Two hundred years ago today
Aug. 11th, 2005 09:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustOn Sunday 11 August 1805, Captain Meriwether Lewis wrote in his journal:
The story of the Lewis and Clark expedition is extraordinary: this miscellaneous group striking off across that huge continent, confidently assuming that a Northwest Passage through the mountains would exist because they required it to, negotiating their way through the territory of tribes who were often at war with each other (and had every reason to be even more hostile to the explorers), reaching the far coast with only one fatality and then realising that they would not, after all, be able to find a ship to carry them home and setting off to walk all the way back again. The organisation of the expedition is unexpected, too: the presence of a Black slave and a Shoshone woman who acted as intepreter is less remarkable than the fact that these two were treated (at times, at least) as full members of the expedition under its dual captaincy.
This stuff is not taught in British schools - or it wasn't in my time - and I first came across the story in a children's book, one of the earliest of the Puffin imprint. And it feels like a story: specifically, it feels like science fiction, the disparate crew on a mission to boldly go... well, you know the rest.
I discovered an Indian on horse back about two miles distant coming down the plain towards us. With my glass I discovered from his dress that he was of a different nation from any that we had yet seen, and was satisfyed of his being a Sosone; his arms were a bow and quiver of arrows, and was mounted on an eligant horse without a saddle, and a small string which was attatched to the under jaw of the horse which answered as a bridle. I was overjoyed at the sight of this stranger and had no doubt of obtaining a friendly introduction to his nation, provided I could get near enough to him to convince him of our being whitemen.
I therefore proceeded towards him at my usual pace. When I had arrived within about a mile he made a halt which I did also and, unloosing my blanket from my pack, I made him the signal of friendship known to the Indians of the Rocky mountains and those of the Missouri, which is by holding the mantle or robe in your hands at two corners and then throwing it up in the air higher than the head bringing it to the earth as if in the act of spreading it, thus repeating three times. This signal of the robe has arrisen from a custom among all those nations of spreading a robe or skin for ther gests to set on when they are visited. This signal had not the desired effect, he still kept his position and seemed to view Drewyer and Shields, who were now comiming in sight on either hand, with an air of suspicion. I would willingly have made them halt but they were too far distant to hear me and I feared to make any signal to them least it should increase the suspicion in the mind of tb.e Indian of our having some unfriendly design upon him.I therefore haistened to take out of my sack some beads, a looking glas and a few trinkets which I had brought with me for this purpose and, leaving my gun and pouch with McNeal, advanced unarmed towards him.
He remained in the same stedfast poisture untill I arrived in about 200 paces of him when he turned his horse about and began to move off slowly from me; I now called to him in as loud a voice as I could command, repeating the word tab-ba-bone, which in their language signifyes white-man. But looking over his sholder he still kept his eye on Drewyer and Sheilds who wer still advancing, neither of them have-ing segacity enough to recollect the impropriety of advancing when they saw me thus in parley with the Indian. I now made a signal to these men to halt, Drewyer obeyed but Shields, who afterwards told me that he did not observe the signal, still kept on. The Indian halted again and turned his horse about as if to wait for me, and I beleive he would have remained untill I came up whith him had it not been for
Shields who still pressed forward. When I arrived within about 150 paces I again repepeated the word tab-ba-bone and held up the trinkits in my hands and striped up my shirt sIeve to give him an opportunity of seeing the colour of my skin and advanced leasure towards him. But he did not remain until I got nearer than about 100 paces when he suddonly turned his horse about, gave him the whip, leaped the creek and disapeared in the willow brush in an instant and with him vanished all my hopes of obtaining horses for the preasent.
I now felt quite as much mortification and disappointment as I had pleasure and expectation at the first sight of this indian. I felt soarly chargrined at the conduct of the men, particularly Sheilds, to whom I principally attributed this failure in obtaining an introduction to the natives. I now called the men to me and could not forbare abraiding them a little for their want of attention and imprudence on this occasion. They had neglected to bring my spye-glass which in haist I had droped in the plain with the blanket where I made the signal before mentioned. I sent Drewyer and Shields back to surche it, they soon found it and rejoined me. We now set out on the track of the horse, hoping by that means to be lead to an indian camp.
The story of the Lewis and Clark expedition is extraordinary: this miscellaneous group striking off across that huge continent, confidently assuming that a Northwest Passage through the mountains would exist because they required it to, negotiating their way through the territory of tribes who were often at war with each other (and had every reason to be even more hostile to the explorers), reaching the far coast with only one fatality and then realising that they would not, after all, be able to find a ship to carry them home and setting off to walk all the way back again. The organisation of the expedition is unexpected, too: the presence of a Black slave and a Shoshone woman who acted as intepreter is less remarkable than the fact that these two were treated (at times, at least) as full members of the expedition under its dual captaincy.
This stuff is not taught in British schools - or it wasn't in my time - and I first came across the story in a children's book, one of the earliest of the Puffin imprint. And it feels like a story: specifically, it feels like science fiction, the disparate crew on a mission to boldly go... well, you know the rest.
