Alan Phillip (Big Al) Thompson's
Bicentennial Bicycle Retrace of
The Lewis and Clark Trail
from Saint Louis, Missouri, on 06/22/2005
to Astoria and Seaside, Oregon, ~09/01/2005
Bicycle Road Trip Report 5 of 10, 07/26/2005
(sic) "... we were now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civillized man had never trodden ... entertaining as I do, the most confident hope of succeading in a voyage which had formed a darling project of mine for the last ten years, I could but esteem this moment of my departure as among the most happy of my life." (sic)
Meriwether Lewis – April 7, 1805
Dear Family and Friends,
So wrote Meriwether Lewis on April 7, 1805, the day the two captains led their Corps of Discovery into the vast unknown. They had wintered with the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians, building Fort Mandan near what is today Bismarck, North Dakota. The good will and help of the Indians enabled them to survive one of the coldest winters on the northern plains. The section of the Missouri River that they had traveled thus far — the part that I have cycled — was fairly well known and mapped. But now they were jumping off into a part of the country where no American had walked before. There was no real map to follow — they would create the map, filling it in as they proceeded on up the Missouri to its headwaters.
Last Friday I visited Fort Mandan, and although it's a recreation of the fort — the actual site is thought to be under the river now — I could hear the muffled echoes of American, French, and Native American voices bantering and bartering for those valued items each desired.
About 20 miles north of Fort Mandan are the Knife River Villages. Here among the Hidatsa lived a Frenchman by the name of Toussaint Charbonneau and his two Indian women who he had purchased as slaves to become his wives (or won them in a bet). One was a young and pregnant 16 year old girl, Sakakawea (Sacagawea). Charbonneau was hired as an interpreter, but his young wife would prove the more valuable member of the Expedition. I walked through the remains of Sakakawea's village, now just depressions in the ground where the earth lodges once stood. I was the only one about, and it wasn't hard to put myself back into the middle of the bustling village of 200 years' ago.
On February 11, 1805, having moved into Fort Mandan with the Corps, Sakakawea went into labor; she was having trouble and in much pain. Lewis, on the advice of a Frenchman, had Sakakawea drink a solution of rattlesnake rattle crushed in water. Sure enough, within 10 minutes out popped a bouncing baby boy, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, who Sakakawea would carry to the Pacific Ocean and back. He would become a favorite of the rough and tumble men of the Corps, and Clark would call him Little Pomp.
A couple of days ago I hit my highest mileage day so far — 84 miles. Needless to say I was a little dazed and crazed by the time I reached my destination of Lund's Landing Marina and Resort. And although it was closed, how lucky I was to run into another group of cyclists — two very nice retired couples — who had the permission of the owners to camp out there. They're also on the Lewis and Clark Trail and taking turns cycling and driving a sag vehicle. One of the ladies had prepared a gourmet meal of pork loin, salad, noodles, and fruit, and they invited me to join them. Great food, great conversation, great people. It would seem by the people I've met so far who are cycling the trail, that the average age is somewhere between 55 and 60.
And so here I am — ready to set off into Lewis and Clark's vast unknown — otherwise known as Montana - Big Sky Country. It's hard to imagine that the vistas could become any grander, but the mountains are lurking somewhere below that western horizon and some of the most desolate sections of the Trail await me.
So all, until the next time, I am proceeding on.
— Al Thompson
P.S. See attached pics.
