Corps of Discovery

That moment, high in the Bitterroot Mountains, is the official version of the story from the expedition journals of Lewis and Clark, as edited by Nicholas Biddle and published in 1814.

For Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and the other men of the Corps of Discovery, this wasn't just a family reunion.

It was a lucky break that meant horses.

Without those horses, their expedition to cross North America and reach the Pacific Ocean would never get through the snow-covered Rocky Mountains.

For the woman we call Sacagawea, it was the first time she had seen her brother since she was kidnapped as a child by a rival tribe.

It proved to be a pivotal moment in the story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the story of America's westward expansion.

And the reason that we really want to talk about Sacagawea today is because the expedition likely would have failed, except for the intervention, assistance, and wisdom of this sixteen-year-old mother, the only woman to make the journey with the Corps of Discovery and one of history's most fascinating travelers.

[upbeat music] I'm Sarah Keeney-Side, journalist and lifelong traveler.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, an army captain, to lead an expedition into what is now the US Northwest.

On May 14, the Corps of Discovery, featuring approximately 45 men, although approximately only 33 men would make the full journey, left St. Louis for the American interior.

Now, aren't you glad you stopped by today?

Boy.

[theme music]

Private John Collins, Corps of Discovery, United States Army, you are charged with being drunk while posted as a member of the guard and with committing the theft of whiskey.

Private Hugh Hall, Corps of Discovery, United States Army, you are charged with stealing whiskey this morning, 30th of June, 1804.

By a two-thirds majority, a court composed of your peers has found you both guilty as charged.

Private John Collins, you are sentenced to receive 100 lashes on the bare back.

Now with Harry Bartell as Meriwether Lewis and John Anderson as William Clark, listen to chapter two, The Confrontation.

[theme music] After they left St. Charles, Missouri, and started up the Missouri River, the first few weeks of the journey were difficult.

Besides battling the swift current of the river, the men of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery were constantly bothered by oppressive heat, mosquitoes, sickness, and always, the fear of the unknown.

There was living history, uh, experiences.

Um, we even got people together on boats to do sort of a river tour of the places where York and the members of the Corps of Discovery, uh, first landed after reaching Portland.

Um, so it was a really powerful experience, and thousands of people participated in the different events over the course of nine days.

It was really amazing to see people come together for Aaron's show in particular.

They saw the color of his skin and thought that this must be some sort of magic.

There's something s- spiritually significant about this person.

Um, and that's probably why the Corps of Discovery entrusted him with being one of their traders on the return journey and helping to be an emissary of peace as they traveled through, uh, these lands that they were unfamiliar with.

He came into this expedition as an enslaved person, as the personal property of one of the people on the expedition.

I wanted to start with her, and yes, we know her primarily from her work with Lewis and Clark, but you will meet her in this book from the beginning her, l- of her life to the end.

So before she meets those two men and joins the Corps of Discovery, and then after they bring her back to the Niise village is.

We don't have the time to talk about all of the folks that you highlight in the book, but one other I did want to bring up was Jim Beckwourth.

Mm.

And like I said, he hadn't always been alone.

He was part of the Corps of Discovery, the 20-something men who were traveling across the American continent in 1804 to see what they could see.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, known collectively as Lewis and Clark, picked a bunch of teammates for their journey, knowing that it was going to be hard.

And most of the team had plenty of experience in the wilderness, hunting, tracking, serving in the military, or otherwise living a frontier life.

But he was alive, and he was very happy to see them and the food that they had on board the boat.

And once again, there were two Georges in the group.

George Shannon's sixteen-day solo odyssey was the longest period of time any of the members of the Corps of Discovery would find themselves alone.

[upbeat music] And George didn't completely learn his lesson, because later on in the journey, he got lost once again.