John Boley

Photo:  Broken Table Lands Seen By Zebulon Pike On His Second Expedition West In 1806.  Line Engraving, 1822.  Public Domain. 

John Boley is a very minor character in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. So minor, in fact, that even people who study the story of the Corps of Discovery often don’t recognize his name.

Boley was a private in the Corps who wintered at Camp River Dubois in 1803-04, then made the trip up the Missouri to Fort Mandan. He returned with the keelboat to St. Louis in the spring of 1805 and quickly volunteered to be a part of Zebulon Pike’s party that would depart up the Mississippi River on August 9.

In 1806, when Pike and party departed for their western journey, Boley was again a part of the company. He is last mentioned in historical documents proving he was living in Missouri in 1823 with his wife.