The Corps never held a worship service of its own. Yet there were a few divine encounters that might be interpreted as religious reverence.
Deists in the ‘Wilderness’
by Joseph A. MussulmanAs deists in the ‘wilderness,’ Lewis and Clark simply wanted to observe and admire the surrounding world and learn to understand the relationships that held it together.
Even in Lewis and Clark’s day, new species were being classified using a system developed by naturalist Carl Linnaeus.
Church in St. Charles
by Joseph A. MussulmanOn the first Sunday after leaving Camp River Dubois, Joseph Whitehouse wrote that some of the party “went to church, which the french call Mass, and Saw their way of performing &c.”
Did they pray? The answer is yes, they did—to invoke the catch-phrase their journalists sometimes used to generalize about the habits of others—”in their way.”
Charbonneau’s ultimate test of faith came as a boatman, on a day when he was at the helm of the white pirogue. After a sudden gust of wind, he panicked and turned the boat sideways to the wind, turning the boat over.
Lewis as Master Mason
by Joseph A. MussulmanLewis’s meteoric progress through the first three degrees of Masonry signified confidence on the part of the most prominent men of Albemarle that the 23-year-old Lewis was similarly destined for moral, civic, and political leadership.
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.