Private John Newman
Sketch copyright by Michael Haynes.
P.S. I got mad one day and told the other men how much I disliked the way the Corps of Discovery was run. I had long talks with Moses Reed, and we felt the same. We tried to get some of the other men to turn back with us. The captains found out and put us on trial. I was whipped 75 times on my bare back, and I was kicked out of the party. Even though I went with them as far as Fort Mandan, I was no longer a member of the Corps and had to work like a criminal doing hard labor only. I tried to be good so they would allow me to continue, but it was not to be and I was sent back to St. Louis with the keelboat in 1805. I later received a pension and a land grant as a member of the expedition. I married but had no children, then went west as a trapper. I was killed by the Yankton Sioux in 1838.
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Did You Know?
Pierre Cruzatte and George Gibson brought their fiddles along on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Their music entertained the group on many evenings. Click here to learn more about Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. More...