On-Line Materials

The Lewis and Clark expedition was one of the best documented expeditions that history has to offer. A number of expedition members maintained journals — not just Captains Lewis and Clark. The web has some catching up to do in this area, but it is not entirely devoid of journal material. Many sites contain snippets of journal entries, but at this time, the site that contains the most material (though still far short of what exists) is the University of Virginia's Journals of Lewis and Clark site. This same material can also be found at lewisandclark.state.mt.us/Journals/. Other noteworthy collections of journal quotes can be found at the PBS site and at Lewis and Clark in Idaho: The Archive.

The Library of Congress has posted a graphic facsimile of the original 1814 publication of the Biddle edition of the History of the Expedition. Because this material is available only in a page-by-page graphic format, it can be cumbersome to use and, the two-volume Biddle edition is heavily edited and contains only a fraction of the existant journal material, but it is still a valuable on-line resource. Click on these links to examine Volume 1 and Volume 2.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has posted scans of Sgt. Floyd's original journal, as well as text from the Thwaites edition of the journals on its magnificent American Journeys website.

Original Materials

I have received a number of inquiries as to where to find the original journal materials. The great bulk of the original Lewis and Clark journals are in the possession of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. Also in Philadelphia are three journals of Sergeant Ordway's that were rediscovered in 1913 among the papers of Nicholas Biddle, the original editor of the L&C journals. The State Historical Society of Missouri in St. Louis (in the Voorhis Collection) has a set of five journals (four in red leather and the other bound in elk skin) that are primarily in Clark's handwriting. They also have (in the Breckinridge Collection) a memorandum book of Clark's that dates from the 1809-1810 period after the expedition. The Newberry Library in Chicago has the journal of Sergeant Whitehouse. The Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison has the journal of Sergeant Floyd. The original journal of Sergeant Gass disappeared after publication of his book in 1807 and has never again been found. There is evidence that both Privates Frazer and Williard also maintained journals, but these too have never surfaced. In 1953, a book of Clark's field notes from their 1803 — 1804 winter camp at Wood River (Camp DuBois) was found in an attic and is now in the possession of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. The Filson Club in Louisville, KY, is in the possession of a number of William Clark letters, four dating from the expedition era. These letters will be published for the first time in 2002.

Also see the following links:

BEINECKE, LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION MAPS AND RECEIPT and of course, the Library of Congress's American Memory Collection.