The Journey Begins May 14, 1804

Another Rainy Monday  The expedition began in St. Louis  40 crew members  3 boats  1 dog  As the boats left, crowds began to cheer

Meet the crew!  George Drouillard Highly skilled hunter and trapper Highly skilled hunter and trapper Spoke 2 Native American languages Spoke 2 Native American languages Expert in sign language Expert in sign language  Private Pierre Cruzatle Highly valued Spoke the Omaha language Knew sign language Played the fiddle at night

Seaman the Dog  Belonged to Lewis  Was a black Newfoundland dog  Extremely powerful  The only pet brought on the journey  By the end of the journey, was known as “Our Dog”

The Missouri River  A “Never-ending challenge”  Wide and muddy  Dangers at every turn  Sandbars  Clumps of driftwood and barely sunken logs  Rushing current hard for poling  In shallow water, men would have to wade beside the boat  Could take hours for the men to fight through the debris

Are We There YET?  Other problems: Mosquitoes, gnats, and ticks attacked the men Mosquitoes, gnats, and ticks attacked the men Sores, snakebites, and sunstroke Sores, snakebites, and sunstroke Lack of fresh fruits or vegetables led to poor health Lack of fresh fruits or vegetables led to poor health  Some days they would only travel 5-6 miles  Other days up to 20 miles!

An Evening with the Crew  Each evening, the men would set-up camp  Drouillard would take men to shoot game for dinner  Lewis would walk along the shore and make careful notes about the birds, plants, animals, and weather  The men always cooked and ate their meals together  Cruzatle would sometimes play his fiddle  Sleep under the stars at times

Rise and Shine!  The men would wake at dawn  Ate cold leftovers for breakfast  Broke down camp  Continued on with their journey

Journal Entry #2  It’s May 19, You’ve been on the Missouri River for a only a few days. You are at the St. Charles Riverfront- about 10 miles away from St. Louis. You are waiting for Lewis to meet up with the rest of the crew.  Write about the difficulty you have had sailing down the river. Include your thoughts about rowing and poling the boat. How do you feel? Also talk about some of the problems with the insects we talked about in class today.