Fifty Native American tribes were encountered by Lewis and Clark during their four year scientific expedition of discovery. Nurturing friendship and peaceful relations with them was vital to mutual understanding and westward expansion.
Sixteen tribes interacted most with the explorers. Some spoke bits of English and wore hats and coats received from European sea captains.
At each encounter, tribal leaders were told by Captain Lewis that their lands now belonged to the United States, and that their new “great father” was President Thomas Jefferson in the east. Gifts were exchanged; the chiefs were presented with a peace medal depicting Jefferson on one side and two hands clasping on the reverse. Ceremoniously the Corps members would march in uniform and shoot their guns.
The Lewis and Clark expedition dispelled the widely held hope for a “northwest passage,” a series of connected rivers through the western mountains to the Pacific Ocean. However, few experiences in American history have been so bold for their time.
The United States population was 5.3M on Jefferson’s inauguration, 1801. Two thirds lived along the Atlantic coast, and the rest of the one million square miles was mostly uninhabited.
Dominant opinion for the time was that one nation could not govern an entire continent. The vast distances, limited transportation options, and the unanswered questions about the western land were perceived as insurmountable barriers.
Maps of the west were fictitious: the Rocky Mountains were represented as narrow and undaunting. The Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains (peak at around 6,500 feet) were thought to be the continent’s highest. Actually the Rockies in Colorado top 14,400 feet.
Other nations also sought to control the west’s destiny but knew little about the territory. France, Britain and Spain clung to vast land claims “out there” somewhere. The uncharted west was formidable.
Jefferson baited Congress by asking only $2,500 to fund the expedition. Actual costs reached $38,722. Congress approved the visionary mission on February 28, 1803. Jefferson called them the Corps of Discovery. Meriwether Lewis, its leader, was Jefferson’s personal secretary, and William Clark, his friend.
The timing was right. Napoleon Bonaparte, preparing for another war with England, agreed to sell the entire 820,000-square mile Louisiana Territory for $15M (3¢ an acre). Bonaparte reasoned that the Americans were sure to overrun the area long before, if ever, he could dispatch an army. Further, the land sale would empower a young nation that shared France’s common rival: England!
Jefferson rushed to accept the treaty by executive authority alone, signed April 30, 1803. In a single stroke, the size of the United States doubled.
The Missouri Indians, Southern Sioux tribes (Missouri and Nebraska border) were buffalo-hunters and farmers. Smallpox had depleted their great numbers. The surviving Missouri and Oto Indians, banned together, totaled 250 people.
August 1804, Missouri and Oto chiefs met with the Corps. Lewis gave his speech, but the Missouri warriors were dissatisfied with lack of substantive trade. In March 1805, both chiefs met with President Jefferson, in Washington DC, who promised trade goods with expectation for peace.
The Yankton Sioux lived in tepees along the James River (South Dakota). Their plight was desperate. The talks were not particularly successful. Instead they were promised trading goods later if they remained peaceful.
The Teton Sioux (Pierre, South Dakota) hunted buffalo and guarded their territory fiercely. Threatening violence, they demanded large gifts for passage. Neighboring Arikara tribe, reached in October 1804, were successful farmers and appeased their Teton neighbors with needed corn, beans and squash.
The Arikaras had never seen a black man, York, Clark’s slave. Mesmerized by his impressive size and unusual appearance, the Arikaras believed him to have special spiritual powers, as did many tribes. The Corps of Discovery stayed the winter until April 1805.
The Mandans lived in earth lodges, and farmed corn. Crees, Cheyennes, Assiniboins, Crows and even enemy Teton Sioux attended trade delegations. Meat, horses and musical instruments were exchanged for Mandan corn.
Mandans lied to their Hidatsa neighbors, that the Americans planned to raid their villages. The Mandan’s objective was to monopolize trade with the Corps. The eventual Hidatsas meeting was friendly but understandably distrusting. Still, strategic information was shared about the route ahead. Hidatas indirectly introduced Lewis and Clark to the French trader Toussaint Charbonneau, and his wife, Sacagawea.
The Assiniboin mocked their Mandans neighbors and threatened military retaliation for the Americans also trading with the Mandans.
Spring 1805, the Lemhi Shoshone Indians (Snake Nation), occupied areas both east and west of the Rocky Mountains (Montana). Spanish traders refused them muskets that Canadian’s had supplied to their enemies (Blackfeet, Atsinas and Hidatas). Shoshone had been driven from the plains into the hills eating roots and berries, unable to hunt in the valley for meat. The Shoshone were told that well provisioned traders would follow later.
Sacagawea, assisting in the translation chain negotiations, recognized her brother Cameahwait. After an emotional reunion, the acquisition of desperately needed horses was assured.
September 1805, 4,000 Nez Perce, also without guns or ammunition, occupied the plains west of the Rocky Mountains. The Corps reclaimed their horses upon their return in May 1806 to cross the mountains. In exchange for food, Clark frequently treated the Indians’ illnesses.
October 1805, The Walla Walla were uncommonly hospitable. Hosting foreign visitors was considered a prestigious honor and advantageous for future trade relations. The Corps returned in April 1806.
Wishram and Wasco Indians shared the fertile Columbia, a primary trading place (Nixluidix). Ten thousand pounds of salmon in 107 stacks would be dried for winter food. Patrick Gass, a former carpenter, noted details of their lodges. All along, the captains encouraged the tribes to be at peace with their neighbors in exchange for trade of quality goods.
December 1805, 400 Clatsop Indians neighbored the Chinooks. They had few enemies and fought few wars; fish and fur were abundant. The Clatsop’s aided the Corps in building Fort Clatsop for the winter. In appreciation for their extraordinary kindness, the fort and its furnishing were left to the Clatsops in March 1806. The relationship from the Chinooks was very strained.
January 1806, Tillamooks (NW Oregon) was the southernmost coastal point reached. A large whale that had washed ashore was harvested into blubber for needed food and oil.
July 1806, Blackfeet (Montana) were encountered. They considered American trade with their Shoshone and Nez Perce neighbors as a direct threat and a weakening of their nation. One night the Blackfeet attempted to steal guns from the Corps. Two Blackfeet warriors were killed, the first bloodshed of Western Indians by representatives of the United States. Thereafter, the Blackfeet regarded Americans with hostility. Blackfeet war parties would, in later years, kill three former members of the Corps of Discovery.
The Louisiana Purchase was publicized only two days before Meriwether Lewis left Washington DC for Pittsburgh to purchase supplies and hire men for the long journey. For Lewis, the purchase changed a semi-covert mission through foreign territory into a bold survey of American-owned land.
To ensure the expedition’s success, Jefferson gave Lewis a one-page
letter pledging “the faith of the United States” to reimburse anyone
for any goods or services that Lewis needed, a limitless line of credit.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were to chart the new territory of the United
States and also the nation’s destiny.