|
Of course, along their journey the men had to have
places to sleep, wait out the winters, and to plan which way their route would take them. So they set up camps and forts
to spend time in. I will now tell you about some of the more important and/or well-known camps and forts at which Lewis,
Clark, and their men spent their time at. Their first camp was known as Camp DeBouis, and it was actually where they
had spent their time preparing for the journey, and it was here that they stayed during the winter of 1803-1804, and where
the captains selected and disciplined their men. They camped at Camp White Fish from July 22, 1804, to July 27, 1804.
Here they agreed to meet with the finally found Otoe Indians after the Indian camp had been discovered empty. On July
29, 1804, they camped near Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, and a few days later on August 3, 1804, they camped near DeSoto Ridge.
The next day they camped near Blair, Nebraska.
|
 |
|
|
| Fort Mandan |
|
| One of the reconstructed Fort Clatsop buildings |
|
|
|
|
The men camped in Harrison County, Iowa, from August 5, 1804,
to August 7, 1804. August 8-10, 1804, was spent camped in Monoma County, Iowa, and Onawa, Iowa.
From August 13, 1804, to August 20, 1804, they were camped in Sioux City, Iowa. It was here that a great leader named
Sergeant Charles Floyd died on the trip from what is believed to have been an appendix failure.
As I said, there were also a couple of important forts that they
stayed at, often building them themselves of course. From October 21, 1804, to April 7, 1805, they stayed at Fort Mandan,
which was named in honor of their hosts, the Mandan-Hidatsu Indians. Fort Mandan was built near Mandan and Hidatsu villages.
Between the dates of December 7, 1805, and March 23, 1806, the men could be found at Fort Clatsop. This was the
last camp/fort they stayed at before heading back east.
|
|
|
|
|