On or near this date, Lewis and the Mandan delegation stay or pass through Fort Chiswell—a long-established layover on the Great Wagon Road.[1]Traveling with Meriwether Lewis to Washington City is a Mandan delegation from the Knife River Villages—Chief Sheheke, his wife Yellow Corn, and their son. Speaking Mandan and French was … Continue reading
With bitter cold temperatures near present Pueblo, Colorado, Zebulon Pike and his men wish they had brought winter clothing.
Fort Chiswell
The original Fort Chiswell was built in 1758 by William Byrd III during the French and War. Located at a key junction near Reed Creek, the fort was managed by Colonel John Chiswell who owned lead mines in the area. During the Revolutionary War, the fort guarded the mines as their ores were needed to make bullets.
In 1806, the fort was abandoned, but the nearby town of that name hosted many a traveler in the Shenandoah Valley including William Clark‘s oldest brother, Jonathan, who spent a night there on 28 February 1807. The original fort tract had been purchased about 1771 by James McGavock (1728–1812), and he set up a prosperous ordinary house and other commercial establishments.[2]“Fort Chiswell Mansion”, National Register of Historic Places registration form (Fort Chiswell, Virginia), p. 47, … Continue reading
An Old Kentucky Road
Photo 16 October 2007 courtesy Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, U.S. National Park Service. Image is in the Public Domain.
Frozen Feet
The weather moderating to 3 below 0, our absentees joined, one with his feet frozen, but were not able to bring up the horse; sent two men back on horseback. The hardships of the last voyage had now began, and had the climate only been as severe as the climate then was, some of the men must have perished, for they had no winter clothing; I word myself cotton overalls, for I had not calculated on being out in the inclement season of the year.
—Zebulon M. Pike[3]Donald Jackson, The Journals of Zebulon Montgomery Pike (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), 1:353.
Notes
| ↑1 | Traveling with Meriwether Lewis to Washington City is a Mandan delegation from the Knife River Villages—Chief Sheheke, his wife Yellow Corn, and their son. Speaking Mandan and French was interpreter René Jusseaume who brought one of his wives and two children. Expedition private François Labiche was included to translate between French and English. Finally, records indicate expedition sergeant John Ordway was serving as Lewis’s assistant. During this time, William Clark remained at his home at the Falls of the Ohio. |
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| ↑2 | “Fort Chiswell Mansion”, National Register of Historic Places registration form (Fort Chiswell, Virginia), p. 47, www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/098-0005_Fort_Chiswell_Mansion_1971_Final_Nomination.pdf. For more, see also “Fort Chiswell Sitee”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Chiswell_Site and “Fort Chiswell, Virginia”, WikiPedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Chiswell,_Virginia. |
| ↑3 | Donald Jackson, The Journals of Zebulon Montgomery Pike (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), 1:353. |
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.
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