Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery (as it was known) has crossed the Continental Divide into the Pacific watershed. The long ascent of the Missouri River (from its mouth near St Louis) is over. The boats have been sunk into the Beaverhead River for retrieval on the return trip. Horses and at least one mule have been purchased from the friendly Shoshones for the transport of equipment and trade goods. Winter is fast approaching, and game is scarce, so the Corps must find a way through the mountains as soon as possible. William Clark's reconnaissance of the Salmon River showed it to be impassable by either land or water, so the Corps must proceed northward. Luckily, they've secured the services of a Shoshone guide, whom they called Old Toby. The Corps will make its way across Lost Trail Pass and into the Bitterroot Valley. It will cross the Bitterroot Range at Lolo Pass, near present-day Missoula.
I mention the expedition today not because anything remarkable occurred, but because this is the second anniversary of Meriwether Lewis's departure from Pittsburgh, where he had supervised construction of the expedition's 55-foot keelboat. It would be several weeks before Lewis reached his friend Clark in Clarksville, Indiana Territory. As of today, therefore, Lewis has traveled from Pittsburgh to the Continental Divide—first on the Ohio River, then on the Mississippi, then on the Missouri. He would not return to civilization (St Louis) for another 13 months. You might think that three years is not a lot, but Lewis lived only 35 years (1774 to 1809). If you date the onset of his adult life at 20, then he spent three of his 15 adult years—one-fifth of it—on the expedition, devoid of creature comforts. Clark, by contrast, had a long life after the expedition. Here is Lewis's first journal entry. It's dated 30 August 1803, but the editor, Gary E. Moulton, says in a note that it's probably an error for 31 August. You have to wonder whether Lewis thought the incidents of that day were a bad omen!
