Moccasins and the Corps of Discovery

This photo is from the 1904 Olin Wheeler book, “The Trail of Lewis and Clark, Vol. 1,” which claims this pair of one-piece moccasins belonged to Meriwether Lewis.  No documentation appears, and according to Robert Moore’s book, the whereabouts of the moccasins is not known today. Library of Congress

The footwear of the Corps of Discovery initially included Euro-American styles of shoes and boots. But according to Robert J. Moore Jr. in his book “Lewis & Clark, Tailor Made, Trail Worn,” the leather shoes of the Expedition were likely some of the first items the men exchanged for Indian styles of footwear.

Based on journal entries, by the early summer of 1804, the men seemed to be uniformly fitted in moccasins which they wore in camp, but when cordelling the boats up river, they generally were barefoot.

By the summer of 1805, each man’s moccasins wore out every other day, according to Moore, and had to be constantly repaired or replaced. Sergeant John Ordway wrote in his July 3, 1805 journal entry, “…one pair of good Mockins will not last more than about 2 days. Will ware holes in them for the first day and patch them for the next.”

The two styles of moccasins used would have been the one-piece “woodland” style, or the two-piece “plains” type.