Bill Speiden's Weekly Articles

Lewis and Clark This Week | April 18, 2005 | Back
By Bill Speiden, Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center

Plains Indian scaffold burial

In the spring of 1805 The Corps of Discovery was heading upstream on the Missouri River under instructions from President Thomas Jefferson to find the Northwest Passage, open trade connections with the Indians, find and report on the flora and fauna they encountered and, last but not least, map the territory. Not realizing that Wooly Mammoths had been extinct for thousands of years, Thomas Jefferson also instructed the Corps to determine whether or not mammoths still roamed the West.

The Corps had no modern k-rations and few dried provisions. Dependent on living off the land, their hunting continued, and improved as they went west, leaving behind the winter hunting ranges of the Assiniboin and the Hidatsa/Mandan Indian villages.

Plains Indian Burial Practices:
On the Plains the deceased were often wrapped in buffalo hides and placed on (or sometimes under) a seven to eight foot high scaffold platform (see photo) exposed to the elements and carrion eating animals. Families and friends would come to the scaffolds to mourn. When the bones were cleaned by animals and dried, they were gathered in bundles and buried.

From the Journals Week of April 18, 1805:

April 18, 1805:
"This morning was fine and we went very well until 1 o'clock, when the wind blew so hard down the river, we were obliged to lie to for 3 hours, after which we continued our voyage.we came about 14 miles." Sergeant Gass

April 20:
"I walked on shore.killed two deer, wounded an Elk and a deer; saw the remains of some Indian camp, near which stood a small scaffold of about 7 feet high.underneath this scaffold a human body was lying, well rolled in several dressed buffalow skins and near it a bag.containing sundry articles belonging to the disceased." Captian Lewis

April 21:
"a hard frost last night. Froze water in the buckets Setting near the fire.we proceeded on.Capt. Clark went on the S.S. [south side of the river] to hunt. Came to us at dinner, had killed 4 deer.Some of the men killed 2 buffalow Calfs. & one Elk." Sergeant Ordway

April 22:
"I ascended to the top of the cutt bluff this morning, from whence I had a most delightful view of the country.the vally formed by the Missouri is void of timber or underbrush, exposing to the first glance.immence herds of Buffalow, Elk, deer, & Antelopes feeding in one common and boundless pasture." Captain Lewis

April 23:
"the wind arose, and shortly after became so violent that we were enabled to get the canoes and pirogues into a place of tolerable safety.some of the canoes shipped water, and wet several parsels of their lading, which I directed to be opened and aired we remained until five in the evening when.we reloaded and proceeded." Captain Lewis

April 24:
"Soar eyes is a common complaint among the party. I believe it originates from the immence quantities of sand which is driven by the wind from the sandbars of the river in such clouds that you are unable to discover the opposite bank of the river in many instances." Captain Lewis

Next week: Buffalo, elk and antelope herds proliferate; beavers become commonplace; and Sacagawea's knowledge of edible wild plants proves helpful.

Note: The Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center in Charlottesville has a full-scale keelboat in the Rivanna River; it has also embarked on a fundraising campaign to create a hands-on center for children of all ages to explore what Lewis and Clark discovered.