Past the Omahas

Following the Missouri River north along the present Nebraska-Iowa border, the expedition passes the homelands of the Otoes and Omahas. The captains pay their respects to the late Omaha Chief Blackbird and conduct their first two councils, one with the Otoes and another with the Omaha.

Strong currents, heat, sandbars, sawyers, and masses of driftwood make hard days for the enlisted men and engagés, and Pvt. Moses Reed and an engagé desert.

Shortly after the council with the Omahas, Sgt. Charles Floyd becomes ill, and passes away. He is buried “with all the honors of War” on a bluff overlooking the river in present Sioux City, Iowa.

The Otoes and Missourias

by Kristopher K. Townsend



At the time of the expedition, the nation from which the Missouri River derived its name were so reduced by smallpox and attacks that they had abandoned their villages and merged with other tribes—Kansas, Osages, but primarily, the Otoes.

 

Chief Blackbird

Late Omaha chief

by Joseph A. Mussulman



The two captains and ten of the enlisted men climbed the hill to visit the grave of one of the most notorious and controversial leaders of the Omaha Nation, whose name was Washinga Sahba—Blackbird.

 

The Pawnees



Although Clark referred to the Pawnee often and included them in the Estimate of the Eastern Indians, the journals do not document any face-to-face encounters.

 

The Omahas

by Kristopher K. Townsend



The captains appeared eager to meet with the Omaha. They tried to find them at their two biggest villages and planted a flag at the gravesite of the chief who for many years had controlled trade in the region, the infamous Blackbird.

 

Missouri River Hazards

The travails of river travel

by Joseph A. Mussulman



“So far, we have experienced more difficulty from the navigation of the Missouri, than danger from the Savages. The difficulties which oppose themselves to the navigation of this immence river, arise from the rapidity of it’s current, it’s falling banks, sandbars, and timber”

 

Synopsis Part 1

Washington City to Fort Mandan

by Harry W. Fritz



The Corps of Discovery, as it would be called, or the “corps of volunteers for North Western Discovery,” as Lewis put it, epitomized the rising glory of the United States—its sense of limitless possibilities and unparalleled opportunities.

 

The Barge

Barge, keelboat, or just 'the boat'?

by Joseph A. Mussulman



Meriwether Lewis listed a “Keeled Boat” in his pre-expedition shopping list, but after he finally got it, he and the other journalists of the Corps of Discovery simply called it “the boat” (190 times) or, less often, “the barge” (32 times).

 

Mapping Siouxland

A cartographic palimpsest

by Joseph A. Mussulman



The historic Map of Lewis and Clark’s Track Across the Western Portion of North America can fruitfully serve as a major palimpsest of American history as of the year in which it was created, 1810.

 

Driftwood Danger

An embarras (obstacle)

by Joseph A. Mussulman



The Missouri spawned countless hazards such as a drift or raft of logs—an embarras, or “obstacle,” as the French engagés called it.

 

Big Nemaha River

High ground

by Joseph A. Mussulman



The Corps camped for the night of 11 July 1804 on “Newfound Island” to “rest the men who are much fatigued.” Five men explored the Big Nemaha River and climbed to the top of “a high artificial Noal”—an Indian burial site—to gain “an emence, extensive & pleasing prospect of the Countrey around.”

 

The Platte River

High road junction

by Joseph A. Mussulman



The Corps of Discovery arrived at the mouth of the Platte on 21 July 1804, noting first of all that “the Current of This river Comes with great Velocity roleing its Sands into the Missouri, filling up its Bend….”

 

Omaha-Council Bluffs

Nobody home

by Joseph A. Mussulman



On 23 July 1803, the captains sent Drouillard and Cruzatte to an Otoe Indian village to invite the chiefs to come hear of the change of national allegiance from Spain to the United States and to learn “the wishes of our Government to Cultivate friendship with them.”

 

Willard’s Bad Day

And a dreadful hurricane

by Joseph A. Mussulman



Willard had to walk back 3 miles to get his tomahawk. On his way back, he dropped his rifle in the water, and he couldn’t find the weapon in the deep mud. On that same day, Clark took note of “much fallen timber, apparently the ravages of a dreadful haricane.”

 

The Little Sioux River

A froth of feathers

by Joseph A. Mussulman



A highlight of 8 August 1804 was a profusion of feathers floating like a froth on the water. The feathers went on for three miles “in such quantities as to cover pretty generally sixty or seventy yards of the breadth of the river.”

 

Blue Lake Meander

Iowa meander

by Joseph A. Mussulman



This oxbow was once part of the main channel of the Missouri, but by 1804 the river had already cut it off, turning it into a lake “6 leagues [eighteen miles] around.”

 

Floyd’s Monument by Air

"Much Lamented"

by Joseph A. Mussulman



On 20 August 1804, the Corps proceeded thirteen miles, while young Floyd quickly grew worse. A little past noon they landed, and presently Floyd said, “I am going away.”

 

Sgt. Floyd’s Burial

The artist's interpretation

by Michael Haynes



Two hundred years after the event, interpretive artist Michael Haynes explains how he created his painting “Hallowed Ground.”