEN'S MONOTONOUS DIET.
MEANWHILE, CLARK LABORED OVER A NEW MAP
THAT WOULD REPLACE EASTERN HOPE AND SPECULATION
WITH THE HARD FACTS OF WESTERN GEOGRAPHY.
HIS ESTIMATE OF THE 4,162 MILES THEY HAD TRAVELED,
COMPILED SOLELY BY DEAD RECKONING,
WAS WITHIN 40 MILES OF THE ACTUAL DISTANCE.
AND LEWIS WROTE PAGE AFTER PAGE OF DESCRIPTIONS
OF NEW ANIMALS AND PLANTS THEY HAD SEEN ON THEIR WAY--
FROM THE GIANT SITKA SPRUCE TREE TO THE EVERGREEN HUCKLEBERRY,
FROM THE RING-NECKED DUCKS AND WHISTLING SWANS
TO A SMALL SMELT, THE CANDLEFISH,
THAT THE MEN ROASTED AND ATE WHOLE.
IN ALL, THE EXPEDITION WOULD RECORD IN THEIR JOURNALS
122 SPECIES OF ANIMALS AND 178 PLANTS
THAT HAD NEVER BEFORE BEEN DESCRIBED FOR SCIENCE.
Joseph Whitehouse: JANUARY 20.
WET AND RAINY WEATHER DURING THE WHOLE OF THIS DAY.
NOTHING MATERIAL OCCURRED WORTH MENTIONING.
JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE.
Meriwether Lewis: MARCH 3.
EVERYTHING MOVES ON IN THE OLD WAY,
AND WE ARE COUNTING THE DAYS WHICH BIND US TO FORT CLATSOP.
Patrick Gass: MARCH 7.
AMONG OUR OTHER DIFFICULTIES, WE NOW EXPERIENCE THE WANT OF TOBACCO.
WE USE CRAB TREE BARK AS A SUBSTITUTE.
PATRICK GASS.
Narrator: ON MARCH 16th,
LEWIS TOOK STOCK OF THE REMAINING TRADE ITEMS,
WHICH THE EXPEDITION WOULD NEED ON THEIR RETURN TRIP
TO BARTER FOR HORSES AND FOOD.
THE ENTIRE SUPPLY, HE NOTED,
COULD BE HELD IN TWO HANDKERCHIEFS.
Ambrose: EVENTUALLY, THEY RAN OUT OF DAMN NEAR EVERYTHING.
WHAT THEY NEVER RAN OUT OF WAS LEAD AND POWDER,
AND THEIR RIFLES WERE ALWAYS IN GOOD SHAPE.
THESE WERE FRONTIERSMEN.
"GIVE ME LEAD, GIVE ME POWDER, AND GIVE ME A GOOD RIFLE,
AND I CAN GET THROUGH ANYTHING."
ONE OTHER THING THEY NEVER RAN OUT OF--PAPER AND INK.
THESE WERE MERIWETHER LEWIS' AND WILLIAM CLARK'S TOOLS.
PAPER, INK, POWDER, AND RIFLE--
WITH THAT, THEY CONQUERED A CONTINENT.
Narrator: ALL WINTER, LEWIS AND CLARK HAD HOPED
THAT A TRADING VESSEL WOULD SHOW UP
SO THEY COULD REPLENISH THEIR SUPPLIES
AND, MOST IMPORTANT, SEND BACK A COPY OF THEIR JOURNALS
AS INSURANCE THAT THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND DISCOVERIES WOULD REACH JEFFERSON
EVEN IF THEY THEMSELVES DID NOT.
BUT DURING THEIR 5 LONG MONTHS ON THE COAST,
NO SHIP WAS EVER SIGHTED.
BY LATE MARCH, IT WAS TIME TO GO HOME.
Ambrose: OH, IT WAS TIME TO GO HOME.
THEY WANTED TO BRING BACK WORD, "HERE'S WHAT WE'VE DISCOVERED. HERE'S WHAT'S OUT THERE."
SO THAT URGE TO GET BACK WAS NOT JUST TO GET BACK WITH THEIR FRIENDS
AND THEIR LOVED ONES AND THE LIFE THAT THEY HAD KNOWN.
IT WAS THE URGE TO COME BACK AND SAY,
"HERE'S WHAT WE FOUND. HERE'S WHAT'S OUT THERE."
AND THEY KNEW THEY WERE GOING TO BE HEROES... IF THEY COULD GET IT BACK.
Narrator: ON MARCH 23, 1806,
AFTER PRESENTING FORT CLATSOP TO THE NEIGHBORING INDIANS,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY SLID ITS BOATS
OUT ONTO THE COLUMBIA ONCE AGAIN
AND HAPPILY PUSHED OFF FOR THE UNITED STATES.
BUT GOING AGAINST THE RIVER'S CURRENT PROVED MADDENINGLY SLOW.
FOOD WAS A PROBLEM.
INDIAN TRIBES CHARGED HIGH PRICES FOR EVERYTHING,
CROWDED AND JOSTLED THE MEN DURING PORTAGES,
AND SOMETIMES STOLE THINGS-- A TOMAHAWK, AN AX,
EVEN, FOR A TIME, LEWIS' NEWFOUNDLAND DOG.
Man: APRIL 21.
AN INDIAN STOLE SOME IRON ARTICLES
FROM AMONG THE MEN'S HANDS,
WHICH SO IRRITATED CAPTAIN LEWIS THAT HE STRUCK HIM,
WHICH WAS THE FIRST ACT OF THE KIND
THAT HAD HAPPENED DURING THE EXPEDITION.
Duncan: WHEN THEY HEADED HOME,
THERE'S A DIFFERENT MOOD IN THE EXPEDITION.
THEY'RE IRRITABLE.
LEWIS IN PARTICULAR IS SHORT-TEMPERED.
ALEXANDER WILLARD FORGETS SOMETHING,
AND HE REPRIMANDS HIM IN WAYS
THAT EVEN LEWIS SAID, "I PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE."
THE INDIANS ARE REAL IRRITANTS TO THEM.
THEY STOLE HIS DOG,
AND HE WAS READY TO BURN DOWN A VILLAGE
IN ORDER TO GET HIS DOG BACK.
Ambrose: THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ACTIONS OF LEWIS
DURING THIS PERIOD THAT INDICATE A SHORTNESS OF TEMPER,
AN IRRITABILITY, AND A DEPRESSION--
A PRETTY DEEP DEPRESSION...
THAT HE HAD TO OVERCOME EVERY MORNING
TO GET HIMSELF UP AND GET HIMSELF GOING
AND GET TO DOING WHAT HE WAS DOING.
HE ENDED UP STEALING A CANOE FROM THE INDIANS--
VERY UNLIKE MERIWETHER LEWIS.
HE DESPERATELY NEEDED THE CANOE,
BUT HE COULD HAVE PAID A RIFLE FOR IT.
INSTEAD, HE JUST STOLE IT.
Ronda: IT WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY MOMENT.
FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE EXPEDITION REALLY VIOLATES
ITS OWN MORAL CODE,
VIOLATES JEFFERSON'S INSTRUCTIONS,
AND I THINK IT WAS ALSO AN EMBLEMATIC MOMENT.
HERE WERE THE OUTSIDERS BREAKING THEIR OWN RULES.
Meriwether Lewis: I AM PLEASED
AT FINDING THE RIVER RISE SO RAPIDLY.
IT NO DOUBT IS ATTRIBUTABLE
TO THE MELTING SNOWS OF THE MOUNTAINS,
THAT ICY BARRIER WHICH SEPARATES ME FROM MY FRIENDS AND COUNTRY,
FROM ALL WHICH MAKES LIFE ESTIMABLE.
PATIENCE.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
[INDIANS SINGING]
Narrator: BY EARLY MAY, THEY WERE BACK WITH THE NEZ PERCE,
WHO ONCE AGAIN BEFRIENDED THE EXPLORERS.
A CHIEF PROVIDED THEM HORSES TO EAT
AND REFUSED ANY PAYMENT.
THERE WERE DANCES AND CELEBRATIONS.
THE MEN RAN FOOTRACES WITH THE INDIANS
AND TAUGHT THEM A NEW STICK-AND-BALL GAME
CALLED BASE.
AT A TRIBAL COUNCIL MEETING, THE NEZ PERCE PROMISED
ALWAYS TO STAY AT PEACE WITH THE UNITED STATES.
Meriwether Lewis: I THINK WE CAN JUSTLY AFFIRM,
TO THE HONOR OF THIS PEOPLE,
THAT THEY ARE THE MOST HOSPITABLE, HONEST,
AND SINCERE PEOPLE THAT WE HAVE MET WITH ON OUR VOYAGE.
Narrator: AFTER 5 WEEKS OF WAITING
FOR THE SNOW TO MELT ON THE BITTERROOTS,
THEY STARTED OUT.
THIS TIME, NEZ PERCE GUIDES CAME ALONG TO SHOW THE WAY.
Patrick Gass: JUNE 27.
THE DAY WAS PLEASANT THROUGHOUT,
BUT IT APPEARED TO ME SOMEWHAT EXTRAORDINARY
TO BE TRAVELING OVER SNOW 6 OR 8 FEET DEEP
IN THE LATTER END OF JUNE.
THE MOST OF US, HOWEVER, HAD SAVED OUR SOCKS,
AS WE EXPECTED TO FIND SNOW IN THESE MOUNTAINS.
PATRICK GASS.
Narrator: BY THE END OF JUNE, THEY WERE OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS.
NOW, DESPITE
THEIR EAGERNESS TO GET HOME,
THE CAPTAINS DECIDED THEY COULD SPLIT UP INTO SMALLER GROUPS
AND EXPLORE NEW PARTS OF THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY--
INCLUDING THE SHORTCUT THEY HAD MISSED ON THEIR WAY WEST--
WITHOUT SERIOUSLY DELAYING THEIR RETURN.
IT WAS A RISKY PLAN.
THEY WERE DIVIDING AN ALREADY SMALL EXPEDITION
INTO EVEN SMALLER UNITS,
AND LEWIS WOULD BE HEADING INTO
POTENTIALLY HOSTILE TERRITORY.
PROMISING TO REUNITE IN A MONTH
WHERE THE YELLOWSTONE MEETS THE MISSOURI,
THEY WENT THEIR SEPARATE WAYS.
Meriwether Lewis: JULY 3.
I TOOK LEAVE OF MY WORTHY FRIEND AND COMPANION, CAPTAIN CLARK,
AND THE PARTY THAT ACCOMPANIED HIM.
I COULD NOT AVOID FEELING MUCH CONCERN ON THIS OCCASION,
ALTHOUGH I HOPED THIS SEPARATION WAS ONLY MOMENTARY.
William Clark: THE INDIAN WOMAN
WHO HAS BEEN OF GREAT SERVICE TO ME
AS A PILOT THROUGH THIS COUNTRY
RECOMMENDS A GAP IN THE MOUNTAIN MORE SOUTH,
WHICH I SHALL CROSS.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: WHEN THEY REACHED THE YELLOWSTONE,
CLARK'S GROUP, WHICH INCLUDED CHARBONNEAU AND SACAGAWEA,
BUILT TWO LARGE DUGOUT CANOES FROM SOME COTTONWOODS
AND PADDLED DOWN THE RIVER ONTO THE GREAT PLAINS ONCE MORE.
CLARK NOTED THAT GRASSHOPPERS
HAD DESTROYED EVERY SPRIG OF GRASS FOR MANY MILES...
AND LATER ENCOUNTERED A HERD OF BUFFALO
SO HUGE THAT THE CANOES HAD TO WAIT FOR AN HOUR
AS THE BEASTS SWAM ACROSS THE RIVER.
IN LATE JULY, HE CAME ACROSS A REMARKABLE SANDSTONE FORMATION
WHICH HE NAMED POMPY'S TOWER AFTER SACAGAWEA'S SON,
NOW A YEAR AND A HALF OLD.
AND ON JULY 25, 1806,
IN THE SOFT STONE OF THE OUTCROPPING
NEAR SOME INDIAN PICTOGRAPHS,
CLARK INSCRIBED HIS NAME AND THE DATE...
THE ONLY PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY LEFT ON THE LANDSCAPE
THAT SURVIVES TO THIS DAY.
Ronda: WHEN LEWIS AND CLARK CAME
TO THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND THE NORTHERN ROCKIES,
REAL POWER WAS MEASURED WITH HORSES AND GUNS
AND CONNECTIONS TO TRADERS IN CANADA.
NOBODY HAD MORE OF THOSE THINGS--
MORE HORSES, MORE GUNS,
MORE CONNECTIONS TO TRADERS IN CANADA--
THAN DID THOSE BANDS WHO ARE CONNECTED
TO WHAT WE CALL THE BLACKFEET.
THEY'RE THE ONES THAT HAVE THE REAL POWER.
THEY'RE THE ONES WHO ARE THE TERROR OF THEIR ENEMIES.
Narrator: THE SAME DAY THAT CLARK INSCRIBED HIS NAME ON POMPY'S TOWER,
LEWIS AND 3 MEN WERE NEARLY 300 MILES AWAY,
TRYING TO MARK THE NORTHERNMOST REACH OF THE MARIAS RIVER.
HE WAS IN BLACKFEET TERRITORY
AND ANXIOUS TO GET BACK TO THE REST OF THE EXPEDITION,
BUT ON JULY 26, LEWIS LOOKED THROUGH HIS TELESCOPE
AND SAW 8 WARRIORS ON A RISE IN THE DISTANCE.
THEY WERE WATCHING THE AMERICANS.
Meriwether Lewis: THIS WAS A VERY UNPLEASANT SIGHT.
HOWEVER, I RESOLVED TO MAKE THE BEST OF OUR SITUATION
AND TO APPROACH THEM IN A FRIENDLY MANNER.
Narrator: WARILY, THE TWO GROUPS APPROACHED EACH OTHER,
NEITHER ONE KNOWING HOW MANY OTHERS
MIGHT BE OVER THE NEXT HILL.
SUSPICIONS SEEMED TO EASE WHEN LEWIS PRESENTED THEM
WITH SOME HANDKERCHIEFS, FLAGS, AND PEACE MEDALS.
IT WAS NEAR EVENING, SO THEY ALL SHARED DINNER
AND CAMPED TOGETHER FOR THE NIGHT UNDER A COTTONWOOD TREE.
Duncan: WHEN LEWIS MET WITH THE BLACKFEET INDIANS,
HE TOLD THEM, BESIDES THE GENERAL THINGS--
"YOU'RE NOW PART OF AN AMERICAN NATION"--
HE ALSO SAID, "WE'RE GOING TO BE DOING BUSINESS
"WITH THE SHOSHONES.
"WE'RE GOING TO BE DOING BUSINESS WITH THE HIDATSAS.
WE'LL BE BRINGING THEM TRADE GOODS, TOO."
IT WAS TELLING THEM THAT THINGS HAD CHANGED,
THAT THE AMERICANS WERE GOING TO CHANGE
THE POWER STRUCTURE OF THE PLAINS,
AND THAT'S NOT GOOD NEWS FOR THE BLACKFEET.
Ronda: THIS IS A THUNDEROUS MESSAGE.
THIS IS LIGHTNING IN THE SKY.
THIS IS THE WORLD SHAKING, BECAUSE UP UNTIL THIS POINT,
THE BLACKFEET HAD VIRTUALLY A MONOPOLY
ON THOSE THINGS THAT BRING GREAT POWER.
AND NOW LEWIS SAYS, "THE WORLD IS CHANGING.
I'M GOING TO BRING YOUR ENEMIES WEALTH AND POWER."
Narrator: JUST BEFORE DAWN,
LEWIS WAS AWAKENED BY THE SOUNDS OF A STRUGGLE.
Ambrose: "DAMN YOU, LET GO OF MY GUN!"
HE HEARD DROUILLARD SHOUT.
IT WOKE HIM, ABSOLUTE FIRST LIGHT.
HE WOKE UP WITH A START
TO SEE DROUILLARD WRESTLING WITH AN INDIAN,
TRYING TO GET HIS RIFLE BACK,
AND THE FIELD BROTHERS, WHO WERE THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THIS EXPEDITION,
CHASING INDIANS WHO WERE TRYING TO RUN OFF THE HORSE HERD.
Narrator: REUBEN FIELD, WRESTLING TO RECOVER HIS RIFLE,
STABBED ONE OF THE BLACKFEET.
MEANWHILE, LEWIS SPRINTED AFTER TWO INDIANS
WHO WERE ROUNDING UP THE HORSES
AND THREATENED TO SHOOT IF THEY DIDN'T STOP.
AS HE RAISED HIS GUN, ONE WARRIOR JUMPED BEHIND A ROCK.
THE OTHER TURNED TOWARD LEWIS.
[GUNSHOT]
Meriwether Lewis: AT THE DISTANCE OF 30 STEPS,
I SHOT HIM THROUGH THE BELLY.
HE FELL TO HIS KNEES AND ON HIS RIGHT ELBOW,
FROM WHICH POSITION HE PARTLY RAISED HIMSELF UP
AND FIRED AT ME.
[GUNSHOT]
HE OVERSHOT ME, BUT BEING BAREHEADED,
I FELT THE WIND OF HIS BULLET VERY DISTINCTLY.
Narrator: TWO BLACKFEET NOW LAY DEAD.
AS THE 6 OTHERS FLED NORTH TO JOIN THEIR TRIBE,
LEWIS EXAMINED THE CORPSES.
Meriwether Lewis: WHILE THE MEN WERE PREPARING THE HORSES,
I PUT 4 SHIELDS AND 2 BOWS AND QUIVERS OF ARROWS ON THE FIRE
WITH SUNDRY OTHER ARTICLES.
I ALSO RETOOK THE FLAG
BUT LEFT THE PEACE MEDAL ABOUT THE NECK OF THE DEAD MAN
THAT THEY MIGHT BE INFORMED WHO WE WERE.
Ronda: IT WAS A CALLING CARD.
THOSE PEACE MEDALS WERE CALLING CARDS OF EMPIRE.
THEY SAID, "THE WORLD IS CHANGING."
"WE REPRESENT A NEW ORDER ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS."
"WE REPRESENT THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE."
[HORSES GALLOPING]
Narrator: THERE WAS NO TIME TO LOSE.
CONVINCED THAT A BLACKFEET WAR PARTY
WAS ON THEIR HEELS, SEEKING REVENGE,
THEY RODE AS HARD AND AS FAST AS THEY COULD
FOR THE NEXT 24 STRAIGHT HOURS.
AFTER 120 MILES, THEY FINALLY REACHED THE MISSOURI.
AT THAT VERY MOMENT,
THE EXPEDITION GROUP FROM THE GREAT FALLS
ROUNDED A BEND.
LEWIS' PARTY JUMPED INTO THEIR CANOES,
AND TOGETHER THEY RACED DOWNRIVER
TOWARD THE RENDEZVOUS WITH CLARK.
ON AUGUST 12, 17 DAYS AFTER THE FIGHT WITH THE BLACKFEET,
THEY ARRIVED AT CLARK'S CAMP,
AND THE ENTIRE EXPEDITION PUSHED ON TOGETHER
TOWARD THE MANDAN VILLAGES.
Duncan: ONCE THEY GOT REJOINED,
IT'S ALL JUST A QUESTION OF,
"HOW MANY MILES CAN WE COVER TODAY?"
"WE GOT THE BIG MISSOURI RIVER BEHIND US."
60 MILES, 70 MILES...
80 MILES A DAY.
Narrator: ON AUGUST 14, THEY REACHED THE MANDAN VILLAGES,
WHERE THEY HAD SPENT THEIR FIRST WINTER.
HERE, THE CAPTAINS PERMITTED JOHN COLTER TO LEAVE THE EXPEDITION
AND JOIN TWO AMERICAN TRAPPERS
WHO WERE ON THEIR WAY TO THE YELLOWSTONE.
HE WOULD BE LONELY IN ST. LOUIS, COLTER SAID.
HE WANTED TO BEGIN A NEW LIFE IN THE WEST.
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY ALSO SAID GOOD-BYE TO 3 OTHER MEMBERS.
William Clark: AUGUST 17th.
WE TOOK OUR LEAVE OF TOUSSAINT CHARBONNEAU,
HIS WIFE, AND THEIR CHILD,
SETTLED WITH CHARBONNEAU FOR HIS SERVICES,
IN ALL AMOUNTING TO $500 AND 33 1/3 CENTS.
I OFFERED TO TAKE HIS LITTLE SON,
A BEAUTIFUL, PROMISING CHILD WHO WAS ABOUT 19 MONTHS OLD.
THEY OBSERVED THAT IN ONE YEAR,
THE BOY WOULD BE SUFFICIENTLY OLD TO LEAVE HIS MOTHER
IF I WOULD BE SO FRIENDLY
AS TO RAISE THE CHILD IN SUCH A MANNER AS I THOUGHT PROPER,
TO WHICH I AGREED.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: AFTER ONLY 3 DAYS WITH THE MANDANS,
THE EXPEDITION SET OFF AGAIN.
[DRUMS BEATING]
WHEN THEY PASSED THROUGH THE LANDS OF THE TETON SIOUX,
WHO HAD TRIED TO STOP THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
FROM MOVING UPRIVER TWO YEARS EARLIER,
BLACK BUFFALO, ONE OF THE CHIEFS THEY HAD MET,
HAILED THEM FROM THE RIVERBANK.
THE EXPLORERS REFUSED TO STOP,
BUT CLARK SHOUTED A MESSAGE AS THEY WENT BY.
William Clark: I TOLD THIS MAN TO INFORM HIS NATION
THAT WE HAD NOT FORGOT THEIR TREATMENT TO US
AS WE PASSED UP THIS RIVER,
THAT WE VIEWED THEM AS BAD PEOPLE.
AFTER WE PASSED HIM,
HE RETURNED ON THE TOP OF THE HILL
AND GAVE 3 STROKES WITH THE GUN ON THE EARTH.
THIS, I AM INFORMED, IS A GREAT OATH AMONG THE INDIANS.
Narrator: ABOUT THIS TIME,
A HUGE MILITARY FORCE
THAT SPAIN HAD SENT
TO INTERCEPT THE EXPEDITION
ARRIVED IN WHAT IS NOW NEBRASKA.
ONCE AGAIN,
THE SPANISH WERE TOO LATE,
MISSING THE AMERICANS
IN THE VASTNESS OF THE GREAT PLAINS.
FARTHER DOWNRIVER, THEY STOPPED BRIEFLY TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS
AT THE GRAVE OF SERGEANT FLOYD,
MIRACULOUSLY THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY'S ONLY CASUALTY.
Duncan: LEWIS AND CLARK WERE SO GOOD AT PLANNING,
AT WORKING TOGETHER, ADJUSTING, ADAPTING,
THAT THEY TOOK MORE THAN 40 PEOPLE FROM ST. LOUIS
ACROSS THE WEST AND BACK
IN 2 1/2 LONG, OFTEN DANGEROUS YEARS
AND LOST ONLY ONE PERSON BY A DISEASE, WE THINK,
THAT NO ONE COULD HAVE PREVENTED.
I MEAN, THEY WERE NOT ONLY FIRST.
THEY WERE THE BEST.
Narrator: SPEEDING HOME NOW WITH THE CURRENT,
THEY SOON BEGAN ENCOUNTERING BOAT AFTER BOAT
GOING THE OTHER WAY--
FUR TRADERS AND OTHER EXPLORERS
WHO GLADLY EXCHANGED WHISKEY, TOBACCO, AND NEWS FROM THE EAST
FOR ANY INFORMATION LEWIS AND CLARK COULD GIVE THEM
ABOUT THIS NEWEST SECTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
John Ordway: SEPTEMBER 12.
MET MR. McCLELLAN WITH A LARGE KEELBOAT.
HE WAS REJOICED TO SEE US AND GAVE OUR OFFICERS WINE
AND THE PARTY AS MUCH WHISKEY AS WE ALL COULD DRINK.
MR. McCLELLAN INFORMED US
THAT THE PEOPLE IN GENERAL IN THE UNITED STATES
WERE CONCERNED ABOUT US,
AS THEY HAD HEARD THAT WE WERE ALL KILLED.
JOHN ORDWAY.
Duncan: THEY GOT NEWS FROM HOME.
LEWIS IS A POLITICIAN.
HE LEARNS THAT AARON BURR AND ALEXANDER HAMILTON,
TWO OF THE GIANTS OF AMERICAN POLITICS AT THE TIME,
HAD HAD A DUEL, AND HAMILTON WAS DEAD.
THEY LEARNED THAT JEFFERSON HAD ALREADY SENT ZEBULON PIKE
TO EXPLORE A DIFFERENT PART OF THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY.
William Clark: SEPTEMBER 19.
THE MEN PLY THEIR OARS,
AND WE DESCENDED WITH GREAT VELOCITY.
THE WISH OF THE PARTY TO PROCEED ON AS EXPEDITIOUSLY AS POSSIBLE
INDUCE US TO CONTINUE ON WITHOUT HALTING TO HUNT.
WE CALCULATE ON ARRIVING AT THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS
ON TOMORROW EVENING, WHICH IS 140 MILES.
Duncan: AND FINALLY, THEY SEE A COW.
AND A COW MEANS HOME.
I MEAN, THEY'D SEEN 10,000 HEAD OF BUFFALO
OUT ON THE GREAT PLAINS.
THEY'D SEEN ASTONISHING NUMBERS OF PRONGHORN ANTELOPE.
THEY'D SEEN GRIZZLY BEARS. THEY'D SEEN EVERYTHING.
BUT SEEING A COW, THAT MEANS YOU'RE HOME,
AND A SHOUT ROSE UP FROM THE MEN
BECAUSE THEY WERE RETURNING.
John Ordway: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1806.
WE SET OUT AFTER BREAKFAST AND PROCEEDED ON,
SOON ARRIVED AT THE MOUTH OF THE MISSOURI,
ENTERED THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND LANDED AT RIVER DUBOIS,
WHERE WE WINTERED IN 1804.
AND THEN IT WAS DOWN
TO WHERE THEY HAD STARTED FROM CAMP DUBOIS,
AND THEY SWUNG INTO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER,
AND THEY MADE THAT RIGHT TURN,
AND THEY PROCEEDED DOWN TO ST. LOUIS,
AND ALL THE 5,000 INHABITANTS OF ST. LOUIS
WERE THERE ON THE RIVERBANK TO GREET THEM.
THEY FIRED THEIR RIFLES. THE CITIZENS FIRED THEIR RIFLES.
THEY MET.
ONE RESIDENT OF ST. LOUIS SAID THEY LOOKED LIKE ROBINSON CRUSOES.
EVERYBODY HAD GIVEN UP ON THEM EXCEPT FOR JEFFERSON,
AND NOW HERE THEY WERE.
THEY HAD MADE IT. THEY HAD COME BACK.
[GUNSHOTS AND CHEERING]
John Ordway: FIRED 3 ROUNDS AS WE APPROACHED
AND LANDED OPPOSITE THE CENTER OF THE TOWN.
THE PEOPLE GATHERED ON THE SHORE AND HUZZAHED 3 CHEERS.
[GUNSHOTS]
WE UNLOADED THE CANOES AND CARRIED THE BAGGAGE
ALL UP TO A STOREHOUSE IN TOWN.
THEN THE PARTY ALL CONSIDERABLE MUCH REJOICED
THAT WE HAVE COMPLETED THE EXPEDITION.
NOW WE LOOK FOR BOARDING IN TOWN AND WAIT FOR OUR SETTLEMENT,
AND THEN WE INTEND TO RETURN TO OUR NATIVE HOMES
TO SEE OUR PARENTS ONCE MORE,
AS WE HAVE BEEN SO LONG FROM THEM.
SERGEANT JOHN ORDWAY.
Meriwether Lewis: SEPTEMBER 23, 1806.
DEAR MR. PRESIDENT,
IT IS WITH PLEASURE THAT I ANNOUNCE TO YOU
THE SAFE ARRIVAL OF MYSELF AND PARTY AT 12:00 TODAY.
IN OBEDIENCE TO YOUR ORDERS,
WE HAVE PENETRATED THE CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA
TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
I AM VERY ANXIOUS TO LEARN
THE STATE OF MY FRIENDS AT ALBEMARLE
AND ESPECIALLY WHETHER MY MOTHER IS YET LIVING.
I AM, WITH EVERY SENTIMENT OF ESTEEM,
YOUR OBEDIENT AND VERY HUMBLE SERVANT,
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Thomas Jefferson: OCTOBER 26, 1806.
I RECEIVED, MY DEAR SIR, WITH UNSPEAKABLE JOY, YOUR LETTER.
THE UNKNOWN SCENES IN WHICH YOU WERE ENGAGED
AND THE LENGTH OF TIME WITHOUT HEARING OF YOU
HAD BEGUN TO BE FELT AWFULLY.
Narrator: AS THEY TRAVELED EAST, THE CAPTAINS WERE HONORED
AT GALA BALLS IN ST. LOUIS, INDIANA, KENTUCKY,
VIRGINIA, AND WASHINGTON, D.C.,
WHERE ONE SENATOR SAID,
"IT WAS AS IF THEY HAD JUST RETURNED FROM THE MOON."
Duncan: THEY WERE HEROES.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE TICKER-TAPE PARADES IN THOSE DAYS,
BUT EVERY TOWN THAT THEY CAME THROUGH
WANTED TO PUT ON A DANCE AND A BALL TO CELEBRATE,
TO HEAR FROM THEM WHAT IT WAS THAT THEY HAD SEEN.
Narrator: CONGRESS AWARDED THE MEN DOUBLE PAY
AND 320 ACRES OF LAND FOR THEIR SERVICES.
THE CAPTAINS GOT 1,600 ACRES.
FINALLY, LEWIS REPORTED PERSONALLY
TO THE PRESIDENT WHO HAD SENT HIM ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
Ambrose: UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE NO RECORD OF THEIR FIRST MEETING.
NEITHER LEWIS NOR JEFFERSON EVER WROTE ABOUT IT.
WE DO KNOW THEY GOT DOWN ON THEIR HANDS AND KNEES
WITH CLARK'S MAP IN THE OVAL OFFICE.
OH, WHAT A MOMENT THAT MUST HAVE BEEN FOR JEFFERSON.
YOU'D LIKE TO IMAGINE LEWIS SAYING,
"AND HERE'S WHERE WE SAW 10,000 BUFFALO,
"AND OVER HERE, WHERE THE GRIZZLY BEARS
CHASED US OFF A RIVERBANK."
AND THEN HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO GET TO THIS POINT
WHERE HE SAID, "AND YOU REMEMBER THAT LITTLE HALF-DAY PORTAGE
"THAT WE WERE ALL EXPECTING TO FIND?
"WELL, SIR, MR. PRESIDENT, IT'S A COUPLE OF HUNDRED MILES
"OF IMPENETRABLE MOUNTAINS.
THERE ISN'T AN EASY WATER ROUTE ACROSS OUR CONTINENT."
THAT HAD TO BE A SHOCK AND A DISAPPOINTMENT TO JEFFERSON.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, AS A SCIENTIST
AND AS A MAN OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT,
ON THE OTHER HAND, HE'S GOT ALL THIS OTHER INFORMATION,
AND I THINK THAT HAD TO COMPENSATE FOR IT.
Ambrose: JEFFERSON WAS A MAN WHO COULD NEVER GET ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE
AND COULD NEVER GET ENOUGH INFORMATION.
MERIWETHER LEWIS BROUGHT HIM AT THAT FIRST MEETING
MORE NEW INFORMATION AND MORE KNOWLEDGE
THAN HE EVER GOT IN HIS LIFE IN ONE BRIEF PERIOD LIKE THAT...
AND THERE'S NO RECORD OF IT.
OH, IF THERE'D HAVE BEEN A TAPE RECORDER IN THE OVAL OFFICE.
Narrator: SHORTLY AFTER THEIR RETURN,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY QUIETLY DISBANDED,
AND AS THE ADVENTURE THEY HAD SHARED TOGETHER
FADED INTO MEMORY,
EACH MEMBER WENT HIS SEPARATE WAY.
JOHN ORDWAY RETURNED TO SEE HIS PARENTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE,
THEN GOT MARRIED AND MOVED TO MISSOURI
TO FARM THE LAND THE GOVERNMENT HAD AWARDED HIM.
JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE REJOINED THE ARMY
FOR THE WAR OF 1812
BUT THEN DESERTED AND DRIFTED INTO OBSCURITY.
SEVERAL OF THE EXPLORERS FOLLOWED JOHN COLTER BACK WEST
TO BECOME MOUNTAIN MEN.
AT LEAST 3 WERE KILLED BY BLACKFEET INDIANS,
INCLUDING GEORGE DROUILLARD,
WHO HAD BEEN WITH LEWIS IN THE FIRST FIGHT WITH THAT TRIBE.
COLTER HIMSELF NARROWLY ESCAPED THE BLACKFEET,
SURVIVING ONLY AFTER CROSSING HUNDREDS OF MILES
ALONE AND NAKED.
HE WANDERED INTO A PLACE, HE SAID,
WHERE STEAM ROSE FROM THE GROUND
AND MUD BOILED IN SULFUR PITS.
PEOPLE REFUSED TO BELIEVE HIM
AND LAUGHINGLY CALLED IT "COLTER'S HELL."
IT WOULD LATER BECOME YELLOWSTONE,
THE WORLD'S FIRST NATIONAL PARK.
Duncan: MOST OF THE MEN SORT OF DISAPPEAR INTO THE MISTS OF TIME.
ALEXANDER WILLARD,
WHO HAD BEEN BORN IN CHARLESTOWN, NEW HAMPSHIRE,
GONE WEST WITH LEWIS AND CLARK, CAME BACK WITH THEM.
WHEN HE WAS IN HIS 60s, IN 1852,
TOOK A COVERED WAGON AND WENT ALL THE WAY TO CALIFORNIA
AND DIED ON THE WEST COAST.
Narrator: PATRICK GASS OUTLASTED EVERYONE,
LIVING UNTIL 1870, WHEN HE DIED NEAR THE AGE OF 99.
HE HAD LOST AN EYE IN THE WAR OF 1812
AND PUBLISHED A BOOK OF HIS EXPEDITION JOURNALS.
HE WAS 90 YEARS OLD WHEN THE CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT.
STILL, HE VOLUNTEERED FOR THE UNION.
Ambrose: YORK HAD BEEN A FULL-FLEDGED MEMBER OF THE EXPEDITION.
HE HAD PARTICIPATED IN ALL THE DANGERS AND ALL THE TRIUMPHS.
HE HAD BEEN, ON MANY OCCASIONS, INVALUABLE.
THEY GOT BACK TO ST. LOUIS, AND HE WAS A SLAVE AGAIN,
AND HE CONTINUED AS CLARK'S SLAVE.
ALL THE MEN OF THE EXPEDITION GOT THEIR REWARDS--
LAND BOUNTIES AND CASH REWARDS.
YORK GOT NOTHING.
YORK, A COUPLE OF YEARS AFTER THEY GOT BACK,
ASKED CLARK, "HOW ABOUT MY FREEDOM?
"SHOULDN'T I GET A REWARD FOR HAVING GONE OUT WEST WITH YOU
"AND MADE IT AND MADE MY CONTRIBUTION?
HOW ABOUT MY FREEDOM?"
CLARK SAID, "NO. I DEPEND ON YOU TOO MUCH.
I'M TOO ACCUSTOMED TO HAVING YOU ABOUT. NO."
AND THEN CLARK WROTE TO HIS BROTHER JONATHAN
TO SAY THAT, "YORK IS GETTING UPPITY AND SURLY AND INSOLENT,
"AND HE'S GOT SUCH A HIGH-AND-MIGHTY OPINION OF HIMSELF
"BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN OUT WEST AND CAME BACK.
I HAD TO BEAT HIM THE OTHER DAY."
Narrator: YORK WAS KEPT IN SLAVERY FOR 5 MORE YEARS
UNTIL CLARK FINALLY RELENTED AND GRANTED HIM HIS FREEDOM.
HE WENT INTO THE FREIGHTING BUSINESS
IN TENNESSEE AND KENTUCKY
AND IS BELIEVED TO HAVE DIED OF CHOLERA 20 YEARS LATER.
Man: THE FIRST WHITE MEN OF YOUR PEOPLE
WHO CAME TO OUR COUNTRY WERE NAMED LEWIS AND CLARK.
THESE MEN WERE VERY KIND.
ALL THE NEZ PERCE MADE FRIENDS WITH LEWIS AND CLARK
AND AGREED TO LET THEM PASS THROUGH THEIR COUNTRY
AND NEVER TO MAKE WAR ON WHITE MEN.
THIS PROMISE, THE NEZ PERCE HAVE NEVER BROKEN.
IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE PRIDE OF THE NEZ PERCE
THAT THEY WERE THE FRIENDS OF THE WHITE MEN.
CHIEF JOSEPH.
Man: THE INDIAN PEOPLE SEE THE EXPEDITION...
[SIGH]
THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF AN END.
WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR PEOPLE IN THE YEARS AFTER LEWIS AND CLARK
IS THAT WE WENT DOWNHILL.
IN A NUTSHELL, WE LOST.
WE--WE ESSENTIALLY LOST.
LEWIS AND CLARK, I THINK, EXPECTED,
AS WELL AS THE TRIBES DID,
THAT THINGS WOULD BE PERFECT FROM THERE ON IN,
AND PEOPLE WOULD LIVE TOGETHER IN HARMONY,
AND IT JUST DIDN'T HAPPEN.
BUT I THINK THAT WINTER WAS--
THERE WAS TIMES THAT WINTER WHEN IT WAS BEAUTIFUL,
WHEN IT WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.
THE SORROW BEHIND THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY IS THAT,
WHAT THEY DID SO WELL,
LATER PEOPLE WERE NOT ABLE TO DO HALF SO WELL,
AND THAT IS IN DEALING WITH THE NATIVE PEOPLES WHO WERE THERE.
WE DIDN'T LEARN WHAT THEY TAUGHT THEMSELVES.
LEWIS AND CLARK WENT AS STUDENTS.
THEY CAME BACK AS TEACHERS,
AND WE FAILED TO LEARN THE LESSONS
THAT THEY HAD LEARNED.
Narrator: SACAGAWEA REMAINED WITH TOUSSAINT CHARBONNEAU
AND TRAVELED DOWNRIVER WITH HIM TO ST. LOUIS,
WHERE ONE PERSON WHO MET HER
SAID SHE WAS "OF A MILD AND GENTLE DISPOSITION...
"GREATLY ATTACHED TO THE WHITES,
WHOSE MANNER AND DRESS SHE TRIES TO IMITATE."
Funkhouser: I THINK BY THE TIME THE EXPEDITION IS OVER,
IT'S NOT POSSIBLE TO LABEL SACAGAWEA ANYMORE.
I DON'T THINK THAT SHE WAS, SIMPLY,
A SHOSHONE WOMAN ANYMORE.
IN SOME SENSE, THE EXPEDITION FORCED THE PEOPLE ON IT
TO ABANDON WHATEVER TRIBAL IDENTITY
THEY CAME TO THE EXPEDITION WITH
AND TO ACT FOR THE SPIRIT OF THE WHOLE.
Narrator: IN 1812, AT A FUR-TRADING POST
IN WHAT IS NOW SOUTH DAKOTA,
SHE GAVE BIRTH TO A DAUGHTER, LISETTE,
BUT THAT WINTER, SACAGAWEA GREW ILL WITH FEVER AND DIED.
TRUE TO HIS PROMISE,
WILLIAM CLARK ASSUMED CUSTODY OF HER CHILDREN,
INCLUDING JEAN-BAPTISTE,
THE LITTLE BOY WHO HAD TRAVELED WITH HIM TO THE SEA.
IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE EXPEDITION,
CLARK MARRIED JUDITH HANCOCK OF VIRGINIA,
IN WHOSE HONOR HE HAD NAMED A RIVER IN MONTANA.
THEY MOVED TO ST. LOUIS, WHERE HE ASSUMED DUTIES
AS THE GOVERNMENT'S INDIAN AGENT IN THE WEST.
NATIVE AMERICANS VISITED HIM OFTEN
AND CAME TO CALL ST. LOUIS THE RED-HEADED CHIEF'S TOWN.
Duncan: HE WAS A FRIEND OF INDIANS.
HE SAW WHAT THEIR NEEDS WERE.
HE WAS AN AGENT OF AMERICAN EMPIRE,
BUT HE COULD BE A GOOD FRIEND OF INDIANS,
AND HE WROTE SEVERAL LETTERS TO JEFFERSON, IN FACT,
COMPLAINING ABOUT THE TREATMENT THAT INDIANS WERE GETTING.
HE LOST A RACE FOR GOVERNOR OF MISSOURI
BECAUSE HE WAS "TOO SOFT" ON INDIANS.
William Clark: DEAR MR. JEFFERSON,
IN MY PRESENT SITUATION OF SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,
IT WOULD AFFORD ME PLEASURE TO BE ENABLED
TO HELP THE CONDITIONS OF THESE UNFORTUNATE PEOPLE
PLACED UNDER MY CHARGE.
IT IS TO BE LAMENTED
THAT THE DEPLORABLE SITUATION OF THE INDIANS
DO NOT RECEIVE MORE OF THE HUMAN FEELINGS
OF THE NATION.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: HE WAS 69 YEARS OLD
WHEN HE DIED ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1838,
AT THE HOME OF HIS OLDEST SON, MERIWETHER LEWIS CLARK.
Thomas Jefferson: GOVERNOR LEWIS HAD, FROM EARLY LIFE,
BEEN SUBJECT TO HYPOCHONDRIAC AFFECTIONS.
IT WAS A CONSTITUTIONAL DISPOSITION
IN ALL THE NEARER BRANCHES OF THE FAMILY.
DURING HIS WESTERN EXPEDITION,
THE CONSTANT EXERTION WHICH THAT REQUIRED
OF ALL THE FACULTIES OF BODY AND MIND
SUSPENDED THESE DISTRESSING AFFECTIONS.
BUT AFTER HIS ESTABLISHMENT AT ST. LOUIS,
THEY RETURNED TO HIM WITH REDOUBLED VIGOR
AND BEGAN SERIOUSLY TO ALARM HIS FRIENDS.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Narrator: AS A REWARD FOR HIS ROLE IN THE EXPEDITION,
MERIWETHER LEWIS WAS APPOINTED GOVERNOR
OF THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY.
LIKE HIS PARTNER, CLARK, HE, TOO, MOVED TO ST. LOUIS,
BUT UNLIKE HIS FRIEND, LEWIS WAS SOON OVERWHELMED
BY PROBLEMS IN HIS NEW LIFE.
HE COURTED SEVERAL WOMEN, BUT NONE WOULD MARRY HIM.
DEBTS MOUNTED UP.
HIS INABILITY TO COMPLETE A MANUSCRIPT
DESCRIBING THE EXPEDITION AND ITS DISCOVERIES
SEEMED TO COOL JEFFERSON'S FRIENDSHIP TOWARD HIM.
Duncan: LEWIS DISINTEGRATED. HE FELL APART.
HE JUST WENT APART AT THE SEAMS.
HE LITERALLY DID NOT WRITE A SINGLE WORD ON THE JOURNALS
THAT HIS MENTOR, THOMAS JEFFERSON,
WAS IMPATIENTLY WAITING FOR-- WAS THE REPORT OF THEIR JOURNEY.
Narrator: AND HE FOUND HIMSELF ILL SUITED
TO THE DUTIES OF GOVERNOR--
MOUNDS OF PAPERWORK OVER LAND CLAIMS,
DISPUTES BETWEEN INDIAN TRADING COMPANIES,
AND A TERRITORIAL SECRETARY
WHO TRIED TO TURN OFFICIALS IN WASHINGTON AGAINST HIM.
HE TOOK TO DRINKING VERY HEAVILY.
HE ALSO HAD MALARIA AND WAS DOPING HIMSELF UP,
TAKING A MIXTURE OF OPIUM AND MORPHINE ON A REGULAR BASIS.
HE SANK INTO A DEPRESSION.
Narrator: FINALLY, IN 1809, WHEN A NEW ADMINISTRATION
QUESTIONED SOME OF HIS EXPENDITURES,
LEWIS DECIDED TO HEAD BACK TO WASHINGTON
TO DEFEND HIS NAME AND HIS HONOR.
William Clark: ST. LOUIS, AUGUST 26, 1809.
I HAVE NOT SPENT SUCH A DAY AS YESTERDAY FOR MANY YEARS,
WHEN I TOOK LEAVE OF GOVERNOR LEWIS.
HIS CREDITORS,
ALL FLOCKING IN NEAR THE TIME OF HIS SETTING OUT,
DISTRESSED HIM MUCH,
WHICH HE EXPRESSED TO ME IN SUCH TERMS
AS TO CAUSE A SYMPATHY WHICH IS NOT YET OFF.
IF HIS MIND HAD BEEN AT EASE, I SHOULD HAVE PARTED CHEERFULLY.
Duncan: HE HAD HIS FRIEND CLARK NEARBY,
AND HE WROTE OUT HIS WILL
BEFORE HE DECIDED TO GO BACK TO WASHINGTON, D.C.,
TO TRY TO STRAIGHTEN UP SOME DISCREPANCIES IN THE BOOKS,
AND HE SAID GOOD-BYE TO CLARK.
HE TRIED TO COMMIT SUICIDE
ON A BOAT GOING DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI.
THEY RESTRAINED HIM AND KEPT HIM UNDER WATCH FOR A WHILE.
AND THEN HE HEADED ACROSS THE NATCHEZ TRACE
TO TRY TO GET BACK TO WASHINGTON.
Meriwether Lewis: CHICKASAW BLUFFS, SEPTEMBER 16, 1809.
TO PRESIDENT JAMES MADISON.
DEAR SIR, I ARRIVED HERE YESTERDAY
VERY MUCH EXHAUSTED
BUT, HAVING TAKEN MEDICINE, FEEL MUCH BETTER THIS MORNING.
PROVIDED MY HEALTH PERMITS,
NO TIME SHALL BE LOST IN REACHING WASHINGTON.
YOUR OBEDIENT AND VERY HUMBLE SERVANT,
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Narrator: TRAVELING THE ROAD CALLED THE NATCHEZ TRACE
IN TENNESSEE,
HE REACHED GRINDER'S STAND, A SMALL INN SOUTH OF NASHVILLE,
ON OCTOBER 10.
Ambrose: HE HAD BEEN TALKING TO HIMSELF LIKE A LAWYER,
ACCORDING TO MRS. GRINDER...
AND PACING BACK AND FORTH AND WAS CLEARLY DISTRAUGHT.
AND THEN HE SAT DOWN ON THE PORCH AND HAD THIS MOMENT OF QUIET
AND REMARKED, "OH, WHAT A SWEET EVENING THIS IS,"
AND WENT INTO AN INTROSPECTION.
I THINK, AS HE SAT ON THAT PORCH AND LOOKED WEST,
HE WAS WAITING FOR CLARK TO COME DOWN THE TRAIL
AND RESCUE HIM.
BUT OF COURSE, CLARK KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THE SITUATION
AND WAS HUNDREDS OF MILES AWAY.
Duncan: HIS LAST NIGHT HE SPENT ASKING A FRIEND
TO PUT DOWN A BUFFALO ROBE ON THE FLOOR OF GRINDER'S STAND.
HE SLEPT THAT NIGHT, TRIED TO SLEEP THAT NIGHT.
HE TOLD PEOPLE THAT CLARK WOULD BE COMING.
AND... AND HE SHOT HIMSELF.
Man: NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, OCTOBER 18, 1809.
TO MR. THOMAS JEFFERSON, MONTICELLO.
SIR, IT IS WITH EXTREME PAIN THAT I HAVE TO INFORM YOU
OF THE DEATH OF HIS EXCELLENCY, MERIWETHER LEWIS,
GOVERNOR OF UPPER LOUISIANA,
WHO DIED ON THE MORNING OF THE 11th,
AND I AM SORRY TO SAY, BY SUICIDE.
HE HAD SHOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD WITH ONE PISTOL
AND A LITTLE BELOW THE BREAST WITH THE OTHER.
JAMES NEELY, U.S. AGENT TO THE CHICKASAW NATION.
Thomas Jefferson: THE WORK WE ARE NOW DOING IS, I TRUST, DONE FOR POSTERITY
IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY NEED NOT REPEAT IT.
WE SHALL DELINEATE WITH CORRECTNESS
THE GREAT ARTERIES OF THIS COUNTRY.
THOSE WHO COME AFTER US WILL FILL UP THE CANVAS WE BEGIN.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Narrator: THOMAS JEFFERSON HAD ESTIMATED THAT IT WOULD TAKE HIS NATION
100 GENERATIONS TO FILL UP THE LAND
HE HAD SENT LEWIS AND CLARK TO EXPLORE.
AMERICANS DID IT IN LESS THAN 5.
BY THE TIME THE LAST MEMBER OF THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY DIED,
THE UNITED STATES STRETCHED FAR BEYOND THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY...
FROM THE DESERTS OF THE RIO GRANDE
TO THE FERTILE VALLEYS OF CALIFORNIA;
FROM THE GREAT SALT LAKE
TO THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER,
WHERE THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY HAD ONCE VOTED TOGETHER
AND CARVED THEIR NAMES INTO THE BARK OF A TREE.
I THINK WHAT IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO
IS LEWIS AND CLARK AS...
AS THE OPENERS OF NEW GEOGRAPHIES,
BOTH THE GEOGRAPHIES OF REALITY
AND THE GEOGRAPHIES OF THE IMAGINATION,
OF HOPE, OF DESIRE, OF OBJECTIVE.
IT IS EVERYBODY'S STORY. IT'S AN AMERICAN STORY.
Ambrose: LEWIS AND CLARK ARE THE REAL THING.
THEY'RE AUTHENTIC HEROES.
AND THEY PROVIDE US WITH A SENSE OF NATIONAL UNITY
THAT TRANSCENDS TIME AND DISTANCE AND PLACE
AND BRINGS US TOGETHER FROM COAST TO COAST.
Duncan: IT MATTERS LESS WHAT THEY WENT TO FIND
AS WHAT IT IS THAT THEY DID FIND.
THEY DISCOVERED THE AMERICAN FUTURE.
THEY WENT, LITERALLY, FROM EAST TO THE WEST COAST,
AND THAT IS WHAT AMERICA DID IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS.
ONE OF THE INTRIGUING THINGS
ABOUT THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION
IS THAT WHEN THEY WORKED TOGETHER AS A TEAM,
THEY WERE BETTER THAN THE SUM OF THEIR PARTS.
THEY WERE E PLURIBUS UNUM.
THE E PLURIBUS WAS THIS MOTLEY COLLECTION OF PEOPLE,
AND THE UNUM WAS THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
THAT DID AMAZING THINGS THAT THEY COULD ONLY DO
IF THEY WORKED TOGETHER.
Heat-Moon: THE GREAT GIFT OF THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
THAT WE CAN SEE TODAY IN THE 20th CENTURY
IS THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO KNIT
THE ATLANTIC OCEAN WITH THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
THEY WERE THE SINEWS WHICH BOUND THESE TWO GREAT OCEANS TOGETHER,
RIGHT ACROSS WHAT WE NOW CALL THE HEART OF THE UNITED STATES.
THEY DISCOVERED THAT AMERICA WAS EVEN MORE
THAN THOMAS JEFFERSON DREAMED THAT IT COULD BE.
Meriwether Lewis: THIS IMMENSE RIVER
WATERS ONE OF THE FAIREST PORTIONS OF THE GLOBE,
NOR DO I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS IN THE UNIVERSE
A SIMILAR EXTENT OF COUNTRY.
AS WE PASSED ON,
IT SEEMED AS IF THOSE SCENES OF VISIONARY ENCHANTMENT
WOULD NEVER HAVE AN END.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.