Day-by-Day / November 11, 1803

November 11, 1803

Fort Massac

Fort Massac, IL On this day, Lewis and Clark arrive at Fort Massac near the mouth of the Ohio. They meet key member George Drouillard and Lewis writes his first (existing) journal entry since 18 September 1803.

Inspection and Selection

by Michael Haynes

Clark and Lewis inspect a solider while Drouillard watches

© Michael Haynes, https://www.mhaynesart.com. Used with permission.

Related: Fort Massac

Drouillard Signs On

Arrived as Massac engaged George Drewyer in the public service as an Indian Interpretter, contracted to pay him 25 dollards pr. month for his services.—
—Meriwether Lewis

Fort Massac View

[F]rom whence is a view upwards to Tennessee river, downwards about two miles, and the opposite shore which is one mile and a quarter distant-the Ohio being now so wide.
—Fortescue Cuming[1]Fortescue Cuming, Sketches of a Tour to the Western Country: Through the States of Ohio and Kentucky, a voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and a trip through the Mississippi territory, and … Continue reading

Soldiers recruited at Fort Massac included Joseph Whitehouse and John Newman. See also Ohio River Recruits.

Military Order

It [Fort Massac] appears to be in good order and the soldiers on duty. It is a small fort stockade round, with 6 or 9 inch pointed posts ten to 12 feet high, with a shallow ditch and bank, and is supplied with several pieces of brass cannon beside musquitry and other guns. The soldiers we saw appeared well dressed and neat and clean.
—Thomas Rodney[2]4 November 1803. Dwight L. Smith and Ray Swick, ed., A Journey Through the West: Thomas Rodney’s 1803 Journal from Delaware to the Mississippi Territory (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1997), … Continue reading

Related: The Frontier Soldier

 

Notes

Notes
↑1 Fortescue Cuming, Sketches of a Tour to the Western Country: Through the States of Ohio and Kentucky, a voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and a trip through the Mississippi territory, and part of West Florida, commenced at Philadelphia in the winter of 1807 . . . (Pittsburgh: Cramer, Spear, & Eichbaum, 1810), 251.
↑2 4 November 1803. Dwight L. Smith and Ray Swick, ed., A Journey Through the West: Thomas Rodney’s 1803 Journal from Delaware to the Mississippi Territory (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1997), 163.

Discover More

  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.

This page was funded in part by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, U.S. National Park Service.

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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).