Landmarks of Westward Expansion

Oh. Hi I'm Jane Ferguson and I'm Mark sparks and we're standing outside the front gate of fourth class at

National Memorial about six miles south of Astoria Oregon. Although no trace of the original fort has ever been found. Historians believe this replica stands on or close to the actual site it was built in 1955 and based on a sketch by Captain William Clark and to help us with our story we're going to have the aid of some of the Fort's special interpreters interpreters. That's right. Men and women who dress in clothing similar to that worn by the explorers. Our special feature here at for a class of national memorial. They can demonstrate many of the skills needed by Lewis and Clark to survive that long winter of over 180 years ago. Sounds exciting. At daylight this morning we whirled by the discharge of firearm of all our party and the salute shot and the song which the whole party joined in. That was how Captain William Clark writing in his journal described Christmas morning a fourth class

of 18 0 by. Clark and his company had a lot to be grateful for. Together with his partner Mary weather Lewis and the 31 other members of their Corps of Discovery. They have safely traveled 4000 miles from St. Louis Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia River and the coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean. And yet in some ways their greatest challenge lay ahead. It had been 19 months since they left family and friends behind President Thomas Jefferson sent them to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Columbia and Missouri rivers. He told them to map their route in careful detail and to establish friendly relations with the Indians along the way. They recorded in their journals information about this land its people animals and plant life. But on this Christmas day their holiday meal did little to lift their spirits. Our dinner consisted of poor elk so much spoiled that we ate at their mere necessity. Some spoiled pound of fish and a few.

On November 15th the explorers had gotten their first glimpse of the Pacific surf near the mouth of the Columbia River. They were almost too tired to be excited. The winter was nearly upon them and they badly needed rest better food and a chance to recover from their long journey to some car could hope that when they reach the Oregon coast they might find a ship from which they could obtain trading goods for their return journey and possibly send one or two explorers back by sea with a copy of the journals. But as they watched the horizon day after day it became clear that they would have to make their return back the way to his. Home. And since the mountain passes would be buried under snow and ice until spring. Winter Quarters had to be found and quickly with or rather showing no signs of improving the company began its search for a suitable site for their winter encampment and by the early part of December they had decided on a location on the southern side of the

Columbia by a small river called in a tall by the local clots of the Indian tribe. Here wood was plentiful. Deer and elk were abundant tall trees protecting them from the fierce ocean storms and they were close to both the coast and the Columbia River. By this time the Corps of Discovery numbered thirty three. Including Capt.. Lewis and Clark three sergeants. Twenty three privates Clark servant York and two interpreters. One of them had brought his wife a Indian woman by the name of Sacagawea and their baby son who was not yet one year old. On December 9 they began to build a small. Sketch on the cover of Captain Clark's Field book shows the four to plan and build the company was very tired. They worked long hours in the rain in the cold. And were able to move in on Christmas Day to you know farm. In honor of their family neighbors neighbors the class.

Through the main gate of the fort. The 23 soldiers and First Sergeant. Thank you. This is the room of the Charbonneau family the expedition's interpreter and guide to sell Charbonneau lived in here with his wife Secada and their baby son John Barry teased from Captain Clark affectionately called Little pompadour Pompey Pompey had travelled with his mother on this incredible journey probably carried on her back in a cradle board very much like this one. And on a western wintry day that February he celebrated his first birthday at the fort. The Congo is famous as the only woman in Lewis and Clark's company. She shared their hardships bravely and helped them learn to survive on what food to be found in the wilderness and perhaps most importantly her presence in the company helped assure native tribes that they had nothing to fear from these strange

intruders. Through here are the corners of Lewis and Clark where we were earlier. During those long winter days the captains oversaw all the activities of the fort and working by candlelight at their stand up desks. They had last had time to devote to their journals their descriptions of the lives language and customs of the coastal Indian tribes of Northern Oregon are among the best ever compiled. And while Captain Lewis collected pages and pages of descriptions and drawings of the local plants and animals. Captain Clark worked on a completed map of their route to the Pacific and planned their return trip. How did. These are the orderly quarters where you work. Clark's servant found the one black man to participate in the expedition stage. And here's the entrance to the meat storage room where fires were smoky the meat burned constantly.

The Corps of Discovery would spend the next three and a half months support classes of living with a climate future Oregonians would come to know very well. Rainy winters. During the next 106 days there would be only 12 days without rain and only six days of sunshine and for a company already weary and struggling to hold their soaked and rotted clothing together it was a challenge every bit as tough as any they'd encountered before even wearing one of these hats woven from Cedar by Canberra grass by the Indians could only help a little. Adding to their problems and causing more than just a few sleepless nights were fleas. Thousands of fleas everywhere crawling inside their bedding and their cold ing those pesky little bugs were just as anxious to get out of the rain as the explorers were. Thanks me. If you just think about it that's cool warm up by the fire.

Every day we hear about eating the right foods. Well the members of the Corps of Discovery were concerned about their diet too but although they had quite a variety of foods it for clots that they often had to eat the same thing for days. By the time they had settled with the Ford it was agreed that the favorite food among many of the Explorers was not salmon not venison not elk. It was dog in his journal Captain Lewis wrote for my own part I have become so perfectly reconciled to the dog that I think it's an agreeable food and we prefer it vastly to lean venison or else. But it should be pointed out that Captain lose his own dog who made the journey with him never found his way onto the company menu of food clients of their own accord to prove far more important to their survival. The occasional treat of a roast dog. Glad winter there hunting parties killed a total of

one hundred thirty one elk and 20 deer. Roasted dried or boiled oak was often the only thing they had to eat and they had a lot of it. While five to seven pounds of meat per person every day. Imagine a well balanced meal of steak with a side of roast for dessert. Nearly as important to the Explorers was the use of Al Qods for making clothing and moccasins. Dressing elk and deer skins was another daily activity at the fort and that January Captain Lewis complained that his men didn't have enough brains to tan their hides. What he meant was that the only way they had of dressing the hides was by a process which use the brains of the animal to make the hive soft and workable. Having to do things in the rain just made them bad much harder. And what's the hardest thing you can do in the

rain starting a fire. Park Ranger danda Tilly I was also an interpreter here and for clients up and he's going to demonstrate for us a fire starting tool that was essential to all the explorers. What is it dad. This is a tender box each member of the expedition would have had one and it was used for starting fires. Carry your tender inside which could have been any claimable substance that was very dry in this case it's dry cedar bark. He also had a flint and steel that you carried along with that at the Flint until it sparks and what you try to do is you try to catch one of the sparks on a piece of burnt material happens. The next step will be to put that into your dry tender and try to blow it into a fire that's already smoke. There thank you down that's amazing.

And why else was fire so important not just for heat but also light. Candles were very important to the explorers. So much so that they even brought their own Campbell molds with them. And when their supply of tallow candles ran out in mid January with Sikandar help they managed to render new tallow for milk by boiling meat and bones in a kettle and pouring off the fat into the molds with the wicks tied in place. When it cooled and pulled away from the mold. They simply had to untie the wicks and pull out a new supply of candles to give them light through the long dark winter night. About 200 yards from the ford is this canoe landing as close as can be determined this is the original site where the expedition first stepped ashore in December of 89. This is the river the Indians and explorers call the Natal. Today it is known as the Lewis and Clark

river. From here it was easy for the company to reach the Columbia river downstream and elk hunting areas upstream after crossing the Rocky Mountains. The explorers learn from the Nez Perce Indians how to make dugout canoes with fire from a single giant log they would carve the outer structure and then by setting controlled fires within the log they could burn away the inside of the commu carving it and being careful not to let the fires get out of control. I finished dugout canoe would look something like this to run the Raptor rivers and withstand bumping into huge rock. The clots ups and the members of several other local tribes remained friendly and helpful during that winter. Many even set up camp near the fort to make visits and trading easier. These are trading beads like those brought by the explorers. The company found

that the blue and white beads were favored above all others by the coastal tribes and they use them to bargain for food clothing and information. Do the visitors others bring tunes that will cost you one strand of blue beads. The larger ones. Fair enough. After a hard winter Lewis and Clark score of discovery prepared themselves for the long trip home and when they said goodbye to the ford in March they were ready to go. The journey to Ford clots of had taken them 19 months but it would take them a mere six months to make it all the way back to a hero's welcome in St. Louis Missouri. It was the halfway point in the expedition a trip which helped this country establish its claim to the Oregon territories and to encourage others to make a long trip to the west.