Lewis & Clark
DISPATCHES FROM THE DISCOVERY TRAIL In April we introduced a revised and expanded version of Michael
EPISODE 7
Perry’s popular series. In the new book, Dispatches from the Discovery Trail, edited by Hal Calbom and excerpted below, CRRPress includes an in-depth author interview and new illustrations and commentary.
Heading for South Dakota
York: The Big Medison
Charles M. Russell’s 1908 watercolor titled “York” depicts a March 1805 event, when a Hidatsa chief spit on his finger and tried to rub the black color off Clark’s slave, York, but to no avail. York, about 30, was a big, very dark, strong, agile man who had been Clark’s lifelong companion from childhood. Although he was a slave, York was treated as a full member of the expedition. Throughout their journey, Indians were fascinated by York and thought he was “the big Medison.” Plains
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Indians frequently shared their wives with strangers possessing wealth or power they didn’t have. While Expedition journals make no mention of York’s sexual activities, the 1814 narrative edition, prepared by Nicholas Biddle from the original journals, included additional information based on discussions with Captain Clark. Biddle’s account tells of a warrior who invited York to spend the night with his wife. The warrior stood guard at the door to prevent any interruptions, believing some of York’s power would be transferred to himself through his wife.
ast month, this column found the Corps of Discovery looking for a place to spend the winter. After their tense confrontation with the aggressive Teton Sioux in late September 1804, they were anxious to be on their way. The men had covered 1,300 miles in the previous six months — an average of just seven miles per day. While they hoped to get further up the Missouri, they had underestimated the challenge of the rapidly flowing river. So the Corps decided to try to make it to the Mandan Indian villages in present-day North Dakota if possible.
was fired to impress the Arikaras, and Lewis also fired his air rifle that “astonished them much.” But the Indians were even more amazed by one of the men in the expedition; Captain Clark had brought his slave, York, along. “Those Indians wer much astonished at my servent, They never Saw a black man before, all flocked around him & examined him from top to toe... he made him Self more terrible in their view than I would have wished him to Doe… telling them that before I cought him he was wild & lived upon people, young children was verry good eating. Showed them his Strength &c. &c.”
The expedition reached the Arikara Nation in present-day South Dakota on October 8th. Things went much better than when the Corps had met with the Teton Sioux two weeks earlier. As usual, the keelboat cannon
Another court martial took place on October 13th where John Newman was sentenced to 75 lashes and was banished from the party. His crime? He had “uttered repeated expressions of
Michael Perry enjoys local history and travel. His popular 33-installment Lewis & Clark series appeared in Columbia River Reader’s early years and helped shape its identity and zeitgeist. After two encores, the series has been expanded and published in a book. Details, page 2.
“York,” by Charles M. Russell
Charles M. Russell
Montana’s famed “cowboy artist” was fascinated by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Having grown up in St. Louis, he witnessed the continuous embarkation of traders, trappers and explorers up the Missouri and listened to their exploits and tales. His painting of York and the Hidatsas meeting at Fort Mandan depicts the Hidatsa chief Le Borgne putting spit on his finger and attempting to rub the black away, believing it was only painted on. With his grand sense of the dramatic, Russell can be accused of romanticizing the west and the Native Americans. On the other hand, he was among the first to give the Indians primacy in many of his narrative works. Near the end of his career, Russell wrote, in 1914, “This is the onley real American. He faught an died for his country. To day he has no vote, no country, and is not a citizen but history will not forget him.”
O. P E R R Y
dispatches MICHAEL
from the
Discovery Trail with
HAL CALBOM DEBBY NEELY
by woodcut art
A LAYMAN’S
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LEWIS & CLAR
a highly criminal and mutinous nature.” The Arikara chief was horrified by the whipping, since his people “never whiped even their Children, from their burth.” Newman would be allowed to stay with the crew, along with Moses Reed who had been expelled earlier for desertion. Both men would be sent back to St. Louis in the spring; to do otherwise would have meant certain death. On October 14th, the group spent their first night in present-day North Dakota. Progress remained slow as
they fought the rain, wind, and cold. Fortunately, elk and bison herds were plentiful, but several of the creeks that flow into the Missouri were brackish enough to act as a laxative on anyone drinking from them. A grizzly bear was encountered on October 20th, but efforts to kill it proved fruitless. Snow began falling on October 21st, five days before they reached the first Mandan village at the mouth of the Knife River. White men were nothing new to the Mandans since French and cont. page 9
Columbia River Reader / October 15, 2021 / 7
