04 - Lewis and Clark Pt. 1 : Lewis Boogie

Spring of 1803, after the United States acquired the Louisiana Territory, two men set out with a crew of roughly 33 men to see what the country had purchased.  Meriwether Lewis and William Clark would captain a group of hunters, trappers, and would be mountain men on this journey. In the first part of our series on the expedition the party prepare and finally depart on an adventure of a lifetime, across undocumented lands, on a mission from the President himself. Let's spark up and hear a tale that inspired many to leave the east for western expansion. The Corps of Discovery.

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Transcript

The Meat

Wes 0:34

Welcome to the Stoned Ape podcast. I'm Wes, and today we'll be talking about the Lewis and Clark expedition, starting with the Louisiana purchase and going to the Pacific Ocean. This was a very long one, and I'm not sure you guys want to hear me talk for two hours yet, so we split this into four parts. I will put a disclaimer here. And if that offends you or if it makes you uncomfortable, you may want to skip this episode and unfortunately the next three. I refer to them as natives when I'm talking about them, and uh, you know, they seem to be cool with that. I do understand that I'm a white guy from Tennessee, and there are some people that no matter what I use, word I use, uh they're not gonna like it. So I'm not trying to uh make anyone, what am I trying to say here? I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm not trying to make anybody feel less or demean anybody. Uh, but again, uh Indians, as far as like words that they use, Lewis and Clark, it's one of the nicer ones. I mean, they usually called native savages, and obviously I'm not gonna be using that. But yeah, the the word Indians did get into this script uh a few times. Okay, we plan on doing a Louisiana purchase episode one day, so we won't stay there too long, but it does help in understanding why we wanted to explore this area in the first place. There will be a lot of dates on this one. We are pretty lucky to have source material from the expedition throughout the journals kept by mostly Clark. Several of the other men of the party kept journals, and Lewis did at times. And for this one, we leaned heavily on the book Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. And this has to be one of the best nonfiction books out there. Stephen goes way more in debt than we're gonna be going today, so if you need more, go grab this book. And before we start talking about that, we're gonna get high. And today I'm gonna be smoking a sativa that I picked up from Mint Cannabis, uh, the brand they call it Sativa Cannabis Company, and I do believe that's a house brand of mint. It's supposed to be their top-tier brand. Um, I will say I got a half of this, and it comes in a nice glass jar, and it it's it's not bad, bud. Uh, but honestly, the glass jar is my favorite part about it. Most of the time that I've found uh getting halves, even from like a higher tier uh brand, it ends up being like either a bag or a plastic container. So I definitely appreciate this glass jar that it came in. Um, other than that, though, it is nice big buds. It's it's a low THC sativa, which I don't really mind that much. I will say uh it's good morning bud, very good morning bud, but it's definitely uh a level to where I don't know, I could chain smoke it. I could smoke the whole half in a day if I wanted. So not that I don't like that, man. Uh like I said, if I just had if I had different strains for different parts of the day, then yeah, I would love to have this as a morning bud, but I don't. Usually I have like one sativa and one indica, and this is just too light, I would say, for me in particular, to want to smoke it all day. Uh, but the one that I have is 18.46%. And the mint cannabis uh website doesn't really have a lot as far as a description for this. It says that it's energetic, creative, inspired, happy, and focused. I did just Google Terplord strain. That's the strain Terp Lord, and it says if you just Google AI overview, terplord is a sativa dominant cannabis strain known for its energetic, creative, and focused effects, often featuring bright citrus and sweet, creamy, and herbal notes. Available as flour, approximately 18 to 22 percent THC, and that's um par. Mine's 18.46. And in concentrate form, it is frequently produced by I.O. Extracts and Cannabis Company. So this is Sativa Cannabis Company. I believe they have an Indica cannabis company. Again, it's the mint with a drive-thru and Tempe mint cannabis. But that's what we're gonna be getting into today. Talking about losing Clark. If you want to leave a comment or send an email, let me know what you're smoking when you listen to the show. It does have a nice flavor to it. All right. The Louisiana Purchase. Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, as well as parts, uh, the western part of Louisiana, the western part of Minnesota, the northeastern part of New Mexico, the northern part of Texas, and parts of Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. So this is a pretty big deal. Uh but we're gonna back up just a little bit. August 18th. That's where we're backing up to, 1774. Merryweather Lewis was born into a world of conflict between the newly formed Americans and the British. His family had always been active in the creation of America. His grandfather, Colonel Robert Lewis, had arrived in 1635 with a grant from the king for 33,333 and third acres of Virginia land. What the fuck's up with these numbers? No wonder there was so many land disputes. When he passed away, he was wealthy enough to leave all nine of his children with substantial plantations. And his fifth son, William, this was Meriwether's father, inherited 1,896 acres, some slaves, and a house, Locust Hill, close to Monticello, where Thomas Jefferson lived. An uncle of William's was a member of the King's Council, and one of Meriwether's uncles was married to George Washington's sister. Meriwether had one older sister and one younger brother. Their names were Jane and Reuben. By 1775, war had broken out. Meriwether barely knew his father. Lieutenant Lewis was away the first five years of his life. He enlisted in July of 1775 and served as a commander of one of the first regiments raised in Virginia. In November 1779, Lieutenant Lewis spent a short leave with his family. Returning from his leave, his horse was swept away and drowned trying to cross the Ravanna River. Lieutenant Lewis managed to swim ashore and he made it back to his family, but pneumonia set in, and in two days he had died from that. Nicholas Lewis, William's older brother, became Meriwether's guardian. May 13, 1780, his mother Lucy remarried Captain John Marks. Virginia widows commonly remarried in those days, so Lucy wasn't loose. And Lucy and Captain Marks had two children together, John Hastings and Mary Garland. She definitely had a strong constitution, his mother. She bore five children, buried two husbands, and lived to be almost 86 years old. When young Meriwether was eight or nine, his stepfather moved the family to a colony being developed in northeastern Georgia. For the next three or four years, he learned frontier skills, and he loved it. He went out at night with his dog and hunted raccoons and possums. According to family legend, Meriwether, when he was eight or nine, he was crossing a field with some friends returning from a hunt when a bull rushed him. He then calmly raised his gun and shot the bull dead. He was curious and inquisitive as well as courageous and cool headed. He learned about herbs and wild plants from his mother. Meriwether wanted more knowledge than Georgia could give him, and per Virginia's laws, he had inherited his father's estate, Locust Hill. This included a plantation of nearly 2,000 acres, 520 pounds in cash, 24 slaves, and 147 gallons of whiskey. It said that he poured one out for his homies and immediately got shitfaced. The following week he threw the first house party in America. He was the most popular kid in Virginia. Now, that'd be funny though. Meriwether's inheritance was currently being managed by his uncle Nick, but it would soon be his. When he was thirteen, his mother agreed he would return to Virginia, obtain a formal education, and prepare himself for his management responsibilities. In the eighteenth century, there were no schools in Virginia. So after some time writing some letters to be accepted, he ended up studying under Parson Matthew Murray, son of one of Thomas Jefferson's teachers. And he learned Latin, mathematics, natural science, and English grammar. By the fall of 1792, he quit school so he could move his mother, the slaves, equipment, and animals back to Virginia. Colonel Marks had died the year earlier, thus ending Meriwether's scholarly career, and he must have done this with some regret. He valued education highly. At eighteen, he had traveled extensively across the southern United States and shown himself to be a self-reliant, self-contained, self-confident teenager. He had always been a fearless rider and he became a great hiker. According to Jefferson, young Lewis hunted barefoot in the snow. Merriweather prided himself on honesty, but a less admirable part of being a Virginia gentleman was drinking. And as a Virginia farmer, Lewis didn't plant or harvest with his own hands. His slaves did the work, like they did for Jefferson or any other slave-owning farmer. Jefferson, by the way, apparently hated slavery. He regarded it as a curse and wanted to see it abolished, but not in his lifetime. He didn't think his generation was ready. He had hoped that Lewis's lifetime they would be ready, but he was a little off by that. Although Lewis was good at running Locust Hill, he desired to roam and explore. So in 1794, Meriwether Lewis was one of the first to enlist as a private in the Virginia Volunteer Corps to be part of the Whiskey Rebellion. By that October 1794, Lewis received a commission as an ensign in the Virginia Militia. Instead of taking his discharge in mid-May, Lewis joined the regular army with the rank of ensign. His first posting was the 2nd Sub Legion under General Wayne, and soon Lewis's views in drinking got him into some trouble. In November of 1795, when he was drunk, he challenged a lieutenant to a duel, but was acquitted, and General Wayne then transferred the 21-year-old Lewis to the chosen rifle company of elite riflemen sharpshooters. And the captain's name of this company was William Clark. In the fall of 1775, William had been in the Army for four years and taken part in the Battle of Fallen Timbers. In six months he would resign his commission due to ill health, but during that time he and Merriweather became great friends and admirers of one another. Over the next four years gave Lewis enough travel to satisfy his rambling nature. He covered vast chunks of the west, north, and south of the Ohio River. In October, he marched from Detroit to Pittsburgh, delivering dispatches. What a fucking walk. In November 1796, Meriwether transferred to the 1st U.S. Infantry Regiment. On March 3rd, 1799, he became a lieutenant and was posted to recruit duty in Charlottesville. In 1800, he was posted to Detroit. And this was the presidential election year, with Jefferson challenging Adams. And shortly after he became regimental paymaster. He roamed the west up and down the Ohio River on a 21-foot killboat in a pirogue. He learned the craft of a waterman. He traveled by horseback through the wilderness carrying large sums of baked notes. He kept extensive records. He established a reputation for thoroughness, accuracy, and honesty. By December 5th, 1800, Lewis was promoted to captain. February 17, 1801, Jefferson was chosen as president, and Aaron Burr was elected as vice president. Also, in 1801, Louisiana was up for grabs. Spain claimed to own Louisiana, but except for a handful of weak garrisons scattered along the Mississippi, anchored by New Orleans in the south and St. Louis in the north, Spain had no effective force in the area. The British had fur trading interests in the upper Louisiana and a claim of some sorts to the Oregon country west of the Rockies. The Russians had interests in the area around and north of the Columbia, and the Spanish had some vague claim at the entire Pacific coast. So they knew what some shit was. It's not like they were going into completely unknown country. It was, you know, they knew what the east looked like and they knew what the west looked like. They knew the ocean was there. They just didn't know what a lot in the middle was, and that's kind of what Lewis and Clark was going to discover. Uh, not really discover, but document at least. Okay, so February 23rd, 1801, President Jefferson wrote Lewis Clark, Captain Lewis, and he said he needed a secretary. He said, Your knowledge of the Western country, of the Army and all its interests and relations has rendered it desirable. And the salary would be$500 per year, and Jefferson assured him he would retain his rank and his right for promotions. He would also live in the President's house. Jefferson said, the office is more the nature of aide de camp than a mere secretary. Meriwether accepted it and he set out at once, and it took him three weeks to get from Pittsburgh to Washington when he arrived on April 1st. The president knew Lewis not only as a neighbor, but as a solid Republican and as an Army officer, who had traveled extensively throughout the Trans-Appalachian region, visiting the various Army posts, and thus a man who knew the officer corps well. Lewis's first task as Jefferson's secretary was to go through the roster of the War Department, listing all the commissioned officers and rate them on their usefulness to the Army. From the officers, quote, genius and military proficiency to the quote, unworthy of commissions they bear. And all officers were given a symbol by their name. Jefferson was using this information in order to reduce the size of the army. So yeah, that was Lewis's first job as he was trying to figure out who needed to be fired from the Army. And you're not going to make a lot of friends that way. Kind of a shitty job. Beyond his role and downsizing of the Army, Lewis spent hours at his desk writing, performing many old tasks, such as drawing up lists for the U.S. postmasters and their locations and compensation, and he copied other routine documents and he delivered messages from Jefferson to Congress. Over time, his relationship with Jefferson resembled some sort of father-son relationship. They spent a lot of time together. They ate together, spent evenings together, and they worked closely together, especially on matters concerning the Army. Jefferson came to know Lewis as well as he'd known any other man. Merryweather was almost always present when Jefferson was entertaining guests, and this was four or five nights a week. In 1802, Jefferson went to Monticello for a two-month vacation. Lewis accompanied him and stayed at the Clappard estate three miles east on the estate called Franklin, home of Ben Franklin's grandson William Bach. Being there, Lewis was able to visit his family in Locust Hill. So we'll go back and find out the origins of the expedition. In the decades following the winning of the independence, there were four plans to explore the West. Jefferson was the instigator of three of these plans. Within weeks of the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, Jefferson wrote General George Rogers Clark, asking him how he would like to lead such a party from Mississippi to California, and General Clark wanted to, but not with a large party like Jefferson wanted. Clark believed three or four well-qualified men would be able to complete the mission, and he thought it would take four or five years, but nothing came from this plan. Two years later, in 1785, Jefferson was in Paris as minister to France. There he learned that Louis XVI was sending out an expedition to the Pacific Northwest. The following summer, Jefferson met John Ledward, a born wanderer, a great talker, intense and dynamic, and he convinced Jefferson he could travel by land to Moscow, cross the Bering Sea on a Russian fur trading vessel, then walk across the North American continent, eventually make it to the capital from the West. Jefferson supported this, but Ledyard was arrested in Siberia and sent back to Poland. What the fuck? In 1790, United States Secretary of War Henry Knox tried to mount a secret Missouri River reconnaissance. Lieutenant John Armstrong was nominated for the command of this, and Lieutenant Armstrong gave it a try, but by the time he had made it to the Mississippi, he said, quote, This is a business, much easier plan than executed. In 1792, Jefferson had another plan. He proposed to the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia for an explorer to lead an overland expedition to the Pacific. 18-year-old Meriwether Lewis volunteered to lead this expedition, but Jefferson chose a French botanist, Andre Michot. Most likely due to Lewis being too young and insufficiently trained. Michael got started in June, but he had barely reached Kentucky when Jefferson discovered he was a secret agent for the French Republic. What the actual fuck. At Jefferson's instance, the French government recalled Michael. In the spring of 1801, Jefferson learned of a secret treaties between France and Spain that had transferred Louisiana from Spain back to France. And I don't know exactly what happened here. I don't believe that Spain bought Louisiana from France. It was almost, in my mind, it's almost like it was a lease for a certain amount of time and then they got it back. But either way, Spain gave it back to France. And he suggested that Napoleon cede Louisiana to the United States to eliminate the possibility of war. He flatly declared that his government would consider any attempt to land French troops in Louisiana a cause of war. At the time, Napoleon's expeditionary force was being devastated in Santo Domingo. It was obvious France could not reconquer that colony, much less send an army to New Orleans. Napoleon could not defend what he owned. He could only lose Louisiana. Why not give it to the United States and be done with the problem? And in the process, re-establish the alliance between the two countries. Jefferson instructed the American minister to Paris, Robert Livingston, to negotiate for the tract of land in the lower Mississippi for use of a port. And to reinforce Livingston, Jefferson began working on a plan to send James Monroe over to Paris as the minister's plenty potentiary with specific instructions for the purchase of New Orleans for$2 million. Jefferson indicated he would be willing to ask Congress for up to$10 million for New Orleans alone. And the thought that Napoleon would be willing to sell all of the Louisiana territory had not occurred to anyone. In the summer of 1802, Jefferson and Lewis read and talked about little less than Alexander McKenzie. McKenzie was a Scottish-Canadian explorer and fur trader known for accomplishing the first crossing of North America north of Mexico in 1793. His accounts were published in 1801, and Jefferson ordered a copy as soon as he heard about it. It arrived late that summer. Sometime late summer or early fall of 1802, Jefferson informed Lewis he would command an expedition to the Pacific. Evidently, he consulted no one, asked no one for advice, entertained no nominees or volunteers other than Lewis. Lewis had demonstrated a remarkable learning ability. He took botany lessons from Jefferson. Jefferson introduced Lewis to the Linnean system of affixing binomial Latin names and how to use the system in the field. He taught Meriwether how to use a sextant, whatever the fuck that is, and Lewis drew up an estimate of expenses to present to Congress as part of a request for an appropriation, fall of 1802. Between the time McKenzie's book arrived at Monticello in December of 1802, Jefferson gave Lewis a college undergraduate's introduction to the liberal arts, North American geography, botany, mineralogy, astronomy, and ethnology. Lewis's final estimate with$696 for, quote, Indian presents as the largest expenditure and the other sums of provisions, mathematical instruments, arms, medicines, and the boat all came to$2,500. Jefferson put a request for that amount into his first draft of his annual message to Congress in December. Congressmen who were listening got the message. The U.S. could steal the fur trade from the British. There were some Federalists who resisted spending money on the West, but they were greatly outnumbered. Congress approved the whole package. And about the fur trade, I believe the first millionaire, I don't have his name here, but I believe the first American millionaire did make his money off the fur trade. So the fur trade was absolutely huge business. The week before Jefferson had requested the$10 million for the Louisiana Purchase, just like the expedition, several Federalists were against the amount of money being spent, but Congress made the appropriation. Jefferson selected James Monroe to go to Paris to join Livingston in the negotiations. About the time for the request for the expedition, Jefferson began writing to his scientific friends. He intended the recipients to provide advice and instruction without cost to the government. Meriwether's schooling was from New Year's Day until March 15th. He studied maps, met with Albert Gallatin, a serious map collector who had a special map made up showing North America from the Pacific Coast to the Mississippi, with details of what was known about the Missouri River and a few wild guesses of what the Warockies might look like in the course of the Columbia. By the time he finished with Jefferson and Gallatin, Lewis knew as much about the Missouri and what was west of it as anyone could know. While Jefferson would set the objectives, Lewis had to determine the size of the expedition, how it would proceed up the Mississippi River, what it would need to cross the Rockies and descend the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, and how to return. From Jefferson's point of view, the expedition were Out to discover the soon-to-be newly acquired territory, to find a water route to the Pacific, to extend commerce, to collect specimens for science, and to establish an American claim on the Oregon Country. March 15, 1803, Lewis left Washington for Harper's Ferry, site of the U.S. Army's arsenal. He got fifteen muzzle-loading flintlock long barrel rifles, 36 pipe tomahawks, fish gigs, knives, and other items for the expedition. Merriweather was delayed a bit for the trip to Harper's Ferry, but the biggest delay was him experimenting with a boat he and Jefferson had dreamed up. It was a collapsible iron frame that was designed to be covered with animal hides and sealed tar. It weighed only 44 pounds, but it could carry 1,770 pounds fully assembled. In mid-April, Lewis traveled to Lancaster's to study with Andrew Ellicott, America's leading astronomer and mathematician, and picked up additional rifles. Around this time, Lewis had the idea of needing another officer to head the command. He then traveled to Philadelphia where he purchased more items for the expedition and met with Dr. Benjamin Rush, a member of the American Philosophical Society, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the most eminent American physician of the day. Here he received rush pills, but the men referred to them as thunderclappers. As far as Rush was concerned, they were effective treatment for all men's ills. They were made up of colomel, which is a mixture of mercury and chlorine. Yeah, that mercury. And gelap, which was a natural laxative from the roots of a plant. And I know they shut their brains out when they took this stuff, so maybe the gelap alone was enough to kind of get the the sickness out of them if they had like eaten something bad or whatever. I don't know what the mercury was for. I think at this time people just seen mercury and thought it looked cool and just put it in random shit, thinking it was good for them somehow. But May 29th, Lewis sent a letter to Jefferson announcing June 6th or 7th he would be able to depart for Washington for a final conference and then be off. Merriweather knew a second officer would help him in enforcing discipline and in fighting the natives, so on June 19th, he sent a letter to William Clark. He and Clark had known each other in the Army only for six months when Lewis had served under Clark. Through their letters, we can determine that small time spent together had made a mutually good impression. They complimented each other. Clark was a tough woodsman, accustomed to command and had an excellent map making ability. In general, areas where Lewis was weak, Clark was strong, and vice versa. Again, from the information we have, they seemed to have trusted each other completely, and each knew that the other was competent to the task, and their word was their bond. William Clark had retired from the Army in 1796, partly for his health and partly attempting a business venture. He was living in Clarksville, Indiana territory when he received the letter, and the letter took a month to get to Clark and another ten days for his reply to arrive. July 4, 1803, on the nation's 27th birthday, the National Intelligencer of Washington reported that Napoleon had sold Louisiana to the United States. The purchase absolutely changed how Lewis would treat the native tribes east of the divide. The Indians were now in American territory, and so Lewis was responsible for informing them that their great father was Jefferson rather than the French or Spanish rulers. Greatly excited about adding more Northern territory, the expedition changed from exploring more of the southern tributaries to exploring more of the northern ones. On July 5th, Lewis started for Pittsburgh. July 29th, Lewis received a letter of Clark's acceptance of co-command. He said he would be ready as soon as the killboat reached Louisiana. Lewis had asked for both of them to be captains, but was turned down on that request, only allowing funds for a lieutenant, but that didn't bother Lewis. He shared command anyway, never telling the men both Lewis and Clark were acting captains. Lewis never pulled brink as far as we can tell, and both had equal say in the decisions to cross the country. In Pittsburgh, the boat builder was a drinker and got into quarrels quite often. Lewis had planned to be on his way July 20th, but mostly due to the boat builder, he was not able to leave until August 31st. To demonstrate how anxious he was to leave, the last nail went into the plank at 7 a.m. and by 10 a.m. Lewis was on the boat loaded. He also had purchased a pirogue while he was in Pittsburgh, and a pirogue, or a pirogue, is a flat bottom dugout designed for marshes and shallow waters. Lewis was off down the Ohio. It wasn't until October 15th that he had tied up in Clarksville and set off to meet his partner. When they shook hands, the expedition began. Over the next two weeks they selected the first enlisted members. They did not lack in volunteers. I guess the word just got out and people just came from all around. Seven men had been pre-approved by Clark, and these were Charles Floyd, Nathaniel Pryor, William Bratton, Ruben Field, Joseph Field, George Gibson, and John Shields, and two by Lewis, John Coulter and George Shannon, and these made up the enlisted men. In addition, Clark's slave York and Lewis's dog Siemen were also early members of the Corps of Discovery. And this name, the Corps of Discovery, was coined by Jefferson, and this is what the expedition would be known as. The Kilboat and Perogues left Clarksville on October 26th. November 13th, Lewis recorded himself having malaria and taking a dose of Rush's pills, and the fever passed. By November 20th, 1803, they were off to St. Louis. St. Louis was four decades old when the corps arrived. With a population barely over a thousand, mainly French Canadians, Lewis spent some time gathering supplies, and by December 9th, Lewis crossed to the Illinois side to meet Clark and the party. They made their winter camp near present-day Wood River, Illinois, called Camp Dubois. This is also near the time George Drouiller, a French Canadian Shawnee, met and joined the corps. Dreuer grew up in the Cape Girarde area of the Missouri to his French Canadian father and Shawnee mother. January 13, 1804, Jefferson wrote Lewis. He told him the transfer of Louisiana to the United States had been scheduled for December 20th and had no doubt it had occurred. On the 22nd of January, he wrote to absolutely confirm it had happened in New Orleans on the 20th. On March 7th, Lewis returned to St. Louis to be present at the ceremonies marking the formal transfer to the United States. So on March 9th, the Spanish flag came down and the French flag went up. And the very next day, on the 10th, the French flag was lowered and the U.S. flag was raised. And that's how we got it. With the appropriate speeches made and documents signed, the process was complete. At 3 30 p.m. on May 21st, 1804, to cheers from the banks from St. Charles, Missouri, the corps departed on their adventure. Their first afternoon, they made it three and a quarter miles down the Missouri. Doesn't sound like they made it too far. Hard rain lasted throughout the night, and by 6 a.m., May 22nd, they were off. Really off, I think, this time. Despite how much labor the men had to endure, in the beginning they made good time. And if the wind was right, they could make nearly 40 miles in a day, so that's a lot better than three and a half. On June 1st, the party reached the Osage River and made camp. They stayed for two nights as the captains made observations. Clark was more often on the killboat, and Lewis was on shore. Clark was a better waterman and Lewis was a better scientist. Lewis took long solitary walks, collecting specimens, animals, and plants, noting the physical characteristics of the land, judging the fertility of the soil, the presence of springs of good water, sites for possible homesteads, trading posts, and fortifications. May 23rd, Captain Clark wrote in his journal, quote, Captain Lewis descended a hill and was nearly fallen from the rocks 300 feet, saved himself by the assistance of his knife. I do wish we had more details about this, but it seems Lewis was calm AF under pressure. The next day, the expedition passed Boone Settlement, a colony of Kentuckians led by Daniel Boone, who had settled there in 1799 on a land grant from the Spanish. If they met Mr. Boone, we have no record of it. May 25th, 1804, the party passed La Chere, the last settlement of the whites on the river. The French and American settlers had lived there for four or five years. Lewis divided the party into three squads and they would cook and eat together. They would cook in the evening, eat about half, and save the rest for breakfast in the morning. Druid and two or three other men went out hunting every day. June 12th, the bowmen cried out, Pierrogues ahead. And there were two pirogues. The leader of the party was Pierre Dorian Sr. In 1785, Dorian had settled down with the Yankton Sioux. He had a Yankton wife and spoke the language. Lewis and Clark convinced Dorian to return to the Sioux village with them. June 17th, Clark had written about several of the men having dysentery, and two-thirds of them with ulcers and boils. The captain blamed the water, and they were correct about the water being bad, but another contributing factor was their diet. They were only able to eat fresh vegetables rarely, and there were no ripe fruit yet. They were living on meat and cornmeal. Almost carnivore, but it was cornmeal, so whatever. Pretty shitty diet, and it was a lot of lean meat too, I believe. I believe later it gets even leaner. And the mosquitoes, they didn't help either. June 26, the party arrived at the mouth of the Kansas River, roughly 400 miles across present-day Missouri. Drunkenness caused a few disciplinary actions with the party, but at this time alcohol was pretty much a necessity for anyone in the military, and the expedition had about 120 gallons purchased by Lewis. The daily ration was one gill per man, which I believe is a little over two single shots. Doesn't seem like it would fuck you up too much, but eh, you never know. Just after midnight, June 29th, Private John Collins tapped a barrel while on guard duty. Private Hugh Hall came up on him, so Collins offered him a drink, and he accepted. And soon these guys were both drunk. The sergeant of the guard discovered and arrested them. Shortly after, they began drawing up court-martial papers. At 11 a.m., the court convened. Collins was found guilty of being drunk on the party's shared alcohol at his post, and he was sentenced to a hundred lashes on his back. This was a normal punishment at the time in the military, I guess. Hall was sentenced to receive fifty lashes, well laid on for his part. And that's where we're going to leave this story today. A bunch of dudes trying to cross the continent and catch a little buzz. This story has really barely begun. We have so much to cover in this adventure, but we'll have to get to all that in our next sesh. Thanks for tuning in. If you have something to say or a good subject to explore, leave a comment or send an email to stonedatepod at gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook at the Stonedate Podcast with Wes Ranson. And if you prefer YouTube or at youtube.com slash at the Stonedate Pod. We'll have links for these down below and a link to our Patreon. If you could support the podcast, it is greatly appreciated. But just showing up every other week is also very much appreciated. Thanks again and have a chill day.