At the Falls of the Ohio, the captains add to, and/or replace, Lewis’s original Ohio River crew with the “young men from Kentucky“. York, Clark’s slave, is also added to the roster.
Young Recruit from Kentucky
© Michael Haynes, https://www.mhaynesart.com. Used with permission.
This soldier wears a tan coatee and blue overalls as described in Outfitting the Expedition. He carries a model 1792 Springfield (see Muskets and Rifles).
Biddle’s Nine Young Men
Nicholas Biddle in his paraphrase of the expedition journals, coined a phrase still applied to Clark’s Kentucky recruits:
The party consisted of nine young men from Kentucky, fourteen soldiers of the United States army who volunteered their services, two French watermen—an interpreter and hunter—and a black servant belonging to captain Clarke—All these, except the last were enlisted to serve as privates during the expedition, and three sergeants appointed from amongst them by the captains. In addition to these were engaged a corporal and six soldiers, and nine watermen to accompany the expedition as far as the Mandan nation, in order to assist in carrying the stores, or repel1ing an attack which was most to be apprehended between Wood river and that tribe.
—Nicholas Biddle[1]Nicholas Biddle, ed., History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark to the sources of the Missouri and thence across the Rocky Mountains and down the River Columbia to the … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | Nicholas Biddle, ed., History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark to the sources of the Missouri and thence across the Rocky Mountains and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Performed during the years 1804–5–6. By order of the Government of the United States (New york: Bradford and Inskeep, 1814), 1:2. |
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Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
This page was funded in part by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, U.S. National Park Service.
This site is provided as a public service by the
Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
with cooperation and funding from the following organizations:
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Montana Committee for the Humanities
- Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee
- The Capital Gallery (Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation)
- Yellowstone Public Radio
Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).