Lewis and Clark

The Lewis and Clark Expedition to find a Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean left from the area near Hartford, Illinois and returned thru St Charles, Missouri two years later. Both locations have museums telling of the historic journey.

St Charles, Missouri

The Lewis and Clark Boathouse and Nature Center is located in St Charles along the Missouri River and has its museum on the upper floors of the building. I assume this is to avoid the floodwaters that periodically affect the area. Replicas of the pirogue boats used for the journey are found on the main level

Hartford, Illinois
Hartford, Illinois is the location for the Lewis and Clark State Historic site. This is where the Expedition spent the winter before departing on the journey.

They built a small fort here for the members to live in and over winter. A recreation of what this was thought to look like is on the grounds.

This museum has a full size display of the keel boat the Exhibition used which is cut in half along the centerline to show how the boat was arranged and goods stored. 

This boat was moved along by a number of means at different times:

It was poled along be a number of the crew pushing poles into the river bottom as the walked fore and aft on the deck.

It was also pulled by rope by the crew walking in the shallows of the river.

When winds were favorable it could be sailed and lastly it could also be rowed.

This was an idea for a boat that didn't work out. The iron frame of a boat was carried on the expedition with the hope it could be covered with animal skins and made watertight. The lack of proper pitch to seal the seams caused the boat to leak badly and resulted in the failure of the idea.

There is a re-creation of the fort on the grounds. This was created to be historically accurate and was built in the same manner as the original structure.This type of log construction is a temporary means of building and was intended to only last a short period of time. Six years was the number given by the docent. This short lifespan may have been appropriate in the time of Lewis and Clark and met their needs, but is not at all well suited for a museum of history.This exhibit is 13 years old  and is rotting away. The artifacts on display here will soon be moved to the main exhibit hall to keep them dry and the log fort left to the elements to decompose. Reconstruction does not appear to be in the budget.

The stockade fence has rotted and collapsed in sections