WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.960 Picture the classic textbook painting of the 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:05.459 Lewis and Clark expedition. You probably see 00:00:05.459 --> 00:00:07.440 that familiar image right now in your head. Oh, 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:10.500 absolutely. It's the visual printed in almost 00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:12.779 every middle school history book for the last 00:00:12.779 --> 00:00:15.419 century. Right. It's always two intrepid explorers 00:00:15.419 --> 00:00:18.339 in fringed buckskin just standing proudly at 00:00:18.339 --> 00:00:20.960 the prowl of a wooden boat. bravely pointing 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:23.760 westward into the vast uncharted wilderness. 00:00:23.899 --> 00:00:27.179 Yeah, it's, I mean, for generations, that single 00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:30.079 image has served as the ultimate American myth 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:33.380 of individual heroism. Completely. Two men, a 00:00:33.380 --> 00:00:36.520 blank map, in an untamed landscape just waiting 00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:39.170 to be claimed. Well, today we are going to completely 00:00:39.170 --> 00:00:41.750 flip that familiar script. We're doing a deep 00:00:41.750 --> 00:00:44.530 dive into a comprehensive historical overview 00:00:44.530 --> 00:00:46.590 of the expedition. Yes, specifically pulling 00:00:46.590 --> 00:00:49.170 from the extensive Wikipedia archives on the 00:00:49.170 --> 00:00:52.409 core of discovery. Exactly. And our mission today 00:00:52.409 --> 00:00:55.289 is distinct. We are peeling back the layers of 00:00:55.289 --> 00:00:57.350 that polished official narrative, because when 00:00:57.350 --> 00:01:00.189 you actually look at the journals, the daily 00:01:00.189 --> 00:01:02.909 data and the sheer mechanics of survival on this 00:01:02.909 --> 00:01:05.930 journey, a very different picture emerges. A 00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:08.569 radically different picture. Yeah. The expedition 00:01:08.569 --> 00:01:11.849 was saved, sustained, and ultimately made possible 00:01:11.849 --> 00:01:14.689 by the indispensable, yet historically marginalized, 00:01:14.849 --> 00:01:17.950 figures of the journey. So specifically, we are 00:01:17.950 --> 00:01:20.909 going to focus on Sakagoya, a Shoshone teenager, 00:01:21.250 --> 00:01:24.409 and York. an enslaved black man. Which is so 00:01:24.409 --> 00:01:26.950 important because decentering the captains even 00:01:26.950 --> 00:01:29.609 just a little bit, it completely changes the 00:01:29.609 --> 00:01:31.890 landscape of this historical event. It really 00:01:31.890 --> 00:01:34.870 does. We move away from the mythology of like 00:01:34.870 --> 00:01:37.750 singular genius and start looking at the actual 00:01:37.750 --> 00:01:40.319 mechanics of collaborative survival. Right. So 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.400 to set the stage for you, we are looking at the 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:45.659 years 1804 to 1806. The Corps of Discovery has 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:47.840 been commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, 00:01:48.260 --> 00:01:50.900 hot on the heels of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:53.519 Which is huge. Massive. Jefferson basically bought 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:56.239 a massive tract of land, doubling the size of 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:58.939 the country on paper at least, and he needs someone 00:01:58.939 --> 00:02:01.400 to go see what he just bought. OK, let's unpack 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:03.959 this. What exactly was Jefferson's grand ambition 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:05.840 here? Because I think the standard assumption 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:08.439 is that this was just a giant nature walk to 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:10.620 catalog some exotic plants and animals. Right. 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:12.439 People think it was just a botany trip. Yeah. 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:15.099 And science was a secondary objective, certainly. 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:18.979 Jefferson was a polymath, deeply interested in 00:02:18.979 --> 00:02:21.539 biodiversity. Right. But make no mistake, this 00:02:21.539 --> 00:02:23.780 was primarily an expedition of commerce and empire. 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:26.669 Commerce and empire. Yeah. Jefferson's main goal 00:02:26.669 --> 00:02:29.789 was to find the most direct and practicable water 00:02:29.789 --> 00:02:32.349 route across the continent. The fabled Northwest 00:02:32.349 --> 00:02:35.849 Passage. Exactly. He wanted a liquid superhighway 00:02:35.849 --> 00:02:38.189 for commerce that would connect the Missouri 00:02:38.189 --> 00:02:41.189 River to the Pacific Ocean. Which would let them 00:02:41.189 --> 00:02:44.729 completely bypass the hot, desolate desert of 00:02:44.729 --> 00:02:47.110 the Southwest, right? The area controlled by 00:02:47.110 --> 00:02:49.819 Spain. That was the practical hope. And just 00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:52.560 as importantly, he wanted to establish a firm 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:55.020 United States claim of sovereignty in the Pacific 00:02:55.020 --> 00:02:57.139 Northwest. Because they weren't the only ones 00:02:57.139 --> 00:02:59.680 looking at that land. Not at all. The British 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:02.039 and the Spanish were already circling the region. 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:05.120 Alexander Mackenzie, a Scottish explorer working 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:08.139 for the British. He had actually already crossed 00:03:08.139 --> 00:03:10.879 mainland North America to the Pacific Coast back 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:13.620 in 1793. Oh, wow. I didn't realize the British 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:15.930 were already out there that early. Yeah, and 00:03:15.930 --> 00:03:18.569 Jefferson had read McKenzie's accounts. He knew 00:03:18.569 --> 00:03:20.530 Britain wanted to control the highly lucrative 00:03:20.530 --> 00:03:23.009 fur trade of the Columbia River. So it's a race. 00:03:23.189 --> 00:03:25.629 It's totally a race. Jefferson is sending Lewis 00:03:25.629 --> 00:03:28.169 and Clark to plant a flag. He wants to establish 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:31.030 an American presence, document the geography 00:03:31.030 --> 00:03:34.250 and lay the legal groundwork to claim title to 00:03:34.250 --> 00:03:36.930 indigenous lands under the European concept of 00:03:36.930 --> 00:03:38.789 the discovery doctrine. Wait, let's pause on 00:03:38.789 --> 00:03:41.610 that term. What exactly is the discovery doctrine 00:03:41.610 --> 00:03:44.659 in this context? So the discovery doctrine was 00:03:44.659 --> 00:03:47.560 an international legal concept. It actually originated 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:50.240 from 15th century papal bulls. Really? That far 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:52.680 back? Yeah. It essentially stated that whichever 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:55.699 European Christian nation discovered a piece 00:03:55.699 --> 00:03:58.719 of land held the exclusive right to acquire it 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:01.000 from the indigenous populations, whether through 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.479 purchase or conquest. So it's a legal loophole 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:06.159 for empire building. Basically. Jefferson was 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:08.680 using this expedition to legally box out Britain 00:04:08.680 --> 00:04:11.189 and Spain by saying, you know, Our agents map 00:04:11.189 --> 00:04:13.389 this first, therefore we hold the preemptive 00:04:13.389 --> 00:04:17.509 title. OK, so to prepare for this highly political 00:04:17.509 --> 00:04:21.149 imperial mapping mission, Merriwether Lewis goes 00:04:21.149 --> 00:04:23.870 to Philadelphia for what sounds like a, well, 00:04:24.110 --> 00:04:26.649 a frontier boot camp. He really was. The source 00:04:26.649 --> 00:04:29.470 material details an intense period of study. 00:04:30.149 --> 00:04:32.430 What exactly is he learning before he even sets 00:04:32.430 --> 00:04:35.370 foot in a boat? He is learning the hard sciences 00:04:35.370 --> 00:04:37.850 required for the mission. He studies medicine 00:04:37.850 --> 00:04:40.430 with Benjamin Rush, one of the most famous physicians 00:04:40.430 --> 00:04:42.910 of the era. Just casually dropping in on Benjamin 00:04:42.910 --> 00:04:45.089 Rush? Right. He's learning how to treat frontier 00:04:45.089 --> 00:04:47.970 illnesses and injuries. He also studies botany 00:04:47.970 --> 00:04:50.829 and zoology to know how to properly preserve 00:04:50.829 --> 00:04:53.089 plant and animal specimens. Which makes sense. 00:04:53.470 --> 00:04:55.970 But perhaps most crucially, he studies astronomy 00:04:55.970 --> 00:04:58.889 and celestial navigation with Andrew Ellicott. 00:04:59.230 --> 00:05:01.649 Which involves learning how to use a sextant, 00:05:01.889 --> 00:05:04.110 right? Yes, exactly. How does that actually work 00:05:04.110 --> 00:05:05.769 in the middle of an unmapped continent, like 00:05:05.769 --> 00:05:07.069 if you're standing in the middle of nowhere? 00:05:07.430 --> 00:05:10.649 So a sextant is this intricate navigational instrument 00:05:10.649 --> 00:05:13.449 used to measure the angle between two visible 00:05:13.449 --> 00:05:16.350 objects. For Lewis, he would use it at high noon 00:05:16.350 --> 00:05:19.209 to measure the angle between the horizon and 00:05:19.209 --> 00:05:22.209 the sun. By taking that precise angle and comparing 00:05:22.209 --> 00:05:25.009 it to astronomical almanacs he brought with him, 00:05:25.430 --> 00:05:28.259 he could calculate his exact latitude. That's 00:05:28.259 --> 00:05:31.459 incredibly tedious. It is, but without that skill, 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:34.000 the maps Jefferson wanted would have been totally 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.180 useless. He had to be able to plot their exact 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:39.699 coordinates in the middle of a vast wilderness. 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:42.060 So the technical prep is fascinating, but the 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:44.759 shopping list? The shopping list is what really 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:46.740 catches the eye in the sources. Oh, the supplies 00:05:46.740 --> 00:05:50.300 are wild. Lewis goes to a purveyor of public 00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:52.720 supplies in Philadelphia, a guy named Israel 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:55.579 Whelan, and buys a massive amount of gear. What 00:05:55.579 --> 00:05:57.720 does a transcontinental shopping list even look 00:05:57.720 --> 00:06:01.279 like in 1803? It is extensive and highly specific. 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:04.139 He purchased mosquito netting, oil skin bags 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:07.220 to keep the gunpowder dry, 30 gallons of strong 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:09.779 spirit of wine. Wait, 30 gallons of wine? Well, 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:11.720 it was essentially pure alcohol. They used it 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:13.899 for medicinal purposes and for preserving the 00:06:13.899 --> 00:06:16.339 biological specimen. Oh, gotcha. Not just for 00:06:16.339 --> 00:06:18.800 a party on the river. No, no. And they brought 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:21.040 tons of medical supplies, including 50 dozen 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:24.680 of Dr. Rush's infamous bilious pills, which were, 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:28.199 well, they were a very harsh laxative. 50 dozen. 00:06:28.339 --> 00:06:30.800 That's a lot of laxatives for 45 guys. Yeah. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:33.759 Frontier diets were tough. He also bought 130 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:37.220 rolls of pigtail tobacco. I also saw a note in 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:41.639 the sources about 193 pounds of portable soup. 00:06:42.620 --> 00:06:45.060 Yes. Portable soup. What is portable soup? Because 00:06:45.060 --> 00:06:47.899 to me it sounds incredibly modern like a bouillon 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:50.480 cube or something, but they are buying it in 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:53.920 1803. It actually was essentially the 19th century 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:56.740 version of a bouillon cube. Really? Yeah. You 00:06:56.740 --> 00:06:59.839 take large amounts of beef. cow hooves and joints 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:03.040 and you boil them down for hours and hours until 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.420 all the liquid evaporates. Okay that sounds pretty 00:07:05.420 --> 00:07:08.920 gross. It leaves behind this hard gelatinous 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:12.759 glue -like resin and it takes months to fully 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:15.720 dry. Oh wow. So when you are starving on the 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:18.279 trail you chip off a piece and reconstitute it 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:20.980 with boiling water. And how did it taste? It 00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:23.620 reportedly tasted terrible but it was incredibly 00:07:23.620 --> 00:07:25.860 dense in calories and most importantly it wouldn't 00:07:25.860 --> 00:07:29.209 spoil. Wow okay so Alongside the terrible soup, 00:07:29.649 --> 00:07:32.589 he also stops in Pittsburgh and buys a Newfoundland 00:07:32.589 --> 00:07:35.910 dog named Seaman for $20. Which is a huge sum 00:07:35.910 --> 00:07:38.470 back then. Right. And Newfoundlands are these 00:07:38.470 --> 00:07:42.449 massive, water -loving, working dogs. The text 00:07:42.449 --> 00:07:44.990 actually notes Seaman became a vital member of 00:07:44.990 --> 00:07:47.949 the party, retrieving game from rivers and even 00:07:47.949 --> 00:07:50.449 guarding the camp against grizzly bears. A very 00:07:50.449 --> 00:07:53.290 good boy. But alongside the soup and the dog, 00:07:53.670 --> 00:07:55.610 we really have to look at the diplomatic and 00:07:55.610 --> 00:07:57.939 military tools they brought. Right, because this 00:07:57.939 --> 00:08:01.420 wasn't just a camping trip. Exactly. These items 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:03.519 reveal the underlying mindset of the leaders. 00:08:04.100 --> 00:08:06.579 They brought Indian peace medals, which were 00:08:06.579 --> 00:08:09.379 specially minted silver coins featuring Thomas 00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:12.160 Jefferson's profile. Just handing out coins with 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.459 their boss's face on them. Yes, they intended 00:08:14.459 --> 00:08:16.759 to hand these out to tribal leaders. The message 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:19.399 basically being, here is a piece of metal with 00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:22.060 our leader's face on it. You belong to his territory 00:08:22.060 --> 00:08:25.170 now. That was the explicit message. And to back 00:08:25.170 --> 00:08:27.410 up that message, they brought an overwhelming 00:08:27.410 --> 00:08:29.889 show of military force. Right, the guns. They 00:08:29.889 --> 00:08:32.870 had standard flintlock firearms, but the text 00:08:32.870 --> 00:08:36.190 specifically highlights an Austrian -made .46 00:08:36.190 --> 00:08:39.309 caliber Girondoni air rifle. OK, when I read 00:08:39.309 --> 00:08:42.409 air rifle in the source, my modern brain instantly 00:08:42.409 --> 00:08:45.169 pictures a harmless BB gun, like Ralphie from 00:08:45.169 --> 00:08:47.429 A Christmas Story. Right, the Red Ryder. Yeah. 00:08:47.970 --> 00:08:50.690 But the sources suggest this was a serious, serious 00:08:50.690 --> 00:08:54.370 weapon. How did a 19th century air rifle actually 00:08:54.370 --> 00:08:57.370 work? It was a piece of advanced lethal military 00:08:57.370 --> 00:09:00.669 technology. The Giordano did not require black 00:09:00.669 --> 00:09:03.250 powder. Meaning no smoke. No smoke. And it could 00:09:03.250 --> 00:09:06.289 fire rapidly, even in heavy rain, where a traditional 00:09:06.289 --> 00:09:08.970 flintlock would be totally useless. It had a 00:09:08.970 --> 00:09:11.909 20 round tubular magazine. A 20 round magazine 00:09:11.909 --> 00:09:14.529 in 1803. How are they powering it without like 00:09:14.529 --> 00:09:17.470 a modern air compressor? The buttstock of the 00:09:17.470 --> 00:09:20.070 rifle was actually a detachable iron air reservoir. 00:09:20.460 --> 00:09:23.240 To pressurize it, a soldier had to attach a specialized 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:26.299 hand pump and pump it about 1 ,500 times. 1 ,500 00:09:26.299 --> 00:09:29.460 times by hand. By hand. But that gave it enough 00:09:29.460 --> 00:09:31.879 pressure to fire 20 heavy lead balls in rapid 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:34.159 succession with enough legal force to drop an 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:37.139 elk at 100 yards. That is insane. It was a shock 00:09:37.139 --> 00:09:40.019 -and -awe weapon. Lewis would frequently demonstrate 00:09:40.019 --> 00:09:42.580 it to native tribes to intimidate them, firing 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:45.460 a flurry of silent smokeless shots into a distant 00:09:45.460 --> 00:09:49.279 tree. Wow. So we have Captains Meriwether Lewis 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:52.500 and William Clark. They are military men on a 00:09:52.500 --> 00:09:54.799 surveillance and sovereignty mission. Yes. And 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:57.159 they are explicitly instructed to inform the 00:09:57.159 --> 00:09:59.700 native peoples that the land they have occupied 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:02.500 for thousands of years now falls under the jurisdiction 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:04.700 of the United States. Right. And that a man named 00:10:04.700 --> 00:10:06.860 Thomas Jefferson, sitting thousands of miles 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:10.389 away, is their new great father. It is a top 00:10:10.389 --> 00:10:13.769 -down deeply imperial approach to diplomacy. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.799 They are marching into a complex geopolitical 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:19.500 landscape with a profound sense of entitlement 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:22.259 and a mandate of supremacy. But you contrast 00:10:22.259 --> 00:10:25.259 that supreme confidence with the actual physical 00:10:25.259 --> 00:10:27.139 reality of the Corps of Discovery. I mean, they 00:10:27.139 --> 00:10:29.460 were a group of about 45 people traveling up 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:31.320 the Missouri River. Right. They are essentially 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:34.460 a tiny vulnerable speck entirely surrounded by 00:10:34.460 --> 00:10:36.600 indigenous nations. The historical overview is 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:39.179 very explicit on this point. The expedition encountered 00:10:39.179 --> 00:10:42.080 over two dozen distinct Native American nations. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.559 Two dozen. And without the food... the navigational 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:48.279 guidance and the basic tolerance of those nations, 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:51.100 the Lewis and Clark expedition would have starved 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:53.700 or become hopelessly lost in the Rocky Mountains. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:56.500 Their survival was entirely dependent on the 00:10:56.500 --> 00:10:58.480 grace of the people they were supposedly there 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:00.740 to subjugate. Exactly. You know, it makes me 00:11:00.740 --> 00:11:03.259 think of a modern deep sea submarine dropping 00:11:03.259 --> 00:11:05.960 into an unexplored oceanic trench. Oh, that's 00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:07.720 an interesting way to look at it. Like the crew 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:09.840 inside might have a grand mission from their 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:12.340 headquarters and they have all this expensive 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:14.799 highly engineered equipment like the air rifle, 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.500 but the moment they hit the water, their survival 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:21.519 is entirely dictated by the environment outside 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:24.179 the hull. If they don't understand the local 00:11:24.179 --> 00:11:27.000 currents or if they antagonize the apex predators 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.940 in that specific ecosystem, All the advanced 00:11:29.940 --> 00:11:32.440 technology in the world won't save them. That 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:34.600 analogy perfectly captures their vulnerability 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:37.600 because that top down, we are in charge mindset 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:40.980 of the leaders. It directly led to some critical, 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:43.559 near fatal diplomatic blunders. It really did. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:46.399 They fundamentally misunderstood the political 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:48.460 and economic ecosystem they were navigating. 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:51.000 And we see this play out almost immediately during 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:52.940 their encounter with the Teton Sioux, also known 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:56.559 as the Lakota people on September 25th, 1804. 00:11:56.909 --> 00:11:59.870 The text paints a very tense picture here. The 00:11:59.870 --> 00:12:03.950 Lakotas were an absolute powerhouse in the region. 00:12:04.389 --> 00:12:07.110 They controlled a vast inland empire along the 00:12:07.110 --> 00:12:09.250 Missouri River. They were the gatekeepers. Yes. 00:12:09.450 --> 00:12:11.570 And they expected tribute from anyone passing 00:12:11.570 --> 00:12:13.669 through their territory. They were also on high 00:12:13.669 --> 00:12:15.570 alert because of recent conflicts with other 00:12:15.570 --> 00:12:18.049 tribes like the Omaha. So they were already on 00:12:18.049 --> 00:12:21.649 edge. Very much so. Every earlier traveler on 00:12:21.649 --> 00:12:24.049 the Missouri River had warned Lewis and Clark 00:12:24.049 --> 00:12:26.529 about the Lakota, noting that they were determined 00:12:26.529 --> 00:12:29.110 to block free trade on the river to maintain 00:12:29.110 --> 00:12:31.850 their own economic dominance as middlemen. So 00:12:31.850 --> 00:12:33.730 the core of discovery arrives at the confluence 00:12:33.730 --> 00:12:35.929 of the Missouri and Bad Rivers in what is now 00:12:35.929 --> 00:12:38.690 South Dakota, and things immediately go wrong. 00:12:38.870 --> 00:12:41.879 Immediately. Lewis makes the first major mistake 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:44.639 regarding tribal hierarchy. He does. They meet 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:46.840 with the chiefs, including Chief Black Buffalo 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:49.379 and another chief known as the Partisan. And 00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:51.679 Lewis decides to offer gifts to the Sioux chief 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:54.659 first, completely ignoring the complex internal 00:12:54.659 --> 00:12:57.320 political dynamics and hierarchy of the Lakota 00:12:57.320 --> 00:13:00.379 leadership. Which is a huge, unforced error. 00:13:00.860 --> 00:13:04.840 This perceived slight. deeply insults the partisan 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:07.259 chief. And to make matters worse, their communication 00:13:07.259 --> 00:13:10.100 completely breaks down. Right. The expedition 00:13:10.100 --> 00:13:12.700 had an interpreter, Pierre Dorion, but he had 00:13:12.700 --> 00:13:15.000 been left behind to handle diplomatic affairs 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:17.059 with another tribe. Which was incredibly poor 00:13:17.059 --> 00:13:19.879 planning. So they are trying to negotiate passage 00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:22.240 through the territory of a military superpower, 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:24.879 and they literally cannot speak the language. 00:13:25.139 --> 00:13:28.259 They're reduced to basic gestures. Both chiefs 00:13:28.259 --> 00:13:30.620 are offered a few token gifts, but neither is 00:13:30.620 --> 00:13:33.850 satisfied. The Lakota recognize that these heavily 00:13:33.850 --> 00:13:36.029 armed Americans are trying to pass through their 00:13:36.029 --> 00:13:38.750 sovereign lands without paying the customary 00:13:38.750 --> 00:13:41.590 toll. And the situation rapidly escalates. Very 00:13:41.590 --> 00:13:44.110 rapidly. Warriors from the partisan's camp step 00:13:44.110 --> 00:13:46.649 forward and actually grab hold of the expedition's 00:13:46.649 --> 00:13:48.649 boat and one of the oars. They physically halt 00:13:48.649 --> 00:13:51.309 the expedition. And the reaction of the military 00:13:51.309 --> 00:13:55.409 men is wild. Lewis takes a rigid stance and orders 00:13:55.409 --> 00:13:58.450 his men to present their arms. Clark goes even 00:13:58.450 --> 00:14:01.409 further. He draws his sword and actively threatens 00:14:01.409 --> 00:14:05.029 violent reprisal. You have 45 guys on a boat 00:14:05.029 --> 00:14:08.370 surrounded by an inland empire of warriors, and 00:14:08.370 --> 00:14:11.169 Clark is just waving a sword around. It was a 00:14:11.169 --> 00:14:14.669 disastrous miscalculation. A violent, likely 00:14:14.669 --> 00:14:17.049 fatal fight was only narrowly avoided because 00:14:17.049 --> 00:14:20.090 the primary Lakota chief, Black Buffalo, intervened. 00:14:20.230 --> 00:14:22.690 Thank goodness someone had a cool head. Truly. 00:14:23.250 --> 00:14:25.629 He de -escalated the situation by ordering his 00:14:25.629 --> 00:14:28.440 warriors to back off. The Americans were ultimately 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:30.600 forced to surrender better gifts, including a 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:32.799 bottle of whiskey, to finally negotiate their 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:35.220 passage. Wow. They had to camp nearby for a few 00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:37.580 days and similar tensions flared when they tried 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:39.399 to leave, which they only smoothed over with 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:41.500 more gifts of tobacco. So the military leaders, 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:43.279 with their state -of -the -art air rifle and 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:45.419 their Jefferson Peace Medals, nearly got the 00:14:45.419 --> 00:14:47.860 entire expedition wiped out in their first major 00:14:47.860 --> 00:14:50.470 diplomatic test. all because of cultural ignorance 00:14:50.470 --> 00:14:53.389 and stubborn pride. They viewed diplomacy entirely 00:14:53.389 --> 00:14:55.850 through the lens of domination. Right. Now, if 00:14:55.850 --> 00:14:58.990 we contrast that near disaster with the diplomatic 00:14:58.990 --> 00:15:02.149 role of Seca Gueya, the difference in strategy 00:15:02.149 --> 00:15:05.110 and success is profound. Titan day. Let's bring 00:15:05.110 --> 00:15:07.440 her into the story. The Corps spends the winter 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.440 of 1804 to 1805 at Fort Mendenne near present 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:14.559 -day Washburn, North Dakota. This is where they 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.200 meet a French -Canadian fur trapper named Toussaint 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:20.000 Charbonneau and his young Shoshone wife, Sakagoya. 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:23.419 They hire Charbonneau as an interpreter and Sakagoya 00:15:23.419 --> 00:15:25.779 joins the expedition. The circumstances of her 00:15:25.779 --> 00:15:28.840 joining are incredible. She is a teenager and 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:31.649 she is heavily pregnant. Yeah, that detail. always 00:15:31.649 --> 00:15:34.990 blows my mind. Right. On February 11th, 1805, 00:15:35.350 --> 00:15:37.129 shortly after making contact with the expedition, 00:15:37.549 --> 00:15:40.259 she goes into a slow, difficult labor. There's 00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:42.759 a very specific medical detail in the sources 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:45.059 regarding this, too. Charbonneau suggests giving 00:15:45.059 --> 00:15:47.379 her a traditional potion made from the pulverized 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:49.679 rattle of a rattlesnake to speed up the delivery. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.600 Which sounds terrifying. It does! And Lewis happens 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:54.519 to have a snake's rattle among his collected 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:56.740 specimens, so he provides it, they administer 00:15:56.740 --> 00:15:59.480 the potion, and shortly after, she delivers a 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:02.960 healthy boy named Jean Baptiste. It is a remarkable 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:06.789 scene. This military encampment bracing for an 00:16:06.789 --> 00:16:09.850 arduous transcontinental push suddenly centers 00:16:09.850 --> 00:16:12.389 around the birth of a child. And this child, 00:16:12.610 --> 00:16:17.269 Jean -Baptiste, becomes a crucial albeit unintentional 00:16:17.269 --> 00:16:20.370 element of their survival strategy. What's fascinating 00:16:20.370 --> 00:16:22.730 here is how her role is often misunderstood. 00:16:23.129 --> 00:16:25.769 How so? Well, the text notes that while popular 00:16:25.769 --> 00:16:28.970 culture often mythologizes Sacagawea as this 00:16:28.970 --> 00:16:31.289 magical wilderness guide pointing the way... 00:16:31.289 --> 00:16:33.870 Like a living GPS. Exactly. Which historians 00:16:33.870 --> 00:16:37.519 argue is a huge exaggeration. Her true immense 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:40.940 value was as a translator, and more importantly, 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:43.299 through what the sources call visual diplomacy. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:45.659 How does visual diplomacy work in this context? 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:48.039 The primary source material explicitly states 00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:50.320 that the sight of a woman and her infant son 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:53.299 served as a universal sign of peace to the indigenous 00:16:53.299 --> 00:16:55.080 nations they encountered. Well, that makes total 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:56.940 sense. You have to consider the perspective of 00:16:56.940 --> 00:16:59.600 the tribe living along the riverbanks. If scouts 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:02.480 see a strange, massive wooden keelboat approaching, 00:17:02.940 --> 00:17:05.140 filled with heavily armed men wearing unfamiliar 00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:07.240 uniforms, uniforms and carrying bizarre weapons. 00:17:07.420 --> 00:17:09.619 Every instinct dictates that this is a war party. 00:17:09.900 --> 00:17:11.359 Right, it looks like an invasion force. Yeah. 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:13.859 But if they look closer and see a teenage native 00:17:13.859 --> 00:17:16.960 woman sitting calmly among these men holding 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:20.759 a newborn baby, it instantly changes the calculus. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:24.059 Because war parties do not travel with infants. 00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:27.480 Precisely. Her mere presence communicated a peaceful 00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:30.140 mission far more effectively than any silver 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:33.380 medal or display of an air rifle. She was a living, 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:36.460 breathing testament to their non -hostile intent. 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:39.380 She dismantled the threat of violence just by 00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:41.700 being there. The cognitive dissonance in the 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:44.119 official journals regarding her is striking though. 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:46.900 The sources show that Meriwether Lewis, the man 00:17:46.900 --> 00:17:49.599 whose life she was actively safeguarding, presented 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:51.839 a somewhat negative view of her in his writings. 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:54.660 He did. He frequently minimized her contributions. 00:17:54.839 --> 00:17:57.720 The journals broadly use highly derogatory terms 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:00.799 like square, a phonetic spelling of a slur or 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:03.759 savages, to describe Sacagawea and the other 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:06.519 indigenous peoples they relied upon. It reveals 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:10.829 the deep systemic prejudices of the era. The 00:18:10.829 --> 00:18:13.329 captain struggled to conceptualize a young indigenous 00:18:13.329 --> 00:18:16.809 woman as an equal or a vital asset, even while 00:18:16.809 --> 00:18:19.269 relying entirely on her grace, her linguistic 00:18:19.269 --> 00:18:21.789 knowledge, and the peaceful image she projected 00:18:21.789 --> 00:18:25.109 to secure their safe passage. So Sekigawa had 00:18:25.109 --> 00:18:27.470 dismantled the threat of violence through visual 00:18:27.470 --> 00:18:31.549 diplomacy, but... A keelboat is a massive, heavy, 00:18:31.730 --> 00:18:34.769 wooden riverboat, sometimes over 50 feet long, 00:18:35.150 --> 00:18:38.099 designed to carry tons of cargo. Navigating it 00:18:38.099 --> 00:18:40.420 up the Missouri River against a powerful muddy 00:18:40.420 --> 00:18:43.700 current was brutal work. I can't even imagine. 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:46.259 When the wind wasn't favorable for sailing, the 00:18:46.259 --> 00:18:48.400 men had to use a technique called cordelling. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.740 Cordelling? Yes. They would attach a long heavy 00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:54.799 rope to the mast of the boat. The men, including 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:58.000 York, would literally walk along the muddy, often 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:00.559 treacherous riverbanks, physically dragging this 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:03.539 massive boat upstream against the current. So 00:19:03.539 --> 00:19:06.200 they are basically human tow trucks. Exactly. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:08.420 It involved wading in freezing water, dealing 00:19:08.420 --> 00:19:11.259 with deep mud, submerged logs, and swarms of 00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:13.720 mosquitoes. York did this backbreaking labor 00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:16.140 alongside the illicit military men. And furthermore, 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:18.019 the text highlights that he was a vital hunter 00:19:18.019 --> 00:19:20.539 for the group, tracking and killing game to keep 00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:23.700 45 people from starting. So he is performing 00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:27.279 the intense physical labor of a pioneer. But 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:29.720 his role went far beyond hauling ropes and hunting. 00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:32.819 York had a unique and profound diplomatic influence 00:19:32.819 --> 00:19:36.380 on the native tribes. He did. York proved incredibly 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:38.700 popular with the Native Americans they encountered. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:41.640 For many of the tribes in the deep interior of 00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:44.240 the continent, York was the first black man they'd 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:47.299 ever seen. Right. He became an object of intense, 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:50.200 respectful fascination. The sources mentioned 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:52.619 that some Native people tried to rub his skin, 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:55.259 thinking the dark color was a form of war paint. 00:19:55.529 --> 00:19:57.990 Yeah, that happened a few times. When they realized 00:19:57.990 --> 00:20:00.869 it was his natural skin, they were amazed. They 00:20:00.869 --> 00:20:03.349 viewed him as a person of great spiritual power, 00:20:03.750 --> 00:20:07.470 sometimes referring to him as big medicine. How 00:20:07.470 --> 00:20:09.910 did York handle that kind of attention? He engaged 00:20:09.910 --> 00:20:12.450 with them directly. Instead of maintaining the 00:20:12.450 --> 00:20:15.029 stiff military distance of the captains, York 00:20:15.029 --> 00:20:17.589 leaned into the curiosity. That's amazing. He 00:20:17.589 --> 00:20:19.849 danced for them. He demonstrated his immense 00:20:19.849 --> 00:20:22.609 physical strength, and he fostered genuine, on 00:20:22.609 --> 00:20:25.200 -the -ground human engagement. He built actual 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.779 rapport and non -verbal communication bridges. 00:20:28.619 --> 00:20:30.779 The contrast between York and the captains is 00:20:30.779 --> 00:20:33.599 stark. Lewis and Clark are demanding subordination 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:36.039 and telling sovereign nations to bow to a distant 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:38.940 great father, while York is creating genuine 00:20:38.940 --> 00:20:41.599 fascination and goodwill. It is a bitter irony. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:45.059 Here is York acting as an essential ambassador 00:20:45.059 --> 00:20:48.319 and performing the duties of an elite explorer. 00:20:48.509 --> 00:20:51.490 He is keeping the expedition safe through his 00:20:51.490 --> 00:20:55.009 charisma and physical presence. Yet, under the 00:20:55.009 --> 00:20:58.009 laws of the United States, the very nation he 00:20:58.009 --> 00:21:01.369 is helping to expand, he is classified as livestock. 00:21:01.690 --> 00:21:04.589 He is property. Here's where it gets really interesting, 00:21:04.869 --> 00:21:07.309 because there is one specific moment in the journals 00:21:07.309 --> 00:21:09.430 that completely shatters the social norms of 00:21:09.430 --> 00:21:12.089 the 19th century. The vote? Yes, the vote. It 00:21:12.089 --> 00:21:15.410 happens at the end of 1805. The expedition has 00:21:15.410 --> 00:21:18.069 finally reached the Pacific Ocean. It is November, 00:21:18.549 --> 00:21:21.309 and they are facing the beginning of their second 00:21:21.309 --> 00:21:24.109 bitter winter. They are camped on the north side 00:21:24.109 --> 00:21:26.890 of the Columbia River in an area that William 00:21:26.890 --> 00:21:30.150 Clark accurately named Dismal Nitch. Dismal Nitch. 00:21:30.210 --> 00:21:32.009 That paints a picture. They were pinned down 00:21:32.009 --> 00:21:34.329 by relentless Pacific storms. And the conditions 00:21:34.329 --> 00:21:36.980 sound horrific. They lacked food because the 00:21:36.980 --> 00:21:39.480 elk they relied on had retreated deep into the 00:21:39.480 --> 00:21:41.400 mountains to escape the weather. They didn't 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:43.839 have enough treating goods left to purchase food 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:46.400 from the neighboring Chinook tribes. Their clothes 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:48.660 were rotting off their backs and many were sick 00:21:48.660 --> 00:21:51.380 with colds and influenza. It was a breaking point. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:53.579 So they had a critical decision to make regarding 00:21:53.579 --> 00:21:56.420 where to build their winter fort, Fort Klatsop, 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:58.920 in order to survive until spring. They needed 00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:01.079 to decide whether to stay on the harsh north 00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:03.720 side of the river or move to the south side near 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:06.490 modern -day Astoria. Oregon, which the local 00:22:06.490 --> 00:22:08.529 tribes indicated might have better hunting and 00:22:08.529 --> 00:22:11.289 shelter. And instead of Lewis and Clark simply 00:22:11.289 --> 00:22:14.190 issuing a military decree, they put the decision 00:22:14.190 --> 00:22:17.329 to a vote. Which is incredible for a military 00:22:17.329 --> 00:22:21.069 unit. Right. On November 24th, 1805, the majority 00:22:21.069 --> 00:22:23.069 of the party voted to move their camp to the 00:22:23.069 --> 00:22:25.990 south side. And the historical record specifically 00:22:25.990 --> 00:22:29.009 notes that both Sagabaya and the enslaved York 00:22:29.009 --> 00:22:32.130 were allowed to participate in this vote. Their 00:22:32.130 --> 00:22:34.289 opinions and votes were recorded in the official 00:22:34.289 --> 00:22:37.190 journal right alongside the white enlisted soldiers. 00:22:37.529 --> 00:22:39.930 It is a profound suspension of the prevailing 00:22:39.930 --> 00:22:43.190 social hierarchy. In 1805, the United States 00:22:43.190 --> 00:22:46.859 was deeply entrenched in chattel slavery. Women 00:22:46.859 --> 00:22:50.319 possessed no political rights. Indigenous populations 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:52.819 were viewed through a lens of conquest. Completely. 00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:54.839 Yet standing in the freezing rain at the edge 00:22:54.839 --> 00:22:57.480 of the continent, those artificial casts were 00:22:57.480 --> 00:23:00.779 suspended by the raw, undeniable necessity of 00:23:00.779 --> 00:23:03.380 survival. The captains couldn't afford the illusion 00:23:03.380 --> 00:23:05.759 of supremacy in that moment. They needed the 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:08.299 consensus of the people who are actually keeping 00:23:08.299 --> 00:23:11.660 them alive. Exactly. In that singular vote, York 00:23:11.660 --> 00:23:14.339 wasn't property. He was a fellow survivor whose 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:16.619 physical strength and hunting skills were desperately 00:23:16.619 --> 00:23:19.759 needed. And Sacagawea wasn't a marginalized outsider. 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:22.380 She was an equal voice in deciding their collective 00:23:22.380 --> 00:23:25.059 fate. It provides a fleeting glimpse of democratic 00:23:25.059 --> 00:23:27.799 equality in the wilderness. But that momentary 00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:30.240 equality makes the aftermath of the expedition, 00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:32.599 once they return to the established laws of the 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:35.079 United States, all the more jarring. Yeah, let's 00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:37.000 talk about the aftermath. The Corps of Discovery 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:40.039 makes it back to St. Louis on September 23, 1806. 00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:42.319 They made it. They have successfully mapped the 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:45.180 rivers, crossed the Bitterroot Mountains, survived 00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:48.940 two winters, and returned with incredible scientific 00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:51.440 and geographic data. A monumental achievement. 00:23:51.609 --> 00:23:54.609 The nation celebrated. President Jefferson reported 00:23:54.609 --> 00:23:57.190 their massive success to Congress. The white 00:23:57.190 --> 00:23:59.670 soldiers who went on the journey received substantial 00:23:59.670 --> 00:24:02.450 rewards, double pay for their time, and grants 00:24:02.450 --> 00:24:04.950 of hundreds of acres of land. They were set up 00:24:04.950 --> 00:24:07.589 as frontier heroes. So what was the reward for 00:24:07.589 --> 00:24:10.329 York? York received absolutely nothing. Nothing 00:24:10.329 --> 00:24:13.910 at all. No compensation, no land, and no public 00:24:13.910 --> 00:24:17.250 recognition. And more fundamentally, William 00:24:17.250 --> 00:24:20.269 Clark flatly refused to release York from bondage. 00:24:21.250 --> 00:24:23.789 Despite York's monumental contributions, despite 00:24:23.789 --> 00:24:25.910 him hauling boats across the continent and voting 00:24:25.910 --> 00:24:29.130 as an equal at Fort Clatsop, Clark rooted immediately 00:24:29.130 --> 00:24:31.809 to his role as an enslaver. The contrast between 00:24:31.809 --> 00:24:34.150 the Democratic vote at Fort Clatsop and Clark's 00:24:34.150 --> 00:24:36.130 immediate return to the rigid rules of slavery 00:24:36.130 --> 00:24:38.849 in St. Louis is one of the most jarring contradictions 00:24:38.849 --> 00:24:41.470 in the historical record. It really is. The source 00:24:41.470 --> 00:24:44.410 text details that York explicitly asked for his 00:24:44.410 --> 00:24:47.210 freedom as a reward for his vital services. He 00:24:47.210 --> 00:24:49.410 wanted to return to his wife, who is enslaved 00:24:49.410 --> 00:24:52.869 by a different family in Kentucky. The historical 00:24:52.869 --> 00:24:56.099 records show. Clark flatly refused that request. 00:24:56.700 --> 00:24:59.039 He allowed York only a brief visit to his wife 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:01.859 in Kentucky before legally forcing him to return 00:25:01.859 --> 00:25:04.619 to Missouri to continue serving him. That's just 00:25:04.619 --> 00:25:06.940 devastating. And Clark's letters from the period 00:25:06.940 --> 00:25:09.839 expressed frustration with York's insolence after 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:12.680 the trip. Meaning York had recognized his own 00:25:12.680 --> 00:25:15.319 immense worth on the frontier and was now demanding 00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:18.799 basic human dignity. Yes. Ten years after the 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:21.839 expedition ended. York was still enslaved, working 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:23.920 as a hired -out wagoner for the Clark family. 00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:26.859 It is highly unlikely he ever saw his wife again. 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:29.579 And regarding Sacagawea, the text indicates she 00:25:29.579 --> 00:25:31.900 received nothing official either. No pay, no 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:34.279 land grants. Nothing. Clark did have a higher 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:36.279 personal regard for her than Lewis did, and he 00:25:36.279 --> 00:25:38.180 later provided some educational support in St. 00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:40.779 Louis for her son, John Baptiste. He did. But 00:25:40.779 --> 00:25:44.099 Sacagawea herself died young, around 1812, at 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:46.900 Fort Manuel in what is now South Dakota, just 00:25:46.900 --> 00:25:49.630 a few years after the expedition concluded. If 00:25:49.630 --> 00:25:52.569 we connect this to the bigger picture, the aftermath 00:25:52.569 --> 00:25:54.829 of the expedition highlights the dual nature 00:25:54.829 --> 00:25:56.990 of American expansion during that era. How do 00:25:56.990 --> 00:25:59.569 you mean? Well, it was an incredible feat of 00:25:59.569 --> 00:26:02.829 physical endurance, genuine scientific data collection, 00:26:03.250 --> 00:26:06.539 and mapping. But that entire enterprise was structurally 00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:09.799 built upon a foundation of unfree labor and the 00:26:09.799 --> 00:26:11.940 intent to displace indigenous populations. There 00:26:11.940 --> 00:26:14.380 is a detail in the sources regarding York's later 00:26:14.380 --> 00:26:16.700 life that is heavily debated by historians, but 00:26:16.700 --> 00:26:19.299 I find it fascinating to consider. Oh, the Zena 00:26:19.299 --> 00:26:22.180 Leonard account. Yes. Clark claimed he eventually 00:26:22.180 --> 00:26:24.559 freed York and set him up with a drayage business, 00:26:24.779 --> 00:26:27.259 Hauling Goods, and that York died of cholera. 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:31.359 But in the 1830s, a white fur trapper named Zenas 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.799 Leonard reported meeting a black man living in 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:36.240 modern -day Wyoming. Right. The trapper reported 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:38.240 that this man was living as a highly respected 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:40.759 chief among the Native Americans, specifically 00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:43.240 the Crow Tribe. And this man claimed he had first 00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:46.700 come west with Lewis and Clark. While the veracity 00:26:46.700 --> 00:26:50.230 of that account is debated, It represents a powerful 00:26:50.230 --> 00:26:53.250 historical concept. The idea that Yorick, after 00:26:53.250 --> 00:26:55.509 being denied his freedom and his family by the 00:26:55.509 --> 00:26:58.230 nation he helped expand, eventually returned 00:26:58.230 --> 00:27:00.369 to the wilderness, to the people who had viewed 00:27:00.369 --> 00:27:03.849 him with awe and respect as big medicine, and 00:27:03.849 --> 00:27:06.630 lived out his days as a free man and a leader. 00:27:06.930 --> 00:27:09.950 It speaks to the enduring search for agency within 00:27:09.950 --> 00:27:12.650 these restrictive historical narratives. This 00:27:12.650 --> 00:27:16.500 brings us to a major question. How did this incredibly 00:27:16.500 --> 00:27:20.140 complex, morally fraught reality, filled with 00:27:20.140 --> 00:27:22.779 diplomatic blunders, forced labor, and reliance 00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:25.440 on indigenous teenage mothers, get flattened 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:28.160 into the simple, clean, heroic textbook version 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:30.259 we all learned in school? Right, the painting 00:27:30.259 --> 00:27:32.500 you mentioned at the start. Exactly. That requires 00:27:32.500 --> 00:27:34.700 looking at the educational legacy of the journals 00:27:34.700 --> 00:27:37.019 themselves. The process of historical erasure 00:27:37.019 --> 00:27:40.259 here is a story in itself. First, it is important 00:27:40.259 --> 00:27:42.000 to understand that the immediate aftermath of 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:44.599 the expedition did not result in an explosion 00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:46.660 of fame. Wait, really? Yeah, for much of the 00:27:46.660 --> 00:27:49.539 19th century, Lewis and Clark were largely forgotten 00:27:49.539 --> 00:27:51.940 by the general public. The sources note that 00:27:51.940 --> 00:27:54.759 references to the expedition scarcely even appeared 00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:58.119 in history books during the 1876 United States 00:27:58.119 --> 00:28:00.859 Centennial celebrations. How does the defining 00:28:00.859 --> 00:28:03.500 mapping expedition of the century get forgotten 00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:06.180 for almost a hundred years? A huge part of that 00:28:06.349 --> 00:28:08.930 is due to the intense struggle to get the actual 00:28:08.930 --> 00:28:11.970 raw journals published. Oh, the paperwork. Lewis 00:28:11.970 --> 00:28:14.509 and Clark returned with massive stacks of handwritten 00:28:14.509 --> 00:28:17.789 manuscripts filled with daily weather logs, navigational 00:28:17.789 --> 00:28:19.970 data, and botanical descriptions. Right. And 00:28:19.970 --> 00:28:21.789 they struggled to synthesize it into a readable 00:28:21.789 --> 00:28:24.609 format. Meriwether Lewis suffered from severe 00:28:24.609 --> 00:28:27.950 depression and died by suicide in 1809 before 00:28:27.950 --> 00:28:30.450 the work was finished. That's tragic. And Clark, 00:28:30.609 --> 00:28:33.009 who was a soldier and an administrator, not a 00:28:33.009 --> 00:28:35.289 writer, had to find someone else to prepare the 00:28:35.289 --> 00:28:37.849 journals. eventually persuaded a prominent banker 00:28:37.849 --> 00:28:40.309 and literary figure named Nicholas Biddle to 00:28:40.309 --> 00:28:42.730 edit them. What does Biddle do with the manuscripts? 00:28:43.130 --> 00:28:45.230 Because giving a banker control over the defining 00:28:45.230 --> 00:28:48.549 scientific document of the era seems risky? It 00:28:48.549 --> 00:28:51.779 was. Biddle finally published a two -volume history 00:28:51.779 --> 00:28:55.140 in 1814, but his editorial choices fundamentally 00:28:55.140 --> 00:28:57.059 altered the legacy of the expedition for the 00:28:57.059 --> 00:28:59.980 next century. How so? Biddle was catering to 00:28:59.980 --> 00:29:02.319 the literary market of the time, which favored 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:05.140 clean, heroic narratives of frontier adventure 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:08.829 over dense, bureaucratic scientific data. So 00:29:08.829 --> 00:29:11.250 he omitted almost all of the material related 00:29:11.250 --> 00:29:14.170 to their discoveries in flora and fauna. He cut 00:29:14.170 --> 00:29:16.609 out the hard science. He strips out the varied 00:29:16.609 --> 00:29:19.109 data Jefferson sent them to collect. Furthermore, 00:29:19.430 --> 00:29:21.730 he heavily smoothed over the complex realities 00:29:21.730 --> 00:29:24.690 of their daily survival. The nuanced dynamics 00:29:24.690 --> 00:29:27.970 of Sacagawea's translations, York's labor, and 00:29:27.970 --> 00:29:30.750 the near disasters with tribes were minimized 00:29:30.750 --> 00:29:33.210 to present a more traditional romanticized story 00:29:33.210 --> 00:29:36.009 of military captains conquering a passive wilderness. 00:29:36.650 --> 00:29:38.910 Because Biddle's edited version was the only 00:29:38.910 --> 00:29:40.829 printed account widely available for the next 00:29:40.829 --> 00:29:43.549 90 years, the true depth of the expedition was 00:29:43.549 --> 00:29:45.990 entirely lost. Completely lost. The sources point 00:29:45.990 --> 00:29:48.769 out that the expedition described over 200 new 00:29:48.769 --> 00:29:51.349 plant and animal species. We are talking about 00:29:51.349 --> 00:29:53.329 the first scientific descriptions of the grizzly 00:29:53.329 --> 00:29:55.750 bear, the prairie dog, the promhorn antelope, 00:29:55.789 --> 00:29:58.589 and the Osage orange tree. Incredible discoveries. 00:29:59.130 --> 00:30:01.630 But many of those species were later unknowingly 00:30:01.630 --> 00:30:04.390 rediscovered and named by other scientists who 00:30:04.390 --> 00:30:07.180 received the historical credit. just because 00:30:07.180 --> 00:30:09.599 Lewis and Clark's original meticulous data was 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:12.299 sitting unpublished in a vault. Exactly. The 00:30:12.299 --> 00:30:15.160 public also didn't realize they had created 140 00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:18.059 detailed maths or documented encounters with 00:30:18.059 --> 00:30:21.259 over 70 distinct tribal nations. It wasn't until 00:30:21.259 --> 00:30:24.480 1904 when historian Reuben Goldthwaitz published 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:27.220 the original journals and then a century later 00:30:27.220 --> 00:30:30.880 in 2004 when Gary E. Moulton compiled the definitive 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:33.700 comprehensive set of all related documents that 00:30:33.700 --> 00:30:36.700 the public finally saw the raw unedited data. 00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:39.940 And it was during that 1904 period, which coincided 00:30:39.940 --> 00:30:42.220 with massive national events like the Louisiana 00:30:42.220 --> 00:30:44.619 Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and the Lewis 00:30:44.619 --> 00:30:46.460 and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, 00:30:46.980 --> 00:30:49.609 that the modern myth was truly cemented. So the 00:30:49.609 --> 00:30:51.750 data was finally out there, but the spin was 00:30:51.750 --> 00:30:53.930 already established. Right. The raw journals 00:30:53.930 --> 00:30:56.470 were available, but the public celebration focused 00:30:56.470 --> 00:30:59.490 heavily on elevating the captains as the ultimate 00:30:59.490 --> 00:31:02.269 American pioneers. They were celebrated almost 00:31:02.269 --> 00:31:05.289 entirely as symbols of United States expansion 00:31:05.289 --> 00:31:08.210 and personal adventure. The imperial goals of 00:31:08.210 --> 00:31:11.029 the mission. The mapping, the claiming of sovereignty 00:31:11.029 --> 00:31:13.710 under the Discovery Doctrine, became the defining 00:31:13.710 --> 00:31:16.750 narrative. They were retroactively turned into 00:31:16.750 --> 00:31:19.509 the mascots of manifest destiny. Yes. You see 00:31:19.509 --> 00:31:21.690 this reflected in the modern educational and 00:31:21.690 --> 00:31:24.109 physical footprint. We have the Lewis and Clark 00:31:24.109 --> 00:31:26.529 Public School District in North Dakota. State 00:31:26.529 --> 00:31:29.710 highways 1804 and 1806 are named after their 00:31:29.710 --> 00:31:32.349 travel years. There is even a disease -resistant 00:31:32.349 --> 00:31:35.349 cultivar of the American elm tree named the Lewis 00:31:35.349 --> 00:31:38.480 and Clark Elm. The physical landscape reflects 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:41.059 the sanitized narrative. Because of that delayed 00:31:41.059 --> 00:31:43.440 publication of the full journals for an entire 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:46.019 century, students were not taught about the nuanced 00:31:46.019 --> 00:31:49.980 realities of Sakagoya's visual diplomacy or York's 00:31:49.980 --> 00:31:52.380 backbreaking labor in the keelboats. They were 00:31:52.380 --> 00:31:54.980 written out of the main script relegated to footnotes. 00:31:55.220 --> 00:31:57.920 It really makes you think. Is it fair to say 00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:00.900 that history isn't just what happened, but who 00:32:00.900 --> 00:32:03.279 gets to edit the journals? I think that is a 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:06.009 perfect way to put it. By choosing to omit the 00:32:06.009 --> 00:32:08.829 complex science and the reliance on marginalized 00:32:08.829 --> 00:32:11.650 figures, Biddle shaped the American consciousness 00:32:11.650 --> 00:32:14.230 of the frontier. Today, however, modern students 00:32:14.230 --> 00:32:16.769 are finally inheriting the complete legacy. Which 00:32:16.769 --> 00:32:19.430 is so important. With access to the unedited 00:32:19.430 --> 00:32:21.490 daily entries through the Moulton compilation, 00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:24.480 The narrative shifts. It ceases to be just a 00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:27.319 story of two captains. It becomes a highly detailed 00:32:27.319 --> 00:32:29.339 account of indigenous alliances, the realities 00:32:29.339 --> 00:32:32.339 of forced labor, rich botanical discovery, and 00:32:32.339 --> 00:32:34.740 incredibly messy collaborative human survival. 00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:37.299 This raises an important question regarding how 00:32:37.299 --> 00:32:39.900 we teach the concept of exploration today. What 00:32:39.900 --> 00:32:41.680 do you mean? Well, do we continue to teach it 00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:44.220 as the triumph of singular heroic individuals 00:32:44.220 --> 00:32:47.109 charting an empty map? or do we teach it as it 00:32:47.109 --> 00:32:49.589 actually occurred, as the collaborative survival 00:32:49.589 --> 00:32:51.690 of a diverse group of people, many of whom were 00:32:51.690 --> 00:32:54.589 coerced or enslaved, relying entirely on the 00:32:54.589 --> 00:32:57.869 existing knowledge, food, and grace of the indigenous 00:32:57.869 --> 00:32:59.710 populations who had lived there for millennia? 00:32:59.970 --> 00:33:02.509 Right. You cannot discover a river if there is 00:33:02.509 --> 00:33:04.670 already a thriving nation of people living on 00:33:04.670 --> 00:33:06.289 its banks who have to show you how to navigate 00:33:06.289 --> 00:33:09.549 its currents. While an enslaved black man pulls 00:33:09.549 --> 00:33:11.930 your boat through the mud. And an indigenous 00:33:11.930 --> 00:33:15.819 woman translates the directions. Exactly. The 00:33:15.819 --> 00:33:18.640 raw journals force us to confront the uncomfortable 00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:21.359 realities of history alongside the remarkable 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:24.299 feats of endurance. So to recap the scope of 00:33:24.299 --> 00:33:27.000 what we've covered today, we started with the 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:30.019 imperial top -down mandate of President Jefferson 00:33:30.019 --> 00:33:32.720 and his captains. These were military men armed 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:35.299 with peace medals and a rapid -fire Austrian 00:33:35.299 --> 00:33:38.339 air rifle, fully expecting to march into the 00:33:38.339 --> 00:33:41.720 continent and dictate terms. But we saw how that 00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:44.279 rigid approach nearly resulted in the destruction 00:33:44.279 --> 00:33:46.319 of the expedition during their encounter with 00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:49.059 the Lakota. We examined how the true survival 00:33:49.059 --> 00:33:51.700 of the Corps of Discovery rested on the realities 00:33:51.700 --> 00:33:54.440 navigated by Sakawea, whose presence with her 00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:57.660 infant son communicated peace universally. And 00:33:57.660 --> 00:34:00.299 York, whose immense physical labor pulling keel 00:34:00.299 --> 00:34:02.819 boats and whose charismatic diplomacy built connections 00:34:02.819 --> 00:34:04.980 the captains could never achieve. We looked at 00:34:04.980 --> 00:34:07.519 the aftermath. where the military leaders were 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:10.320 rewarded with land and wealth, while York was 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:13.440 forced back into slavery by Clark, and Secagawea 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:16.079 faded from official recognition. And we traced 00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:18.139 how Nicholas Biddle's editing of the journals 00:34:18.139 --> 00:34:20.960 erased the deep scientific data and the complex 00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:23.699 human dynamics for nearly a century, shaping 00:34:23.699 --> 00:34:26.380 the simplified myth we see in textbooks today. 00:34:26.659 --> 00:34:30.059 The full historical record demands a much closer, 00:34:30.179 --> 00:34:32.360 more critical reading of the original sources. 00:34:32.519 --> 00:34:35.090 So what does this all mean? Consider the physical 00:34:35.090 --> 00:34:37.809 landscape of America today. Think about the highways 00:34:37.809 --> 00:34:39.969 you drive on, the public schools in your communities, 00:34:40.550 --> 00:34:42.630 the rivers and mountains stretching across the 00:34:42.630 --> 00:34:45.190 continent, so many of them named in honor of 00:34:45.190 --> 00:34:48.010 Lewis and Clark. The modern map is a direct reflection 00:34:48.010 --> 00:34:51.199 of that 1904 mythology. If the maps of the American 00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:54.179 West were redrawn today, not to reflect the men 00:34:54.179 --> 00:34:56.320 who signed the commissions or the captains who 00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:59.159 held the pens, but to accurately reflect the 00:34:59.159 --> 00:35:02.000 actual distribution of physical labor, the day 00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:04.420 -to -day mechanics of survival, and the on -the 00:35:04.420 --> 00:35:06.800 -ground diplomacy that made the 1804 journey 00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:09.420 physically possible, whose names would be printed 00:35:09.420 --> 00:35:11.860 across those mountains and rivers. It challenges 00:35:11.860 --> 00:35:14.599 the very foundation of how we memorialize the 00:35:14.599 --> 00:35:17.119 past. Thank you for joining us on this deep dive. 00:35:17.309 --> 00:35:19.809 Keep questioning the standard narratives and 00:35:19.809 --> 00:35:22.550 always look closely at the margins of every historical 00:35:22.550 --> 00:35:25.210 text you encounter. That is usually where the 00:35:25.210 --> 00:35:26.570 true mechanics of history are hiding.