Tag: river

An Epic Journey

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Nearly 218 years ago this week, 45 men and one dog set out from Camp Dubois near St. Louis on what was to become one of the most famous explorations in American history.  On May 14, 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led their Corps of Discovery on an expedition to explore the newly acquired western portion of the continent.  Their epic two-year journey took them to the Pacific Coast and back, yielding a treasure-trove of detailed maps, climate and soil data, and plant and animal specimens, as well as the beginning of relationships with dozens of tribal nations.

Two of JNPA’s partner sites – Gateway Arch National Park and the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center – feature interpretive exhibits about this famous expedition in their museums.  So we thought it fitting to honor the intrepid explorers during this anniversary week.

Thomas Jefferson

President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition shortly after acquiring the Louisiana Purchase territory in 1803.  Although scientific discoveries and mapping were of high importance, Jefferson’s primary interests were political and commercial.  He envisioned an eventual expansion of the nation to the Pacific Ocean and wanted to establish an American presence in the west before European nations made claims to the region.  He also charged Lewis and Clark with preparing the way for the extension of the valuable fur trade, with documenting other natural resources that could support future settlements, and with assessing the friendliness of the indigenous tribes they encountered.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

Jefferson provided the Corps of Discovery with the best clothing, firearms, boats, equipment, and rations then available.  He also supplied them with an assortment of medals, ribbons, needles, mirrors, and other articles which were intended as gifts to Native American chiefs.

The expedition travelled up the Missouri River and through its tributaries in a specially built 55-foot keelboat and two smaller boats called pirogues, averaging 15 miles a day.  Their journey proved difficult and exhausting:  the men were plagued by heat, injuries, insects, and the river’s strong current and many snags.  Both Lewis and Clark’s kept detailed records of these arduous conditions in their journals, which were primarily devoted to meticulous descriptions and drawings of the native people, plants, animals they saw.

[Columbia River near Mouth of Umatilla River, Washington and Oregon]. Entry of 19 October 1805, cont. Voorhis Journal #6 [Elkskin Bound Journal]. p. 53. [Moulton 5:302]. Voorhis Journal 6. William Clark, Elkskin Bound Journal, 11 September – 31 December 1805., p. 53. Clark Family Collection. William Clark Papers. Missouri Historical Society Archives. Photograph by Cary Horton, 2003. NS 26957. Photograph and scan (c) 2003, Missouri Historical Society.

To find out more about this famous expedition, you can visit the museum at the Gateway Arch.  The Jefferson’s Vision gallery features numerous exhibits on Lewis and Clark’s journey, including replicas and artifacts, interactives about the plants and animals the explorers encountered, and information about the native peoples who inhabited the West at the time of the expedition.

The Arch Store also offers books and other products related to the Corps of Discovery, including the classic best-seller Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose.  You can purchase these and other items online or at The Arch Store.

A Mighty Woman of the Mighty River

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In honor of National Equal Pay Day, we are taking a look at the life of an influential woman in the history of JNPA partner park Mississippi National River and Recreation Area who never received equal pay nor recognition in her lifetime, Marguerite Bonga Fahlstrom.

Marguerite Bonga Fahlstrom and Jacob Fahlstrom. Credit: Historic Fort Snelling

Marguerite was born in 1797 in Duluth, Minnesota. Her father, Pierre Bonga, was the son of former slaves and a successful fur trader. Her mother, Ogibwayquay, was an Ojibwe woman. Her lineage was notable in that the slave trade was very much alive at the time, and while it was somewhat common for fur traders to marry Ojibwe women to establish trading partnerships, these typically involved white traders. Two of Marguerite’s brothers, Stephen and George, went on to become well-known fur traders in their own right.

Stephen Bonga (left) and George Bonga (right)

Today, Marguerite is best known for being the wife of Jacob Fahlstrom, a Swedish immigrant known as the “first Swede of Minnesota” who helped establish the Swedish community of Minnesota. But Marguerite’s role has largely been forgotten. As Haddy Bayo, National Park Ranger at Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, notes in Women of the Mississippi: Marguerite Bonga Fahlstrom, “It’s unlikely that Fahlstrom would have risen to the social position, which has so captured historians and the public, without Bonga’s contribution.”

Marguerite provided Jacob with critical knowledge and social connections in order to establish trade with the native Ojibwe community. Additionally, traders’ wives did not stay home to tend the house and children like other women of the time. Instead, they were travel partners who fully participated in the work. Later, as a minister’s wife, Marguerite was also expected to assist with her husband’s missionary work in addition to raising the couple’s 10 children!

Despite her influential role in early Minnesota history, she has largely been forgotten, and very few photographs of her exist. Today, we celebrate Marguerite and all women who never received the recognition they so deserved in their lifetime.

You can learn more about Marguerite and other influential women in the history of Mississippi National River and Recreation Area by exploring Women of the Mississippi River, an NPS interactive map that highlights the narratives of women who shaped the history of the Twin Cities and the greater American Midwest.