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Lewis & Clark Expedition - Bicentennial

Fred's Anecdotal Note

The Historic Handshakes

On May 24, 1804, three days after leaving St. Charles, the boats came to Boone's Settlement. It was a community of Kentuckians settled in 1799 and led by the early trailblazer, Daniel Boone. The captains landed for a few final supplies, and it's a certainty that the aging 71-year old explorer would have personally wished Lewis and Clark a successful journey. Handshakes between Boone, who had opened the way westward from Pennsylvania, and the two young leaders, who were about to become legends for continuing that westward push to the Pacific coast, surely would have taken place. What a historic moment those extraordinary handshakes would have been as they linked the three men who opened a continent from sea to shining sea.

The next day, May 25th, the Corps of Discovery passed tne tiny village of La Charette which was the very last settlement on the river. Noting one last gesture from his supportive countrymen as they sailed away from civilization, Lewis wrote, "The people at this village is pore, houses small, they sent us milk & eggs to eat."