Columbia River to Pacific Ocean Oct 1805-April 1806

The Lewis and Clark expedition approached the End of the Trail in the Fall 1805 where the Columbia finally reached the Pacific! The team dynamics were so strong that Lewis and Clark organized a vote on whether to stay on the Northwest coast for the damp and cold winter or to attempt a late Fall return to the East which is what many on the expedition were yearning for. Contrasted to the stern command and punishing lashes of the British Navy at the time, this approach exemplified the early democracy of the USA and enabled the buy-in needed to last the winter.

They smartly voted for a winter camp which was built on the banks of a tributary of the Columbia near what is now Astoria, Oregon. They spent the long winter documenting their journey and kept structure with daily tasks such as boiling seawater to make salt to season their bland meat diet. This complimented the more dependable salmon diet. The best methods of fishing and smoking the fish were learned from the local Indians.

Miraculously the expedition completed the entire journey with only one loss of life (from suspected appendicitis.) The corps made the journey in Spring 1806 all the way back to St Charles and St Louis, Missouri.

Lewis and Clark - South Dakota to Oregon

We diverted from the Lewis and Clark route in South Dakota and picked it up again on the mighty Columbia River in northeastern Oregon on I-84 west of Pendleton. This is a little past where the Snake River joins the Columbia in the Tri-Cities in SE Washington. 

Here's what happened in between to our explorers:  

The Lewis and Clark Expedition made it through Lakota Sioux territory and to the friendly Mandan Villages in what is now North Dakota in time for the winter of 1804. They built Fort Mandan near Bismarck for shelter where they posted a sentry. 

In the Spring, when the ice finally broke in the river, the men left in high spirits progressing across to Montana to the headwaters of the Missouri River near Helena. (The white cliffs of the Missouri River in Montana are pictured.) 

But, at that point, the group ran out of river! Horses would be needed to cross the Bitter Root Mountains and beyond.

Lewis and Clark met warily with the Shoshone tribe, who were known as excellent horsemen.  In what was one of the great coincidences of American history, interpreter Sacagawea recognized the chief of the Shoshone tribe as her long-lost brother.  She had been kidnapped by a rival tribe as a young girl. After an emotional reunion, Lewis and Clark had the horses they needed in this critical trade. 

After an arduous journey on horseback across the mountains in Idaho, they finally reached the Snake River where the local Indians taught them to make excellent dugout canoes by burning large hollowed-out logs.