by Brian Alworth, Trail of Tears Group Representative to the Ozark Chapter
The exploits of Lewis and Clark and the “Corps of Discovery” have enjoyed renewed interest in recent years, due in part to the popularity of Stephen Ambrose’s wonderful book Undaunted Courage and also to the approaching bicentennial of the expedition.
On most maps the Lewis and Clark expedition begins in the late spring of 1804 along the Missouri River in St. Charles. But in fact, Lewis and Clark’s famous keelboat, along with a couple of smaller flat-bottomed pirogues, first launched on the Ohio River near Pittsburgh in the summer of 1803. Call it a “shakedown cruise” or just getting to the starting line, but the trip down the Ohio to Cairo and back up the Mississippi to St. Louis was important in giving the expedition a small taste of what was to come over the next few years.
Even the very construction of the expedition’s keelboat was not without adventure. Meriwether Lewis had contracted with a boat-builder near Pittsburgh to build the 55-foot boat, but it turned out that the builder had a certain weakness for strong drink and the construction was much delayed. Lewis threatened several times to fire the man, but since he turned out to be the only qualified boat-builder in the region the threats were less than effective. In any event, the expedition finally dipped into the Ohio on August 31, 1803. In October Lewis and his men picked up his friend and future partner in adventure William Clark near Louisville, Kentucky. And by the middle of November 1803 the now Lewis and Clark expedition was rounding the point at Cairo onto the Mississippi River.
According to Lewis’ journals, it took four days to fight the powerful current upstream to Cape Girardeau. In about 1733 a French soldier named Jean Girardot had established a trading post among the numerous indigenous tribes on a rock outcropping overlooking the river. Girardot eventually moved on, but later in the century Louis Lorimier built a military post farther downstream close to what is now downtown Cape Girardeau. Although they tried to name the settlement “Lorimont”, the name Cape Girardot (now Girardeau) had apparently already stuck.
In any event, in late November of 1803 the expedition pulled ashore at Cape Girardeau and enjoyed some early Heartland hospitality. Lorimier was at a horse race, and Lewis’ associated journal entry was colorful. “The scene reminded me very much of their small races in Kentucky among the uncivilized backwoodsmen, nor did the subsequent disorder which took place in consequence of the decision of the judges of the race at all lessen the resemblance.” Lorimier’s wife was a Shawnee, and Lewis also remarked on one of their daughters: “She is remarkably handsome and dresses in a plain yet fashionable style…much the most decent looking female I have seen since I left Louisville.” After their stay in Cape Girardeau the expedition continued northward up the Mississippi, past Tower Rock, the army post at Kaskaskia, and on toward St. Louis to await the spring of 1804.
As part of the commemoration of the expedition a group of local volunteers has formed the Cape Girardeau Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission. Among their goals is the construction of the “Red House Interpretive Center” near the site of Lorimier’s original house just inside the present-day river wall. The rock and timber house is being built in as authentic a style as possible, based on an old sketch of the original home. The group is confident that the house will be finished in time for a bicentennial reenactment of the meeting of Lewis and Lorimier on November 23, 2003.
Information for the above article taken in part from Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Steven E. Ambrose, Simon & Schuster, 1996.