Seaman Tormented by Mosquitoes on the Missouri

Lewis recorded one of his most vivid and sympathetic descriptions of Seaman’s suffering during the expedition. The mosquitoes along the upper Missouri were so thick and relentless that Seaman howled with pain throughout the night. Lewis wrote that the dog’s cries were pitiful to hear and that the insects were so numerous they made it impossible for anyone—man or dog—to sleep.

“My dog even howls with the torture he experiences from them,” Lewis wrote, a rare admission that the expedition’s conditions were pushing all of them past their limits. The mosquitoes bit through clothing, drove into eyes and nostrils, and attacked every inch of exposed skin. For Seaman, whose thick Newfoundland coat might have offered some protection on his body, the insects concentrated their assault on his face, ears, and nose.

The mosquito plagues were a recurring theme in the expedition journals from the Great Plains through the Rocky Mountains. They were more than a mere annoyance—they caused real suffering and sapped the strength of men and animals alike. That Lewis took the time to note Seaman’s distress specifically, amid all the hardships the men themselves were enduring, speaks to the genuine compassion he felt for his four-legged companion.