Others Who Made the Journey

In December 1803, William Clark established "Camp River Dubois" at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, north of St. Louis. While there he recruited and trained men, while Meriwether Lewis spent time in St. Louis, conferring with traders about the Upper Missouri regions and obtaining maps made by earlier explorers.

On May 14, 1804, William Clark and the Corps of Discovery left Camp River Dubois, and were joined by Meriwether Lewis in St. Charles, Missouri. The party numbered over 45, and included 27 young, unmarried soldiers, a French-Indian interpreter, and Clark's Black slave York. An additional group of men, engagés, would travel only to the Mandan country for the first winter, and these included six soldiers and several French boatmen.

Learn more about the people who made up the Corps of Discovery by clicking on the links below.

Military
Civilians
Engagés
Seaman
Burial Sites

 

These profiles of members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition were written as though each individual was talking directly to you. The time would be May 13, 1804 at the expedition's camp on the Wood River in Illinois. The following day the Corps of Discovery embarked on their incredible journey. In each case there is a "P.S." which tells you what happened (if it is known what happened) to each of these people after the expedition was over.

 

Officers	Enlisted Men	Civilians
Captain Meriwether Lewis*	Sgt. Charles Floyd	Toussaint Charbonneau, Interpreter*
Captain William Clark*	Sgt. Patrick Gass*	Sacagawea, Interpreter*
	Sgt. John Ordway*	Jean Baptiste Charbonneau*
	Sgt. Nathaniel Hale Pryor*	Pierre Dorian, Interpreter
	Cpl. Richard Warfington	George Drouillard, Interpreter*
	Pvt. John Boley	Joseph Gravelines, Interpreter
	Pvt. William E. Bratton*	York, Slave of William Clark*
	Pvt. John Collins*
	Pvt. John Colter*	Engagés(Hired Boatmen)
	Pvt. Pierre Cruzatte*	E. Cann
	Pvt. John Dame	Charles Caugeé
	Pvt. Joseph Field*	Joseph Collin
	Pvt. Reubin Field*	John Baptiste Deschamps
	Pvt. Robert Frazer*	Charles Hebert
	Pvt. George Gibson*	Jean Baptiste La Jeunesse
	Pvt. Silas Goodrich*	La Liberté
	Pvt. Hugh Hall*	Etienne Malboeuf
	Pvt. Thomas Proctor Howard*	Peter Pinaut
	Pvt. François Labiche*	Paul Primeau
	Pvt. John Baptiste Lepage*	François Rivet
	Pvt. Hugh McNeal*	Peter Roi
	Pvt. John Newman
	Pvt. John Potts*	Lewis' Newfoundland Dog
	Pvt. Moses B. Reed	Seaman*
	Pvt. John Robertson
	Pvt. George Shannon*
	Pvt. John Shields*
	Pvt. John B. Thompson*
	Pvt. Ebenezer Tuttle
	Pvt. Peter M. Weiser*
	Pvt. William Werner*
	Pvt. Isaac White
	Pvt. John Whitehouse*
	Pvt. Alexander Hamilton Willard*
	Pvt. Richard Windsor*	* indicates those who made the round trip

 

For information on the later lives of Lewis and Clark and several of the men of the Corps of Discovery as revealed through original court documents take a look at the St. Louis Court Records Project website.

 

Click here to go back to Corps of Discovery to read about other members of the expedition!