StL Surveyor

5 days ago

October 11th, 1803.
News From Fellow Travelers.
Photo: Daniel Boone, 1820. By Chester Harding (1792-1866). Oil on canvas. Courtesy National Portrait Gallery, NPG.2015.102.

LEWIS and the boats are moving down the Ohio towards Louisville where CLARK is expecting his arrival. Just days up the Ohio River, the nephew of DANIEL BOONE, share news with THOMAS RODNEY.

NEWS OF DANIEL BOONE
BOON told me that his Unkle DANIEL, who is remarkable for having lived on Kentucky River long before it was settle by whites, has removed on the west side of the Misisipi and lives 40 miles up the Misouri;
—THOMAS RODNEY (12 October 1803)

We do not know if LEWIS crossed paths with Daniel Boone‘s nephew, but the captains were aware of Daniel’s residence near La CHARRETTE when they passed on 25 May 1804.

ROUGH NIGHT
Traveling by horse along the Ohio river was difficult. DANIEL BOONE'S nephew related the following:

He [Daniel Boone’s nephew] and his wife in coming here last night were belated and obliged to lodge in the wilderness all night without fire and her horse had mired by the river side and had thrown her in the river so that both had like to have been lost.
—THOMAS RODNEY

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StL Surveyor

6 days ago

October 10th, 1803.
The Kentucky River.
Photo: Kentucky River Mouth c. 1908. Courtesy www.nkyviews.com. Used with permission.
The text at the bottom of this photo says: “At the meeting of the ways. Kentucky River joins the Ohio River.”

MERIWETHER LEWIS and his flotilla of boats move down the Ohio towards a rendezvous with WILLIAM CLARK at the FALLS OF THE OHIO. He may have reached the Kentucky River, described here by THOMAS RODNEY.

THE KENTUCKY RIVER
On 11 October 1803, just a few days behind LEWIS, THOMAS RODNEY describes the mouth of the KENTUCKY RIVER and PORT WILLIAM, now known as CARROLLTON:

"We passed the mouth of Kentucky River. This is a large river about the size of the Great Kanawa at [blank] but not so deep as there appears drift wood in it.

There is a pretty little town on the uper side with 6 or 7 brick houses in it and 15 to 20 wooden ones. The situation is pleasant.
—THOMAS RODNEY (11 October 1803)"

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StL Surveyor

1 week ago

October 9, 1803.
Young Islands.
Photo: Gunpowder Creek and Ohio River. Photo by Ryan Abrahamsen, Terrain 360. Explore the Gunpowder Creek 360º Spherical Image Map at www.terrain360.com/trail/gunpowder-creek.

On or near this date, LEWIS leaves the Big Bone Lick landing at Gunpowder Creek and proceeds towards Louisville and the Falls of the Ohio where WILLIAM CLARK is expecting him. Fellow traveler THOMAS RODNEY describes that section of the Ohio River with its “young” islands.

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StL Surveyor

1 week ago

October 7th, 1803.
The Long Mastadon Tusk.
Photo: Mastodon Herd-Charles R. Knight (1874–1953). Image is in the public domain.

Many scientists in 1803 expected that live specimens of the animals found in the fossil record would also be found by the LEWIS and CLARK EXPEDITION. Extinction was an emerging concept and unproven.

On or near this date, LEWIS finishes loading THOMAS JEFFERSON'S fossils onto the barge (or other boat) at the Ohio River landing below Big Bone Lick. Fellow traveler THOMAS RODNEY was disappointed that LEWIS had taken all the larger bones including a large tusk.

Contemporary traveler THOMAS RODNEY arrived at the Big Bone Lick shortly after LEWIS had left. RODNEY reports that LEWIS got the best specimens:

"Captain Lewes [Lewis] had got the long tusk lately found and one or another has carried of[f] the larger bones; but the situation and circumstances of these licks shew that they have been long frequented and much more formerly than latterly. [I also got a small piece that had scaled off from the great tusk that Lewies had taken . . . .
—THOMAS RODNEY (10 October 1803)"

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StL Surveyor

2 weeks ago

October 4th, 1803.
To Big Bone Lick.
Photo: Map of Big Bone Lick c. 1831. from William Cooper’s Paper on Big Bone Lick, 1831.
William Cooper provides two early maps and a “Chronological Notice of the Explorers of Big-bone Lick” summarized here:

1739: Longueil is given bones by some Indians in his party
1765: Colonel George Croghan is first white visitor
1795: General William H. Harrison and French general Collaud, in separate parties
1804: Dr. Goforth of Cincinnati
1806: William Clark

On or near this date, LEWIS leaves Cincinnati for the Big Bone Lick fossil diggings. There, he expects to collect specimens to send to THOMAS JEFFERSON. Unfortunately, the owner of the site has ordered the removal of fossils stopped.

Elsewhere, tensions rise between Spain and the United States over the Louisiana Purchase.

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StL Surveyor

2 weeks ago

October 3rd, 1803.
Spoiled Smallpox Vaccine.
Photo: Ivory Vaccination Lancet. © 2023 by John W. Fisher. The ions, oxides, and salts present in metals could destroy the inoculant material. Hence, the use of ivory lancets like that shown above was common. The material was sometimes stored and administered from quills or thread.

LEWIS writes a letter to PRESIDENT JEFFERSON describing his time in Cincinnati. He tells JEFFERSON that his kinepox vaccine—used to prevent smallpox—has spoiled and also asks for a copy of the Louisiana Purchase treaty.

While in Paris in 1787, JEFFERSON and his slave SALLY HEMMINGS received their inoculations and since at least 1800, he had been working with various physicians to inoculate Americans against smallpox using the kinepox vaccine. The vaccine was originally collected from pustules of infected cattle in Europe.

Within a community, new inoculant material could be collected from the kinepox pustules of those successfully inoculated. Because the infected matter was difficult to store for more than two weeks, successfully transporting it to North America delayed its use there for many years and attempts to harvest the vaccine from North American cattle was not successful until after 1850.

In simplest terms, kinepox vaccine was difficult to maintain while traveling. The only method Lewis had while moving down the Ohio was to inoculate his crew, wait seven to nine days for their pustules to mature, and collect fresh material from that person. By 3 October 1803, the material Lewis was using failed to infect any recipients. There appears to be no record of Lewis ever receiving a new and effective supply.

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