Lewis and the Mandan delegates continue along Virginia’s Great Wagon Road headed to Washington City. On or near this date, they reach Robert McCormick’s farm—the birthplace of the mechanical reaper—and Steele’s Tavern—a popular stop.[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
In the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the Western expedition led by Zebulon Pike finds a camp recently used by Spanish soldiers.
Midway (Steeles Tavern)
Located halfway between Knoxville, Tennessee and Baltimore, Maryland and halfway between Lexington and Staunton, the town of Midway was a popular waystation along Virginia’s Great Wagon Road. Because there was another Virginia town named Midway, people began addressing mail to Steele’s Tavern—the town’s present name.
McCormick’s Farm
Robert McCormick, Jr. was born on the family farm near Steele’s Tavern. (The two families were related by marriage.) When Lewis passed through in 1806, the grist mill and blacksmith shop were present. Robert Jr. later inherited the farm and in 1822, he added a new brick manor house and named the plantation Walnut Grove.
Walnut Grove Shop and Mill
Stylized from an original photo by Ed Lay, c. 2012, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, available at www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/081-0073/.
In the blacksmith shop, two generations of McCormick family members developed what many consider to be the first mechanical reaper. After twenty years of work, Robert McCormac was unsuccessful, but son Leander did succeed. McCormick’s sons Cyrus, Leander, and William would form a company that morphed into the modern International Harvester.
Had Lewis met with Robert McCormick that fall, he would have discovered a kindred soul. McCormick certainly knew of the expedition’s iron-framed boat (see October 14, 1804) and if given the opportunity, he would have likely asked Lewis about its construction and fate. Upon seeing McCormick’s progressive farm, Lewis may have been reminded that just before starting the expedition, he had become the District of Columbia’s representative on the American Board of Agriculture.[2]Leander James McCormick, Family Record and Biography (Chicago: 1896); available at archive.org/details/familyrecordbiog00mcco/; “Walnut Grove”, National Register of Historic Places … Continue reading
Pike’s Spanish Camp
Before we marched, killed a fine buck at our camp as he was passing. Found the Spanish camp about four miles below, and from every observation we could make, conceived they had all ascended the river.
—Zebulon M. Pike[3]Donald Jackson, The Journals of Zebulon Montgomery Pike (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), 1:356.
Pike continued moving towards his inevitable arrest by Spanish authorities. For how Spain attempted to stop the Lewis and Clark Expedition, see Spanish Opposition.
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 | Leander James McCormick, Family Record and Biography (Chicago: 1896); available at archive.org/details/familyrecordbiog00mcco/; “Walnut Grove”, National Register of Historic Places registration form (Steeles Tavern, Rockbridge County, Virginia), www.dhr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/081-0073_Cyrus_McCormick_Farm_and_Workshop_1975_NHL_nomination.pdf; “Cyrus McCormick Farm”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_McCormick_Farm accessed 13 October 2026. |
| ↑3 | Donald Jackson, The Journals of Zebulon Montgomery Pike (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), 1:356. |
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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