More DAR Lewis and Clark Essays

I, John Ordway, having been born in little Hebron, New Hampshire and never dreamt I would undergo an incredible journey. It all started when President Thomas Jefferson had a dream. His dream was to find a water route to the Pacific Coast so America could trade with Asian foreigners faster. President Jefferson made an act and bought the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon Bonaparte for fifteen million dollars. So Jefferson set up a group of explorers and former soldiers called the Corps Of Discovery to try and find the water route. I was recruited from the army at Fort Kaskaskia to join the Corps. They chose me because I have a great education. Before I left on the tremendous voyage, I thought it would be best if I wrote a sincere letter to my parents about the expedition. I couldn’t wait to get together with Lewis, Clark, and the rest of the expedition.

On March 29,1804, at Camp Wood the expedition went through a fierce training for the incredible odyssey which took six months to complete. Lewis and Clark were both absent on the 29th of March so they left no one but myself in charge of the men. The men misbehaved when I was in charge. They did things such as sneaking off to liquor stores and getting drunk, and fighting. The most memorable thing to me was that both Privates John Shields and John Colter threatened to kill me and after words begged of my forgiveness. I was dreaming of our voyage thinking it would not be long before we would be out there.

On June 22,1805, the Corps Of Discovery reached massive waterfalls that ranged up to fifty-five miles long. I never dreamt we would come to falls of this size. We had no choice, had to get around the falls. Captain Clark became ill, which did not help at all. We suffered the scorching heat, the mosquitoes, and prickly pears. Wild Grizzly bears attacked our camp while portaging around the falls. Fortunately, Captain Lewis’s dog, Seaman, had protected our camp during the night. We had to hide our cargo from the Native Americans, and wild animals. So we dug out a large Cottonwood tree to make a cache to put Corps items in. Every time we had to travel, we had to lug the cache with us. It took us a total of the whole month of June, and we finished traveling around the five sets of falls on Independence Day also known as the 4th of July. We traveled a strenuous twenty miles around the falls on foot. Then we knew, we would not be far from the Shoshone Indians. A quote from one of my journal entries reads,”…it being the 4th of Independence we drank the last of our ardent Spirits”

This part of the expedition was probably the most memorable to the members of the Corps Of Discovery. In late September of 1804, up the Missouri River in South Dakota was not the place to be. It could have been the end of the whole journey. The Teton Sioux Native American tribe saw us under a cliff’s edge with our keelboat. They raised their bows and arrows, and we all climbed into the keelboat and manned our guns. It was just an awkward silence. Finally, Chief Black Buffalo called off his men as they rode their horses down the other side of the cliff. I remember the feeling of lowering our guns, it felt relieving.

My real dream was to settle on a farm, and to get married. The great journey effected my heath in many ways. It not only effected me, but it effected the nation as well. Pioneers quickly swept across America to settle in the west. I visited my parents back in New Hampshire after the expedition. After that, I got married to a woman named Grace and settled on a 320 acre farm in New Madrid, Missouri. My journals kept on the voyage got lost, once they were found, they were published and I received $300.00. Both me and my wife died in 1817 at age 42. Well, after all I have been through, I guess dreams do come true.

“Crack!” The golden flames cracked and snapped as I sat around the warm fire. The year was 1806 and we were heading home from the expedition to find the Pacific coast. “ York!” called my master Clark. Leaves crunched under my feet as I ran toward my master. As I ran I thought of what I’ve been threw. Let me, York, bring you to the year 1804 in and show you when this incredible quest all began.

I looked out at the cool, clear, blue, water of the Missouri river. Our President, Thomas Jefferson, sent us on this journey and here we are ready to begin. “York!” Called my master. I walked toward him. “Help me with this chest.” Clark ordered. Clark grabbed on one side of the yellow chest and I grabbed the other. We slowly stepped up the plank into the Keelboat. “Alright, set it down.” Clark said. There was clanging in the box as we set it down. “Open it.” Clark said. I opened it to find pots and pans. “You’re our new cook.” Clark said. “See, on this expedition you’re not just a slave, you are member of the crew.” “Thank you.” I said. I shut the chest. “TIME TO GO!” Yelled a man. I ran to the boarding plank and united it. People waved to us as we took off the river. Then some thing clicked in my mind that we might not be coming back, but I knew I’d back my master no matter what. For years to come I will always this day, May 14, 1804 when this for the Pacific coast begins. Then one day that thought of never coming back burned in my mind more then ever.

We rode down the river in our boat when suddenly we stopped. I flew forward and hit the wood of the Keelboat floor. I got up and ran to the edge of the boat. An Indian was pulling our boat. “HEY!” Yelled Lewis. The Indian stopped pulling and pointed up to the top of a hill. The whole crew looked on the hill to find Indians on horses with bows drawn pointed at us. Our crew franticly ran around grabbing rifles and pistols including Lewis and Clark. I stood still with Seaman, Lewis’s Newfoundland dog, at my feet. Sweat poured down my face as my mind raced for a way out but all my mind said was “We’ll NEVER return!” I looked at the crew’s faces. I saw fear in their eyes. Finally the Teton Sioux chief, Black Buffalo, waved off the Indians and quickly we continued on. That day the whole expedition could have ended. It seemed luck was on our side. It was late September 1804 and just made the narrowest escape ever. My hands still trembled. Well, I could tell you much more but lets get back to where we started. Our way home from this incredible quest.

I continued to run toward my master. “Yes master?” I answered to Clark. “Time to eat.” He said. I opened the yellow chest I got from Clark. I grabbed some pots and some left over fish and brought them over the fire. We had fried fish. That night I got good sleep. I thought of how we made it to the Pacific coast alive and now were heading home! If we make it back we would make BIG history. 6 months and finaly I was standing in the doorway of Clark’s house. Tears of joy came out of my eyes as I sat on the bed. I’m going to sleep on a bed and eat a variety of food. My heart beated faster and faster.

10 Years later…
I walked toward my master. “Clark, PLEASE let me go free!” I asked my master Clark “I need to be with my wife.” I told him. “Alright, it’ll be sad to see such a friend leave.” Clark told me. As I walked out the door I thought of what we’ve been threw. Clark was my master and my friend and we made history.

Backus, Maria. the lewis and clark expedition. united states: Mark Twain Media Inc., 2001.

Irving, Anderson W. Inside the Corps: PierreCruzatte. PBS. 30 Nov. 2004 <http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside/Pierres.html>.

Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West. Dir. Bruce Neibaur. Videocassette. national geographic, 2001.

They may call me Pierre Cruzatte, but I call myself St. Peter. It’s an old nickname I picked up on an expedition to the Pacific Coast, and across the unknown land. An expedition with a team of explorers of young (what we called ourselves) men.. This team of explorers was called the Corps of Discovery. A group of about thirty frontiers men all thriving to make a difference in their lives. All of us had a background. Some were short, and some were long. Mine is simple, but I’ll still tell you about it. I’m a one-eyed nearsighted man who has lived a life of fur trading up and down the Missouri River. My father is a French-Canadian and my mother is an Omaha Indian. Since my mother is Omaha Indian my father and I are both very talented in sign language and the Omaha Indian language. I met up with Lewis and Clark, my captains for this expedition, On May 16,1804 while trading on the Missouri River. They told me we were going on an expedition through the unknown land because President Jefferson believed in manifest destiny. Manifest destiny means that it was his destiny, his right, to own the land from coast to coast. He also wanted us to find a river route to the Pacific Ocean so we could trade with Asia. I enlisted as a bowman, someone who spots slack in water eddies and helps to assist the keelboat upstream. I also enlisted as an interpreter and an entertainer because I’m also a very talented fiddle player. Which I believe my fiddle and my music really got me through this expedition. My story starts late in September on the Teton Sioux Indian grounds.

As we, the Corps of Discovery, drifted down the Missouri River we found a gateway and a few Teton Sioux Indians. The Indians were armed with bows and arrows, battle-axes, daggers, and any other weapons used to slaughter. The Sioux were dressed in deerskin leggings and a thin buckskin vest with bead designs and war designs painted on. One of the men who seemed to be the captain looked like he had the scalp of human sewed on. Although this might sound repulsive it showed strength and pride among the Sioux men. When we finally approached the Indians They demanded that we give them precious gifts of some sort of value. We tried to show these strong, bulky, war Indians that we were stronger. By showing off our uniforms and offering them an air pistol. The Sioux Indians were not satisfied. As we were preparing for camp (because the Indians obviously weren’t going to let us through) they stole one of our pirogues, a boat that looks like a canoe, with cargo still on it. Captain Lewis had had enough. He ordered us to aim our guns, and the Sioux readied their bows and arrows. I was terrified because I knew all the Sioux had to do was let their finger slip and it would be the end of me, but most of all the whole expedition. When I had gathered up my courage I spotted some Omaha captives. Since I was half Omaha I went over to try and communicate with them. They told me that the Sioux were plotting to take over other tribes that were weak and defenseless in order to control their land. I wasn’t surprised and I didn’t think the captains would be either, but I went to tell them anyway. When I returned to the battle the sight that I saw blew my socks off. The Sioux were returning the pirogue with all the cargo! Later I found out from one of my companions, George Drouillard, that the chief, Black Buffalo, had returned the pirogue and asked for peace when we had threatened to kill him. That night we stayed with the Sioux, and ate dog meat. I could tell Seaman, Captain Lewis’s Newfoundland dog, was trying to stay in the shadows. We weren’t able to befriend the Teton Sioux Indians, but we at least avoided bloodshed. Our second encounter with Indians was completely different. The Mandan accepted us with pride a jubilant attitude, and they hospitalized us from late October 1804 till April 1805.

The winter was approaching, and we needed a place to stay. The Mandan gladly let us winter near them. In honor of our great friends we built a small wooden fort called Fort Mandan. We also set up a small blacksmith shop where the Mandan could buy tools like axes and hammers for corn. We had many dances and feasts, and during these dances I’d play my fiddle. I would play a tune like “Yankee Doodle,” and the men would jump up and grab each other by the arm. They would do a little square dance while wearing a straw hat. All the other men that weren’t dancing would create a beat by clapping their hands, thumping their feet, and banging bones, sticks, or spoons together to make a noise. The Mandan Indians would yell at us, “Pretty people, pretty people…” everyone would clap and cheer, and then the Mandan dancers would get up. The dancers wore beautiful feathered buffalo heads. The feathers were painted colors like red, purple, blue, and natural colors. You could hear the beat of the bongo drums, the shake of the magnificently carved wooden rattles, and the tune of the wooden flutes playing during the dance. If you reached out your hand you could feel the soft brown fur of the buffalo head as the dancers danced around the circle. You could smell the smoke of the fires burning on torches, and most of all you could taste, the delicious taste, of venison, deer meat, stewing in a clay pot that we could devour after the dance. We stayed with the Mandan till April of 1805, and during this time the captains, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, prepared a shipment of specimens for President Jefferson. Also, during this time a sixteen- year old Shoshone Indian gave birth to a baby boy, Jean Baptiste, in February 1805. This Shoshone girl, Sacagawea, and her son were to be our acquaintances for the rest of the journey. The next, and unfortunately last, event I am going to talk about is an accident that happened due to my eyesight while hunting.

It was August 11, 1806, and we were returning home from our journey to the Pacific Coast. When Captain Lewis asked me to go hunting with him. I accepted gladly because I love to hunt even if I do have bad eyesight. Lewis and I spotted an enormous elk. We tried to shoot it, but missed. Lewis told me that we should split up to continue our hunt for the elk. I had only gone a little ways when a twig snapped. I turned my head to see something furry gracefully running from tree to tree, and it was just in gun range! I aimed my gun carefully and shot. “ Bam!” the elk fell. When I went to gather my kill I found it was, my furry raccoon capped, Captain Meriwether Lewis! At first I told him it wasn’t me who had shot him it could have been Indians. I said that because I was afraid he’d be furious with me, and boot me off the team to survive for myself. I knew he wasn’t like that though. At first the captain considered what I had said, but then he said, “ Cruzatte, if I had been shot by an Indian there would be an arrow in my behind. Now help me up!”

I whispered in a stuttering voice, “ I’m sorry captain.”

He said, “ Well sorry isn’t going to heal my leg.” I lifted my captain in my arms surprised at how light he was. He held the guns while we returned to camp. It took more than a month for Captain Lewis’s leg to heal, and we all had to take turns carrying him, especially me.
When I enlisted with the Corps of Discovery I thought I was a man because I had a job and money, but I wasn’t. When I went into the Corps of Discovery I was still a kid, still a boy. When I came out I was a man. I know this because I learned things like how to be joyful, how to shoot a rifle, how to survive in the wilderness, and above all friendship. For once I had actually had a family. I had actually had people who cared about me. I’m not saying my parents didn’t care about me I’m just saying growing up I had no brothers and sisters I don’t even recall having a real friend. Someone who is by your side. I’ll never forget the battle with the Teton Sioux, the friends I made at Fort Mandan, or that dreadful time I shot Captain Lewis, but above all I’ll never forget the Corps of Discovery. We weren’t just a bunch of grumpy old guys on a trip, we were a family.

		TGS 6th Grade Thomaston Grammar School 65 Watts Lane • Thomaston, ME 04861 • 207-354-6353