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| View from our hotel room across the Monongahela River to Pittsburgh |
*On 7/15/1803, Meriwether Lewis arrived in Pittsburgh. President Thomas Jefferson wrote to Lewis to inform him that Jefferson received the treaty from Paris ceding the Louisiana Territory to the United States.
On 7/18/1803, William Clark wrote to Meriwether Lewis to accept the offer to accompany him on the expedition to the Pacific.
On 7/22/1803, the Conestoga wagon arrived in Pittsburgh. Meriwether Lewis wrote to President Thomas Jefferson about the delay in keelboat construction and that Lewis hoped to leave on 8/5/1803.
On 7/29/1803, Meriwether Lewis received the letter from William Clark. While waiting for the keelboat to be completed, Meriwether Lewis purchased a Newfoundland dog that he named Seaman.*
Fort Fayette (1792, abandoned in 1814) was where Lieutenant Meriwether Lewis was stationed in March 1801 as paymaster of the First Infantry Regiment in the United States Army, when he received the request to be personal secretary to President Thomas Jefferson. It is also where the weapons and supplies of the Corps of Discovery Expedition were stored until departure. Fort Fayette may be where the keelboat was constructed.
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| In Pittsburgh, the historical marker for Fort Fayette is missing! |
*On 8/31/1803, at 7:00 am, the keelboat (actually a military barge) is finally completed. It can carry 15 tons of cargo, but Meriwether Lewis contracted to have two wagons carry part of the baggage to Wheeling, the terminus of wagon roads leading west. After loading the keelboat and one pirogue, Meriwether Lewis departed Pittsburgh at 10:00 am. He was accompanied by seven soldiers from the Carlisle Barracks, a river pilot, and three young men who were "auditioning" to join the expedition, officially called the Corps of Discovery Expedition.
Water levels were unusually low in the Ohio River, and passage was often blocked by riffles/gravel bars over which the boats had to be pushed. Three miles down the Ohio River, they stopped at Brunot Island. Here Lewis demonstrated (to an old Army buddy named Brunot?) his new air-powered rifle. Someone unacquainted with the gun accidently discharged it. Nearby a woman fell with blood gushing from her head, but it turned out the ball had only grazed her temple. Lewis decided then to get back on the boat to continue his journey!*
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| Brunot Island |
*On 9/4/1803, Meriwether Lewis purchased a pirogue/canoe in Georgetown, PA, since their one pirogue sprung a leak.
On 9/6/1803, the Corps of Discovery neared Steubenville where they were able to hoist the sail for a short distance, but then had to hire a team of oxen to pull the keelboat over a riffle/gravel bar.*
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| The Steubenville Visitor Center had a small display about the Lewis & Clark Expedition, as it is now part of the Lewis & Clark Eastern Legacy Trail, an extension of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail |
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| Lewis and Clark Eastern Legacy symbol (KSS) |
While Meriwether Lewis meanders on the Ohio River, we will tour present-day Pennsylvania.
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