Lewis and Clark Pittsburgh Connections

Photo: The Lewis and Clark Exhibition at Senator John Heinz History Center.  

The Lewis and Clark Expedition had a variety of connections with Pittsburgh, PA:

• Meriwether Lewis, when waiting for the Expedition’s keelboat to be completed, purchased his faithful companion Seaman, the Newfoundland dog, at a cost of about $20 – a sizeable amount which would be about $460 in 2020 dollars.
• The keelboat, or barge, is believed to have been built in Pittsburgh, most likely at Fort Fayette, which was on the north side of the city along the Allegheny River. Through the years, many have believed that it was constructed in Elizabeth, about 15 miles upstream from Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River.
• For this first leg of the Expedition to Clarksville, where Lewis would meet up with William Clark, he recruited seven soldiers from the garrison in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a river pilot, and three young men who were “auditioning” for the Expedition. Two of the young men, George Shannon and John Colter, sufficiently passed their trial period and became permanent members of the Corps.
• The first stop for Lewis’s small crew was Brunot Island, just three miles downstream from the launch point. This was the site of the memorable accidental firing of Lewis’s special air rifle, which grazed a by-standing woman in the head.
• The story of the Corps of Discovery’s connection with Pittsburgh is presented in the Senator John Heinz History Center, located in downtown Pittsburgh.