Day 25

Saturday, October 4

Following the Missouri River back to the Southeast.    Did a little over 400 miles again today.   Seems to be what we can manage comfortably and safely.

We're now in Columbia, Missouri.   We crossed all of Iowa heading south and then about half of Missouri.   The compass card swung from south to east in Missouri.

Wind was still at our backs all day and is still strong, cold, and out of the Northwest.   But, Missouri is somewhat warmer than South Dakota.   Again, the tailwind helped.

Lewis, Clark, and all the Corps also traveled much more quickly downstream in the Missouri than they had going up.    They had a pirogue which they'd successfully cached and a number of canoes.   Game was plentiful.    Once they passed the Mandan villages, they began to encounter traders and trappers heading upriver.    They learned that the Corps of Discovery was believed to be dead...lost in the wilderness.   They had been gone from St. Louis for almost 2 1/2 years!     The Commanders traded with the trappers for whiskey, so the men could celebrate being alive.

Volleys were fired in celebration as they approached the first small villages.   The first item on most of their lists was clothing.   By now, they were all in poorly tanned leather.    Lewis put together a quick summary report that was dispatched to Washington, D.C.    He and Clark traveled East fairly soon, while almost all the NCOs and soldiers remained in the St. Louis area for a while.   The success of the Expedition was huge news throughout the young nation.
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Linda Adds:  We retraced our earlier path through Sioux City and paid our respects in passing to Sgt. Floyd, who was the only man to die on the trip west, of suspected appendicitis.
                             
  As we traveled, I feel amazed at the changes these men made in the development of our country.  We have traveled through 13 states...North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.  Of these, geographically, 10 fall in the upper half in size while 5 fall in the lower half for population.  Oregon is 10th in size and last in population.  Kentucky, my home state is the smallest in size and 26th in population.  We are a proud country with flags flying everywhere, from homes to businesses.

 The flag carried by Lewis and Clark

Note there are 15 states with each represented by a star and a stripe.  It wasn't until April, 1818 that Congress passed a resolution to change the flag to what it has become today...a star for each state and a stripe for each of the original 13 colonies.

I have been reminded of the words from "America the Beautiful"..

America the Beautiful

Words by Katharine Lee Bates,
Melody by Samuel Ward

O beautiful for spacious skies, 
For amber waves of grain, 
For purple mountain majesties 
Above the fruited plain! 
America! America! 
God shed his grace on thee 
And crown thy good with brotherhood 
From sea to shining sea!