.
Man: APRIL 8, 1804.
HONORED PARENTS,
I AM NOW ON AN EXPEDITION TO THE WESTWARD
THROUGH THE INTERIOR PARTS OF NORTH AMERICA
WITH CAPTAIN LEWIS AND CAPTAIN CLARK.
WE ARE TO ASCEND THE MISSOURI RIVER WITH A BOAT
AS FAR AS IT IS NAVIGABLE
AND THEN GO BY LAND TO THE WESTERN OCEAN,
IF NOTHING PREVENTS.
Narrator: ONE AFTERNOON IN THE SPRING OF 1804,
NEARLY 4 DOZEN MEN CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI
AND STARTED UP THE MISSOURI RIVER,
STRUGGLING AGAINST ITS THICK, MUDDY CURRENT.
Man: WE EXPECT TO BE GONE 18 MONTHS OR TWO YEARS,
AND IF WE MAKE GREAT DISCOVERIES--
AS WE EXPECT--
THE UNITED STATES HAS PROMISED TO MAKE US GREAT REWARDS.
FOR FEAR OF ACCIDENTS,
I WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT I LEFT $200 IN CASH,
AND IF I SHOULD NOT LIVE TO RETURN,
MY HEIRS CAN GET THAT AND ALL THE PAY DUE ME
FROM THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.
I WILL WRITE NEXT WINTER
IF I HAVE A CHANCE.
SERGEANT JOHN ORDWAY.
Narrator: THEY WERE BEGINNING
THE MOST IMPORTANT EXPEDITION IN AMERICAN HISTORY--
THE UNITED STATES' FIRST OFFICIAL EXPLORATION
INTO UNKNOWN SPACES
AND A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE OF THEIR YOUNG NATION.
THEY WOULD BECOME THE FIRST UNITED STATES CITIZENS
TO EXPERIENCE THE GREAT PLAINS--
THE IMMENSITY OF ITS SKIES,
THE RICH SPLENDOR OF ITS WILDLIFE,
THE HARSH RIGORS OF ITS WINTERS.
THEY WOULD BE THE FIRST AMERICAN CITIZENS
TO SEE THE DAUNTING PEAKS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,
THE FIRST TO STRUGGLE OVER THEM,
THE FIRST TO CROSS THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE
TO WHERE THE RIVERS FLOW WEST.
AND AFTER ENCOUNTERING COLD, HUNGER, DANGER,
AND WONDERS BEYOND BELIEF,
THEY WOULD BECOME THE FIRST OF THEIR NATION
TO REACH THE PACIFIC OCEAN BY LAND.
IT WOULD BE THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF THEIR LIVES.
Man: IT'S A GREAT STORY.
IT'S A HUMAN STORY.
IT'S A STORY OF THOSE WHO WENT FIRST.
THEY WERE FIRST. THEY LED THE WAY.
THEY OPENED THE TRAIL.
Man: THE BEST AUTHENTICATED ACCOUNTS INFORMED US
THAT WE WERE TO PASS THROUGH A COUNTRY
POSSESSED BY NUMEROUS POWERFUL AND WARLIKE NATIONS OF SAVAGES
OF GIGANTIC STATURE,
FIERCE, TREACHEROUS, AND CRUEL...
AND PARTICULARLY HOSTILE TO WHITE MEN.
SERGEANT PATRICK GASS.
Narrator: THEY WOULD TELL PEOPLE
WHO HAD BEEN OCCUPYING THE LAND
FOR HUNDREDS OF GENERATIONS
THAT THE WEST NOW BELONGED TO SOMEONE ELSE,
YET THEY WOULD MEET MORE FRIENDS THAN ENEMIES
AND ONLY ONCE FIRE THEIR GUNS IN ANGER.
THEY CARRIED THE MOST MODERN WEAPONS OF THEIR TIME,
BUT IN THEIR TWO MOMENTS OF GREATEST NEED,
WOMEN WOULD INTERVENE ON THEIR BEHALF,
AND TIME AND TIME AGAIN,
THEY WOULD BE SAVED BY THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS.
THEY WERE LED BY TWO UTTERLY DIFFERENT MEN--
ONE OUTGOING AND SELF-CONFIDENT,
THE OTHER BRILLIANT BUT TROUBLED.
REPRESENTING A NEW NATION
THAT CELEBRATED INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT,
THEY WOULD RELY INSTEAD ON COOPERATION AND TEAMWORK.
THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY,
YET THEY WOULD FAIL TO DISCOVER
THE THING THEY HAD BEEN SENT MOST OF ALL TO FIND.
THEIR REAL DISCOVERY WOULD BE THE LAND ITSELF
AND THE PROMISES IT HELD.
Man: IT'S AMERICA'S STORY, I THINK.
THEY TURNED THE NATION AND FACED IT WEST,
AND THAT'S WHERE THE FUTURE HAS ALWAYS BEEN.
THAT'S WHERE HOPE AND POSSIBILITY HAVE BEEN.
AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT DRAWS US TO LEWIS AND CLARK.
IT'S ABOUT POSSIBILITIES. IT'S ABOUT WHAT COULD BE--
SOMETIMES WHAT IS AND SOMETIMES WHAT ISN'T.
BUT IT'S ABOUT POTENTIAL,
THE FUTURE, AND HOPE.
Man: CONFIDENTIAL-- GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE
AND OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
THE RIVER MISSOURI AND THE INDIANS INHABITING IT
ARE NOT AS WELL-KNOWN AS IS DESIRABLE.
AN INTELLIGENT OFFICER WITH 10 OR 12 CHOSEN MEN
MIGHT EXPLORE THE WHOLE LINE,
EVEN TO THE WESTERN OCEAN.
THE APPROPRIATION OF $2,500
WOULD COVER THE UNDERTAKING.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Narrator: IN 1801,
WHEN THOMAS JEFFERSON BECAME PRESIDENT,
2 OUT OF EVERY 3 AMERICANS
LIVED WITHIN 50 MILES OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.
ONLY 4 ROADS CROSSED THE ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS.
THE UNITED STATES ENDED AT THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
JEFFERSON HAD ALWAYS BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT THE WEST.
HIS PERSONAL LIBRARY AT MONTICELLO
CONTAINED MORE BOOKS ABOUT THE REGION
THAN ANY OTHER LIBRARY IN THE WORLD,
BUT HIS BOOKS TOLD HIM OF A WEST
WHERE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS STILL ROAMED,
OF ERUPTING VOLCANOES, HILLS OF PURE SALT,
AND BLUE-EYED INDIANS WHO SPOKE WELSH.
JEFFERSON'S BOOKS ALSO DESCRIBED A NORTHWEST PASSAGE--
AN EASY WATER ROUTE
SOMEWHERE FAR BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI
THAT WOULD LINK THE ATLANTIC WITH THE PACIFIC,
MAKE POSSIBLE DIRECT TRADE WITH ALL THE ORIENT,
AND UNLOCK THE WEALTH OF NORTH AMERICA.
SINCE THE TIME OF COLUMBUS,
THE SPANISH, FRENCH, AND BRITISH
HAD BEEN SEARCHING FOR IT.
WHICHEVER NATION DISCOVERED THE PASSAGE
AND CONTROLLED IT, JEFFERSON WAS CERTAIN,
WOULD CONTROL THE DESTINY OF THE CONTINENT.
TO LEAD HIS AMERICAN EXPEDITION, JEFFERSON TURNED
TO HIS 28-YEAR-OLD PERSONAL SECRETARY, MERIWETHER LEWIS.
A SKILLED FRONTIERSMAN AND AMATEUR SCIENTIST,
LEWIS HAD GROWN UP WITHIN SIGHT OF MONTICELLO
AND HAD MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF
AS A PROMISING ARMY OFFICER
BEFORE JEFFERSON SUMMONED HIM TO WASHINGTON.
@@ INITIALLY, I THINK, JEFFERSON IS THE PERSON
WHO PUT HIS SPIRIT AND A GOOD PIECE OF HIS MIND--
THIS DEISTIC RATIONALISM--
INTO THE BRAIN OF MERIWETHER LEWIS,
AND IN MANY WAYS IN THE MONTHS BEFORE THE EXPEDITION,
IT WAS JEFFERSON WHO BECAME
SOMETHING OF MERIWETHER LEWIS' FATHER--
HELPED REMAKE THIS MAN.
Narrator: SOME CONSIDERED LEWIS AN UNLIKELY CHOICE
FOR SUCH AN IMPORTANT EXPEDITION.
HE SETIMES DRANK TOO MUCH,
AND JEFFERSON HIMSELF HAD NOTED WHAT HE CALLED
"OCCASIONAL DEPRESSIONS OF THE MIND" IN LEWIS,
BUT HE STILL CONSIDERED HIM
THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB.
LEWIS IN TURN ASKED AN OLD FRIEND
TO HELP HIM LEAD THE EXPEDITION.
Meriwether Lewis: MY FRIEND,
IF THERE IS ANYTHING IN THIS ENTERPRISE
WHICH WOULD INDUCE YOU TO PARTICIPATE WITH ME
IN ITS FATIGUES, ITS DANGERS, AND ITS HONORS,
BELIEVE ME-- THERE IS NO MAN ON EARTH
WITH WHOM I SHOULD FEEL EQUAL PLEASURE IN SHARING THEM
AS WITH YOURSELF.
Narrator: HIS FRIEND WAS WILLIAM CLARK.
BORN IN VIRGINIA, HE HAD SPENT MOST OF HIS LIFE
ON THE OHIO AND KENTUCKY FRONTIER,
WHERE HE HAD LEARNED
BOTH TO FIGHT AND TO NEGOTIATE WITH INDIANS.
HE WAS, ONE ACQUAINTANCE SAID,
"OF SOLID AND PROMISING PARTS
AND AS BRAVE AS CAESAR."
CLARK WAS 4 YEARS OLDER THAN LEWIS
AND HAD ONCE BEEN HIS COMMANDER.
HE WAS LESS FORMALLY EDUCATED,
BUT WITH MORE PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
AND A STEADIER TEMPERAMENT.
Man: DEAR LEWIS, THIS IS AN UNDERTAKING
FRAUGHT WITH MANY DIFFICULTIES,
BUT, MY FRIEND, I DO ASSURE YOU
THAT NO MAN LIVES
WITH WHOM I WOULD PREFER TO TAKE SUCH A TRIP.
MY FRIEND, I JOIN YOU WITH HAND AND HEART.
WILLIAM CLARK.
I THINK IF WILLIAM CLARK WALKED
INTO THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW,
THAT--THAT INSTANTLY I WOULD LIKE HIM A LOT.
I THINK HE'S AN INCREDIBLY BRIGHT GUY.
HE WAS INVENTIVE. HE WAS A LITTLE LAID BACK.
HE DIDN'T TEND TO GET AS UPSET ABOUT THINGS AS LEWIS DID.
I THINK LEWIS KNEW THAT HE NEEDED SOMEBODY
TO HELP HIM ON THE EXPEDITION.
I THINK SOMEWHERE DEEP DOWN
HE KNEW THAT HE NEEDED SOMEBODY HE COULD COUNT ON,
AND THE PERSON HE COULD COUNT THE MOST ON
WAS WILLIAM CLARK.
THEY'RE TWO VERY DIFFERENT MEN,
BUT THEY FORM A UNIT,
AND I THINK AT THE CORE
OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION
IS A BOND, A FRIENDSHIP, A BROTHERHOOD
BETWEEN TWO VERY DIFFERENT MEN.
Narrator: IN THE SPRING OF 1803, AT JEFFERSON'S URGING,
LEWIS WENT TO PHILADELPHIA,
HOME OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.
THERE HE STUDIED FOR MONTHS
WITH THE NATION'S LEADING SCIENTISTS,
LEARNING BOTANY, ZOOLOGY, MINERALOGY,
AND CELESTIAL NAVIGATION.
HE BEGAN BUYING SUPPLIES-- GUNPOWDER, LEAD,
AND RIFLES OF THE MOST ADVANCED DESIGN,
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS, TENTS, AND WOOLEN BLANKETS,
GIFTS FOR THE INDIAN TRIBES HE EXPECTED TO MEET,
AND BARRELS OF WHISKEY.
HE LEARNED MEDICINE
FROM THE MOST CELEBRATED PHYSICIAN OF THE DAY--
DR. BENJAMIN RUSH--
AND BOUGHT FROM HIM 600 DOSES
OF THE DOCTOR'S FAVORITE CURE-ALL--
POWERFUL LAXATIVES
EVERYONE CALLED "RUSH'S THUNDERBOLTS."
[FIREWORKS AND CHEERING]
THEN, ON JULY 4, 1803, CAME NEWS
THAT DRAMATICALLY EXPANDED THE EXPEDITION'S IMPORTANCE.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, THE EMPEROR OF FRANCE,
HAD OFFERED TO SELL THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY--
THE VAST AREA
BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS--
TO THE UNITED STATES FOR $15 MILLION.
IT WAS A SUM NEARLY TWICE THE FEDERAL BUDGET,
BUT JEFFERSON NEVER HESITATED.
FOR JUST 3 CENTS AN ACRE,
HE MORE THAN DOUBLED THE SIZE OF HIS COUNTRY.
IT WAS THE GREATEST LAND DEAL IN HISTORY.
Ambrose: JEFFERSON HAD A MIND
THAT ENCOMPASSED THE CONTINENT,
AND HE ENVISIONED THE CREATION OF A GREAT NATION
THAT WOULD STRETCH FROM SEA TO SEA,
THAT WOULD BE BOUND TOGETHER
BY A POLITICAL CONCEPT--
THE IDEA OF LIBERTY--
AND HE WANTED TO SPREAD THAT LIBERTY
ALL THE WAY OUT TO THE WEST COAST.
Narrator: AT LEAST ON PAPER,
NEARLY HALF OF THE WEST NOW BELONGED TO THE UNITED STATES,
BUT IT WAS STILL A CONTESTED AREA.
SPAIN CONTROLLED TEXAS, CALIFORNIA,
AND ALL OF THE SOUTHWEST.
ENGLAND HAD CANADA
AND A CLAIM ON THE OREGON COUNTRY,
AND IN THE FALL OF 1803,
AS MERIWETHER LEWIS AND HIS FRIEND WILLIAM CLARK
MADE THEIR WAY
TO THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
NO ONE KNEW FOR SURE
WHAT THOMAS JEFFERSON HAD JUST BOUGHT.
THE CAPTAINS WOULD SPEND THE WINTER
OUTFITTING THEIR BIG KEELBOAT
AND ASSEMBLING THE ROUGH AND UNDISCIPLINED FRONTIERSMEN
WHO WOULD MAKE UP
WHAT THEIR PRESIDENT CALLED "THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY."
Thomas Jefferson: CAPTAIN LEWIS,
THE OBJECT OF YOUR MISSION
IS TO EXPLORE THE MISSOURI RIVER
AND SUCH PRINCIPAL STREAM OF IT
AS BY ITS COURSE AND COMMUNICATION
WITH THE WATERS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN
MAY OFFER THE MOST DIRECT AND PRACTICABLE
WATER COMMUNICATION ACROSS THIS CONTINENT.
THE ACQUISITION OF THE COUNTRY
THROUGH WHICH YOU ARE TO PASS
HAS INSPIRED THE PUBLIC GENERALLY
WITH A GREAT DEAL OF INTEREST
IN YOUR ENTERPRISE.
PRESENT MY SALUTATIONS TO MR. CLARK.
ASSURE ALL YOUR PARTY
THAT WE HAVE OUR EYES TURNED ON THEM
WITH ANXIETY FOR THEIR SAFETY.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Narrator: ON MAY 14, 1804,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
LEFT THEIR WINTER ENCAMPMENT IN ILLINOIS,
CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER,
AND FINALLY HEADED UP THE MISSOURI.
Allen: WHEN THE ASTRONAUTS WENT TO THE MOON,
THEY'D SEEN PICTURES OF IT.
THEY KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT.
WHEN LEWIS AND CLARK HEADED OUT,
THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST NOTION OF WHAT TO EXPECT.
IT WAS MORE UNKNOWN TO THEM THAN TO THE ASTRONAUTS.
Man: MAY 25th-- SET OUT EARLY THIS MORNING
AND PROCEEDED ON.
PASSED A FRENCH VILLAGE CALLED LA CHARRETTE.
THIS IS THE LAST SETTLEMENT OF WHITES ON THIS RIVER.
SERGEANT CHARLES FLOYD.
Narrator: SERGEANT CHARLES FLOYD
WAS A 22-YEAR-OLD KENTUCKIAN--
"A YOUNG MAN OF MUCH MERIT," LEWIS NOTED.
@@
BEYOND THAT, NOT MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT FLOYD
OR THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CREW--
"STOUT, HEALTHY, UNMARRIED MEN," LEWIS CALLED THEM,
"ACCUSTOMED TO THE WOODS
AND CAPABLE OF BEARING BODILY FATIGUE."
THEY CAME FROM NEARLY EVERY CORNER OF THE NATION.
JOHN ORDWAY WAS A YOUNG SOLDIER
FROM HEBRON, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE WAS A TAILOR FROM VIRGINIA,
AND PATRICK GASS WAS A CARPENTER
WHO CAME FROM IRISH STOCK IN PENNSYLVANIA.
REUBEN AND JOSEPH FIELD WERE BROTHERS.
GEORGE DROUILLARD, FRANCOIS LABICHE,
AND PIERRE CRUZATTE
WERE THE SONS OF WHITE FATHERS AND INDIAN MOTHERS.
IN ADDITION, LEWIS TOOK WITH HIM
HIS BIG NEWFOUNDLAND DOG...
AND WILLIAM CLARK BROUGHT ALONG
@@ A SLAVE HE HAD OWNED SINCE CHILDHOOD,
A BLACK MAN NAMED YORK.
Meriwether Lewis: SUCH IS THE VELOCITY OF THE CURRENT
THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO RESIST ITS FORCE
BY MEANS OF OARS OR POLES
IN THE MAIN CHANNEL OF THE RIVER.
THE EDDIES, THEREFORE, WHICH GENERALLY EXIST
ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER OF THE RIVER
ARE SOUGHT BY THE NAVIGATOR,
BUT THE BASE OF THE RIVERBANKS,
BEING COMPOSED OF A FINE, LIGHT SAND,
IS EASILY REMOVED BY THE WATER,
@@ AND THE BANKS,
BEING UNABLE TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES LONGER,
TUMBLE INTO THE RIVER WITH TREMENDOUS FORCE,
DESTROYING EVERYTHING WITHIN THEIR REACH.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Narrator: THE BIG KEELBOAT WAS RAMMED BY DRIFTING LOGS,
GOT STUCK ON SAND BARS,
HAD ITS MAST SNAPPED BY OVERHANGING TREES.
@@
OFTEN THE ONLY WAY TO PROCEED
WAS FOR THE MEN TO WADE ALONG THE MUDDY BANKS
@@ AND PULL THE BOAT WITH A ROPE.
Allen: THE MISSOURI RIVER WAS
A BIG, BROAD, WILD, TOUGH RIVER IN THOSE DAYS.
THEY'D GET UP IN THE MORNING,
AND THEN THEY'D HAVE TO GET THIS BIG, HEAVY KEELBOAT--
HAD TONS AND TONS OF SUPPLIES IN IT.
THEY HAD TO GET IT AGAINST THE CURRENT.
CURRENT'S GOING 5, 6 MILES AN HOUR--
JUST PUSHING THE
TRYING TO PUSH THEM BACK TO THE MISSISSIPPI,
AND EVERY DAY THEY'VE GOT TO GO A LITTLE BIT FARTHER.
Narrator: 14 MILES WAS A GOOD DAY'S PROGRESS,
BUT AFTER TWO LONG MONTHS,
THEY WERE STILL IN WHAT IS NOW MISSOURI.
Heat-Moon: I HAVE NOT BEEN ON ANY RIVER
THAT HAS MORE OF A DISTINCTIVE PERSONALITY
THAN DOES THE MISSOURI RIVER.
IT'S A RIVER THAT IMMEDIATELY PRESENTS TO THE TRAVELER,
"I AM A GRANDFATHER SPIRIT.
I HAVE A SOURCE. I HAVE A LIFE."
I THINK THAT THAT GRANDFATHER SPIRIT OF THE MISSOURI RIVER
HELPED DRAW THEM ON.
YOU'RE GOING AGAINST THE SNAGS
AND THE SAWYERS AND THE SAND BARS.
YOU'RE GOING AGAINST THE TREACHERY OF THE RIVER,
BUT YOU ALSO ARE GOING AGAINST THIS RIVER
WHICH SEEMS TO SAY TO THE TRAVELER, "COME UP ME."
[GUNSHOT]
Narrator: EACH DAY, GEORGE DROUILLARD,
THE EXPEDITION'S BEST SHOT,
WENT OUT TO HUNT FOR FRESH MEAT.
SILAS GOODRICH, THE BEST FISHERMAN,
CAUGHT BASS, PERCH, AND CATFISH.
THE FOOD THEY BROUGHT IN
SUPPLEMENTED THE DAILY RATION
OF CORNMEAL, FLOUR, AND SALT PORK
THAT JOHN ORDWAY DISTRIBUTED
WITH 4 OUNCES OF WHISKEY.
CLARK SPENT MOST DAYS ON THE KEELBOAT,
CALCULATING THEIR PROGRESS BY DEAD RECKONING,
ESTIMATING THE DISTANCE TO A COTTONWOOD TREE
AT THE NEXT BEND OF THE RIVER,
THEN THE NEXT AND THE NEXT,
AS HE COMPILED A MAP FOR JEFFERSON.
LEWIS OFTEN GATHERED PLANTS,
TOOK SAMPLES OF THE SOIL,
AND TENDED TO THE MEN'S AILMENTS
BY DRAWING BLOOD FROM HIS PATIENTS
AND LIBERALLY DISPENSING RUSH'S THUNDERBOLTS.
IT WAS A PILL
THAT DR. BENJAMIN RUSH HAD WORKED UP
AND THAT HE SAID WAS SOVEREIGN FOR ALMOST EVERYTHING.
IT WAS A PURGATIVE
THAT IS WELL DESCRIBED BY THE TERM "THUNDERBOLTS,"
AND IT WAS THE MEDICINE OF CHOICE
FOR ALMOST ANY AILMENT.
USUALLY, IT WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY THE WRONG THING TO USE,
BUT THEY USED IT CONSTANTLY,
AND THEY BELIEVED IN IT,
AND IT SURE DID CLEAN THEM OUT.
Narrator: THE EXPEDITION MARKED
THE FIRST FOURTH OF JULY EVER CELEBRATED
WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI...
[CANNON FIRES]
BY FIRING THE KEELBOAT'S CANNON
AND DRINKING AN EXTRA RATION OF WHISKEY.
THE CAPTAINS NAMED A STREAM THAT THEY PASSED
@@ INDEPENDENCE CREEK.
"THE DAY," JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE REMARKED IN HIS JOURNAL,
"WAS MIGHTY HOT."
Duncan: IT WAS HOT, IT WAS TOUGH GOING,
AND WHAT DO THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT?
WHAT EVERY PERSON WHO GOES OUT AND CAMPS
COMPLAINS ABOUT--BUGS.
THERE WERE GNATS ALWAYS FLYING AROUND THEIR FACE...
BUT MOSTLY IT WAS MOSQUITOES.
THE DOG WAS HOWLING AT NIGHT,
YOU LEARN, BECAUSE OF THE MOSQUITOES,
AND THEY STRUGGLED TO TRY TO EVEN DESCRIBE
WHAT THEY WERE LIKE.
THEY START OFF BEING,
"THE MOSQUITOES WERE TROUBLESOME."
THEN HE SAYS, "MOSQUITOES VERY TROUBLESOME,"
THEN "MOSQUITOES UNCOMMONLY TROUBLESOME,"
THEN "MOSQUITOES EXCEEDINGLY TROUBLESOME,"
AND FINALLY, "MOSQUITOES IMMENSELY NUMEROUS AND TROUBLESOME."
@@ IT WAS JUST--THEY WERE THE BANE OF THEIR EXISTENCE.
Thomas Jefferson: CAPTAIN LEWIS, YOUR OBSERVATIONS
ARE TO BE TAKEN WITH GREAT PAINS AND ACCURACY,
TO BE ENTERED DISTINCTLY AND INTELLIGIBLY
FOR OTHERS AS WELL AS YOURSELF TO COMPREHEND.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Narrator: IN HIS INSTRTIONS TO LEWIS,
PRESIDENT JEFFERSON HAD INSISTED
THAT THE EXPEDITION WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING THEY EXPERIENCED.
AT CAMP EVERY NIGHT, THE CAPTAINS, THE SERGEANTS,
AND AT LEAST ONE OF THE PRIVATES
TOOK OUT THEIR JOURNALS TO RECORD THE DAY'S EVENTS,
MAKE OBSERVATIONS ON THE WEATHER,
WILDLIFE, AND LANDSCAPE.
Heat-Moon: WITHOUT THE JOURNALS,
WE WOULDN'T REALLY HAVE AN EXPEDITION TODAY.
IT WOULD BE LIKE ALL THE OTHER EXPEDITIONS
THAT WENT OUT THERE,
BUT WITH THOSE JOURNALS,
WE COME IN AS READING A NOVEL, ALMOST,
BECAUSE THEY HAVE THAT KIND OF POWER,
PARTICULARLY TO READ THE WRITING OF MERIWETHER LEWIS,
WHO WAS SUCH A FINE STYLIST.
Meriwether Lewis: THIS IMMENSE RIVER,
SO FAR AS WE HAVE YET ASCENDED,
WATERS ONE OF THE FAIREST PORTIONS OF THE GLOBE.
NOR DO I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS IN THE UNIVERSE
A SIMILAR EXTENT OF COUNTRY.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
@@ Narrator: BUT DESPITE JEFFERSON'S ORDERS
AND FOR REASONS NOT ENTIRELY KNOWN,
THERE ARE LONG LAPSES IN LEWIS' JOURNALS
DURING WHICH NO DAILY ENTRIES CAN BE FOUND.
Ambrose: JEFFERSON SPOKE TO THE MELANCHOLY STREAK
THAT RAN IN THE FAMILY,
AND HE CERTAINLY WAS A MAN
WHO COULD FALL INTO A DEEP DEPRESSION.
AND YET HE HAD A WILLPOWER AND AN ENERGY
SUFFICIENT TO OVERCOME THOSE DEPRESSIONS
SO THAT ON THE EXPEDITION ITSELF,
THE ONLY INDICATION WE HAVE OF DEPRESSION
IS WHEN HE DOESN'T WRITE IN HIS JOURNAL,
BUT THERE'S NO INDICATION AT ALL
THAT IT EVER AFFECTED HIS ACTIONS,
AND FOR A MANIC-DEPRESSIVE-- WHICH HE PRETTY CLEARLY WAS--
THAT TAKES A TREMENDOUS WILLPOWER
TO OVERCOME THAT DEPRESSION AND CONTINUE TO ACT.
Allen: I THINK HE KEPT UNDER CONTROL
BECAUSE OF THE TREMENDOUS NECESSITY
TO CONTINUE THE JOURNEY--
HIS GREAT WISH TO FULFILL THOMAS JEFFERSON'S HOPES.
@@ I THINK IT WAS THE FORCE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
MOVING IN MERIWETHER LEWIS
THAT KEPT HIS POTENTIAL FOR DEPRESSION AND MOROSENESS
UNDER CONTROL.
[THUNDER]
William Clark: ORDERLY BOOK, JULY 12, 1804.
A COURT-MARTIAL
CONSISTING OF THE TWO COMMANDING OFFICERS
WILL CONVENE THIS DAY AT 1:00.
PRIVATE WILLARD-- CHARGED WITH LYING DOWN
AND SLEEPING ON HIS POST WHILST A SENTINEL.
TO THIS CHARGE,
THE PRISONER PLEADS GUILTY OF LYING DOWN,
NOT GUILTY OF GOING TO SLEEP.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: ALONG THE LOWER MISSOURI THAT SUMMER,
THE CAPTAINS CONVENED AN IMPROMPTU COURT-MARTIAL
5 DIFFERENT TIMES.
Ambrose: AVERAGE AGE WAS IN THE EARLY 20s.
PHYSICAL CONDITION EXCELLENT.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE WILDERNESS OUTSTANDING.
DEVOTION TO DUTY...
THEY WERE YOUNG MEN.
SOME OF THEM HAD TO HAVE SOME LASHES LAID ON--
50, IN A COUPLE OF CASES.
Narrator: NEAR WHAT IS NOW KANSAS CITY,
HUGH HALL BROKE INTO THE WHISKEY SUPPLY
AND GOT DRUNK.
JOHN COLLINS WAS PUNISHED FOR A STRING OF OFFENSES,
INCLUDING TALKING BACK TO CLARK.
AND FARTHER UP RIVER,
PRIVATE ALEXANDER WILLARD WAS CONVICTED
OF SLEEPING ON GUARD DUTY,
POTENTIALLY A CAPITAL CRIME.
William Clark: THE COURT ARE OF THE OPINION
THAT THE PRISONER IS GUILTY
AND DO SENTENCE HIM TO RECEIVE
100 LASHES ON HIS BARE BACK
AND ORDER THAT THE PUNISHMENT
COMMENCE THIS EVENING AT SUNSET.
Narrator: BY FALL,
THERE WOULD BE NO MORE SERIOUS BREACHES OF DISCIPLINE.
Charles Floyd: JULY 11--
CAME TO ABOUT 12:00 FOR THE PURPOSE OF RESTING ONE OR TWO DAYS.
OUR OBJECT IN DELAYING HERE IS TO TAKE SOME OBSERVATIONS AND REST THE MEN,
WHO ARE MUCH FATIGUED.
THE MEN, ALL SICK.
JULY 31--I AM VERY SICK AND HAVE BEEN FOR SOME TIME.
WE CAMPED AT ONE OF THE BEAUTIFULLEST PRAIRIES I EVER SAW,
OPEN AND BEAUTIFULLY DIVIDED,
WITH HILLS AND VALLEYS ALL PRESENTING THEMSELVES.
CHARLES FLOYD.
Patrick Gass: AUGUST 19--THIS DAY, SERGEANT FLOYD BECAME VERY SICK
AND REMAINED SO ALL NIGHT.
HE WAS SEIZED WITH A COMPLAINT SOMEWHAT LIKE A VIOLENT COLIC.
PATRICK GASS.
William Clark: AUGUST 20--SERGEANT FLOYD MUCH WEAKER AND NO BETTER.
NO PULSE, AND NOTHING WILL STAY A MOMENT ON HIS STOMACH.
PASSED TWO ISLANDS, AND AT THE FIRST BLUFF ON THE STARBOARD SIDE,
SERGEANT FLOYD DIED WITH A GREAT DEAL OF COMPOSURE.
BEFORE HIS DEATH, HE SAID TO ME,
"I AM GOING AWAY. I WANT YOU TO WRITE ME A LETTER."
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: NEAR WHAT IS NOW SIOUX CITY, IOWA,
SERGEANT CHARLES FLOYD DIED FROM WHAT LEWIS DIAGNOSED AS BILIOUS COLIC,
BUT WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN A BURST APPENDIX.
Ambrose: THERE WAS NOTHING THAT THEY COULD DO FOR HIM.
IF HE HAD BEEN IN PHILADELPHIA WITH DR. RUSH AND THE LEADING MEDICAL MEN OF THE DAY,
THERE'S NOTHING THEY COULD HAVE DONE FOR HIM, EITHER.
Man: HE WAS LAID OUT IN THE MOST DECENT MANNER POSSIBLE.
WE DUG A GRAVE ON THE TOP OF A ROUND KNOB
AND BURIED THE DECEASED WITH THE HONORS OF WAR.
THE FUNERAL CEREMONY PERFORMED,
WE NAMED THIS HILL FLOYD'S BLUFF.
PRIVATE JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE.
William Clark: THIS MAN AT ALL TIMES
GAVE US PROOFS OF HIS FIRMNESS AND DETERMINED RESOLUTION
TO DO SERVICE TO HIS COUNTRY AND HONOR TO HIMSELF.
AFTER PAYING ALL THE HONOR TO OUR DECEASED BROTHER,
WE CAMPED IN THE MOUTH OF FLOYD'S RIVER, ABOUT 30 YARDS WIDE.
A BEAUTIFUL EVENING.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY HAD SUFFERED ITS FIRST FATALITY.
Patrick Gass: THERE IS NO TIMBER IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY,
BUT CONTINUED PRAIRIE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVER.
A PERSON, BY GOING ON ONE OF THE HILLS,
MAY HAVE A VIEW AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN REACH WITHOUT ANY OBSTRUCTION
AND ENJOY THE MOST DELIGHTFUL PROSPECTS.
PATRICK GASS.
Narrator: AS THEY MOVED FARTHER NORTH AND WEST,
THE MEN NOTICED THE LANDSCAPE CHANGING.
EXCEPT ALONG THE RIVERBANK, THERE WERE VIRTUALLY NO TREES.
THE LAND SEEMED TO UNFOLD, TO ROLL ON AND ON FOREVER.
THEY HAD EMERGED ONTO ONE OF THE LARGEST GRASSLANDS IN THE WORLD--
THE GREAT PLAINS.
THEY HAD NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT IN THEIR LIVES.
Heat-Moon: NONE OF THE EARLY TRAVELERS WHO CAME INTO THE WEST
AND ENCOUNTERED THE GREAT PLAINS
COULD BELIEVE WHAT THEY WERE SEEING.
IT MAY BE THE FIRST COUPLE OF DAYS OF TRAVELING THEM, THEY COULD SAY,
"YES, THIS IS A LARGE MEADOW.
I UNDERSTAND MEADOWS, AND THIS IS JUST A BIGGER MEADOW."
BUT TIME IS WHAT MAKES THE GREAT PLAINS COME ALIVE--
AND FEARFUL, ALSO, TO ANY TRAVELER,
AND ESPECIALLY TO LEWIS AND CLARK.
Duncan: THEY USED TO SAY A SQUIRREL COULD START AT THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
AND GO FROM TREE BRANCH TO TREE BRANCH
AND MAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE MISSISSIPPI.
WHEN THEY GET ON THE GREAT PLAINS, THAT'S WHERE THE SQUIRREL STOPS.
THESE ARE GUYS WHO ARE USED TO LOOKING UP AND SEEING TREES,
AND NOW, NO TREES.
IT MUST HAVE JUST BEEN STUPEFYING TO THEM.
YOU FEEL SO SMALL.
YOU FEEL LIKE THE WIND CAN BLOW YOU
AND DO AT WILL WITH YOU WHAT IT WISHES.
Narrator: NOW THEY BEGAN TO ENCOUNTER ANIMALS
THEY HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE--
NEW ONES, IT SEEMED, ALMOST EVERY DAY.
FOLLOWING JEFFERSON'S INSTRUCTIONS,
THE EXPLORERS TOOK MEASUREMENTS OF EACH NEW SPECIES,
NOTED THEIR HABITS,
PLACED THEIR SKINS AND SKELETONS IN CRATES FOR SHIPMENT BACK TO MONTICELLO.
THE DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS THE MEN WROTE DOWN IN THEIR NOTEBOOKS
WERE THE FIRST EVER RECORDED FOR SCIENCE
OF COYOTES, PRAIRIE WOLVES,
JACK RABBITS, AND ANTELOPE.
John Ordway: CAPTAIN CLARK KILLED A CURIOUS ANIMAL.
IT RESEMBLES A DEER IN SOME PARTS--
THE LEGS LIKE A DEER, FEET LIKE A GOAT,
HORNS LIKE A GOAT, ONLY FORKED.
SUCH AN ANIMAL WAS NEVER YET KNOWN IN THE UNITED STATES.
William Clark: DISCOVERED A VILLAGE OF SMALL ANIMALS
THAT BURROW IN THE GROUND.
IT COVERS ABOUT 4 ACRES
AND CONTAINS GREAT NUMBERS OF HOLES,
ON THE TOP OF WHICH THOSE LITTLE ANIMALS SIT ERECT,
MAKE A WHISTLING NOISE, AND WHEN ALARMED, SLIP INTO THEIR HOLE.
THOSE ANIMALS ARE CALLED BY THE FRENCH PETIT CHIEN.
Duncan: THEY WERE PRAIRIE DOGS,
AND THEY DECIDED, WE GOT TO HAVE ONE OF THESE.
THEY TRIED TO DIG INTO THE PRAIRIE DOG HOLES,
AND THEY COULDN'T GET THEM THAT WAY.
THEY RAMMED RODS DOWN 6 FEET. THEY STILL COULDN'T GET THEM OUT.
THEY STARTED HAULING WATER, YOU KNOW.
THEY HAD EVERY MAN IN THE EXPEDITION EXCEPT A COUPLE PEOPLE GUARDING THE BOAT
INVOLVED IN TRYING TO CAPTURE A PRAIRIE DOG,
WHICH THEY FINALLY CAUGHT, AND THEY SENT IT BACK LIVE TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Meriwether Lewis: THIS SCENERY, ALREADY RICH, PLEASING, AND BEAUTIFUL,
WAS STILL FARTHER HEIGHTENED BY IMMENSE HERDS OF BUFFALO,
WHICH WE SAW IN EVERY DIRECTION FEEDING ON THE HILLS AND PLAINS.
I DO NOT THINK I EXAGGERATE
WHEN I ESTIMATE THE NUMBER OF BUFFALO
WHICH COULD BE COMPREHENDED AT ONE VIEW
TO AMOUNT TO 3,000.
Ambrose: IT WAS THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
NO AMERICAN HAD EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.
BUFFALO HERDS THAT STRETCHED ACROSS THE HORIZON.
ELK HERDS THAT NUMBERED IN THE HUNDREDS--INDEED, IN THE THOUSANDS.
DEER SO PLENTIFUL AS CHICKENS ON A FARM, ACCORDING TO WILLIAM CLARK.
THE GRAPES. THE FRUITS. THE GRASSES OF THE GREAT PLAINS.
THE ROLLING HILLS OF THE MISSOURI RIVER.
THE BOUNDLESS HORIZON.
THIS WAS PARADISE.
Thomas Jefferson: THE COMMERCE WHICH MAY BE CARRIED ON
WITH THE PEOPLE INHABITING THE LINE YOU WILL PURSUE
RENDERS A KNOWLEDGE OF THOSE PEOPLE IMPORTANT.
YOU WILL, THEREFORE, AS FAR AS A DILIGENT PURSUIT OF YOUR JOURNEY SHALL ADMIT,
ENDEAVOR TO MAKE YOURSELF ACQUAINTED.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Narrator: AS THEY MOVED UP THE RIVER THAT SUMMER
IN WHAT IS NOW NEBRASKA AND SOUTH DAKOTA,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY MET WITH SEVERAL BANDS OF NATIVE AMERICANS--
THE OTOS, THE ARIKARAS, AND THE YANKTON SIOUX.
THE CAPTAINS TOLD EACH TRIBE THAT THEIR LAND NOW BELONGED TO THE UNITED STATES
AND THAT A MAN FAR AWAY IN THE EAST WAS THEIR NEW GREAT FATHER.
EACH ENCOUNTER WAS MARKED BY FRIENDLY RELATIONS
AND FELL INTO A PREDICTABLE PATTERN OF CEREMONY.
Duncan: THEY'D GIVE OUT THESE PEACE MEDALS THAT HAD JEFFERSON ON ONE SIDE
AND TWO HANDS SHAKING ON THE OTHER.
THEY'D GIVE OUT THESE LITTLE CERTIFICATES THAT SAY, YOU KNOW,
"SPOTTED WEASEL IS NOW AN OFFICIAL CHIEF."
AND THEY'D GIVE OUT PRESENTS OF MIRRORS AND CLOTH AND TOBACCO AND SOMETIMES WHISKEY,
ALTHOUGH ONE TRIBE SAID, "WHY WOULD YOU GIVE US SOMETHING THAT WOULD MAKE US FOOLS?"
THEN THEY WOULD SHOW OFF FOR THE TRIBES.
THEY'D FIRE THEIR GUNS, AND THEY HAD A BIG CANNON THAT THEY'D SHOOT
TO SAY, "WE'RE FROM A VERY MIGHTY COUNTRY."
AND THEN THEY'D HAVE THE SPEECHES.
William Clark: CHILDREN, THE GREAT CHIEF OF THE 17 GREAT NATIONS OF AMERICA
HAS SENT US OUT TO CLEAR THE ROAD AND MAKE IT A ROAD OF PEACE.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Meriwether Lewis: CHILDREN, YOU ARE TO LIVE IN PEACE WITH ALL THE WHITE MEN.
INJURE NOT THE PERSONS OF ANY TRADERS WHO VISIT YOU
UNDER THE PROTECTION OF YOUR GREAT FATHER'S FLAG.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
William Clark: CHILDREN, FOLLOW HIS COUNSELS,
AND YOU WILL HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR
BECAUSE THE GREAT SPIRIT WILL SMILE UPON YOUR NATION,
AND IN FUTURE AGES WILL MAKE YOU OUTNUMBER THE TREES OF THE FOREST.
Man: THE SPEECH THAT LEWIS AND CLARK GAVE THE TRIBES,
THERE WAS A LOT OF PROMISES IN THERE.
THERE WAS THE PROMISES OF FRIENDSHIP.
THERE WAS PROMISES OF HELPING EACH OTHER SURVIVE.
THERE WAS A PROMISE OF "THIS IS YOUR TERRITORY.
"WE'RE NOT GOING TO INTERFERE WITH IT.
THIS IS YOUR LIVES. WE'RE NOT GOING TO INTERFERE WITH IT."
AND SO THEY BELIEVED THEM. THEY BELIEVED THEM.
THAT'S WHY THEY HAD WELCOMED THEM WITH OPEN ARMS,
AND EVEN AFTER THAT SPEECH WAS OVER.
Man: MY HEART IS GLADDER THAN IT EVER WAS BEFORE TO SEE A WHITE MAN.
IF YOU WANT TO OPEN THE ROAD, NO ONE CAN PREVENT IT.
IT WILL ALWAYS BE OPEN TO YOU.
WHEN YOU RETURN, IF I AM LIVING,
YOU WILL SEE ME AGAIN, THE SAME MAN.
WE SHALL LOOK AT THE RIVER WITH IMPATIENCE FOR YOUR RETURN.
KAKAWISSASSA, LIGHTNING CROW.
Narrator: ACCORDING TO THE YANKTON SIOUX, DURING THE EXPEDITION'S VISIT,
A CHILD WAS BORN.
LEWIS WRAPPED THE BABY BOY IN A UNITED STATES FLAG
AND DECLARED HIM AN AMERICAN.
BUT A CHIEF ALSO ISSUED A WARNING.
"THE NEXT TRIBE UP THE MISSOURI," HE TOLD THE CAPTAINS,
"WILL NOT OPEN THEIR EARS, AND YOU CANNOT, I FEAR, OPEN THEM."
THEY WERE THE TETON SIOUX, ALSO KNOWN AS THE LAKOTA,
AND THEIR REPUTATION HAD ALREADY REACHED WASHINGTON.
Thomas Jefferson: YOU WILL PROBABLY MEET WITH PARTIES OF THE TETON SIOUX.
ON THAT NATION, WE WISH MOST PARTICULARLY TO MAKE A FRIENDLY IMPRESSION
BECAUSE OF THEIR IMMENSE POWER.
Narrator: THE LAKOTA HAD ONLY RECENTLY MIGRATED WEST ONTO THE GREAT PLAINS,
BUT THEY WERE NOW THE MOST POWERFUL FORCE IN THE REGION,
DOMINATING EVERY OTHER TRIBE AROUND THEM.
FOR YEARS, THEY HAD INTIMIDATED FRENCH AND SPANISH BOATMEN,
STOPPED SOME FROM CONTINUING UPRIVER,
DEMANDED TRIBUTE FROM OTHERS, EVEN CONFISCATED CANOES AND ALL THEIR CARGO,
UTTERLY CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF TRADE GOODS ALONG THE MISSOURI.
ON THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 25,
NEAR WHAT IS NOW PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY MET THE TETON SIOUX.
WHILE LARGE NUMBERS OF LAKOTAS GATHERED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVER,
CHIEFS NAMED BLACK BUFFALO, THE PARTISAN, AND BUFFALO MEDICINE,
ALONG WITH 30 WARRIORS, CAME OVER TO TALK.
EVEN WILLIAM CLARK, WHO HAD BEEN IN SCRAPES WITH INDIANS BEFORE,
SEEMED ANXIOUS.
John Ordway: GAVE THE 3 CHIEFS 3 NEW MEDALS AND ONE AMERICAN FLAG,
SOME KNIVES, AND OTHER SMALL ARTICLES OF GOODS.
THEY DID NOT APPEAR TO TALK MUCH UNTIL THEY HAD GOT THE GOODS,
AND THEN THEY WANTED MORE AND SAID WE MUST STOP WITH THEM
OR LEAVE ONE OF THE CANOES WITH THEM,
AS THAT WAS WHAT THEY EXPECTED.
JOHN ORDWAY.
Ambrose: THE TETON SIOUX TRIED TO FORCE A TOLL
THAT WAS BEYOND THE EXPEDITION'S ABILITY TO PAY,
AND WHEN THE EXPEDITION WOULDN'T PAY IT--
NOT ENOUGH TOBACCO, NOT ENOUGH WHISKEY, NOT ENOUGH BEADS,
NOT ENOUGH GUNS-- WHICH WAS PRINCIPALLY WHAT THEY WANTED--
THEY MADE AN ATTEMPT TO STOP THE EXPEDITION.
Narrator: WHEN CLARK BROUGHT THE CHIEFS BACK TO SHORE
AFTER SHOWING THEM THE KEELBOAT,
3 WARRIORS SEIZED HIS CANOE'S TOWROPE.
THE PARTISAN BEGAN ARGUING WITH CLARK, WHO DREW HIS SWORD.
ALONG THE BANK, LAKOTA WARRIORS NOTCHED THEIR ARROWS.
ON BOARD THE KEELBOAT, LEWIS LOADED THE CANNON.
THE FATE OF THE ENTIRE EXPEDITION HUNG IN THE BALANCE.
John Ordway: CAPTAIN CLARK TOLD THEM THAT WE MUST AND WOULD GO ON,
THAT WE WERE NOT SQUAWS, BUT WARRIORS.
THE CHIEF SAID HE HAD WARRIORS, TOO,
AND IF WE WERE TO GO ON, THEY WOULD FOLLOW US AND KILL
AND TAKE THE WHOLE OF US BY DEGREES.
Ambrose: THIS WAS THE TENSEST MOMENT
BECAUSE YOU HAD HUNDREDS OF INDIANS ON THE RIVERBANK WITH THEIR BOWS STRUNG
AND CLARK WITH HIS SWORD DRAWN,
READY TO DRIVE IT THROUGH THE HEART OF THE TETON SIOUX CHIEFS.
IF THEY DIDN'T LET GO OF THE CORD OF THAT CANOE
THAT THEY WERE TRYING TO HOLD ON TO TO FORCE THIS PAYMENT,
CLARK WAS READY TO ACT.
"I FELT MYSELF GROW WARM," HE WROTE IN HIS JOURNAL.
Narrator: AT THAT MOMENT, BLACK BUFFALO INTERVENED
AND DIPLOMATICALLY CHANGED THE SUBJECT.
HIS ONLY REQUEST, HE SAID,
WAS THAT THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF HIS VILLAGE
ALSO BE ALLOWED TO COME AND SEE THE KEELBOAT
AND MEET THE EXPLORERS BEFORE THEY MOVED ON.
CLARK QUICKLY AGREED, AND FOR 3 MORE DAYS,
THE EXPEDITION NERVOUSLY STAYED AMONG THE LAKOTA.
Joseph Whitehouse: THEY APPEAR TO BE THE MOST FRIENDLY PEOPLE I EVER SAW,
BUT THEY WILL STEAL AND PLUNDER IF THEY CAN GET AN OPPORTUNITY.
ABOUT 15 DAYS AGO, THEY HAD A BATTLE WITH THE OMAHAS.
THEY KILLED 65 MEN AND TOOK 25 WOMEN PRISONERS.
THEY TOOK THE 65 OMAHA SCALPS
AND HAD THEM HUNG ON SMALL POLES,
WHICH THEIR WOMEN HELD IN THEIR HANDS WHEN THEY DANCED.
THEY HAD DRUMS AND WHISTLES FOR MUSIC.
THEY KEPT IT UP UNTIL 1:00,
DANCING WAR DANCES AROUND THE FIRE,
WHICH WAS CURIOUS TO US.
JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE.
Narrator: BY THE TIME THE EXPEDITION MOVED ON,
CLARK HAD FORMED AN OPINION OF THE LAKOTAS
DIFFERENT FROM HIS ATTITUDE TOWARD ALL OTHER INDIANS.
William Clark: THESE ARE THE VILEST MISCREANTS OF A SAVAGE RACE.
THEY MUST EVER REMAIN THE PIRATES OF THE MISSOURI
UNTIL SUCH MEASURES ARE PURSUED BY OUR GOVERNMENT
AS WILL MAKE THEM FEEL A DEPENDENCE ON ITS WILL
FOR THEIR SUPPLY OF MERCHANDISE.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: AS THE EXPLORERS PUSHED NORTH
INTO WHAT IS NOW NORTH DAKOTA,
HUGE FLOCKS OF GEESE AND OTHER BIRDS PASSED OVERHEAD,
MIGRATING SOUTH.
IT WAS OCTOBER NOW. THE WEATHER WAS TURNING COLDER.
THERE WERE FROSTS AT NIGHT,
EVEN AN OCCASIONAL FLURRY OF SNOW.
CLARK WAS SEIZED BY RHEUMATISM, WHICH LEWIS TREATED BY APPLYING A HOT STONE WRAPPED IN FLANNEL.
WHEN THEY HAD LEFT ST. LOUIS,
THE CAPTAINS HAD HOPED TO REACH THE HEADWATERS OF THE MISSOURI BEFORE STOPPING FOR THE WINTER.
NOW THAT WAS CLEARLY OUT OF THE QUESTION.
BY LATE OCTOBER, ACCORDING TO CLARK'S ESTIMATES,
THEY HAD TRAVELED 1,600 MILES UP THE BIG RIVER,
BUT THEY WERE NOWHERE NEAR ITS SOURCE
OR THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE THEY BELIEVED WOULD LEAD THEM TO THE SEA.
INSTEAD, AFTER 6 MONTHS OF HARD TRAVEL,
THEY WERE ARRIVING AT THE LAST FIXED POINT ON THEIR MAP OF THE RIVER,
BEYOND WHICH EVERYTHING WAS ONLY RUMOR AND CONJECTURE.
HERE THE CAPTAINS REALIZED THEY WOULD HAVE TO FIND A SAFE PLACE
IN THE VASTNESS OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS TO SURVIVE THE WINTER.
Woman: WHEN YOU WHITE PEOPLE MET OUR MANDAN PEOPLE,
WE GAVE TO THE WHITES THE NAME MACI,
MEANING NICE PEOPLE OR PRETTY PEOPLE.
WE SAID ALSO, WE WILL CALL THESE PEOPLE OUR FRIENDS.
Narrator: FOR CENTURIES,
THE MANDANS OF THE UPPER MISSOURI
HAD BEEN ONE OF THE DOMINANT TRIBES ON THE GREAT PLAINS,
PROSPEROUS FARMERS WHO LIVED WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS, THE HIDATSAS,
IN 5 LARGE VILLAGES OF EARTH LODGES,
HOME TO 4,500 PEOPLE,
MORE THAN LIVED IN ST. LOUIS OR WASHINGTON, D.C.
EACH YEAR, DELEGATIONS OF CROWS, ASSINIBOINES, CHEYENNES, AND CREES
CAME GREAT DISTANCES TO TRADE WITH THEM.
EUROPEANS HAD COME, TOO--
REPRESENTATIVES OF FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ENGLAND,
EACH COUNTRY RACING TO FIND THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE
AND THE GREAT WEALTH IT WOULD ADD TO THEIR EMPIRES.
ON OCTOBER 24, 1804, NEAR WHAT IS NOW BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA,
THE MANDANS LOOKED DOWN FROM THE BLUFFS OF THE MISSOURI
AND SAW THE LATEST GROUP OF WHITE MEN TO ARRIVE AT THEIR VILLAGE.
IT WAS THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY.
THE MANDANS WELCOMED THE STRANGERS,
LISTENED TO THEIR SPEECHES, ACCEPTED THEIR GIFTS,
AND INVITED THEM TO BUILD A FORT RIGHT ACROSS THE RIVER.
Man: OUR WISH IS TO BE AT PEACE WITH ALL.
IF WE EAT, YOU SHALL EAT.
IF WE STARVE, YOU MUST STARVE, ALSO.
SHEHEKE, BIG WHITE.
Meriwether Lewis: FORT MANDAN,
1,609 MILES ABOVE THE ENTRANCE OF THE MISSOURI.
DEAR MOTHER...
THE NEAR APPROACH OF WINTER, THE LOW STATE OF THE WATER,
AND THE KNOWN SCARCITY OF TIMBER
WHICH EXISTS ON THE MISSOURI FOR MANY HUNDREDS OF MILES
DETERMINED MY FRIEND AND COMPANION CAPTAIN CLARK AND MYSELF
TO FORTIFY OURSELVES AND REMAIN FOR THE WINTER
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE MANDANS,
WHO ARE THE MOST FRIENDLY AND WELL-DISPOSED SAVAGES THAT WE HAVE YET MET WITH.
GIVE YOURSELF NO UNEASINESS WITH RESPECT TO MY FATE,
FOR I ASSURE YOU THAT I FEEL MYSELF PERFECTLY SAFE,
AND THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 3,000 OR 4,000 MILES AND 130
IS THAT I CANNOT HAVE THE PLEASURE OF SEEING YOU
AS OFTEN AS I DID WHILE AT WASHINGTON.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Narrator: WINTER CAME EARLY THAT YEAR ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS.
BY NOVEMBER 13, ICE WAS RUNNING IN THE RIVER.
THE WATER IN SOME COTTONWOODS EXPANDED AS IT FROZE,
SHATTERING THE TREES WITH A SOUND LIKE CANNON FIRE.
THE WIND NEVER SEEMED TO STOP.
THE TEMPERATURE KEPT DROPPING. "COLDER," WROTE SERGEANT JOHN ORDWAY,
"THAN I EVER KNEW IT TO BE IN THE STATES."
Patrick Gass: DECEMBER 6, 1804.
IN THE NIGHT, THE RIVER FROZE OVER
AND IN THE MORNING WAS COVERED WITH SOLID ICE 1 1/2" THICK.
PATRICK GASS.
William Clark: DECEMBER 12-- A CLEAR, COLD MORNING.
THE THERMOMETER AT SUNRISE STOOD AT 38 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.
THE WEATHER IS SO COLD THAT WE DO NOT THINK IT PRUDENT TO TURN OUT TO HUNT,
AT LEAST UNTIL OUR CONSTITUTIONS ARE PREPARED TO UNDERGO THIS CLIMATE.
DECEMBER 17, A VERY COLD MORNING--
45 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: THAT WINTER, THE MANDANS CROSSED THE FROZEN RIVER OFTEN.
THEY BROUGHT CORN, BEANS, AND BUFFALO ROBES
IN EXCHANGE FOR REPAIRS ON THEIR KNIVES AND KETTLES
THAT ALEXANDER WILLARD, A FORMER BLACKSMITH,
MADE ON A FORGE THE EXPEDITION HAD BROUGHT ALONG.
Duncan: YOU'RE NOT SURE WHO'S EXPLORING WHO SOMETIMES.
LEWIS AND CLARK ARE WRITING DOWN THE CUSTOMS OF THE MANDANS.
THE MANDANS ARE COMING OVER TO SEE, "HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON IN THIS FORT?"
THERE WAS A ONE-EYED BOATMAN NAMED PIERRE CRUZATTE WHO PLAYED THE FIDDLE,
AND EVERYONE ENJOYED THAT,
AND TO WATCH THE AMERICANS DANCE FOR THEM,
AND THEN THE AMERICANS WOULD WATCH THE MANDANS DO A DANCE FOR THEM.
IT WAS A COLD, COLD WINTER, BUT IT WAS MADE A LOT WARMER
JUST BY THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE DIFFERENT CULTURES.
William Clark: THOSE INDIANS WERE MUCH ASTONISHED AT MY SERVANT.
THEY NEVER SAW A BLACK MAN BEFORE.
ALL FLOCKED AROUND HIM
AND EXAMINED HIM FROM TOP TO TOE.
Narrator: TO THE AMERICANS, YORK WAS A SLAVE.
TO THE INDIANS, HE WAS BIG MEDICINE.
Baker: AND I REMEMBER MY FATHER TELLING ME ABOUT THIS STORY,
TAKING DIRT AND TRY TO GO UP TO HIM AND RUB THAT BLACK OFF,
AND WHEN THEY FOUND OUT THEY COULDN'T RUB IT OFF, THAT HE WAS A MAN--
OF COURSE, HE WAS VERY MUSCULAR AND HE WAS A BIG MAN, APPARENTLY.
AND SO THEY HAD A LOT OF RESPECT FOR THAT,
AND HE WAS FOLLOWED AROUND ALL THE TIME BY THE CHILDREN AND BY THE WOMEN
BECAUSE HE WAS POWERFUL, AND PEOPLE RESPECTED THAT.
AND HE WAS DIFFERENT. HE WAS DIFFERENT.
INDIAN WAY TEACHES US THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE DIFFERENT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT'S WRONG.
Narrator: IN EARLY JANUARY OF 1805,
WITH THE SUPPLY OF MEAT RUNNING LOW,
THE MANDANS INVITED THE EXPEDITION TO PARTICIPATE IN A SPECIAL CEREMONY.
IT WAS A SACRED RITUAL
MEANT TO CALL THE BUFFALO HERDS BACK TO THE VICINITY OF THE VILLAGE.
William Clark: JANUARY 5, 1805--
A BUFFALO DANCE FOR 3 NIGHTS PAST IN THE FIRST VILLAGE.
A CURIOUS CUSTOM.
THE OLD MEN ARRANGE THEMSELVES IN A CIRCLE,
AND THE YOUNG MEN GO TO ONE OF THE OLD MEN WITH A WHINING TONE
AND REQUEST THE OLD MAN TO TAKE HIS WIFE,
WHO PRESENTS HERSELF NAKED EXCEPT A ROBE,
AND SLEEP WITH HER.
ALL THIS IS TO CAUSE THE BUFFALO TO COME NEAR SO THAT THEY MAY KILL THEM.
WE SENT A MAN TO THIS MEDICINE DANCE LAST NIGHT.
THEY GAVE HIM 4 GIRLS.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Narrator: TWO DAYS LATER, THE BUFFALO SHOWED UP.
Patrick Gass: CAPTAIN LEWIS AND 11 MORE OF US WENT OUT
AND SAW THE PRAIRIE COVERED WITH BUFFALO
AND THE INDIANS ON HORSEBACK, KILLING THEM.
THEY KILLED 30 OR 40, AND WE KILLED 11 OF THEM.
THEY SHOOT THEM WITH BOWS AND ARROWS
AND HAVE THEIR HORSES TRAINED THAT THEY WILL ADVANCE VERY NEAR
AND SUDDENLY WHEEL AND FLY OFF IN CASE THE WOUNDED BUFFALO ATTEMPT AN ATTACK.
SERGEANT PATRICK GASS.
Narrator: THROUGHOUT THE WINTER,
MERIWETHER LEWIS' PRIMITIVE MEDICAL SKILLS
WERE CONTINUALLY PRESSED INTO SERVICE.
HE HAD TO AMPUTATE THE FROZEN TOES OF AN INDIAN BOY
WITHOUT ANESTHESIA OR A SURGICAL SAW.
BY LATE JANUARY, MANY OF THE MEN
SHOWED SIGNS OF VENEREAL DISEASE,
WHICH LEWIS TREATED WITH A SALVE OF MERCURY.
AND ON THE BITTERLY COLD EVENING OF FEBRUARY 11,
LEWIS MADE A MOST UNUSUAL HOUSECALL.
A BABY WAS BEING BORN, AND THE YOUNG MOTHER
WAS HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE DELIVERY.
HER NAME WAS SACAGAWEA-- A SHOSHONE GIRL
WHO HAD BEEN CAPTURED SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER
BY THE HIDATSAS
AND EN SOLD TO TOUSSAINT CHARBONNEAU,
A FRENCH CANADIAN FUR TRADER.
LEARNING THAT THE SHOSHONES LIVED NEAR THE HEADWATERS OF THE MISSOURI
AND THINKING THEY MIGHT NEED A GOOD INTERPRETER WHEN THEY REACHED IT,
THE CAPTAINS HAD HIRED SACAGAWEA'S HUSBAND,
KNOWING SHE WOULD COME WITH HIM.
Duncan: SHE'S CALLED A LOT OF DIFFERENT NAMES--
SACAKAWEA, SACAGAWEA, SACAGAWEA, BIRD WOMAN.
SHE'S A TEENAGER. SHE'S ABOUT 16 YEARS OLD.
SHE'S ONE OF TWO WIVES OF TOUSSAINT CHARBONNEAU.
SHE'S PREGNANT WHEN THEY HIRE HER.
UM, BUT THEY KNEW THAT SHE WOULD BE ESSENTIAL,
AND SHE BECAME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MEMBERS
OF THE EXPEDITION.
Narrator: BUT NOW, SHE WAS IN LABOR.
IT WAS EXCRUCIATINGLY SLOW, LEWIS NOTED,
AND THE PAIN VIOLENT.
SOMEONE SUGGESTED THAT THE RINGS OF A RATTLESNAKE
CRUSHED INTO POWDER AND GIVEN WITH WATER
SOMETIMES HELPED EASE AND SPEED A BABY'S DELIVERY.
LEWIS GOT SOME FROM HIS COLLECTION OF ANIMAL SKINS AND PLANTS.
SACAGAWEA WAS GIVEN THE RATTLESNAKE POTION.
[BABY CRYING]
Meriwether Lewis: WHETHER THIS MEDICINE WAS TRULY THE CAUSE OR NOT
I SHALL NOT UNDERTAKE TO DETERMINE,
BUT SHE HAD NOT TAKEN IT MORE THAN 10 MINUTES
BEFORE SHE BROUGHT FORTH.
Narrator: IT WAS A BOY, WHOM CHARBONNEAU NAMED JEAN-BAPTISTE.
AND THE CAPTAINS AGREED THAT WHEN SPRING FINALLY CAME,
HE COULD GO WEST WITH THEM
AS THE YOUNGEST MEMBER OF THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY.
Thomas Jefferson: I KNOW THAT THE ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANA
HAS BEEN DISAPPROVED BY SOME
FROM A CANDID APPREHENSION
THAT THE ENLARGEMENT OF OUR TERRITORY
WOULD ENDANGER ITS UNION.
BUT IS IT NOT BETTER THAT THE OPPOSITE BANK OF THE MISSISSIPPI
SHOULD BE SETTLED BY OUR BRETHREN AND CHILDREN
THAN BY STRANGERS FROM ANOTHER FAMILY?
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Narrator: IN THE EAST, PRESIDENT JEFFERSON
HAD BEEN RE-ELECTED TO A SECOND TERM,
BUT HIS DECISION TO PURCHASE THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY
STILL HAD MANY ENEMIES.
FAR AWAY, IN MEXICO CITY, NERVOUS SPANISH AUTHORITIES
FEARED THAT THE REAL MISSION OF THE EXPEDITION
WAS TO PREPARE THE UNITED STATES
TO CONQUER TEXAS, THE SOUTHWEST,
PERHAPS MEXICO ITSELF.
UNBEKNOWNST TO JEFFERSON AND THE CAPTAINS,
SPAIN HAD ALREADY SENT A DETACHMENT OF SOLDIERS
AND COMANCHE INDIANS
NORTH TO INTERCEPT THE EXPEDITION.
THEY FAILED, REACHING THE PLATTE RIVER
JUST A MONTH AFTER LEWIS AND CLARK HAD PASSED.
NOW THE VICEROYS IN MEXICO CITY
WERE PLANNING ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO CATCH THE EXPLORERS
ON THE RETURN TRIP.
IN MID-FEBRUARY, GEORGE DROUILLARD RETURNED FROM A HUNTING EXPEDITION
TO SAY THAT A BAND OF LAKOTAS HAD STOLEN TWO HORSES.
THE LAKOTAS BRAGGED ABOUT IT TO A FRENCH FUR TRADER,
WHO REPORTED BACK TO THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY.
John Ordway: MR. TABO SAID TO KEEP A GOOD LOOKOUT,
FOR HE HEARD THE SIOUX SAY THAT THEY SHOULD SURELY
COME TO WAR IN THE SPRING AGAINST US AND THE MANDANS.
THEY SAY IF THEY CAN CATCH ANY MORE OF ,
THEY WILL KILL US,
FOR THEY THI THAT WE ARE BAD MEDICINE.
JOHN ORDWAY.
Narrator: BUT LEWIS AND CLARK WERE ALREA PLANNING
TO BE MUCH FARTHER WEST
BY THE TIME THE LAKOTAS RETURNED.
AS THE LONG WINTER SLOWLY ENDED,
THEY ASKED THEIR INDIAN FRIENDS WHAT LAY AHEAD.
THE CHIEFS DREW LINES ON THE DIRT FLOORS OF THEIR LODGES,
WHILE CLARK TRANSFERRED THE INFORMATION
ONTO A MAP HE WAS PREPARING FOR JEFFERSON.
THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS WATERFALL FARTHER UPRIVER,
ONE CHIEF TOLD THEM,
AND THEN THEY WOULD HAVE TO PASS THROUGH A RANGE OF SHINING MOUNTAINS.
THE CAPTAINS CALCULATED THAT THE PORTAGE AROUND THE FALLS
WOULD TAKE ONLY HALF A DAY,
AND THE MOUNTAINS, THEY WERE SURE,
WERE LIKE THE ONES THEY KNEW IN VIRGINIA--
2 OR 3 DAYS AT MOST TO CROSS.
THEY TOLD THCHIEFS THEY COULD MAKE IT TO THE PACIFIC
AND BACK TO THE MANDAN VILLAGES BEFORE WINTER CAME AGAIN.
BY EAR APR, THE ICE WAS OUT OF THE RIVER.
LEWIS AND CLARK SENT A DOZEN MEN BACK TO ST. LOUIS
WITH A BIG KEELBOAT LOADED WITH MATERIALS FOR JEFFERSON--
LENGTHY REPORTS ABOUT INDIAN TRIBES,
BOX AFTER BOX OF SPECIMENS,
AND 5 LIVE ANIMALS,
INCLUDING THE PRAIRIE DOG THEY HAD FLOODED FROM S HOME.
@@
WITH THE SHIPMENT WENT A LETTER FROM LEWIS
SPEAKING FOR ALL OF THOSE WHO WERE ABOUT TO LEAVE FORT MANDAN FOR THE UNKNOW
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY WAS NO LONGER
THE UNDISCIPLINED COLLECTION OF FRONTIERSMEN
WHO HAD LEFT ST. LOUIS A YEAR EARLIER.
Mewether Lewis: AT THIS MOMENT, EVERY INDIVIDUAL OF THE PARTY
ARE IN GOOD HEALTH AND EXCELLENT SPIRITS,
ZEALOUSLY ATTACHED TO THENTERPRISE
AND ANXIOUS TO PROCEED.
NOT A WHISPER OF DISCONTENT OR MURMUR
IS TO BE HEARD AMONG THEM,
BUT ALL IN UNISON ACT WITH THE MOST PERFECT HARMONY.
WITH SUCH MEN, I HAVE BUT LITTLE TO FEAR
AND EVERYTHING TO HOPE.
Duncan: THEY'RE GOING TO LEAVE FORT MANDAN
AS A COHESIVE TEAM.
THEY'VE SPENT A LONG YEAR GOING UP THE RIVER TOGETHER,
AND THEY'VE SPENT A REALLY HARD WINTER TOGETHER
IN NORTH DAKOTA.
SO NOW THEY'RE GOING TO WORK AS A TEAM,
AND THEY'RE GOING TO NEED IT
BECAUSE THEY'RE LEAVING WHERE THE MAP IS
AND THEY'RE ABOUT TO GO INTO THE REAL UNKNOWN.
Meriwether Lewis: WE WERE NOW ABOUT TO PENETRATE A COUNTRY
AT LEAST 2,000 MILES IN WIDTH
ON WHICH THE FOOT OF CIVILIZED MAN HAD NEVER ODDEN.
THE GOOD OR EVIL IT HAD IN STORE FOR US
WAS FOR EXPERIMENT YET TO DETERMINE.
YET ENTERTAINING AS I DO THE MOST CONFIDENT HOPE OF SUCCEEDININ A VOYAGE
WHICH HAD FORMED A PROJECT OF MINE FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS,
I COULD BUT ESTEEM THIS MOMENT OF MY DEPARTURE
AS AMONG THE MOST HAPPY OF MY LIFE.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Narrator: ON APRIL 7, 1805,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY HEADED WEST ONCE MORE.
TRAVELING IN 6 DUGOUTS AND 2 LARGER CANOES,
THEY PUSHED INTO WHAT IS NOW MONTANA,
FARTHER WEST THAN ANYHITE MAN
HAD GONE BEFORE ON THE RIVER.
FIERCE HEADWINDS SLOWED THEIR PROGRESS,
SOMETIMES STOPPED THEM FOR ENTIRE DAYS.
SAND BLEW IN THEIR FACES AND SCRATCHED THEIR EYES--
"SO PENETRATING," LEWIS WROTE,
"WE ARE COMPELLED TO EAT, DRINK, AND BREATHE IT."
THERE WERE JUST 33 MEMBERS OF THE PARTY NOW,
INCLUDING THE YOUNG SHOSHONE WOMAN SACAGAWEA.
SHE DUG FOR PRAIRIE TURNIPS AND ARTICHOKES,
PICKED WILD LICORICE AND BERRIES FOR THE CAPTAINS' DINNERS.
AND WITH HER WAS HER INFANT SON JEAN-BTISTE,
WHOM THE MEN CALLED "LITTLE POMP."
Ambrose: AND SHE BROUGHT A WOMAN'S TOUCH TO TS EXPEDITION.
I LIKE TO THINK THAT AS SHE WAS NURSING POMP
AT NIGHT AROUND THE CAMPFIRE,
THAT SCENE HAD TO HAVE HAD A GREAT EFFECT ON THE MEN.
TO HEAR A WOMAN'S LAUGH AT NIGHT AROUND THE CAMPFIRE
BOLSTERED SPIRITS.
Funkhouser: WELL, I THINK IT'S A DIFFERENT JOURNEY
FOR EVERYBODY WHO'S MAKING IT,
AND IT'S CERTAINLY A DIFFERENT JOURNEY FOR SACAGAWEA.
SHE, UNLIKE ANYONE ELSE IN THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY,
IS MAKING A RETURN VOYAGE.
SHE'S GOING BACK HOME.
SHE WAS ALSO TENDING TO THIS INFANT
AND CARRYING IT ALMOST THE ENTIRE EXPEDITION ON HER BACK,
AS FAR AS WE KNOW.
THOUSANDS OF MILES WITH A BABY...
WITH A BABY.
Narrator: ONE BLUSTERY DAY,
SACAGAWEA'S HUSBAND CHARBONNEAU
LOST CONTROL OF HIS BOAT.
THE EXPEDITION'S SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT, BOOKS, AND MEDICINES
BEGAN TO WASH OVERBOARD.
CHARBONNEAU PANICKED, BUT SACAGAWEA REMAINED CALM
AND SOMEHOW MANAGED TO RESCUE EVERYTHING,
INCLUDING THE JOURNALS OF LEWIS AND CLARK.
CHARBONNEAU, LEWIS WROTE LATER,
WAS A MAN OF NO PARTICULAR MERIT,
BUT SACAGAWEA, HE SAID,
WAS AS BRAVE AS ANYONE ON THE EXPEDITION.
Meriwether Lewis: ABOUT 5 MILES ABOVE THE MOUTH OF T MUSSELSHELL RIVER,
A HANDSOME RIVER OF ABOUT 50 YARDS IN WIDTH DISCHARGED ITSELF.
THIS STREAM WE CALLED SACAGAWEA OR BIRD WOMAN'S RIVER,
AFTER OUR INTERPRETER, THE SHOSHO WOMAN.
Narrator: WITH EACH MILE IT TRAVELED NOW,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY WAS MAPPING NEW TERRITORY.
THE CAPTAINS STRUGGLED TO THINK OF NAMES
FOR EVERY NDMARK THEY ENCOUNTERED--
BRATTON'S, WISER'S, WINDSOR'S, AND THOMSON'S CREEK
FOR MEN IN THE EXPEDITION,
hgTIL THNAME OF EVERY MEMBER OF THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
WAS AFFIXED TO THE LAND.
ON MAY 29, THEY SAW ANOTHER RIVER,
WHOSE WATERS SEEMED MUCH CLEARER THAN THE OTHERS THEY HAD SEEN.
CLARK CONSIDERED IT AN ESPECIALLY PRETTY STREAM
AND NAMED IT THE JUDITH RIVER
IN HONOR OF A YOUNG GIRL BACK IN VIRGINIA
HE HOPED ONE DAY WOULD BE HIS WIFE.
@@@@
[BEAR GROWLING]
DURING THE WINTER IN NORTH DAKOTA,
THE HIDATSAS HAD TOLD LEWIS AND CLARK
ABOUT THIS FEROCIOUS ANIMAL THAT LIVES WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO BE GOING.
IT'S A BIG BEAR, A BEAR THE SIZE THAT YOU'VE NEVER SEEN.
WELL, AS THEY'RE GOING WEST INTO MONTANA,
THEY START SEEING SOME BIG BEAR TRACKS.
THEY THINK, "HEY, THIS MUST BE IT."
BUT THEY'RE MORE CURIOUS THAN FRIGHTENED OF IT.
[BEAR ROARING]
Narrator: IT WAS THE GRIZZLY.
AFTER PASSING THE MOUTH OF THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER,
LEWIS AND ANOTHER HUNTER SHOT THEIR FIRST ONE.
Ambrose: AND LEWIS REMARKED IN HIS JOURNAL
THAT "I CAN UNRSTAND WHY THE INDIANS ARE AFRAID
"OF THESE BEARS, WITH THEIR INDIFFERENT LITTLE MUSKETS
"THAT THE BRITISH SELL TO THEM AND THEIR BOWS AND ARROWS,
BUT WE GOT KENTUCKY LONG RIFLES. WE CAN TAKE ON ANYTHING."
AFTER ABOUT THE THIRD BEAR,
THE RESOLUTION OF THE MEN BEGAN TO CRUMBLE A B
BECAUSE THESE GENTLEMEN WERE SO HARD TO KILL.
THEY'D HIT THESE BEARS WITH 8, 10, 12 SLUGS--
SOME OF THEM THROUGH THE BRAINS, OTHERS THROUGH THE LUNGS,
SOMETIMES THROUGH THE HEART--
AND THESE BEARS WERE STILL COMING AFTER THEM.
[BEAR GROWLING]
[GUNSHOT]
Duncan: IT CHASES THEM OFF THE PLAIN AND INTO THE RIVER.
THEY MEET ANOTHER ONE WHO CHASES SOME MEN UP A TREE.
EVERYWHERE THEY'RE GOING, THEY'RE MEETING THESE BIG GRIZZLY BEARS
THAT THEY JUST HAVE TROUBLE KILLING.
AND FINALLY LEWIS SITS DOWN ONE NIGHT WRITE IN HIS JOURNAL.
HE SAYS, "I FIND THE CURIOSY OF OUR MEN
WITH RESPECT TO THIS ANIMAL IS PRETTY MUCH SATISFIED."
Meriwether Lewis: MAY 30. MANY CIRCUMSTANCES INDICATE Oh) NEAR APPROACH
TO A COUNTRY WHOSE CLIMATE DIFFERS CONSIDERABLY
FROM THAT IN WHICH WE HAVE BEEN FOR MANY MONTHS.
Narrator: LEWIS NOTED IN HIS JOURNAL
THAT THE AIR WAS MUCH DRIER.
THE INK IN HIS INKSTAND EVAPORATED MORE QUICKLY.
A WOODEN CASE SHRANK AT THE JOINTS
FROM THE LACK OF HUMIDITY.
John Ordway: THIS COUNTRY MAY WITH PROPRIETY
BE CALLED THE DESERTS OF NORTH AMERICA,
FOR I DOOT CONCEIVE ANY PART OF IT CAN EVER BE SETTLED,
AS IT IS DEFICIENT OF WATER ,CEPT IN THIS RIVER
AND DEFICIENT OF TIMBER
AND TOO STEEP TO BE TILLED.
JOHN ORDWAY.
Ambrose: LEWIS WRITES AT ONE POINT
THAT "IF THIS RIVER WEREN'T GROWING A LITTLE SHALLOWER EVERY DAY,
I WOULD SUSPECT THAT IT WOULD NEVER HAVE AEND.
MOUNTAINS WERE FINALLY SEEN IN THE END OF MAY OF 1805,
BUT THEY WERE SO FAR IN THE DISTANCE,
AND IT JUST SEEMED YOU WOULD NEVER, EVER BE ABLE TO GET TO THEM.
MEANWHILE, YOU'RE STRUGGLING ALONG,
KNOWING THESE MOUNTAINS ARE HUNDREDSF MILES OUT THERE,
AND YOU'RE MAKING 10, 12 MILES A DAY.
IT'S ALWAYS SEEMED TO ME THAT THEY MUST HAVE BEEN,
EVERY TIME THEY LOOKED UP FROM THAT RIVER,
WONDERING, "MY GOD ALMIGHTY. WILL WE EVER MAKE IT?
WILL THIS RIVER EVER HAVE AN END TO IT?"
Narrator: NOW THEY ENTERED A NEW SECTION OF THE MISSOURI.
THE INDIANS HAD NOT TOLD THEM ABOUT IT,
AND THEY WERE UNPREPARED FOR ITS WILD BEAUTY.
Meriwether Lewis: THE HILLS AND RIVER CLIFFS WHICH WE PASSED TODAY
EXHIBIT A MOST ROMANTIC APPEARANCE.
THE BLUFFS OF THE RIVER RISE TO THE HEIGHT
OF FROM 200 TO 300 FEET
AND, IN MOST PLACES, NEARLY PERPENDICULAR.
THEY ARE FORMED OF REMARKABLE WHE SANDSTONE.
NICHES AND ALCOVES OF VARIOUS FORMS AND SIZES
ARE SEEN AT DIFFERENT HEIGHTS AS WE PASS.
THE TOPS OF THE COLUMNS DID NOT THE LESS REMIND US
OF SOME OF THOSE LARGE, STONE BUILDINGS IN THE UNITED STATES.
Patrick Gass: WE PASSED SOME VERY CURIOUS CLIFFS AND ROCKY PEAKS
IN A LONG RANGE,
SOME OF THEM 200 FEET HIGH AND NOT MORE THAN 8 FEET THICK.
THEY SEEM IF BUILT BY THE HAND OF MAN
AND ARE SO NUMEROUS THAT THEY APPEAR LIKE THE RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY.
Meriwether Lewis: AS WE PASSED ON, IT SEEMED AS IF THOSE SCENES
OF VISIONARY ENCHANTMENT WOULD NEVER HAVE AN END.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Narrator: BUT NOW AN UNEXPECTED CHALLENGE SUDDENLY FACED THEM.
Man: JUNE 2. WE CAMPED AT A FORK OF THE RIVER.
WE COULD NOT DETERMINE WHICH ONE WAS THE MISSOURI.
OUR OFFICERS AND ALL THE MEN DIFFER IN THEIR OPINIONS
OF WHICH RIVER TO TAKE.
Narrator: THE INDIANS HAD NOT MENTIONED SUCH A FORK.
THE NORTHERN BRANCH WAS MUDDY,
JUST AS THE RIVER HAD BEEN ALL THE WAY FROM ST. LOUIS,
AND MOST OF THE MEN BELIEVED IT WAS THEREFORE THE TRUE MISSOURI.
LEWIS AND CLARK THOUGHOTHERWISE--
THAT THE MISSOURI SHOULD BE GETTING SWIFTER AND CLEARER,
LIKE A MOUNTAIN RIVER,
IF IT WAS TO LEAD THEM TO THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE.
THEY WANTED TO FOLLOW THE SOUTHERN BRANCH.
Meriwether Lewis: TO ASCEND THE WRONG STREAM
WOULD NOT ONLY LOSE US THE WHOLE OF THIS SEASON,
BUT WOULD PROBABLY SO DISHEARTEN THE PARTY
THAT IT MIGHT DEFEAT THE EXPEDITION ALTOGETHER.
Duncan: RATHER THAN JUST SAYING,
"WE SAY IT'S THIS WAY. WE'RE GOING THIS WAY,"
WHICH THEY COULD DO AS MILITARY COMMANDERS,
THEY SAID, "WE'LL STOP. WE'LL RECONNOITER.
WE'LL CHECK UP THIS RIVER. WE'LL CHECK UP THAT RIVER."
BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BRING THESE PEOPLE ALONG WITH THEM.
THEY'RE WAY OUT THERE NOW.
I MEAN, THEY'RE A LONG WAY FROM ANYWHERE,
AND IF THEY MAKE THE WRONG CHOICE, THEY'RE SUNK.
Narrator: LEWIS FOLLOWED THE MUDDY STREAM FOR 40 MILES,
FAR ENOUGH TO CONVINCE HIMSELF
THAT IT LED TOWARD THE ENDLESS CANADIAN PLAINS,
NOT TOWARD THE PACIFIC.
HE AND CLARK NAMED IT THE MARIAS,
BUT TO A MAN, THE REST OF THE EXPEDITION
REMAINED CONVINCED IT WAS THE MISSOURI.
Ambrose: NEVERTHELESS, LEWIS AND CLARK MADE THE DECISION--
"WE'RE GOING UP THE LEFT-HAND FORK."
THE MEN TOLD THE CAPTAINS, "WE DISAGREE WITH YOU,
BUT WE ARE HAPPY TO FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU CHOOSE TO LEAD US."
THIS WAS A MARK OF CONFIDENCE IN LEWIS AND CLARK
THAT WAS EXQUISITE.
[THUNDER]
Narrator: ON FOOT, LEWIS AND A SCOUTING PARTY OF 4 MEN PUSHED AHEAD.
HE KNEW THAT IF HE COULDN'T FIND THE WATERFALL
THAT THE HIDATSAS HAD DESCRIBED TO HIM,
THEY HAD TAKEN THE WRONG FORK.
ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 13,
LEWIS BEGAN HEARING A CONSTANT ROAR IN THE DISTANCE
AND THEN ON THE HORIZON SAW WHAT LOOKED LIKE
COLUMNS OF SMOKE RISING FROM THE RIVER CHANNEL.
HE HURRIED FORWARD FOR 7 MILES.
AT LAST, LEWIS REACHED THE SOURCE OF THE NOISE AND SPRAY
AND KNEW THAT HE AND CLARK HAD BEEN RIGHT.
THERE BEFORE HIM, 300 YARDS WIDE, 80 FEET HIGH,
WAS THE GREAT FALLS OF THE MISSOURI.
Meriwether Lewis: TO GAZE ON THIS SUBLIMELY GRAND SPECTACLE
FORMS THE GRANDEST SIGHT I EVER BEHELD.
IRREGULAR AND SOMEWHAT PROJECTING ROCKS BELOW
RECEIVE THE WATER IN ITS PASSAGE DOWN
AND BREAKS IT INTO A PERFECT WHITE FOAM,
WHICH ASSUMES A THOUSAND FORMS IN A MOMENT...
SOMETIMES FLYING UP IN JETS OF SPARKLING FOAM
TO THE HEIGHT OF 15 OR 20 FEET
AND ARE SCARCELY FORMED BEFORE LAR, ROLLING BODIES
OF THE SAME BEATEN AND FOAMING WATER
IS THROWN OVER AND CONCEALS THEM.
I WISHED THAT I MIGHT BE ENABLED
TO GIVE TO THE ENLIGHTENED WORLD
SOME JUST IDEA OF THIS TRULY MAGNIFICENT AND SUBLIMELY GRAND OBJECT,
WHICH HAS FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF TIME
BEEN CONCEALED FROM THE VIEW OF CIVILIZED MAN.
Narrator: LEWIS SENT A MESSAGE BACK DOWNRIVER
TELLING CLARK THAT THEY HAD MADE THE RIGHT DECISION
AND TO BRING UP THE REST OF THE EXPEDITION.
MEANWHILE, HE SCOUTED AHEAD,
LOOKING FOR THE EASIEST PLACE TO PORTAGE AROUND THE FALLS.
Duncan: AND THEN HE FINDS THAT THERE'S ANOTHER WATERFALL
AND THEN ANOTHER AND ANOTHER.
IT'S AWFUL PRETTY, BUT IT'S NOT GOING TO BE A HALF-DAY
GETTING AROUND THESE THINGS.
Narrator: THEY WOULD HAVE TO PORTAGE AROUND ALL OF THEM,
18 1/2 MILES OVER ROCKY, BROKEN GROUND
UNDER A BROILING SUMMER SUN.
THEY BUILT CRUDE CARTS OUT OF COTTONWOOD TREES
AND HEADED OVERLAND.
Meriwether Lewis: THE BUFFALO HAVE TRODDEN UP THE PRAIRIE VERY MUCH.
THE SHARP POINTS OF THE EARTH ARE AS HARD AS FROZEN GROUND,
AND PRICKLY PEARS STAND UP IN SUCH ABUNDANCE
THAT THERE IS NO AVOIDING THEM.
TH IS PARTICULARLY SEVERE ON THE FEET OF THE MEN,
WHO HAVE NOT ONLY THEIR OWN WEIGHT TO BEAR
IN TREADING ON THOSE HACKLE-LIKE POINTS,
BUT HAVE ALSO THE ADDITION OF THE BURDEN WHICH THEY DRAW.
William Clark: THE MEN HAVE TO HAUL WITH ALL THEIR STRENGTH AND WEIGHT AND ART...
MANY TIMES, EVERY MAN CATCHING THE GRASS
AND KNOBS AND STONES WITH THEIR HANDS
TO GIVE THEM MORE FORCE IN DRAWING ON THE CANOES AND LOADS.
Meriwether Lewis: AT EVERY HALT, THESE POOR FELLOWS TUMBLE DOWN
AND ARE SO MUCH FATIGUED
THAT MANY OF THEM ARE ASLEEP IN AN INSTANT.
OTHERS FAINT AND ARE UNABLE TO STAND FOR A FEW MINUTES.
[THUNDER]
Narrator: VIOLENT STORMS PUNCTUATED THE HEAT.
A FLASH FLOOD NEARLY DROWNED CLARK, CHARBONNEAU,
SACAGAWEA, AND HER BABY IN A GULLY.
ANOTHER STORM BROUGHT HAILSTONES 7 INCHES IN CIRCUMFERENCE
THAT FELL WITH SUCH FURY
THAT THE MEN WERE KNOCKED TO THE GROUND.
Wiiam Clark: THE PARTY RETURNED TO CAMP IN GREAT CONFUSION,
ON THE RUN, LEAVING THEIR LOADS IN THE PLAINS.
THE HAIL AND WIND BEING SO LARGE AND VIOLENT
AND THEM NAKED, THEY WERE MUCH BRUISED
AND SOME NEARLY KILLED--
ONE KNOCKED DOWN 3 TIMES,
AND OTHERS WITHOUT HATS OR ANYTHING ON THEIR HEADS
BLOODY AND COMPLAINED VERY MUCH.
I REFRESHED THEM WITH A LITTLE GROG.
Meriwether Lewis: THIS EVENING, THE MEN REPAIRED THEIR MOCCASINS
AND PUT ON DOUBLE SOLES TO PROTECT THEIR FEET
FROM THE PRICKLY PEARS.
SOME ARE LIMPING FROM THE SORENESS OF THEIR FEET.
John Ordway: JULY 3. ONE PAIR OF GOOD MOCCASINS
WILL NOT LAST MORE THAN ABOUT TWO DAYS.
WE WEAR HOLES IN THEM FOR THE FIRST DAY
AND PATCH THEM FOR THE NEXT.
Narrator: AND TO THEIR GREAT CONCERN,
SACAGAWEA HAD BECOME SERIOUSLY ILL.
WH BLEEDING HER DIDN'T WORK,
THE CAPTAINS GREW ALARMED.
THEY WERE COUNTING ON HER HELP
IN GETTING HORSES FROMER PEOPLE
WHEN THEY REACHED THE MISSOURI HEADWATERS.
LEWIS GAVE HER DOSES OF OPIUM
AND HAD HER DRINK FROM A SULR SPRING HE HAD DISCOVERED.
FINALLY, SHE BEGAN TO RECOVER.
IN THEIR WINTER PLANS, THE CAPTAINS HAD ESTIMATED
IT WOULD TAKE HALF A DAY TO GET AROUND THE FALLS.
INSTEAD, IT TOOK THEM NEARLY A MONTH.
BY EARLY JULY, THE DIFFICULT PORTAGE WAS COMPLETE.
John Ordway: JULY 4. A BEAUTIFUL, CLEAR, PLEASANT, WARM DAY.
THE FIDDLE WAS PUIN ORDER,
AND THE PARTY AMUSED THEMSELVES
DANCING ALL THE EVENING UNTIL ABOUT 10:00
IN A CIVIL AND JOVIAL MANNER.
IT BEING THE 4th OF INDEPENDENCE,
WE DRANK THE LAST OF OUR ARDENT SPIRITS.
JOHN ORDWAY.
Ambrose: YOU KNOW, NAPOLEON SAID,
WHENEVER YOU SET OFF ON A MARCH,
MAKE SURE YOU GOT PLENTY OF BEER AND WINE ALONG,
ENOUGH TO LAST UNTIL YOU GET FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM CAMP
SO THANOBODY CAN DESERT.
AND THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT HAPPENED
WITH LEWIS AND CLARK.
THEY BROUGHT ENOUGH WHISKEY ALONG
TO GET THEM THROUGH TO THE GREAT FALLS,
AND THEN THEY RAN OUT.
THAT WAS WAY TOO LATE FOR ANYBODY TO DESERT.
AND SO THEY CELEBRATED PRETTY HARD.
THE MEN GOT A LITTLE TIPSY, ACCORDING TO LEWIS.
THEY HAD A GREAT TIME.
BUT FOR THE CAPTAINS,
THEY KNOW THAT THEY'RE BEHIND SCHEDULE,
AND YOU CAN SEE FROM THERE, WAY OFF IN THE DISTANCE
ARE THESE MOUNTAINS THAT ARE A LOT BIGGER
THAN ANY MOUNTAINS YOU EVER SAW IN VIRGINIA OR NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Meriwether Lewis: WE ALL BELIEVE THAT WE ARE NOW
ABOUT ENTER ON THE MOST PERILOUS
AND DIFFICULPART OF OUR VOYAGE,
YET I SEE NO ONE REPINING.
ALL APPEAR READY TO MEET
THOSE DIFFICULTIES WHICH AWAIT US
WITH RESOLUTION AND BECOMING FORTITUDE,
AND ALL APPEAR PERFECTLY TO HAVE MADE UP THEIR MINDS
TO SUCCEED IN THE EXPEDITION
OR PERISH IN THE ATTEMPT.
@@
Narrator: THEY WERE BACK ON THE MISSOURI ONCE MORE,
BUT INSTEAD OF LEADING THEM
FARTHER WEST INTO THE MOUNTAINS,
THE RIVER W TURNED SOUTH.
ON JULY 18, CLARK, YORK, AND TWO OTHER MEN
SET OFF OVERLAND,
HOPING SOMEHOW TO FIND THE SHOSHONES
AND THE HORSES THEY KNEW THEY WOULD NEED
TO CROSS THE MOUNTAINS.
LEWIS OK CHARGE OF THE CANOES.
Ambrose: THE SEASON'S WEARING ON.
THE DAYS ARE STARTING TO GET SHORTER.
EVERY TIME HE'D LOOK TO HIS RIGHT,
THERE WERE THOSE MOUNTAINS.
HE'S GOT TO GET ACROSS THEM BEFORE WINTER SETS IN,
AND THE DAMN RIVER IS GOING THE WRONG WAY.
THE RIVER IS GOING SOUTH AND EVEN SOUTHEAST A BIT,
BUT HE'S GOT TO FOLLOW THAT RIVER.
EVENTUALLY IT'S GOING TO HAVE TO TURN
AND GO UP INTO THOSE MOUNTAINS, BUT WHEN? WHERE?
Narrator: CLARK RETURNED EMPTY-HANDED.
NO SIGN OF THE SHOSHONES.
THEN, SOUTH OF WHAT IS NOW HELENA, MONTANA,
THE MISSOURI DIVIDED INTO 3 TRIBUTARIES.
THE CAPTAINS NAMED THE 3 FORKS
THE GALLATIN, THE MADISON, AND THE JEFFERSON
AFTER TWO CABINET MEMBERS
INSTRUMENTAL IN THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
AND "IN HONOR," LEWIS WROTE,
"OF THAT ILLUSTRIOUS PERSONAGE THOMAS JEFFERSON,
THE AUTHOR OF OUR ENTERPRISE."
THE JEFFERSON POINTED WEST,
AND THEY FOLLOWED IT.
Duncan: BUT NOW THE RIVERS ARE GETTING SMALLER.
THEY'RE GETTING SHALLOWER.
IT'S HARDER AND HARDER GOING.
THEY'RE PULLING THE CANOES IN THE WATER
OVER ROCKS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
IT'S EARLY AUGUST, LATE JULY,
AND YET THEY CAN SEE IN THE DISTANCE
THAT IT'S SNOWING UP IN SOME OF THE MOUNTAIN PEAKS.
THAT'S MIND-BOGGLING. I MEAN, THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN IN VIRGINIA.
Meriwether Lewis: AUGUST 2.
E TOPS OF THESE MOUNTAINS
ARE YET PARTIALLY COVERED WITH SNOW
WHILE WE IN THE VALLEY ARE NEARLY SUFFOCATED
WITH THE INTENSE HEAT OF THE MIDDAY SUN.
AUGUST 3.
THE CURRENT MUCH MORE SHALLOW THAN USUAL.
IN MANY PLACES,
THEY WERE OBLIGED TO DOUBLE-MAN THE CANOES
AND DRAG THEM OVER THE STONE AND GRAVEL.
AUGUST 5.
THE MEN WERE SO MUCH FATIGUED TODAY
THAT THEY WISHED MUCH THAT NAVIGATION WAS AT AN END,
THAT THEY MIGHT GO BY LAND.
Narrator: NOTHING SEEMED TO BE GOING RIGHT.
TOWROPES SNAPPED,
AND CANOES OVERTURNED IN THE SWIFT WATER.
ONE OF THEM NEARLY CRUSHED JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE TO DEATH
IN THE ROCKY STREAMBED.
THE JEFFERSON ITSELF FORKED INTOMALLER STREA,
CAUSING YET ANOTHER DELAY.
AND STILL THERE WERE NO SIGNS
OF THE SHOSHONES AND THEIR HORSES.
"IF WE DO NOT FIND THEM,"
LEWIS CONFIDED TO HIS JOURNAL,
"I FEAR THE SUCCESSFUL ISSUE OF OUR VOYAGE
WILL BE VERY DOUBTFUL."
THE ONLY SOLACE CAME FROM SACAGAWEA.
UP TO THIS POINT,
THE ROUTE THE EXPEDITION HAD TAKEN
WAS AS UNKNOWN TO HER AS TO THE OTHER EXPLORERS,
BUT STARTING AT THE 3 FORKS,
SHE BEGAN TO RECOGNIZE FAMILIAR TERRITORY.
Meriwether Lewis: THE INDIAN WOMAN
RECOGNIZED THE POINT OF A HIGH PLAIN.
THIS HILL, SHE SAYS, HER NATION CALLS THE BEAVER'S HEAD.
SHE ASSURES US
THAT WE SHALL EITHER FIND HER PEOPLE ON THIS RIVER
OR ON THE RIVER IMMEDIATELY WEST OF ITS SOURCE,
WHICH FROM ITS PRESENT SIZE CANNOT BE VERY DISTANT.
Ambrose: TO HAVE SACAGAWEA SAY TO THEM,
"THAT'S THE BEAVERHEAD.
WE'RE ON THE RIGHT TRAIL,"
OH, THAT LIFTED SPIRITS WHEN SPIRITS WERE VERY LOW
AND THEY THOUGHT THEY'D NEVER COME
TON END OF THIS JOURNEY.
Narrator: NOW IT WAS LEWIS' TURN
TO SCOUT AHEAD FOR THE SHOSHONES AND THEIR HORSES.
Meriwether Lewis: I DETERMINE
TO PROCEED AHEAD TOMORROW WITH A SMALL PARTY
TO THE SOURCE OF THIS RIVER
AND PASS THE MOUNTAINS TO THE COLUMBIA
AND DOWN THAT RIVE UNTIL I FIND THE IIANS.
IT IS MY RESOLUTION TO FIND THEM
OR SOME OTHERS WHO HAVE HORSES
IF IT SHOULD CAUSE ME A TRIP OF ONE MONTH.
Narrator: 3 DAYS LATER, ON AUGUST 11,
LEWIS' ADVANCE PARTY SAW AN INDIAN
ON HORSEBACK IN THE DISTANCE,
THE FIRST INDIAN THEY HAD SEEN
SINCE LEAVING THE MANDAN VILLAGES
4 MONTHS EARLIER.
LEWIS WAS OVERJOYED AT THE SIGHT
AND LAID DOWN HIS GUN TO SIGNAL
THAT HIS INTENTIONS WERE FRIENDLY.
Ambrose: LEWIS HAD HAD THE FORESIGHT TO ASK SACAGAWEA,
"WHAT'S THE SHOSHONE WORD FOR FRIEND?"
AND SHE SAID, "IT'S TAB-BA-BONE."
LEWIS STRIPPED HIS SLEEVE BA TO SHOW THE INDIAN--
HE WAS SO SUNTANNED, HE LOOKED LIKE AN INDIAN--
TO SHOW THE INDIAN THAT HE WAS A WHITE MAN
AND STARTED SHOUTING, "TAB-BA-BONE! TAB-BA-BONE!"
IT TURNS OUT THAT SACAGAWEA HAD MISUNDERSTOOD HIM.
TAB-BA-BONE WAS THE SHOSHONE WORD FOR STRANGER.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY WORD FOR WHITE MAN.
THE INDIAN, WATCHING THESE MEN APPROACH,
WHEELED HIS HORSE AROUND AND DISAPPEARED,
SO LEWIS EMOTIONALLY WENT FROM JUST EXULTATION
TO THE DEEPEST DESPAIR.
THE CHANCE TO GET THOSE HORSES
HAD QUITE POSSIBLY PASSED MAYBE FOREVER.
Narrator: THE NEXT DAY WAS AUGUST 12.
THE SHIPMENT THE CAPTAINS HAD SENT FROM FORT MANDAN
FINALLY REACHED THE EAST COAST.
PRESIDENT JEFFERSON WOULD HANG THE ELK ANTLERS
ON THE WALL OF HIS HOME,
PLANT THE INDIAN CORN IN HIS MONTICELLO GARDEN,
AND SEND THE TWO SURVIVING ANIMALS--
A MAGPIE AND THE PRAIRIE DOG--
TO THE NATION'S PREEMINENT NATURAL-SCIENCE MUSEUM--
INDEPENDENCE HALL IN PHILADELPHIA,
WHERE 30 YEARS EARLIER,
JEFFERSON HAD HELPED CREATE THE NATION
THAT NOW STRETCHED TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
Duncan: WHAT A SYMBOL.
IN THE PLACE WHERE THE AMERICAN NATION HAD BEEN BORN,
IN A CAGE WAS THIS LITTLE PRAIRIE DOG
THAT LEWIS AND CLARK HAD SPENT AN AFTERNOON
OUT IN THE WEST
TRYING TO DROWN OUT OF ITS HOLE
TO SEND BACK TO THE SCIENTISTRESIDENT.
Narrator: AS HE SIFTED THROUGH THE SPECIMENS,
READ LEWIS' CONFIDENT LETTER ABOUT THEIR PLANS,
AND SPREAD OUT CLARK'S MAP
ON THE FLOOR OF MONTICELLO,
JEFFERSON WOULD HAVE IMAGINED THEM
ALREADY THROUGH THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE
AND AT THE WESTERN OCEAN.
BUT THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY WAS NOWHERE NEAR THE SEA.
INSTEAD, MERIWETHER LEWIS
WAS ABOUT TO LEARN THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN IMAGINARY MOUNTAINS ON A MAP
AND THE REAL THING.
Meriwether Lew: AUGUST 12.
THIS MORNING, I SENT DROUILLARD OUT
AS SOON AS IT WAS LIGHT
TO TRY AND DISCOVER WHAT ROUTE THE INDIAN HAD TAKEN.
WE EVENTUALLY FELL IN
WITH A LARGE AND PLAIN INDIAN ROAD.
I THEREFORE DID NOT DESPAIR
OF SHORTLY FINDING A PASSAGE OVER THE MOUNTAINS.
Narrator: THE WELL-WORN INDIAN TRAIL
LED DUE WEST
UP A GENTLE RISE TOWARD A RIDGELINE.
A SMALL CREEK RAN BESIDE IT.
Ambrose: AFTER THE INDIAN DISAPPEARED,
LEWIS DETERMINED TO FOLLOW HIS TRAIL
BACK TO THE VILLAGE.
HE REALLY HAD NO CHOICE ABOUT IT.
HE HAD TO GET CONTACT WITH THE SHOSHONES.
HE FOLLOWED THE TRACK. IT LED HIM UP A CREEK
TILL FINALLY HE CAME TO A SPRING,
AND WITH ALL THE ANXIETY AND FEAR THAT HE WAS FEELING,
HE NEVERTHELS WAS ABLE TO PAUSE
AND DRINK OUT OF THAT SPRING
COMING OUT OF THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN
AND TO EXULT THAT HE HAD REACHED
THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF THE MISSOURI RIVER.
Meriwether Lewis: HUGH McNEAL STOOD
WITH A FOOT ON EACH SIDE OF THIS LITTLE RIVULET
AND THANKED HIS GOD THAT HE HAD LIVED TO BESTRI
THE MIGHTY AND HERETOFORE DEED ENDLESS MISSOURI.
FARTHER UP WAS THE MOST DISTANT FOUNTAIN
OF THE WATERS OF THE MIGHTY MISSOURI,
IN SEARCH OF WHICH WE HE SPENT
SO MANY TOILSOME DAYS AND RESTLESS NIGHTS.
THUS FAR, I HAD ACCOMPLISHED
ONE OF THOSE GREAT OBJECTS
ON WHICH MY MIND HAS BEEN UNALTERABLY FIXED
FOR MANY YEARS.
JUDGE THEN OF THE PLEASURE I FELT
IN ALLAYING MY THIRST
FROM THIS PURE AND ICE-COLD WATER.
Narrator: NOW LEWIS BEGAN CLIMBING
THE REST OF THE RIDGE.
HE WAS APPROACHING THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE,
THE SPINE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,
BEYOND WHICH THE RIVERS FLOW WEST.
NO AMERICAN CITIZEN HAD EVER BEEN THERE BEFORE.
THIS, HE BELIEVED, WAS THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE
THAT HAD BEEN THE GOAL OF EXPLORERS
FOR MORE THAN 300 YEARS,
THE GREAT PRIZE
WHICH THOMAS JEFFERSON HAD SENT HIM TO FIND
AND CLAIM FOR THE UNITED STATES.
Duncan: FROM THE TIME THAT LEWIS HAD BEEN WORKING
IN THE WHITE HOUSE WITH THOMAS JEFFERSON,
HE'D BEEN PREPARING HIMSELF FOR A DAY
WHEN HE WOULD COME TO THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE,
FIND THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE.
HE WAS GOI TO CLIMB A RIDGE, AND WHEN HE LOOKED OUT,
HE WOULD SEE WHAT ALL GEOGRAPHERS HAD SAID
YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SEE.
HE ANTICIPATED SEEING IN FRONT OF HIM
WHAT WAS BEHIND HIM.
HE THOUGHT HE WOULD SEE THE SAME THING
ON THE OTHER SIDE--
AN EASY DESCENT DOWN TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER,
ONE DAY'S PORTAGE OVER THIS MOUNTAIN PASS.
YOU COULD HAUL THE CANOES ON YOUR BACK,
PUT THEM ONTO THE WATER ON THE OTHER SIDE,
AND YOU'RE HOME FREE.
YOU COULD JUST FLOAT ON DOWN TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
HIS HEART MUST HAVE BEEN RACING LIKE CRAZY
BECAUSE IT'S THE SUPREME MOMENT OF THE EXPEDITION,
AND HE WALKS UP TO THIS RIDGE,
AND WHEN HE GOT THERE, HE LOOKED OUT,
AND ALL HE SAW WERE MORE MOUNTAINS.
THERE WAS JUST MNTAIN AFTER MOUNTAIN
AFTER MOUNTAIN.
Ambrose: AND WHAT HE SAW WHEN HE TOOK
THAT FIRST STEP OUT OF THE UNITED STATES
AND INTO UNCLAIMED TERRITORY
BROUGHT AN END TO A DREAM
THAT HAD BEGUN WITH COLUMBUS,
THE DREAM OF AN ALL-WATER ROUTE FROM EUROPE TO THE FAR EAST.
Allen: THE GEOGRAPHY OF REALITY
AND THE GEOGRAPHY OF HOPE
WERE CLASHING AT THAT POINT.
IT HAS TO BE A SITUATION
IN WHICH HE FEELS TREMENDOUS ELATION,
AS HE EXPRESSES IN THE JOURNALS
ABOUT THANKING GOD THAT HE'S LIVED
TO BESTRIDE THE MIGHTY MISSOURI,
BUT TREMENDOUS DISAPPOINTMENT
AT THE RECOGNITION THAT HIS PRECONCEIVED IDEAS
ABOUT WHAT WAS WEST OF THIS LAST DIVIDING RIDGE
SIMPLY WEREN'T TRUE.
Duncan: AND WHEN HE WAS STANDING THERE
AND YOU SEE ALL OF THOSE MOUNTAINS,
YOU KNOW THAT IT'S NOT GOING TO BE A HALF-DAY PORTAGE.
IT'S GOING TO BE A LOT HARDER,
AND TIME'S A-WASTING. IT'S AUGUST,
AND IT'S ALREADY SNOWING IN CERTAIN PLACES,
AND YOU'D BETTER GET A MOVE ON
BECAUSE IF IT SNOWS,
THEY'RE DONE. THEY'RE GOING TO DIE.
Narrator: LEWIS HAD NO TIME NOW
TO CONTEMPLATE HIS DISAPPOINTMENT.
HE DESPERATELY NEEDED TO FIND HORSES
FOR THE EXPEDITION TO CROSS THE DAUNTING MOUNTAINS
THAT STRETCHED OUT BEFORE HIM.
THE SUCCESS--
PERHAPS THE VERY SURVIVAL OF THEM ALL--
DEPENDED ON IT.
Next time on Lewis & Clark
Their perilous crossing of the Rocky Mountains
Their first glimpse of the Pacific
and the tragic fate of Meriwether Lewis.
Lewis disintegrated.
He fell apart.
He just went apart at the seams.
Next time on Lewis & Clark
the Lewis and Clark expedition timeline,
view maps, and read the journals of the Corps of Discovery online
at pbs.org/lewisandclark.
"Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery"
is available on DVD.
The companion book is also available.
To order, visit shopPBS.org or call us at 1-800-PLAY-PBS.
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