Lewis travels by land and Clark by river to arrive at Cahokia in present East St. Louis, Illinois. While there, Lewis meets John Hay and Nicholas Jarrot who help him negotiate with the Spanish Lieutenant Governor of Upper Louisiana, Carlos Dehault Delassus.[1]According to Delassus, Lewis arrived in Cahokia on 6 December and visited him in St. Louis 7 December. Lewis’s dates—given in a letter on 19 December—differ slightly.
Cahokia Courthouse
© 2021 by Robert Heacock. Used by permission.
Meeting Hay and Jarrot
Cahokia, December 19th 1803
I arrived at Cahokia on the 7th and immediately took occasion to make myself acquainted with Mr. John Hay (The Post Master of this place) and a Mr. Jarrot, in whom from previous information I had every confidence; both these Gentleman are well acquainted with the English & French languages, a necessary qualification to enable them to be serviceable on the present occasion as the Spanish Commandant cannot speak the English Language, and I am unfortunately equally ignorant of that of the French—
MERIWETHER LEWIS Capt.
1st U.S. Regt. Infty.[2]Lewis to Jefferson, Donald Jackson, ed. Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 145.
Delassus Stops Lewis
The 7th of this month Mr. Merryweather Lewis, Captain of the United States army and former secretary of the President of them presented himself at this post.
. . . his intention was to continue his trip penetrating the Missouri in order to fulfill his mission of discoveries and observations. I have hinted to him that my orders did not permit me to consent to his passing to enter the Missouri River and that I was opposing it in the name of the King, my master.
. . . in view of my proposition has agreed to wait for Your Excellencies’ determination and he is going to spend the winter on the Dubois River.
May God keep Your Excellencies many years.
St. Louis, Illinois, December 9, 1803
Señores Brigadiers of the Royal Armies
Don J. Manuel de Salcedo and Marqués de Casa Calvo.[3]Delassus to Salcedo and Casa Calvo, St. Louis, 9 December 1803 in Before Lewis and Clark: Documents Illustrating the History of the Missouri 1785–1804, ed. A. P. Nasatir, Bison Books edition. … Continue reading
Violent Winds
about 10 oClock the wind changed to the S, E, and gave us an oppertunity to Sailing passd an Island on the Starbd Side, at 12 oClock the wind was So violent as to take off one of the Mast’s
—William Clark
Cahokia Landing
I came to at 3 oClock at the Kohokia Landing, which is at the mouth of Kohokia Creek ¾ of a mile from the Town, and in view of St Louis which is about 2½ miles distant.
—William Clark
The barge (called boat, barge, and bateau but never keelboat) and pirogues had wooden masts but Clark does not say which boat suffered the broken mast.
Old Cahokia Courthouse is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site is managed by the State of Illinois and is open to the public.
Notes
| ↑1 | According to Delassus, Lewis arrived in Cahokia on 6 December and visited him in St. Louis 7 December. Lewis’s dates—given in a letter on 19 December—differ slightly. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Lewis to Jefferson, Donald Jackson, ed. Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 145. |
| ↑3 | Delassus to Salcedo and Casa Calvo, St. Louis, 9 December 1803 in Before Lewis and Clark: Documents Illustrating the History of the Missouri 1785–1804, ed. A. P. Nasatir, Bison Books edition. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990), 719–20. |
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).