N3817

Lewis & Clark Expedition - Bicentennial

Fred's Anecdotal Note

Privates Silas Goodrich and Joseph Whitehouse

Bom about 1775 in Virginia, Whitehouse was mentioned as a "tailor" and "hidecurer." He repaired clothing including the uniforms, the green hunting frocks, and the red shirts with leather collars and cuffs such as Bratton is wearing during his grizzly encounter. Additionally, Joseph also made new clothing from hides during the trip.

Goodrich, from Massachusetts, was an extraordinary fisherman. Lewis had bought "125 hooks ond severql dozen fish lines" in Philadelphia for the expedition. ln the journals, a pole is mentioned plus the use of grasshoppers and meat as bait. On June 13, 1805, Lewis and Goodrich discovered the Great Falls with the Captain calling it "the grandest sight I ever beheld!" Silas caught large tout of a new species described by Lewis "a small dash of red on each side of the ventral fins with the flesh of a red rose. I caught a number of very fine trout. Goodrich caught about two dozen." Fish was important to the Corps' diet. On August I 8, 1804 Lewis and twelve soldiers caught 490 catfish and 300 of nine other species in an Otoes fishing lake. On the Missouri, Goodrich caught huge 100-pound catfish. While in the Pacific Northwest, dried salmon was a staple. Fresh trout was the favorite, and on that June morning, Lewis had discovered the Great Falls of the Missouri and Silas Goodrich the Westslope Cutthroat.