Joseph Field Archives - Lewis & Clark Research Database https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/key-figure/joseph-field/ A digital archive of treaties, documents, artwork, and 360° trail panoramas from the Corps of Discovery Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:45:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Bighorn Sheep https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/wildlife/bighorn-sheep/ Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:52:31 +0000 https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/wildlife/bighorn-sheep/ Joseph Field became the first expedition member to see a live bighorn sheep on April 26, 1805, during a reconnaissance up the Yellowstone River. On May 25, 1805, Drouillard killed the first specimen, which Lewis...

The post Bighorn Sheep appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> Audubon bighorn of Plains once thought a different species, or subspecies of mountain bighorn, now seen as extinct race.

The post Bighorn Sheep appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> American Bison https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/wildlife/american-bison/ Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:52:31 +0000 https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/wildlife/american-bison/ While the American bison was already known to science, Lewis and Clark documented the vast herds of the Great Plains in unprecedented detail. The first signs were noted near Boonville, Missouri, on June 6, 1804,...

The post American Bison appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> The major source of food on Great Plains. First herd seen by Corps near Kansas River, first one shot near Elk Point, SD.

The post American Bison appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> Lewis Accidentally Shot by Cruzatte https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/journal/lewis-accidentally-shot-by-cruzatte/ Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:34:32 +0000 https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/journal/lewis-accidentally-shot-by-cruzatte/ Just opposite to the burned hills I was in the act of firing on some Elk when a ball struck my left thye about an inch below my hip joint. I instantly supposed that Cruzatte had shot me in mistake for an Elk as I was dressed in brown leather.

The post Lewis Accidentally Shot by Cruzatte appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> In one of the expedition’s most bizarre incidents, Lewis was shot in the left buttock by the one-eyed Pierre Cruzatte during an elk hunt. Lewis initially believed it might be a Blackfeet attack.

“I instantly supposed that Cruzatte had shot me in mistake for an Elk as I was dressed in brown leather.”

The ball passed through the fleshy part of his buttock without hitting bone. Lewis dressed the wound himself and spent the next several weeks lying face-down in a canoe. Cruzatte denied firing the shot, but Lewis found a ball in his own leggings that matched Cruzatte’s short rifle.

This was Lewis’s last journal entry for several weeks as he recovered from the wound. It was also, effectively, the end of his journal writing for the expedition — a circumstance that has frustrated historians ever since.

The post Lewis Accidentally Shot by Cruzatte appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]>