The importance of Kaw Point during Lewis and Clark’s Expedition

By Diane Euston

  There are many dangers even with today’s technological innovations when scouting out the wilderness. Most of us think we’re “roughing it” when we take a journey to Colorado or Southwest Missouri to float down a river and camp in organized settings, a communal porta potty or an overnight racoon raid of unsecured food being the closest to danger we see.

  But for two famous explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, accompanied by soldiers, guides and hunters, scouting the wilderness from 1804 to 1806 was, in fact, some dangerous work with some important goals.

  The Lewis and Clark Expedition has been intensely studied and written about over the past 220 years, but what they encountered right here in our neighborhood when there was no real settlement is worth modern-day exploring.

Before the Expedition

There would be no Western Expansion without Lewis and Clark. In 1801, the United States stopped at the Mississippi River when President Thomas Jefferson looked westward at the land then owned by France.

Jefferson wanted the port of New Orleans for trade and commerce, and he was able to secure it as part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The French sold New Orleans for $10 million and threw in the rest of the area – over 823,000 square miles of land – for an additional $5 million.

This transaction at approximately three cents per acre nearly doubled the size of the United States.

  Jefferson wanted to see what was out there on this unexplored land. Naming it the “Voyage of Discovery,” he assembled a team known as the “Corps of Discovery” that would travel through current-day Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon on the Missouri River. Maps were rough at the time, so what was out there was complete conjecture based on the few stories of mostly fur traders and trappers had experienced.

There were key goals for the Corps of Discovery. Jefferson wanted to follow the Missouri River to its source and explore the lands of the Louisiana Purchase, noting the geography, water sources and natural resources, including minerals, plants and animals. In addition, he wanted to establish positive trade relations with Native American tribes.

Jefferson’s first hire was his own personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809). Born in Virginia, Lewis served in their militia and enlisted in the U.S. Army in the 1790s before being appointed as Jefferson’s personal secretary in 1801.

Jefferson was a good judge of character, and he believed that Lewis’ time as a soldier and his thirst for knowledge was a perfect fit. After funds were appropriated by Congress in February 1803 for the Expedition, Lewis traveled to Pennsylvania to undergo rigorous training in astronomy, botany, medicine, math, and surveying. There, he also stocked up on necessary scientific instruments and supplies as well as gifts to give to Native Americans.

Lewis knew he needed able-bodied, intelligent men to help with this enormous operation. Captain William Clark (1770-1838) was a personal friend who was his commanding officer while in the Army. He was added as a co-leader of the Corps in June 1803; however, officially speaking, Clark was actually only listed as a lieutenant, thus technically he was a subordinate to Lewis. Also Clark didn’t have any formal education.

  Thus, the two men put in charge of one of the most important expeditions in American history were modestly educated Virginian-born bachelors, just 29 and 34 years old.

In October 1803, the men met up near Louisville, Ky. where they selected nine volunteer men to join them on their journey. Accompanying Clark was his body servant, an enslaved man named York. They entered current-day Missouri at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers on November 14, 1803.

On November 28, the Expedition arrived at Fort Kaskaskia, Ill. where they recruited soldiers from the post to join them. At the time, Kaskaskia was a town of about 500 residents, predominately French-speaking. Clark remained with their keelboat while Lewis left Kaskaskia on horseback.

Training Outside of St. Louis

The party rejoined together again on December 9, 1803 in Cahokia, Ill. and moved upstream to a place in current-day St. Clair County, Ill. directly opposite of St. Louis. Today, this is East St. Louis, Ill.

At the time, St. Louis was not quite 40 years old and when they arrived, it was “the center of fur trade for a huge region drained by the Missouri River.” Founded by French-speaking fur traders Pierre Leclede Liguest and Auguste Chouteau, the town at the time was in Spanish Louisiana. In 1799, the population was 935.

On December 13, 1803, Clark wrote that the Corps “fixed on a place to build huts.” Located in current-day East St. Louis, Ill. on the east side of the Mississippi River, this location became known as the Wood River winter camp, but was also known as Camp Dubois.

For five months, the men remained here to prepare for the upcoming journey into the wilderness. According to the National Park Service, “Conditions of the Louisiana Purchase required Lewis and Clark to remain within American territory until the land officially transferred from France to the United States on March 10, 1804.”

The precise location of this camp isn’t known due to the shifting of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, but what is known is that Clark stayed at the Wood River camp while Lewis stayed mostly in St. Louis meeting with people that had experience with the Upper Missouri River.

  On Christmas Day in what would be the state of Missouri, William Clark wrote, “I was wakened by a Christmas discharge [and] found that Some of the party had got Drunk. . . The men frolicked and hunted all day.”

The Outward-Bound Trip in Missouri

There were 51 outward-bound campsites between 1803 and 1804 in the current boundaries of the state of Missouri and seven in current-day Kansas.

A 55-foot long, flat-bottomed keelboat built in Pittsburgh, Pa. was the primary vessel used by the Corps of Discovery to carry supplies and men until it reached the Mandan villages in North Dakota. In addition, two pirogues – lighter, smaller boats – were used in shallow water.

On the late afternoon on May 14, 1804, the keelboat and two pirogues left for the Voyage of Discovery with Clark at the helm; Lewis was to meet the group in St. Charles.

“Men in high spirits,” Clark simply wrote in his journal.

The Corps of Discovery included Lewis and Clark, Lewis’ newfoundland dog, Seaman, the enslaved York, 27 bachelor soldiers, a French-Indian interpreter named George Drouillard, and eight or nine contracted boatmen.

On May 23, 1804, the Corps stopped at Tavern Cave, 40 miles west of current-day downtown St. Louis in Franklin County. Part of a settlement founded by Daniel Boone, Tavern Cave was a known spot to Native American tribes and early explorers. Clark wrote, “Called by the French the tavern which is a Cave 40 yds. long with the river 4 feet Deep & 20 feet high, this is a place the Indians & French Pay [homage] to, many names are wrote up on the rock Mine among others.”

Despite efforts to find his etched name in the cave, William Clark’s inscription is missing from the cave today. Flooding is likely the reason, although other names and prehistoric Native American drawings are still visible to this day. Tavern Cave is on the National Register, but it is on private property.

By June 21, the group camped at what was later called Camden Bend in current-day Lafayette County, Mo., and the next day, Joseph Whitehouse (c. 1775-c.1860), a private who was a part of the Expedition, wrote that it rained heavily and “the two latter days was the [hottest] that has been Seen Or felt in a long time.”

It certainly sounds like a familiar June weather pattern in Missouri!

The current of the Missouri River was very strong and pushing against them as they paddled slowly toward the current Jackson County-Lafayette County line.

On June 23, the men arrived at the future site of Fort Osage, picked by Clark as a perfect location for a government-run trading post just four years later. The river fell eight inches overnight, and the main party camped near the vicinity of Sibley.

The next day, the Expedition came to the mouth of what we now know as the Little Blue River, but they called it “Hay Cabin Creek” because they found “some form of grass hut or shelter, built on the stream by Indians or others.”

On June 25, near present-day Sugar Creek, Mo., they found a coal bank on the river, and they noted willows and other wildlife. A short distance from the river, Clark noted “great quantities of wild apples the Size of the Common apple” that are now known as the common crabapple tree. He also wrote they found “great [numbers] of Deer feeding on the young willows [. . .] in the Banks [opposite] and on the Sand bars in the river.”

Encountering Kaw Point in Modern-Day Kansas City

On June 26, 1804, the Expedition arrived at the Kawsmouth, or Kaw Point in current-day Kansas City, Kan. It was their first campsite in modern-day Kansas.

Clark wrote, “We Set out early, the river falling a little, the wind from the S.W. Passed the mouth of a Small river on the L. Side above the upper point of a Small Island, called Blue Water River. This river heads in [prairies] back with the Mine River about 30 yds. wide. . . We killed a large rattle Snake. . . Came to & Camped in the point above the Kanzas River. I observed a great number of [parakeets] this evening, our Party Killed 7 Deer to day.”

At Kaw Point, Clark noted parakeets, also known as a Carolina parakeet, now extinct. About 12 inches tall with a bright green body, yellow head with specks of orange, the Carolina parakeet was the only species of parrot native to the United States, and this was the first time they were noted west of the Mississippi River.

  Unfortunately, farmers in the 19th century hunted them because they found them to be “crop-eating pests.” This, along with their habitat of the river bottoms disappearing, led to their extinction. The last known Carolina parakeet died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918.

John Ordway (c.1775- c.1817), a private who was part of the Corps of Discovery, wrote in his journal, “. . . A large Creek Comes in called Blue water Creek. . . Hills & high land along the River, Swift water this afternoon. . . The Rope [broke] & the Boat [swung] but took no Injury. . . At Sunset we arrived at the Kansas River, our flanking party joined us. . . We camped on the fork between the Two Rivers. . . On South Side of the Missouries, Several nations of Indians up this River.”

In this vicinity while camping at Kaw Point, they killed a gray wolf.

On June 27, 1804, William Clark wrote, “The [country] about the mouth of this river is [very] fine on each Side as well as the North of the Missouries.”

One of the captains was informed by a member of the Corps of Discovery who had traveled up this way before that there were “300 Warriors” who lived “at a Village up the [Kansas] River, about 50 Leagues.”

There is little doubt that the tribe referred to was the Kaw (Kansa) Tribe, but the exact location of this village is unknown today. Without any provocation from the Kaw (Kansa) Tribe (they never encountered them), the Expedition built a defensive barrier, or “redoubt” on Kaw Point that was six feet high and made of trees and brush to fortify their camp.

Clark wrote from their Kaw Point camp, “I am told [the Kaw Tribe] are a fierce & warlike people, being badly Supplied with fire arms, become easily conquered by the Aiguway & Saukees who are better furnished with those materials of war.”

While staying on Kaw Point on June 28, their hunters killed several deer and saw bison (Clark noted them as “Buffalew”). The men turned over one of the canoes to dry it out and repair it while Lewis and Clark made navigational measurements on the rivers.

At this point, the men had covered just over 365 miles of their 8,000-mile-long adventure.

A Military Trial at Kaw Point

To no surprise, whiskey was a part of the rations given out to men who were part of the Expedition. An estimated 120 gallons of whiskey was with the men when they left Camp Wood near St. Louis, and the men measured the liquid out in gills and drams. A gill was about four ounces, and a dram was about one-fourth of an ounce.

Each man was given a ration of a gill, or four ounces, of whiskey per day. Only on special occasions like Christmas or Independence Day were men given more to celebrate.

But these were single men who were likely used to consuming more than four ounces of the intoxicating spirits per day, and on Kaw Point, two men were charged for violating the rules of their mission.

Clark wrote from the “Camp out of the Kansies” on June 29 that they held court at 3:30 p.m. on charges against John Collins for “getting drunk on his post this morning out of whiskey” and for getting Hugh Hall “to draw whiskey out of the Said Barrel intended for the party.”

Collins pled not guilty, and after evidence was presented, he was found guilty and sentenced to 100 lashes “on his bear back.”

Hall was also charged with “[taking] whiskey out of a Keg this morning which whiskey was Store[d] on the Bank. . . contrary to all order, rule, or regulation.” Hugh promptly pled guilty and was sentenced to 50 lashes.

One hour later, the men left Kaw Point after camping there three days.

The party remained in the metro area, camping near Riverside, Mo. on June 29 and camping opposite a deserved fort, which is now Fort Leavenworth on July 2. By July 4, the men camped near present-day Atchison, Kan. where “the morning of the fourth was announced by the discharge of a gun.” There, they named a creek “Independence Creek” in honor of the holiday. An additional “gill of whiskey for the men” was dispersed to the men in the evening as they celebrated Independence Day with more gunfire.

The Corps of Discovery Continues and is Memorialized

It would be four more months before the men encountered a Shoshone woman named Sacagawea and her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau in current-day North Dakota.

In all, it took Lewis and Clark one year, six months and one day to reach the Pacific Ocean from St. Louis, Mo. They arrived on November 15, 1805 – 139 days after leaving Kaw Point. Amazingly, only one man perished on the entire journey.

From 1807 to 1809, Lewis served as Governor of Louisiana Territory until he took his own life in Tennessee on his way to Washington in 1809 (some still believe he was murdered). Clark became Territorial Governor of Missouri in 1813 and lived in a home that stood where the park surrounding the Gateway Arch is. He later became Superintendent of Indian Affairs until his death in 1838.

Interestingly, Clark built a museum on his property that was open from 1816 until around his death where artifacts from the Expedition were displayed and open to the public. Clark catalogued 201 items that were in his museum, but it’s not clear what happened to all of the items.

The Creation of Kaw Point Park for Lewis and Clark

Kaw Point was slow to become the parkland we see today. In 1937, there was an effort to put up a large monument 40 feet high that included a “beacon light to serve as a navigation marker for craft using the river.” It failed.

In the 1940s, the area was surrounded by the Fairfax airport and a company that made radar equipment for the war effort. By the 1950s, there was a renewed effort to try to preserve the area, but it was slow progress. In 1965, a marker called “This Gateway to Kansas” was placed at 4th and Minnesota that mentioned Lewis and Clark’s encampment four blocks east of the marker.

In 1969, the bridge, the first built to connect Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo. was renamed the “Lewis and Clark Viaduct.” Twenty years later, Captain Dick Lynn, who owned the $1 million custom-built Missouri River Queen moved his operation at the Kansas City, Mo. riverfront to Kaw Point. He’d started riverboat cruises in 1970.

Lynn started to build a “river mall and marina” at Kaw Point called River City USA. The effort failed, and in 1997, he sold the well-known River Queen to a group that operated tours on the Savannah River.

Overgrown and surrounded by industry, Kaw Point looked to be nothing special. In 2002, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. visited the area and said, “This is a squandered resource.” With just two years before the bicentennial anniversary of the Expedition, Kansas City, Kansas was prompted to do something about this neglect.

They needed $1 million to make trails, build an open education center and a boat ramp at Kaw Point. The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Task Force along with the Friends of the Kaw held fundraisers to transform the area before the anniversary celebrations.

It worked. The group broke ground in September 2003 at 1403 Fairfax Trafficway for the six-acre riverfront park, and by June 26, 2004- 200 years after the Expedition stayed at Kaw Point- the park was ready for 10 days of special events.

The Corps of Discovery II, a group of 200-plus unpaid members of the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, ascended the Missouri River to reenact the entire journey with a keelboat. They arrived at Kaw Point on the 200th anniversary.

Today, we often lose sight of the important events that happened all around us. The journey of the Corps of Discovery to Kaw Point in our own backyard is a pivotal moment in our early history that was almost forgotten by city leaders. We are fortunate that today there is a place that commemorates this important event, marking three days of one of the most important expeditions in our nation’s history.