The Lewis and Clark Expedition Across Missouri - Klondike Park - Matson, MO - Lewis and Clark Trail on Waymarking.com

County of marker: St. Charles County
Location of marker: Klondike Park Boat Ramp, Katy Trail State Park, S. of Matson
Marker erected: 2000
Marker erected by: Missouri Department of Natural Resources & The Lewis & Clark Trail Foundation

Marker text:

THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION
Across Missouri
  "We passed a large Cave on the Lbd. Side Called by the French the Tavern about 120 feet wide 40 feet Deep
  & 20 feet high many different images are Painted on the Rock at this place. The Inds & French pay omage.
  Many names are wrote on the rocks [mine among others], Stoped about one mile above for Capt. Lewis
  who had assended the Clifts which is about at the Said Cave 300 fee[t] high, hanging over the Water...
  Capt . Lewis near falling from the Pencelia of rock 300 feet, he caught at 20 foot."
  William Clark, May 23, 1804

May 23, 1804, was an eventful day for the Lewis and Clark party. Early in the day they stopped at Boone's Settlement on Femme Osage Creek, though they did not meet Daniel Boone himself. A mile later, the boats passed along Tavern Rocks, a towering set of bluffs on the south side of the river that extended for several miles. Capt. William Clark stepped ashore to explore Tavern Cave, a riverside landmark at the base of the bluffs, while the rest of the party proceeded upstream another mile before halting. ON the walls of this sandstone shelter cave, Clark noticed Indian pictographs and the names of French travelers, and left his own name, although none of these inscriptions have ever been identified in today's cave.

Meanwhile, Capt. Meriwether Lewis clambered up the 300-foot-tall, pinnacle-like bluffs. At one point near the top he lost his grip and started to slide backward. Only Clark's journal and field note entries mention this near-disaster -- "...he caught at 20 foot [and] Saved himself by the assistance of his Knife." Had Lewis died or been severely injured, the history of the expedition might have been profoundly different.

Back on the river, the boats struggled through mats of driftwood, called embarras by the French. After covering nine miles for the day, the expedition camped at the base of the bluffs opposite here. The evening, the captains inspected the men's rifles and equipment. The Corps of Discovery was a military expedition and the men were expected to be in constant readiness for any situation, especially considering the rumors the captains had been hearing of an impending war between the Sauk-Fox and Osage Indian tribes.

Lewis and Clark sent two hunters ashore on May 23 to provide the 45 members of the expedition with fresh meat. While traveling up the Missouri River, small hunting parties set out each morning with two horses and moved upriver, paralleling the progress of the boats and searching for game. Reubin Fields shot a deer on this day, the first of many animals brought in for food.

JOURNALS The co-captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, were the principal journal keepers of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Besides Lewis and Clark, at least four other members of the Corps of Discovery kept journals: Sergeants John Ordway, Charles Floyd (who died three months after departure), Patrick Gass (Floyd's replacement) and Pvt. Joseph Whitehouse. Lewis was the most literary writer of the party, but his journal has several huge gaps. He wrote virtually nothing in Missouri after later November 1803. Clark made detailed journal entries for every day of the trek through Missouri once he assumed journal keeping duties from Lewis on Nov. 28, 1803. His writing lacked the flair of Lewis', and his spelling left much to be desired, but he wrote thorough accounts of each day's journey. Once he wrote two or more versions that included entries in his journal and on loose sheets of paper that are now known as the field notes. In terms of detail, his writing does not take a back seat to that of Lewis, who is sometimes considered to be the superior chronicler. The sergeants' journal entries are usually short and businesslike but do contain information not found in the captains' accounts. Whitehouse was the only writer to give the privates' view of the epic trip. Since Lewis once mentioned seven journal keepers among the enlisted men, it's possible that Sgt. Pryor and Privates Frazer and Willard also kept journals that are undiscovered.

"Must Sees"at this location": Several Lewis and Clrk signs and markers, the Klondike Park itself, a former silica quarry which shipped tons to make glass in PA. Now a county park, beautiful, with hiking trails, fishing ponds, and several scenic lookouts. Nearby is the Daniel Boone Judgement tree, and site of Daniel Boone's real home. Date Waymark Created: 01/01/2000 Do they allow dogs at this location?: Yes Rate this waymark as to importance:

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