MERIWETHER
LEWIS
AND
THE IRON
FRAME BOAT
By
Charlie
Brown
Lewis first makes mention of the iron frame boat in a letter he writes to President Jefferson dated April 20, 1803. The letter is from the book The Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents by Donald Jackson. Lewis discusses many of the advance preparations he has made for the expedition including a rather lengthy report on the construction of the frame of his canoe. Did Lewis forward the plans of his boat to the federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia to have them make the frame of the canoe? When he arrived in Harper’s Ferry it seems he was not pleased with the progress that was being made and he needed to stay and personally direct the workers as to what he wanted. "My greatest difficulty was the frame of the canoe, which could not be completed without my personal attention to such portion of it as would enable the workman to understand the design perfectly…." Lewis also felt it was very important to test the boat. " I therefore resolved to g[i]ve it a fair trial, and accordingly prepared two sections of it with the same materials, of which they must of necessity be composed when completed for sevise on my voyage; they were of two desc[r]iptions, the one curved, or in the shape necessary for the stem and stern, the other simicilindrical, or in the form of those sections which constitute the body of the canoe."(See Illustration #1). This statement indicates that there were more than just those two sections that would make up the boat. He stated that the curved section is to be used for the stem and the stern (two sections). The other, a semicilindrical, or in the form of those sections which would make up the body of the boat. Sections is plural meaning that there could be more than just one section which would comprise the body of the boat. Under the heading "Dementions" (Lewis’ spelling) Lewis describes both sections of the boat: Curved Section: Length of Keel from junction of section to commencement of curve 1 foot 2 inches, Length of curve 4 feet 5 inches, Width of broad end (how wide is was) 4 feet 10 inches and Depth of broad end 2 feet 2 inches. Simicilindrical (sic) section is: Length of Keel 4 feet 6 inches, Length of Beam (width) 4 feet 10 inches and Debth of Hole 2 feet 2 inches. (See illustration #2) In the heading "Weight of the Materials" he lists the weight of all the materials used in both sections. Curved section: Iron 22 lbs., Hide 25 lbs., Wood 10 lbs., Bark 21 lbs., for a total of 78 lbs. Simicilindrical section: Iron 22 lbs., Hide 30 lbs., Wood 10 lbs., Bark 25 lbs., for a total of 89 lbs. Listed here is the weight of the iron used in the two test sections which is 22 pounds, and which is very important to determine the weight of the boat. Under the next heading "Necessary to be transported by land" is where the misconception of the weight arises. Lewis lists the weight of the iron and hide of the curved section as 47 lbs and the weight of the iron and hide of the simicilindrical section as 52 lbs. For a total weight of 99 lbs, the general accepted weight of the boat. Also under the same heading is the burthen weight, first of the curved section as 850 lbs, and of the simicilindrical section of 920 lbs., for a total burthen of 1,770 lbs. To further perpetuate the misconception of the total weight of the boat and the burthen weight is what Lewis states next "Thus the weight of this vessel competent to the burthen of 1,770 lbs. Amount to no more than 99 lbs. The bark and wood, when it becomes necessary to transport the vessel to any considerable distances, may be discarded…" At this point we do not know how many total sections of the boat there are or the total length of the boat. However, later in the same letter Lewis does say "I was induced from the result of this experiment to direct the iron frame of the canoe to be completed". This helps to indicate that they were more sections of the boat to be completed than just the two test sections.
The boat is mentioned under Lewis's list of requirements in a group of letters dated June 30, 1803 under the heading "Means of Transportation". This included the keeled boat, 1 frame of canoe 40 feet long, 1 large wooden canoe, 12 spikes for setting poles, 4 boat hooks and points complete and 2 chains and pad-locks for confining the boat and canoes.
The next mention of the iron frame boat came from an article printed from a Kentucky Paper dated Oct 29, no year is given, presumably 1803 as they were heading down the Ohio River. It states "They have the iron frame of a boat, intended to be covered with fkins [skins], which can, by fcrews, [screws] be formed into one or four, as may fest [best] fuits [suit] their purpofes [purposes]. About 60 men will compofe [compose] the party." It is interesting that the iron boat commanded a mention in this article. But it does give a small foreshadowing of how the boat will be completed. It is also interesting to note the total number which will make up the expedition.
The next mention of the iron frame boat comes from a letter from Lewis to President Jefferson from Fort Mandan, Saturday April 7th, 1805. The mention of the boat is very brief but again talks about when the boat will be put into use by the expedition. "Our baggage is all embarked on board six small canoes and two perogues: we shall set out at the same moment that we dispatch the barge. One or perhaps, both of these perogues we shall leave at the falls of the Missouri, from whence we intend continuing our voyage in the canoes and a perogue of skins, the frame of which was prepared at Harper's ferry. This perogue is now in a situation which will enable us to prepare it in the course of a few hours." Little did Lewis realize how much time he would actually take in construction of his perogue of skins.
The following will be a day to day account of the construction of the iron frame boat using Gary Moultan's book The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition vol-4. The quotes used pertain only to the construction of the iron frame boat and the dots within the quotes indicate that there were parts of Lewis's entries for that day were omitted Lewis's spelling and word usage are kept within the quotes.
Lewis begins to think about the construction of his boat as he travels up the Missouri, Monday, May 13, 1805 "…. the party killed several deer and some Elk principally for the benefit of their skins which are necessary to them for clothing, the Elk skins I now begin to reserve for making the leather boat at the falls…." Lewis again mentions the need for elk skins on Sunday June 2, 1805 as they continue up the Missouri not knowing of a large northern fork in the river which will cause some hesitation as to which direction to take. "…Game becoming more abundant this morning and I thought it best now to loose no time to loose or suffer an opportunity to escape in providing the necessary quantity of Elk's skins to cover my leather boat which I now expect I shall be obliged to use shortly…." Lewis again mentions the need for elk skins on Thursday June 6, 1805 for the boat as he makes his return trip down Maria's River as he concludes his exploration of the river. "…I therefore determined to abandon the rafts and return as we had come, by land. I regreted much being obliged to leave my Elk's skins, which I wanted to assist in forming my leather boat; those we had prepared at Fort Mandan being injured in such manner that they would not answer….." Lewis begins to mention his plans for the iron frame boat on Sunday, June 16, 1805 "we deterimined (sic) to leave the white perogue at this place, and substitute the Iron boat, and also to make a further deposit of a part of our stores." Now Lewis and the men begin many hours of work on his iron frame boat. Monday, June 17, 1805 Lewis gives an indication that he was thinking about his boat earlier as he had some elk skins ready but they had been damaged. "I found that the elk skins I had prepared for my boat were insufficient to complete her, some of them having become dammaged by the weather and being frequently wet: to make up this deficiency I sent out two hunters this morning to hunt elk…" Lewis continues "examined the frame of my Iron boat and found all the parts complete except one screw, which the ingenuity of Shields can readily replace…" Lewis becomes somewhat worried already as the hunters do not bring back any elk "I begin to fear that we shall have some difficulty in procuring skins for the boat. I would prefer those of the Elk because I believe them more durable and strong than those of the Buffaloe, and that they will not shrink so much in drying." Wednesday June 19, 1805 Lewis states "I also dispatched George Drewyer Reubin Fields and George Shannon on the North side of the Missouri with orders to proceed to the entrance of Medecine river and indeavour to kill Elk in that neighbourhood." Obviously, Lewis is sending out hunters looking for elk skins for his boat. Later Lewis states "had the frame of my Iron boat clensed of rust and well greased." Lewis is readying the boat to portage to upper camp to begin construction. Friday, June 21st, 1805 "….having determined to go to the upper part of the portage tomorrow; in order to prepare my boat and receive and take care of the stores transported, I caused the Iron frame of the boat and the necessary tools my private baggage and Instruments to be taken as a part of this load, also the baggage of Joseph Fields, Sergt. Gass and John shields, whom I had selected to assist me in constructing the leather boat. Th[r]ee men were employed today in shaving the Elk skins which had been collected for the boat …..I readily preceive difficulties in preparing the leather boat which are the want of convenient and proper timber; bark, skins, and above all that of pitch to pay her seams, a deficiency that I really know not how to surmount unless it be by means of tallow and pounded charcoal which mixture has answered a very good purpose on our wooden canoes heretofore….." Lewis now begins to realize that some of the materials he needs to complete the boat might not be available to him, primarily pine pitch that which was going to be used to waterproof the boat. There is no journal entry for Lewis on the 22nd as that was the first portage. Sunday, June 23rd, 1805, "This morning early I selected a place for the purpose of constructing my boat near the water under some shady willows. Capt Clark had the Canoe and baggage brought up,….. I employed the three men with me in the forenoon clearing away the brush and forming our camp, and putting the frame of the boat together. This being done I sent Shields and Gass to look out for the necessary timber, and with J. Fields decended the river in the canoe to the mouth of Medicine river in surch of the hunters whom I had dispatched thither on the 19th inst. and from whom we had not heard a sentence." Monday, June 24th, 1805 Lewis spent much of the day collecting meat and looking for Ruebin Fields and George Drewyer who had returned to lower portage camp who were worried that Shannon was lost again, and actually he was with Joseph Fields and Lewis up the Medicine River. Lewis-"…the iron frame of my boat is 36 feet long 4 1/2 f. in the beam and 26 Inches in the hole…..on my arrival at the upper camp this morning, I found that Sergt. Gass and Shields had made but slow progress in collecting timber for the boat; they complained of great difficulty in getting streight or even tolerably streight sticks of 4 1/2 feet long. We were obliged to make use of the willow and box elder, the cottonwood being to soft and brittle. I kept one of them collecting timber while the other shaved and fitted them. I have found some pine logs among the drift wood near this place, from which, I hope to obtain as much pitch as will answer to pay the seams of the boat. I directed Fraizer to remain in order to sew the hides together, and form the covering for the boat." Tuesday, June 25th, 1805, "…at eight OClk . sent Gass and Shields over to the large Island for bark and timber….about 2 P. M Shields and Gass returned with but a small quantity of both bark and timber and informed me that it was all they could find on the Island; they had killed two Elk the skins of which and a part of the flesh they brought with them. In the evening Drewyer and Frazier arrivd with about 800 lbs. of excellent dryed meat and about 100 lbs of tallow" Wednesday, June 26th, 1805, "The musquetoes are extremely troublesome to us. This morning early I dispatched J. Fields and Drewyer in one of the canoes up the river to hunt Elk. set Frazier at work to sew the skins together for the covering of the boat. Shields and Gas I sent over the river to surch a small timbered bottom on that side opposite to the Islands for timber and bark; …..about 4 P. M. Shields and Gass returned with a better supply of timber than they had collected tho' not by any means enough. They brought some bark principally of the Cottonwood which I found was too brittle and soft for the purpose; for this article I find my only dependence is the sweet willow which has a tough & strong bark…. if I cannot procure sufficient quantity of Elk's skins I shall substitute those of the buffaloe." Thursday, June 27th 1805 "…Whitehouse was not quite well this morning I therefore detained him and about 10 A. M. set him at work with Frazier sewing the skins together for the boat; Shields and Gass continued the operation of shaving and fiting the horizontall bars of wood in the sections of the boat; the timber is so crooked and indifferent that they make but little progress,….Drewyer and J Fields returned...They had killed 9 Elk…." Friday, June 28th, 1805 "Set Drewyer to shaving the Elk skins, Fields to make the cross stays for the boat, Frazier and Whitehouse continue their operation with the skins, Shields and Gass finish the horizontal bars of the sections; after which I sent them in surch of willow bark, a sufficient supply of which they now obtained to bind the boat...not having quite Elks skins enough I employed three buffaloe hides to cover one section. Not being able to shave these skins I had them singed pretty closely with a blazeing torch; I think they will answer tolerable well." Saturday, June 29th, 1805 "…. Not having seen the large fountain of which Capt. Clark spoke I determined to visit it today as I could better spare this day from my attention to the boat than probably any other when the work would be further advanced; accordingly after seting the hands at their several employments I took Drewyer and seet out for the fountain……" Sunday, June 30th, 1805 "…. Frazier and Whitehouse still continue their operation of sewing the skins together. I set Shields and gass to shaving bark and Fields continued to make the cross brases. Drewyer and myself rendered a considerable quantity of tallow and cooked…..This evening the bark was shaved and the leather covering for the sections were also completed and I had them put into the water, in order to toughen the bark, and prepare the leather for sewing on the sections in the morning it has taken 28 Elk skins and 4 Buffaloe skins to complete her. The cross bars are also finished this evening; we have therefore only the way strips now to obtain in order to complete the wood work, and this I fear will be a difficult task…" Monday, July 1st, 1805 "This morning I set Frazier and Whitehouse to sewing the leather on the sides of the sections of the boat; Shields and J. Fields to collect and split light wood and prepare a pit to make tar. Gas I set at work to make the way strips out of some willow limbs which tho' indifferent were the best which could be obtained….by evening the skins were all attached to their sections and I returned them again to the water. All matters were now in readiness to commence the operation of putting the parts of the boat together in the morning. The way strips are not yet ready but will be done in time as I have obtained the necessary timber. The difficulty in obtaining the necessary materials has retarded my operations in forming this boat extreemly tedious and troublesome; and as it was a novel piece of machinism to all who were employed my constant attention was necessary to every part of the work; this together with the duties of chief cook has kept me pretty well employed……I directed Bratton to assist in making the tar tomorrow, and selected several others to assist in putting the boat together……" Tuesday, July 2nd, 1805 "…Shields and Bratton seting their tarkiln, Sergts. Pryor and Gass at work on the waystrips and myself and all other hands engaged in putting the boat together which we accomplished in about 3 hours and I then set four men at work sewing the leather over the cross bars of Iron on the inner side of the boat, which form the ends of the sections." Wednesday, July 3rd, 1805 "This morning we employed all hands: some were making tar or attempting to make it, others were attatching the skins on the boat, other cuting and fiting the bark for lining putting in the woodworke &c some hunters were sent out to kill buffaloe in order to make pemecon to take with us and also for their skins which we now wa[n]t to cover our baggage in the boat and canoes when we depart from hence…..our tar-kiln which ought to have began to run this morning has yealded no tar as yet and I am much afraid will not yeald any, if so I fear the whole operation of my boat will be useless. I fear I have committed another blunder also in sewing the skins with a nedle which has sharp edges these have cut the skin and as it drys I discover that the throng dose not fill the holes as I expected tho' I made them sew with a large throng for that purpose……we have got the boat pretty well forward today and think we shall be able to complete her tomorrow except paying her, to do which will require some little time to make her perfectly dry. She has assumed her shape and looks extreemly well. She will be very light, more so than any vessel of her size I ever saw. Thursday, July 4th, 1805 "….no appearance of tar yet and I am now confident that we shall not be able to obtain any; a serious misfortune. I employed a number of hands on the boat today and by 4 P. M. in the evening completed her except the most difficult part of the work that of making her seams secure. I had her turned up and some small fires kindled underneath to dry her… " Friday, July 5th, 1805 "This morning I had the boat removed to an open situation, scaffold her off the ground, turned her keel to the sun and kindled fires under her to dry her more expediciously. I set a couple of men to pounding of charcoal to form a composition with some beeswax which we have and buffaloe tallow now my only hope and resource for paying my boat; I sincerely hope it may answer yet I feel it will not. the boat in every other rispect completely answers my most sanguine expectation; she is not yet dry and eight men carry her with the greatest ease; she is strong and will carry at least 8,000 lbs. With her suit of hands; her form is as complete as I could wish it. The stiches begin to gape very much since she has began to dry; I am now convinced this would not have been the case had the skins been sewed with a sharp point only and the leather not cut by the edges of a sharp nedle. Saturday, July 6th, 1805 "….These showers and gusts keep my boat wet in dispite of my exertions. She is not yet ready for the grease and coal." Sunday, July 7th, 1805 "The weather warm and cloudy therefore unfavorable for many operations; I keep small fires under the boat; the blowing flies are innumerable about it; the moisture retained by the bark prevents it from drying as fast as it otherwise would….I have prepared my composition which I should have put on this evening but the rain prevented me." Monday, July 8th, 1805 "….The day being warm and fair about 12 OCk. The boat was sufficiently dry to receive a coat of the composition which I accordingly applied. This adds very much to her appearance whether it will be effectual or not. it gives her hull the appearance of being formed of one solid piece. After the first coat had cooled I gave her a second which I think has made it sufficiently thick…" Tuesday, July 9th, 1805 "……we corked the canoes and put them in the water and also launched the boat, she lay like a perfect cork on the water, five men would carry her with the greatest ease. I now directed seats to be fixed in her and oars to be fitted. The men loaded the canoes in readiness to depart……the wind continued violent untill late in the evening, by which time we discovered that a greater part of the composition had seperated from the skins and left the seams of the boat exposed to the water and she leaked in such manner that she would not answer. I need not add that this circumstances mortifyed me not a little; and to prevent her leaking without pich was impossible with us, and to obtain this article was equally impossible, therefore the evil was irraparable I now found that the section formed of the buffaloe hides on which some hair had been left, answered much the best purpose; this leaked but little and the parts which were well covered with hair about 1/8th of an inch in length retained the composition perfectly and remained sound and dry. From these circumstances I am preswaided, that had I formed her with buffaloe skins singed not quite as close as I had done those I employed, that she would have answered even with this composition. But to make any further experiments in our present situation seemed to me madness; the buffaloe had principally dserted us, and the season was now advancing fast. I therefore relinquished all further hope of my favorite boat and ordered her to be sunk in the water, that the skins might become soft in order the better to take her in pieces tomorrow and deposit the iron fraim at this place as it could probably be of no further service to us. Had I only singed my Elk skins in stead of shaving them I believe the composition would have remained and the boat have answered; at least untill we could have reached pine country which must be in advance of us from the pine which is brought down by water and which is probably at no great distance where we might have supplyed ourselves with the necessary pich or gum. But it was now too late to introduce a remidy and I bid a dieu to my boat, and her expected services. The next difficulty which presented itself was how we should convey the stores and baggage which we had purposed carrying in the boat." This had to be an utter disappointment to Lewis he had spent many, many hours on the boat and then to have it fail miserably. The Expedition spent many extra days in the Great Falls area working on the boat where they could have been moving up river. The next mention of the boat is nearly a year to the day that they left the Great Falls area in 1805, Monday, July 14, 1806 "….Had the carriage wheels dug up. Found them in good order. The iron frame of the boat had not suffered materially…." This is Lewis' only mention of the frame of the boat and his last. This raises several questions as to what happened to the frame of the boat. Did Gass and Ordway take it down river with them for Indian presents? Did Lewis take it with him to trade with the Blackfeet Indians, or did he leave it there somewhere along the banks of the muddy Missouri? This leaves the chapter unfinished on the iron frame boat and keeps alive many daunting questions about the final resting place of Lewis's great experiment.
The diagrams that accompany this manuscript are the author's rendition of what the iron frame boat might have looked like. There is at this time no evidence as to what the iron boat actually looked like. The pictures that also accompany this manuscript are taken from the annual Lewis and Clark Festival that takes place the last weekend of June every year in Great Falls, Montana. The characters in the pictures are from the Lewis and Clark Honor Guard a sub group of the Portage Route Chapter of the National Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail Foundation. The Lewis and Clark Honor Guard is a volunteer historical re-enactment group dedicated to teach the public about Lewis and Clark's experiences in the Great Falls area. The Lewis and Clark Honor Guard have been researching the iron frame boat since 1993 and have built a replica of the boat which is on display at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls, Montana and annually at the festival.
Jackson, Donald, ed., Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854 2nd edition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978.
Moulton, Gary. ed., The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Vols. 4, 8, 9 &11 Lincoln:University of Nebraska Press, 1988.
THE TWO TEST SECTIONS
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THE CURVED SECTION
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SIMICILINDRICAL SECTION
ILLUSTRATION #1
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TOP VIEW SIDE VIEW
CURVED SECTION CURVED SECTION
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TOP VIEW END VIEW OF
SIMICILINDRICAL SECTION SECTIONS
ILLUSTRATION #2
Charlie Brown has been a teacher
for the past 19 years and holds a BA in History and Physical Education from
Concordia College, Moorhead, MN. Charlie has taught in the Fairfield Public
School system since 1991 and currently teaching U. S. History, Government and
World Geography. He worked for three summers in park maintenance at Giant
Springs/Heritage State Park for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and
Parks. Charlie has been a member of the Lewis and Clark Honor Guard since Sept
of 1991. Charlie was a presenter at the National Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage
Foundation's Annual meeting in July of 1998. He is also a member of the Portage
Route Chapter and the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. Charlie has
re-enacted the story of Lewis and Clark before more than 40,000 people.