Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804–1806) was the first United States overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back, lead by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark.

Expedition members

• Captain Meriwether Lewis (1774 – 1809) was private secretary to President Thomas Jefferson and leader of the Expedition.
• Captain William Clark (1770 – 1838) shared command of the Expedition, although technically second in command. His carved date is the only physical remains of the expedition that can be seen today.
• York (ca. 1770 – ?) as Clark's manservant (slave), he shared the dangers of the journey, but not the rewards.
• Sergeant Charles Floyd (1782 – 1804) was the Expedition's quartermaster, but died early in the trip.
• Sergeant Patrick Gass (1771 – 1870) was chief carpenter, promoted to Sergeant after Floyd's death.
• Sergeant John Ordway (ca. 1775 – ca. 1817) was responsible for issuing provisions, appointing guard duties, and keeping records for the Expedition.
• Sergeant Nathaniel Hale Pryor (1772 – 1831) was leader of the 1st Squad; he presided over the court martial of privates John Collins and Hugh Hall.
• Corporal Richard Warfington (1777 – ?) conducted the return party to St. Louis in 1805.
• Private John Boley (dates unknown) was disciplined at River Dubois and was assigned to the return party.
• Private William E. Bratton (1778 – 1841) served as hunter and blacksmith.
• Private John Collins (? – 1823) had frequent disciplinary problems; he was court-martialed for stealing whiskey which he had been assigned to guard.
• Private John Colter (ca. 1775 – 1813) charged with mutiny early in the trip, he later proved useful as a hunter; he earned his fame after the journey.
• Private Pierre Cruzatte (dates unknown) was a one-eyed French fiddle-player and a skilled boatman.
• Private John Dame (1784 – ?) killed a pellican.
• Private Joseph Field (ca. 1772 – 1807) was a woodsman and skilled hunter, brother of Reubin.
• Private Reubin Field (ca. 1771 – 1823?) was a woodsman and skilled hunter, brother of Joseph.
• Private Robert Frazer (? – 1837) kept a journal that was never published.
• Private George Gibson (? – 1809) was a fiddle-player and a good hunter; he served as an interpreter (probably via sign language).
• Private Silas Goodrich (dates unknown) was the main fisherman of the expedition.
• Private Hugh Hall (ca. 1772 – ?) was court-martialed with John Collins for stealing whiskey.
• Private Thomas Proctor Howard (1779 – ?) was court-martialed for setting a "pernicious example" to the Indians by showing them that the wall at Fort Mandan was easily scaled.
• Private François Labiche (dates unknown) was a French fur trader who served as an interpreter and boatman.
• Private Hugh McNeal (dates unknown) was the first white explorer to stand astride the headwaters of the Missouri River on the Continental Divide.
• Private John Newman (ca. 1785 – 1838) was court-martialed and confined for "having uttered repeated expressions of a highly criminal and mutinous nature."
• Private John Potts (1776 – 1808?) was German immigrant and a miller.
• Private Moses B. Reed (dates unknown) attempted to desert in August 1804 convicted of desertion and expelled from the party.
• Private John Robertson (ca. 1780 – ?) was a member of the Corps for a very short time.
• Private George Shannon (1785 – 1836) was lost twice during the expedition, once for sixteen days.
• Private John Shields (1769 – 1809) was a blacksmith, gunsmith, and a skilled carpenter; with John Colter, he was court-martialed for mutiny.
• Private John B. Thompson (dates unknown) may have had some experience as a surveyor.
• Private Ebenezer Tuttle (1773 – ?) may have been the man sent back on June 12, 1804; otherwise he was with the return party from Fort Mandan in 1805.
• Private Peter M. Weiser (1781 – ?) had some minor disciplinary problems at River Dubois; he was made a permanent member of the party.
• Private William Werner (dates unknown) was convicted of being absent without leave at St. Charles, Missouri, at the start of the expedition.
• Private Isaac White (ca. 1774 – ?) may have been the man sent back on June 12, 1804; otherwise he was with the return party from Fort Mandan in 1805.
• Private Joseph Whitehouse (ca. 1775 – ?) often acted as a tailor for the other men; he kept a journal which extended the Expedition narrative by almost five months.
• Private Alexander Hamilton Willard (1778 – 1865) was a blacksmith and assisted John Shields. He was convicted on July 12, 1804, of sleeping while on sentry duty and given one hundred lashes.
• Private Richard Windsor (dates unknown) was often assigned duty as a hunter.
• Interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau, Sacagawea's husband, served translator and often as a cook.
• Interpreter Sacagawea, Charbonneau's wife, translated Shoshone to Hidatsa for Charbonneau and was a valued member of the expedition.
• Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Charbonneau's son, born February 11, 1805; his presence helped dispel any notion that the expedition was a war party, smoothing the way in Indian lands.
• Interpreter George Drouillard (? – 1810) was skilled with Indian sign language and was the best hunter on the expedition.