Lewis and Clark Expedition
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 38° 51.622 W 090° 06.621
15S E 750733 N 4305250
Historical Marker about the early stages of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Waymark Code: WM923
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 03/16/2006
Views: 43
From the marker:
"Meriwether Lewis and William Clark originally planned
to camp west tof the Mississippi River during the winter of 1803-4. Carlos
Dehault Delassus, the Spanish commandant at St Louis, however, had not received
formal notification from his government of the Louisiana Purchase and would not
permit the expedition to cross the river. Thus in the middle of December, 1803,
Clark led about twenty-five men to the winter camp on the American side at the
mouth of the Wood River, then 1 1/4 miles southwest of this site.
At Camp River Dubois Lewis and Clark gathered supplies,
compiled information and trained their men. Originally there were nine
Kentuckians, fourteen soldiers, two French watermen, one hunter-interpreter and
Clark's Negro servant at the camp. They were energetic, healthy individualists
who did not accept discipline willingly. During the winter Lewis reprimanded
several men for refusing to obey the orders of their officiers, failing to
perform sentry duty and making "hunting of other business a pretext to cover
there design of visiting a neighouring <sic> whiskey shop..."
Additional recruits were enlisted for the first part of the trip
through hostile Indian country and in the spring three boats loaded with
provisions, ammunition and merchandise were prepared for the long journey from
the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean and back. On May 14, 1804, Clark and about
forty-five men "set out at 4 o'clock P.M. in the presence of many of the
neighbouring inhabitants, and proceeded on under a gentle brease up the
Missouri.."
Visible across the road from this marker is a rebuilt Camp Dubois which is
located at N38 51.748 W090 06.466.
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