Conferring with Clatsop Indians at the fort.
After passing a wet and tedious winter near the Pacific Coast,
Lewis and Clark left behind Fort Clatsop and headed east for
home.
The Corps of Discovery arrived at the Pacific the previous
November, having made a difficult crossing over the rugged
Rocky Mountains.
Their winter stay on the south side of the Columbia River—
dubbed Fort Clatsop in honor of the local Native American
tribe—had been plagued by rainy weather and a scarcity of
fresh meat. No one in the Corps of Discovery regretted
leaving Fort Clatsop behind.
In the days before their departure, Captains Lewis and Clark
prepared for the final stage of their journey. Lewis recognized
the possibility that some disaster might still prevent them from
making it back east and he prudently left a list of the names of
all the expedition’s men with Chief Coboway of the Clatsops.
Lewis asked the chief to give the list to the crew of the next
trading vessel that arrived so the world would learn that the
expedition did reach the Pacific.
The months to come would witness some of the most
dangerous moments of the journey, including Lewis’
violent confrontation with members of the Blackfeet tribe
near the Marias River of Montana in July.
Nonetheless, seven months later to the day, on September
23, 1806, the Corps of Discovery arrived at the docks of St.
Louis, where their long journey had begun nearly two and a
half years before.
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