The
Lewis and Clark expedition resulted in the discovery
or observation of more than 300 plants and animals.
Below is a sampling of those discovered. All
excerpts are taken from the actual journals of
Lewis and Clark during their three year expedition.
"In
the evening we saw a Brown or Grisley beare
on a sand beech, I went out with one man Geo
Drewyer & Killed the bear,
which was verry large and a turrible looking
animal, which we found verry hard to kill we
Shot ten Balls into him before we killed him, & 5
of those Balls through his lights This animal
is the largest of the carnivorous kind I ever
saw we had nothing that could way him, I think
his weight may be stated at 500 pounds [227
kilograms].... we had him skined and divided,
the oile tried up & put in Kegs for use."
May
16, 1805 - The
morning was fair and the day proved favorable
to our operations . . . in the early part
of the day two of our men fired on a panther,
a little below our encampment, and wounded
it; they informed us that it was very large,
had just killed a deer partly devoured it,
and in the act of concealing the ballance
as they discovered him.
June
14, 1805 - (probably a wolverine) In returning
through the level bottom of Medecine river
and about 200 yards distant from the Missouri,
my direction led me directly to an anamal
that I at first supposed was a wolf. But
on nearer approach or about sixty paces distant
I discovered that it was not. Its colour
was a brownish yellow; it was standing near
it's burrow, and when I approached it thus
nearly, it couched itself down like a cat
looking immediately at me as if it designed
to spring on me.
First
noted: September 7, 1804, in Boyd County,
Nebraska. " Just
above the entrance of Teapot creek on the
star'd side there is a large assemblage of
the burrows of the Barking Squirrel." Lewis described
the their barkings as those of "little toy dogs."
He was so enamored with these creatures that
he sent a live one to Thomas Jefferson in Washington.
First
Noted: August 24, 1805, in Lemhi County,
Idaho. There is only one recorded sighting
of the mountain goat on the expedition, called
"mountain sheep" by Lewis and Clark.
These animals occurred high in the mountains,
often amdist the forbidding glaciers. Lewis
bought the skin of a mountain goat from local
Indians near the Columbia River.
First
Noted: February 6, 1804 at Camp Dubois.
Lewis called the Badger the barking dog of
the prairie. The following description was
written at Fort Clatsop on February 26, 1806: "His
Shape & Size
is like that of a Beaver, his head mouth &c.
is like a Dogs with Short Ears, his Tail and
Hair like that of a Ground Hog, and longer,
and lighter." Lewis was espeially impressed
with its claws, which he measured at 3/4 of
an inch in length.
April
11, 1805 - "Saw some large white cranes pass
up the river." Lewis and Clark were almost
certainly describing the Whooping Crane as
they traversed the Columbia River. Today,
the Whooping Crane is an exceedingly rare
sight and is considered critically endangered.
First
Noted: June 22, 1805, at Great Falls, Cascade
County, Montana. In his journal, Lewis compares
this newly discovered meadowlark (that he
killed) with the eastern meadowlark. According
to Lewis, the western meadowlark "much resembles
the bird called the oldfield lark with a
yellow brest and a black spot on the croop;
tho' this differs from ours in the form of
the tail which is pointed, being formed of
feathers of unequal length; the beak is somewhat
longer and more curved and the note differs
considerably; however in size, action, and
colours there is no perceptable difference;
or at least none that strikes my eye.
First
Noted: July 20, 1805, near Helena, Montana.
A specimen of the Lewis' Woodpecker may be
the only surviving animal specimen from the
expedition. According to Lewis, "The Black
woodpecker which I have frequently mentioned
and which is found in most parts of the roky
Mountains as well as the Western and S. W.
Mountains, I had never an opportunity of
examining untill a few days since when we
killed and preserved several of them. This
bird is about the size of the lark woodpecker
or the turtle dove, tho' it's wings are longer
than either of those birds." The species
was eventually named for him.
"...the boat passed a Island 2 Miles above
the little Scouix R[iver] on the upper point
of this Isld Some hundreds of Pelicans were
collected, they left 3 fish on the Sand" —William
Clark
"I
saw several very large grey Eagles today
they are half as large again as the common
bald Eagle of this country. I do not
think bald Eagle here qu[i]te so large as those
of the U' States; the grey Eagle is infinitely
larger and is no doubt a distinct species." —Meriwether
Lewis, July 11, 1805 in Montana. At the time,
these birds were referred to as Calumet Birds.
