Lewis and Clark (quick Facts)

1. Lewis was shot by one of his own men. Pierre Cruzatte, who could not see well, shot Lewis through the buttocks on August 11, 1806, mistaking him for an elk.

2. Clark was not actually a captain. When Lewis asked Clark to join the expedition he said President Jefferson was willing to promote him to captain. Before the expedition began, the Secretary of War notified Lewis that Clark would receive a lieutenant's title. Lewis was angered and wrote Clark that it was best that none of their party or any other persons would know anything about the grade which "By God, shall be equal to my own."

3. Clark would establish a reference point, a landmark determined by latitude and longitude. From that point, he would take a reading with the sighting compass of some point up or down river, then using the float and cord of fixed length, he would determine the speed of the current, and therefore, the distance to the second point. He did this at every bend and turn of the river.

4. When Lewis and Clark reached the Nez Perce, one of Shields' trade axes had beaten them there.

5. Clark was four years older than Lewis, also a Virginian, and also an Army veteran. Like Lewis, he was over 6 feet tall and a hardy outdoorsman; unlike Lewis, he was gregarious, engaging, and even-tempered.

6. Clark adopted and raised Jean Baptiste, nicknamed “Pompey” by the