Lewis and Clark recruited 11 men from the garrison at Ft. Kaskaskia, which resides in Randolph County, Illinois. According to the Illinois State Museum, archeologists at the Southern Illinois University recently uncovered previously unknown remains of the American Fort Kaskaskia, which is approximately 100 yards north of the French Ft. Kaskaskia (“‘Bound to the Western Waters’: The Discovery of Lewis and Clark’s Long-Lost Outpost of Ft. Kaskaskia Illinois State Museum”). After the revolution, many Americans settled in and around Kaskaskia, joining the original settlers. By the time of the expedition, many farmhouses inhabited by American settlers populated the region around the Wood River (Lankiewicz, 118).
Up until 1754, Francois Vallé and his family resided in Kaskaskia. Francois was a wealthy landowner, miner, trader, and businessman. He was considered the wealthiest man in Upper Louisiana (Ekberg). His son, Jean Baptiste Vallé would appear in Lewis and Clark’s journal entries. Francois would return to Kaskaskia from his new residence in Ste. Genevieve in 1755 to witness the marriage of two people he enslaved (Ekberg, 36). After moving to St. Genevieve, Francois bought a house in Kaskaskia at auction of the deceased Louis Turpin (Ekberg, 41). While it is unknown exactly why Francois bought the house, it was likely that the changing political landscape influenced his decision. Francois may have been hedging his bets if war had broken out west of the Mississippi, and bought the house to move his family in case of hostilities (Ekberg, 41). As of 1780 there were intense anti-American sentiments in the region, mostly in Cahokia, but also in Kaskaskia.
Located west of the Mississippi River, researchers noted that due to the flood of 1881 and shifting latitudes, after camping at the lower point of Horse Island, the expedition headed west around Kaskaskia Island. Latitudes shift because of the movement of the north and south magnetic poles. One survey in 2007 found that the North Magnetic Pole was moving north-northwest at about 34 miles per year. The Mississippi River now flows east of Kaskaskia, and Kaskaskia is no longer an island (Criss, 6). Despite several court challenges, Kaskaskia belongs to Illinois.
On November 28, 1803, the expedition arrived at Kaskaskia, and separated. While Clark and the rest of the party remained with the boat, Lewis entered Kaskaskia and met with Captains Russell Bissell, an infantry company commander, and Amos Stoddard, an artillery company commander, and informed them that he would be selecting candidates for the expedition from among their men (Salmon, 25). According to the journals, Lewis remained in Kaskaskia until December 5, 1803 and left on horseback to eventually meet the expedition in Cahokia on December 9. The ability to select volunteers for the expedition was found in a letter from the Secretary of War, Henry Dearborn. Dearborn wrote: “If any man in your Company should be disposed to join Capt. Lewis…you will detach them accordingly” (Woodger & Toropov, 194). Among the 12 men selected from Kaskaskia were Jean-Baptiste Deschamps, Francois Labiche, and Pierre Cruzatte (Royot, 167). Another man, Patrick Gass, was also selected. However, his recruitment posed some difficulty, as Captain Bissell hesitated to let him go since he was the only skilled carpenter assigned to Bissell’s unit. After Gass’s persistence and Lewis’s intervention, Bissell was forced to let Gass go (Woodger & Toropov, 194). Deschamps accompanied the expedition from Camp Dubois to Ft. Mandan (Royot, 167).
One of the most prominent members of the French trading colony was Pierre Ménard, in Cahokia, some 50 miles north along the Mississippi from Kaskaskia. Menard opened a store in Kaskaskia in 1789 and entered into a partnership with Francois Vallée (Royot, 97, 98). Vallée was a success in his own right, and the members of the expedition in 1804 should have known the family with their holdings. Vallée died in 1783, but he had become the richest man in a 500-mile radius (Ekberg, 17).
Kaskaskia continued to have relevance for at least one member of the expedition. Sergeant Patrick Gass, after his discharge from the expedition returned to Fort Kaskaskia. Gass was working there as the commissary assistant when the War of 1812 broke out. In 1813, Gass was stationed near St. Louis with a detachment assigned to monitor Indian activity.(Bridgman; Jacob).
References
- “‘Bound to the Western Waters’: The Discovery of Lewis and Clark’s Long-Lost Outpost of Ft. Kaskaskia | Illinois State Museum.” Illinoisstatemuseum.org, 2021, www.illinoisstatemuseum.org/content/%E2% 80%9Cbound-western-waters%E2%80%9D-discovery-lewis-and-clark%E2%80%99s-long-lost-outpost-ft-kaskaskia. Accessed 5 Oct. 2021.
- Bridgman, T. L. (2005). Sergeant Patrick Gass. Army Sergeants Major Academy Fort Bliss, TX, United States, https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1111537.pdf. Accessed 5 Nov. 2021.
- Criss, Robert E. "Mid-continental magnetic declination: A 200-year record starting with Lewis and Clark." GSA Today 13.10 (2003): 4-12.
- Ekberg, Carl J. François Vallé and His World: Upper Louisiana Before Lewis and Clark. United States, University of Missouri Press, 2002.
- Jacob, John G. The Life and Times of Patrick Gass, 1859.
- Lankiewicz, Donald P. "The Camp on Wood River: A Winter of Preparation for the Lewis and Clark Expedition." Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984) 75.2 (1982): 115-120.
- National Centers for Environmental Information, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2022). Tracking changes in Earth’s magnetic poles. Retrieved from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/tracking-changes-earth-magnetic-poles.
- Royot, Daniel. Divided Loyalties in a Doomed Empire: The French in the West: from New France to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. University of Delaware Press, 2007.
- Salmon, John S. "Lewis and Clark Eastern Legacy Study." (2007).
- Woodger, Elin, and Toropov, Brandon. Encyclopedia of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. United States, Facts on File, Incorporated, 2014.
- Picture found at https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g35950-d4437447-Reviews-Fort_Kaskaskia_State_Historic_Site-Ellis_Grove_Illinois.html#/media-atf/4437447/477974777:p/?albumid=-160&type=0&category=-160
