Gaswamp
Senior Member
I believe there was/is a mini series based on the book on HBO. Not sure about details but you could research it.
Great book.
mini series got canceled
I believe there was/is a mini series based on the book on HBO. Not sure about details but you could research it.
Great book.
They spent the winter of 1805 stuck in the Rockies trying to find a pass to lead them into the Columbia river valley. They ate their horses, and any dogs they could buy from the natives.
When they were in game-rich lands, it was astonishing the amount of meat they consumed. Hard labor of pushing/pulling the boats up the Missouri required thousands of calories per day.
Trapping should have been good at that point,,,, I'm not saying that they didn't have it hard, I'm just saying they should not have come close to starvation,,,, it isn't like they were the people who went down in the movie Alive,,,,
Cap Clark set out this morning to go a head with six hunters. ... this morning we finished the remainder of our last coult. we dined & suped on a skant proportion of portable soupe, a few canesters of which, a little bears oil and about 20 lbs. of candles form our stock of provision, the only recources being our guns & packhorses. ... there is nothing upon earth ex[c]ept ourselves and a few small pheasants, small grey Squirrels, and a blue bird of the vultur kind about the size of a turtle dove or jay bird. ... used the snow for cooking.
It's hard to trap when you're trying to make several miles a day. They were desperate to make it to the western side of the mountains before the full brunt of winter hit.
From Lewis' journals:
Reduced to eating candles? That's roughing it!
And as Wes said, it amazed me that the only member of the expedition they lost was near the beginning, to appendicitis. They don't make many folks like those guys any more.
Those were tough times and tough times make men tough.
We’re in easy times and easy times make men soft.
You want to know what a different breed those men were? As soon as they arrived back in St. Louis after 2 years of hardship, many of them collected their wages, outfitted again, and headed right back.
What I would give to been able to experience what they saw and did in those times. Can you only imagine seeing those herds of elk and buffalo when they got to the Plains?
You want to know what a different breed those men were? As soon as they arrived back in St. Louis after 2 years of hardship, many of them collected their wages, outfitted again, and headed right back.
If you like this book read River of no return, about Teddy Roosevelt in S America,,,, great read,,,,actually I think it was River of Doubt,,,, I'm old,,,,
What I would give to been able to experience what they saw and did in those times. Can you only imagine seeing those herds of elk and buffalo when they got to the Plains?
They also buried food and supplies for the return trip. They would trade for female companionship from the Indians. At night , someone would have to protect their supplies from the natives trying to take it while they slept. Today most of us wouldn’t even think about camping without a rv or air conditioning. Yes today we are spoiled and soft compared to the men during that time. I hope when a movie is eventually produced , they do the story justice .
The main reason they wanted to get back to the forks of the Missouri so much was the big barrel of likker that they buried there on the way west.