William Clark played a big part in the total effort by General Anthony Wayne to restore order to the frontier.  During the early 1790’s while assigned to Wayne’s command, Clark was frequently sent on reconnaissance missions to find out what the opposing forces were doing; this included the English, Spanish and Indians. 
          The Spanish didn’t know what to think about Wayne because he didn’t do things like previous generals had.  They were also wary of Clark.  They said he was “an enterprising youth of extraordinary activity.” 
            From his staff level position Clark saw what Wayne was doing and why; he learned valuable lessons that served him well later during the Expedition to the Pacific; lessons of training, discipline, caring for the health of the men, establishing field camps and fortifications, etc., etc.
         The last special mission Clark embarked upon for General Wayne was in 1795.  Clark was a messenger from General Wayne to the Spanish fortifications near Memphis, Tennessee.  His daily journal entries were considered “a masterpiece of deception by omission” as they gave every appearance of innocently recording miles traveled, river currents, islands, success of hunters, etc. (much like the material in his journal entries during the Expedition), but after his return to Wayne his final report was a detailed piece of spy work that included gun placements, ship numbers and types, exactly what the fort looked like on the inside and just about anything else a military commander would want to know about an enemy’s position.  The report was accompanied by drawings and maps.  This was all done from memory of what he saw as the Spanish commander gave Clark a tour of the fort.
          Clark returned from this mission in November of 1795 and took up the routine garrison life.  He met his newly assigned junior officer Meriwether Lewis.  William Clark resigned his army commission in July of 1796 and returned to life with his family.
 

          The pass Sacajawea suggested Capt. Clark use would become important in the developing Montana territory.  While it officially became the Bozeman Pass, its unofficial name along with the Trail that crossed it was more indicative of the activities associated with it; the Bloody Bozeman.
          It was in the Three Forks area and the Big Hole and Beaverhead Valleys that Sacajawea gained her image as a “guide.”  Capt. Clark recorded three times when her knowledge of the area helped pilot them.  He went on to say she had “been of great service as a pilot through this country.”  He was referring to the area she had lived in before being taken captive by the Hidatsa Indians. 
             However useful she was in her home territory, she had little knowledge of the rest of the territory the Expedition passed through.  As the Expedition continued down the Yellowstone her knowledge of the area would again dwindle and her use as a “guide” would disappear with it.

          October 21, 1805; Clark’s entry in his field notes for the day’s events included, “Collins made some excellent beer of the pasheco quarmash bread which was very good.”
Later, when he transcribed the field notes to the final journal entry he wrote, “Collins presented us with some very good beer made of the Pa-shi-co-quar-mash bread, which bread is the remains of what was laid in as stores of provisions at the first flatheads or Cho-pun-nish nation at the head of the Kossoske River which being frequently wet molded and soured."
          Clark definitely toned down his response to the beer from “excellent” “very good”.  He also added his justification on why the bread could be used that way instead of being eaten as food as originally planned.  The Expedition was short of food and scrambled to even find some survival foods not normally considered in civilization as food; dogs for example.
          Maybe he was thinking if he showed they would have otherwise been thrown away the beer would be more acceptable to those who would read the journals at some time in the future.  Remember, Clark was spending government money to purchase their food, and as we see later with the handling of Lewis’ invoices, some bureaucrat can without any prior notice or approval, change the outcome of things previously agreed upon.
          Probably the general public would see this and knowing they had been out of booze for almost 4 months, think nothing of it.  At the most they might chuckle at the change from excellent to very good.

            Clark’s party spent four days traveling along the river, covering 103 miles from where they first reached the Yellowstone searching for cottonwood trees large enough to make into dugout canoes.  They finally found two that would work.  Clark decided to stop at this point and rest the horses, but he had two men continue on down the river to possibly find better trees.  The men went 12 miles and returned without finding better ones, so the party stayed camped where they were to make canoes.  This was marked on Clark’s maps as canoe camp.
            Canoe Camp should be named Yellowstone Canoe Camp.  It was the last of four locations where the Corps of Discovery made dugout canoes during their travels.
              The first place the Expedition made canoes was near their 1804 – 5 winter camp, Fort Mandan.  Here they carved six dugout canoes from large cottonwood logs.  They worked here most of the month of March at Mandan Canoe Camp.  These canoes were used to replace the large keelboat that was sent back downriver to St. Louis.
             Later, during the summer of 1805 the Corps of Discovery made two more dugout canoes from cottonwood logs near Great Falls.  These dugouts were built to replace the failed collapsible iron-framed boat.  This was the Great Falls Canoe Camp.  When the Expedition left the Great Falls, they were using 8 canoes and no other type water craft.
            In October of that year, after the Expedition had cached their canoes at Camp Fortunate and made their way across the Rockies on horses, they built five canoes on the Clearwater River near Orofino, Idaho.  These canoes were made from “large pine” but instead of chopping them out to make their dugouts, they burned them out. 
           The plan was to use these canoes  to carry the Corps of Discovery out to the Pacific Ocean then back to where they obtained horses to re-cross the Rockies. This would be the Clearwater Canoe Camp.
            While they were at Camp Choppunish in 1806 Lewis set some men to work making a canoe for the purpose of fishing and to pass the river (Clearwater).  A few days after it was finished some men used the new canoe to cross the river to do some trading.  As they were landing the strong current caught the canoe filling it with water and sinking it.  This large canoe, it would carry 12 men, was too heavy and even the best efforts could not raise it.  Since they were near the Clearwater Canoe Camp, I include this canoe as being made in that camp.

​            Starting with the first attempt in 1893, there have been eight locations offered as the “right location” for Clark’s canoe camp.  They range the full length of the river Clark covered from where he first reached the Yellowstone up to where he stopped to build the two canoes a short distance above Billings.
          In early 2000 Ralph Saunders took on the daunting task of finding the canoe camp.  His plan was to use the most current technology available along with all the evidence from previous canoe camp investigations.  A general description of the land provided by Clark’s journal entries served as his starting point.  His resulting book “Clark’s Journey Through Stillwater County, Montana” describes what he did to locate Canoe Camp.
            His methodology was unique in that his analysis went far beyond reading the journal entries and matching them to the land.  He says that Clark’s log notes and descriptions are of sufficient detail and precision to enable mapping experts to follow his route the entire length of the Trail.  His distance estimates were consistent (but a little long) and he was very thorough in his note taking.  These were the two basic requirements for developing an understanding of what he wrote.
            Saunders had to consider many things that we normally never consider when studying the Expedition mapping.  Such as change in magnetic north location, and change of stream channel of the Yellowstone River.  But maybe the hardest of all was learning Clark’s habits to see how he made his abbreviated notes so he could understand what Clark actually meant.
               A careful examination of Clark’s mapping shows his map scale was not always the same.  He was more accurate when he was in a canoe compared to when he was on a horse.  He also had to learn differences in Clark’s map drawings and his survey readings.  He discovered the drawings were sketches so they did not have the accuracy of the written descriptions.  (After returning to St. Louis Clark used these sketches and his notes to create a final map that was extremely accurate.)
               After Saunders found the location of Canoe Camp, he tested his location to see if it fit other journal entry documented activities.  Example of this would be if it fit with a certain number of miles traveled by someone.
           A subsequent archaeological dig in the location of Canoe Camp has shown old activity in the area that could be consistent with Clark’s time, but it could also be others and some other time.  Example is they found a musket ball.  But nothing to tie it to Clark’s party.  Thirteen people spent four days working in a small area, but they left little, if anything, as lasting evidence of their time there.
            It is relatively easy to understand that Clark traveled overland from Traveler’s Rest to where he reached the Yellowstone River.  From there he went downriver until he found trees large enough to made dugout canoes.  From that location they made the rest of the trip on the waters of the Yellowstone and then the Missouri River.
            It is much more difficult, if even possible at all, to prove conclusively exactly where that camp is where they made the two canoes on the Yellowstone. 

          Food had been of primary concern for the Corps of Discovery from the very beginning of their travels.  The simple fact was they could not carry enough food with them for the entire trip, so they were forced to live on what the land produced.  This is quite common in frontier or “uncivilized” regions.  In fact, this was one of the thoughts Jefferson had when he called for men used to living on the frontier.
            The term subsistence diet is used for this method of getting food.  People eating this way   eat very well sometimes and eat nothing at other times.  Although it varies greatly, most of the time the amount of food is adequate.  The other concept of subsistence eating is the people eat whatever is available at the time they are in an area.  The Corps of Discovery had experienced most of the variations in availability and what foods were available by the time the two groups left Travelers Rest.
            When the two groups left, they were primarily eating meat since very little of the plant foods are ripe by the first of July.  However, they did have a small supply of roots to augment their diet.
            Clark notes that for the first three days they traveled through the Bitterroot Valley retracing their 1805 route they ate adequately “dining and suping” [noon meal and evening meal] on venison [deer].  For the next two days no food is reported, but since they were also not talking about hunger or starvation, they probably ate sparingly from what meat they could carry with them.  Because they were not stopping long enough to do any preservation, we can only guess.
            While they were at Camp Fortunate recovering what had been cached there and drying their canoes, they report eating venison and antelope.  They had time for hunters to go out far enough to find the game.
            They left Camp Fortunate traveling down the Jefferson River to Three Forks.  Clark makes references to game animals that are now close by; deer, antelope, bighorn and geese.  All provide sources of food.  The closer to the Three Forks the party gets the more plentiful and varied the food supply becomes.
            Although Clark’s party found sufficient food it was limited from Travelers Rest to Camp Fortunate.  From that camp to the Three Forks, it improved substantially.  The closer to the Yellowstone River they got Clark’s journal entries show larger gangues of animals.  As they turned and followed that river the numbers of animals changed from large to enormous.
            On July 21 while at Canoe Camp Clark writes they “appear to be in the beginning of the buffalo country.”  He continues his journal entry by listing the various animals and birds he sees.  Then he concludes with “the wolves which are the constant attendants of the buffalo are in great numbers on the skirts of these large gangues which are seen in every direction.”
            Then on the 24th he ends his journal entry for the day with, “for me to mention or give an estimate of the different species of wild animals on this river, particularly buffalo, elk, antelope and wolves would be increditable.  I shall therefore be silent on the subject further.  So, it is we have a great abundance of the best meat.
            As Clark wrote on July 28, 1806, “set out this morning gliding down the smooth stream.”  They “glided” for 73 miles that day.
            Clark’s party continued their travels down the Yellowstone almost leisurely until they reached the Missouri River where they were to meet Lewis and his party.  They were never in want of food because of the abundance the land of the Yellowstone produced.

          One of the success stories of the Lewis and Clark Expedition is the small number of injuries that happened as they traveled through miles of unknown lands, facing many potentially fatal acts of nature and overcoming the constant threats from buffalo, wolves, grizzly bears, snakes, etc. etc. 
          There were several close calls reported briefly and rather matter-of-factly such as the comments each Captain made when they were almost bitten by rattlesnakes.  Then there were those close calls that have become part of the lore of the Expedition such as the times grizzly bears chased various members of the Expedition up trees or into the river. 
          Of course, one of the favorites is the story of Sacajawea calmly retrieving pieces of baggage and other articles from the water when one of the pirogues was nearly overturned by the strong wind. 
       There were those accidents such as cuts or scrapes that did require medical attention, but they were considered to be routine because the men were experienced in caring for these occurrences.
           Interestingly only one time did any of these animals actually cause any injury to the party.  It happened on the Yellowstone near Pompey's Pillar.
           On the night of July 26 when Sergt. Pryor and his three men were sleeping on the prairie with nothing but maybe a blanket to lay on, and no horses to warn the sleeping men of any danger, a wolf came into the camp.  Clark wrote the incident as a wolf came into camp and “bit Sergt. Pryor through the hand” then was “so vicious as to make an attempt to seize Windsor.”  Shannon shot the wolf before it could do any more harm.
          Two weeks later Clark noted that Pryor’s hand was almost healed up.  What was potentially a severe problem turned out to be a minor daily incident.  The wolf could very easy have been rabid, but thankfully it wasn’t.

          Many stories were told around the campfires that involved one or some of these former Corps of Discovery men.  As many as 14 members of the Expedition went back to the frontier after their return to St. Louis.  Most of those found adventure in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and Idaho as trappers, but a few became involved in other, related activities.   Seven of the trappers were killed as they plied the waters of the mountain streams for the ever-so-desirable beaver pelts.  Captain Clark became a partner in a fur trading venture, but he never returned to the Rockies.  But one we hear little about probably did the most of any of them.
            Toussaint Charbonneau was living in the lands of the Mandans when he was hired as an interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  When the Expedition returned to that area on their way back to St. Louis in 1806, he took his family and remained at their frontier home.
        For most of the remainder of his life he stayed on the frontier working as interpreter, scout, liaison for the US to various tribes, trapper or trader.  His name is found in many diaries and reports.  The events of 1823 are typical of his work and travels, but it is made more colorful because one of the other players, Hugh Glass (think of the movie Revenant).
             In early1823, a large group of trappers lead by Ashley headed up the Missouri and on to the Yellowstone.  They were intercepted by the Arikaras who killed 14 of the trappers and chased the rest back downriver.  The army sent out a regiment of 240 men, who were joined by 120 trappers, to punish the Indians.  Among the group of trappers was Toussaint Charbonneau.  The campaign was a failure.
          With that job ended, Charbonneau went to work for a French trader at Fort Kiowa.  He was to go up the Missouri with five others to trade with the Mandans.  While the party was making its preparations for the trip, Hugh Glass stumbled into the fort having survived a grizzly attack then “crawling” 350 miles alone across the prairie to the fort.
After a few days’ recuperation, Glass joined the traders going to the Mandans making it a party of seven.  A six-week journey brought them almost to Mandan country.  Charbonneau got out of the pirogue they were traveling in to go by land, saying it was less dangerous than by water.  He made his way to Tilton’s Fort, another French trading post.  There he learned the Arikaras had attacked and killed all five of the men in the pirogue. 
​          Hugh Glass must have taken Charbonneau’s lead and chose to go by land also.  Shortly after Charbonneau made it to Tilton’s Fort, two Mandans found Glass and brought him to Tilton’s Fort.