The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped here on May 2, 1806. As part of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, the town of Dayton created a full scale restoration of the campsite using life size metal silhouette sculptures of all the members of the expedition. There are three signs at this site. Two signs discribe the history of the site. The third sign is an index to the camp restoration. The text of the two history signs is include below:
Patit Creek Campsite
Columbia County, Washington
“Friday, May 2d, 1806”
The Corps of Discovery camped near this spot with fair weather and a southwest wind on their return to St. Louis. They recorded seeing deer, sandhill cranes, beaver, and otter. There was camas in bloom along the Patit Creek when Lewis & Clark both compared this land to the rich fertile bottomlands along the Missouri and Ohio Rivers.
To the north of this camp was the trail on which they proceeded on the morning of May 3rd. Today it is the Ronan Road that retraces part of the old trail.
This marker was placed here for your interest with the cooperation of the Landowner. Please respect private property!
“encamped on the N. side”
“in a little bottom”
The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped in the small valley below this viewpoint on May 2, 1806. The Expedition included thirty-three people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Known as the Corps of Volunteers for Northwestern Discovery, each person had important responsibilities and duties. As you view the landscape beyond, imagine what the Expedition’s encampment might have looked like that evening. Think about what each expedition member might have been doing.
May 2, 1806
“Several hunters went on up the branch a hunting. Several of the men went out in different directions to look for the lost horse . . . . Camped on fork of the branch.” - John Ordway>br>
May 2, 1806
“we passed the small creek . . . and encamped on the N. side in a little bottom, having traveled 19 miles today. at this place the road leaves the creek and takes the open high plain. this creek is about 4 yds. wide and bears East as far as I could observe it.” - Meriwether Lewis
Overland Trail
In spring 1806, the Corps followed an ancient trail between the Columbia and Snake rivers traveled by American Indian tribes. The Corps started following this trail near the mouth of the Walla Walla River and then traveled along the Touchet River. After passing through the present-day vicinity of Prescott, Waitsburg, and Dayton and crossing the Touchet, they came to this little valley and camped along Patit Creek. This overland “shortcut” shaved many miles off their eastbound trek.
The Corps of Volunteers for Northwest Discovery - Expedition to the Pacific Ocean
Meriwether Lewis - Captain - field botanist/scientist, ethnographer, journal keeper
William Clark - Captain - surveyor, cartographer, journal keeper
Nathaniel Pryor - Sergeant - boatman (repairs), scout
George Gibson - Private - fiddler, hunter, boatman, interpreter
John Shields - Private - blacksmith, gunsmith, hunter
John Collins - Private - cook, hunter, quartermaster
Joseph Whitehouse - Private - tailor, tanner, journal keeper
Peter M. Weiser - Private - quartermaster, cook
Pierre Cruzaatte - Private - boatman, fiddler, interpreter
Francois Labiche - Private - interpreter, hunter, boatman
Thomas P. Howard - Private - hunter
George Shannon - Private - hunter
Patrick Gass - Sergeant - carpenter, journal keeper
Hugh McNeal - Private - hunter
Reubin Field - Private - hunter, scout
Joseph Field - Private - hunter, scout, saltmaker
John B Thompson - Private - hunter
Robert Frazer - Private - tanner
Richard Windsor - Private - hunter
Jean Baptiste Lepage - Private - hunter
John Ordway - Sergeant - journal keeper
William Bratton - Private - blacksmith, saltmaker, hunter
John Colter - Private - hunter, scout
Alexander Willard - Private - blacksmith, hunter
William Werner - Private - cook, saltmaker, quartermaster
Silas Goodrich - Private - fisherman
John Potts - Private - miller
Hugh Hall - Private - hunter
--Non-Military Members:
George Drouillard - interpreter, scout, hunter, trapper
York - Clark’s African American slave, cook, hunter
Toussaint Charbonneau - interpreter, cook, Sacagawea’s husband
Sacagawea - wife, mother, interpreter, gatherer, occasional guide
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (Pompy) - toddler
Seaman - Captain Lewis’s Newfoundland dog, hunter, retriever, sentinel, playmate