Lewis and Clark on the Ohio River

The initial phase of the Lewis and Clark Expedition began in Pittsburgh and included a stop in Marietta. Leader Meriwether Lewis set off down the Ohio River in a flatboat on August 31, 1803, laden with supplies and several recruits for the expedition. He would meet up with second-in- command William Clark at Louisville. Quotes, spelling, and grammar are from Lewis’s journal.

Thomas Jefferson had a vision: that the United States of America could occupy the whole of the continent from Atlantic to Pacific. He had closely studied past explorations of routes to the Pacific Ocean. None had succeeded. Some never had a chance. John Ledyard attempted to reach the west coast in 1786 by trekking east through Europe, Russia, Siberia, then sailing across the Bering Sea. He made it to Siberia but was arrested there. In 1790 Secretary of War Henry Knox promoted an exploration of the Missouri River by Lieutenant John Armstrong that was woefully short of resources, lacking such basic necessities as a tent. A Frenchman named Andre’ Michaux mounted an expedition west that was terminated in Kentucky when Jefferson discovered that Michaux was a French spy. 

As President, Jefferson decided a government organized mission was the way to go. Congress approved funding for $2,500 to equip and staff the expedition. It would be a U. S. Army operation, officially named The Corps of Discovery.  Jefferson selected Army Captain Meriwether Lewis, a 29 year old then serving as President Jefferson's personal secretary, to lead the expedition. 

August 31: The start down the Ohio had a rough start. After just three miles, they stopped at Bruno's Island to demonstrate Lewis’s innovative compressed air gun for inquisitive local residents. They were amazed by its power. One of the locals accidentally discharged the gun, hitting a nearby woman who "fell instantly and the blood gusing from her temple...we supposed she was dead." She soon revived and the wound was superficial, to their great relief.

At McKees Rocks, "we were obleged to get out all hands and lift the boat over about thirty yards. There were several such portages required - a herculean effort for a fifty-five foot long craft carrying a ton of supplies. They "halted for the night much fatiegued after laboring with my men all day...gave my men some whiskey and retired to rest at eight o’clock.”

The Ohio River then had no dams. There were shallows and deep pools, riffles and calm. Low water was a common condition during dry spells. Fog is also typical along the river in late summer.

Meriwether Lewis was born in Albemarle County Virginia. He was a skilled outdoorsman, developed a life-long interest in natural history, and had interacted with local Indians. He then joined the Army rising to the rank of Captain. His otherwise successful military service was marred by a 1795 court martial for a drunken outburst against a Lieutenant. He was acquitted, though chastened by the experience. He was transferred to a unit commanded by William Clark, whom he later selected for the western expedition. 

September 1: Back on the Ohio River, there were more delays from low water and morning fog. He was fascinated by the persistent fog, observing that "the Fog appears to owe it's orrigin to the difference of temperature between the air and water.” He was curious enough to start recording the air and water temperatures each day. There were more portages; one required a team of oxen to drag the boat free.

The river trip was supposed to start in early summer, before the low water and foggy conditions usually occur. But Lewis was held up by the extensive preparations for the expedition. He also spent weeks learning from experts on medicine, natural history, celestial navigation, and other skills needed for the exploration. He was a quick learner. Still, everything took longer than expected. Jefferson fretted at the delays.

Expedition cost estimates prepared by Lewis, from The Library of Congress, viewed at https://www.loc.gov/resource/mtj1.028_0183_0184/?sp=1&q=meriwether+lewis

The list was short but the details were long

Excerpts from the journal as they moved down river towards Marietta: 

Sept 2: Extensive observations by Lewis about the river bank configuration. He noted "...today the leaves of the buckeye, gum, and sausafras (trees) begin to fade, or turn red."

Sept 3: Fog delay, fired one of the crew, hired horses to drag boat over low spot, made only 6 miles.

Sept 4: Canoes sprung a leak; stopped for repair. Water very clear - saw "a great number of Fish of different kinds, the Stergeon, Bass, Cat fish, pike, &c.”

Sept 5-9. Slow going, leaky canoes, passed Steubenville, then Wheeling where he met with local officials.

Sept 10: Passed Grave Creek just below Wheeling near present day Moundsville WV. He described the large Adena culture mound at Grave Creek in some detail.

Grave Creek Mound at Moundsville WV, from Wikipedia

Sept 11: At Long Reach, just below Sunfish Creek, they saw many squirrels swimming from the west to east across the Ohio River. Joseph Barker in his Recollections of the First Settlement of Ohio about Marietta had similar observations. Lewis's dog “Seaman” swam after the squirrels and brought back several which were cooked: "I thought them when fryed a pleasant food..."

Sept 13: Reached Marietta; stayed the night. Observed many passenger pigeons passing over. Flocks were so large that they obscured the sun. More swimming squirrels. While at Marietta, he dismissed two of his hands and took on another. He wrote to President Jefferson and visited with Marietta resident Colonel Griffin Greene whom he described as “the Postmaster of this place, he appears to be much of a gentleman and an excelant republican.”

Letter from Meriwether Lewis to President Jefferson written at Marietta , courtesy Library of Congress, viewed at https://www.loc.gov/resource/mtj1.029_0103_0104/?sp=1. The letter mostly conveyed mundane details of river navigation. For a clearer image, click here.

Sept 14: Delayed departure from Marietta until 11 am because two of the crew were drunk and did not return to the boat. They were finally located and brought on board, “so drunk they were unable to help themselves.” More swimming squirrels and mention of malaria which was prevalent in the lower Ohio Valley.

The “hair of the dog” that nipped Lewis was a challenge for the expedition. Planning how much liquor to bring was itself was a major project. The daily ration required for military personnel was a gill (about 4 ounces) of rum, brandy, or whiskey. Spirits were thought necessary for soldiers - “keeping spirits (and bravery) up by pouring spirits down” was the maxim in those days. Lewis brought an estimated 120 gallons of spirits on the expedition. It ran out well before they reached the Pacific. 

Drunkenness - like the Marietta episode - was a persistent problem. Many crew members were disciplined. Two were court martialed for stealing liquor from storage. A separate protocol to prevent theft became necessary for distributing the rations. 

The Corps of Discovery expedition overcame that and many other obstacles to achieve legendary success. Learn more about the Lewis and Clark expedition by clicking here.

There was a gap in Meriwether Lewis’s journal September 18 to November 11. He was either too busy or the journals were lost. We are fortunate that his journals included the days before and after Marietta. 

References:

Ambrose, Stephen E., Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West, New York, Simon and Schuster, 2013

Moulton, Gary E., Editor, Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Online, lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu

Danisi, Thomas C., Meriwether Lewis, Amherst NY, Thomas C. Danisi and John C. Jackson, 2009

Coues, Elliott, History of the Expedition under the Command of Lewis and Clark, Volume I, "Memoir of Meriwether Lewis," New York, Francis P. Harper, 1893 

“Discovering Lewis and Clark” website at Lewis-Clark.org, “Preparations” section

Wikipedia, “Lewis and Clark Expedition”

Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Ohio River Chapter, at website Lewis and Clark.org

Liquor on the Frontier

Survival was a basic goal of early settlers in Marietta and the Ohio country. The area was a wilderness. Priorities were food, shelter, protection from the elements, eking out a living wage, and....alcohol. Yes, booze in colonial times was considered a basic necessity.

Alcohol was an integral part of life in early America, a fact omitted from our conventional history lessons. You probably did not know that George Washington enjoyed his spirits; his war time expense account for liquor from September 1775 to June 1776 exceeded $6,000, and he was a major distiller of whiskey at Mount Vernon. Or that John Adams started the day with a hard cider eye opener. And that Thomas Jefferson was a wine connoisseur who with guests consumed 1,203 bottles of wine at his Monticello estate in just over two years. 

Attitudes towards alcohol were liberal then by today's standards. There were no prohibitions on the purchase, consumption, or production of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol was part of the diet and tradition from England. Spirits were believed to have health benefits, be safer than often unsanitary water, and be a welcome morale booster in often difficult life situations. 

In the 1790s it was estimated that the average American over fifteen years old each year drank 34 gallons of beer and cider, 5 gallons of distilled spirits, and 1 gallon of wine. All that is reported to be the equivalent of 7 ounces of distilled liquor a day. Even children drank “small beer” with a low alcohol content. But people were not partying and tipsy all the time. Author Corin Hirsch points out that "life expectancy was lower then and life was pretty hard so you can’t judge anyone.”

Scholars of "spiritual" history point out fascinating aspects of drinking and attitudes about it, sometimes in amusing terms:

• "...most of the founding fathers were buzzed, if not flat-out hammered, when they formulated the ideals....for their new country."  Ethan De Siefe, 2014.
• "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy." Ben Franklin.
•  “Americans drank beer, and cider with breakfast; rum and wine with dinner; claret, ratafias, creams, punches and other concoctions in the evening.” Robinson, 2001, as quoted in Tom Jewett's 2007 article.
•  “Alcohol lubricated such social events as christenings, weddings, funerals, trails, and election-day gatherings, where aspiring candidates tempted voters with free drinks. Craftsmen drank at work, as did hired hands in the fields, shoppers in stores, sailors at sea and soldiers in camp. Then, as now, college students enjoyed malted beverages, which explains why Harvard had its own brewery. In 1639, when the school did not supply sufficient beer, President Nathaniel Eaton lost his job.” Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio Vol II, 1908.

Alcohol was also a staple of life in early Marietta and the Northwest Territory:

• Liquor rations for the soldiers at Fort Harmar included a gill (4 ounces) of rum daily. Surveyors in the initial group hired by the Ohio Company had a similar ration. Imagine having a job that provides 4 ounces of booze each day.  Nice benefit, eh?
• Drunkenness was the leading offense of the day - both at Fort Harmar and in the general public. Punishment at Fort Harmar was 100 or more lashes. In Marietta, there was a fine of "5 dimes for the first offense and $1.00 for each offense thereafter."
• Peach brandy was reportedly made from peaches grown at Fort Harmar and elsewhere. Campus Martius Historian Bill Reynolds observed with a grin that “peaches were not just grown for eating, you know.”
• Portable liquor cabinets from that period are on display at Campus Martius Museum, one belonging to Rufus Putnam, another to Israel Putnam, Rufus' half brother. It held several bottles in a small wooden box that could be easily transported. These were fairly common during that time.
• Joseph Buell, a soldier at Fort Harmar, kept a journal which records incidents of liquor consumption.
• July 4, 1786, "The great day of independence was commemorated by the discharge of 13 guns, after which the soldiers were served with extra rations of liquor and allowed to get as drunk as they pleased." 
• May 1, 1786: May Day is celebrated with a maypole, dancing, "curious antics, drinking, carousing, and firing guns." 
• December 3, 1786: provisions were delivered including 20 kegs of flour and 10 kegs of whiskey.
• September 9, 1787. A group of Indians visited the fort and entertained the locals - and themselves. On this day they..."danced in the hot sun, drinking whisky at the same time, until they were as drunk as they could be and stand on their feet."
• Colonel John May also kept a journal of his time in Marietta. 
• Tuesday, May 6, 1788: Near Simmrill's Ferry, Pennsylvania, on his way to Marietta, he procured 4 barrels of finest flour and a barrel (30 gallons) of "whisky." The contents were placed on a ferry, which nearly sank under the weight.
• May 27, 1788. He reported dining with General Josiah Harmar. The elegant dinner included beef, boiled fish, bear-steaks, roast venison, etc.,.and "wine and grog." Even on the frontier, high ranking military officers ate and drank well.
• June 8, 1788. Another fabulous dinner with Generals Harmar, Putnam, and Varnum plus others. Libations included spirits, excellent wine, brandy, and beer.
• The first July 4th celebration at Marietta was quite an event, including a sumptuous feast, an oration by Judge Varnum, and a 14 gun salute. There was celebratory drinking, too, with "a bowl of punch, also wine, grog, etc." May reported that the celebration continued until past midnight after which they "went home and to bed, and slept sound until morning." During the event there were toasts - many toasts. No one, it seems, was left out. They drank to:

1. United States
2. Congress
3. His Most King of Majesty The King of France
4. The United Netherlands
5. The Friendly Powers Throughout the World
6. The New Federal Constitution
7. George Washington and the Society of Cincinnati
8. His Excellency Governor St. Clair and the Western Territory
9. The Memory of Heroes
10. Patriots
11. Captain Pipes and a Successful Treaty
12. Amiable Partners of our Lives
13. All Mankind

Our early ancestors drank a wide variety of beverages - some conventional, others quite unusual - in content and name. Here are some of the more conventional ones:

• Beer and cider - these were easy to make using apples for cider and grains for beer.
• Rum - a staple of the colonies.  In 1770, there were 140 Rum stills in the northeastern colonies producing 4.8 Million gallons of rum.
• Grog – generally, any drink mixed with water. Originally it was water mixed with rum and lime or lemon juice. The concoction was introduced into the Royal Navy in 1740 by Vice Admiral Edward Vernon, who was nicknamed “Old Grog” after the Grogham cloth coat he wore.
• Shrub – a fruit liqueur made with rum or brandy mixed with sugar and juice or rinds of citrus fruits.
• Wine was always popular but more expensive and mostly imported from Europe.
• Whiskey became more popular in the late 1700's as molasses used for rum became more expensive.

Then there are the mixed drinks, many quite unknown to us today. The quirky names are as interesting as the recipes:

• Stone Fence. A bracing blend of rum and cider. Ethan Allen and the legendary Green Mountain Boys are reported to have imbibed this for liquid courage before raiding Fort Ticonderoga. 
• Flip. A blend of beer, rum, molasses, and eggs or cream mixed in a pitcher and whipped into a froth by plunging a hot fire poker (called a flip dog) into the mixture.
• Syllabub. A mix of wine, cream, and lemon topped with whipped egg whites. Eggs and cream were supposed to make the drink more nutritious. Really, that was the belief.
• Rattleskull is named after the English slang for a chatty person, and probably for its effect on the drinker. It is a potent blend of 3-4 oz of a rum/brandy mix poured into a pint of stout porter (an ale) tarted up with lime and topped with nutmeg. One colonial drink expert says this "bad-ass drink is a dangerously smooth and stultifying concoction."
• Calibogus. A mix of dark rum and spruce beer (beer made with the needles or new shoots of a spruce tree). Since spruce shoots have vitamin C, the drink was popular among sailors to ward off scurvy from lack of vitamin C in their diet at sea.
• Sangaree was a mix of madeira or port wine with lemon juice, sugar, and nutmeg. It was the precursor to the more modern Sangria.

Alcoholic beverages were part of the culture, though some spoke out against the social and health damage from excessive drinking. Few listened. Benjamin Rush was a Philadelphia physician who studied mental illness. He wrote a fascinating paper titled Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits Upon the Human Body and Mind, published in 1785. He presciently classified alcoholism as a disease and addiction. His work would influence the temperance movement which eventually reduced alcohol consumption. But that would be decades in the future. Meanwhile drinking remained America's favorite pastime.

Sources:

Jewett, Tom, “Spirits of Our Forefathers,” 2002, http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2002_summer_fall/forefathers.htm

Burns, Eric, The Spirits of America: A Social History of Alcohol, 2004, Temple University Press.

Howe, Henry, Historical Collections of Ohio Vol II, 1908

Hirsch, Corin, “5 Colonial-Era Drinks You Should Know, 2014, http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2014/04/colonial-era-drinks-cocktails-rum-flip-stonefence-syllabub-rattleskull.html

Crews, Ed, “Drinking in Colonial America,” 2007, Colonial Williamsburg Publications, http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/holiday07/drink.cfm

Hildreth, Samuel, Pioneer History, Being an Account of the First Examinations of the Ohio Valley and the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory, 1848, W. Derby & Company (Cincinnati)

De Seife, Ethan, Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England by Corin Hirsch, 2014, http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/forgotten-drinks-of-colonial-new-england-by-corin-hirsch/Content?oid=2344349