Aside from the Captains, George Drouillard contributed more to the success of the expedition than perhaps any other single member. From his earlier life, to accounts of his vital contributions to the expedition, to his brief lifetime following the return to St Louis, it is possible to follow his journey and get a relatively complete picture of the man that Lewis and Clark held in such high esteem.
Originally, Drouillard was not meant to be part of the expedition. His position as an interpreter was offered to a man named John Conner (Skarsten). Conner was never hired though, and Drouillard was brought on at Fort Kaskaskia in his place. Drouillard’s father was French and his mother was Shawnee. He was proficient in French as well as several Native American languages, and a widely practiced Great Plains sign language. These skills, along with his talent as a hunter and pathfinder, would prove invaluable to the success of the expedition.
Both the Captains’ journals, and the responsibilities that they delegated to Drouillard, speak to the trust and respect that they held for the man. He was entrusted to run letters back and forth between Lewis and Clark during the winter of 1803-1804, when they were camped separately preparing to depart up the Missouri River. Drouillard was also the man sent after the deserters, men referred to as Reed and La Liberte, in early August 1804 (Skarsten).
Over the following months of travel, Drouillard proved why that esteem was so well-deserved. He was a talented riverboat pilot, involved in at least two recorded incidents in which he prevented the boats from upsetting and losing valuable time and supplies (Skarsten). He assisted with navigation and was a member of many successful hunting parties that provided the corps with much needed resources. Perhaps most importantly, his abilities as an interpreter made him a vital part of interactions and negotiations with the Native American peoples that the expedition encountered (Skarsten).
Drouillard was a member of the party that journeyed all the way to the Pacific Ocean, before returning to St. Louis. There, he became a fur trader in partnership with Manuel Lisa. The remainder of his life, in this profession, is well documented and tragically short. On a trapping venture in 1810, just 4 years after the expedition concluded, Drouillard was killed in a conflict with the Blackfeet (Skarsten).
Work Cited:
- Skarsten, M. O. (1964). George Drouillard, Hunter and interpreter for Lewis and Clark and fur trader, 1807-1810. Arthur H. Clark Co.
