Hugh McNeal was a private in the Corps of Discovery remembered for two notable episodes. At Lemhi Pass on August 12, 1805, when Lewis reached the headwaters of the Missouri, McNeal “exultingly stood with a foot on each side of this rivulet and thanked his god that he had lived to bestride the mighty & heretofore deemed endless Missouri.”
McNeal also had a harrowing encounter with a grizzly bear. While traveling alone, he came upon a bear at close range. His horse threw him, and the bear approached. McNeal struck the bear on the head with his rifle, breaking the stock, then scrambled up a tree where he remained until the bear left after dark.
These vivid incidents make McNeal one of the more memorable minor characters in the expedition journals, despite his otherwise modest role.
