Meet the Corps Members

Information about the people in the Lewis and Clark Expedition including officers, enlisted men, and interpreters like Charbonneau and Sacagawea. For more in-depth articles, see our educational website at https://lewis-clark.org/primary/members.

Captain Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809)

Born 18 August 1774 near Charlottesville, Albermale County, Virginia.
Parents: William Lewis and Lucy Meriwether.
Commissioned an ensign 1 May 1795; lieutenant 3 March 1799; captain 5 December 1800; resigned 4 March 1807.
Died 11 October 1809 at Grinder’s Stand on the Natchez Trace, near Hohenwald, Lewis County, Tennessee. Buried at the spot of his death.
Estate settled from October 1810 to 29 April 1813 in St. Louis; Edward Hempstead and Pierre Chouteau executors; File 77.
Did not marry or have children.¹

Captain William Clark (1770–1838)

Born 1 August 1770 in Caroline County, Virginia.
Parents: John Clark and Ann Rogers.
Lieutenant in the infantry, 7 March 1792; resigned 1 July 1796. 2nd lieutenant 26 March 1804; 1st lieutenant, 31 January 1806; resigned 27 February 1807.
Married Julia Hancock on 5 January 1808 in Fincastle County, Virginia. (She died 27 June 1820 at her father’s estate, Fotheringay, in Montgomery County, Virginia.)
Married Harriet Kennerly Radford on 28 November 1821. (She died 25 December 1831 in St. Louis.)
Died 1 September 1838 in St. Louis, Missouri at age sixty-eight; buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery.
Children: Meriwether Lewis, William Preston, Mary Margaret, George Rogers Hancock, John Julius (by Julia); Jefferson Kearny, Edmund (by Harriet).²

Sergeant Charles Floyd (1782–1804)

Born in 1782 in Kentucky.
Parents: Robert Clark Floyd and Lilyann.
Expedition service from 1 August 1803 to 20 August 1804; pay–$86.33 1/3 (which was apparently given to his family).
Died 20 August 1804 at Floyd’s Bluff near Sioux City, Iowa at about age 22. Floyd kept a journal while on the journey, which consisted of fifty-six numbered pages of text. He is buried at Floyd’s Bluff, near Sioux City, Iowa.

Sergeant Patrick McLene Gass (1771–1870)

Born 12 June 1771 in Chambersburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Parents: Benjamin Gass and Mary McLene.
Height: 5’7″; hair: dark; complexion: dark; eyes: gray; occupation: carpenter.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$243.66 2/3.
War of 1812 service from 25 August 1812 to 19 June 1815.
Married Maria Hamilton in March 1831. (She died on 15 February 1847.)
Died 2 April 1870 in Wellsburg, Brooke County, West Virginia at age 98.
Children: Elizabeth, Benjamin F., William, Sarah Ann, Annie Jane, James Waugh, Rachel Maria.³
Gass was particularly known for his carpentry skills. His journal was the first published account of the Expedition, in 1807. He died at the age of 99, the longest-lived member of the Expedition.

Sergeant John Ordway (ca. 1775–ca.1817)

Born about 1775 in Dumbarton, Merrimack County, New Hampshire.
Parents: John Ordway and Hannah Morse.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$266.66 2/3. Married Gracey around 1807. (She apparently died by 1809.)
Married Elizabeth Johnson (a widow) around 1809.
Died by 5 February 1818 in New Madrid, New Madrid County, Missouri at about age forty-two. Cause of death unknown. Children: Hannah and John (by Elizabeth).⁴

Sergeant Nathaniel Hale Pryor (ca. 1772–1831)

Born about 1772 in Amherst County, Virginia.
Parents: John A. Pryor and Nancy Floyd.
Married Margaret Patton 17 March 1798. She may have died by 1803.
Expedition service from 20 October 1803 to 10 October 1806; pay–$278.50.
Ensign in the infantry, 27 February 1807; 2nd lieutenant 3 May 1808; resigned 1 April 1810. Served in the War of 1812 as a first lieutenant in the infantry, 30 August 1813, and captain, 1 October 1814. Honorably discharged 15 June 1815.
May have married Nancy S. Melton on 23 February 1811. A son, William Stokes Pryor was reportedly born on 15 November 1811, and Nancy reportedly divorced Nathaniel in 1818.
Married an Osage woman apparently in the 1820s; three children.
Died 9 June 1831* in Arkansas Territory (near present Pryor, Mayes County, Oklahoma) at about age fifty-nine. Buried in Fairview Cemetery, east of Pryor.
Estate probate proceedings began in St. Louis in December of 1831, Thomas Ingram, Jr., administrator.
Children: Jane B., James, Nancy, Robert L., Eliza, Nathaniel (by Margaret); Mary Jane, Angelique, Marie (by his third wife, an Osage woman whose name is not known).
I take 9 June to be the most reliable death date because it was reported just weeks after Pryor’s death. Since the body was re-interred and the headstone is not the original, the date on the headstone may be based on hearsay. Larry Morris, Genealogy Chair. ⁵

Private William Bratton (1778–1841)

Born 27 July 1778 in Augusta County, Virginia.
Parents: George Bratton and Jane Elliott.
Expedition service from 20 October 1803 to 10 October 1806; pay–$178.33 1/3.
Married Mary/Polly Maxwell on 25 November 1819 in Warren County, Kentucky.
Died 11 November 1841 in Waynetown, Montgomery County, Indiana at age 63. Buried in a well-identified grave in the Old Pioneer Cemetery at the eastern edge of Waynetown (west of Crawfordsville), Indiana.
Children: James M., George, John, William, Robert, Adam, Grizzella Ann, Eliza Jane, Marietta⁶

Private John Collins (?–1823)

Born in Frederick County, Maryland.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
Name of wife and date of marriage not known.
Believed killed by the Arikara in present South Dakota, 2 June 1823.
Children: John M. Collins.⁷

Private John Colter (ca. 1775–1812)

Born about 1775, reportedly in Virginia.
Expedition service from 15 October 1803 to 10 October 1806; pay–$178.33 1/3. (Lewis and Clark extended the official term of service even though Colter actually left the Expedition on 16 August 1806.)
War of 1812 service from 3 March to 6 May 1812.
Married Sarah/Sally around 1810 in Missouri.
Died 7 May 1812 near Sullen Springs, St. Louis County, Missouri apparently from illness at about age 37.
Estate probate proceedings began in St. Louis County in December of 1813.
Children: Hiram.⁸

Private Pierre Cruzatte (dates unknown)

Expedition service from 16 May 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$144.16 2/3.
Killed by 1825-28; exact cause and location of death unknown. May have been with the McCellan party.
No known marriages or children.
Ancestry half French and half Omaha. Clark reports him as deceased by 1825-1828. Known to be blind in one eye, and a fiddle player.

Private Joseph Field (ca. 1780–1807)

Born around 1780 in Culpeper County, Virginia.
Parents: Abraham Field and Betty.
Expedition service from 1 August 1803 to 10 October 1806; pay–$191.66 2/3.
Killed between 27 June and 20 October 1807, at about age 27; exact cause and location of death unknown.
Did not marry or have children.⁹

Private Reubin Field (ca. 1781–ca. 1822)

Born around 1781 in Culpeper County, Virginia.
Parents: Abraham Field and Betty.
Expedition service from 1 August 1803 to 10 October 1806; pay–$191.66 2/3.
Married Mary Myrtle in 1808 in Indiana.
Died between 22 April 1822 and 14 January 1823, in Jefferson County, Kentucky at about age 41.
Estate probate proceedings began in Jefferson County, Kentucky on 14 January 1823.
No known children.¹⁰

Private Robert Frazer (ca. 1775–ca. 1837)

Born about 1775 in Augusta County, Virginia.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
Married Tabitha.
May have served in the War of 1812.
Died between 29 July 1836 and 31 January 1837 in Franklin County, Missouri at about age 62; buried in unmarked grave.
Estate probate proceedings began in Franklin County, Missouri, 31 January 1837, Lewis C. Frazer administrator.
Children: Robert Russell H., Lewis C., and apparently others whose names are not known.¹¹
Apparently kept a journal as it was advertised, but journal has ever been located.

Private George Gibson (?–1809)

Born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.

Expedition service from 19 October 1803 to 10 October 1806; pay–$178.50. Married Maria Reagan about 1808.
Died, apparently from an illness, between 14 January and 10 July 1809 in St. Louis, St. Louis County, Missouri.
Estate probate proceedings began on 10 July 1809 in St. Louis; Samuel L. White and Thomas O’Fallon executors; File 63.
No known children.¹²

Private Silas Goodrich (dates unknown)

Reportedly born in Massachusetts, possibly on 3 June 1778.
Father may have been Ashbel Goodrich.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
May have married Betsey and had eight children.
Died by 1825-28; cause and location of death unknown.¹³

Private Hugh Hall (ca. 1772–?)

Born about 1772 in Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
Father may have been Thomas Hall.
Enlistment date: 13 December 1798; location: B. Canton; term: 5 years; age: 26; height: 5’8 3/4″; rank: private; hair: fair; complexion: sandy; eyes: gray; occupation: not listed.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
No known marriages or children.
Apparently died between 1820 and 1830.¹⁴

Private Thomas Proctor Howard (1779–1814)

Born in 1779 in Brimfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts.
Enlistment date: 1 September 1801; location: Hartford; term: 5 years; age: 22; height: not given; rank: private; hair: fair; complexion: fair; eyes: blue; occupation: not listed.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
Married Genevieve Roy.
Died by 23 March 1814 in St. Louis, Missouri at about age thirty-five.
Estate probate proceedings began 31 October 1816 in St. Louis; Genevieve Howard, executor; File 126.
Children: Joseph, Louis.¹⁵

Private Francois (William) Labiche (dates unknown)

Expedition service from 16 May 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$144.66 2/3.
Married Genevieve Flore about 1810. Reportedly had seven children baptized between 1811 and 1834.
Apparently died in the late 1830s.
Clark spelled his name La Buish, Leebiche and several other ways.¹⁶

Private Jean Baptiste Lepage (1761–1809)

Born 20 August 1761 in Kaskaskia, Illinois.
Parents: Prisque and Marie Michel Lepage.
Expedition service from 2 November 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$111.50.
Date of marriage and name of spouse unknown.
Died during the latter half of 1809 at age 48; location and cause of death unknown.
Estate probate proceedings began 25 July 1810 in St. Louis; Manuel Lisa, Charles Sanguinet, and Louis Labeaume executors; File 75.
Children: Clement, Baptiste, Joseph, Claude, and one daughter whose name is not known.
He joined the Expedition at Fort Mandan, replacing Private John Newman who was dismissed from the party following his court martial in 1804.¹⁷

Private Hugh McNeal (ca. 1776–unknown)

Reportedly born in Pennsylvania around 1776.
Parents may have been Robert McNeal and Jean.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
Died by 1825-28; cause and location of death unknown.
No known marriages or children.¹⁸

Private John Potts (ca. 1776–1808)

Born about 1776 in Dillenburg, Hessen, Germany.
Enlistment date: 22 July 1800; location: Winchester; term: 5 years; age: 24; height: not given; rank: private; hair: black; complexion: fair; eyes: black; occupation: miller.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
Killed by Blackfeet in 1808 near Three Forks, Gallatin County, Montana, at about age thirty-two.
Estate probate proceedings began 6 January 1810 in St. Louis; Rufus Easton, William Russell, and William Massy executors; File 69.
No known marriages or children.¹⁹

Private George Shannon (1785–1836)

Born in 1785 in Claysville, Washington County, Pennsylvania.
Parents: George Shannon and Jane Mulligan.
Expedition service from 19 October 1803 to 10 October 1806; pay–$178.50.
Married Ruth Snowden Price on 19 September 1813 in Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky.
Died on 31 August 1836 in Palmyra, Marion County, Missouri, at about age fifty-one, of illness. Buried in unmarked grave in the Massie Mill Cemetery, one mile north of Palmyra, Missouri.
Children: Samuel Price, Mary Jane, Elizabeth Price, George Ross, Sarah Lavina, Anna Marie, William Russell.²⁰

Private John Shields (1769–1809)

Born in 1769 in Harrisonburg, Augusta County, Virginia.
Parents: Robert Shields and Nancy Stockton.
Married Nancy White about 1790.
Expedition service from 19 October 1803 to 10 October 1806; pay–$178.50.
Died in December of 1809 near Corydon, Harrison County, Indiana at age forty. Cause of death unknown, but death was apparently nonviolent. Reportedly buried in unmarked grave in Little Flock Baptist Church cemetery, south of Corydon.
Estate probate proceedings began in January of 1810 in Harrison County, Indiana; John Tipton (son-n-law) and Nancy Shields (widow) executors.
Children: Janette Martha (or Martha Janette). She married her cousin John Tipton about 1807; they were divorced in July 1817.²¹

Private John B. Thompson (?–ca. 1815)

Enlistment date: 20 February 1799; location: not listed; term: 5 years; age: not listed; height: not listed; rank: private; hair, complexion, and eyes: not listed; occupation: laborer; residence: Northhampton.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
Married Peggy.
Killed by July 1815; exact cause and location of death unknown.
He was a surveyor and cook on the Expedition. He may have lived in Indiana before the Expedition.²²

Private Peter M. Weiser (1781–?)

Born 3 October 1781 in Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Parents: John Philip Weiser and Barbara.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
No known marriages or children.
War of 1812 service from 22 April 1813 to 21 May 1813.
Killed by 1825-28; exact cause and location of death unknown.²³

Private William Werner (?–ca. 1839)

Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
Married around 1807; wife’s name is not known.
Apparently died about 1839 in Virginia.
Children: William, Jr. and several others, whose names are not known.²⁴

Private Joseph Whitehouse (ca. 1776–?)

Born about 1776 in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Parents: James Whitehouse and Sarah.
Height: 5’10”; hair: light brown; complexion: fair; eyes: hazel; occupation: skin dresser.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
Re-enlisted in the army in 1808 and again in 1812; served in the War of 1812. Re-enlisted in 1816 but deserted from the army on 1 February 1817.
Date of marriage and last name of wife unknown. Her first name was reportedly Mary.
Date and location of death unknown. May have died in the 1850s.
Children: Alfred Eldoris.²⁵

Private Alexander Hamilton Willard (1778–1865)

Born 24 August 1778 in Charlestown, Sullivan County, New Hampshire.
The plaque at Willard’s grave lists a birth date of 24 August 1778, which is consistent with the enlistment record of Willard’s being twenty-one years old in 1800. However, other family records give a birth date of July 1777, which is consistent with the obituary.
Parents: Jonathan Willard and Betty Caswell.
Enlistment date: 9 June 1800; location: Oxford, term: 5 years; age: 21; height: 5′ 10″; rank: artificer; hair: brown; complexion: dark; eyes: dark; occupation: blacksmith; residence: Charlestown, New Hampshire.
Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
Married Eleanor McDonald (4 July 1790-1 June 1868) on 14 February 1807 in Missouri.
Died 6 March 1865 in Franklin Township, Sacramento County, California at age 86. Buried in a well-identified grave in Franklin Cemetery, Georgetown (modern Franklin), Sacramento County, California.
Children: Austin James, George Clark, Alexander Hamilton, Eliza Martha, Roland Rudolph, Christina D., Joel, Nancy Adeline, Narcissa C., Eleanor C., Lewis Augustus, Willis.²⁶

Private Richard Windsor (dates unknown)

Expedition service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$166.66 2/3.
No known marriages or children.
Apparently died after 1825-28.²⁷

York (ca. 1772–?)

Born about 1772 in Virginia.
Parents: “Old York” and possibly Rose.
Expedition service for the entire time William Clark was involved; received no pay.
Married; wife’s name not known. No known children.
Died in Tennessee of cholera between 1816 and 1832.²⁸

George Drouillard (Drewer, Drewyer) (1773–1810)

Born December 1773 near Detroit; given name was Pierre; baptized 27 September 1775, Roman Catholic Assumption Church in Sandwich (opposite Detroit).
Parents: Pierre Drouillard and Asoundechris Flat Head.
Enlisted in Expedition 11 November 1803; official service from 1 January 1804 to 10 October 1806; pay–$833.33 1/3.
Killed by Blackfeet, April 1810 near Three Forks, Gallatin County, Montana, at age thirty-six.
Estate probate proceedings began on 10 January 1814 in St. Louis; Manuel Lisa executor; File 80.
No known marriages or children.²⁹

Toussiant Charbonneau (1767–ca. 1840)

Born 22 March 1767 in Boucherville, Quebec, Canada.
Parents: Jean Baptiste Charbonneau and Marguerite Deniau.
Took Sacagawea as a wife after buying her from the Hidatsa; had other wives but no documented children.
Expedition service from 7 April 1805 to 17 August 1806; pay–$409.16 2/3.
Died between 26 August 1839 and 14 August 1843–between the ages of seventy-two and seventy-six.
Children: Jean Baptiste, Lisette³⁰

Sacagawea (Sagajawea, Sakakawea) (ca. 1788–1812)

Born about 1788 in the area of Lemhi County, Idaho.
Kidnapped by the Hidatsa and carried into North Dakota around 1800. Subsequently sold to and became the wife of Touissaint Charbonneau.
Died 20 December 1812 at Fort Manuel, near Kenal, Corson County, South Dakota at about age 24.
Some postulate that she died April 9, 1884, approx. 96 years of age, and is buried on the Wind River Shoshone Indian Reservation, Ft. Washakie, Wyoming.
Children: Jean Baptiste and Lisette.³¹

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (Pomp, Pompy) (1805–1866)

Born 11 February 1805 at Fort Mandan, North Dakota
Parents: Toussaint Charbonneau and Sacagawea.
Died 16 May 1866 at Danner’s Station, Malheur County, Oregon and is buried there.
Child: Anton Fries, born 20 February 1829, died 15 May 1829, Bad Mergentheim, Germany. (The child’s mother was Anastasia Katharina Fries.)³²

Seaman

Lewis’ Newfoundland Dog

Footnotes

Heitman, 1:631; St. Louis and St. Louis County, Missouri Probate Records, 4; See Harry F. Thompson for information regarding claims that Lewis fathered an Indian son.
Heitman, 1:306; Holmberg, xxix-xxx.
Forrest, 219-22; Gass, 29; Jacob, 148-49, 170-93; Jackson, Letters, 2:649-5.
Dye Collection, Oregon Historical Society; John Ordway documents, Meriwether Lewis Papers, Missouri Historical Society; Koetting and Koetting.
Heitman, 1:808; Pryor; Nathaniel Pryor documents, Meriwether Lewis Papers, Missouri Historical Society.
Heroes, 97-98; Jackson, Letters 2:378; We Proceeded On [WPO] 28 [August 2002]; Wheeler, 2:94.
Clarke, 45; Collins family genealogical records supplied by Rita Cleary; Jackson, Letters, 1:345.
Carter, Territorial Papers, Louisiana-Missouri, 2:561-62; Clarke, 46-48; Colter-Frick 1:140-47.
Appleman, 16, 24-25; Yater, 2–4; Clarke, 48–49; Holmberg, Dear Brother, 93–94.
Appleman, 16, 24-25; Yater, 2-4; Clarke, 48-49; Holmberg, 93-94.
Clarke, 61; Colter-Frick, 1:247-61.
Clarke, 49; Jefferson County, Kentucky Deed Records, 21 March 1808 [copy obtained at the Filson Historical Society]; St. Louis and St. Louis County, Missouri Probate Records, 3-4.
Clarke, 50; Goodrich.
Appleby, 8; Company Book of Captains John Campbell and Robert Purdy, Moore, 21-24; Cumberland County Pennsylvania Tax Lists, 1768-1770. Egle, 265.
Clarke, 50; Egle, 265; Company Book of Captains John Campbell and Robert Purdy, Moore, 20-24.
St. Louis and St. Louis County, Missouri Probate Records; Clarke, 64; Fur Trade Ledgers, Missouri Historical Society; St. Louis Directory, 1821.
Colter-Frick, 142; St. Louis and St. Louis County, Missouri Probate Records, 4; La Page family records.
Ancestry World Tree ↑ Clarke, 50-51 ↑ International Genealogical Index
Clarke, 51; Company Book of Captains John Campbell and Robert Purdy, Moore, 21-24; St. Louis and St. Louis County, Missouri Probate Records, 4.
Denton; Dye Collection, Oregon Historical Society; Hagood; Holmberg, 152-53.
Harrison County Probate Files; Holmberg, Dear Brother, 97-98; Shields family records; Yater, 7-8.
Company Book of Amos Stoddard, Moore, 20-24; Clarke, 54; Missouri Gazette, 29 July 1815.
Clarke, 59; “War of 1812, Missouri Soldiers,” Missouri State Archives.
Census and marriage records of Montgomery County, Virginia, 1810-1830; Clarke, 54.
Cutright, 114, 146; Moulton; Whitehouse/White family genealogical records.
Descendants of Alexander Hamilton Willard Sr.; Company Book of Stoddard, Moore, 20–24.
Clarke, 59.
Betts [including the epilogue by James Holmberg]; John O’Fallon to William Clark, 13 May 1811; Kennerly, 12; McDermott 1:82.
Baptism Records of Assumption Church; Brown; Jackson, Letters, 2:378; Skarsten 18, 27; St. Louis and St. Louis County, Missouri Probate Records, 4.
FCA, 31-33; Joshua Pilcher to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 26 August 1839, Jackson, Letters, 2:648; Promissory note to Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, 14 August 1843, Sublette Papers, Missouri Historical Society.
Anderson.
Colby Susan M., Sacagawea’s Child: The Life and Times of Jean-Baptiste (Pomp) Charbonneau, Nelson, Dale, Interpreters with Lewis and Clark.