WALLACE W HANSEN

Native Plants of the Northwest

Native Plant Nursery & Gardens

2158 Bower Ct S.E., Salem, Oregon 97301 E-Mail: Wallace W Hansen
PHONE (503)581-2638 FAX(503)581-9957

Updated May 5, 2003

Wallace Hansen Celebrates Lewis and Clark

Botanical Discoveries of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)

"Near the beaver bents on the Missouri", August 10, 1806

On this date Captain Lewis spent most of the day at his camp in Williams County, North Dakota, and late in the afternoon his party floated down the Missouri River to a camp near present-day Williston in McKenzie County to a point a little above the Little Muddy River. The next day they continued down the river with occasional stops to hunt. Around noon, Lewis went elk hunting and was shot in the thigh by one of his men. The wound was dressed and the group made camp just above the mouth of the White Earth River in Mountrail County.  On August 12, Lewis writes:

"as wrighting in my present situation is extreemlly painfull to me I shall desist untill I recover and leave to my frind Capt. C. the continuation of our journal. However I must notice a single Cherry which is found on the Missouri in the bottom lands about the beaver bends and some little Distance below the white earth river"

He gives a detailed description of the plant. Taking into consideration the specimen label as well as the journal entry, Lewis probably had one of his men collect the specimen on August 12, 1806 just down river from the mouth of White Earth River in Mountrail County, North Dakota. The site is now under Garrison Reservoir. This would be Lewis's last entry into a journal for the remainder of the trip.

Recent photograph 

Photo of Clark's specimen

However the specimen was collected and by whom, we are thankful they found it and that it was entered into the list of known plants. In modern times, we are still enjoying the same beauty and delicious fruit known to be a favorite of native peoples as well as bears and other wildlife for centuries.

This beautiful Northwest Native tree is included at a very special low price during our Spring Sale.

At this time in 1806:

The following entry from Captain Lewis' journal on May 5, 1806, could be subtitled "a day in the life of a member of the Corps of Discovery." As do almost all the journal writings, we can see what was really happening in an up-close and personal way. We do well to remember that we are reading the thoughts of a person who was traveling cross country under hardships we can only imagine and through lands not before seen by white men. The impressions we read about reflect the events of the day as well as the paticular ideas and mind-set of the writer. 

Collected our horses and set out at 7 A.M. At 4 and a half miles we arrived at the entrance of the Kooskooskee, up the N. Eastern side of which we continued our march 12 miles to a large lodge of 10 families, having passed two other large mat lodges.

At the second lodge, we passed an Indian man who gave Captain Clark a very elegant gray mare, for which he requested a phial of eye-water, which was accordingly given him. While we were encamped last fall at the entrance of the Chopunnish river, Captain Clark gave an Indian man some volatile liniment to rub his knee and thigh for a pain of which he complained. The fellow soon after recovered, and has never ceased to extol the virtues of our medicines, and the skill of my friend Captain Clark as a physician. This occurrence, added to the benefit which many of them experienced from the eye-water we gave them about the same time, has given them an exalted opinion of our medicine.

My friend Captain Clark is their favorite physician and has already received many applications. In our present situation, I think it pardonable to continue this deception, for they will not give us any provision without compensation in merchandise, and our stock is now reduced to a mere handful. We take care to give them no article which can possibly injure them.

[One paragraph omitted here]

We had several applications to assist their sick, which we refused unless they would let us have some dogs or horses to eat. A chief, whose wife had an abscess formed on the small of her back, promised a horse in the morning, provided we would administer to her. Accordingly, Captain Clark opened the abscess, introduced a tent [a roll of lint], and dressed it with basilicon [an ointment of wax, pitch, resin, and olive oil]. Captain Clark soon had more than fifty applications. I prepared some doses of flower of sulphur and cream of tartar, which were given with directions to be taken on each morning.

A little girl and sundry other patients were offered for cure, but we postponed our operations until morning. They produced us several dogs, but they were so poor that they were unfit for use.

This is the residence of one of the four principal chiefs of the nation, whom they call Neeshneparkkeook, or The Cut Nose, from the circumstance of his nose being cut by the Snake [Shoshone] Indians with a lance, in battle. To this man we gave a medal of the small size, with the likeness of the President. He may be a great chief, but his countenance has but little intelligence, and his influence among his people seems but inconsiderable. A number of Indians besides the inhabitants of these lodges gathered about us this evening and encamped in the timbered bottom on the creek near us.

We met with a Snake Indian man at this place, through whom we spoke at some length to the natives this evening with respect to the objects which had induced us to visit their country. This address was induced at this moment by the suggestions of an old man who observed to the natives that he thought we were bad men and had come, most probably, in order to kin them. This impression, if really entertained, I believe we effaced. They appeared well satisfied with what we said to them, and, being hungry and tired, we retired to rest at 11 o'clock. Captain Lewis, 5 May 1806

All this in one day on the trail. Hard to imagine for us today but then, a day in our lives would have been surreal to Captain Lewis as well--electricity, plumbing, cars, television, cooking stoves, etc. Our manner of dress would doubtless caused raised eyebrows also.

Current events:

Columbia, Missouri  •  May 2, 3 and 4, 2003

World Premiere
Show-Me Opera of the University of Missouri-Columbia will present
The World Premiere of
Corps of Discovery, A Musical Journey
May 2, 3 and 4, 2003
The three-act musical drama is an artistic interpretation, 200 years later, of the significance of Lewis and Clark’s expedition

Cast:
Capt. Meriwether Lewis (tenor), Organizer of the Expedition, Jefferson’s secretary
Capt. William Clark (baritone), Co-commander, brought on by Lewis
George Shannon (tenor), Youngest member of the Corps
John Potts (baritone), One of the older members of the Corps, born in Germany
Sacagawea (soprano), 16-year-old Shoshone wife of Charbonneau
Toussaint Charbonneau (tenor), 37-year-old French interpreter
York (bass-baritone), Slave belonging to Clark

Other characters:
Members of the Corps and the Teton Sioux, Hidatsa,
Mandan and Shoshone tribes and vision characters

ACT I – Camp Dubois to Fort Mandan (December 1803 to April 1805)
It is September 1806, and the Corps has just returned to St. Louis. Shannon and Potts find themselves deluged with questions by the patrons of a tavern, La Tigresse. Among the adventures they relate are vignettes of the formation of the Corps, the tense encounter with the Teton Sioux, the joyful dancing and celebration with the Mandans one New Year’s Day, and the birth of Pomp, Sacagawea’s son, in February 1805. Potts realizes during his stories that he has been changed by his travels and by the beauty and wildness of the land and its people. At the end of the act, he determines to return to the West. Shannon discovers that his experience with Sacagawea’s family has given him a need to settle down with a family of his own.

ACT II – Fort Mandan to the Pacific (Summer to Christmas Day 1805)
It is August 1806, and the Corps has returned to the Mandan/Hidatsa villages on its way back to St. Louis. Sacagawea joins her family group of women who are drying squash. She relates that Captain Clark has asked to take Pomp back to St. Louis to raise and educate as his own son. Sacagawea finds herself challenged by the women to defend her travels with the white men. She remembers the flash flood when Clark saved her and Pomp’s lives, her time of great illness when Clark nursed her and a vision she had. She describes the meeting of the Corps with her tribe by birth, the Shoshone, in August 1805, when she discovered her brother, Cameahwait, had become chief. She recalls the vote on the Columbia River and the Christmas at Fort Clatsop. At the end of her stories, Sacagawea realizes that her richness of experience has set her apart from others. She is of no nation and of all nations. She embraces her individuality as she decides to send her son to Clark when he is older.

ACT III – The Death of Lewis (Oct. 11, 1809)
The scene is Grinder’s Inn on the Natchez Trace, Tenn. There is a sound of gunshots, and Lewis staggers out with self-inflicted wounds. While he is dying, he is visited by vision characters who guide him toward personal peace and meaning. There is The Bear, his totem and spirit guide; Bates, his political enemy in St. Louis; Jefferson; York and Sacagawea as messengers from the future; and finally, Clark as an old, disillusioned Indian agent. Lewis’ despair is countered by his spiritual connection to the wilderness. As he dies, he realizes the success of his dream — to further the happiness of the human race and advance the information of the succeeding generation — and that the partnership between diverse cultures that the Corps of Discovery represented offers us great hope for the future.

For information on booking the three-act Show-Me Opera production or the 45-minute smaller stage version; for rental or purchase of orchestral score and parts; and for rental or purchase of piano/vocal score and other options, please contact:

Pamela Legendre, Director of Show-Me Opera
University of Missouri-Columbia
138 Fine Arts Building
Columbia, MO 65211
Phone: (573) 882-7657
E-mail: legendrep@missouri.edu

The Creative Team of
Corps of Discovery, A Musical Journey

Michael Ching, Composer
Michael Ching is a prolific composer, as well as the general and artistic director of Opera Memphis. His composition credits include operas such as Buoso’s Ghost and Faith, as well as concerti and symphonic works. With librettist Hugh Moffatt, Ching has co-written two one-act operas: King of the Clouds, commissioned in 1993 by Dayton Opera, and Out of the Rain, commissioned in 1998 jointly by Opera Delaware, The Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Opera Memphis.

Hugh Moffatt, Librettist
Singer/songwriter Hugh Moffatt has released seven highly acclaimed country music albums and toured extensively around the world. Artists who have recorded his songs include Dolly Parton, Alabama, Ronnie Milsap, Jerry Lee Lewis, Patti Page, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Merle Haggard, Johnny Rodriguez, Kathy Mattea and many others. His previous collaborations with Michael Ching are the successful one-act operas, King of the Clouds and Out of the Rain.

Pamela Legendre, Artistic Director
Pamela Legendre, an assistant professor in the MU School of Music, is the director of Show-Me Opera. For 15 years, she has been an active orchestral and choral conductor, as well as stage director and pianist in the New Orleans area. She served as guest director and conductor for the University of New Orleans Opera Theatre Workshop, preparing and performing full-length opera productions. She has been music director and conductor for more than 60 theatre productions, primarily at Tulane University Summer Lyric Theatre and Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré. For 10 years, she was guest conductor of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, a professional symphonic orchestra in New Orleans.

The Corps of Discovery II

Lewis and Clark Traveling Exhibit

Beginning it's 4-year tour, stopping at communities along the trail that the Corp of Discovery took during the three years and eight months it took to make their journey. The exhibit will end in Oregon.

The exhibit consists of a 53-foot long trailer carrying two tents, a stage, chairs, lighting, sound and visual gear and heating and air-conditioning equipment. One tent will hold an audio tour of replicas of historical paintings depicting the expedition's main characters and the landscapes they saw.

Guided and sponsored by the following organizations: Library Associations of Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Oregon - which collectively comprise Trail States Library Associations - and the U.S. National Park Service (NPS).

Deepwood Estate Museum

1894 Queen Anne Style Home Salem, Oregon

Landscape architects Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver were commissioned by Alice Brown to create the formal gardens at Deepwood Estate. Lord and Schryver were the first formally trained women landscape architects in the Northwest. Pictured at right, top, is the 1905 Lewis & Clark Gazebo acquired by Mrs. Brown and sited at Deepwood in 1949. Below is an architectural drawing of the grounds at Deepwood.

Deepwood is the most significant example of landscape architects Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver's Northwest work. It is their only garden design that is open to the public. Intriguing features at Deepwood include a scroll garden with a hidden signature, an ivy tunnel and a pastel tea garden. There are three other superb examples of their designs in the area, but they are associated with private residences.

Visitor Information

1116 Mission Street SE

Salem, Oregon 97302

Deepwood grounds open dawn to dusk daily at no charge.

Deepwood House Tours are 12:00-5:00 pm. hourly, May thru September, Sunday-Friday; October thru April, Tuesday-Saturday

Admission: Adults, $4.00/Students and Seniors, $3.00/Children, $2.00 (under six - free)

http://www.oregonlink.com/deepwood/

House Tour Information: 503-363-1825

PICTURING THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY: The Lewis and Clark Expedition in Oregon Art

An exhibit at the State Capitol building Presented by Oregon Historical Society

State Capital building, 900 Court Street NE,

Salem, Oregon

8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday

12 p.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday

Closed - Sunday

A collection of images of Lewis and Clark pointing westward, including Frank Schwarz's treasured 1938 mural in Oregon's Capitol rotunda, demonstrate how the two explorers were credited with introducing civilization to the West well into the first half of the twentieth century. By the end of the century, however, works like Michael Florin Dente's 1988 sculpture, The Naming of Mount Jefferson, at the University of Portland, celebrated the expedition's ethnic mix as a historical precedent for a multicultural, pluralistic society in the West."

http://www.ohs.org/exhibits/picturing-the-corp-of-discovery.cfm

Back Issues:

To see back issues of Wallace Hansen Celebrates Lewis and Clark, click on this link to jump to the index. 

Commemorative Painting by Heidi Hansen:

The illustrated map below was created by renowned botanical artist Heidi D. Hansen especially for this website. Done in ink and watercolors, Heidi shows many of the plants Captain Lewis documented overlaid atop a map showing a portion of the journey. (Click on image for large view).

Good luck and happy gardening!

Wally

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