The Lewis and Clark Packing List – What They Took With Them

59 Comments

1. Wow, fascinating list. I always liked to see what was important to people back then. Lots of stuff on the list I don’t recognize. The medicine list is interesting.

2. I Don’t know what half of that stuff is. I especially wonder what “blank vocabularies” are.

   So much stuff and hardly anything to eat. My pack would consist mostly of food.

   1. I searched Blank Vocabularies and it looks like they were blank worksheets.
      Maybe for taking notes on terrain and navigation to help on the return trip. Notes on the native tribes along their route.
      They relied on hunting, fishing and gathering for their food, as they couldn’t carry enough food with them for that length of journey for that many people.

3. How the hell did they carry all of that?

   1. They had: 1 Keeled boat light strong at least 60 feet in length her burthen equal to 8 tons 1 Large Wooden canoe They also had horses, walked, climbed, and used pirogues. “Pirogues” is a French word meaning that they tied smaller canoes together to make a kind of raft. Their horses were certainly used as pack animals in the rough country, and for riding when they crossed the flat plains.

      Crossing the Continental Divide was a royal PITA for L&C. They had to drag the boats, using their horses, up and over some place in Idaho/Montana before picking up the Salmon River.

      Glad I missed that trip.

      1. And rowed/poled against the river flow until they portaged across the divide. Fought a few battles with natives. Hunting to supplement stores. Yep, quite the picnic.

   2. In a 60 foot 8 ton boat!

4. Still wondering what a Penis Syringe is!?!

   1. This was a fun article wasn’t it? Interesting and fun!

   2. AlaskanGirl,

      Just what it sounds like. A syringe to inject a solution into the urethra. Venereal disease symptoms could be debilitating. Science of the time couldn’t cure VD, but some compounds could relieve symptoms if applied where it hurt.

      1. The “white vitriol” listed above the “penis syringe”, was one of the compounds used for this purpose.

         1. – “White Vitriol”, if I remember my chemistry correctly was a Mercury compound. Not really a good thing, IMHO.
            “Blank vocabularies”, would be a ledger or notebook in modern usage.
            The Airgun I mentioned the other day was not on this list as it was the property of the U.S. government then, as it is now. American Rifleman had a nice article and pictures of it a couple of years ago. I believe it is still in a museum in Washington.
            – Papa S.

         2. Thanks, Papa Smurf. I wondered if a blank vocabulary was something like that. Language has changed. I have a math book in my home library from 1838. It tells how to add and reduce vulgar fractions and solve promiscuous equations.

            Now we need to figure out why the list keeps saying “do. do. ditto”

            I wonder what they used powdered rhubarb for. I have a bunch of rhubarb growing in my yard. I would like to know what it could be used for (besides eating it, I mean.)

         3. I added ‘ditto’ because that’s what ‘do.’ Meant back then

         4. Daisy, “do.” is shorthand for “ditto.” I’m guessing the person who transcribed the list for the website put the actual word in to avoid confusion.

         5. papa, glad you mentioned the Girandoni air rifle, an amazing piece of technology, for even now.

            https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/military-history/lewis-and-clarks-girandoni-air-rifle/

         6. The L & C trails have been discovered by detecting mercury left in latrines as they traveled. It was a very common ingredient in their medications and perhaps the cause of one of them suffering from insanity and suicide years later.

         7. The ole penis syringe……
            Ya knew just from the name it wasn’t gonna be good thing….☢️

         8. I was imagining Austin Powers with a contraption that looked like a johnson sayin yea baby to that blonde in the spy who shaged me,,,,

         9. Or to Ivanna humpalot….

         10. Lol
             VD
             Reminds me of the Georgia Satellite’s song
             “and keep your hands to yourself”

      2. Dennis & AlaskanGirl
         These syringes were still in use during WWII to the soldiers who were going out on leave, they had to stop at the orderlies’ office for their VD kit.

         1. opps—-correction not on “leave, but a pass”. I messed up! Leave is going home–leave is to the surrounds town.

   3. Alaskan Girl, my guess is for syphilis and any other maladies to cause a man problems. Mercury and Sulphur for the cure.

      1. Daisy, rhubarb is used for stomach and intestinal problems. Can also be a laxative. The leaves are high in oxalic acid and should not be eaten. Maybe ONLY is boiled many times, maybe!

         1. Mrs. USMCBG & Daisy K
            Had to look this up, it has vitamins that folks did not receive in their foods. Rhubarb has minerals & vitamins that the body requires, back during those times it was an easy way to stop scurvy.

   4. I am hoping it is just a description for the type of syringe and not for what the syringe is used on, or I would have taken a pass on that exploration opportunity.

      1. – It is what the syringe was used on.
         – Papa S.

   5. Beat me to it. Catheter maybe?

5. Quite a list , packing for the great unknown country . I just finished reading ,The Journals of Lewis & Clark, edited by Bernard DeVoto .It was a great read and a very interesting journey for them . I enjoy history and am fortunate to live on the route that they took .

6. Good to know but times, danger levels due to populations, advancement of technology and medicine would cause supplies to be drastically adjusted.

7. Amazing that 31 men were able to make such a trip in 2 years, WITH all that cargo, livestock (horses) boats and so on.
   Talk about some tough people….
   Wonder how many Semi-Trucks that would fill? God knows ya could not find men to do that sort of thing now-a-days.

   1. NRP,
      Provided the farm was taken care of, I would go… Sign me up…

8. 12 oz Opium. So, would that qualify them as Americas first drug traffickers. Hehe

9. They also brought an air rifle.
   http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com/lewisairgun.htm

10. Here is your portable soup…..basically an 18th century mre:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fE5KzvOZRk

11. Of course it was a hard trip, but can you imagine being one of the first to see all of those natural wonders before the cities and tourists took over? That would attract me.

12. A very good book on this trip is Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. IMHO this is as much about mental toughness as it is about the physical. Something we all think we have. I hope we never truly have to find out. Wading in waist deep water pulling a heavy boat while keeping an eye out for possible attack. Knowing there is no backup outside your small group, now that is stress.

    1. Country – In many/most cases it was”waist deep ICE water. Haven’t you tried wading in a Rocky Mountain stream?

    2. Great book!

13. Something tells me that these guys didn’t need a gym membership 😉
    Posting this list was a great idea, offering valuable insights as to necessities of survival, pre/post electricity and electronics. Revised as required in order to accommodate present conditions and circumstances.

14. Shout back to Bluesman, get and read the Devoto book, just fascinating, will destroy some of your illusions about surviving in the wilderness. Another good book, under appreciated, is Frederick Law Olmsted’s A Journey Through Texas. Everybody always says that, after SHTF, we’ll revert back to 19th century living, this book is a close look at what everyday life was like in Texas around 1850. Not all that much fun, I’m thinking.

15. The Lewis & Clark expedition also made their own salt when the supply they brought along ran out…

16. No lives lost either.

    1. On the contrary, one death near present day Sioux City, Iowa thought to have been appendicitis. The individual who died was Sargent Charles Floyd and he died in June 1804.

17. They had a chance meeting with a Grizzly I am told…… Wonder how the firearms they brought dealt with it? I had also heard they were chased by the Grizzly.

    1. Is grizzly edible? Saw bears and all in “life below zero” show. What about the meat? Like beef or beef with nano bots? 😬

       1. Or, they taste like chicken.. The usual answer.. Lol

          1. Moonair,
             Bear normally tastes like gamey pork, very fatty. Grizzly probably the same. But it depends on what it has been eating. I am told that those bears you see on video eating all that salmon taste like fish. Bears that live in the trash dump, well….. taste like garbage.

          2. That makes sense ya minerJim. Was camping far from everything.. The first night, heard and saw things around the campsite. The next morning, saw that wild boar and behind it/her, some smaller boars.. (whatchamacallit..) a Thai said, let’s do the trap! Trap we did… 😁

18. great article Ken,
    this is a good list of things that everyone should have at home. ya never know, would rather not need it, but JIC.

19. Sorry for the misprint, it was actually 1600 calories Barr minimum, instead of 1200, on the Oregon Trail.

    1. Bare minimum

20. “Rhubarb powder acts as a simple and safe purgative, being regarded as one of the most valuable remedies we possess, effecting a brisk, healthy purge, without clogging the bowels and producing constipation, too often consequent upon the use of the more active purgatives.”

    Also in cooking. “You can use it as an ingredient in rubs or spice mixtures, or as you would a flavouring powder in baked goods, etc. It adds tart notes. “

21. I was reading the comments and was surprised to see one of mine. I guess when a site is good you forget how long you have been checking it out. If i remember right the gun powder was kept in lead kegs that were emptied and then melted down and turned into musket balls. Very efficient, no extra containers to wasted space or weight.

22. Im curious what they had to discard along the way, and exactly how many men and animals went along to carry it all.

23. I looked it up, the brittanica said the entourage was 4 dozen men. That was a lot of stuff, think i will read more about the trip, interesting stuff

    1. Kulafarmer,
       this is a link to copies of their journals. it’s a lot to read but some very good info and history,
       enjoy

       THE JOURNALS OF LEWIS AND CLARK
       By Meriwether Lewis and and William Clark

       https://www.gutenberg.org/files/8419/8419-h/8419-h.htm

24. Kulafarmer,
    i posted a link to view Louis and Clark’s journals but it may be in moderation.
    its a lot to read but very informative and inspirational.
    can you imagine making a trip like that, or Henry Morton Stanley or David Livingstone’s trek across Africa?
    those were true men. true explorer’s . and there are so many, many more just like them. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin always come to my mind.

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